I already had reservations about it, but....
"Partner’s role complicates Rosenberg’s dealings" by Jim O’Sullivan and Frank PhillipsGlobe Staff December 20, 2014
In October, five months after his domestic partner started working at a Boston public relations powerhouse, the presumptive next president of the state Senate journeyed far outside his district to visit one of his partner’s clients, promoting the visit on social media.
Earlier this month, two days after reassuring his colleagues that he had imposed a “firewall” between his personal life and the business of the Senate, Stanley C. Rosenberg led a group of five lawmakers to a state government conference at a luxury beachfront hotel on St. Thomas. And his partner, Bryon Hefner, accompanied him.
Who picked up the tab on that anyway?
The two instances illustrate the difficulty Rosenberg faces in keeping separate the Senate presidency he is poised to assume next month and his relationship with Hefner, who angered senators earlier this year by apparently taunting outgoing Senate President Therese Murray on Twitter and boasting of his influence over legislative affairs.
Heightening the complexity is the fact that Hefner, 27, was in the employ of the Regan Communications public affairs firm — which markets its ability to “help clients build stronger relationships with key lawmakers on the local, state and federal levels through successful lobbying efforts” — while he was discussing with senators their potential committee assignments under a Rosenberg presidency, and his potential influence over them, according to Senate insiders.
Rosenberg, 65, has sought to reassure colleagues that Hefner’s meddlesome behavior has come to an end. But, even in St. Thomas at the Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star resort, the tension over that and other issues flared up during a tense confrontation between Hefner and another senator over internal Senate politics.
In the bar?
Hefner and Senator Jennifer L. Flanagan, a Leominster Democrat who attended the conference with her boyfriend, sparred over Hefner’s past activities at a dinner that Rosenberg and another senator, Democrat Marc Pacheco of Taunton, attended, according to people familiar with the exchange. Various accounts have emerged, but the Globe has been told by a person with knowledge of the event that it got so heated that Hefner abruptly left the conversation.
It wasn't the heterosexual-homosexual divide, was it?
It is common for significant others and lobbyists to attend legislative conferences, but Hefner’s dual role is unusual.
Rosenberg’s chief of staff, Natasha Perez, contested the Globe’s reporting about the incident.
“I have spoken with both Senator Pacheco and Senator Flanagan who confirm that no Senate business was discussed,” Perez said in an e-mail. “Any claim to the contrary is not true.”
Pacheco, who had not responded to requests for comment until prompted by Rosenberg aides, said he was not party to the exchange between Flanagan and Hefner. Pacheco said he was engaged in another conversation with Rosenberg at the time, but saw Hefner leave the table.
“They were having a conversation going back and forth,” Pacheco said in a phone interview. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
Hefner paid for his own airfare to the conference and a share of his lodging, Perez said.
Another incident, involving a visit by Rosenberg, also involves ties to Hefner’s employer.
The October visit to Randolph Engineering, a sunglasses manufacturer, put Rosenberg in the Senate district of Senator Brian A. Joyce, a Milton Democrat and someone who backed Rosenberg last year as he worked to cobble together the votes to secure the presidency. From his Twitter account, Rosenberg celebrated a “great time” at the facility and a chance “to learn about the needs of mid-sized businesses!”
More than a year earlier, in June 2013, Randolph Engineering, which received funds from the state in 2012 and 2013, had announced that it had hired Regan Communications to handle its PR work. Regan hired Hefner, who had previously worked as chairman of Rosenberg’s political committee, in May of this year.
Rosenberg aides said the senator was invited to visit the company by Joyce. They said Rosenberg did not know that Hefner was part of the Regan Communications team working on the Randolph Engineering account.
I was always told ignorance is no excuse.
The event was not listed on Rosenberg’s official public schedule.
Also in October, Rosenberg attended a Boston Harbor cruise, sponsored by Regan Communications, aboard the Elite II. In a photo printed in the December edition of Coastal Angler magazine, a fishing publication, Rosenberg is shown smiling in a photo with George Regan, owner of the public relations firm, his arm around Rosenberg’s shoulder. Regan is also publisher of the magazine’s Boston edition.
Like the Randolph visit, the cruise was not listed on the senator’s schedule.
The presence of a politician, particularly one as prominent and evidently ascendant as Rosenberg, at a business-related event can add buzz and help depict the business as politically connected. Such appearances are not unusual for politicians to make.
