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Top Walsh aide quits for Olympic group
By adamg on Thu, 02/05/2015 - 1:47pm
The Herald reports on the departure of Joe Rull, the mayor's chief operating officer; quotes the mayor as expecting Rull to continue to watch out for the city's best interests even as he gets paid by the private Boston 2024.
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Comments
Uh Oh
This is the scariest development yet.
yup
(I sent adam the link when I saw it come thru my feed)
I'm shocked.. OK I'm not.. but makes me wonder who else will jump.
This just goes to show you what's really be done to force this down our throats. Lots of Mass Political "insiders"jumping ship.
Who's next?
Not surprised at all
A hack's gotta do what a hack's gotta do.
Stop the charade already
Just further proof that all of this has already been decided, bought and paid for. They might as well stop the charade right this minute and say to the people of Boston "people more powerful than you have decided it is in their best interests to have the Olympics here and it has been so decreed". That's the long and the short of it. Its all been decided and the rest of us might as well roll over.
Relax
The Olympics are not going to be held in Boston. No chance. The IOC is not going to pick Boston over any number of other cities which are much larger and more in a position to give the IOC everything they want.
This guy is simply leaving to make a boatload of money and he'll come back to Walsh when the IOC rules out Boston.
Wait
Are you saying that against the likes of Rome, Berlin, and Paris, Boston stands no chance?
Hey, as long as tax dollars aren't being spent at this point, they can push for the Olympics all they want.
Who Pays The Salaries Of The Mayor, And Other City Employees?
... and is all the work they're doing promoting the Olympics, being done on their own free time?
BIngo
I love that Walsh said the Olympic bid wouldn't distract him from state business....after already having to fly to LA for an Olympic pitch. If we weren't caught up in this dumb 2024 stuff, would he have been at Suffolk last night or would he have been at a neighborhood meeting, or talking to advisers, or doing just about anything else that would be more useful.
USOC versus IOC
Anon, we've been over this again and again and again. The modus operandi of the IOC is to pick the city based on the best deal they get.
At this point, the IOC hasn't even been involved. Only the USOC. Therefore, there is no "fix" or "decree".
So, there's still a chance
for Boston to get a local comic to do enough off-color jokes to offend the IOC and, thus, remove us from final consideration.
That's how Springfield lost their Olympic bid.
Ahhhh
The glue gives it an extra pop.
And he didn't even get to his
And he didn't even get to his Ubangi routine.
On your marks, get set...
Let the corruption games begin!
Here piggies!
SUEY!!! SUEY!!! COME HERE YOU LITTLE HOGS.. WE HAVE A NEW TROUGH FOR YOU TO FEED AT!!!
Golly
Who saw that coming?
This might work out
Even as he was paid by the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll helped deliver the Patriots the title he was once hired to go after. Maybe "watching out for the city's best interest" involves the civic equivalent of choosing not to run Lynch in from the 2.
Moving on
Isn't this the guy who didn't want to have to move to Boston to get the job with the city?
But he did, right?
I guess he will be either selling his place or breaking his lease.
I've heard some good things about him, though not from sources I trust. Still, if he didn't want to be with us, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Residency
I didn't see his name in the assessing records, so if he did in fact move he must be renting. And I think he got some sort of extension on how soon he had to establish residency.
Assessing not the best source
If he just bought, he wouldn't appear for a while. That said, the Suffolk County Registrar of Deeds only has the records from when he liquidated his Southie holdings around 5 years ago.
But why buy when you are paying the mortgage on the house your wife and kids keep on living in in Norwell.
Not reliable
A positive result in the assessing records is reliable, but a negative result isn't. If he buys via a shell fund or condo association, he won't be found by searching for his name either.
If this keeps up
Mahty Walsh will be looking like the Sarah Palin of Boston mayors.
please
lets not insult....
gee I don't know who's worse right now in my book. Mahty or Sarah..
Okay Sarah just because she's got shit for brains (at least Mahty has a partially working one)
Howszabout a recall petition?
Martys just gonna do more damage to this city if we let him serve his term out.
I'm a bit ignorant of the laws, Is a recall even possible?
'Cause that's something I could get behind.
He's got pretty high approval ratings
Before you start talking about a recall petition, you should look at the poll results. In spite of what you hear here in UHub, Walsh has high approval ratings. They will take a hit because of the snow and the Olympic bid, but I suspect his fundamental approval will remain strong. (Not a supporter at all; just pointing out the reality of the situation.)
High approval ratings
High approval ratings according to who?
Much as I've come to hate
Much as I've come to
hatedisapprove of and dislike the guy, Walsh's poll numbers are pretty overwhelming.Source: WBUR poll last month
Sample of 500 people that are
Sample of 500 people that are mostly pro-Olympics? That doesn't match the 200-300 person sample I have from talking to people in my neighborhood at all.
When were those polls from?
And some citations would be helpful.
Otherwise, take a new poll today and see how high his ratings are.
People recognize him for being
the second or third best Boston mayor in the last 20-odd years.
What, you have a love of Joe Rull?
The way I figure it, perhaps Marty can have all of his buddies from Beacon Hill and wherenot head off to the Olympics, to be replaced by managers that are from Boston and reflect Boston. That was a promise whose reality can be called into question.
The Athens of America being
The Athens of America being looted before our eyes the worst political class in a century.
Howso?
How is it being looted now?
an aide
Making 150K a year would be one example.....
