Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: In Eng they trust

Thursday, December 7, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: In Eng they trust

THE TED LASSO OF THE T — Phil Eng has a fan club.

The MBTA general manager is getting some hype online from supporters who have turned his photo into a meme and his name into a hashtag as he grinds away at what's usually one of the most thankless jobs in Massachusetts.

The trend appears to have started from within the Healey administration . But it’s since grown to include transit advocates and even some seeming critics .

Eng has also drawn comparisons to Ted Lasso, the ceaselessly cheery protagonist in the eponymous Apple TV+ series. Gov. Maura Healey, who appointed Eng earlier this year after an international search, noted the connection during a recent radio interview.

Like the fictional football-turned-soccer coach , Eng seems to have brought an indefatigable optimism to the task of turning around a woebegone franchise more associated with failure than success.

Unlike Lasso, Eng is no neophyte — he brings nearly 40 years of transit experience from New York, where he was president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road and interim president of New York City Transit.

“Sometimes a fresh face will come in and offer solutions to things. But they've never been through the wringer before. And as a result, there's no basis for what they're saying, and [all you can do is] hope,” Jay Ash, former secretary of housing and economic development, told Playbook. “With Phil, there’s more than hope. He’s actually done this stuff.”

MBTA GM Phil Eng has a fan club | Mary Altaffer/AP

Eng is aware of his online admirers. He told Playbook his daughters have shared the posts with him.

"My goal is to never embarrass the family," Eng joked. But, he said more seriously, "from Day One, the residents and the folks I've encountered in the system, on the streets, have all been very supportive. Whether it's social media, or in person, they are rooting for our success."

Still, endearment for Eng could ebb if he can’t get the T back on track quickly. He faces a pricey list of fixes that includes mending defective tracks along the Green Line Extension and removing more than 100 speed restrictions across the subway system — though he checked a dozen of those slow zones off his list Wednesday.

For now, “we’re all believers,” Ash said. “Because we believe that he not only wants the same thing [as MBTA riders], but can deliver.”

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. It’s too soon for another Patriots game.

TODAY — Healey is on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” at 11 a.m. Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speak at a menorah lighting at 4:30 p.m. on the Boston Common. Wu attends the Jackson Mann tree lighting at 6 p.m.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Changes to Section 8 in Mass. aim to improve housing choice for low-income residents,” by Tréa Lavery, MassLive: “Massachusetts is working to make it easier for more than 100,000 housing choice voucher holders to find homes through changes to the voucher program and a media campaign targeting housing discrimination.”

THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

RECOUNT IN REVERE — Acting Mayor Patrick Keefe remains the winner of Revere’s mayoral race by more than 300 votes after the recount that former mayor and current City Councilor Dan Rizzo requested.

“While the results were far from dramatic … the efforts of these City workers hopefully helped to bring more transparency, clarity and closure to everyone about the results of this election,” Keefe said in a statement on X.

DAY IN COURT

— “SJC weighs officer privacy against public records rights,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Magazine: “The Supreme Judicial Court is wading into a drawn-out public records fight stemming from the Bristol County district attorney’s refusal to release documents, recorded interviews, and the names of officers involved in the fatal shooting of 30-year-old Anthony Harden — a Black man who was shot and killed in his bedroom by a Fall River police officer responding to a domestic assault complaint in late 2021.”

FROM THE DELEGATION

SEND HELP — The Bay State’s congressional delegation is pressing the Biden administration for more money for the state’s emergency shelter system. Rep. Lori Trahan led the delegation’s letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell asking for a more "equitable" share of federal Shelter and Services Program funds.

Massachusetts has received about $2 million from the program this year. But the governor said back in August the state spends roughly $45 million a month on shelter services. President Joe Biden has requested another $1.4 billion for the federal program, an amount the delegation members said is only "a fraction of the collective need" and remains tied up in Congress .

