What's happening today:
Charlie Baker goes to Washington to lobby for the importance of military bases in Massachusetts and for a long-term transportation funding plan... House Speaker Robert DeLeo plans to attend an anniversary commemoration of the 2014 Revere tornado, at the American Legion hall, Revere, 10 a.m. .. Attorney General Maura Healey delivers the commencement address to graduates of the Year Up training program, 5:30.
Olympics trips over the high hurdles
One of the great things about the digital news age is you don't have to wait long to get analysis after a major news event. Such was the case with demise of the Boston Olympics bid, for within a few hours of Gov. Baker's press conference opinion already was everywhere. What did it mean and what does it say about Boston? A few quick thoughts before I move on to the avalanche of commentary.
- Boston 2024 had a very high hurdle to clear, and the group did produce a reasonably credible Bid 2.0. The criticism of the group has been too harsh. It always was an uphill fight -- shoehorning a massive event in a densely packed city under a tight planning deadline. Boston 2024's leaders are guilty of being idealists, which shouldn't be a sin, even in Boston. They started some conversations that never would have happened otherwise.
- The No Boston Olympics, along with No Boston 2024, were highly effective in galvanizing opposition to the Olympic movement, but the real opponent was the rank and file Bostonian, unmoved by the idea of the Olympics even if the event were guaranteed to break even. The indifference to the Games was overwhelming -- the effort needed to be dazzling from the start to even have a chance.
- The bid put many of the city's and the region's problems in sharp relief. Someone should start a Boston 2025 group dedicated to addressing affordable housing, transportation, and economic opportunity. And fixing that crazy traffic circle in Dorchester. Seizing the best ideas of the Olympic bid and keeping the focus on improving Boston is the point of Conor Yunit's op-ed in the Globe. http://bit.ly/1HXWdJc
MASSterList's Olympics columns awards:
Most mean-spirited: We have a tie. Globe's Dan Shaughnessy gratuitously slams Boston 2024, in a predictable little guy v. big guy narrative. http://bit.ly/1JqVQZR. Howie Carr mocks Steve Pagliuca and John Fish -- and Globe owner John Henry as well. http://bit.ly/1h2oQMt
Most lionizing: Joan Vennochi of the Globe calls the No Boston Olympics group "heroes" for organizing against the bid, not mentioning the role of No Boston 2024 in providing documents through Freedom of Information Act requests that helped undermine the bid. http://bit.ly/1D8epku
Best metaphor: Dante Ramos of the Globe compared the situation between Boston and the USOC as a relationship that was destined to fail -- flirtation, romance, and breakup. Are USOC relationships doomed to fail? For indeed there has been some interesting thinking about whether the USOC model can work without more of a governmental financial backstop. http://bit.ly/1Io94S4
Most in-depth: Boston.com's Adam Vaccaro's panoramic look at the steady emergence of No Boston Olympics and No Boston 2024, and how Boston 2024 and other proponents continued to underestimate the opposition (most eloquently captured in Marty Walsh's "10 People on Twitter" comment).http://bit.ly/1JMIRh2
Best line: From John Powers' ongoing insightful analysis of Olympics' bigwig thinking in the Globe: "The change in leadership, the original bid that the public didn't see until last Friday, the revised version that was an urban renewal project disguised as a track meet, the venues scattered all the way to the Berkshires, the squeeze on City Hall and the State House to get on board sooner rather than later -- all of that marked Boston's quest for death, if not now then after next year's statewide referendum."http://bit.ly/1IoaAnc
Most disappointed: That would be Shirley Leung of the Globe, who sees the defeat of the Olympics as a win of old Boston thinking over new Boston possibilities. "To the world, Boston is still the same old, same old -- a difficult place to get anything done, a place where we're happy as we are."http://bit.ly/1SKJAnR
Don't worry, we still have casinos
Perhaps the media's gaze will turn to casinos in a more concentrated way? A commissioner and the executive director of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission are both leaving and the Herald says finding replacements could be challenging giving the commission's entanglement with the city of Boston in a nasty lawsuit and claims it has held secret meetings in the past. Commissioner James McHugh -- who oversaw the MGC's review of the Boston casino license awarded to Wynn Resorts after Chairman Steve Crosby recused himself -- will leave at the end of September and Executive Director Rick Day is also leaving, though when exactly has yet to be determined. Meanwhile, the commission is about to begin vetting the proposal for a resort casino in Brockton and has to navigate delays in the projects it has already approved. "I don't know if you're going to have too many eager people," gaming industry expert Father Richard McGowan tells the Herald. "This is a full-time job, and finding someone to fill that role is going to be difficult." http://bit.ly/1MTwweb
... And New Bedford still has a mess
The Standard-Times reports that four SouthCoast lawmakers are asking the state to step in and evaluate the cost of doing what a casino developer would have done: Figure out how to clean up the contaminated waterfront property that has long vexed the city and its efforts to revitalize its downtown. Before it withdrew its license bid, KG Urban had said it would spend up to $50 million to remediate contamination on the site, where pollution dates to the late 1800s. Lawmakers now want the Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate the site and identify parties responsible for cleaning it up. "As the site has been conceptually linked for nearly 20 years to either an aquarium or the casino proposal, it becomes essential for the commonwealth to aggressively pursue cleanup obligations for the property," said Rep. William M. Straus. http://bit.ly/1I6FktM
Public records reform vote pushed back
A House vote on public records reform will likely not come until September at the earliest, as a lobbying effort on behalf of the state's cities and towns appears to have slowed some lawmakers' roll on the issue, the Globe reports. Democratic Rep. Peter Kocot of Northhampton said lawmakers decided it was important to revise some of the language to address concerns about implementation cost raised by the Mass Municipal Association. Supporters say the delay will be worth it if the result is a law that works for everyone. "We were hoping for the legislation to go through this week, but the real issue is getting a good bill," Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, told the Globe. "Public records is a key part of democracy and clearly the law is not working in Massachusetts." http://bit.ly/1MsQY7x
Meanwhile, the Globe separately reports that despite fears that town and city clerks would be overwhelmed with records requests they don't have the capacity to handle, other states have managed to require cities and towns to offer up public records with little or no fees attached and little in the way of negative repurcussions. Reporter Todd Wallack scanned the country and found that even in places with a high volume of records requests-such as Naples, Florida, which has handled more than 1,000 requests already this year-communities manage just fine. "We look at it as part of our job," Patricia Rambosk, the city clerk of Naples told Wallack. http://bit.ly/1GXE1eU
Senate to look at homeowners insurance hikes
Many Bay State homeowners are facing steeper-than-usual insurance bill hikes and the state senate wants to better understand how the Division of Insurance decided how much of the hit insurers took during the brutal winter they can now recover with higher premiums, the Herald reports. The Senate's Post Audit and Oversight Committee is planning a September hearing into rates that will jump as much as 9 percent for some homeowners based on rate hikes already approved by the Division of Insurance. Rates typically rise 2 to 3 percent annually. Chairman Michael Barrett tells the Herald's Donna Goodison that the committee wants to know whether the steep increases will be rolled back over time and why past rate hikes didn't anticipate a rough winter. http://bit.ly/1U3GygK |
How to reach me and MASSterList
Nothing makes me happier than comments, tips, suggestions. Also, opinion articles also will be considered. Please don't hesitate to weigh in on what we're missing and where we should look. Reach me atgdonnelly@massterlist.com or on Twitter @geodonnelly.
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