Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Campbell makes housing moves

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Campbell makes housing moves

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NEW THIS MORNING — Attorney General Andrea Campbell is tapping a longtime housing lawyer and the director of Harvard Law School’s student-run legal aid organization to head up her new Housing Affordability Unit.

Esme Caramello, the faculty director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, will start in July as director of the new unit, which will be tasked with making sure cities and towns are following the state’s housing laws — including the controversial MBTA Communities law.

Campbell is also embarking on her own housing campaign this morning, stumping across the state today and Wednesday to tout her office’s efforts to tackle the state’s housing crisis.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell | Charles Krupa/AP

It may sound like a familiar play. Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll recently hit the trail to promote their administration’s housing plans. Campbell’s two-day tour is the latest blitz in her battle to prod cities and towns into compliance with the MBTA Communities law without having to again turn to the nuclear option: a lawsuit.

The controversial zoning law — and Campbell’s attempt to enforce it by suing Milton — has put her high on the list of public enemies for those who don't want the state to force their hand on multifamily zoning.

But Campbell is taking her pitch to friendly territory. After a stop in Leominster this morning to visit a formerly abandoned property that’s been rehabilitated with help from her office, Campbell is heading to Salem for a walking tour with Mayor Dominick Pangallo. The city, Campbell’s office pointed out in a press release, was “one of the first communities to come into compliance with the MBTA Communities Law.” And Pangallo, who served as Driscoll’s chief of staff when she was mayor of Salem, is an ally of an administration that very much wants to enforce the MBTA Communities law and is supportive of Campbell’s lawsuit. Tomorrow Campbell will head to Taunton to talk about manufactured housing communities.

Campbell’s campaign comes amid a flurry of town meeting votes in recent weeks where cities and towns have weighed new zoning plans. So far, only two — Milton and Holden — are considered noncompliant, per a handy tracker from WBUR . Other communities where voters have shot down zoning plans still have time to come into compliance.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . What a satisfying Celtics sweep.

TODAY — Healey and Driscoll have no public events. Campbell is in Leominster at 10 a.m. and Salem at 3 p.m. Rep. Lori Trahan announces federal funding at 5 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell. Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at the Age Strong Spring Fling at 11 a.m. at the Irish Social Club of Boston and the BPS valedictorians luncheon at 12:30 p.m. at Fenway Park.

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MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Massachusetts shelled out nearly $400K for vaccine record checks in state-run shelters,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “State officials have pumped nearly $400,000 into a program to review the vaccine records of families entering the emergency shelter system, including migrants from other countries who may have foreign documentation, according to the Healey administration. … Vaccine record checks have occurred since September 2023 but the cost surfaced in a bi-weekly report on the shelter system released Monday, which said $381,000 has been shuttled to the program.”

FROM THE HUB

— “Felix D. Arroyo, patriarch of Boston political family, files for bankruptcy amid unpaid legal bill lawsuit,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Records show Felix D. Arroyo has filed for bankruptcy amid a lawsuit over an $86,379 unpaid legal bill tied to his past suspension as Suffolk register of probate, a process that could allow him to wipe out the debt after years of making six figures. … The same court documents show that Arroyo gave more than $16,000 to his adult children in the two years leading up to his bankruptcy filing, including $2,000 for ‘legal advice’ to his son and former City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo in 2023.”

— “Healey names former city councilor O’Malley to BPDA board,” by Tim Logan, The Boston Globe.

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PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— "South Coast Rail coming to New Bedford, but not with MBTA assessments," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon: "Under state law, communities that are members of both the MBTA and a regional transportation authority can deduct their assessment by the regional transit authority from the assessment of the T. In New Bedford’s case, the city’s $1.4 million assessment by the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority surpasses the MBTA assessment of $750,000, so New Bedford won’t have to pay the T anything. ... But allowing New Bedford, Fall River, and other communities to deduct their RTA assessments from their MBTA assessments will create a shortfall in T funding of nearly $20 million that 65 municipalities in the MBTA’s core service area will have to make up."

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

GOP PRIORITIES — Massachusetts Republicans are aiming low this election cycle. Lower down the ballot, that is, according to MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale . Republicans are challenging less than half of the 10 members of the state’s all-Democratic federal delegation who are up for reelection this year. Instead, the state party is “laser focused” on (re)gaining ground on Beacon Hill after a pair of special legislative election wins, Carnevale said on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” over the weekend.

“We do have limited resources. So we'll be focusing on a lot of the legislative seats, where we have openings and we have strong candidates running,” Carnevale said. “We need to make small gains and walk before we can run."

