Word: howe
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Still, John Howe's personal unfamiliarity with the assessment process is unusual. Alderman Puglia calls Howe "the most unqualified assessor in the history of Massachusetts." In a deposition under oath during assessment victim Cosmo Capobianco's libel suit against Howe, Howe admitted that he has had "very little" training in the real estate business, and that he did not know the most important and elementary concept an assessor must learn--the three basic methods of appraising the value of real estate...
...John Howe is apparently even incapable of writing the occasional press releases he has issued in the course of his term as tax assessor. Reports persist that his statements have in fact been authored by his sister Marie and her close friend Leonard Scott. However, John Howe denies the reports. But under cross-examination by Howe enemy Cosmo Capobianco's lawyers during his March 1977 lawsuit proceedings in Middlesex Country Superior Court, Howe revealed that he did not know the meanings of many of the words used in his own press releases...
...does John Howe's questionable conduct appear to be limited to his real estate duties. In April 1977, Metropolitan District Commissioner John Snedeker discovered that John Howe was without approval in leaving his full-time patronage job as a "water sampler" early in order to collect an additional $5500 annually as a tax assessor. Howe knocked off early from his 8 a.m.-to-4 p.m., $270-a-week job twice a month for a year, Snedeker reported. Snedeker also found that Howe was using an MDC truck for his separate assessing duties...
Although Snedeker and MDC press spokesman Michael Goldman refuse to discuss the case, which is still pending in court, the Crimson has learned that Snedeker originally planned to fire Howe outright. But in an emotional meeting with the commissioner, Howe tearfully begged that his pregnant wife be spared the emotional trauma of a public hearing on his misbehavior. Despite advice from his aides that he ought to fire Howe, Snedeker relented and agreed to reprimand Howe with a 20-day suspension and a fine--provided Howe signed a statement admitting his guilt. Howe hastily complied...
Just five eays later, however, Howe announced that he had obtained well-known Boston lawyer William Homans, and was filing suit against Snedeker for $25,000 in personal damages. Despite his written statement to the contrary, Howe now says that he still worked a full day, because he worked during his lunch hour to make up for the time he missed by leaving work early. But that is not what he told Snedeker in their private meeting. One reliable MDC source says Howe's after-the-fact assertion that he made up the lost time during his lunch breaks...