The day after Boston 2024 announced their revised plans, organizers of a city forum on the games tried a new approach in Jamaica Plain: Splitting the meeting into three parts, to discuss different ramifications of the would-be games.
"They're separating us to take away our voice!" some protesters yelled at the English High School session, not far from Franklin Park, which remains the proposed venue for equestrian events and the pentathlon.
Representatives of Boston 2024 told the crowd that the breakout sessions were meant to facilitate dialogue, specifically on "Creating Open Space/Parks Legacy," "Envisioning New Neighborhoods" and "Planning our Transportation Future."
Director of Olympic Operations John Fitzgerald encouraged people to split among the breakout sessions but received shouts of "You lie!" and "When do we get to talk?" The largest opposition group remained in the auditorium to protest Boston 2024 representatives while the other two sessions were tense but quieter overall.
Mayor Walsh's 15-yearplan to add 53,000 units by 2030 was the major talking point of the Neighborhood/Housing session, presented by Devin Quirk, director of operations at the Department of Neighborhood Development. "We need to do more to ensure that Boston remains an affordable city for everyone of all backgrounds," said Quirk.
Meeting attendees were not satisfied that housing plans would only meet the minimum 15% affordable housing inclusionary development policy, while also giving tax breaks to developers. Boston 2024 representatives said that gentrification and displacement are problems everywhere, Olympics or not, and the opportunity of hosting the Games could be the perfect disruptive event to spark neighborhood development and renovation.
Many residents expressed frustration when told the Olympics could solve Boston's housing, transportation and infrastructure issues. "This Olympic thing is a total diversion," said Jamaica Plain resident Laura Foner. "It's really diverting us from how we want use our resources as a city and what kind of city we want to become."
Tonight's meeting was the sixth of nine community meetings; the next public meeting will take place on July 28 at the Mildred Ave Middle School.
The meeting also came following the USOC's meeting with Boston 2024 organizers in California. The USOC stuck with Boston, but said it wants to see better polling numbers for the games here.
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Comments
again - how do you know this?
By Jeff F
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 5:27pm
Do people just tell you "Oh, my daddy was very wealthy and so I don't have to work for a living"?
Bingo
By anon
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 9:43pm
I think it's a easy, dismissive shorthand for 'richer than me'. It allows people to assume that they are better than someone who is richer than they are because those rich people have undeserved good fortune. I'm sure it exists and it is depressing to see the Paris Hiltons of the world waltz through life, but I think it's a sort of defense mechanism by people who are essentially just jealous of richer people.
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION - being richer than someone does not in any way make a person better than someone. But, and this is my point, it also does not mean they are necessarily in any way worse than someone else. Details matter people.
Interesting take...
By fairlee76
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:49am
But do we really care that the Paris Hiltons of the world are "waltzing through life?" Her life looks awful to me. Best of luck to her and the Kardashians, but there is nothing to envy there.
Not exactly...
By fairlee76
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:41am
Most of my friends/acquaintances and I are comfortable enough to discuss money with one another. And the people I know are not in the camp you cartoonishly describe. They received help from a trust/estate but still work.
Boston seems to be doing just fine with that
By UHub fan
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 1:35pm
even without the Olympics.
oh they are such tough guys!
By anon
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 10:57am
oh they are such tough guys!
I can smell the desperation from here.
By Nancy
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:16am
We're having a community meeting in Quincy to talk about the proposed beach volleyball venue. I am a long time resident of Quincy and who will very much be affected by such the Boston2024 spectacle. I will not be pushed into a breakout session. I would like my voice to be heard by all attendees.
Friendly reminder of how these meetings work: I went to one a couple of weeks ago and was referred to as a troll by Joe Rull, Chief Administration Officer, for Boston2024 for live tweeting the event. For well over an hour, he'd throw that word at me and even hemmed and hawed his way through a question about Boston2024's non-profit status because he didn't want it to be misinterpreted by the troll in the room.
The meetings are a charade.
By Fitz
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:35am
The meetings are a charade. Last night's had a number of city employees in the room as "supporters" filling seats. The push is on hard within the city worker ranks from higher ups to get on board.
Let's just hope Adam doesn't have to write this post
By Nancy
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 5:39pm
UHub roving reporter Nancy arrested for disorderly conduct
UHub roving reporter Nancy was arrested last night at the community meeting in Quincy after asking one too many questions about traffic flow and protecting the conservation area of Squantum Point Park.
Boston 2024 officials noted that she was too skeptical of the proposed 18,000 person beach volleyball venue slated to be built in the current parking lot of Squantum Point Park. Anonymous sources most definitely not associated with Boston 2024 claimed that she caused a commotion when she approached the microphone and began asking from a list of questions.
Other sources noted that she had previously emailed her list of questions to both Boston 2024 and Quincy's Mayor Koch to help them prepare for the meeting. **
Nancy will remain in jail until 2025 because organizations that oppose Boston 2024 do not have any money to post her bail.
** I haven't actually sent the questions yet. I have to do more research on what is and isn't protected conservation land. I have committed to Boston 2024 to email my questions to them before the meeting so they can get an idea of what residents concerns might be.
