Hey, there! Log in / Register
Election roundup: Election-date fiddling not finished
By adamg on Thu, 03/25/2021 - 2:14pm
Remember when the City Council rushed to get a measure to the State House to eliminate the possibility of four separate elections for mayor this year, and the legislature and the governor agreed and then Marty Walsh didn't wind up getting confirmed until after the date that would have triggered the extra special elections anyway?
Well, in one of his last official acts as mayor, on Monday, Walsh asked the City Council to change the date of the September preliminary election from Sept. 21 to Sept. 14. In a letter to the council, Walsh said the city needs a week of extra time between the preliminary and the November final because the Covid-19-related voting by mail would cause challenges getting final ballots ready after the preliminary. A council committee will consider the matter first before deciding whether to do that and, if so, ask current acting Mayor Kim Janey to sign off on it.
John Barros is demanding that four Boston hotels that fired workers hire them back. Councilor Ed Flynn (South Boston, South End, Chinatown, Downtown) says he's willing to get arrested at a protest outside the Nine Zero Hotel tomorrow.
The Dorchester Reporter reports that state Rep. Ed Coppinger (D-West Roxbury) has endorsed fellow state Rep. Jon Santiago (D-South End) for mayor.
The Beacon Hill Times reports on Councilor Annissa Essaibi George's meetings with small-business owners.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
What would you ask the candidates?
Should I meet any of them, I will ask what their plan is for getting Long Island back open. As I have noted in the past, they should just build a dock (a good one) and start running ferries and have the place open by the end of the year. This $100 million bridge isn't going to happen before 2023 at the earliest.
I'd ask them what realistic
I'd ask them what realistic plan they have to get needed facilities and services in the city NOW!
-
Any of them that think "waiting for Peter Pan & Tinkerbell to fly across the city each evening at sunset and pick up the "lost people" and bring them to an island" is a realistic plan should be disqualified.
Well...
When Long Island was open, several MBTA buses operated scheduled trips every morning to bring people into Downtown Boston. It stands to reason that there was a robust program that brought those people to Long Island the night before....
I'd ask most of them to drop out.
Seriously.
Andrea Campbell is receiving more than half of her money from outside of Boston. She's also refused to meet with several neighborhood associations, and advocates. She'll be a mini Marty Walsh, will ignore the unpopularity of the BPDA, and will let developers continue their assault on Boston's neighborhoods.
John Barros served as the city's Chief of Economic Development starting in 2014. During this time the Boston Fed published its study in which a black family in Boston was found to have a median net worth of $8. Whereas a white family had a median net worth of over $247000, shown on Table 9 of this report: https://www.bostonfed.org/-/media/Documents/color-of-wealth/color-of-wea... . So exactly who's economics did he help since then? Here's a hint, it wasn't blacks.
Annnissa Essaibi-George didn't decide to run until after Marty dropped out. Boston has dealt with housing being removed from our long term market for short term rentals. Maybe ask her why she hasn't been more heavy handed in fighting this issue for our neighborhoods, instead of outside investors.
Jon Santiago: not a chance
Dana Depelteau: This is the "build less housing" guy. Really? Vote for this candidate? I think not.
Michelle Wu: The best option here. She has some unsavory connections, some of which might have advised her when she was younger. But she's smart, popular with actual Boston residents, and will meet with just about anyone to go over issues that they're facing. She's also willing to abolish the BPDA. Stated so in this report: https://www.michelleforboston.com/plans/abolish-bpda
Kim Janey: Second best option behind Wu. Developers are afraid of both Wu, and Janey. Like Wu, Janey is more likely to stick up for the Boston voters who support here, and less likely to bend over for the outside developers, and investors.
The money that Campbell, and Wu are raising isn't impressive, it's gross. A good amount of it is coming from outside of Boston, and will influence their decisions. The pols we vote into office do what we ask less often, and this isn't a secret. The election system should to rebooted, the way this guy says:
https://youtu.be/PJy8vTu66tE
Afraid?
I don't want a Mayor who makes developers afraid. Or over-excited.
I want a Mayor who will work with developers, neighborhoods, employers, employees, cultural/educational/healthcare institutions, the state, and other actors to help Boston grow in a sustainable and equitable way.
As much as the Seaport is a disappointment, there are real positives to the development in Kenmore/Fenway. The Suffolk Downs plans aren't as dense or low-car-use as I'd like, but they're a real improvement over what there's now, particularly for such a large project.
It's early days. Lots of candidates have a lane. No reason to shut 'em out just yet (except Dana Depelteau -- he has no lane).
Working with someone, and for someone is different.
Boston's residents pay taxes, and thereby pay the mayor, as a result the mayor should work for us. To a great extent, that hasn't been happening.
Want things to improve? Then quit endorsing the current system of backroom deals. Every single conversation by a mayor that we pay, and a developer, need to be made public record each and every night.
Andrea Campbell is receiving
While I doubt this rhetoric is actually true, I'd personally prefer a mayor that doesn't bow down to NIMBYs in neighborhoods who don't speak for most residents and are the primary cause of our housing crisis. My criticism of Walsh here is that he did too much of that. I'd welcome a mayor that tells them to pound sand.
OCPF has Campbell's donations list all available.
Between 9/30/2020, and 1/11/2021 she received $562926.10 from donors outside of Boston.
For the same time period she received $372787.68 from donors in Boston.
Outside donations equals more than Boston donations. This information is available at this link:
https://www.ocpf.us/ReportData/GetExcelOutput?1=1&filerCpfId=15931&searc...
Anyone can sort through this data. When they do, if they do, they will see that she is in fact getting more funding from outside of the city that she wants to lead.
People living in areas to be impacted by development deserve to have their voices heard. Andrea herself said: "...to really build trust and I think that's important with any relationship you want to talk about things other than simply crime to know you know what's important to the people who live in that community..." Well, she's claimed this, but not followed through.
https://youtu.be/7Qg5i1NQUNM
When my ballot gets dropped off this coming fall, I don't have her name checked off to be our next mayor.
I suspect Barros has some
I suspect Barros has some understanding of the issues facing black (and other non-white) families regarding net worth.