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State: BRA screwed taxpayers with Sox deal on Yawkey Way
By adamg on Mon, 10/26/2015 - 11:43am
UPDATE: BRA agrees they sucked but says they've learned and don't suck anymore.
The state Inspector General's office says the BRA rushed through a deal to give the Red Sox control of Yawkey Way that included "illogical and questionable" methods of figuring out the street's value - based on the somewhat ludicrous premise that Yawkey Way was "blighted."
Neighborhoods:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Inspector General's report | 509.42 KB |
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Comments
Great...
What are they going to do about it?
Demand a luxury box to make
Demand a luxury box to make the story go away?
Marty #Fail
When a government accountability agency says the BRA failed its fiduciary responsibility to get fair value for city assets and the mayor says he's not going to address... THAT IS A FAILURE OF RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT.
The door is wide open to present the report to the Red Sox and say we have to make taxpayers whole.
Walsh's failure to do that is a failure to attend to an important government responsibility-- fiduciary.
Why am I surprised? He was willing to stick taxpayers with an $800,000,000 Boston 2024 budget gap, and that's just for starters.
Absolutely nada
but, they are shocked about the whole thing.
Yeah, I'm still waiting for
Yeah, I'm still waiting for the Department of Neighborhood Development to take over a lot of function and even subjugate the BRA to the Mayor's will, as campaigned and promised on forming his cabinet. I guess it's still brewing.
Or Marty has found other fish to fry, and the fish at the BRA are now too valuable. Sushi anyone?
Start charging market rate
Start charging market rate instead of $100/month for their North End parking lot?
Wow
We are trustworthy give us a
We are trustworthy give us a 10 year Urban Renewal extension. Because we said so.
The price is interesting
"Ultimately, the price of the Yawkey Way easement was approximately $4,000 per event day for ten years and $0 per event day thereafter."
Such a great Mayor that Menino ....
Don't forget on opening Day the following year the Red Sox had Mayor Menino come out and throw out the first pitch. Wasn't that worth giving away all those millions?
One Beacon Street gets millions of tax breaks a year for being in a blighted area as well. That's understandable as any building so close to our fine legislators should probably be considered blighted. Not many people want to hang out and associate with so many crooks.
OK
How about in 10 years we take it back via eminent domain and write the Sox a big check for $0 since that's what they agreed the street was worth.
Yeah, I was pretty furious
Yeah, I was pretty furious about this when it happened - especially because I lived near there and walked down that street and it made getting around town even more annoying on game days to have to walk all the way around the park to get to Kenmore.
Once or twice I walked up to the gate and insisted that they let me walk down the street. Under the terms of the deal they were obligated to have someone walk you across the area and out the other gate.
The BRA seems to be screwing
The BRA seems to be screwing everyone these days without a kiss.
Well gosh
If they thought it was "blighted" at the time, why didn't the city take responsibility for doing something to fix things? Oh wait, that's right, because Menino never saw a problem he didn't think could be solved by a tourist dollar. So let's give a big break to businesses that don't serve the community and voila, problem solved.
Now on to those parking space prices
for Zipcar, Enterprise, and Hubway. [edit: resident permit prices too!]
The BRA operates quietly a
The BRA operates quietly a parking lot in the North End for the politically connected which charges people a nominal $100/month. That's their biggest parking giveaway.
BRA responds
I've updated the original post with a link to the BRA's response.
Perks
I wonder if Brian Golden and company from the BRA will have great seats at all Red Sox games and other perks as a result?
Short of taking the street
Short of taking the street back for the city or figurative heads on pikes whatever the BRA does or promises as 'change' isn't going to be good enough.
Grand Jury Time!
It's time for the Attorney General to start up a Grand Jury Investigation and take away all the $$$ Peter "The Thief" Meade, et al stole on the way out the door. The City should seek relief from the Court and get OUR street back. Screw The Red Sox!
No state or local prosecutor...
...will touch this. Either the Feds do it or no one does.
I vote for the feds
Let's put that domestic surveillance to good use.
Funny how "flawed" rhymes with "fraud"
I wonder of Mr. Golden misspoke (or miswrote):
As the current administration and BRA leadership team have stated all along, we believe the process that led to the agreement with the Red Sox was deeply flawed. Since January 2014, we have worked diligently to enact reforms so that this situation can never be repeated.
Question for the legal eagles - given how "flawed" the process was, is it possible fraud was involved and if so - is the agreement null and void?
The BRA is blighted
Can we tear it down and redevelop it now?
Yes
Shut it down. And build a new (fair and competent) urban planning division from scratch.
The rich keeps on getting
The rich keeps on getting richer and the middle class keeps on getting poorer!
The only blight in that area
The only blight in that area is the ballpark. Ballgame this, concert that, loads of trash and noise. Games are only a few months, but chavs from across the state come to drink funny beer and pee the walls all year round. In that neighborhood, there are lots of smart kids, and you could easily start the next Facebook. Instead, ballpark-related jobs are extremely low level. Waiters do not qualify for the same minimum salary.