It's another dumb site pick.
By anon
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 6:04pm
The Neponset River Watershed Association just finished a major trail project there.
http://www.neponset.org/happenings/quincy-riverwal...
I made a bunch of videos of the trail route before they cleared it.
From a public access point, it's another place out on a tether of roads that are no prize for large crowd things.
The Real Enemy of 2024 Plans
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:54am
They come in with vaguely grand plans and visions of this and that, and try to hide how much it will cost the taxpayer.
What they are really doing is showing people who have been told time and again that there is no money for the MBTA, no money for the schools, no money for infrastructure that there is money there or can be money there - but only for their month-long party.
And it is our money, and we know that.
What I hope happens is that 2024 falls through with minimal pillaging on the zoning and takings front, and people demand all the other things we need.
Basic geography is a likely greater menace.
By anon
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 4:09pm
Massachusetts just isn't equipped with enough workable space in the Boston core or particularly exciting peripheral event locations.
Let's return to the rafting venue, cause it's such a sweet pick. The Deerfield River is wonderful. It's a great fly fishing locale, but it's no one's idea of a top 10 white water rafting destination and it is completely rural.
An Olympic level event there, at scale, would be a comparable imposition to one on Boston, maybe worse, and leave it even more trashed.
It's another case of a Hail Mary location pass tossed by hacks who lack any substantive understanding of the Commonwealth.
After that, there is the all important tanked poll numbers menace and general Boston area hostility that is running a better opposition operation on a volunteer basis than an entire regiment of well paid and credentialed shills and poohbahs.
By the time 2024 gets to costing and tax money, they're getting nothing from the Baker/DeLeo combine so that'll just send them tumbling into the ditch.
I don't think that's true
By anon
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 9:48pm
In some places, like Athens, they had to built artificial white water courses, which is idiocy. In this case, the Deerfield or especially the upper dryway Dragon's Tooth run are pretty decent white water, (Class IV) where a minimal investment of infrastructure is needed- they simply need to get the dam management company to agree to the releases from the reserviors upstream. All in all, it's a rounding error in the budget compared to a 3 week stadium for 80,000 or an entire aquatic center - those are the budget busters.
The Dryway.
By anon
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 12:24am
The rapids are a seasonal feature, with 32 scheduled water releases in season.
http://www.zoaroutdoor.com/dryway_ataglance.htm
It's like the Athens rapids turned inside out.
Widett is NOT for sale, but owners will talk
By cybah
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 11:56am
Poster's Note: I know I posted this in another thread but I want to post it here also. People should read this article. First time the majority has spoken out.
------
At least according to this WGBH article.
http://wgbhnews.org/post/widett-circle-not-sale-ol...
The best two quotes from this article are:
Underdeveloped, Undervalued, Undertaxed
By RGT
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 6:12pm
The New Boston Food Market's property is actually assessed at $2.0 million (http://www.cityofboston.gov/assessing/search/?pid=...), not that it really matters since the cooperative doesn't actually pay property tax like a normal property owner. They have a so-called "121A" agreement with the City--the same type of tax break used by big developers like Millennium--which eliminates their regular tax in favor of an annual payment to the city. How much? We don't know, because 121A payments aren't made public. It's probably around a half a million a year.* If they are so proud of their "billion dollars a year in sales," how about they carve off more than 0.05% for the city. You can "salt of the earth" these guys all you want but like every one else they'll avoid their fair share of property taxes if they can, and they have their price. I wouldn't read any more into that news article than them trying to work a better deal. Rationally speaking, they might do just as well in a brand new facility bought and paid for by a master developer who will eventually put way more into the city coffers.
*based on current estimated revenue of ~$850K for Widett Circle minus $350 paid by ART Mortgage Broker / Cold Storage Company
Meeting Format
By supgup
Wed, 07/01/2015 - 1:32pm
I'm curious to see if the 'breakout' format will continue or if the breakouts at English High were a way to divide and conquer the opposition in JP. Boston2024 did not get a warm reception at the meeting hosted by the Franklin Park Coalition a few months ago and if you follow social media at all, it's obvious that JP is home to several of the more vocal opponents. On the one hand, the breakouts appear to be a good way to get down to brass tacks on some of the issues surrounding this boondoogle. If they are going to continue with the breakouts, then the meetings should all come back together and a summary of what was discussed at each breakout be presented to everyone.
What I could not determine from last night, other than Nikko - who from Boston2024 was present?
One interesting take away, Fitzy said he took his job as watch dog of 2024 seriuosly. If so, then why hasn't he read the bid? Or demanded the bid?
How has no one here mentioned the 4am protest
By Sally
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 8:10am
in front of Marty Walsh's house by BLM and associates? To protest the Olympic bid?
I'm scratching my head wondering how this group can go any further off the rails. Especially when this Olympics bid was a long shot to begin with and will, I believe, naturally fall to pieces due to lack of public support, infrastructure and logistical challenges, etc. These groups seem highly skilled at a. Making a tempest in a teapot b. Alienating every possibly natural ally. Right now BLM couldn't fill a good-sized table at the Olive Garden, let alone create positive social change.
