Dianne Wilkerson looks out for the people of, um, Springfield

By adamg on Thu, 05/04/2006 - 11:57pm

Jason calls the office of his state senator, Dianne Wilkerson, to register his thoughts on the proposed T fare increases, in particular, his belief that the state should assume more responsibility for T costs, because the state legislature is at least partially responsible for the T's current financial condition. He does not expect the answer he gets from an aide:

... He informed me that he didn't believe that people in Springfield and communities not served by the MBTA should be forced to pay for it. I was taken aback and told him that while fascinating, I wasn't aware that Senator Wilkerson represented Springfield and that it seemed to me that she should be more concerned with the needs of the people who actually elected her. ...

It went downhill from there.

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Comments

Actually...

By Spatch on Fri, 05/05/2006 - 12:28am.

I agree with the sentiments expressed by the aide and Senator Wilkerson, being someone who spent a lot of time growing up and going to school Westa Woostah. Yes, there is half a friggin' state out there that isn't served by the MBTA. That half gets frequently overlooked when it comes to infrastructure, maintenance, and road improvements.

Trust me, the good citizens of Western Massachusetts weren't too happy about the prospect of having to help foot the bill for the Big Dig over 100 miles away, when important road improvement projects for state highways in their own neighborhoods weren't getting funding at all. There are sections of Route 9 out west that've needed improvement for over 25 years now. There was a time in the 90s when bridges on some state highways were literally falling apart, dropping chunks of themselves into the drink and such.

I hear it's beginning to get better, not having lived there since the late 90s, but I'm pretty sure the aforementioned good citizens don't wish to again fund services that don't serve them. And while it would be great if their own legislative representatives were to speak up on their behalf (and they just might be doing so), it's also great to see other state politicians recognizing this as well. All too often the state is served by career politicians whose maps of the state end with "HERE THERE BE DRAGONS" after Exit 10 on the Pike.

Mine, Mine and Only Mine

By massmarrier on Fri, 05/05/2006 - 8:42am.

That's an understandable and fascinating attitude. Yet, those in the wealthiest suburbs also carp about paying for anything related to Boston, Worcester or the few other biggish cities in the commonwealth. Yet, it is largely state and federal money diverted from big city requests that builds and maintains the roads, rails and services throughout the state. These benefit far fewer citizens in areas outside of major cities; so they are much more costly per capita.

The suburban and exurban areas also tend to be able to augment school budgets and the like much more easily than trying to upgrade a big city system that stages the least prepared kids, the homeless and so forth.

Wealthiest?

By bigdumptruck on Fri, 05/05/2006 - 9:13am.

Have you ever been outside of the 495 belt? Wealthiest? I think not. That's the problem when people think Newton is in Western MA.

Diverted from big city requests? What makes a Boston request more important than a request from an area with 60,000 or so residents 35 miles away? And I'm not talking about Sudbury or Wayland, I'm talking about the Leominster-Fitchburg area.

You know, we all live in Massachusetts, and having a Boston address doesn't mean you deserve preferential treatment. I just did a quick search on the web. Are you aware that Suffolk County has 689,807 residents, while Worcester County has 750,963?

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What might be lost in this discussion

By adamg on Fri, 05/05/2006 - 9:32am.

I think if you read Jason's posts, you'll see he's not arguing that Springfield pay for the MBTA, but that much of the T's problems were caused by the state Legislature and that the Legislature should be doing something to fix the problems it created. Fine line, perhaps, if money is involved, but he's not arguing we deserve the money just because we are Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, etc.

Responding to a Comment only

By bigdumptruck on Fri, 05/05/2006 - 10:22am.

I wasn't actually responding to Jason's post which I had no issue with. I was responding to massmarrier about our "fascinating" attitude about the whole Massachusetts=Boston thing.

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"Wealthiest"

By massmarrier on Fri, 05/05/2006 - 10:50am.

Like it reads, it is from the wealthiest suburbs -- like Weston, Dover, Wellesley -- that carp about supporting things like mass transit in the cities.

You're mixing donuts and bagels.