Contrarian Boston/02.01.2024

Tom Brady’s new Boston business venture comes with big headache | BPS disses its best schools in bizarre new ranking | Local media plays it safe in coverage of Newton teachers strike | Wu’s odd choice for Boston’s new construction chief | Debate over millionaire’s tax heats up again | Quick hits |

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Complex job, thin resume: Boston’s new inspections chief has little relevant experience and a track record of sloppy paperwork as a political candidate

Construction work is grinding to a halt in Boston. New apartment, lab and other development projects remain stuck on the drawing boards.

Yet amid crisis, Mayor Michelle Wu is turning to a rather unusual choice to run a key city agency that does everything from issue building permits for new towers to conduct health inspections of restaurants.

One-time Boston City Council candidate Tania Del Rio will take over the Inspectional Services Department on Feb. 26, the mayor announced on Tuesday.

Del Rio brings to the job a growing but still relatively modest track record of big city government service.

Del Rio helped coordinate the response of various city agencies to the Mass and Cass homeless encampment crisis and served for a time as head of the city’s small Office of Women’s Advancement.

(Incoming ISD Commissioner Tania Del Rio)

Meanwhile, Del Rio brings to the table little if any construction experience at a time when ISD will be in charge of helping execute one of Wu’s major development polices: the conversion of empty downtown office buildings into apartments.

By contrast, ISD commissioners typically have had heavy duty experience in city government and sometimes in construction as well.

Possibly in recognition of Del Rio’s lack of experience in the field, Sean Lydon, the interim ISD commissioner, will be staying on “senior advisor for construction.”

By contrast, Lydon has served in city government for 25 years and has a degree in construction supervision from Wentworth Institute of Technology, with private sector experience at Raytheon.

But as they say, that’s not all. Del Rio’s track record in keeping up with required campaign finance reports during her unsuccessful run for city council in 2022 is less than impressive.

In a letter to Del Rio’s campaign committee in September, state campaign finance officials warned she was in violation of state law for failing to disclose the source of $440 worth of contributions. Del Rio’s campaign had also failed to note the purpose of various expenditures by her campaign over a six month period in 2022, according to state Office of Campaign and Political Finance records.

And just last week, Del Rio was put on notice that her campaign committee was accruing fines of $25 a day after failing to meet a Jan. 22 deadline to file a year-end campaign finance report for 2023.

Overall, state officials sent Del Rio’s campaign committee more than 17 letters citing problems in her campaign finance reports, from not reporting the purpose of various expenditures to a bank deposit report that was inaccurate.

None of this is to suggest anything untoward - Del Rio certainly seems like a straight shooter. But for someone who is about to take over a city regulatory department known for its heavy paperwork, it’s certainly worth noting.

Del Rio is being touted by city officials as the first woman to lead ISD, and who can argue with that?

But it shouldn’t have been a tall order to also find someone with at least a smidgeon of relevant experience.

Tom to the rescue? Brady takes key stake in Boston company that has been allegedly stiffing its construction contractors

The legendary former Pats quarterback will soon be the second largest shareholder in Nobull, a struggling Boston-based sports training brand.

And Brady, as he merges his TB12 health and nutrition company with Nobull, will also inherit a major financial and legal headache, not to mention a potential public relations mess.

As Contrarian Boston has reported, Nobull is battling lawsuits by local contractors saying they haven’t been fully paid for all their work retrofitting the company’s Boston digs.

Photo by Cian Leach on Unsplash

Lee Kennedy Co., which built out Nobull’s new headquarters inside the old Boston Globe building on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester, contends it is still owed millions from its work on the $21 million project, according to a lawsuit filed in Suffolk County Superior Court.

A number of subcontractors have also gone to court in a bid to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars they say they are still owed.

(The old Boston Globe building on Morrissey Boulevard)

For its part, Nobull, the official training partner of the NFL Scouting Combine, has been struggling, laying off 75 employees last spring, according to Footwear News.

“I thought it was the best opportunity for myself and the brands that I’ve been a part of to make a difference,” Brady commented after the deal was announced, per CNBC.

Well, Tom, since you’ve mentioned your desire to “make a difference,” may we offer a modest suggestion?

How about doing the right thing and settling up with all the contractors for the millions they say they are still owed for their work on Nobull’s headquarters?

The bizarro world of Boston Public Schools: City’s elite exam schools demoted to second tier status in puzzling new ranking by BPS

The list of illustrious Boston Latin School grads is long, from John Hancock to Leonard Bernstein to Ayo Edebiri, who recently won an Emmy for best support actress in “The Bear.”

BLS ranks in the top four percent of schools in the state.

But don’t tell that to the bureaucrats at BPS, though. The struggling urban school district has booted both Boston Latin School and Boston Latin Academy out of the first tier in its annual School Quality Framework rankings.