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

Related Articles

• MassGOP Files Ethics Complaint Against AG Martha Coakley
• Worcester’s Demographic Shift Creating Uphill Battle for Republicans
• Former Federal Official to Give Lecture at Clark
• Worcester County Lacks Proper Healthy Food Options, Study Says

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink