Wu’s lab challenge | ‘Poisonous brew’ | Diehl vs Doughty | Ambitious Lame Duck | Quick Hits
Michelle Wu’s first big development challenge? A torrent of lab projects
With Cambridge and the Seaport increasingly built out, lab developers are pushing into traditional residential neighborhoods in Boston.
And let’s just say that’s starting to generate a little friction.
Developers in the Fenway, including a partnership between Red Sox and WS Development, are either in the process of building or laying out plans for as much as six million square feet of lab space in the neighborhood, according to Richard Giordano, director of policy and community development at the Fenway CDC.
The new lab projects threaten to put the squeeze on badly needed new housing, while it’s not clear public transit is up the task of dealing with thousands of additional workers each day.
“How do we get people in and out – where is the housing for them?” he asks.
Ditto for Allston Brighton, where another three million square feet is in the works, with a battle brewing over a proposed conversion of an older commercial building that would give the boot to local musicians and artists.
All eyes are now on Boston’s new mayor, who has pledged to take a more nuanced, balanced approach to the city’s development needs.
“Artists and musicians are the soul of Allston and Brighton,” said Jason Desrosier, manager of community action at the Allston Brighton CDC. “We need to retain the creatives in our neighborhood.”
‘Poisonous brew’ – Baker turns media critic in state of state
Oh, how politicians love to gripe about the media.
But one of the most interesting parts of the governor’s final state of the state address, in our view, was the one that got the least attention.
And that was his critique of our modern disinformation age in the wake of social media and the proliferation of countless news channels and online outlets.
If you didn’t hear it, it’s worth taking a look.
“Facts are often fungible and curated. Missteps play out in real time and can go viral in the most bizarre and unusual ways. Context is non-existent. And in many cases, history and current events get twisted to support whatever point of view someone is advocating for.
But the answer to the swirl and chaos of modern life is not more of the same poisonous brew.”
There’s certainly more than a little ring of truth to that.
Diehl unloads on MassGOP primary opponent
Here’s hoping that seemingly mild-mannered Wrentham businessman Chris Doughty knows what he’s getting into.
Doughty, owner of a gear manufacturer in his hometown, officially jumped into the governor’s race on Wednesday, providing an option for moderate Republicans unhappy with die-hard Trump supporter and former state lawmaker Geoff Diehl.
Doughty, a grandfather of four and a self-described fiscal conservative who said he would focus on jobs and the economy, offered an olive branch when asked how he would approach the Diehl/Trump wing of the party.
“To be honest, genuine, compassionate and willing to listen, not being dogmatic and unkind,” he said. “I think I’ll just represent myself, how I really am.”
However, the appeal appears to have been lost on Diehl, who wasted no time going after his new rival, sending out a fundraising appeal that prominently highlights Doughty’s acknowledgement to the Globe that, shocker, he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Just to make sure potential donors get the point, the email features Doughty’s photo alongside that of Clinton’s mug, with the message: “He Was With Her.”
Of course, in the very next line in the Globe story, we are told that Doughty voted for Trump in 2020, but that didn’t make it into Diehl’s email.
Mighty ambitious for a lame duck
Gov. Charlie Baker clearly isn’t following the conventional playbook for lame ducks.
Instead, Baker is proposing $700 million in tax breaks for low-income workers, parents and seniors.
Well Baker’s certainly on target when it comes to the cost of living in Massachusetts, which continued to go through the roof during his seven years and counting in office.
“The cost of just about everything is going up,” Baker told reporters Wednesday, per the Globe. “The last two years have been pretty tough on a lot of the populations we’re looking to help here, and I’d love to see the Legislature take them seriously.”
Days numbered for vaxx mandate at Boston restaurants?
Well, it sure seems like the city’s new mayor is setting the setting the stage for a graceful retreat on one part of the contentious policy.
Boston hasn’t fined any businesses over the proof-of-vaccination requirements, and if cases continue downward “we should be able to adjust our policies down the line,” Wu told reporters, per the Herald.
