Hey, there! Log in / Register
Election roundup: Campbell, police union get into Twitter fight; mayoral candidates talk workplace development
By adamg on Thu, 04/29/2021 - 9:59pm
Andrea Campbell and the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association have been engaging in some Twitter unpleasantries over the past 24 hours. The union started things off last night:
$1.2 million in BPD grants being held up by @andreaforboston and the Rev. Eugene Rivers, a longtime anti-violence advocate in Boston’s Four Corners neighborhood, is justifiably astonished given the recent explosion of violence in our city. https://t.co/uOj14UOqLJ
— Boston Police Patrolmen's Association (BPPA) (@BostonPatrolmen) April 29, 2021
Campbell, chair of the City Council's public-safety committee, responded this morning:
Last I checked, we were still waiting to hear from @BostonPatrolmen on why they enabled and elevated an accused child molester. Until then, don’t @ me. https://t.co/eV4mU1YFik
— Andrea J. Campbell (@andreaforboston) April 29, 2021
And the union fired back tonight by bringing up Campbell's father and brother, as if she were somehow to blame for their actions:
There’s a lil’ saying about people who live in glass houses which seems incredibly appropriate at this time. And, if I were you, when the topic of discussion turns to enabling criminals, you and your credibility would be best served by recusing yourself or @ nobody. #Hypocrisy https://t.co/zzmG0dnEKB
— Boston Police Patrolmen's Association (BPPA) (@BostonPatrolmen) April 29, 2021
The union added that current president Larry Calderone expressed (finally?) his "anger, frustration and condemnation" of Patrick Rose, now facing five child-rape charges, on Dan Rea's show last night. Rose was arrested eight months ago.
In lighter mayoral news, the candidates for the job Marty Walsh left to head to DC discussed how they'd help develop Boston's workforce in a forum today.
The Boston Business Journal reports Michelle Wu and John Barros support increasing the "linkage" fees developers now pay for the right to build large projects in Boston, even higher than the 42% increase Walsh pushed through as one of his last mayoral acts. Wu wants to make the fees - the money from which goes to build or buy affordable housing and for worker training - to smaller projects, while Barros would devote a larger percentage of the money to job training.
Leon Rivera is running for the District 7 (Roxbury) seat that Acting Mayor Kim Janey is leaving so she can run to take the "acting" out of her current title.
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
this is politics now
for better or for worse
Nasty Nastier Nastiest
Nasty Nastier Nastiest
Never Let Them Rest
‘Til Nasty is Nastier and Nastier is Nastiest
Nasty Nastier Nastiest
(Apologies to Ms. Cussen)
Today the Globe wrote about
Sounds like another classic and classy soundbite coming straight from our thick skinned heroes at the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association.
Today the Globe wrote about the 30 officers who earned over $300k and the 509 officers earned more than the mayor’s $200k in 2020. These numbers are comparable to previous years. Not to mention the platinum level benefits most of us can only dream about.
In a better World the mission of the BPPA would go beyond that of sucking as much taxpayer money as possible and elevating crooks and a pedophile to the very top of their organization. Instead of quibbling over one million out of their 414 million $ budget, they could for instance tweet a little note of gratitude to the suckers who foot their extravagant salaries now and then. A sensible plan on how to address the upcoming onslaught of 24/7 street fireworks would be even nicer. One can always dream...
For standing up to these bullies, Campbell is much more likely to get my vote and that of many other folks.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/04/29/metro/with-spending-police-spotli...
Maybe it's time
For a RICO investigation of the BPAA
this is all smoke
What would the $1.2m fund, exactly? That's what's important to this discussion.
Campbell's family troubles, and even the Rose saga, are just Page 6 BS.
What Globe?
There is no such thing as " The Boston Globe" anymore. There is a tedious pedantic organ from Billionaire John Henry and wife that pretends to be the late paper of record. Yawn.
Believe what the Billionaire's wife tells you to. She lives in Brookline and other places. Her grandma doesn't live in Nazing Ct or Eastie, so the Globes opinion on BPD is...relevant to the citizens of Boston ?
Is Campbell for real?
