Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Now playing: The Boston mayor's race sequel

Monday, July 18, 2022

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Now playing: The Boston mayor's race sequel

PARALLEL LINES — Chesa Boudin’s ouster as San Francisco district attorney earlier this year left Massachusetts political observers wondering if his recall was a warning sign for progressive district attorney candidates here.

But in Suffolk County, home to one of the more hotly contested district attorney races this year, the election is more an echo of last year’s Boston mayoral matchup between Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George than a California redux.

Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo is challenging Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden, who was appointed by GOP Gov. Charlie Baker to fill out the rest of Rachael Rollins’ term after she became U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.

The Democratic primary — the winner of which is likely to be the next DA, because there are no Republicans on the ballot — is a race between two candidates of color that’s pitting a progressive reformer calling for a "more just and effective criminal legal system" against a more moderate rival who believes “criminal legal reform and public safety are not mutually exclusive.”

The parallels with the mayoral race aren’t just ideological. Wu is supporting Arroyo and has cast his opponent as part of the “status quo” — the same label she and her supporters affixed to Essaibi George. Hayden doesn’t have Essaibi George’s endorsement, but he does have her former campaign manager, Cameron Charbonnier, working as a general consultant on his campaign.

In Boston, the candidates are building similar coalitions to the ones Wu and Essaibi George marshaled in the mayor’s race. Arroyo has been endorsed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and former Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey, among others, as he tries to knit together the white progressives and communities of color that propelled Wu to the city's top job. Hayden has the backing of Rep. Stephen Lynch and Boston City Councilors Erin Murphy and Frank Baker, who represent the whiter and more conservative neighborhoods Essaibi George carried last November.

While Wu and Essaibi George entered their contest with similar political experience — Wu was elected to the council in 2013, followed by Essaibi George two years later — the word has become a weapon for Hayden, who touts his decades-long legal career while simultaneously playing up his status as a political novice. Arroyo is a former public defender and the son of a prominent Latino leader, Suffolk County Register of Probate Felix D. Arroyo. He was elected to the council in 2019.

Then there are the issues: chief among them whether to keep Rollins’ decline-to-prosecute list of 15 low-level crimes. Arroyo has pledged to uphold the list he says he helped write and slammed his rival for rolling it back. Hayden said on WCVB’s “On the Record” that it's important to look for "real and robust alternatives to prosecution" and that “we may have some crimes that are not on the so-called list that we also might not prosecute.”

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. We have a budget. Almost.

Legislative leaders unveiled their $52 billion fiscal 2023 budget agreement last night, more than two weeks into the new fiscal year. The spending plan that lawmakers are expected to pass today and send to Gov. Charlie Baker is about $2 billion more than what each branch passed this spring. Here are some of the highlights and dive deeper into lawmakers’ budget calculus with the Boston Globe’s Matt Stout and Samantha J. Gross and CommonWealth Magazine’s Shira Schoenberg:

— $266 million to help the MBTA meet its federal safety directives. The T said last week it will need to spend around $300 million to satisfy the FTA’s requirements, the majority of which is not yet budgeted

— $2 million in grants for abortion access, infrastructure and security, as proposed by the Senate. The House separately passed $15 million for reproductive care in an economic development bond bill; the Senate is expected to unveil its version today.

— $110 million to extend universal free school meals into next school year, a House priority.

TODAY — Baker is out west for a family trip and the Republican Governors Association meeting in Aspen. Markey renews his call to expand SCOTUS at 2 p.m.

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Deaths, derailments, runaway trains among deficiencies MBTA hearing to discuss Monday,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “Lawmakers wondering just exactly what has been going on at the MBTA will try to get some answers Monday, when a legislative committee looking into the agency’s safety practices will hold its first hearing on a rash of recent problems at the troubled system [at 10 a.m.].”

— “Sports betting in Massachusetts: Senate President Karen Spilka says she’s hopeful compromise is coming as time runs out,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive: “If Beacon Hill negotiators manage to strike a compromise on sports betting legislation, Senate President Karen Spilka has vowed her chamber would take a roll call vote on the bill aligning Massachusetts with neighboring gaming states, including Connecticut and New Hampshire. That would remedy the opacity of a voice vote the Senate took on the sports betting bill, now stuck in conference committee…”

— “‘African Americans have enriched Massachusetts for centuries’: Mass. lawmakers approve Negro Election Day holiday,” by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: “The bill, which still needs Governor Charlie Baker’s approval, would set aside the third Saturday in July as Negro Election Day, recognizing the adoption of the first Black voting system in Massachusetts in 1741 — when Black people could still be held in bondage by white slaveholders.”