HARVARD DILEMMA — Reps. Jake Auchincloss and Seth Moulton slammed Harvard President Claudine Gay after she cited free speech protections during a tense exchange with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) over Harvard students calling for “intifada” while protesting the war between Israel and Hamas.

“We embrace a commitment to free expression , even of views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful,” Gay said during a House hearing on campus antisemitism.

Auchincloss and Moulton, both Harvard alumni, rebuked Gay's response in a statement: "Harvard ranks last out of 248 universities for support of free speech. But when it comes to denouncing antisemitism, suddenly the university has anxieties about the First Amendment. It rings hollow,” they wrote.

— “More than 1,000 professors call for cease-fire in Gaza in open letter to New England senators,” by Maggie Scales, The Boston Globe.

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

— “State charts a new energy future for Mass., beyond natural gas,” by Sabrina Shankman, The Boston Globe: “State officials on Wednesday laid out a new regulatory strategy to move utilities away from natural gas as part of a broader effort to effectively zero out emissions from fossil fuels by 2050. Though in general terms instead of specific instructions, the order from the Department of Public Utilities offers this vision for the state in the mid 21st century: minimal gas pipelines; buildings powered by solar and wind, and warmed by heat pumps; and people cooking on electric stoves.”

— “As EV sales growth slows, Mass. car dealers ask Biden to ‘tap the brakes’ on electric transition,” by Hiawatha Bray, The Boston Globe: “In all, the owners of 111 Massachusetts dealerships signed off on the letter, which calls on the administration to ‘tap the brakes’ on new, tougher auto emissions standards that would effectively compel carmakers to use electric drivetrains in two-thirds of all new cars in the next decade.”

FROM THE 413

— “Holyoke council rejects mayor’s $1M public safety initiative Ezekiel’s Plan, named after slain newborn,” by Aprell May Munford, Springfield Republican: “With nine votes needed to pass, and questions still looming around the plan’s sustainability, details and outcomes, councilors voted seven in favor and six opposed, halting the measure named after a newborn killed by a stray bullet in October.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “He’ll make a mark as Quincy’s Black, gay city council president — but don’t ask him about it,” by Gintautas Dumcius, CommonWealth Beacon: “The first Black person and openly gay person to serve in elected office in Quincy, [Ian] Cain scoffs at the identity politics of the left, and appears to fit more comfortably in the mold of a Charlie Baker Republican as he talks up the nuts and bolts of getting things done and avoiding the pitched battles of the political extremes.”

— “Massachusetts town meeting interrupted by antisemitic ‘Zoombombing,’ person displays swastika and gives Nazi salute,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “A [Winthrop] town meeting was interrupted by a hateful outburst on Tuesday when someone reportedly shouted an antisemitic slur, displayed a swastika on their Zoom screen and appeared to give a Nazi salute, according to police who are investigating.”

— “Is School Street bridge Brockton's Mass and Cass? What can be done?” by Christopher Butler, Brockton Enterprise: “Downtown Brockton has seen an influx of people experiencing homelessness, many of whom come from nearby towns to utilize the shelter system and other social services Brockton offers. … Meanwhile, open drug use and violence under and around the School Street bridge has become increasingly more common.”

2024 WATCH

THERE'S ALWAYS A MASS. CONNECTION — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis named Massachusetts' own Calvin Coolidge as his favorite former president during Wednesday night's GOP presidential debate.

Chris Christie defended Nikki Haley , who's standing in his way in New Hampshire, against attacks from Vivek Ramaswamy , but then dinged her for praising former President Donald Trump (who wasn't there) on trade. There was also some confusion about who invented the swivel chair . Key moments and takeaways from the throwdown in Tuscaloosa.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Candy Glazer , chair emeritus of the Longmeadow Democratic Town Committee and a longtime activist; Jerry Berger, Rick Pozniak, Noam Chomsky and Chris Moran.

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: LONG DARK NIGHT OF THE POLLS — MassINC Polling Group's Rich Parr joins hosts Jennifer Smith and Steve Koczela for a polling extravaganza. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and SoundCloud .

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