I thought we were done with this immature nonsense now that the orange man is gone. Act like a professional for me one time, Andrea. I expect this from the BPPA, a classless organization.
Campbell is the only one
Campbell is the only one unafraid of the police union. She has been taking it to them for a while. And the cops loathe her for it. She's the only one who will really change things at BPD.
Janey used to but has changed her tune as mayor. Wu likes to talk about green energy but has nothing to say about the scandalous Boston cops. Essaibi George is a cop bootlicker.
That sums it up nicely,
That sums it up nicely, thanks.
Meow
I mean, I'd prefer that the City Councilor who is sitting on this grant money and who wants to run the entire city government provide actual reasoning as to why the grant hasn't been approved locally after being approved by the provider, but I guess discussing skeletons in various closets that are completely unrelated to the matter at hand is what we do now.
This statement from Campbell
This statement from Campbell is copied and pasted from the (pro-cop) Herald editorial on the matter:
“The Police Department, the administration, and I all recognize the troubling racial disparities that exist in our policing and agree that the city must have a plan to eradicate them, including shifting practices in the BRIC and use of the gang database, which is why these grants are still under review,” Campbell said. “All this can happen while ensuring adequate neighborhood coverage, which will require the department to shift culture and structure.”
Context: This so-called gang database is quite problematic for people of colors. I wouldn't want my name listed on one of them anymore than I'd want my name on a no fly list. Among other things, it identifies 160 gangs in Boston! 2/3 of the people on file are black non-hispanics. By comparison, Chicago with 4 time the population had 49 identified gangs in 2018. I live at the edge of the fairly hot zone of Bowdoin-Geneva in Dorchester. Yes, crime remains a problem and we have a couple of troublesome cliques here and there. But 160 gangs in Boston???
There are good some reasons for putting this $1 million grant (0.2% of the total police budget) on hold. But we won't hear about that from the BPPA anymore than we'll hear about the fact that average full time BPD cop is already earning $180k a year and not going to loose a dime while that grant is on hold. It's all BPPA posturing to divert the attention from the elephant(s) in the room. Unfortunately it is working quite well for them.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/04/30/editorial-politics-shouldnt-hind...
https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/07/26/boston-police-gang-database-immigra...
Better, but
First, does the grant somehow make the situation Campbell has an issue with worse? She doesn't exactly make the case, only discussing the troublesome database.
Second, she again gets all pissy at the end.
How is the first sentence not posturing?
If she has a point to make about the particular grants, the thing that would make her sound, um, mayoral would be to make that point, not get into a pissing match with the group that did not apply for the grants in the first place.
If this is what we can expect from Campbell
Then it’s a hard pass. The city needs effective leadership. How many effective leaders engage in online spats?
Second, she again gets all pissy at the end.
No, she doesn't. Only the first paragraph, the one with the quotation marks, belongs to Campbell. The rest is the commentator's contribution. Now who is so pissy that he fails to read before he writes?
Fair enough
dvg kind of made it look like it's what she said, as dvg prefaced the comment by writing-
Still looking for a solid reason for not approving the spending of the grant.
Boston is different from other cities karma because the gangs us
Boston is different from other cities historically Boston has street crew instead of gangs. There are easily 160 St names crews, some of which are loosely aligned, depending on who has beef. The Gang doesn't even live on the street anymore because many affiliates are young, and their family has moved from the street of name. I suppose the reality of street crime, beef, and shooting is too far removed from the ideologies that Campbell and her peers are insisting on. A lot of Campbell is removed from reality though.
People should ask themselves why they are not compensated for their work instead of being outraged by the salary paid to law enforcement. Trust and believe the outraged do not protect and serve, they whigne. something wrong with someone who will get shot at
No References to Campbels Brother
Any references to Campbell's brother or family in regards to crime ENRAGES me. It has nothing to do with Andrea, and it's an immature low-down tactic. She has done so well for herself and comes so far you cannot hold people like that against her whole life for no reason. I'm sure that's hard enough to deal with personally let alone professionally. It has NOTHING to do with her or the point she made. Throw those stones, Andrea. F em.
Linkage fees
What an excellent idea, let's make housing more affordable by making new construction even more expensive than it already is!