Hey, there! Log in / Register

Now we know why Deval Patrick showed up in Franklin Park Thursday night

It seemed a bit odd at the time: There, in the back of a community meeting about the Olympics and Franklin Park sat Deval Patrick, smiling, but not saying anything.

The Globe reports this morning that Patrick's former minion and current Boston 2024 CEO Richard Davey has hired the newly retired governor to go on a lot of foreign trips, in a job as "global ambassador" to the International Olympics Committee. In the role, Patrick will journey overseas to shmooze the panjandrums of the IOC on why they should deign to grant Boston their munificence in 2024.

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

Too bad, because he'll probably actually be good at it.

up
Voting closed 0

Again, is there absolutely anything associated with 2024 that isn't completely rotten?

up
Voting closed 0

First he wants to stink the place up with casinos and now he wants to trash it with the Olympics. I like the guy but what will he not foul? Franklin park will be paved. This is what Patrick stands for and didn't he have so much promise once and now he's what?

up
Voting closed 0

See his past corpo history with Texaco, Coca Cola, and Ameriquest (sub-prime mortgages). He's just a grifting greedhead with an inclusion/progressive/diversity patter that's fooled more than a few people, more than a few times.

up
Voting closed 0

Too bad that he didn't use his "persuasive powers" to fix the MBTA and commuter rail so that people aren't standing on platforms in near zero degree weather wondering if a train will come an d if it does will there be room on it or will it stop.

up
Voting closed 0

It's fair to criticize Patrick on many things, but funding the Mbta is not one. From early in his administration he pushed to dramatically increase transportation funding and deleo and Murray shot him down time and time again, instead just singing reform before revenue (for the t, not for the convention center, highways, or anything else they liked to fund). He tried to invest in the t, as baker is trying to do on a smaller scale, but Murray and deleo kept shooting him down, especially for maintenance. He did get signaling project funded and new commuter rail cars and engines. I will agree him dropping the red blue connector was a huge mistake which cripples the inner core of our subway.

up
Voting closed 0

Do we have any say on any of this? It seems more and more these guys are just doing whatever they want and the public/residents/taxpaying citizens don't matter/don't exist. I know, I know....same as it ever was.

up
Voting closed 0

No, we have absolutely no say, any more than we had a say about the casinos. Why does nobody realize this when it is so glaringly obvious? They're not even making a secret of it. The Olympics are a done deal. Look how fast the whole thing has escalated and who is involved. The rich and powerful are laughing at us. They will have their Olympics and leave the city devastated in it's wake. It's a damn shame.

up
Voting closed 0

... mean to you?

any more than we had a say about the casinos

People had a lot of say about casinos. Just because what the people said isn't what you wanted doesn't mean you were disenfranchised.

up
Voting closed 0

I don't have a citation but I do recall talk of certain elected officials (one being Martha Coakley) remarking that even if the referendum returned a "no" to casinos, somehow they would have been built regardless. Given the way our current Legislature works that wouldn't surprise me - and the same goes for the Olympics.

up
Voting closed 0

In the case of the casinos, there was that little bug of private entities giving over to the Commonwealth and expending on their own large sums of cash on the assumption that the bill that was passed was what was going to happen. Sure, if the referendum on repealing the casinos passed the Commonwealth could have just pulled out the rug, and the casinos would have sued the state for lots and lots of cash.

Now, the IOC doesn't like the idea of cities backing out from hosting the Olympics, but thankfully we have renegotiated that, so damages from a "no" vote would be minimal.

up
Voting closed 0

"What does 'voter referendum' mean to you? People had a lot of say about casinos. Just because what the people said isn't what you wanted doesn't mean you were disenfranchised."

I admire your faith in the system. I once had such faith, but no more. It's a far, far different world now and the people with the money absolutely get what they want and voter referendums and the public be damned. That's simply how it is. These issues like casinos and Olympics are decided, bought and paid for before the public even knows they are issues, let alone issues they think they have a say on one way or the other, before there is any "referendum". It's sad. it's like a bad science fiction movie.

up
Voting closed 0

I just don't know what to think anymore... seems to be like everyone whos anyone is involved now in this boondoggle. Who's next to join the Boston2024 payroll?

