One of the men tapped to play a key role in Governor-elect Charlie Baker’s transition resigned unexpectedly on Friday. Richard L. Taylor, a one-time state transportation secretary under former Governor William Weld, owes over $1 million in unpaid taxes and business judgments, according to The Boston Globe.

Internal Revenue Service and state Revenue Department records indicate $596,262 in outstanding tax liens. Add that sum to court judgments from a failed Popeyes franchise, a house that was foreclosed upon three years ago, and the recent resignation and you get déjà vu for Taylor: In 1992, critics called Taylor’s financial woes an embarrassment to Weld. Taylor resigned the post after only two years.


Baker’s aides said that they and the governor-elect were unaware of Taylor’s recent money problems. They also explained that, as a member of Baker’s transition team, Taylor operated as a “brainstorming entity’’ and that, as an all-volunteer advisory committee, transition team members do not undergo the rigorous vetting process for government-appointed officials.