In the wake of today's report that subprime lender Ameriquest is
closing shop here in Massachusetts, Blue Mass Group's David Kravitz makes a
strong argument
for Deval Patrick's resignation from the board of ACC Capital Holdings,
Ameriquest's parent company. Most compelling, to my mind, is the third
point David brings up--i.e., the political liability represented by
Patrick's ties to the company.
Here's my prediction: it's not going to happen. Patrick seems genuinely
loyal to Ameriquest founder Roland Arnall, your new ambassador to the
Netherlands, who asked Patrick to join ACC's board. (Hard to say why,
if this is the way
Arnall does business.)
In addition, Tom Reilly would inevitably spin Patrick's resignation as
proof positive that his involvement with Ameriquest was tawdry: instead
of having to
explain why he's on the board,
Patrick would have to explain why he quit. Finally, Patrick hasn't been
farsighted in his handling of this issue to date--why do we know that
he makes more than $100,000 annually for serving on ACC's board, but
not the actual amount?--and there's no reason to expect him to change
now.
To be clear, I think David's right. I just don't think Patrick will take his advice.