Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

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  1. But I suspect he’ll make it really official tomorrow, after the Bruins excitement dies down.

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    p>I agree with your bump comment, Bob, but at least he’s really got to fight this time.

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  3. Hi All:

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    p>     Tom Menino is a walking advertisement for term limits. He had embarassed anyone from Boston with the “Lite Brite” fiasco, and his mumbling comments ” 5, 10, um er, blastoff!” regarding a computerized voice on 97.7 FM before WAAF’s broadcast over its’ new channel made me nauseous. Isn’t twenty six years at the public teet enough? He should retire and let someone else do the job.

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    p>Sincerely,
    Wayne Wilson
    Roslindale

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    p>P.S. Why was he in Norwood recently raising money from a wealthy real estate broker and lawyer? Didn’t he say he wanted to serve the people of Boston?

    • Look, I’m cool on Menino myself.  I think he’s half-done lots of good things but hasn’t really finished any of the things that I care about.

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      p>I too think that he’s a walking advertisement for election reform, but not term limits.  Term limits are by definition undemocratic — they reduce the choices that the voters can make.  I’d like to see the races cost less money and/or reduce the maximum donation to make it easier for other people to get in the race.  Perhaps more importantly, can a brother get some IRV up in here?

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      p>As for raising money in Norwood, so what?  All successful state/local candidates will raise money outside their district.  Raising money outside of Boston does not have anything to do with serving or not serving the people of Boston.

  4. How long has Kennedy been Senator? Kerry? Barney Frank? I mean can you guys try to b a little consistent. The defense of these unsavory dramatis staying in office will be “the people keep elected them” “it takes a while to learn the system” “They get results…” So if the people of Boston want to reelect Menino to be mayor again, why not?

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    p>I’m a big “term limit” supporter as I think the politicians we have (state and Federal, Democrat and Republican) should not be making a career out of spending our money. We need a constant turnover of new blood an for people to work for us instead of working 100% on being reelected (and getting rich). But I can’t stand hypocrisy of people defending long standing politicians they like and looking for “change” when it’s someone they don’t care for.

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    p>Don’t pick on Mumbles.

        • A + B – C = throat warbler mangrove.

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          p>I didn’t say anything about the people of Boston, but no, they are not morons. If they reelect Menino, that will be their choice, and I will respectfully disagree with it. They could certainly do worse than Menino.

            • He’s stopped being effective.

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              p>- The firefighters are in open revolt.

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              p>- The streets are filthy, and they are never cleared adequately after a snowstorm.

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              p>- He has failed to advocate for businesses to come to the city.

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              p>- The corruption of others has occurred on his watch (Dianne Wilkerson tried to fast-track past the Licensing Board — the city licensing board).

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              p>- The T is abysmal, and he has failed to push the state to improve it. That may sound petty to you, but for urban residents, the T is the principal means of transportation.

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              • Are the firefighters really in “open revolt”? I don’t think so. Are you saying that Menino should be giving them more despite the fact they are among the most highly paid fire department in the country and despite the revelations of rampant abuses of disability benefits?

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                p>The streets are not filthy as far as I can see and snow removal has been at least as good if not better than what I have seen in surrounding towns. Perhaps you have a problem with services in your local neighborhood, but I don’t see a city-wide problem. Furthermore, it seems to me that the city streets are in much better shape than they were under our previous mayor.

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                p>It is hard to argue with your point about advocating for businesses. I have no evidence either way on that issue, but have no reason to take your word on it.

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                p>Blaming Menino for Wilkerson’s failings is not a reasonable position, and the liquor licensing board is not actually under control of the city (which is dumb, but you can blame the State House for that).

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                p>Pinning the T’s problems on Menino is just as unreasonable. I can guarantee you that no other mayor is going to be fixing the T anytime soon.

                  • I am not blaming Menino for Wilkerson. But her most famous offense, the liquor license, was her working city channels. Period.

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                  p>- Mike Bloomberg was highly visible during Manhattan’s transit strike. Now I don’t know, maybe the NY Transit Authority is city funded, which would be a big difference. But Menino has shown zero leadership on it. They threatened to cancel evening trains, which would cripple Boston restaurants, and Menino didn’t even peep.

                • That is my point. Why are you even bringing her up unless you are trying to make him appear culpable for her crimes?

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                  p>You are right it would be nice to see Menino taking more of a visible stand on the T’s proposed cuts, but what is he really going to do about it other than squawk? The State either comes up with the money or the T is going to have to make a lot of painful and unpleasant service cuts and/or fee hikes.

