Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Food for thought for Mayor Wu

Friday, May 3, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Food for thought for Mayor Wu

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FOOD FIGHT — Irate restaurateurs fed up with Boston’s ban on most outdoor dining in the North End have been trying a new tactic over the past week: hanging banners across the neighborhood’s main drag encouraging people to call the city’s 311 line to complain about the restriction.

But in the process they’ve reinvigorated North End residents who have reservations about letting restaurants again take over their streets and sidewalks.

North End restaurant owners warring with Mayor Michelle Wu over her decision to drop the neighborhood from the city’s pandemic-era dining program marked the start of outdoor dining across the rest of the city this week with new signs instructing people to call the city’s catch-all complaint line to advocate for the return of al-fresco dining.

North End restaurateurs feuding with Mayor Michelle Wu over outdoor dining restrictions unveiled their campaign to call City Hall last Friday with the help of former Boston police Commissioner William Gross. | Kelly Garrity/POLITICO

The message is meant as a jab at Wu, who cited the number of complaints about cleanliness and rodents submitted through the hotline as part of the reason the North End was eighty-sixed from the program.

But restaurateurs’ ploy hasn’t played out exactly as planned.

For every couple of calls to the city to let tables and chairs return to the North End’s tightly packed tangle of streets, there is another pleading with Wu to stand her ground, according to a Playbook review of 311 reports logged online since the banners first went up last Friday.

“North End Residents DO NOT want Outdoor Dining!!!” says one report. “Please inform restaurant owners that diners don’t want to be involved in their petty infighting with the City of Boston. They are killing the North End vibe,” reads another. Some people even called to remove the “terrible looking” banners.

Requests to reinstate outdoor dining over the past week did outnumber those calling to keep it off the menu by a count of 28 to 13, per our Thursday evening review. That includes people who took the banners' suggestion that “if you want a reservation for outdoor dining in the North End, call City Hall” quite literally.

But if revenge is a dish best served cold, this level of response is lukewarm at best. And it’s one indicator that Wu may have an easier time sticking a fork in this issue ahead of her likely reelection bid than previously thought.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . Lisa here: Today is my three-year Playbook anniversary! It’s an honor to be in your inboxes each weekday.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll hold a Chapter 90 bill-signing event at 10:30 a.m. at Melrose City Hall. Healey is on GBH at 1 p.m. at UMass Boston.

THIS WEEKEND — Auditor Diana DiZoglio speaks at an AAPI Heritage Month event at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on the Boston Common. Driscoll participates in a Transhealth event with actor Elliot Page at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in Northampton.

SUNDAY SHOWS — House Speaker Ron Mariano is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Rep. Lori Trahan is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian , former Cannabis Control Commissioner Shaleen Title , former Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson and Dr. Staci Gruber are on NBC10’s “At Issue” at 11:30 a.m.

Tips? Scoops? Email us: kgarrity@politico.com and lkashinsky@politico.com.

A message from the Drivers Demand Justice Coalition:

Uber and Lyft are threatening to limit the rights and protections of Massachusetts rideshare drivers. But drivers have a different vision: one that empowers drivers to shape their working conditions and that gives them the chance to unionize. Drivers can’t get there alone – we’re urging lawmakers to ensure collective bargaining rights for rideshare drivers by passing the Rideshare Driver Justice bill this session, before it’s too late. Rideshare drivers need the freedom to unionize now!

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

CASH DASH — Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy holds an early fundraising lead over attorney Allison Cartwright in what could be one of the more contentious races in the Boston area this year.

Murphy, who started this contest with money leftover from her last council race and a pre-existing network to tap into — including at a fundraiser last week — raised $32,421 in April and has $47,820 in her coffers. Cartwright raised $9,191 and has $13,779 in her bank account.

The rivals’ OCPF filings show clear battle lines forming in Boston over the county seat. Murphy cashed $500 checks from at least nine unions and Josh Kraft . She also received contributions from former City Councilors Bill Linehan and Larry DiCara , among others.

