POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Boston’s mayoral race is about to get busy

 

By Kelly Garrity HUH? ANOTHER WEALTHY CLOWN? VOTERS NEED TO BE SKEPTICAL - WHAT ARE THEY OFFERING? WE KNOW WHAT MAYOR WU HAS ACCOMPLISHED TO MAKE BOSTON A GREAT CITY EVEN CONFRONTED WITH GREAT OBSTACLES!  THESE WEALTHY CLOWNS CAN ACCOMPLISH A GREAT DEAL BY REMAINING IN PRIVATE PRACTICE....DO VOTERS WANT TO RISK ELECTING WEALTHY WANNABEES? NOT A SINGLE ONE IS CONDEMNING TRUMP'S FUNDING SLASHES, EMPLOYEES CUTS, RESEARCH CUTS!  THREE’S A CROWD — Tom O’Brien, a prominent Boston-based developer, is planning to jump into the city’s mayoral race and is eyeing next week for an official announcement, four people familiar with his plans told Playbook. O’Brien, the CEO and founding partner of HYM Investment Group, would be the second high-profile challenger to wade into the race against mayor Michelle Wu, joining Josh Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft who launched his campaign in February. An announcement next week would come just as Wu is set to launch her own reelection campaign next weekend. O’Brien didn’t respond to our inquiries about his plans Thursday night. The well-known name in the city’s commercial real estate circles, O’Brien previously worked at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city’s planning development arm, under late Mayor Tom Menino, and was at the time seen as a potential challenger to Menino. AT HYM, he’s overseen the redevelopment of the Government Center Garage, which is being turned into a mixed-use project dubbed Bulfinch Crossing, and is overseeing the multi-billion dollar redevelopment of the Suffolk Downs racetrack on the edge of East Boston. His impending entrance into the race spells problems for Kraft, as he and O’Brien will likely be competing for the same slice of voters from the real estate and development community who have chafed at Wu’s leadership style. The Boston Globe first reported O’Brien was considering getting in the race earlier this month, shortly after Kraft struggled to respond to some questions during an interview on WCVB. Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft goes 'On The Record' on running against Wu, working with Trump WCVB At the same time, Wu has been riding a high from her performance at a congressional hearing in Washington alongside other mayors of so-called sanctuary cities. Highlights from her defense of the city’s immigration policies — and her defiant call on Congress to keep Medicaid from getting cut and pass gun control legislation — circulated on social media and made their way into a promo video at the start of her State of the City speech last week, and earned her an interview on “The Daily Show” earlier this week. Other candidates have also indicated their intentions to run, including Domingos DaRosa, a community activist who previously ran for City Council, filed paperwork with the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance and previously told Playbook he’s “definitely running” for mayor. GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . TGIF! TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at the Higher Education Innovation Hub grant announcement at 2 p.m. in Lowell. Sen. Ed Markey hosts a press conference on the potential cuts to Social Security by the White House at 11 a.m. in Boston. Auditor Diana DiZoglio attends the Woo Sox opening day at 1 p.m. in Worcester, joins the MassEquality Beacons of Light Gala at 7 p.m. in Boston, and attends the Valley Patriot Anniversary Bash at 8 p.m. in Lawrence. THIS WEEKEND — DiZoglio attends the Teamsters Annual Autism Gala at 7 p.m. in Everett and a Fontbonne Academy anniversary celebration at 8 p.m. in Norwood Saturday. Rep. Jake Auchincloss hosts a town hall in Attleboro at 2 p.m. Sunday. SUNDAY SHOWS — Rep. Seth Moulton is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Healey is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday.   Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com .    Policy moves fast—stay ahead with POLITICO’s Policy Intelligence Assistant. Effortlessly search POLITICO's archive of 1M+ news articles, analysis documents, and legislative text. Track legislation, showcase your impact, and generate custom reports in seconds. Designed for POLITICO Pro subscribers, this tool helps you make faster, smarter decisions. Start exploring now .     ON CAMPUS ***FREE SPEECH & THE FIRST AMENDMENT MADE CRIMINAL BY BRAIN DEAD MARCO RUBIO & MAGA GOP CLOWNS?  NON-VIOLENT CAMPUS PROTESTS HAVE A LONG HISTORY IN AMERICA! HAVE THE FASCISTS SUDDENLY OUTLAWED DIFFENCES OF OPINION?  A WISE MAN SAID: I MAY DISAGREE WITH YOUR OPINION, BUT WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT!    