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Marty Walsh says goodbye

STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

Mayor Walsh gave his final state-of-the-city address tonight, which you can watch above (or read the text of). He spent a fair amount of time addressing the challenges of the past year (Covid-19 and racial inequality), but he also said goodbye to the city he's led for seven years now as he gets ready to become Joe Biden's Secretary of Labor.

Speaking from the newly rebuilt Roxbury branch library, he said:

The truth is, I’m not going to Washington alone. I’m bringing Boston with me. This city is not just my hometown, it’s my heart. It’s my mother and father at the kitchen table on Taft Street in Dorchester, talking about helping people. It’s the teachers, nuns, priests, and clergy who guided me. It’s every kid I coached in Little League or CYO, or at the Little House; everyone who shared recovery with me or reached out for help; my union and labor family; my mentors and colleagues at the State House; and all the elected officials I serve with in Boston.

It’s the staff at City Hall, and every employee of the City of Boston. ...

In the end, I carry with me the people of Boston, from every neighborhood: every child who shared a dream with me; every senior who shared a memory; every business owner who welcomed me in; every nonprofit or community leader I worked with; and everyone watching right now who cares about their family and the future of this city.

Walsh said he's already started talking to City Council President Kim Janey about the transition to her impending turn as acting mayor.

He said better days are ahead for Boston, partly because the new administration in Washington will be a friend to cities, but mainly because of the character of Bostonians:

We may be hurting, but the state of our city is resilient; the state of our city is united; the state of our city is hopeful; and the state of our city is deep-down Boston strong.

We must keep drawing on our strength - and on each other. Recovery won’t be easy. The virus will be with us for much of the year. The economic impacts will continue as well. There will be more hard decisions to make.

Whatever happens, I know one thing: Boston will stay true to its values. We believe in keeping each other safe. We believe in caring for those who are vulnerable. We believe justice and opportunity are for everyone.

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Comments

to the speculators who contributed so generously towards his $6 Million war chest, as they drove his beloved working families from the city.

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Thanks for the increased homelessness, increased murders, drug fueled robberies and other crimes, and being beat up by drug trafficking into the city. Same as it ever was. Big City Blues. Kiss the ass of high wealth development . It's all business.

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As to why Gross would be a good fit.

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Those problems are on the rise in every big city in America irrespective of leadership.

Walsh could have done better but there are limits to what the Mayor can do, particularly when there's not much in the way of state and federal assistance.

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he pleasantly surprised me with his basic decency and competence. Agree that he dropped the ball on dealing with the addiction crisis, but he did all the right things on the pandemic, and took police reform seriously. We've done worse in the Mayor's office, and likely will do so again.

Break a leg in DC, Marty: you can't help but do a better job than the guys you're replacing -- the first one had let Jeffrey Epstein skate, and the second one was truly Trumpian in his opposition to the mission of the Labor Department -- and the fact that the country is in a position to appoint you at all offers room for hope. Had Trump won again, America would be well and truly fucked. (Thanks to Trump, we may still be fucked, but it's less of an absolute certainty today.)

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From the world's luckiest union bagman? Especially when he started lying about his abysmal record on race and climate change.

Especially when you consider all those years sitting in a bar in Dorchester listening to his union pals whining about the you know whats taking jobs. Think he decried their racism or just ordered another beer?

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The children HAVE shared their dream, and it’s to be back in school! March 1 isn’t soon enough, and it’s “tentative”. Would have been nice to see some caring about the children while he was still Mayor.

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Can't wait to see how well he holds up during the confirmation hearings,

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that by voting for Biden, I technically did get my chance to vote Marty out.

Deuces.

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These Politicians lay it on thick.
He got a better gig so he jumped ship, See Ya Marty, have fun In DC.

A few years down there and you too will become a millionaire, it's magic !

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Can't wait to watch his confirmation hearing.

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