Wilkerson promises to resign, but won't say when
State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, whose resignation has been demanded by her State House colleagues and sought by prominent clergy members from her district, promised yesterday to resign the Senate seat she has held for 15 years, but she refused to say when.
Wilkerson hinted last week after her arrest on federal bribery charges that she would resign. At the time, she promised to provide more details about her departure yesterday, following Tuesday's election.
Yesterday, with her defeat at the polls sealed, she said she would resign "as soon as humanly and responsibly possible."
"I am committed to resigning my office as soon as I can do so consistent with my need to effectuate an orderly transition, including closing out hundreds of active constituent matters, filing and storing 16 years of files consisting of hundreds of boxes, assisting my current staff in finding new employment, and putting related affairs in order," Wilkerson said in the statement released by her Senate office just after 5 p.m.
Wilkerson, who has a history of financial problems, makes about $1,400 a week in her job as senator. If she hangs on to her office until her term expires in January, she would qualify for an additional year of credit for her state pension, going from 16 years of service to 17 years and boosting her annual payment by almost $2,000, according to an on-line state pension calculator.
If she is convicted on the federal corruption charges against her, she might have to forfeit her state pension, but such a revocation would be at the discretion of the state Board of Retirement. Wilkerson did not respond to follow-up questions after releasing her statement.
Clergy members who called for her resignation last week did not respond to requests for comment yesterday. Her statement yesterday did not satisfy some Senate colleagues, who took an extraordinary vote last week calling on her to quit her post.
"I don't see how Senator Wilkerson can in any way effectively carry out any of her duties as a state senator at this point," said Senate minority leader Richard R. Tisei. "We passed an order getting the Ethics Committee set up, and I'm sure if the perception is that she's not planning on resigning immediately, the Ethics Committee will plunge ahead into their work and bring a recommendation back to the Senate."
The Ethics Committee will make a recommendation to the Senate on whether to expel her. The Senate has the power under state law to remove a member. But its internal rules require it to undertake an Ethics Committee investigation first.
"The Senate has made its wishes very clear," Senate President Therese Murray said in a statement last night. "The Senate Ethics Committee is engrossed in its work and will report to the Senate as soon as possible."
While Wilkerson contended she wanted to work on an orderly transition, Sonia Chang-Díaz had yet to receive any calls from Wilkerson regarding Chang-Díaz's victory Tuesday night, said Deborah Shah, a spokeswoman for the senator-elect.
Chang-Díaz was out of the state attending a funeral of a family friend and was unavailable for comment, Shah said.
After losing to Chang-Díaz in the September Democratic Party primary, Wilkerson was in the midst of a long-shot write-in campaign for reelection when she was arrested Oct. 28 on federal charges of accepting bribes to influence the granting of a liquor license and pushing legislation to clear the way for a development project.
Chang-Díaz won the seat with 92 percent of the vote.
John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com. 