MASKED & UNIDENTIFIED ICE AGENTS SPENDING LOTS OF TIME INVESTIGATING NON-VIOLENT FOLKS....WHERE ARE ALL OF THE CRIMINALS THEY PRETEND ARE THREATENING US? ***** THIN ICE — Democratic lawmakers are calling for the release of a Tufts student who was seized by immigration agents earlier this week unless federal officials can produce “compelling evidence justifying her detention and the revocation of her status,” they wrote in a letter Thursday. “We write about the disturbing arrest and detention of Rumeysa Ozturk by agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week,” the letter, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, reads. “The rationale for this arrest appears to be this student’s expression of her political views. We are calling for full due process in this case and are seeking answers about this case and about ICE’s policy that has led to the identification and arrest of university students with valid legal status.” More than two dozen Democrats signed on to the letter, sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons. Included were Sens. Warren and Ed Markey, and Reps. Jake Auchincloss, Katherine Clark, Stephen Lynch, Jim McGovern, Seth Moulton, Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan. The lawmakers are looking for answers to several questions about Ozturk’s arrest from why she was arrested and under what authority her visa was revoked, to whether DHS is “compiling a dossier of university students involved in Palestine-related protests.” Their letter is here.  ****MARCO RUBIO CONDEMNS DIFFERENCES OF OPINIONS & FREE SPEECH? STUDENTS CONTRIBUTE TO A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF OUR WORLD....WHAT ARE MAGA GOP & LITTLE MARCO AFRAID OF? **** RELATED — “Rubio confirms he revoked Tufts student's visa, says he pulls visas 'every day',” by Jesús Marrero Suárez, WBUR.  — “Hundreds of Tufts students and graduates demand a ‘full-throated’ response to Trump administration crackdown,” John R. Ellement, The Boston Globe.  DATELINE BEACON HILL ****DON'T FORGET THE WOMEN WHO MADE HISTORY!***** — “Busts of Abigail Adams, Elizabeth Freeman planned to diversify State House art,” by Katie Lannan, GBH News: “The Massachusetts State House boasts one of the oldest public art collections in the country. Yet of its more than 300 works, only about 20 depict images of women. That’s one reason state Senate President Karen Spilka has for years now covered up the portraits of her 91 predecessors — all but two of them men — with pictures of female historical figures with Massachusetts ties. Spilka on Thursday unveiled the latest iteration of her ‘HERstory’ art installation, recognizing women with reputations as trailblazers and disrupters, from colonial spiritual leader Anne Hutchinson to astronaut and Needham native Suni Williams.” FROM THE HUB — “In a break from tradition, Mayor Wu will skip Municipal Research Bureau lunch. Why?,” by Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe: “For more than two decades, the mayor of Boston has shown up at the Boston Municipal Research Bureau’s annual lunch, mainly to talk about the city’s fiscal health and new initiatives. But this spring, Mayor Michelle Wu will break from tradition. She’s skipping the research bureau’s event, a $3,000-per-table fund-raiser for the business-backed watchdog group on April 10 at the Hilton Boston Park Plaza hotel. The mayor had originally been scheduled to attend, but recently decided to drop it from her schedule. Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll has since taken her place as the keynote speaker. What gives? The decision appears to be about taxes, the research bureau’s bread-and-butter.” ****WORTH SERIOUS CONSIDERATION!**** TRUMP/MUSK/DOGSH*t slash MEDICAID, FOOD PROGRAMS, RESEARCH, IRS, SOCIAL SECURITY, FAA, NUCLEAR INSPECTORS....& FUND THIS?***** — “Advocates pressure Boston City Council to reject federal anti-terror grant over immigration concerns,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Civil liberties advocates are putting pressure on the Boston City Council to reject a sizable federal anti-terrorism grant, saying that the police surveillance work it helps to fund could be used by the feds to target the immigrant community." excerpt: The “Urban Area Security Initiative Grant,” administered by the city’s Office of Emergency Management, is the annual funding source for the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, which includes nine cities and towns: Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop. Boston, as the lead city, is tasked with acting as the approval authority for the grant. Advocates say the Council should consider rejecting it this year, given that the Hub is one of the sanctuary cities federal immigration authorities have focused on. Such a move would seemingly be unprecedented, according to Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Program at ACLU Massachusetts, who said she couldn’t think of another city that opted not to accept a federal UASI grant. Crockford and other advocates centered many of their concerns around the portion of the anti-terror grant that is allocated to the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, the intelligence arm of the Boston Police Department, and the information they say the BRIC shares with Homeland Security. “The ACLU has never taken the position and will not take the position that the Boston Police