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                  p>I also think it is an exaggeration to claim that discontinuing evening commuter rail trains is going to “cripple” restaurants. It will hurt them for sure, but really what percent of diners take the commuter rail?

                • Let’s not split hairs over what I’m trying to blame him for, it’s a matter of degree. On balance, he’s been a good mayor. But something as fundamental as liquor licensing — an issue in every town, because liquor licences are both expensive and prized — should have merited more scrutiny.

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                  p>”Cripple” may be putting too fine a point on it, but it’s not just restaurants. It’s the sports teams, the movie theaters … everything.

                • In fact, we’re second

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                  p>

                  A report by city officials in Columbus, Ohio, that ranked Boston first in the nation in the per capita cost of fire and emergency services was wrong because it was based on faulty numbers, Columbus officials said yesterday.

                  In fact, Boston had the second most expensive fire and EMS spending in the country, behind San Francisco, they said. Boston spent $285 per resident on its fire department during the last fiscal year, according to the revised report. San Francisco paid the highest at $315 per resident, it said.

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                  p>I only have anecdotal evidence on the Menino/firefighters squabble,  but it’s real.  My issues with Menino (as a former Boston resident) were much more around pettiness and lack of vision.  JimC’s comments on business are an excellent example, but you also have fiascos like the Filene’s site bidding.  

                • Is being second instead of first a meaningful distinction for this purpose? And is anyone going to actually answer my question as to what you actually expect out of him w/ respect to the firefighters? To many Boston residents it seems like they are already getting a pretty good deal.

                • His relationship with the firefighters has deteriorated. The fault is probably mutual, but (on this issue at least) a change seems necessary.

                • The original report made an order of magnitude error in calculation, putting us at $452 per resident annually.  So not only were we ranked highest, they reported almost double our actual costs.

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                  p>In point of fact, we’re significantly ($30 per resident) below San Francisco.  

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                  p>It’s a big difference.

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                  p>AS I said, my firefighter stories are all anecdotal, but his relationship with the department is needlessly hostile.  It ties into my pettiness comment.  Reporters that criticize him are banned from access.  Same with public employees.  In this case, the BFD.  Not a good thing.

                • I was never referring to the original incorrect report. You did that. We still have the second most expensive fire department. And we still have that pesky issue about disability benefits abuse, not to mention the whole alchol/drug abuse issue. I have great respect for individual firefighters, I have no doubt they are dedicated and hard-working by-and-large, but they have even more of a PR problem than the mayor does.

              • I think the analogy with Kennedy and Kerry fits. You said the electorate are not morons so why would they vote for such an ineffective mayor (according to you) with such a disastrous record (according to you)? And my brother the BFD firefighter totally agrees with you with also makes me wonder if Menino should stay.

                • I don’t know why you want to pick a fight with me over something I didn’t say. I understand that not everyone votes the way I do. And like Ed Poon below, if I had to vote right now, I might vote for Menino. The others haven’t shown me enough.

                • I can’t explain why, but JohnD likes to invent arguments for people, then fight them.  It’s not just you.

                • I’m not too big to admit a mistake. Have a great weekend it’s going to be a great one.

              • How many times do I have to write this, the Governor appoints the Boston Licensing Board …

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                p>Why are the firefighters in “open revolt”? drug testing? bringing in trained professionals to do repair work?

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                p>How many businesses have come into this city via Main Streets?  How many new supermarkets and restaurants do we have?  Wasn’t the Mayor recently in Fort Point Channel to welcome several new businesses here.

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                p>I was his legislative director back when we made restoration of the Indigo Line through the inner-city our top priority at the State House one year.  That work is moving forward right now and is spurring other development in Mattapan and Dorchester.

                • I really expected the people making this claim to point out some areas of the City where this is true, but no such luck. It makes me wonder if some of these are talking points from one of Menino’s opponents repeated verbatim. Sure enough, you can find the filthy streets claim on Kevin McCrea’s campaign website.

                • The charge of being a shill, or the charge of being a plagiarist. Neither is true.

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                  p>I work in Back Bay. Dartmouth Street is filthy. Boylston Street is filthy. St. James St. gets pretty dirty, and so does Stuart St.

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                  p>It’s not the biggest issue in the world, and I wouldn’t have made this big a deal out of it if you hadn’t pressed on it. But it’s got nothing to do with Kevin McCrea.