Aide?
He was COO of the city. You don't think a COO can't pull down $125k ($150k is what Boston2024 is going to pay him)?
Problem is...
We already pay a Mayor to run the city......
Generic distrust of authority is dumb
Look, I get it. You can't understand why a metropolis of over 600,000 people needs more than one C-level equivalent at the top. You think a hamster on a wheel can run the city blindfolded so why have a CEO and COO. Clearly it was graft because the hamster didn't need a second set of legs to push the wheel. Besides, what I the hell is the difference between a CEO and COO anyways...or even a CFO for that matter? Just a bunch of overpaid slackers 'running' things.
Why if you were in charge, you'd do it all yourself. Payroll, building management, project prioritization, budget management, kissing babies, meeting dignitaries and signing contracts, union negotiations, setting governmental IT policies, making sure the State prioritizes the city's needs...
Two guys? Hell, that's like a weekend gig every other month at best.
I stand corrected....
When I read the article in the Herald it made him sound like just anther clipboard holder, obviously that does not look like the case here. Maybe it will be a good thing to have a city guy in there.
He wasn't COO
And I think he was a bartender before joining the Walsh campaign. he worked for Menino for a while in one of the entry-level neighborhood services jobs.
He's not being hired for being smart but for being connected.
Untruths
Maybe he only got jobs for being politically connected, but you should get your facts straight.
Before Rull was working for the Walsh campaign:
"Rull was previously director of legislative affairs for the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. From 2002 to 2008, Rull was a special assistant to former Mayor Tom Menino."
http://m.patriotledger.com/article/20140107/News/30107952
He worked as neighborhood rep for Southie, but Menino was mayor for 20 years. And it had to be over 12 years ago.
I know Joe and I know my facts
Titles are meaningless. The easiest thing to do is to give a hack a fancy title.
Here's a quote from a Globe article of 3/30/2014:
"...as he held a job as Patrick’s legislative director, Rull worked into the night valet-parking cars in the Fenway and serving as a bar back and bartender on the South Boston waterfront to make ends meet for himself, his wife, Caroline, and their growing family.
He was bartending while working on Walsh’s campaign and gave it up only in October."
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for someone working multiple jobs to pay the bills. But I also know that no one who has a serious job working for a governor has time for a night job.
Joe's a good political operative. That's why people bring him on. Looks like that's what he'll be doing for Boston 2024.
This is untrue: "He wasn't
This is untrue: "He wasn't COO".
He was the city's first COO.
This part is misleading: "And I think he was a bartender before joining the Walsh campaign." [along with his other job].
And maybe you don't like fancy titles that don't live up to the responsibility, but the same thing happens in private industry. You still identify people by their official title. I doubt you were looking over each person's desk to see if they were really performing what their job title suggested.
this staffer is no hack
I know this person through his in-laws and he is no hack and I feel offended for him and his family that is being tossed around. He has worked his way through school and his career against all odds and loves this city he has lived in all his life.
The Olympic freight train has left the yard and we may not be able to slow it down I am happy to have someone like him in the City's corner.
He's probably a good guy
And the word is that he does a good job. That said-
1. He is now mixed up with this Olympics thing, which puts a bull's eye on him.
2. He abandoned Boston, then bitched about having to move back in when he started being paid by the taxpayers of the City of Boston. Yes, that's my gripe with him. People move out, and I know people who have decamped to the suburbs, but having a high level executive working for a city that requires employees to live here drag his feet about doing so (and he is not the only one, and I look upon all of them the same way) frosts me.
He isn't in the city's corner
He isn't in the city's corner. He is in the olympic committee's pocket. His job is to take tax payer money and give it to the IOC and millionaires like John Fish. Its a scam.
Ohhh
So you know his in-laws, so you know he's not a hack? Makes perfect sense.
Oh my gawd, there just the sweetest couple!
Seriously though, his inlaws?!?
May have well just said they go to the same car wash.
seriously nothing.....
I just tried to say I met him through his in laws, I am not a life long southie friend sticking up for him.
I have known him and his wife for years and he is a great kid, father, husband, and city employee. I am only trying to say he is a great kid and has a great head on his shoulders. He has no hack mentality.
grow up and sling your playground comments elsewhere....
He's a hack and a bully
Shawn, first of all, not only is he not a nice guy, he's city hall's resident bully. More than a few city hall employees will be dancing in the halls at this news.
Second, he has not lived here his whole life. He had to rent an apartment in the city to meet the residency requirement.
I am surprised that this job move doesn't violate conflict of interest laws.
Rull
should take the DPW Commissioner with him. Let's get somebody who knows how to get the snow off the streets.
As I asked about Davey - does
As I asked about Davey - does he have to register as a lobbyist?
Seriously - I worked for the state, and I think I remember the ethics refresher quiz pounding into us every year that you couldn't just leave state service and start working for a company whose bids/contracts you would have been overseeing in your old job (had to wait for a year). Does something similar apply to the city?
Ah! Somebody else thought
Ah! Somebody else thought about it:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/02/job_boos...
Rulled out
This is depressing. Walsh so wants the Olympics in Boston that he is willing to lose his closest and most important aide to the 2024 committee. If he wanted a conduit to what's going on, he could have chosen someone else. The committee would hire anyone he suggests, because they know they need to hire "Marty's guy."
Rull was in great spot, the chance to make a difference at the start of a new administration. But he went for the gold.