CARPET BAGGER JOHN DEATON VOTED 3 TIMES IN 20 YEARS - NO TIES TO MASSACHUSETTS, NEVER VOTE FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT PREVIOUSLY HELD ELECTED OFFICE!

JOHN DEATON IS A "SHOOT FROM THE LIP" INCOMPETENT WHO IGNORES THAT HALF OF THOSE HOUSED IN MASSACHUSETTS ARE RESIDENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH. SENATOR WARREN HAS COMMENTED EXTENSIVELY - HE IGNORES HER COMMENTS!

SENATORS DO NOT DICTATE STATE LAWS!

PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS FUNDED THE VA TO PROVIDE FOR SERVICES & CARE - IGNORED BY THE CARPET BAGGER!

MAGA GOP GENUFLECTED TO tRUMP AND OPPOSED THE BIPARTISAN BORDER BILL - TRY FACTS! SENATOR WARREN HAS PUBLICLY EXPLAINED HER OPPOSITION.

tRUMP TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY & CORPORATIONS CREATED THE DEFICIT - SENATOR WARREN HAS PROPOSED SOLUTIONS THAT THE CARPET BAGGER IGNORED!

STEWARD & HEALTH CARE: JUST MORE UNINFORMED NONSENSE AS AN EXCUSE TO ATTACK SENATOR WARREN BECAUSE HE LACKS THE FACTS & COMPREHENSION!

Among the issues Republicans are planning to hammer home: what they view as the state’s mismanagement of the emergency shelter system for migrant and homeless families and the general lack of affordability in Massachusetts. John Deaton , one of the Republicans running against Sen. Elizabeth Warren, seized on the former in his weekend interview on WCVB’s “On the Record,” criticizing the new limits on shelter stays and calling to “change the [right-to-shelter] law.” But he also said the state’s hands are somewhat tied without action from the federal government.

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DAY IN COURT

— “Retired Boston cop gets prison time for assaulting police during Jan. 6 Capitol riot,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “A federal judge sentenced [Joseph Robert Fisher,] a retired Boston cop to 20 months in prison for using a chair to ram into a police officer chasing another rioter during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors said in a Friday statement.”

— “At Harvard, a confrontation during a protest erupts in political controversy — and lands in court,” by Mike Damiano, The Boston Globe.

DATELINE D.C.

— "Biden has stayed silent on Trump’s trial. The verdict will change that," by Jonathan Lemire, POLITICO: "Joe Biden plans to break his vow of silence and publicly address the criminal trials Donald Trump is facing when a verdict is reached, four people familiar with internal deliberations told POLITICO. ... 'At some point, people have to get real and say, "You really want this man in the Oval Office? Do you really want him representing the people of this country?'" said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)."

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FROM THE 413

— “Northampton superintendent outlines school layoffs on eve of budget hearings this week,” by Alexander MacDougall, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “The city’s schools are poised to layoff 17 full-time teachers next school year, the most significant of expected cuts should the City Council approve Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra’s proposed fiscal 2025 budget next month.”

WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING

— “Massachusetts to overhaul key educator licensing exam, in an effort to better serve students of color and their families,” by James Vaznis, The Boston Globe: “Since the communications and literacy skills test began in the 1990s, it has narrowly focused on measuring reading and writing skills. But now state education officials want to expand it to include whether applicants possess the ability to communicate in ways that are culturally and linguistically in tune with the students and families they serve.”

— “With school out, campus Israel-Hamas protests may move to public areas,” by Juliet Schulman-Hall, MassLive: “As the college graduation season comes to a close, few believe the encampment and protest movements that have spread across college and university campuses related to the Israel-Hamas war will end — and some speculate they may spill into public spaces over the summer.”

— “Massachusetts mifepristone stockpile sits dormant after Maura Healey spent nearly $700K,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “A stockpile in Massachusetts of widely-used abortion pills has sat dormant over the year-plus since Gov. Maura Healey directed her administration to spend nearly $700,000 on 15,000 doses in the face of a legal challenge to the medication, according to health officials. … Healey turned to the University of Massachusetts Amherst to purchase the pills — which have a five-year shelf life — because the institution had the necessary certifications in place to order mifepristone and already provides the drug through its health services.”

— “The now-controversial flag flown at Justice Alito’s beach house? It’s rooted in Massachusetts,” by James Pindell, The Boston Globe.

— “Is Boston’s Economy Doomed?,” by Jon Keller, Boston Magazine.

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HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

SPOTTED — at Boston Calling: Shannon Liss-Riordan , Megan Johnson .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Alan Khazei , Rich Thuma , Jeff Santos and Ellen Weinstein Pildis . Happy belated to Sabrina Correa , who celebrated Sunday; and to state Rep. Steven Owens , who celebrated Monday.

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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