VAX-ACHUSETTS

— “City encourages indoor masks as Boston’s COVID cases rise nearly 40 percent in past week,” by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: “COVID-19 cases in Boston rose nearly 40 percent and hospitalized cases jumped nearly 25 percent in the past week, prompting the city’s health officials on Friday to encourage the public to mask-up when inside crowded indoor spaces.”

— “City health officials urge vigilance as highly contagious new COVID-19 subvariants spread,” by Craig S. Semon, Telegram & Gazette: “[I]ndividuals over 50, or who are immunocompromised or have other health risk factors, are advised to wear a mask whenever they are in public for the next two to four weeks.”

FROM THE HUB

— “Mayor Wu aims to strike a balance of insider experience, outsider perspective with new police and schools leaders,” by Emma Platoff, Boston Globe: “She launched national searches for leaders capable of transformative change. In the end, she decided the best candidates to achieve that were a Roxbury native and a neighbor just across the Charles River.”

— “‘Stop the Beef’ hotline looks to quell street violence in Boston,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “The ‘10,000 Fearless Peacemakers’ group out of Muhammad Mosque No. 11 operates a ‘Stop the Beef hotline’ — a toll-free number to call for community mediation when an issue seems to be escalating toward violence.”

— “First Lady Jill Biden, Elizabeth Warren call for stricter gun reform while speaking at a teachers’ union convention in Boston,” by Chris Van Buskirk, MassLive: “First Lady Jill Biden and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren praised the work of teachers during the pandemic and called for more gun reforms in the wake of a school shooting in Texas during Friday morning speeches in Boston. During remarks at the American Federation of Teachers 2022 Convention at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, which drew thousands of attendees, Warren said educators have dealt with increased mental health needs and adjusted their teaching methods to support students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress, she said, should ‘take some responsibility for all you deal with,’ including the rise of mass shootings across the country and the deaths of students in classrooms.”

— More: “Labor Secretary Marty Walsh congratulates Boston Teachers Union at massive teachers union convention in Boston,” by Chris Van Buskirk, MassLive.

— “Boston, Springfield begin to lift gun license restrictions after Supreme Court decision,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “The Boston Police Department says it has moved to lift restrictions on hundreds of existing gun licenses, with potentially thousands more to come in the city and elsewhere, as police departments pivot in the face of a Supreme Court ruling that is quickly reshaping Massachusetts gun law.”

— “Boston area rivers get decent grades on water quality, but trouble spots remain,” by Mark Herz, GBH News: “The good news is the Charles, Mystic, and Neponset rivers all boast some As and Bs. But there were troubling spots on the 2021 Three Rivers Report Card, like the Mystic Watershed’s tributary, Alewife Brook, with the lowest grade for a major stretch of any of the three river systems — a D.”

— “Report: Mass. building 100,000 fewer homes than needed each year,” by Simón Rios, WBUR: “The Boston area is among the worst performing regions in the United States for home production, according to a report released this week. The report by a national nonprofit called Up For Growth found Massachusetts needed to build 100,000 additional homes per year to keep up demand in recent years. It also found the shortfall doubled between 2012 and 2019.”

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YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: State Reps. Kate Hogan, Mary Keefe and Natalie Higgins are endorsing Robyn Kennedy for First Worcester state senator today at a 5 p.m. event at the White Room in Worcester.

— WATCH: Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, who’s running for lieutenant governor, shares her views on charter schools, her working relationship with Gov. Charlie Baker and addressing the state’s housing woes on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large.”

— ON THE STUMP: Gov. Charlie Baker is again making good on his pledge to aid likeminded candidates this cycle. The GOP governor will join Republican state Rep. Lenny Mirra for a reception in Hamilton, his opponent's hometown, on Aug. 2.

— “Healey and Wu make first campaign appearance together in governor’s race,” by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: “A day after Mayor Michelle Wu announced her endorsement of Attorney General Maura Healey in the governor’s race, the two made their first campaign appearance together Saturday in Wu’s Roslindale neighborhood. Healey said that if she’s elected in November, her connection with Boston’s mayor will be critical.”

— “DA candidates shore up campaign supporters; sheriff candidates spar over female inmates,” by Meg Britton-Mehlisch and Amanda Burke, Berkshire Eagle.