Cartwright, meanwhile, took in donations from prominent leaders of color including state Sen. Lydia Edwards , Rahsaan Hall and retired SJC Justice Geraldine Hines (all of whom are on her campaign committee), as well as former state Public Safety Secretary Andrea Cabral and former state Rep. Marie St. Fleur . She also received $200 from former Rep. Chet Atkins and $100 each from former Ambassador Alan Solomont and Reproductive Equity Now leader Rebecca Hart Holder .

— “Four candidates for 3rd Berkshire District submit signatures to appear on ballot,” by Greg Sukiennik, The Berkshire Eagle: “Democrats Leigh Davis, Jamie Minacci and Patrick White, and independent Marybeth Mitts, all reported having met the deadline… The seat is being vacated by incumbent state Rep. William ‘Smitty’ Pignatelli of Lenox.”

— “Two local state rep seats won't be going to incumbents. Here's why,” by Frank Mulligan, The Standard-Times: “Three candidates have returned nomination papers for the 10th Bristol District state representative's seat currently held by William Straus, D-Mattapoisett. … Five candidates have returned nomination papers for the 8th Bristol state representative's seat currently held by Paul A. Schmid III, D-Westport.”

The primary is Sept. 3 and the general election is Nov. 5.

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “For those in Mass. emergency shelters, the new 9-month clock is already ticking,” by Simón Rios, WBUR: “People staying in the state’s emergency shelters could be required to leave as early as September — sooner than many advocates thought. A new state law capping shelter stays at nine months turns out to be retroactive, state officials told WBUR. That means the clock started ticking for shelter residents back when they first arrived in the shelters. Some 7,500 families are now living in the state’s emergency shelter system, a mix of traditional shelters and converted hotels. As of June 1, if they’ve been there for nine months, they could be given a 90-day notice that it’s time to leave, according to the state's Office of Housing and Livable Communities.”

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “What to know about three consumer protection bills in Massachusetts,” by Katie Lannan and Jeremy Siegel, GBH News: “In Massachusetts, navigating utility bills, buying used cars and dealing with home heating oil tanks can sometimes feel like working without a safety net. Companies are not always required to protect consumers, and buyers are left to exercise caution and discretion on their own. But recently, the Massachusetts state Senate passed a trio of bills aiming to offer consumers more support.”

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FROM THE HUB

— “Watchdog says Boston should look to reserve funds, spending cuts before hiking commercial taxes,” by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Beacon: “[The Boston Municipal Research Bureau] is throwing cold water on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposal to raise tax rates on commercial property, saying the city should instead look to spending cuts, tapping reserve funds, and diversifying its sources of revenue as it contends with a likely drop in commercial real estate values from the resetting of office work patterns following the pandemic.”

BALLOT BATTLES

— “Coalition forming to oppose psychedelics ballot question, argues home-grow is unsafe,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “A coalition led by a Massachusetts General Hospital doctor is forming to oppose a ballot question that would decriminalize psychedelics for mental health treatments, with leaders of the group arguing a home-grow provision ignores public safety risks.”

DAY IN COURT

— “Prosecutors won’t appeal Boston Marathon bombing court ruling paving way for hearing on potential juror bias,” by Shelley Murphy, The Boston Globe: “Federal prosecutors will not challenge an appeals court ruling in the death penalty case against Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev that requires the judge who presided over his 2015 trial to delve into defense claims that two jurors were biased and should have been excused during jury selection."

A message from the Drivers Demand Justice Coalition:

Massachusetts faces a choice between two realities for the future of rideshare work:

Allow Silicon Valley executives to deceptively lock drivers into a limited set of rights, while leaving taxpayers picking up the tab on key worker benefits.

Or:
Pass the Rideshare Driver Justice bill to empower tens of thousands of Massachusetts rideshare drivers with the freedom to unionize – allowing them to collectively bargain with rideshare companies to improve pay, benefits, and safety.

Rideshare drivers have a roadmap on how to improve our lives and our communities. It starts with the legislature allowing us the freedom to unionize. Rideshare drivers are currently struggling with pay below the state minimum wage. And because we don’t have the freedom to unionize, taxpayers pay for a range of benefits that the companies are denying us. Drivers and our communities are at a critical crossroads. It’s time to pass the Rideshare Driver Justice bill.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

IT'S TIME TO CHANGE THE RHETORIC!
Student Protests impacted the VIETNAM WAR and it's belongs on campuses and elsewhere.