                • I was mostly wondering why no one was backing up the claim after I said that I didn’t see any filthy streets, and the other person who complained about filthy streets is clearly a McCrea supporter. The streets of Boston are not generally “filthy” and it is clearly incorrect and misleading to say so. If there are problems with specific parts of town, it is best to say what they are.

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                  p>I have not noticed that Dartmouth street looks especially dirty but I don’t walk around there on a daily basis. In any case, what kind of “filth” are you talking about? Uncollected garbage on the sidewalks? Broken bottles? Tons of sand and salt left over from the winter? Has anyone tried contacting DPW?

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                  p>In any case, does anyone really believe that any of Menino’s opponents are going to do a better job on this issue? I have no reason to believe so.

                • How silly of me to take this as a reference to my comments.

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                  p>

                  It makes me wonder if some of these are talking points from one of Menino’s opponents repeated verbatim. Sure enough, you can find the filthy streets claim on Kevin McCrea’s campaign website.

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                  p>I’m not literally offended, but I (and a few others) could be. How about you curtail the speculation of motives on scant evidence?

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                  p>And by the way, any opponent would do a better job on street cleaning, in my opinion, because presumably a new mayor would be eager to make a quick impression, and that is an easy cosmetic fix.

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                • Since when does anyone here hesitate to question the motives of politicians? And I see nothing wrong with questioning motives when it is clear that at least one person throwing rocks has not disclosed his support for another candidate.

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                  p>There is no doubt that any candidate will improve conditions in his/her favorite part of the city at least for some period of time. Whether that would be a meaningful improvement is questionable. There are only so many city employees, so unless they explain exactly how they are going to get better performance out of them, you can paint me highly skeptical.

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                  p>BTW, can I assume that the streets in then neighborhood in which you live are just fine?

                • I think we should all be questioning each others motives. It is just too easy to misrepresent yourself on the internet, even if not intentionally.

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                  p>But you didn’t answer my question. Does the neighborhood in Boston in which you live have clean streets?

                • So you actually don’t know that much about Boston and the actual quality of services that it delivers to its citizens? Why should any of us who actually live in the city, who drive its roads every day, who visit its parks, who pay taxes, and who vote, pay any attention to who you think should be mayor?

                • I really should let this go, but I’m far too stupid to do that.

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                  p>My friend, I work a nearly 50-hour week in the city, and spend about 15 hours commuting to and from it. The notion that I know nothing of its services, and the implication that I have no business opining on them, is completely ridiculous. I know nothing about trash pickup, and you’ll note that I said nothing about it.

                • I mean really, how is that in any way relevant? Who cares how long your commute is?

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                  p>You clearly don’t know much about the bulk of Boston’s city services. Most of your complaints about Menino are trivial (the imaginary Firefighters “revolt”, he has been in office too long). You don’t know anything about any of the people running against them or have any reason to believe that any of them would make a better Mayor even for your extremely limited experience of the City.

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                  p>You have the right of an opinion, of course, but you don’t have the right to be taken seriously by long-time residents of the city.

  5. I can’t believe I am saying this, but if the election were held tomorrow, I would vote for Menino.  It’s not that I think he’s done a great job, that he has a great vision for the future, or that we couldn’t use some new blood.  I really wanted to get behind Mike Flaherty, but his campaign seems to be pandering to the most pro-status quo forces in the city.  His electoral base is going to be municipal workers upset with Menino — chiefly cops and firemen.  I have nothing against these groups, but with the city facing a HUGE budget problem, I’m not exactly fired up to put someone in charge who owes his election to them as hard choices will have to be made.  Could you imagine Flaherty taking on police details or disability pensions?  City employees’ salaries and benefits are 70% of the operating budget, and the year-over-year increases are mostly due to healthcare and pensions.  As Willie Sutton would say, that’s where the money is.

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    p>I also think Flaherty’s criticisms of Menino are often absurd.  He frequently points out the need to “study” or “review” issues, as though he hasn’t been in elected city office for a decade.  Either he doesn’t know the budget and policies or he refuses to offend any group.  Neither of these is a great trait for our next mayor.  Menino isn’t exactly a profile in courage (e.g., his reaction to anytime three little old ladies get together to protest some development action) but I think his time as mayor has made him more hard nosed about making difficult choices.

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    p>And the thing with Flaherty’s wife and the BPD was really the last straw.  It’s an anecdote about how many people inside city government he will “owe” if he is elected.

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    p>Yoon… well, he just strikes me as a lightweight who isn’t offering real proposals.  His work on the City Council has not exactly been inspirational.

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    p>And McCrea is a gadfly.  Maybe if I wanted to cast a protest vote…

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    p>So there it is: Menino by process of elimination.  

