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Gown takes a shot at Town: BU sues to block City Council subpoena
By adamg on Fri, 11/28/2014 - 6:14pm
The Globe reports Boston University has gone to court to try to block a City Council subpoena requiring President Robert Brown to show up at a council committee hearing on Tuesday.
The council demanded Brown's presence after Councilor Tito Jackson reported he had been disrespected by Brown when Brown sent him a note the afternoon before an earlier council hearing that Brown could not make it.
Jackson is looking into the diversity of the workforce at local colleges and wants Brown to give an explanation of BU's numbers.
In recent months, the council has thrown its subpoena weight around, threatening to issue them against both the police commissioner and a local landlord. This is is the first time, however, that the council has issued a formal demand - which carries the risk of arrest if ignored.
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Comments
Is this a city function?
Isn't there a state agency charged with investigating/enforcing EEO issues?
Yep
I think the idea is to consider extending the (not really enforced) city guidelines for construction projects (which call for a certain number of Boston-resident, minority and women hires).
Where would Tito like his constituency placed?
Would this be an exchange between Unskilled and Professional, to up the creds of his neck of the woods? (Would assume that The Market's already taken care of that.)
Bad idea
Given the small geographic size of Boston and shifting population, is this really practical or meaningful? If we were a large city, like Houston or NYC, with a city population in the millions it might possibly make more sense but not really.
Imagine if there were to be a meaningful impact on BU where they had to hire a specific number of city residents. If they were good jobs, might that just lead to people moving to the city in order to get one of these jobs, possibly increasing gentrification? Or are we going then institute some rule that you have to have been born in Boston or something?
With respect to good jobs , I
With respect to good jobs , I had a friend who's pa worked there , he no speeka da english ,but made enough to raise a family, but more importantly , his daughter went to BU free ride. My friend might have as well , except I don't think he got along with books too well.
BU
Employs tons of non-college educated folks of all races. Many of them opt to live not-in-Boston because their housing dollar goes further not-in-Boston. Or they did live in Boston but the commute didn't make sense after awhile (Somerville, after all, is closer than West Roxbury), or they had kids and voted for a different school system by moving.
Especially the tenured professors: someone gets hired as a tenure-track prof at age 37 and then stays with the university 40 years. The cute walkup on the south side of Comm Ave in Allston has an expiration date.
My friend's pa could have
My friend's pa could have commuted , but he had a Rambler. Think he took the trolley car when it snowed. I remember this because it had a push button transmission. Plymouth did too.
Good for BU to say FU to an
Good for BU to say FU to an identity politics circus shakedown.
The city council has no business harassing private entities when it doesn't have its own house in good order.
Rooting for gown
Do any of these clowns know how foolish they look? There were a few of them that I thought had some sense. Notice the past tense. Can't wait to vote for whomever has the guts to run against my current councilor.
Re-election and The Yancey Principle:
The Yancey Principle goes something like this--
In *some* electoral districts, once you are elected, re-election is a near-certainty as long as 1) no opposing candidate gains the least bit of traction and 2) all the dumb things you say or do, or illegal things you do, are done within the walls of City Hall.
Bite the hand that feeds you
Reasons Jackson is being an asshole and/or oblivious:
- BU pays the city far more then any other institution in terms of Payments in Lieu of Taxes -- more then any other Boston school combined. These payments are optional and BU could stop at any time.
- While the city requires police officers to live in the city a large percentage ignore or sidestep this rule though a number of documented means. Perhaps the city could investigate their own employees first?
- BU offered to send a slate of people to the council who would say the same things as Brown. So this isn't about "fact finding", it's Tito's chance to lecture BU. Tito Jackson: a guy who has trouble making ends meet with a $85,000 salary and thinks he deserves a $20k raise at the city's expense. He's in no position to lecture anyone on responsibility.
- BU is required by law to document much of what Tito want to know if he was really interested. Hint: Tito is barking up the wrong tree. If he wants more Boston residents employed, improve the public schools so more Boston raised residents have the skills needed to work at BU or any other business.
Rooting for town
This pretentious clown Brown might be busy, but I doubt he's that busy. I would consider it an honor that the government wanted to talk to/listen to me, so long as it wasn't a grand jury or something. He should lose the attitude and just testify at the damn hearing.
An honor, really?
You really think these councillors are looking for input from Brown? This is intended to be adversarial, not an honor.
If the Mayor requested a meeting or an appropriate regulatory city board, then he should show up.
So it's merely a question of "who's asking"?
Why should that matter so much? Not everyone voted for Walsh. Jackson has constituents he's trying to represent, just like Walsh. Did this start out adversarial? Why should it be, necessarily? Isn't BU a liberal, nonprofit institution? One would think they would be happy to help in any way...unless they're actually just another business peddling a product, albeit an extremely expensive one.
Tito has only one issue on which
to run and represent. Race. It will be race for private employers , race for public employees, race for education ( a new one there), race for policing, race for the courts. The problem for Tito is that when he talks race his focus is on one community which is no longer the majority of the minority community. Sonia Chang Diaz has earned the brass ring and she should be the face of change in Boston. Not Tito who represents the Chuck Turner approach to public service.
Are you really this naive?
"One would think they would be happy to help in any way.."
They have offered to be helpful. Sending data and knowledgeable staff would be more helpful than sending the president. Who, by the way, has a real job, unlike our part-time city councilors.
If you care about headlines rather than substance, then the Council has won this round. Give 'em a raise!
Where's the honor?
Why should the BU pres be honored to attend a meeting where a councillor, with no real power, will attempt to score political points by grandstanding? What's the honor?
If you think the mayor and the city council are anything close to equal in terms of power, importance or influence, you're incorrect. I voted for Conolly but recognize that Walsh is the most important politician in the city, by a very very large margin.
Disrespecting my authoritay
Can you imagine if Tito Jackson subpoenaed everyone who disrespected him?
Imagine if everyone got to ignore subpoenas?
You should try it. Was Jackson the only City Councillor to vote on this?
They aren't ignoring it
They are taking legal action to make it go away.
President Brown
do not dare disrespect the clown circus and Chuck Turners hand picked Mayoral candidate Tito (not Michaels brother) Jackson.
In a month who will become President of Boston City Council?...
In a month who will become President of Boston City Council?... Councilor Wu?
Ronald
McDonald.
Looks like they worked it out
According to the Globe:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/02/robert-brown-will-appear-bef...