As reported here, no sooner than Boston rolled out its new vaxx mandate than businesses and customers began cancelling reservations and rebooking at restaurants just over the city line in Somerville and Quincy.
Amid the mess in Boston, Somerville later voted against a proposal to impose its own vaxx mandate.
Vaxx mandate Part II: For Wu, no backing down with police, fire unions
Or so says Sam Tyler, former president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.
With the city in contract talks with Boston police and firefighter unions, backing down now on the vaxx mandate could have wider, and unwelcome, ramifications, Tyler told CommonWealth Magazine.
Wu has taken considerable heat from the city’s public safety unions, which have taken their protests practically to her doorstep in the Roslindale home she shares with her husband and two children.
“I think if she shows weakness here or backs off, that will influence negotiations and make it tougher for the city,” Tyler said. “There’s a lot more riding on this than just getting the firefighters to get a shot.”
File under: Sage wisdom
Provocative piece on closing racial homeownership gap
That would be this blog post by Thomas Callahan, head of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance for 34 years.
“Which candidate for governor will make closing the racial homeownership gap a campaign centerpiece?” asks Callahan, now with the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council.
Callahan also questions why “housing in general and homeownership in general” typically fail to generate much attention during the gubernatorial races in Massachusetts.
After all, our state has some of the highest rents and monthly mortgage payments in the country, and simply keeping a roof over one’s head can be a major challenge even for middle-class families.
His answer is spot on – and troubling.
“It could be that many of our statewide candidates play to the voter-rich suburban communities where 8 or 9 out of 10 households are already homeowners and benefit from ever increasing home values. It could be the paucity of representation of elected officials of color in the State House.”
Introducing Stat Man
That would be David Van Voorhis, a high school senior and stats fanatic.
Today, David takes a look at the debate over the Fair Share Amendment, also known as the millionaires’ tax.
Biz groups dig deep as debate over Fair Share escalates
Two billion dollars. That’s how much revenue proponents of the Fair Share Amendment think it could generate each year.
The amendment, which would increase taxes on high earners to fund local education and transportation, is set to be voted on during the November statewide elections, and as that date draws closer, funding of opposition groups by prominent business figures has ramped up.
Critics, meanwhile, are pointing to a study by Tufts, which places the revenue haul from the Fair Share tax at a somewhat lower, but hardly negligible, $1.3 billion.
Still, despite this, and fears by some that it will end up penalizing small businesses, the amendment enjoys widespread public support.
How much support? Seventy percent of registered voters said they were in favor of the amendment, the MassINC Polling Group reports.
Quick Hits
-- Abby Johnson appears to be shaking things up (mostly for the better) at Boston’s mutual-fund giant: “Fidelity, Once Stodgy and Adrift, Bets on the Reddit Crowd” (WSJ).
-- Does the VC industry deserve the black-eye it received for its role in the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos debacle? No, says Sebastian Mallaby (NYT).
-- Speaking of VC, the life-sciences juggernaut barrels ahead: “Massachusetts biopharma firms raised a record $13.7 billion in venture capital last year” (Globe).
What is Contrarian Boston?
I have fielded emails over the past couple weeks asking what Contrarian Boston is about.
Here’s a link to our mission statement – you can find it in the “about” section.
For a more prosaic, nuts-and-bolts description, read on.
An online newsletter, Contrarian Boston publishes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In Contrarian Boston you’ll find analysis of the day’s news, and original reporting as well.
Our focus is:
· Politics and all levels of governance, good and bad, with an emphasis on state and local, with some national mixed in;
· Economic growth and business, especially real estate, housing and new development projects;
· The media and why it does what it does;
· Education, from school board spats to the doings of multibillion-dollar university endowments;
· And whatever else catches our fancy.
Contrarian Boston seeks contributors
Have a news tip? Is there an issue you would like to see explored? Interested in writing up a news item or short opinion piece? As Contrarian Boston gets on its feet, I would like to add more news and a wider range of commentary as well.
Intrigued? Drop me a line at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com.
Thanks for reading and see you Friday.