    • seems almost like he’s running for 2013, try to become heir apparent.  

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      p>worked well for tom reilly.  oh wait.  

    • I actually feel a little more positive about Menino than you do. I think he has done a decent job, and he occasionally has shown some sense of vision for the city. He clearly loves the job and probably wants to keep the job more than his opponents want to beat him. That is going to make him very hard to beat.

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      p>I don’t feel that Yoon is really a lightweight, but I would have liked to see more of him in the City Council or some other office before he threw his hat in the ring. It seems like both Flaherty and Yoon made a calculated decision to jump in the race early in the hopes that Menino would not run again. That didn’t work out. I like Yoon. I voted for him and even donated to his City Council campaign, but I am not convinced that he will make a better mayor right now.

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      p>McCrea’s seems to be running partly out of vanity and partly as a way to ramp up the volume in his ongoing vendetta against City Hall. The fact that he hardly got anyone to vote for him when he ran for City Council makes him hard to take seriously as a politician.

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      • … I just can’t help but view other large city mayors (Bloomberg, Daley, Tony Williams, Rendell and Nutter, Newsom, Riordan and Villarigosa) as more effective and impressive.  Menino is overly parochial and tied to special interests, but it’s hard for me to complain about most city services.  It just took a candidate with the reactionary base of Flaherty to make him seem like a force for progress.

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        p>I would agree that many of my frustrations probably stem from structural issues rather than Menino’s leadership specifically.  Boston proper is a much smaller part of the metro area than is the case in other large cities.  That dynamic make the mayor less powerful in addressing regional issues like the MBTA problems or broader development issues.  Plus there are way too many limitations on the city’s home rule (liquor board, no local taxes, etc.) thanks to our friends on Beacon Hill.  

        • I think you make a live point about Hizzoner.  I think he’s been a solid Mayor but is he one of America’s top municipal leaders?  The great ones got vision and that is what Menino has lacked over the years – a grand vision.

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          p>No doubt he loves this town and in some ways his own limitations as a public personality have kept him focused on his job and not on the distractions of higher office.  He cares and its real and it shows.  He makes a strong case for the City and its interests although its unclear whether he has been effective in pushing the City’s agenda.  He can be called on to rail against budget cuts or asking for money but that is not exactly a creative leadership.  He’s picked some good people over the years.  The schools are marginally better and crime has generally been fought effectively even when considering the recent spike.  

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          p>But I can’t help but feel that much of what has driven the City’s shape and future in recent years has been beyond the Mayor’s control and that he has allowed that vacuum to form.  I never hear what he thinks about the Kennedy Greenway and how it frankly sucks as it stands now.  The Dig carved out a big swathe of open turf through the heart of the city and I fear it will remain a lifeless, soulless piece of territory where a vibrant organ should be beating instead.  I’d like to see the Mayor more engaged on that as a vital interest.  

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          p>His big piece of vision of late was moving City Hall to the Southie waterfront.  Crappy idea that.  Maybe he should put a new City Hall right on the Greenway to help create a new center where one should be – not off to the side in the Seaport.  That would be a masterstroke – at once settling the issue of redeveloping Scollay and a civil life to the Greenway itself.

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          p>But the thing is, when looking at the 09 challengers I can’t say I’m convinced at this point any of them would make a better leader for Boston.  Yoon has potential but its unclear whether he has the judgment to make a tough job work.  Smart but a deep shade of green – in life and politics.  Whatever flaws Menino has, he does a solid job running the City.  Boston may not be a beacon of light, but Menino’s is generally a decently-run, clean and stable administration.  We could do far worse.  

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          p>But could we do better?  Boston politics is pretty dead.   Nothing like the ole days when it was bloodsport.  Maybe that is a good thing – as race and place are less divisive issues in a majority-minority 21st century hub.  But where is the diversity of talent municipal politics attracts in other places?  No business leaders running – like a Bloomberg.  No big political names seeking the office – like a Villaraigosa.  Maybe its just not seen as that big a job (even though I think it is) or maybe Boston has a light political bench (what with big legislative names like Finneran, Di Masi and Wilkerson all indicted or possibly indictable or trying to make some money like Travaglini).  Congressman like Steve Lynch don’t seem interested and State Sens like Marian Walsh and Jack Hart likewise.  Or are they just waiting for the old man to go finally?

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          p>So, its likely Tommy’s job as long as he wants it.  And on balance, Boston won’t suffer much for that.  