But Rosenberg’s close ties to Regan, through Hefner, add a layer of complexity to his attendance at events sponsored by the firm or with any of Regan’s clients. Especially when that attendance is then broadcast in a publication that advertises Regan’s influence.
In an e-mailed statement, Perez said that Rosenberg “certainly has not referred anyone” to Regan or “any other firm.”
The Amherst Democrat attended the cruise because it was a social event to which partners were invited, she said.
State law prohibits public officials from acting in a way that would “cause a reasonable person” to conclude that “kinship, rank, position, or undue influence of any party or person” could improperly influence their official actions.
Rosenberg has so far withstood the political turmoil that enveloped him after the revelations about Hefner’s interference. Several senators have spoken out publicly in support of Rosenberg, reaffirming their intention to vote for him when the Senate leadership vote takes place in January.
Neither Regan nor anyone at his firm has been registered as a lobbyist in Massachusetts since 2010, according to state records, despite the company’s marketing of its “lobbying efforts.” Therefore, interactions between Regan and Rosenberg would not be subject to special laws passed to curb the influence of lobbyists and special interests on Beacon Hill.
Well that stinks.
A Regan spokeswoman said the agency does not directly lobby. If a client requires lobbying, Regan outsources the work, said the spokeswoman, Mariellen Burns.
“We have the highest ethical standards, and this is not a problem,” Burns said.
After the Globe reported earlier this month that Hefner had boasted of his influence over key Senate personnel decisions, Rosenberg sent a Dec. 3 letter to other senators assuring them that he had “enforced a firewall” between his job and his personal life.
He and Hefner left for St. Thomas on Dec. 5, according to people with knowledge of the trip.
Rosenberg told the Globe last month that his relationship with Hefner helped him publicly disclose his sexual orientation. The two also share a bond related to their shared background as foster children, and Hefner helped Rosenberg battle and recover from cancer.
That sort of excuses everything, doesn't it?
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It's not so much the gay thing with me as it is the age thing.
"Company reassigns partner of legislator" by Derek J. Anderson, Globe Correspondent December 21, 2014
After weeks of scrutiny on the relationship between presumptive state Senate president Stanley C. Rosenberg and his domestic partner, who works for the prominent Boston public relations firm Regan Communications Group, Bryon Hefner has been reassigned to the company’s Florida office, according to a statement Saturday from the firm.
Rosenberg, 65, has attempted to put out numerous fires that have been sparked in the past several weeks by blurred lines between the professional and personal lives of the senator and Hefner, 27.
Regan Communications markets its ability to “help clients build stronger relationships with key lawmakers on the local, state, and federal levels through successful lobbying efforts.”
A spokeswoman at Regan Communications said in a brief e-mailed statement that Hefner will be working with clients in Florida but gave no details. “We have reassigned Bryon Hefner; he will be relocating to our Florida office and working on our clients in that region,” said Mariellen Burns.
When asked for clarification about the reassignment, Burns replied by e-mail Saturday night that Hefner’s move is a lateral one and that his workload will be similar.
According to the Regan website, the Florida branch is in the town of Jupiter.
Rosenberg and Hefner could not be reached for comment Saturday evening.
Hefner, who began working for Regan in May, has angered state senators with apparent boasts about his influence in legislative matters and taunts to outgoing Senate President Therese Murray through social media.
Hefner and Rosenberg’s relationship has been highly criticized despite the lawmaker’s repeated comments that Hefner’s inappropriate behavior and actions had been ended.
Earlier this month, Rosenberg said he had “enforced a firewall” between his business life and personal life.
Then it petered out.
After the Globe reported the accusations of Hefner’s social media mockery of Murray, Rosenberg sent a letter to the other 33 Democratic state senators to assure them of the separation of work and personal life. Rosenberg, a Democrat from Amherst, retained support from some lawmakers after the letters went out.
Rosenberg and Hefner have lived together since 2009, and the senator previously said “we are in a deeply committed relationship.”
On Saturday, the Globe reported that Rosenberg went on a trip early this month to a state government conference with five other lawmakers at a luxury beachfront hotel on St. Thomas. Hefner also attended, even after the senator had assured co-workers that he was keeping his relationship and work separate two days prior.
Rosenberg’s chief of staff, Natasha Perez, said in that report that “no Senate business was discussed” during the trip to St. Thomas. “Any claim to the contrary is not true,” she told the Globe in an e-mail.
However, accounts of an argument in the resort at St. Thomas between Hefner and another senator over internal Senate politics were reported in that story.
