In essence, the paper trail became too long and too elaborate to hide. The cost of a bigger, less efficient bureaucracy was (and is) — presto! — cleaner government. Go figure.
The final nail in the coffin of the bad old days was the unionization of about 700 middle-management City Hall jobs that were once political plums, ripe for giving by the mayor. So now, instead of squawking about the corrupt spoils system, we get to whine about unresponsive public-employee unions.
Kevin White is chuckling from his grave.
>>PKADZIS@PHX.COM:: @KADZIS
PETER KADZIS APPEARS ON FOX 25 NEWS Tuesday mornings at 7:50 am and on WGBH's Boston Public Radio on Fridays at 1:10 pm.
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