          • there’s some really good talent in Boston that is not on this year’s ballot – Sheriff Cabral, Ralph Martin, Linda Dorcena Forry, Sonia Chang Diaz, Anthony Petrucelli, Jeff Sanchez, Liz Malia, John Tobin, Mike Ross, Rob Consalvo, Marty Walsh and Marty Walz, and more, along with some good young candidates for at-large council this year.  

  6. Dave Bernstein seemed to like it, Adam Gaffin thought it was running a bit slow (too much information, no doubt …)  Check it out if you have a chance.  “Official” Facebook page is up now, though there have been a few unofficial sites (Young Professionals for Menino, Cape Verdeans for Menino, etc) up for a while too.

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    p>Great intro last night at Rozzie rally by Clare Reilly, former Director of the Women’s Lunch Place and Councilor Tobin. Missed the Roxbury rally due to important public service event (Springsteen at the Gahden!)

  7. There have been too many back room deals, too many give aways to the BRA, and too little done for the city itself. The streets are filthy, jobs for teachers and police are always threatened first. There is NEVER the threat of one single loss of hack job at city hall or the BRA. Menino refuses to debate unless the worlds series is on another channel. Even when he is on WTKK, he takes no questions. Enough with his name on every city sign, enough with his temper tantrums whenever he is challenged. We need an adult in city hall, not this kindergardener. Enough already.

    • Street sweepers have come by several times in recent weeks to my street in Rozzie. The streets in West Rox and JP also look pretty good as far as I have seen.

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      p>I don’t think it should be so shocking that teachers jobs would be threatened first when there are budget problems since they also happen to make up one of the largest groups of city employees. I also don’t know if it is true that no other City Hall jobs are threatened.

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      p>Re BRA jobs. Does the City even responsible for the BRA’s budget? Does the mayor have the ability to fire anyone there? I don’t think so.

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      p>There is no question that Menino is reluctant to debate and that is a perfectly reasonable thing to complain about, but do you really think that any other incumbent mayor in this town is going to behave differently?

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  8. On the whole, Mayor Menino has done well.  Considering the fact that when he first took office, many if not most commentators dismissed him out of hand, a fair look at his record shows an impressive list of accomplishments.  One singular feat was taking the lead to save Boston City Hospital by merging it with a more financially successsful hospital and, at the same time, maintaining the core mission of helping Boston’s poor and those individuals without health insurance. This was a task avoided by his predecessors and he deserves great credit for taking it on.

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    p>He has consistently balanced city budgets, improved the City’s bond rating and, on the whole, improved public safety.  The schools are somewhat better under the stable leadership of Mayor and two excellent Superintendents.  In terms of basic city services, he clearly rates well.

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    p>On the minus side, while the professionalism of the Fire Department is unquestionable, their commitment to efficiency and public accountability is not.  The Mayor has had the means and opportunity to improve the operations and make it less costly and more responsible, but he has not done so.  Fortunately for him, none of his challengers are about to take on the fire department union either so he will, unfortunately, get a free ride on this one.

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    p>Unless there is some major surprise and notwithstanding the desire of the media for a true horserace, he will be reelected handily and the City will be the better for it.    

    • Regarding term limits, I say that Kerry does next to nothing in the Senate, and his abyssmal candidacy for President should have banished him to political obscurity. He said that he would make sure that all the votes were counted, and he outright lied. There were major discrepancies in Ohio and he did absolutely nothing. Ohio should have really gone to Kerry in 2004 instead of Bush. I am still kicking myself for not voting for Al Gore on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

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      p>As for the Senior Senator for our Commonwealth, I have a lot more respect for him than either John Kerry or Tom Menino. However, thirty five years in the Senate takes its’ toll and I wish him well. I hope that he decides to retire and has a nice long life to enjoy with his family and friends.

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      p>Sincerely,
      Wayne Wilson
      Roslindale

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      p>P.S. Sam Yoon is not a good choice for Mayor, and Jim Spencer might find a better use of his time than promoting him.

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      p>P.P.S. Does anyone else know that there were around 8,600 city employees in 1993, and that there are now over 17,000?
      Just curious.

      • That is quite a big jump in the number of city employees. Where did you get those figures? Are there break downs of what departments they work for?

  9. I can’t think of the specifics right now, but there have been a couple times at least over the years when I’ve thought he was awfully good about simply jumping on the bandwagon rather than leading.  Not that agreeing with your constituents is necessarily a bad thing, but your relationship to your constituents should not be one of simply going along to get along.

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    p>He also comes across as playing machine politics more than I would prefer.

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