Tuesday, September 8, 2015
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By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) with Keith Regan
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The action today: Back to school, plus preliminary elections
- Mayor Walsh joins Superintendent Tommy Chang for a first-day-of-school tour at Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, Hernandez Dual-Language K-8 school, Boston Teacher's Union Pilot K1-8 school and Mattahunt Elementary K1-5 school.
- Then there is the little matter of picking the next Convention Center Authority executive director: The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Selection Committee plans to meet in an executive session to have a preliminary screening committee interview applicants for the position of executive director of the convention center authority, noon, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Room 161, 415 Summer St., Boston.
- Also today: The cities of Boston, Chicopee, Springfield, Worcester and the towns of Greenfield and West Springfield will hold preliminary elections for various elected positions... See the full political schedule at the State House News Service website here (subscription required):http://www.statehousenews.com/mlschedule
And happening this week: Rail link, Kinder Morgan hearing
- Any time two former governors get together to talk substantive policy with the sitting governor, it's news. On Wednesday, Michael Dukakis and William Weld plan to meet at the State House Wednesday with Gov. Baker to pitch him on the need for an underground rail corridor to connect South Station with North Station.
- The MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board will meet on Wednesday. At the last meeting, the board called for an outside entity to explore why the Green Line Extension estimates ballooned by 50 percent.
- Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat, will host a comment session on the Kinder Morgan pipeline, which would traverse portions of western Massachusetts and bring Pennsylvania shale gas to New England. The event will be held at Greenfield Community College.
- On Friday, Sept. 11, to honor and remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito will participate in the lowering of a flag, a moment of silence and a reading of the names of some victims.
Unions take aim at 'subversive' Pioneer Institute
One expects plenty of fiery pro-worker rhetoric at Labor Day events. And there was plenty of union animosity toward Gov. Baker at outside the Labor Day breakfast, as was reported by MassLive's Gintautus Dumcius. But one doesn't expect labor leaders to target a local think tank. The demonization was for the Pioneer Institute, considered conservative in Massachusetts because it believes in free enterprise, competition, charter schools, and limits on government spending. And, of course, some privatization of government services. During Monday morning's breakfast (pre-Obama) Tweets suddenly started popping up, this one from Boston magazine's Garrett Quinn: "(AFL-CIO regional director) Jim Snow is ripping the Pioneer Institute. Their agenda is 'subversive.' Their research is 'farcical.' " Snow likely was referring to Pioneer's claim that the Pacheco Law, the law that regulates privatization, has cost taxpayers $450 million since 1997.
The unions are still smarting from the Legislature's decision to suspend the Pacheco Law for three years at the T, and the Baker administration recently has proposed privatizing some express, suburban and late-night bus service, a move that would not create layoffs. Asked to respond about being labeled a "right wing front group" -- that one came from AFL-CIO Massachusetts President Steven Tolman -- Pioneer's executive director said in an email: "From the start, Pioneers have come from different political backgrounds -- and the same is true today. The overblown reactions you saw are attributable to Pioneer's impact. Some labor leaders continue to think the status quo at the MBTA was good enough. I just don't think that's reasonable given how poor service disrupted the lives of millions of people and businesses this winter. I'm happy to side with the riding public even if that means a few speakers take jabs at us."
In Worcester, Labor Day rallying cry
While the heavy political hitters breakfasted in Boston, Worcester's own Labor Day breakfast drew its share of politicians and seemed to carry a more aggressive message, according to the Telegram. U.S. Rep. James McGovern headlined -- saying he'd turned down an invitation to the Boston event along a ride on Air Force One -- with Attorney General Maura Healey. But it was Joseph P. Carlson, president of the Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO, who pounded the podium, noting that a so-called millionaire tax was headed to voters next year and saying the time had come to put "the 1 percent on the defensive," adding: "Dammit, it's time to push the envelope."
Union Oyster House owner has no problem with some Republicans
On his way out of town, President Obama swung by the Union Oyster House for some takeout, and he may not have been aware that its owner donated to his last opponent. The restaurant's longtime owner, Joe Milano, is from the North Shore and has spread donations across both sides of the aisle, according to the state's Campaign Finance website. Milano gave $500 each to candidates Baker and Polito down the election stretch last fall -- and also gave $500 to Martha Coakley. Milano also contributed to Baker's 2010 gubernatorial bid, and backed Richard Tisei's congressional races, Scott Brown's last Massachusetts senate race, and gave $1,000 to Mitt Romney for president, according to the InsideGov website.
Free furniture for the mayor
Following his story about a developer donating materials to refurbish Mayor Walsh's City Hall kitchen, Globe reporter Andrew Ryan has a follow-up today. The same developer, Joseph Fallon, also donated furniture to Walsh's City Hall office, about $2,000 worth, putting the total to $3,000.http://bit.ly/1i9HdQD
China sneezes -- will Boston colleges catch a cold?
It's an open secret that local colleges and universities are increasingly dependent on foreign students, who almost always pay full price. There are some 13,000 Chinese students in Boston alone, making the recent collapse of the Chinese stock market a cause for concern both with students and college administrators, the Boston Globe reports today. "I think it's one of those wells that will dry up earlier than people anticipate," said one education expert. http://bit.ly/1PYPwZN
Chiofaro may be looking for tax break
Boston has its own Donald, but he goes by Don, the well-known developer Don Chiofaro. Foiled for years in trying to develop the Boston Harbor Garage area, he he's under pressure to scale down his 1.3 million-square-foot development -- but needs a tax break to make the numbers work, the Globe's Dan Adams uncovered after receiving a batch of BRA email. http://bit.ly/1OtO6Gj
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