Monday, August 7, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Mayoral miff over Mass and Cass

BY LISA KASHINSKY AND KELLY GARRITY

LONG ISLAND HAS 14 BUILDINGS PREVIOUSLY USED FOR ADDICTION TREATMENT
QUINCY HAS OPPOSED REBUILDING THE BRIDGE

Is the Long Island bridge key for addressing the issues of Mass. and Cass? Here’s what the mayoral candidates think.

“We have been hearing about rebuilding the bridge and talking about this for six years now.”

LINK

ACTING THE PART — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu riled up her detractors by skipping town for a pre-planned trip one day after saying conditions at the open-air drug market and homeless encampment at Mass and Cass are deteriorating — and promising the city would “take a major step” to address it.

Now Acting Mayor Ed Flynn is fueling the fire by proposing his own fixes for the Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard area. The City Council president, who’s in charge until Wu returns on Saturday, has laid out to reporters exactly how he thinks the city should be tackling the troubled corridor: calling a public health emergency and asking the cops to conduct a warrant sweep.

"There is no recovery taking place at Mass and Cass. There is only rampant drug use and routine violence," Flynn told Playbook, emphasizing the city's need to implement a new strategy to address those issues — and fast. “The situation is escalating dramatically. And we need to begin the process of coming up with plans on how we move forward.”

But whether Flynn could make those moves as acting mayor is murky. From a legal perspective, the city charter says fill-in mayors “possess the powers of mayor only in matters not admitting of delay” — a highly subjective clause that’s seen challenges in the past .

From a political perspective, any actions Flynn might take could seriously damage his relationship with the mayor — unless she gives him explicit approval first. As of Sunday evening, Wu’s office said she hadn’t authorized Flynn to go ahead with either of the measures he’s proposed.

And Flynn doesn’t have the runway Kim Janey did when she took over as acting mayor in 2021 after Marty Walsh went to the Labor Department. Janey served seven months in the top job until Wu took over after the November mayoral election. Flynn is only keeping the mayor’s seat warm for 10 days, and Wu’s office said she “checks in multiple times a day” with her team.

Rushing to course correct at Mass and Cass in the remaining days Wu is out of office would also likely cut first responders, nearby businesses and residents out of the conversation — and Flynn said their input is vital to coming up with a new plan for the area.

Yet even if Flynn’s comments turn out to be bluster, he’s achieving two things: publicly pressuring Wu to change the city’s approach to Mass and Cass, and fueling the idea that she could be vulnerable if she runs for reelection in 2025. The “Save Our City” campaign may have failed to launch , but the idea of someone challenging Wu is gaining traction among her opponents.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The budget sitting on Gov. Maura Healey's desk includes $1 million for a drug diversion program for nonviolent young adult offenders targeted to Mass and Cass. But Boston officials are continuing to press the state for more aid.

A front end loader scoops up tents, furniture and other items as a homeless encampment at Mass and Cass is cleared from the street, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022, in Boston. | AP

TODAY — Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and MBTA GM Phil Eng ride the bus from Chelsea to Boston at 7:45 a.m. Rep. Lori Trahan and Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren tout federal infrastructure funding at 11 a.m. at Mack Plaza in Lowell.

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— POWER STRUGGLE: Senate President Karen Spilka is sort of sticking it to the House in the ongoing clash over control of the Legislature’s joint committees.

“We have some wonderful, caring, dedicated House chairs of committees and wonderful, dedicated Senate chairs of committees. All of them want to get work done,” Spilka said on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” as she launched into a polite rebuke of the handful of House chairs who recently polled bills without their Senate counterparts’ consent.

“Since I’ve been in the Legislature there has always been a mutual consideration between Senate chair and House chair,” Spilka, a 20-year legislative veteran, said. “I’m hoping that we get back to that.”

VAX-ACHUSETTS

— “State Police ordered to offer reinstatement to troopers suspended for refusing COVID-19 shots,” by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: “An arbitrator has ruled that the State Police must provide back pay and offer to reinstate seven troopers who were placed on unpaid leave in 2021 after they refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 based on their ‘sincerely held’ religious beliefs. In a 49-page decision released Friday, Bonnie J. McSpiritt, the arbitrator, wrote that the State Police violated anti-discrimination and affirmative action provisions in their contract with members of the force’s largest union by refusing to offer opportunities to stay on the job without getting vaccinated to qualified troopers.”