What do you do if you're 23 and in your mind, a media darling?
By Brian Riccio
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 8:35am
That's the conundrum faced every day by Daunasia Yancey. Media attention at that young age is a little addicting.
So what if she comes off like an idiot to most people, don't you have any idea how many other morons she's inspiring through her ridiculous policy of bothering people who are more than likely on her side anyway?
Hopefully, Yancey opens a bookshop in JP someday and gets out of the protest business.
Two different groups
By adamg
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 8:41am
Black Lives Matter is not the same as the two no-Olympics groups.
They were there specifically to demand
By Sally
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 8:47am
that he pull the Olympic bid. And no, I have no idea how these groups have meshed around this common cause which seems at best a distraction from more pressing matters, but it's what they seem to have on their mind these days.
Because of the issue of gentrification and displacement
By adamg
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:02am
Which presumably would happen around certain venues in predominately black areas, such as around Harambee Park (and Franklin Park, I'd think).
I'm just saying it's not necessarily fair to blame/credit other groups for what happened on Walsh's block the other night (in what turned out to be kind of a futile effort since the mayor was in or on his way to Colorado at the time).
From this morning's Herald
By Brian Riccio
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:12am
"Daunasia Yancey, 23, founder and lead organizer of Black Lives Matter Boston, accused the mayor of being “pretty uneducated†about the proposal’s ramifications on the city’s poor.
“Our goal was to raise the conversation about the devastation that a 2024 Olympic bid would bring to Boston, and so if he is now willing to read the bid in full and to develop an educated stance on it, then excellent,†Yancey told the Herald.
“I’ve been getting calls all day. I think it was absolutely effective,†Yancey said.
Yancey said bringing a protest to the doorstep of a politician is a tried and true tactic.
“There’s a long legacy of bringing political protests to politicians wherever they are,†Yancey said, calling any disruption “a byproduct of protests.â€
“The Olympics is going to disrupt an entire city and region,†Yancey said, “and so I would 
say if we can disrupt a street 
and prevent that, then job well done.â€
I'd say Yancey was seeking out credit, wouldn't you?
Does the Olympics
By Sock_Puppet
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:26am
Need a Whole Foods? Athletes need to eat healthy,
I'm starting to support this just for the yucks.
Yes, I understand the purported connection
By Sally
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:45am
I just find it tangentially connected to the issue of racial violence etc and essentially an utterly minor, pointless distraction. BLM and Safe Hub Collective took very explicit responsibility for the protest at Walsh's house but apparently they couldn't rally more than ten nocturnal followers or be bothered to check his travel schedule beforehand.
How this group could go further off the rails?
By moxie
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 9:49am
They could join the Westboro Baptist Church in protesting funerals. At this point, they are just about as credible, and relevant as WBC.
Purpose of Black LIves Matter protest, you agree? Did it work?
By Anonymous
Fri, 07/03/2015 - 8:56am
The purpose of the protest was to call attention to one very important fact, Mayor Walsh is responsible for dumping this hot mess on Boston by signing an agreement, which he admits he hasn't read, that made Boston an official partner of Boston 2024, a private organization.
Walsh did this without consultation of our reps on city council and without raising it as an issue in public, nor did he run on it.
It has become exactly what detractors feared most, the biggest priority in our debate about an agenda for moving Boston forward.
Black Lives Matter brought their concerns right to his front door knowing he'd freak out, produce coverage of their protest in the Herald, and shine a light where they want a light to shine, right on Marty Walsh.
Nonsense.
By Brian Riccio
Fri, 07/03/2015 - 10:38am
All these publicity seeking morons had to do is check and see if the Mayah was even home, which he wasn't. He was in Colorado.
As far as holding Walsh's feet to the fire regarding his laying down for Boston 2024, it seems to me more intelligent and less publicity hungry people are already doing that, without disturbing a bunch of innocent people at 4AM.
Hashtag: needsleeptogotowork.
English High Olympic Meeting
By JF
Thu, 07/02/2015 - 1:30pm
The problem with the new meeting format, isn't so much breaking up into groups to discuss different aspects of the bid. The problems are 1) framing the discussion ONLY as if the Games are a done deal-there is no discussion of whether we want the bid or not 2) tightly restraining the "conversation" within a short list of questions posed by Boston2024 not by the citizens who attend the meetings and will have to deal with the disruptions caused by these sort of events. These meetings are Boston2024 propaganda, allegedly hosted by the city, meant primarily to convince us this is a good idea-not to actually discuss the merits of the bid and listen to Bostonians' views about the bid. If the city was actually interested in the opinion of Bostonians there would a vote at the end of every meeting. This past meeting wasn't really about the games it was an effort to co-opt Boston history (Olmstead and the Emerald Necklace, ironic considering they were willing to destroy the Common & Public Garden until recently) and weld it onto the bid. And show off grand plans for a future they envision of Widett Cir ans a mid-rise fortress community walled off from the South End & South Boston. They spent a lot of time taking about tax revenue, of course much of that revenue is decades away, if they developers don't default, since the developers would demand huge tax breaks. All in all it was simply a different marketing approach rather than an actual new plan.
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