The old Metropolitan District Commission building on Somerset Street in Boston is no longer there, taken down and replaced by a shining glass and steel structure housing Suffolk University offices and classrooms. The demolition of the old MDC structure was also symbolic, heralding a new era that pulled the patronage-laden agency into the new age of professionalism and accountability.

Well, not so much.

The MDC’s spawn, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, is under fire for practicing politics in a way not much removed from its ancestor. So far, three heads have rolled as a result of a number of embarrassing missteps by appointees of Gov. Charlie Baker and a major shake-up of the remaining structure is on its way.

To longtime observers of the ways of Beacon Hill, the upheaval triggered memories of not so long ago, when the state’s parks agency was the melting pot of political appointees. The saying goes that elections have consequences, a rationalization for victors being able to put their people in place. In the pre-DCR days, that meant lawmakers were able to place sons, daughters, nieces and nephews, and friends of family members on the payroll as lifeguards and parks maintenance workers. New administrations took advantage to land jobs for political workers and donors in the higher offices and everybody just got along fine, with the occasional bump in the road.

Some recall that under Baker’s mentor, William Weld, there was a dust-up when then-defeated senator Robert Hedlund landed a post as deputy commissioner for the MDC only to clash with the commissioner at the time, Ilyas Bhatti, who charged Hedlund was using the office to make political calls to lay the foundation for his return to the Senate. Hedlund’s phone records and schedules showed a number of calls and meetings with people in Marshfield and Scituate, neither of which contained MDC property but which were part of Hedlund’s South Shore district.

Weld had made several unsuccessful attempts at defunding the MDC and merging it with the Department of Environmental Management, but his efforts always met with resistance in the Legislature. But the agency was always in the news, including revelations over holdings such as a “Stress House,” where MDC employees having a bad day could go to chill out.

Then-MDC Commissioner David Balfour became the embodiment of what can happen when a politically charged environment invades a state agency. Balfour was the subject of numerous stories, ranging from jobs for family members and high-end SUVs to selling and leasing agency land at under-market rates to establishments where he frequented or was friendly with owners.

In 2003, then governor Mitt Romney finally pulled off the miracle by merging the agency with the Department of Environmental Management and creating the DCR under the umbrella of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. All the non-pedestrian roads and bridges were moved over to the Department of Transportation.

Though you can take the agency out of politics, it appears you can’t take the politics out of the agency. Some of the Baker appointees apparently carried on the time-honored tradition of political bigfooting, marshalling DCR golf carts to ferry party bigwigs to and from a July 4th fireworks party.

Another DCR appointee transferred an administration employee after her fiancé launched a run for the seat of Republican state Sen. Donald Humason. That, in turn, cost not only the offending employee his job, but his cousin in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, who didn’t have anything to do with the transfer but had the same last name, stepped down as well.

Baker is being given credit for his decisive action in the incidents, though some are saying it dragged out longer than it should have. But the spotlight is once again on an agency that apparently can’t shake its past. While it’s true elections have consequences, consequences have consequences as well. There’s another old saying: Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.

JACK SULLIVAN

BEACON HILL

The MBTA’s cleaning contract demonstrates the political divide between the administrations of Gov. Charlie Baker and former governor Deval Patrick when it comes to running the transit agency. (CommonWealth)

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority says many of its old water tunnels are in desperate need of repair, but they can’t be fixed without finding an alternative way to deliver the water they carry. (State House News)

September tax revenues remain sluggish. (CommonWealth)

State Treasurer Deb Goldberg plans to file legislation next month for online Lottery sales; her office was mum on whether the bill would also include fantasy sports. (Boston Herald)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Municipal hiring under Mayor Marty Walsh has only increased racial diversity slightly, and the rebranded Boston Planning & Development Agency has become less diverse under his reign. (Boston Globe) Walsh pledged to boost diversity in CIty Hall, and minority voters were key to his election, a fact that may not be coincidental to his planned backing of Suffolk County’s African-American sheriff, Steve Tompkins, for Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman, writes Jim O’Sullivan. (Boston Globe)

Lawrence officials are still trying to understand how concertgoers did so much damage to the turf field and track at Veterans Memorial Stadium when 26 police officers were on hand. (Eagle-Tribune)

Natick selectmen are split over whether to use $6 million from the town’s burgeoning free cash to pay for an abandoned rail bed for a bike trail after plans for the state to pay for half fell through. (MetroWest Daily News)

In an editorial that appears in both English and Spanish, the Globe says the tributes to David Ortiz are testament to the city’s embrace of its multicultural identity — a far cry from the days when Celtics great Bill Russell termed Boston a “flea market of racism.”