I'll keep saying it but bears repeating.. the more time goes on, the more I think we're going to get this whether we like it or not.

up
Voting closed 0

Hack-or-Rama 2024. Look at all the names involved.

up
Voting closed 0

That was a fast sellout indeed. Call me a pessimist, but all I see here in Boston 2024 is an epic tale about arrogance, a Greek tragedy of urban planning about a resurgent city that had clawed its way back from decay only to decide that it still wasn't good enough, it had to be New York or LA or something, to kiss the suns of East and West and hold the world at its behest...and these stories don't end well.

up
Voting closed 0

I'm thinking more Marx Brothers than Sophocles.

up
Voting closed 0

It makes no difference anyway
Whatever it is, I'm against it!
No matter what it is
Or who commenced it
I'm against it!

up
Voting closed 0

if you think this country's bad off now, just wait till i get through with it!

up
Voting closed 0

Everybody knows there ain't no such thing as a Sanity Clause!

And for 2024, ain't that the truth?

up
Voting closed 0

some Marx Brothers-style antics at all these public meetings might be just the thing to lance this festering boil of an Olympics bid. I volunteer to be Harpo.

up
Voting closed 0

The famous Deval Patrick.
From his hack job technocratic
the ex-Governor has Arrived!

up
Voting closed 0

When they start trying to bulldoze sites they might discover that Bostonians are not asleep (I hope). As the reality of businesses shut down, houses torn down, large sections of the city shut off from residents for a long period and a new tax to pay for the Olympics settles in,bthen there might be a substantial resistance to turning Boston into the modern day Brahmin's sports playground.

Patrick was hired to sell Boston as a site to people outside of Boston. I am grossly disappointed in him. If he ran for a any Federal position this alone would sway my vote away from him.

But he is selling it outside of Boston. I at least want to believe that if a majority of the city sees this as a massive land grab, a robbery by people who believe they are rule by God's will, that the entire snow job of the Olympics will melt.

up
Voting closed 0

could potentially do a lot of good. If the IOC sees that there is in fact considerable organized local opposition, they may be convinced to take their creepy oligarch screwjob somewhere more passive.

up
Voting closed 0

There are actually two groups working against the Olympics. One is No Boston Olympics - the people who dress in suits and write up research papers and stuff.

The other is No Boston 2024, with some organizers whose names/handles would be familiar to anybody who had something to do with Occupy Boston.

up
Voting closed 0

The Olympics is such a bad idea it has the Tea Party and Occupy joining forces with the silent majority to say "OH HELL NO!"

up
Voting closed 0

I rarely indulge in conspiracy theories, but this is just too tempting.

This isn’t about the Olympics, this is Round 1 in the Deval for President tour.

Think about it. You’re a former governor with future presidential ambitions, so you don’t want to fall off the radar screen. But for now, you want to earn some big bucks, preferably not tainted by industry affiliations that will come back to haunt you. You need to rub shoulders with world leaders so you can claim some foreign policy credentials. You want to mingle with deep pocket sponsors and donors who you can call when the future exploratory committee starts fundraising. You need a core political team ready to go.

So what do you do? Find a perch at a prestigious university that pays well with few responsibilities. Take this gig with Boston2024 that will not only pay a good salary but will cover your travel expenses and give you access to a presidential candidate’s dream political and fundraising contact list. And which will also pay former loyal political staff a good salary and keep them together working with you.

The cost? Whatever John Fish and Marty Walsh want for their construction and labor constituencies. But a huge win for Deval whether Boston gets the Olympics or not.

When I take off my tin foil hat, I have to wonder Charlie Baker thinks of having the former governor on the world stage, making all kinds of promises that could fall on the new governor to fulfill.

up
Voting closed 0

He parlayed that "I got the IOC thing back on track" into a couple of (mercifully) near misses.

up
Voting closed 0

He is always too smug, too arrogant, too condescending. He'll fit right in with the Olympic supporters. And that's because many of them once worked for him. It's a total hack job ready to screw not just the city of Boston but the entire state. Can't wait to hear just how high Patrick's six-figure salary is.

up
Voting closed 0

He is always too smug, too arrogant, too condescending.

Coakley as well.