DAY IN COURT

— “Brother of man killed by police last fall petitions SJC to remove district attorney,” by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: “It’s been nearly 70 years since the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court removed a district attorney from elected office. Now, the brother of a man who was killed by a Fall River police officer in November is petitioning the court to wield that power again. In a complaint filed last month with the SJC, attorney Eric B. Mack called for the ouster of Bristol District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III, alleging that he has placed ‘his political and personal interests above his obligation to be impartial.’”

BIDEN TIME

— “Jill Biden on President Joe Biden’s hindered progress: ‘He had so many hopes’,” by Kate Bennett, CNN: “First lady Jill Biden on Saturday voiced frustration about the stalled progress of President Joe Biden’s tenure in the White House during a private Democratic National Committee fundraiser. The first lady said during the event in Nantucket, Massachusetts, that her husband has been consistently challenged by unanticipated crises while in office, placing blame on global woes.”

FROM THE 413

— “A free summer meals program ballooned in the Berkshires during the pandemic. This year's been rocky,” by Aina de Lapparent Alvarez, Berkshire Eagle: “In June, lawmakers extended access to meals that were made more widely available during the pandemic. While this was a victory for families across the country, it came just weeks before meals programs were to start. Two weeks in, organizations in the Berkshires are still trying to adjust.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “In progressive Massachusetts, a long history of white supremacy,” by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “[W]hite supremacist movements have deep roots in Massachusetts and New England, historians said. While the displays of propaganda are shockingly hateful and vile, they are far from new.”

— “Retired Justice Stephen Breyer joining Harvard law faculty,” by The Associated Press: “Retired Justice Stephen Breyer is getting a different title: professor. Harvard said Friday that Breyer, who retired from the Supreme Court June 30, is re-joining its law school faculty. Breyer is a graduate of the law school and first joined the Harvard faculty in 1967. He continued to teach at Harvard after he became a federal appeals court judge in 1980 until former President Bill Clinton nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1994.”

— "National Suicide Prevention Lifeline goes live," by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: "On Saturday, as a result of the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, first introduced in 2019 and signed by former President Donald Trump in October 2020, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline went live across most of the country. 'This is a totally bipartisan bill and it’s an idea that seems so obvious people have said to me, ‘Gosh, you know, why wasn’t this done 20 years ago?’ and ‘Great idea, this must have been easy to get passed,’ but the truth of the matter is it remarkably difficult to get through Congress,' U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat who co-sponsored the legislation, told the Herald."

— “Ambassador visits Worcester with hopes of teaming up the region's, Ghana's economies,” by Cyrus Moulton, Telegram & Gazette: “The Central Massachusetts and Ghanaian economies are looking to grow in similar directions. And Hajia Alima Mahama, Ghana’s first female ambassador to the United States, told state, city and local officials, business, civic and higher education chiefs, and leaders of the city's Ghanaian community Friday that the two economies should team up.”

— “ Mansfield police chief denies workplace misconduct allegations, town manager defends probe,” by David Linton, The Sun Chronicle: “Private investigators hired by the town have found evidence supporting allegations of workplace misconduct by Police Chief Ron Sellon, conclusions which Sellon adamantly refutes. In an interview with The Sun Chronicle on Saturday, Sellon criticized what he called the limited scope of the investigation and said allegations he bullied, harassed and swore at subordinates are exaggerated and do not amount to misconduct.”

— “Massachusetts has lowest bottle deposit rate, new study finds,” by Kate Selig, Boston Globe: “The state has the lowest bottle redemption rate among the 10 states with bottle bills, according to a new report from the Container Recycling Institute, a California-based nonprofit.”

MEANWHILE IN MAINE

— “Meh. White House-curious governors unfazed by D.C. gridlock,” by Lisa Kashinsky, POLITICO: “Congress is making the presidency a grind and the Supreme Court is kicking policymaking to the states. Being a governor, then, should be one of America’s hottest jobs. Yet so many governors are still angling to be president. … A quarter of the 18 governors who traveled to Maine for the NGA conference [last] week have been floated as potential 2024 presidential contenders.”

SPOTTED — State Reps. Bill Driscoll Jr., John Mahoney, John Lawn and Ed Coppinger with Dick Vitale in Boston last week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Rep. Paul Schmid, Sarah Iselin, Democratic activist Michael Bakshi, Emerson College lecturer Keri Thompson, Amy Sweeney, and Playbook fans Eddie Flannery and Sarah Kashinsky. Happy belated to Wade Blackman of Rep. Katherine Clark’s office, who celebrated Sunday.

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