Dysfunctions
No experience + hiring freeze + political donor = $121,000 job?
By Frank Phillips Boston Globe, March 06, 2018
Mar 7, 2018 - 3:31:47 PM

Michael Heffernan was the state’s tax commissioner when Kristin Lindquist was hired as chief risk officer.

In September 2016, then Massachusetts Tax Commissioner Michael J. Heffernan persuaded Governor Charlie Baker’s budget office to authorize a new $121,000-a-year job, despite a government hiring freeze. His agency was anticipating two major technology rollouts, he said, and they were concerned about security threats.

But the woman Heffernan hired — a Wellesley neighbor, friend, and donor to his 2014 campaign for treasurer — had no discernible experience in data security or technology, according to documents obtained by the Globe.