Irate Senators urge Wilkerson to resign

Despite a unanimous vote, she won't step down yet

 BOSTON.The state Senate unanimously called on Sen. Dianne Wilkerson Thursday resign her seat, two days after federal authorities charged that she accepted bribes in exchange for action on legislation, and one day after she said she would continue her long-shot reelection bid.

However Wilkerson issued a statement late Thursday night, calling the Senate's request for her to step down "unreasonable."

"A decision to leave this district without representation, even for 60 days, is one that cannot and should not be made in a matter of hours," said Wilkerson. "Rest assured I am committed to do what is in the best interest of the residents of this district."

Detailing Wilkerson's history of "questionable conduct," most recently the federal public corruption charges that she took $23,500 for the manipulation of her office, the Senate referred her case to its Ethics Committee, requesting that the panel report back "as soon as possible" without the traditional wait for a legal resolution. The Democratic caucus voted to strip the Boston Democrat of all her committee posts, which included her chair atop the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, which oversees public bidding laws.

Senate President Therese Murray, describing herself as "very angry" and the chamber's actions as "setting precedent," said she hoped Wilkerson would resign today, and said Wilkerson sent her a letter saying she would abide by the wishes of the caucus.

"I think if she values the integrity of the Senate, if she values her colleagues' work, then she will go," Murray told reporters.

The results of the 18-month FBI investigation, replete with video and audio recordings, have shaken city and state government, as subpoenas proliferate and Wilkerson's alleged misdeeds have stirred national attention. Federal prosecutors said she exploited the timing of a liquor license bill and filed a bill directly designating state land for a private developer, at the behest of people she considered political benefactors.

Senators described "venom" in the body toward Wilkerson.

Her departure would spare the Senate of the potentially embarrassing prospect of the Boston Democrat returning to the Senate later this fall, when departing senators are due back to give traditional farewell speeches to their colleagues.

Wilkerson's attorney and campaign manager did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

At a crowded media availability after the Senate vote, Murray took issue with a reporter's question about her alleged hosting of a meeting with the 15-year senator in which Wilkerson lobbied for a liquor license that authorities said she was paid to champion. "Those are allegations," Murray said, as aides hurried her toward her office.

In a statement, Murray said, "We are all upset about the taint and shadow of doubt cast upon the Senate and its members based on the allegations of one person."

No other lawmaker has been implicated in wrongdoing, although the investigation is ongoing. The 32-page federal affidavit repeatedly quotes Wilkerson boasting that she had persuaded officials to cooperate with her efforts to advance the legislation.

"The charges against Sen. Wilkerson are an affront, and they are insulting to the Senate and any implication that myself or others have been involved in the alleged wrongful conduct or backroom deals is simply wrong," Murray said.

Before the caucus started Thursday morning, Wilkerson arrived outside the State House's Bowdoin Street entrance, across from the Fill-A-Buster Restaurant where she is alleged to have met with undercover agents and accepted cash bribes, mid-morning. She did not attend the caucus.

In a letter to Murray that the Senate president read in the caucus, Wilkerson began by asking Murray to "excuse my absence today. I thought it in the best interest of the body that I not be present."

"I apologize to you and the members for being drawn into the madness that has become my life," Wilkerson wrote.

She did not address her guilt or innocence, but told colleagues, "I can say that there is much more to the story than you have been told."

"I fully appreciate the difficult decision you have before you," Wilkerson wrote. "I trust that you will act consistent with prior practice. I will respect whatever decision you make."

Later, Murray said, "She indicated that she would abide by the wishes of the caucus, and we hope that she will do that."

Near 7 pm, nearly six hours after the Senate vote, a Murray spokesman said Wilkerson had not responded to the call for resignation.

The request for Wilkerson's resignation was entailed in a non-binding resolution jointly sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst) and Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield) that listed her past brushes with state law.

The Senate Chamber was mostly somber in the moments before the vote, although several members joked and laughed before the assistant clerk, Michael Hurley, began reading the resolution and order.

No other lawmaker has been associated with wrongdoing in the matter, US Attorney Michael Sullivan said Tuesday.

Senate officials said before the vote that Sen. Michael Morrissey, who allegedly helped Wilkerson obtain the liquor license for a Roxbury establishment, intended to move that Wilkerson be expelled from the chamber. Senate officials later said that they could not take that step, consistent with their explanations earlier in the year when state Sen. James Marzilli was arrested for alleged sexual assaults on several women.

Murray said stripping the chairmanships of a member who had not been convicted of a crime was unprecedented and based on a "pattern" of Wilkerson's behavior.

Secretary of State William Galvin told reporters that the Senate has the legal authority to remove any of its members, with or without a criminal conviction.

"They do not need a particular reason," he said. "They could well decide based on an allegation or based on some sort of conduct."

If Wilkerson were to win her increasingly long-shot sticker campaign for reelection, the Senate would still have to ratify the results and "any member of the Senate will have the opportunity to file an order to seat somebody or not seat somebody," Galvin said.

Despite her checkered past, Wilkerson has been held in high regard over the years with her constituents, who repeatedly voted to keep her in office, and within the Senate.

In August, at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Murray lauded Wilkerson after the Boston Democrat, during breakfast remarks, touted Massachusetts as a leader among state for women in positions of power.

"Isn't she a great senator?" Murray said when asked about Wilkerson's remarks at a convention breakfast. "That's why we need her to come back to the Massachusetts Senate."

Murray continued: "She's right. It is a big deal. Because we've gotten used to now seeing women in powerful positions in Massachusetts - Maureen Feeney's the head of the Boston City Council also and Deval Patrick is the governor as a black man, people are taking it for granted. We can't take anything for granted."

In a statement released through his press office after the vote, Patrick said, "On a bi-partisan basis, the Senate today unanimously re-affirmed that elected officials should be held to the highest ethical standards. I support and respect their action."

Wilkerson survived another call for her resignation 10 years ago. In 1998, then Senate Minority Leader Brian Lees, after Wilkerson was caught having failed to pay her taxes and after she had been stripped of her chairmanship at the Insurance Committee on a 26-11 roll call vote that saw Republicans and four Democrats vote against it because many thought it too lenient, sought Wilkerson's resignation unsuccessfully.

At the time, Lees told his colleagues, 18 of whom still serve today, during a floor speech that a judge had ruled that Wilkerson had violated the conditions of her home confinement.

"Your violation of the laws of our nation compromises our credibility as a lawmaking body and your continued membership in the Senate places the integrity of this institution in jeopardy," Lees said during his remarks.

Wilkerson survived that push for her resignation but this year her chances appear lesser.

Earlier in the week, Murray explained the different reactions from the institution to the Wilkerson and Marzilli scandals as a result of the Arlington Democrat's purported bipolar disorder.

Tisei resigned Thursday from the Ethics Committee because, he said, he did not want to be bound by the confidentiality agreement required of members.

"I want the freedom to be able to comment on any developments that might take place without compromising my position on the committee. When the Marzilli matter popped up, I was a member of the committee" and felt constrained, the Wakefield Republican said.

"I kind of learned my lesson from that," Tisei said, calling it "unbelievable" that the Ethics Committee had been pressed into action twice within a year.