Word: mcgee
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...Keverian claims that McGee violated a trust when he announced that, far from abdicating, he had every intention of seeking re-election as Speaker in 1985. Betrayed by his mentor, Keverian threw down the gauntlet last October, proclaiming that he would oppose McGee as a rival candidate in the future election. Keverian's challenge had an immediate polarizing effect on the House, as representatives scurried to choose up sides. The battle lines were fairly well drawn only days later when McGee drew first blood: Keverian was sacked as Majority Leader and demoted to the status of rank and file member...
That two of the most able legislators in the House could be summarily removed without even so much as a debate was taken as proof positive by Democrats and Republicans alike that Speaker McGee clearly poses a threat to the future of pluralistic politics in Massachusetts. McGee survived the succeeding no-confidence motion, but 26 courageous representatives voted against the Speaker, with 35 others registering as present. Most felt that while McGee had acted in an outrageous fashion, he had not as yet broken any specific rules. According to Rep. Michael Barrett '70 of Reading, a vote of present "defined...
Such a description befits McGee's relationship with the 160-member House. According to the established written Rules of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the Speaker "shall preserve decorum and order; may speak to points of order in preference to other members; and shall decide all questions of order subject to an appeal to the House." But as party leader of the overwhelming Democratic majority. McGee also enjoys the all-important power to appoint every committee chairman and to fill every leadership position. That in turn means control over salaries: the base pay for a representative is a yearly...
Enter Rep. George Keverian '53 (D-Everett), lifetime politician and an unlikely though erstwhile challenger to the throne. For 17 years, Keverian had been the most loyal subject in the realm, one of McGee's personal favorites who was eventually rewarded with the title of Majority Leader. Whenever McGee had a tough floor fight on his hands, he let Keverian do the dirty work, and the quick-witted popular legislator came through time after time. Looking ahead as heir apparent, Keverian says he made an unwritten agreement with McGee back in 1982: the longtime Speaker would retire from polities...
BARRETT IS AMONG a daring group of young liberal Democrats who are strenuously campaigning for substantive rules reforms aimed at more than just the downfall of Thomas McGee. They hope to reshape the entire power structure and old-style politics that prevail on Beacon Hill. To that end, they have joined forces with Keverian in his struggle with McGee, despite the fact that for years the former Majority Leader backed the Spealter's opposition to any form of procedural codification. For then reformers, beat on change within the party above all, the cause celebre created by Keverian's challenge...