Blue Mass Group

Well, I went to the Civic Engagement Working Group public meeting at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury, where after running a few laps, I settled in with about 100 people to talk about renewing the connection that people have with their government. The crowd was lively and diverse; person-of-interest sightings included Grace Ross (with whom I had a long and lively conversation afterwards), John Bonifaz, Pam Wilmot of Common Cause, .08′s sco, and our own cos and howardjp. There was an assortment of other activists from a wide variety of organizations (City Year, MA Citizens for Voting Integrity, etc etc); and plenty of jes’ folks.

Some really important themes that came up:

• Same-day voting registration got a number of mentions, as did the dangers of electronic voting machines;
• Several folks mentioned the importance and difficulty of getting new citizens registered to vote, engaged and overcoming the challenges of voting;
• The idea of getting young people involved, through internships, mentoring, and civic education, seemed very popular;
• Teens should be directly involved and empowered in resolving violence;
• The need for an organized, funded (not extravagantly) and empowered state agency to take on civic engagement as its task;
• The need for Gov. Patrick to keep having “issue meetings” like this, in the manner of Bernie Sanders in VT, or our own Pat Jehlen. (All right, it was me who brought that up, along with others.)

[more on the flip]

Lynne complains that the mayor of lowell, an early Tim Murray supporter, didn’t treat the people with respect because, well I’m not sure what her beef is, other than the fact that the mayor hasn’t kissed her ass and givern her cause, and her bread and butter$$$ (local art community) the attention $$$$$ it deserves. Lynn, like many others on this blog, are the self-appointed “people”. I chastised her months ago on her blog for complaining that a local politician didn’t spend ooddles of time answering her every question and listen to her solutions for evrey problem when she cornered him at an event. When she and her ilk are snubbed they respond that the snub is directed at the masses. Lynn, Two Things 1. You don’t speak for me, and 2. You are what politicians consider a local pain in the ass with a personal agenda. And no voter influence. I think your bitch against the lowell mayor is personal and Deb Goldberg related

Just got home from the Civic Engagement session at the Reggie Lewis Center. I’m sure David or someone else will post on the meeting as a whole but I wanted to expand on a thought that our co-host Charley had at the meeting.  He spoke about making legislation easier to access online, which is a solid idea, especially if people could access more of the substance of a bill and where it is in the process.

I introduced myself to Charley afterwards and mentioned that information dissemination was also important in terms of state grant programs.  The well-versed can find out about them, but smaller groups, especially those outside the big cities, could use easier access.

State House News reports that Deval Patrick has chosen Leslie Kirwan as his Secretary for Administration and Finance.  Kirwan is presently Director of A & F and Secretary-Treasurer at Massport.  She is a Charlie Baker protege from the Welducci Administration.  State House News reports that she gave $50 to Healey in June, and $100 to Patrick the day before the election.  In 2002, she gave $100 to Romney in August and $100 to O’Brien 5 days before the election.

According to the discussion board at WKOS, Boston’s Progressive Talk, which airs Air America Radio and Jones Radio Network shows, will soon be off the air. As of December 22nd, the station will be switching formats and dropping progressive talk radio, says a post which references a station receptionist’s response when questioned about the rumors. While I admit the station has had low ratings, it is greatly due in part to the lack of efficient management at the station, as well as to poor signal strength (which is due to be fixed with a new antenna in 2007). This is a horrible step to be taking, but hopefully Stephanie Miller, Randi Rhodes, Rachel Maddow and yes, even Ed Schultz will find their way to another local air wave soon. I know in Phoenix, when their progressive station was cut, they fought back with petitions and a fund-raising drive and got in back on the air. Is that something the Boston area folk could be capable of?

The Local Government Working Group would like to hear from anyone interested in the relationship between cities and towns and State Government.  Specifically the group is considering issues like fixing and stabilizing the financial relationship between the Commonwealth and its cities/towns as well as how and where greater regional and statewide cooperation and communication might be fostered.  Our Community Meetings are scheduled for December 11 in Westfield at 6:30, North Middle School Auditorium December 12 in New Bedford at 6:30, UMass Star Store Atrium December 13 in Boston at 4:30, Faneuil Hall We are also looking for any written feedback through the website.  All comments will be included in final report. Help us articulate key elements of a renewed partnership between state and local government.

This all transpired at around 8:30 am.  Many of the people on the crowded commuter rail platform had been waiting since before 8, since the 7:53 train elected not to show up. Woman (on cell phone): “The train still isn’t here.  I’ve been here for like 40 minutes standing around doing nothing.  So I’ll see you sometime today, I guess.” Man (to a friend on the platform, as a commuter rail train blows by us): “Yeah, that’s about the third train I’ve seen go by without stopping, so I’m not holding out much hope for the next one.” Second Man (to a friend on the platform): “Grabauskas, man.  I want to find that guy and kill him.” Memo to the T: People really, really hate it when trains don’t show up.  It makes people late for work and late for meetings, it costs them and their employers valuable time that could have been spent productively instead of standing around on a cold concrete platform, and it makes them really not feel like supporting a fare increase. Memo to Gov.-elect Patrick: Of the various steaming piles of doo-doo that Gov. Romney is handing you on his way out the door, the [...]

As a concerned citizen, your help in crafting the future direction for health care in Massachusetts is critical. The Patrick/Murray Transition Team is seeking broad input for their Administration’s global principles on health care: implementing health care reform; promoting public health; implementing greater cost savings;and addressing capacity issues.  The co-chairs and members of the Health Care Working Group are charged with collecting the broadest possible input for each principle, suggestions for measuring progress, and identifying other opportunities for the Patrick/Murray Administration to pursue both in the short and long term. The Working Group has been asked to complete all of our work and submit a report by December 15th.  In order to accomplish this formidable task, the Working Group will facilitate input through three accessible community meetings as well as through more informal outreach. Community Meetings Tuesday, December 5th from 4-6 pm in Boston, Dimock Community Health Center Wednesday, December 6th from 6-8 pm in Plymouth, Radisson Hotel  Thursday, December 7th from 10:00 am-12:00 pm in Springfield, Springfield Technical College I will also be co-hosting a Public Forum on Thursday, December 7 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Sheet Metal Union Hall in Dorchester Lower Mills along with Working [...]

Partial transcript and video of Al Gore on the Today show: GORE: Well, the report this morning is actually one of several studies. There is one in the Pentagon. There has been reportedly been one in the White House itself. They are all basically saying the same thing, Matt. This is an utter disaster. This is the worst strategic mistake in the history of the United States. We as a nation have to find a way, in George Mitchell’s words, to manage a disaster. But I would urge the president not to – to try to separate out the personal issues of being blamed in history for this mistake and instead recognize it’s not about him. It’s about our country and we all have to find a way to get our troops home and to prevent a regional conflagration there. As if you needed further confirmation. By the way, Al was right about this from day one. If Al Gore runs for President again, the question will be whether he has to stop being right on so many things as a price … you know, so he’ll seem more reasonable.

An immediate action that the new administration could take would be to support revised State regulations that streamline dam removal and promote river restoration. This would help us meet water quality standards and boost the recreational value of rivers and we would heartily support it. Alison Field-Juma, Policy Director Organization for the Assabet River