Pedone Blows More Than $17,000 After Leaving Office

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Adam Joseph Drici, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Former State Representative Vincent Pedone has spent over $17,000 in campaign funds since he resigned his office in January, a new pre-primary report filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance revealed.

The report listed total expenditures of $26,170.02 for the period of January 1 through August 19 of 2012, including $1,518.22 at Best Buy for gifts for supporters and $2,453.00 for a legislative dinner at Pagliuca's Ristorante in Boston.

Approximately $7,750 of campaign funds were donated to various charities, memorial funds and Democratic committees.

Pedone announced his departure the first week of January, but the Rep. did not officially leave office until January 20 to take the job as executive director of the Council of Presidents of the Massachusetts State University system.

Nearly $17,500 of the expenditures listed date from after Pedone left office in January.

Money is Pedone's to Spend

"The funds I raised during my term in office can be used for purposes of promoting and enhancing my political career and future," Pedone said.

"Despite having left my position as a member of the House of Representatives, I am still very much engaged in local and state politics and continue to be involved in supporting and advancing the initiatives I championed while in the state legislature."

Pedone represented the 15th Worcester District for nearly two decades, having first taken office in 1993.

By the time of his departure from the state legislature, Pedone had risen to Chairman of the Committee on Bills in Third Reading.

Monies the former Rep. collected during his campaigns are not public funds, and so long as they are used to advance Pedone's political career, all the spending is perfectly legal under Massachusetts law.

Democratic Candidates Respond

Frank Beshai, one of five Democratic candidates competing in a primary for Pedone's old seat, was unsurprised when he heard about the former Rep.'s spending.

"Nobody's ever complained," he said. "He's going to spend that money."

City Councilor Kate Toomey, who is also running for Pedone's seat, said she had not reviewed the report and could not comment on any specifics.

"Certainly he was in office for 20 years," she said, "I'm sure that he had a lot of people that have supported him that he wanted to thank."