Describing his long friendship with the family that owns the Roche Bros. supermarket chain, state Rep. Angelo Scaccia said he would refuse to budge his hold on a bill to grant the chain's competitor a beer and wine license in Westwood.
Westwood officials are fuming over Scaccia's interference in the issue outside his district. State Rep. Paul McMurtry, the Dedham Democrat who represents Westwood, for the fourth session in a row, ground House business to a halt on Thursday to ramp up pressure on the 36-year veteran Scaccia.
The dilatory tactic is starting to grate on other lawmakers whose bills are piling up without action.
"Something has to give somewhere," Scaccia, D-Readville, said. "And it ain't going to be me."
Repeatedly referring to McMurtry as "the kid," Scaccia said the freshman Democrat had done "yeoman's work," but that the bill had been expedited through the Legislature and only received lukewarm approval from Westwood residents. The bill was OK'd by Westwood Town Meeting by 32 votes, out of nearly 800 cast.
The House passed the bill on July 31, the last day of formal sessions for the year, and the Senate approved it the following Monday, Aug. 4, during the first of many informal sessions that will continue throughout this year and during which any lawmaker is free to put a hold on any bill.
Westwood officials have accused Scaccia of doing the bidding of lobbyists for Roche Bros., which hopes to scuttle the bill.
Scaccia said granting a liquor license to a not-yet-built Wegmans supermarket in Westwood would put Roche Bros.' Westwood store at a competitive disadvantage. He noted the Massachusetts-based company's longtime "philanthropic" contributions around the state.
Scaccia said the Roche family had once donated $1 million to his grandmother's Roslindale school and had boosted Boston Latin School with numerous gifts. Many of the students at Boston Latin School use the Boston Public Library, where Scaccia is a trustee, he said. The company has also spent millions refurbishing a West Roxbury skating rink and giving away free food to the needy.
"What I'm doing is being very loyal to them for what they have done for my community," he said.
The bill's passage at Town Meeting by 32 votes bolstered his case for getting involved, he added.
Scaccia, who had declined to respond to media inquiries on the matter for two weeks, said yesterday that he had hoped to successfully block the bill outside the media's glare, calling it an "internal" argument between two House members. But a series of stories on the matter last week, and an editorial compelled him to speak, he said.
