Fattman Slams Abraham Over Mismanagement
Email to a friend
Permalink
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Patrick Sargent, GoLocal Worcester Contributor
Stephanie Fattman, appearing Tuesday on The Jordan Levy Show on WTAG, as part of her campaign to be elected to Register of Probate, criticized the current management of the probate office. Fattman said that management is lacking and the office’s technology is unsuitable for the people of Worcester County.
Fattman described the current Probate office as a “free-for-all.”
“Phone calls aren’t being answered, documents are being misplaced,” said Fattman. “There are gaps right now. People aren’t properly trained.”
Sitting Register of Probate Stephen Abraham (D) told GoLocal, “All her comments are indicative that she has no clue what she’s talking about. Her comments are misplaced.”
Fattman told Levy that Abraham’s staff is not able to service individuals as needed. “A lot of time is spent finding files. It’s a huge, huge problem in this court,” said Fattman. “Almost all of our files have barcodes on the bottom, and there’s not a scanner in the office.”
“Our probate office was the pilot program four years ago for Mass.gov,” said Abraham, “and I personally have been the biggest proponent of desktop scanners for judicial clerks and starting on Monday these clerks will be scanning documents right at their desk. We are at the cutting edge of technology and other courts are modeling their probate offices after us.”
Abraham: "Fattman Needs Training"
Fattman, 26 years of age, is currently in her third year at Suffolk University Law. Her husband, State Representative Ryan Fattman (R), is running against Senator Richard Moore (D) for the Worcester and Norfolk State Senate seat.
In Fattman’s Jordan Levy interview, she expressed she would be at an advantage to train the Probate staff due to her many years of management at Marriot International. Fattman went on to say that employees need further training to meet the demands of the Probate office. She even stressed that employees with 30 years or more experience still need training.
Abraham said, “My suggestion is she should take her own advice. She should graduate from law school and she should begin her own training. Even if she applied today to be an assistant registrar, she would not meet the qualifications of that position. I would not hire her.”
“She should work as a practicing attorney and put her time in,” Abraham said. Generally, when you get out of school, you work your way from the bottom to the top. You don’t go straight to the top. There are no 26-year-olds in the position of Register of Probate.”
Over the course of the interview, Fattman continuously accused the Probate Office to be managed poorly and repeatedly expressed that she would be able to handle the office due to her youth, energy, and her years of management experience. Abraham finds that hard to believe.
“If you have ever never worked in the Probate office, how do you have the credibility to work there and run it?” Abraham asked. “It’s like criticizing a restaurant without ever having eaten there.”
“In June, she took a tour of the office for fifteen minutes and she hasn’t come back since,” Abraham said. “She had to be shown where the office is.”
Related Slideshow: 10 Competitive Legislative Races in Central MA
Prev
Next
17th Worcester - House
Incumbent: John Binienda, Sr. (retiring)
Democrats: Mike Germain (pictured), Moses Dixon
Republicans: Kate Campanale
“If Mike Germain wins the primary, it will be interesting to see how hard he works to win the house seat; he is not known to be that hard of a worker. I think that if he wins, that seat could go to the republican candidate.” - Chris Pinto, Worcester Republican City Committee
Prev
Next
12th Worcester - House
Incumbent: Harold Naughton, Jr.
Democrats: Harold Naughton, Jr.
Republicans: Brad Wyatt (pictured)
“Harold Naughton decided to leave to run for Attorney General. When it seemed like his competition would be to hard, he came back to run for his old seat. While Naughton is seemingly on his way out, Brad Wyatt is a candidate who is very much on the rise.” - Bill McCarthy, Worcester rep, Massachusetts Republican Party
Prev
Next
Stephen Brewer's Open Senate Seat
Incumbent: Stephen Brewer (retiring) (pictured)
Democrats: Anne Gobi
Republicans:James Ehrhard, Michael Valanzola
“James Ehrhard has to win the primary against Valanzola but I think that he has a real shot at winning the primary. Ehrhard is a candidate that is really working hard to go door-to-door covering all the towns and working really hard.” - McCarthy
Prev
Next
1st Worcester - Senate
Incumbent: Harriette Chandler
Democrats: Harriette Chandler, William Feegbeh, Sean Maher
Republicans: Paul Franco (pictured)
“I think that all of the Senate races are going to be very close and competitive. Paul Franco is a super guy and a great candidate. I think the Franco/Chandler race has the potential to be a top three race in Central Massachusetts.” - Rob Cunningham, Executive Director, Massachusets Republican Party
Prev
Next
16th Worcester - House
Incumbent: Daniel Donahue
Democrats: Daniel Donahue (pictured), Joshua Perro
Republicans: none
“Donahue is clearly ahead in his race. His primary opponent has no clear rationale as to why he is running.” - Paul Giorgio, Democratic Party Activist
Prev
Next
15th Worcester - House
Incumbent: Mary Keefe (pictured)
Democrats: Mary Keefe, Philip Palmieri, Ralph Perez
Republicans: none
“Anytime you have a state representative (Keefe) up against a city councilor (Palmieri), you are always in for a competitive race.” - Giorgio
Prev
Next
Worcester/Norfolk - Senate
Incumbent: Richard Moore (pictured)
Democrats: Richard Moore
Republicans: Ryan Fattman
“Ryan Fattman is running in a really favorable district against Richard Moore who has been there a long time. Richard may be a nice guy, but when you look at what is going on at Beacon Hill, a young candidate may be just what we need.” - Cunningham
Prev
Next
18th Worcester - House
Incumbent: Ryan Fattman (pictured)
Democrats: David Cortese, Mark Dowgiewicz, Brenda Ennis
Republicans: Charles Arakelian, Jesse Limanek, Joseph McKenna
“I think the 18th Worcester House District will be a good race. We will have to see how it advances as we get closer to November.” - Travis Shofner, Data Director and Voter File Manager, Massachusetts Democratic Party
Prev
Next
9th Worcester - House
Incumbent: George Peterson, Jr. (retired) (pictured)
Democrats: Martin Green
Republicans: Shawn Craig, David Muradian, Jr.
“We have been keeping our eyes on the Peterson seat. Martin Green will be running for that seat. We think that race will be very competitive.” - Shofner
Prev
Next
10th Worcester - House
Incumbent: John Fernandes
Democrats: John Fernandes (pictured)
Republicans: Christopher Kivior, Mark Reil, Jr.
“There are quality candidates running against Fernandes, a guy who has been there a while. Given the mistrust in Beacon Hill, I think some of these good republican candidates have a good shot.” - Cunningham
Related Articles
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Email to a friend
Permalink
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It