A healthy disinterest
When you are late to the party, it is always nice to bring along a little something for the host to show you care. And nothing says "I care" like $50,000 in cash.
Yesterday was Deval Patrick's big day, launching a week of inaugural celebrations, paid for in large part by the usual corporate suspects from the auto insurers to the banks to the big law firms. Whether you were with Patrick or not before the primary, everybody wants to be on the new governor's list now. Jack Connors and David D'Alessandro, to name two, were with Tom Reilly early, but they were more than happy to write $10,000 checks when Patrick's inaugural committee called.
No one, however, gave more than the low-profile Paul Egerman and his wife, Joanne. Egerman, the chief executive of eScription Inc., a privately held medical transcription company in Needham, and his wife gave $50,000 to the Patrick inaugural committee, making them by far the biggest individual donors. Boston Red Sox owner John Henry was next in line at $25,000.
What does Egerman, also an early Reilly supporter, expect for his money? Absolutely nothing, he says. In fact, the Egermans skipped the swearing-in of the state's first black governor in favor of the swearing-in of the nation's first woman speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. Egerman's explanation: He did what his wife told him to do, always a prudent course.
"I don't want anything. I do not want to ever work in government. I am not looking for a job. I do not do business with state government," he says. "I got involved in politics because I am looking for good government."
The Egermans are among the state's biggest political donors you never heard of. Federal campaign finance records show that together they have given over $800,000 to Democrats since 2000, according to CampaignMoney.com. Their candidates are consistently liberal and Democratic: Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Tom Harkin, Dianne Feinstein. Locally they back Democrats like Jarrett Barrios, Bob Travaglini, and Robert Reich.
Paul Egerman, 57, says his progressive views come from his childhood in California, where he was raised by a single mom who had no car or TV. He went to the county hospital when he got sick. But he did get to MIT, worked hard, cofounded a medical billing company, IDX, and got rich when it went public in the mid-90s.
"I have been able to live the American dream. I am a member of the winners circle. I would like to see everyone have the opportunities I had. I couldn't have done it without a lot of help along the way."
Everyone on Patrick's list should be so disinterested.
. . .
Neighborhood news: Tuesday is the deadline to submit bids with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority for air rights on Parcel 7 next to Fenway Park, and the Red Sox will file as a limited partner with Boston developer John Rosenthal. The Red Sox (who are partially owned by The New York Times Co., the parent company of The Boston Globe) had once been at odds with Rosenthal's plans to build two residential towers just behind the Green Monster, but made peace when Rosenthal agreed to shift his development down Beacon Street.
It is yet to be seen whether there will be other bidders. Rosenthal, who has rights to adjoining parcels, wants to build two apartment towers, one 17 stories and the other 20, a third smaller building, and two garages for 1,200 cars at an estimated cost of $450 million. The question: Can the Sox muscle help do what developer Arthur Winn has not been able to do at Columbus Center?
Also: Keep your eye on the Sox deal to redevelop the Howard Johnson's on Boylston Street with hotelier Bob Sage. It could be in trouble. Meanwhile, the Sox deal for a half-interest in Roush Racing, the class of NASCAR racing, is done. Reported price: $62 million. Formal announcement to follow.
Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902. 
