03.31.2025

Mayor O’Brien? Nope | Lab giant Alexandria and former top exec lock horns in court over alleged theft of corporate secrets | House boss sounds cautious note on additional zoning reform | Extra! Extra! Read all about it: Longtime local journalist Jay Fitzgerald launches newsletter | State spending billions on ed with little to show for it, new report indicates |

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State House uncertainty on housing: Amid pushback to MBTA Communities Act, House boss sounds cautious note on further zoning reform legislation

We caught up briefly the other day with House Speaker Ron Mariano.

And let’s just say that, at least for now, he did not sound like someone gearing up for another potentially contentious overhaul of local zoning rules, widely blamed for the state’s dire housing shortage.

A Healey administration commission recently released a report calling for an end to large-lot, McMansion-style suburban zoning, with formal legislation expected at some point.

But asked about the potential for another zoning reform bill, Mariano pointed to ongoing issues with the MBTA Communities Act, which requires cities and towns with or near T stations to open their doors to new apartment and condo buildings.

House Speaker Ron Mariano

A small but growing number of communities are now seeking an exemption from compliance with the 2021 law on the heels of a ruling by state Auditor Diana DiZoglio that it is an unfunded state mandate.

Wrentham, Hanson, Marshfield, Middleboro and Middleton have all filed lawsuits against the state housing authorities, arguing they should be exempt from compliance with MBTA Communities until the state agrees to defray costs related to planning work.

“Is it an unfunded mandate? I am not a lawyer and I don’t play one on TV,” Mariano remarked to Contrarian Boston last Wednesday after accepting an award from industry group MassBio.

Jesse Kanson-Benanav, executive director of Abundant Housing Massachusetts, acknowledged that some lawmakers are a little cautious as they sort through some of the pushback against MBTA Communities, though he characterized it as a relatively small number of towns.

Abundant Housing Massachusetts Executive Director Jesse Kanson-Benanav and former Statewide Organizer Kassie Infante

However, Kanson-Benanav, who served on the Healey administration’s task force on unlocking housing production, anticipates support among state lawmakers for additional zoning reform in the form of a “YIMBY” bill pushed by his organization.

Key points in the YIMBY legislation are similar to recommendations in the state commission’s report, which called for the legalization of two-family construction across the state, and up to four units on lots with water and sewer service.

“There is a lot more that needs to be done,” Kanson-Benanav told Contrarian Boston. “We are not effectively building starter homes anymore and we need to deal with lot sizes.”

Kanson-Benanav said he does not see the unfunded mandate issues raised by the state auditor as presenting any insurmountable problems when it comes to passing additional zoning reform bills.

A spokesperson for Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said both were still “closely reviewing” the commission’s recommendations.

“There is definitely still more work to do, especially on zoning, and Massachusetts isn’t kicking the can down the road when it comes to increasing housing production and lowering costs,” the spokesperson said.

A welcome addition to the local media world: Long-time business and political reporter Jay Fitzgerald launches newsletter on Substack

Here’s a new must-read for all you local news junkies out there.

Jay, a long-time colleague of ours from the Boston Business Journal and the Boston Herald, has launched a weekly newsletter based on his popular Hub Blog.

Jay Fitzgerald

Here’s Jay:

“Welcome to the inaugural newsletter of Hub Blog, hosted by yours truly, Jay Fitzgerald. For now, it’s mostly going to be a weekly newsletter providing headline links to my various HubBlog.com posts during the prior week. The newsletter is free . . . . Regarding HubBlog.com, I first started the blog site in the early 2000s and only recently revived it after letting it go dormant for a while. I’m not trying to cover every major local, state and national news item of importance. Just the political, business and cultural issues I find interesting and have the time to briefly write about. I like to think I (mostly) approach issues from a centrist viewpoint. I’m no fan of ideologues, left or right. I see plenty of gray areas in life.

Anyway, enjoy the newsletter. Feel free to share this with others. And feedback is definitely welcome. Thanks. … Jay Fitzgerald”

Never mind: Tom O’Brien, one of Boston’s top developers, decides not to run for mayor after all

The developer of major projects like One Congress and the multibillion-dollar Suffolk Downs redevelopment, Tom O’Brien had been widely expected to announce this week that he would be running for mayor.

And a number of people in the business community believed O’Brien was well-positioned to make a strong, pro-growth argument for dealing with some of Boston’s growing challenges, from rising residential taxes to a struggling downtown and a plunge in private-sector housing development.

As head of Boston Redevelopment Authority in the late 1990s, O’Brien helped forge plans for the Seaport, the city’s now booming new waterfront neighborhood.

Apparently, it was not to be.