Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Wu-ing Boston's business bosses

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Wu-ing Boston's business bosses

BEST LAID PLANS & NEW DEVELOPMENTS — Boston’s business community has made no secret of its grievances with Michelle Wu. Today, the mayor has a chance to change some minds — and it’s potentially one of her last major opportunities to do so before the city’s mayoral race takes off.

Wu will take the mic at a Seaport hotel in a couple hours for her annual speech in front of some of the city’s most powerful business leaders and real estate magnates hosted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, while potential mayoral challengers are still waiting in the wings. New England Patriots Foundation President Josh Kraft has publicly demurred on his plans to run, but keeps popping up ~~on the campaign trail~~ at events around the city. Some view the scion of the owner of the Patriots empire as a business-friendlier alternative to Wu with the personal wealth and community connections to make it a real race.

Wu set the stage for her speech last night when her office announced Kairos Shen will be the city’s new planning chief, filling the role former chief Arthur Jemison left somewhat abruptly to return to Michigan, where his family still lives, and head up the Detroit Housing Commission last month.

Shen currently works as a real estate professor at MIT — and he’ll still be connected to the school when he starts his new role in mid-October — but he’s no City Hall neophyte; Shen previously served as city planner under the late Mayor Tom Menino, and touts more than two decades of experience at the Boston Redevelopment Authority on his resume. He left City Hall not long into former Mayor Marty Walsh’s first term, asking to be fired amid pressure to resign from his role as primary planner in 2015, according to reports at the time, in order to bump up his pension.

The announcement puts a pin in one of the concerns the business community has had recently about the workings of Wu’s administration, but other gripes are still unsettled: The Chamber and other business groups have lobbied against the property tax shift proposal Wu is still pushing on Beacon Hill. She’s set to huddle with members of the Senate’s Boston delegation and Senate President Karen Spilka Thursday, per people familiar with the plans, as she looks to get the home rule through in informal session — the same day members of Mass. Senior Action plan to stop by the State House to lobby for the legislation.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts arm of the commercial real estate group NAIOP called on City Hall to delay new zoning requirements set to take effect Oct. 1 that include affordability requirements for new developments.

Other announcements may be on the way today — last year, Wu’s Chamber speech included a handful of newsy nuggets. And Wu does have some recent wins for Boston businesses she can tout: the long-awaited 225 new liquor licenses for the that just got the post-formal session sign-off on Beacon Hill, or the $7 million in ARPA money she earmarked for first-time homebuyers and the city’s small businesses last week.

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS .

TODAY — Wu speaks at 10 a.m. at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel. Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll host a Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month celebration at 2 p.m. at the State House. Driscoll chairs a Governor’s Council meeting at noon. Attorney General Andrea Campbell speaks at a ribbon cutting for the Fountain Fund’s Boston office at 8:30 a.m. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark hosts a press conference with other members of Congress to reintroduce two bills calling for federal investment in child care at 11 a.m. in D.C.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

VISITORS LOG — Gov. Maura Healey and First Lady Joanna Lydgate met with Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska yesterday while Zelenska was in town to headline a Harvard Institute of Politics event. Healey described the confab as “incredibly humbling” and pledged the state’s “strong support for the people of Ukraine,” she told reporters at an unrelated event.

— “Healey signs law allowing Mass. to compete for federal funds with state savings dollars,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation Tuesday that enables the state to use the interest generated off its multi-billion dollar savings account as matching funds to compete for federal funds, a move she said is key to beefing up Massachusetts’ infrastructure. The governor’s signature comes as Massachusetts has already seen a windfall of federal money and as Healey has attempted to position her administration over the past two years to capture trillions of dollars made available by the Biden administration.”

— “Bay State’s new gun license live fire training requirement quietly delayed,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “Bay State-based Second Amendment advocates took a short but cautious victory lap this week, when they learned the state Legislature had quietly nixed a plan to require prospective gun owners to attend live fire training. According to the Gun Owners Action League, the change comes as ‘a likely response to GOAL’s federal lawsuit’ over Chapter 135, or An act modernizing firearms laws.”

FROM THE HUB

— “Are Boston’s downtown bars and eateries doomed? Turns out maybe not,” by Beth Treffeisen, Boston.com.

— “New affordable housing development to offer dozens of units for homeless Bostonians,” by Saraya Wintersmith, GBH News: “Officials with the nonprofit day shelter St. Francis House and the Planning Office for Urban Affairs — the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston’s nonprofit housing developer — broke ground Tuesday on a 19-story affordable housing development. The downtown Boston complex will include 126 units, 70 of them reserved for people transitioning out of homelessness.”

— “City Councilors bring Boston school bus issues before state education board,” by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald: “After weeks of late BPS buses and frustration over communications from the district, City Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy took their concerns to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. … The councilors’ concerns come after the district has struggled to get buses to school on time in the first weeks of school, which district officials have publicly attributed to a “learning curve” for new GPS technology through the Zum app and a higher rate of last minute enrollments and route changes.”

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

MUST READ! EXPLAINS HAITI'S HISTORY & U.S. FOREIGN POLICY! LET'S STOP THE HATE & LIES!

— “Massachusetts' Haitian community feels the weight and history of racist lies,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “Hundreds of Haitians and their allies gathered on Boston Common Tuesday to protest the racist lies being perpetuated by presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance. … The Tuesday rally came as Massachusetts’ large Haitian population reckons with the ugly rhetoric that’s become a flashpoint in the 2024 election.”
excerpts:

“They are lies. Haitians don’t eat pets,” DesRosiers said. “In Haitian Creole, we call them animal domestik. Dogs are considered bon zanmi, which means best friend.”