It may be that these qualities are just what MA likes to elect? Or maybe you are looking through a different sort of lens.

up
Voting closed 0

That Deval just took it to an extreme. His unending, overwhelming support of Timothy Murray may have been what made it just that more obvious to me.

up
Voting closed 0

this vitriol and bizarre conspiracy theory stuff really bugs me - I personally know a few people involved in the bid and they aren't bad people. I know they're trying to get feedback right now, and the absolute worst thing people can do is to falsely believe these guys are trying to pull one over on them. Everything is up in the air, and people need to show up to meetings much better informed on the issues so that they are taken seriously. The fact that the executive director of the franklin park coalition had no clue where the organizers were in the process is astounding to me.

adam - you're starting to sound like the bridging forest hills people - be careful.

up
Voting closed 0

"people need to show up to meetings much better informed on the issues so that they are taken seriously"

Uh, the purpose of the meetings is to help people become informed. They should be allowed to ask questions without being judged negatively for not having done enough homework.

I too know several employees of Boston2024 and while I would also say they're not bad people, I personally can't trust an organization that insists that anyone who asks for transparency in how our tax dollars are spent or who questions the goal of hosting the games in Boston is somehow not a good citizen. Their affiliation with Boston 2024 has changed my opinion of people who I've respected and worked with for many years.

So far Boston 2024 hasn't given me any reason to trust them--to the contrary. Doesn't make me a BFH type.

up
Voting closed 0

I think opponents of the Boston Olympics could show more trust in at least the honest purposes of Olympic supporters.

up
Voting closed 0

I don't doubt the honesty of individuals who think that hosting the Olympics games is a good idea.

I do doubt the honesty of an organization that:
- pledges the use of public and private land they don't own, without consulting the owners, businesses, and employees whose livelihood depends on that property
- pledges public infrastructure improvements, at the public's expense, that have not been fully budgeted, and that would necessarily come at the expense of other public priorities
- requires the city to sign a legally binding commitment to pay for cost over-runs, while they would owe nothing
- thinks it's okay to ask a mayor to sign a gag order to prevent city employees from voicing their opinions
- fights any efforts of transparency
- has leadership (and major supporters) who stands to make huge personal financial gains at the public's expense

If Boston 2024 showed any respect for "the honest purposes" of opponents who worry about the items above, then maybe I'd return the favor.

up
Voting closed 0

It's an honest question: Why should we?

They haven't earned any trust; as pointed out above, they have steamrolled and lied about this bid from the beginning and have fought any attempts at transparency. Most of the early backers all stand to make substantial personal profit from any games, and yet we're supposed to believe that they are pure as the driven snow?

Face it: a small group of highly-connected businesses leaders thought it would be fun to host a party for their own egos at the expense of every resident in the immediate area. They are making promises that they don't have to keep; they are obfuscating the discussion with terms like "private-financing model" that are purposefully vague and basically untrue; they are dodging any actual questions about details that matter; they are prevailing on vague senses of "patriotism" and "love of sport" and framing opponents as haters of those things.

We had an election less than 6 months ago for governor as well as Mayor of Boston. Neither of these races even mentioned the Olympics as a possibility, but within days of the outcome the bid was suddenly made public as if there was a mandate.

The public hasn't been consulted, has been purposefully lied to and shut out of any meaningful details, and opposition has been belittled or lied out of existence (Mayor Marty telling the USOC that there is "no opposition" before a single public meeting had ever happened and the bid was almost unknown).

And yet you ask us to trust them and believe that their intentions are pure?

Yeah, no. Not in the least.

up
Voting closed 0

John Fish is John "Eagle Eye" Dupont, Marty Walsh is Mark Schultz. Not quite sure yet who would be the figure that corresponds to Ruffulo's Dave Schultz- maybe Adam? They've both got beards, anyway.

up
Voting closed 0

The reason that many people

believe these guys are trying to pull one over on them

is because if the past has shown us anything, they are.

Don't fault Adam for expressing what a lot of people think. As for telling him to

be careful.

What they hell kind of statement is that? Is Adam supposed to cower and hide from the likes of John Fish, Patrick Deval and John Rull?

up
Voting closed 0

Doesn't your boss like you to sign off on all social media postings with #SuffolkTweets?

up
Voting closed 0