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— PERMISSION NOT GRANTED: As Gov. Maura Healey and the state’s federal delegation press the Biden administration to speed up the work authorization process for migrants coming to Massachusetts, the Eagle-Tribune’s Monica Sager reports that some migrants who arrived at Methuen’s Days Inn Hotel nine months ago still don’t have work permits .

— “Amid crush of migrant and homeless families in shelter system, Healey to announce plan to help,” by Sean Cotter and Samantha J. Gross, Boston Globe: “The action could come as early as this week in the form of an emergency declaration, which some shelter directors say is much needed, said four people briefed on the administration’s plan.”

DAY IN COURT

— “‘It doesn’t matter who we’re taking on’: Meet the Boston-area groups suing Harvard over legacy admissions,” by Ivy Scott, Boston Globe: “A mentorship program. A refugee services agency. And an intimate cohort of Latino activists. These are the three Boston-area community organizations that joined forces to take on America’s oldest university last month, demanding a federal investigation into Harvard’s use of legacy and donor admissions in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling outlawing race-based affirmative action.”

— “Conservative groups sue to block Biden plan canceling $39 billion in student loans,” by Collin Binkley, Associated Press: “In a lawsuit filed Friday in Michigan, the groups argue that the administration overstepped its power when it announced the forgiveness in July, just weeks after the Supreme Court struck down a broader cancellation plan pushed by President Joe Biden.”

— “'Gross violation': Middleboro student loses 'two genders' T-shirt case. Why it's not over,” by Christopher Butler, Brockton Enterprise: “Lawyers representing Liam Morrison, the Nichols Middle School student who sued school and town officials after being sent home for his ‘There are only two genders’ T-shirt, filed a notice of appeal on Friday, Aug. 4.”

— “For Campbell, case against Malden charter school is also good politics,” by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine.

— “Sen. Markey wants cameras in federal court so that Americans can watch Trump,” by Alvin Buyinza, MassLive.

KENNEDY COMPOUND

— “Anguish in Camelot: Kennedy Campaign Roils Storied Political Family,” by Peter Baker, New York Times: “In interviews in recent days, several members of the Kennedy family, some of whom did not want to be named, sounded tortured about the situation. They talked of a brother, cousin, uncle who flashed some of the raw political talent of his famed father, but who has undergone trauma and is headed down a path they do not fully understand.”

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MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Cannabis black market and violent crime: ‘They almost killed a man over $2,000,’” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: “Black market trafficking of pot has become a persistent problem in Western Massachusetts, police and prosecutors say. Illicit marijuana sales yield major profits and trigger collateral violence.”

FROM THE 413

— “Should Native Americans be used as mascots in Agawam? Indigenous people say no,” by James Foster, Springfield Republican: “[State Sen. Jo] Comerford, with the help and guidance of Indigenous voices and a steering committee, has tried multiple times to pass Bill S.294. The bill aims to prohibit ‘public schools from using an athletic team name, logo, or mascot which names, refers to, represents, or is associated with Native Americans.’”

— “Local groups take [stands] following proposed book ban in Ludlow,” by Olivia Hickey, Anthony Garuti and Abigail Murillo Villacorta, Western Mass News.

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “State's budding film industry stalled amid ongoing strikes,” by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: “‘We’re certainly seeing an impact from both strikes,’ said Gary Crossen, general manager of New England Studios in Devens. ‘There is literally no film production going on in Massachusetts, or anywhere else for that matter.’”

— IN MEMORIAM: “Tributes to Charles J. Ogletree Jr. reveal a mentor whose phone 'never stopped ringing',” by Esteban Bustillos, GBH News.

MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

— POLITICAL TIGHTROPE: Former Vice President Mike Pence was heckled by supporters of his former boss , Donald Trump , while campaigning in New Hampshire after the former president was arraigned on charges in connection with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Pence defended his decision not to go along with Trump’s scheme — eliciting backlash from some in the crowd at his Londonderry town hall. His protesters included a woman who was prosecuted for her role in the U.S. Capitol riot , per the Boston Globe’s Steven Porter.

Also showing the difficult line GOP presidential hopefuls are trying to walk around Jan. 6, 2021: Vivek Ramaswamy . The entrepreneur has pledged to pardon Trump if elected president. But he sidestepped questions in New Hampshire about whether he would have certified the 2020 election had he been in Pence’s position that day.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Scott Stossel , national editor of The Atlantic; Megan Costello, Aissa Renee Canchola, CC Leslie and Lyndsey Wajert.

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