Then the Globe is a liar, isn't it?
Rosenberg’s close ties to Regan, through Hefner, add a layer of complexity to his attendance at firm-sponsored events or events with any of Regan’s clients.
But Perez said in the Saturday story that the senator “certainly has not referred anyone” to Regan or “any other firm.”
Regan Communications Group does not directly lobby, according to Burns, who said in the Saturday story that if a client needs lobbying, Regan will outsource the work. “We have the highest ethical standards, and this is not a problem,” Burns said.
Amidst the criticism, Rosenberg told the Globe last month that Hefner had helped him through his recovery from cancer. Their relationship also helped Rosenberg come out to the public about his sexual orientation.
That sort of excuses everything, doesn't it?
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"State senator’s partner to leave his PR job; Blames Globe for departure" by Frank Phillips, Globe Staff December 22, 2014
In a sudden shift from an announcement over the weekend, the domestic partner of presumptive Senate president Stanley C. Rosenberg abruptly resigned Monday from his position at a politically connected Boston communications firm.
Bryon Hefner, in an e-mailed statement to the Globe, blamed the newspaper for driving him out of his job working as a public relations staff member for Regan Communications.
Late Saturday the Regan firm, which offers potential clients Beacon Hill connections and help with lobbying, had said it was reassigning Hefner from its Boston headquarters to its Florida office.
Hefner’s decision Monday to leave the firm entirely follows several stories in which the Globe detailed how Hefner, using his close relationship with Rosenberg, involved himself in internal Senate business and politics.
“The Boston Globe has rejected my transfer to Florida, identifying it as ‘not being far enough away’ if I am still in a relationship with my partner of over six years,’’ Hefner wrote. “The Boston Globe has forced me, just days before Christmas, to choose between my personal and professional life.’’
It was not immediately clear what Hefner was referring to when he wrote that the newspaper had “rejected” the Florida move. Neither Hefner nor Rosenberg responded to requests for comment.
Hefner’s activities on Beacon Hill, which irritated some senators, included talking with senators about key committee assignments and leadership jobs. He also taunted outgoing Senate president Therese Murray through social media. Earlier this month, when asked about the blurred lines, Rosenberg told the newspaper that he had built a “firewall” between Hefner and Senate business.
On Saturday, the Globe reported that Hefner accompanied Rosenberg to a conference of legislators in St. Thomas in early December, raising questions about how well the senator was separating Hefner and his Senate business.
At a small private dinner, Hefner had some tense words with Senator Jennifer Flanagan, a Leominster Democrat, and left the table. Neither Flanagan or Hefner would comment, but Rosenberg aides insisted that no Senate business was discussed at the dinner.
Rosenberg has defended Hefner, saying their relationship meant a great deal to him and that he was grateful to the 27-year-old for persuading him to publicly declare his sexual orientation.
“The Boston Globe may have stalled my career, but they have failed to break apart our family,’’ Hefner said in his statement.
Hefner also praised the Regan firm, saying its “loyalty throughout this unprecedented ordeal has been unwavering.”
Rosenberg’s chief of staff, Natasha Perez, said Rosenberg would have no comment on Hefner’s resignation or on his placing the blame for his problems on the Globe.
George Regan, the firm’s chairman and chief executive, said he, too, would have no comment on Hefner’s resignation or the potential conflict issues that his employment at the firm raised. “Today is Bryon’s day; I have nothing else to add,’’ Regan said.
Hefner’s activities have created a headache for Rosenberg just weeks before he is expected to assume the office of Senate president, a position he has worked toward for well over a decade.
I'm starting to get one.
Until the Globe reported early this month that Hefner’s activities were creating problems among some of his Senate colleagues, Rosenberg seemed to be on a glide path to the Senate president’s office.
Although the reports have shaken some its members, the Democratic coalition — the party holds 34 of the 40 seats in the Senate session that will begin Jan. 7 — has shown no signs of changing its mind about Rosenberg, who is popular and respected among his colleagues.
His political career began in 1987, when he was elected to the House as a Democrat from Amherst. He took the Senate seat of his political mentor, John Olver, in 1991 when Olver was elected to the US House of Representatives. Rosenberg served at one point as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, a post he was dropped from in 1999, and in other leadership positions.
Rosenberg failed to gain enough support in an internal contest to win the Senate presidency in 2003. Since then, he worked his way up to be the majority leader under Murray, who helped in 2013 to consolidate a strong coalition for him to take over her position.
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It really is a love story.
