Facing Twitter’s wrath | Housing the big loser amid legislative chaos | Gambling expansion ahead | Guess which former president is coming to town? | Quick hits | About Contrarian |
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Amid MBTA safety implosion, Healey keeps a low profile
Chris Doughty is a double underdog. The Wrentham businessman trails Trumpie Geoff Diehl in the Republican primary and would likely face a 30-point deficit if he manages pull off a long-shot win and earn the right to take on Democrat Maura Healey in the governor’s race this fall.
But at least Doughty has a plan for tackling the rolling disaster previously known as the MBTA. Riding the rails and chatting with voters, the president of industrial gear manufacturer Capstan Atlantic called for zeroing in on the transit system’s safety issues, shoring up its parlous finances, slashing red tape and ramping up employee engagement.
That’s more than can be said of the state’s attorney general. The overwhelming front-runner in the mostly comatose governor’s race, Healey tweeted her condolences after the Orange Line fire that saw panicked passengers bust through windows and one woman dive into the Mystic River.
“My heart goes out to those impacted by the fire today,” Healey tweeted after the July 21 fire.
But that’s been about it for Healey, whose campaign website talks in generalities about ensuring a “safe, reliable, and accessible” public transportation system, with no mention specifically of the T’s safety troubles – or what should be done to fix them.
Healey kicked off campaign in January – in front of a T station in East Boston - with a Baker-like pledge to ‘continue with what’s working and fix what’s not.’
That was a full seven months ago and the T has gone off from bad to worse to completely off the rails. So, Maura, what’s your plan? And if you think Baker has done a bad job with his management of the T, well what would you do differently?
Twitter pig pile: Progressive stalwart takes heat over State House union comments
We don’t quite buy state Sen. William Brownsberger’s argument, but he was brave to make it.
Should legislative staffers on Beacon Hill succeed in their unionization drive, there would be a “whole lot of conflict-of-interest issues,” the state’s second highest ranking senator warned in an interview with WGBH.
In particular, state Senate staffers, who have been organizing with help from IBEW Local 2222, would be “working with a union who has its own political agenda.”
Oh my!
“You can't have people serving multiple masters, that’s just not acceptable,” Brownsberger told public radio station.
After the MA State House Employees Union posted his comments on Twitter, the senate president pro tempore quickly found himself facing a backlash online.
One long-time Brownsberger supporter tweeted he is “wishing someone more progressive would primary” the senator in hopes of pushing the Belmont Democrat “to the left a bit, which is sorely needed.”
Others jumped on Brownsberger’s use of the word master, or M-word, as one the senator’s Twitter critics put it.
“Serving masters? MASTERS!?,” fumed Ethan Snow a self-described “industrial democrat.”
All this furor over a state senator who voted 80 percent of the time on legislation pushed or endorsed by Progressive Mass?
Tough crowd.
Legislative chaos – and a big loss for affordable housing
We are still trying to get our heads around how a 36-old-law emerged at the 11th hour to torpedo a key economic development bill - one that included hundreds of millions to build desperately needed affordable housing.
If you haven’t been following it all, Gov. Charlie Baker effectively upended the entire legislative session with his announcement last week that a big surplus in state revenues will likely trigger an automatic tax break on the order of roughly $2.5 billion under a 1986 law.
After wrapping up the legislative session with an all-nighter that stretched into the wee hours of Monday morning, House and Senate leaders ended up taking a pass on the economic development bill, citing fiscal prudence since it included substantial breaks for Massachusetts taxpayers.
The economic development bill, had it passed, would have effectively heaped another billion in tax breaks atop the $2.5 billion likely coming back to taxpayers as a result of the 1980s law.
But that economic development bill was about far more than just tax breaks – it included $500 million for affordable housing, as well as money for cash-strapped hospitals.
How could the 1986 law – given its potential ramifications – have gone unheeded and unnoticed for so long? Was this a case of legislative malpractice? Or was it Baker, on his way out the door, gleefully dropping a bomb on a Democratic-controlled Legislature that over the years has all too often left his proposals to wither and die?
Stay tuned.
Boston tech conference lands big fish
Former President Barack Obama will be headlining the Inbound conference slated for Sept. 6-9 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Organized by HubSpot, actress and producer Viola Davis, and legendary anthropologist and primatologist Jane Goodall will also be among the featured speakers at this year’s convention.
In fact, September will be a big month in Boston for both Barack and Michelle Obama, whose portraits will be on display at the MFA from Sept. 3 to Oct. 30.
Who knows, maybe one of the world’s most famous power couples will commute in from Martha’s Vineyard, where they bought a nearly $12 million, 29-acre waterfront estate in 2019 from Wycliffe Grousbeck, owner of the Boston Celtics, and Corinne Basler, his ex-wife, according to Town & Country.
Sports betting bill finally passes
Housing may have gotten the short end of the stick. But even if you can’t afford to keep a roof over your head, you will be able to bet more now, with Beacon Hill finding time to craft a pretty significant expansion of gambling.
State lawmakers had been deadlocked on the issue for months, with the Senate opposed to allowing wagers on college games even as the House insisted on opening them up to betting.
A deal was finally announced at 5 a.m. Monday after lawmakers capped the end of the session with an all-nighter.
Under the compromise that emerged, betting will be prohibited on games played by in-state colleges, such as BC, a local sports powerhouse, unless it involves a tournament, according to ESPN, which has detailed look at what’s included and what’s not.
Sports betting will also be restricted to those 21 and up, who will have to use a licensed sportsbook to wager and won’t be allowed to use credit cards.
Quick hits:
The GOAT, both on and off the court: “Bill Russell was the greatest winner any sport has ever seen” Washington Post
Russian propaganda that’s beyond shameless: “Why would Ukraine kill its own heroes? Don’t fall for Kremlin propaganda.” Washington Post
This unfortunately does not include Boston- smaller and mid-sized cities having more success getting commuters to come back: “Where the Fight Over a Return to the Office Is Over and the Office Won” New York Times
Uh-oh! “Trump-backed conspiracy theorist makes charge for chief election position in Arizona Politico
Medical madness: “Same Surgery, Different Prices: Why Hospital Costs Vary So Much” Wall Street Journal
What is Contrarian Boston?
I have fielded emails over the past couple of months 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.