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

The FBI has arrested a former National Security Agency contractor in connection with the alleged theft and disclosure of highly classified computer code used to hack into foreign governments systems. (New York Times)

ELECTIONS

Unlike 15 years ago, there is lots more support for approval by Boston voters of the Community Preservation Act, starting with the city’s mayor. (Boston Globe)

Opponents of marijuana legalization focus their attacks on “Big Marijuana.” (CommonWealth)

Harvard education professor Thomas Kane says the cost of the charter school cap is paid by low-income, urban students. (CommonWealth)

A review of the Trump Foundation records showed between 2011 and 2014, the organization donated nearly $300,000 to influential nonprofit conservative and policy groups that corresponded to speaking engagements by Donald Trump in the lead-up to his run for president. (Real Clear Politics)

Eric Fehrnstrom joins the chorus of those who think the ultimate winner of Tuesday’s vice presidential debate may have been Mike Pence — and his 2020 campaign for president. (Boston Globe)

Bill Clinton tries to work some of his good-ole-boy magic in Ohio’s Trump country. (Boston Globe)

US Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who said during a debate that Trump is “absolutely” a role model for children before walking it back within hours, released a new ad saying neither she nor Trump is perfect. (National Review)

Two more independent candidates than expected will be on the ballot challenging US Rep. William Keating, bringing the total number of candidates to five including the incumbent. (Cape Cod Times)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Harvard dining service workers, who went out on strike yesterday, are actually paid awfully well, with one UMass economist saying the world’s wealthiest university is being “scapegoated” for the broader ills of growing inequality. (Boston Globe)

Jon Hurst, the president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, calls the state’s decision not to hold a tax-free holiday was “penny-wise and pound foolish.” (Gloucester Times)

Let’s just say Boston’s North End did not roll out the welcome mat for Pinkberry’s froyo outlet. (Boston Globe)

Cranberry harvest pictures, just because it’s New England and it’s that time of year. (Cape Cod Times)

EDUCATION

Telegram & Gazette columnist Dianne Williamson delves into the case of Kevin Mensah, who is fighting in court for the right to complete his senior football season.

A student at Methuen High School is disciplined for wearing a clown mask. (Eagle Tribune)

Education Secretary James Peyser told a gathering of school superintendents and other educators at UMass Dartmouth that the public system needs sweeping change, not incremental steps, especially at the early childhood level. (Standard-Times)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Cory Nelson has been revived after drug overdoses seven times over the last two years. Nelson is now charged with the theft of a tip jar and the judge in his case thinks jail may be the only way to save him. (Salem News)

Marion town officials are girding for a first-in-the-nation suit by the tobacco industry over a ban on flavored tobacco that includes menthol cigarettes. (Standard-Times)

TRANSPORTATION

Seven T workers, including the president of the Carmen’s Union, were arrested this morning as they blocked the entrance to the authority’s money room in Charlestown to protest privatization moves by the Baker administration. (Boston Herald) MBTA officials say turning the money operations of the agency over to Brink’s Inc. will improve operations and save millions of dollars annually. (CommonWealth)

MassDot is looking to trash Turnpike records on drivers dating back to 1998. (State House News)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Pittsfield officials are seriously considering funneling $562,000 to the Covanta waste-to-energy plant to keep it from closing. Officials at the plant say it’s too old and too small to operate at profitably. (Berkshire Eagle)

Longtime Pilgrim nuclear power plant watchdog Mary Lambert wants the 20-person inspection team of experts being sent by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to include someone knowledgeable about boiling water reactors and not to be under a gag order. (Cape Cod Times)

A Sharon man’s one-ton pumpkin is the largest grown in North America this year and second-largest in the world. (Patriot Ledger)

Hurricane Matthew has triggered evacuations from South Florida to South Carolina. (U.S. News & World Report)

MEDIA

Media outlet editorial pages are overwhelmingly coming out in support of Hillary Clinton, in large part because they view Donald Trump so negatively. Will the endorsements carry any weight in the election? (New York Times)