Dangers of Democracy

Unnerved by hazardous work? Then steer clear of government jobs in Boston. City Clerk Barry Hynes, 47, reports that he has "nightmares relating to city council meetings gone out of control." The rigors of his job are such that he suffers phobic reactions when he boards the subway to come to work and again when he gets in the city hall elevator. Hynes has applied for a lifetime disability pension of $28,800 annually. Government service has also taken a toll on Richard Sinnott, 55, the former city censor. In charge of issuing permits for rock concerts, Sinnott occasionally took in the acts. The rowdy crowds, he claimed, "instilled a sense of terror throughout my entire body. I was reduced to a shell of myself, barely able to function." His pension request: $21,000 a year.

Ordinarily neither of these outlandish applications would have raised an eyebrow over at the patronage-happy pension board. Unfortunately for Hynes and Sinnott, however, their cases came to light after the Boston Globe uncovered another suspicious pension request. Robert Toomey Sr., 40, manager of operations for the department of public facilities, claimed that he had suffered a ruptured cervical disc in a car accident while on City business. This left him in "constant pain, unable to do any lifting or bending." His disability request: $30,240 a year. According to the Globe, he had taken out nine separate accident insurance policies shortly before his auto mishap, and the only witnesses to the accident were three of his lifelong friends; the newspaper also reported that he was seen lifting packages, driving and walking with no apparent stiffness. Now all pension requests are coming under close public scrutiny. Huffs Sinnott: "I thought this was confidential."

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