To the Editor:

An Open Letter to Senator Marc R. Pacheco:

In what is shaping up to be one of the major all time Massachusetts political scandals, you have been named by the Independent Council and the Boston Globe Spotlight Team as one of a handful of State Senators who was a frequent sponsor of patronage jobs in the state Probation Department.

The investigation clearly indicates that most of these jobs went to unqualified friends, relatives and political supporters of the sponsors. The Boston Globe headline referred to the Independent Council report as "rampant fraud."

As a voter in your district I am asking you to make a public statement to your constituents in response to this very troubling report as it relates to the candidates that you sponsored. I would suggest that you be forthright and name the candidates you recommended, which of them were hired and which of them were political allies and/or financial contributors.

How much exactly did these candidates contribute to your campaigns over the last decade? I have heard that one of your sponsored candidates who got a probation officer job was allegedly so unqualified that he was dismissed by one of the judges.

You must be accountable to the Independent Council and the Boston Globe report at the very least by explaining your participation in this patronage scandal to those who elected you and expect high standards from their elected officials.

Handing over Probation Department jobs to unqualified political hacks is not acceptable. This greatly undermines our justice system and endangers the well-being of our citizens.

John C. Decas

Burgess Point