Taxpayers deserve a basic level of professionalism from public employees. That is not the case in Canton.
The shoddy work exhibited in the Karen Read murder investigation has exposed the glaring incompetence of the Massachusetts State Police and their Canton counterparts.
The Herald used the state’s public records law to determine how much those linked to the Read case are paid. Maybe it’s not enough? That is not the case in Canton.
First, we asked Canton Town Clerk Tracy Kenney, who earned $103,376 last year, and Town Administrator Charles Doody, coming in at $203,532, why they sent the town’s payroll in PDF format and could they abide by the request and use Excel? There’s been no response.
For those who know Excel, the backbone of any business, you can easily sort and search the database. That’s not the case with Canton’s PDF power play. The point is Canton officials know all this and still opted for obfuscation over transparency. It may seem minor, but the stink from the pile of elitism exhibited in this town is growing.
We did the hard work to export that flat file into one everyone can search and sort at their leisure.
It seems Canton is infected with an attitude that has resulted in law-abiding citizens being forced to look over their shoulders at every turn. It’s unacceptable and it’s only going to get worse. The Karen Read prosecution ended in a mistrial and is set for another go Jan. 27.
The town’s police department will again be called on to explain why they couldn’t handle a murder investigation. A Boston Police Officer, John O’Keefe, was killed. You would hope Canton and State Police would bring their A Game to this case. That’s not the case in Canton.
Canton Police Detective Kevin Albert, paid $176,387.91 last year, is Exhibit 1. He has been on paid administrative leave since the middle of June.
The Select Board didn’t share that nugget until July 1. Again, transparency is not the case in Canton.
Kevin Albert is the brother of retired Boston Police Sgt. Brian Albert, who owned the home at 34 Fairview Road where John O’Keefe’s bloody body was found covered in snow the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
Kevin Albert was on leave a day after now-fired State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Read case, testified he and the Canton police officer were drinking buddies who went out drinking several months after O’Keefe’s death.
Proctor also acknowledged he and Kevin Albert worked on a cold case together and communicated about coordinating aspects of the O’Keefe case even though the Canton Police Department recused itself from the investigation due to the Albert brothers’ connection to the case.
Kevin Albert did not testify during the 9-week trial.
The feds are investigating this entire sordid affair and Canton has forked over $200,000 for an audit of the police department. And, just for the record, the highest paid Canton worker was Lt. Paul Gallagher who pulled down $322,389.05 last year. He did testify.
School is about to begin and you know students in Canton will be asking why their town is a national joke. You’d expect the town leaders to hold a seminar on how to win back the public’s trust. But don’t wait too long for that to occur.
Being upfront about all that’s gone sideways in town is not the case in Canton.