Changing the conversation

The racist myths being spread by high-level Republicans are hitting especially hard in Massachusetts, which has the third-largest Haitian community in the U.S., according to the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, MIRA.

The individuals GBH News spoke with for this story say that deep-rooted racism and xenophobia come from a lack of education and misunderstanding about Haitian culture and history.

Haiti was the first Black-led republic in the world, where the enslaved population threw off French colonial rule in 1804.

“[We are] the very first Black people to have fought and gained our independence. So we do know that we have value,” said DesRosiers.

BALLOT BATTLES

— “16,000 10th-graders failed the MCAS exam. Here’s what to know ahead of ballot question 2,” by Mandy McLaren, The Boston Globe: “Approximately 3,000 more 10th-grade students failed the MCAS exam in 2024 than in the year prior — a notable uptick sure to come under scrutiny as the fate of the standardized test as a high school graduation requirement rests in voters’ hands this November. The results, released Tuesday, follow a decision by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to raise the bar for what’s considered a passing score on the English language arts, math, and science exams.”

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sen. Elizabeth Warren is endorsing Josh Tarsky in his bid to replace state Rep. Denise Garlick in the 13th Norfolk District.

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

— “NOAA report sends mixed message on wind power and risk to whales,” by Will Sennott, The New Bedford Light.

— “Nantucket group petitions Supreme Court to review offshore wind development challenge,” by Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald: “Nantucket residents have filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a lower court decision allowing the feds to rush its approval of offshore wind projects without considering impacts to the ocean ecosystem. The petition from ACK For Whales, a nonpartisan community group, comes months after they saw their island become the epicenter of the offshore wind debate in the fallout of a Vineyard Wind turbine blade failure.”

LOCKED IN — Climate protesters with Extinction Rebellion chained themselves to the gate outside the State House's General Hooker entrance for the second day in a row Tuesday, calling for more aggressive climate action from state lawmakers and threatening to stay locked to the gate until the Legislature banned new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Meanwhile, top House and Senate climate negotiators have picked their talks up again after Gov. Maura Healey slipped some of the legislative changes that had been on the bargaining table into a supplemental budget she filed earlier this month, CommonWealth Beacon’s Bruce Mohl reports.

“That was a statement from the governor. Message received,” Rep. Jeffrey Roy told Mohl.

Climate protesters from Extinction Rebellion have chained themselves to the entrance gate to the State House. (Photo by Bruce Mohl)

FROM THE 413

— “Baystate Health in Western Massachusetts shakes up leadership amid financial trouble,” by Jonathan Saltzman, The Boston Globe.

excerpts:

Like many hospital systems in the state, Baystate has faced serious financial challenges in recent years. It lost $63 million in 2023 and $177 million in 2022. During the pandemic, it relied on more than $151 million that the federal government provided through the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund.

Baystate Health serves more than 800,000 people throughout western New England, with roots dating to the founding of Springfield Hospital in 1883. Baystate Medical Center is a 716-bed academic medical center and a teaching site of the UMass Chan Medical School. The hospital includes Baystate Children’s Hospital, the Wesson Women and Infants’ Unit, and the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center.

— “Amherst councilors raise concerns over University Drive overlay zoning district plan,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Potential risks to existing businesses, including Amherst’s only full-size grocery store, and offering new housing mostly for area college students, are among concerns members of the Town Council are voicing over a proposed overlay zoning district for University Drive between Amity Street and Route 9.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “'A vibrant, walkable, mixed-use neighborhood' is coming to Fall River,” by Emily Scherny, The Herald News.

excerpt:

FALL RIVER — Members of the community on Monday had a glimpse of the Fall River Redevelopment Authority’s master plan for the city’s waterfront once construction on the Davol Street Corridor is complete.

The $135 million project underway now will open almost 19 acres of developable land, and people were able to view and discuss proposed designs for everything from parking to commercial and residential zones.

“This offers an incredible economic development opportunity for the city, and for a new waterfront neighborhood,” said Sarah Page, executive director of the RDA, who helped explain the maps and aerial views to visitors. “We will continue to be the mouthpiece for this project.”

IS THIS ENTERTAINMENT OR ANIMAL ABUSE?

— “North Attleboro officials say there was multi-layered approval process for rodeo,” by Stephen Peterson, The Sun Chronicle.

excerpt:

NORTH ATTLEBORO — Local officials on Monday night outlined steps they took to approve the rodeo at the Emerald Square mall on Route 1 where eight bulls escaped Sunday, but acknowledged more likely needs to be done if any future such events are held in town.

— “Dighton voters face stark choice: Debt exclusions or 'town services will be clobbered',” by Daniel Schemer, Taunton Daily Gazette: “Dighton will finally address the many millions of dollars it owes to its partnering school districts. On the ballot this Election Day, Nov. 5, Dighton residents will have not one but two Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusions to vote on: For the town’s share of the construction of the new Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical High School in Taunton; and the town’s share of the multi-million dollar renovations Bristol County Agricultural High School in Dighton has undergone in the last four years.”

— “Somerville set to restore hours at Central Library next week with private security keeping watch, mayor says,” by Spencer Buell, The Boston Globe: “Somerville’s mayor has been buffeted by criticism from parents and elected officials since the city last month shuttered its Central Library during after-school hours following disruptions from rowdy teens. Now, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne says the city plans to restore normal hours at the public library next to the high school beginning next week — but this time, with private security keeping watch.”

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

SPOTTED — hitting the trail for the Harris-Walz campaign in Florida: Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune , who stopped by the Orange County headquarters Monday. Pic.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Emma Sands, Jonathan Cohn and Nicco Mele.

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