Contrarian Boston/03.06.2024

T chief wants longer shutdowns | NE telecom company draws ire after jobs to the Philippines scheme exposed | Sharks are circling as Boston mayor faces setbacks | State House showdown over MCAS | Billionaire Sox/Globe owner doles out freebie to Wu | Quick hits |

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Blood in the water: Wu’s woes have potential challengers salivating, yet unseating an incumbent Boston mayor is a tall order

Just about everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in the past few weeks.

And that is ginning up talk in political circles that Wu may face one or more challengers in next year’s mayoral race.

Wu recently scuttled her ill-conceived plan to move the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science to the city limits in West Roxbury, while her push to transform decrepit White Stadium into a showcase for women’s pro soccer faces legal opposition from community groups.

Even her program to guarantee free admission for BPS students at city museums has blown up.

All of that is before we get to the tough report by the Boston Policy Institute on the potential impact on city finances of collapsing office tower values, which could force city homeowners to shoulder a larger share of the tax load.

Boston City Councilor Brian Worrell is now calling for a hearing on the issue, while City Councilor Ed Flynn wants a blue ribbon commission to study the economic fallout from all the empty space in downtown Boston.

James Michael Curley, the last incumbent Boston mayor to lose an election

Oh yeah, and let’s not forget Wu’s plan to “demolish” the Boston Planning & Development Agency - a signature campaign promise - which has angered core supporters since her plan fails to actually demolish the agency.

Josh Kraft, the head of the New England Patriots Foundation, is the name that is surfacing the most persistently at this point as a challenger. If nothing else, Kraft, who spent three decades with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston and hails from one of the nation’s richest families, would have the money to compete.

After that, the list gets a little sketchy. City Councilor Erin Murphy, who has staked out a position as a moderate, would probably love to run, but whether she would take the plunge is another question altogether.

Why? Well, no challenger has successfully defeated an incumbent Boston mayor since 1949, when the brazenly corrupt and silver-tongued James Michael Curley was defeated after serving a stint in federal prison.

Even a weakened Wu could still be strong enough to fend off any challengers.

Too cozy? Boston mayor gets sweet deal on use of glitzy Fenway music hall

That would be the MGM Music Hall at Fenway, where Boston Mayor Michelle Wu gave her State of the City address in January.

Wu was able to use the hall for her showcase speech without having to pay the $40,000 rental fee, which would ordinarily be picked up by city taxpayers but was waived by the venue’s owner, according to documents reviewed by Contrarian Boston.

The thing is, the hall is part of billionaire John Henry’s sprawling business empire, which not only includes the Red Sox and The Boston Globe, but also major development projects planned for the area around Fenway Park.

And Henry and his Fenway Sports Group rely on the mayor and City Hall’s goodwill when it comes to the review, permitting and approval of their development plans.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu caption...

But that’s not all.

Linda Henry, CEO of the Globe, is an investor in the pro women’s soccer team that would help foot the bill for the $30 million renovation of White Stadium - a controversial plan championed by Wu that is now being challenged in court.

All of this wouldn’t be all that surprising were we talking about the late, great Thomas M. Menino, whose inner circled included some of Boston’s top developers.

But it was Wu who proclaimed in the Globe that she would not be meeting individually with any developers, whom she planned to keep at arms length.

File under: promises, promises.

Tough medicine: New T chief says longer shutdowns the way to go in fixing the ailing transit system

Night and weekend work - that was the MBTA’s mantra for years as it attempted to fix its interminable track and maintenance issues while trying to minimize the impact on beleaguered commuters.

Well, we all know how that worked out.

In a meeting this week with top real estate executives, Phillip Eng, the MBTA’s general manager, said the transit agency has decided to take a much different approach.

Photo by Brijesh Reddy on Unsplash

As it looks to eliminate the speed restrictions that have hobbled service, the T will be focusing on longer shutdowns of tracks and lines, Eng told members of NAIOP Massachusetts at a meeting on Monday.