The protests are ANTI-GENOCIDE

There is no defense for killing unarmed civilians and denying humanitarian aid as ISRAEL continues to do.

LETTER-WRITING CAMPAIGN — Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Stephen Lynch and Jim McGovern signed onto a letter this week urging President Joe Biden to “dissuade the Israeli government” from invading Rafah as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to launch an offensive into the southern Gaza Strip “with or without” a cease-fire deal.

— “Auchincloss demands Harvard, other colleges take down pro-Palestinian encampments,” by Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald: “U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss is demanding university officials to take down pro-Palestinian encampments as they’re creating a ‘hostile learning environment’ for Jewish and Israeli students, but he says that can happen without more federal laws. The Massachusetts Congressman on Thursday visited Harvard University, where an encampment popped up on April 24, and spoke with Jewish and Israeli students. The interactions, he said, provided a clear indication that the Cambridge campus is in violation of Title VI.”

— “MIT says cutting research ties with Israeli military would ‘violate academic freedom’,” by Charlie McKenna, MassLive: “Senior leaders at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and pro-Palestinian student protesters who have established an encampment on the school’s Cambridge campus appear to have reached an impasse on negotiations to resolve the protest , with the university saying students’ chief demand — that it no longer accept funding from the Israeli military for research — violates ‘academic freedom.’”

BOB KRAFT: GET A LIFE! Defending GENOCIDE, WAR CRIMES & ETHNIC CLEANSING defines your moral bankruptcy!

— “Robert Kraft says colleges are ‘emboldening hate’ as campus protests against Israel continue,” by Neal Riley, WBZ News.

DATELINE D.C.

— “John Kerry to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom,” by Tonya Alanez, The Boston Globe: “He’s been a senator, a presidential nominee, secretary of state and the nation’s first climate diplomat. On Friday, John F. Kerry can add recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to his list of accomplishments. Kerry is one of the 19 luminaries who will receive the nation’s highest civilian honor at the White House on Friday, President Biden said in a statement.”

FROM THE 413

— “‘Pervasive antisemitic climate for Jewish students’: ADL files complaint against UMass-Amherst,” by Maria Papadopoulos, Boston 25 News: “The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has failed to address a ‘hostile antisemitic environment’ against Jewish students on its campus, according to a federal complaint filed this week by the Anti-Defamation League.”

— “Federal civil rights complaint filed against Southwick school district over ‘abhorrent’ delayed response to racism,” by Aprell May Munford, Springfield Republican: “A Boston law firm has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District and Southwick Regional School on behalf of Skyla Lopez, a Black eighth grade student and victim of an online mock slave auction.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “School districts across Massachusetts weigh teacher and staff cuts,” by Muskaan Arshad, GBH News.

RELATED — “Weymouth to cut 26 school workers due to budget shortfall. What administrators are saying,” by Jessica Trufant, The Patriot Ledger.

— “Local officials admit CVPA not coming back to New Bedford,” by Jack Spillane, The New Bedford Light: “Nine months after UMass Dartmouth abruptly closed its graduate school in downtown New Bedford, everyone, it seems, except Mayor Jon Mitchell, is now publicly conceding that the College of Visual and Performing Arts will never come back to its longtime home in the Star Store in downtown New Bedford.”

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HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Georgina Burros will be comms director for Rep. Jake Auchincloss. She was chief comms officer for global issues at the British Embassy.

— Kenneth E. Burdon is joining Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as a partner in the registered funds practice, based in the firm’s new Boston office.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, Ben Ginsberg, Andrew Miga, Josh Irwin and Peter Brown of Peter Brown Communications.

HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Erin Mershon , The Boston Globe’s Shira Center, James Hannon, Natalie Akers, Ryan Evans, GWU’s Todd Belt and former Lexington state Rep. Jay Kaufman , who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers Endpoints’ Nicole DeFeudis, Nicole Serrano, Brian Fry and Jedd Ari Fisch .

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: STABLE COINS — Host Lisa Kashinsky dives into the role of crypto in the state’s U.S. Senate race. CommonWealth Beacon’s Gintautas Dumcius joins hosts Jennifer Smith and Steve Koczela to talk about Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden ‘s ethics fine. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud .

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com .

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