Department should not collaborate with the FBI on serious criminal investigations,” Crockford said. “What concerns us deeply …  is that the Boston Police Department may inadvertently share information with federal agencies who have been ordered by the most powerful person in this country to stop work on these serious criminal investigations to turn their attention to the grandmas and aunties and uncles who are law abiding immigrants in this country for deportation.” Crockford said that as the Council prepares to take up the grant later this year, it should look at what BPD has done to change its policies and procedures, “given this new reality” and “new federal landscape.” “This is not the FBI under the Biden administration,” Crockford said. “These people … do not have a respect for the rule of law. This is a totally different beast that we’re dealing with here, and in my view, the city ought to act accordingly.” Ryan Walsh, director of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, said the BRIC received roughly $2 million from last year’s anti-terror grant, and that there’s “no direct query ability” between federal law enforcement and the BRIC as it relates to its intelligence data sharing. “We take very seriously the need to confirm with them that there’s a full criminal investigation before we would share anything with them from the gang database or any BRIC information system or BPD information system,” Walsh said. — “Wu expands office-to-residential conversion program to build dorms. Here’s how it would work,” by Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe: “Mayor Michelle Wu is hoping dorms might spark more office-to-residential conversions in downtown Boston to help fill up empty buildings and alleviate the city’s housing shortage. During her State of the City address last week, Wu mentioned she would expand her existing conversion program to include developers that build dorms for students or workers. The general reaction in Boston’s real estate sector: Every little bit helps, especially when construction has begun on only one conversion project so far.” ***YOUTH SUMMER JOBS!**** — “Boston opens Youth Summer Jobs applications with thousands of positions,” by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald. WHAT'S ON CAMPBELL'S DOCKET ***GAS PRICES!**** — “Attorney general targets costly state program intended to fix gas pipes,” by Liz Neisloss, GBH News: “Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell this week issued a sharply critical assessment of a state program meant to fix gas pipes for leaks and safety issues, reiterating a call for gas companies to change ‘business as usual’ and reduce costs to ratepayers. Campbell is focusing her ire on the increasingly controversial, decade-old Gas System Enhancement Program. She said the program has become a large-scale costly building program for the gas industry and ‘a significant driver’ of increasing costs for residents.” PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES ****MBTA RIDERSHIP UP!***** — “More people are taking the T — and paying for it,” by Jeremy Siegel, GBH News: “Good news for the MBTA: ridership and fare revenue are both higher than the agency expected they’d be — and that’s been the case for months now. General Manager Phil Eng presented the latest data at a meeting of the T’s Board of Directors on Thursday. It’s a positive trend for the agency, which faces significant long-term budget problems and has struggled to bring ridership back to pre-pandemic levels.” DAY IN COURT ****MUST READ! ***** — “Judge orders HUD to release $30 million in grants to fair housing groups,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon: “A federal judge in Massachusetts has ordered roughly $30 million in grants that were stripped midstream from fair housing organizations reinstated, after organizations including a Holyoke-based center sued the Trump administration demanding the return of their grant funding.” TRUMPACHUSETTS ****SLASHING RESEARCH FUNDING!**** — “UMass biomedical scientist freezes pediatric brain cancer research due to federal funding problems,” by Lynn Jolicoeur and Lisa Mullins, WBUR: “Cuts and delays in federal research funding have led a scientist at UMass Chan Medical School to shut down some of her lab's work. Biomedical engineer and professor Rachael Sirianni says the research in question is aimed at developing tools to help treat brain cancer in children.” — “Higher ed students, researchers feel pressure to leave U.S. amid ‘environment of fear’,” by Juliet Schulman-Hall, MassLive. When Sol Gittleman, former Tufts University provost and professor, heard about the arrest of Tufts doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk, he felt paranoid. While the United States has pushed people out of the country before, the way the arrest took place felt new to Gittleman. IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN ***CHINA IS LEADING THE WORLD & THEIR ECONOMY IS PROSPERING UNLIKE THE US DINOSAURS THAT RAISE FALSE ARGUMENTS! OPPOSITION TO CAPE WIND WAS GENEROUSLY FUNDED BY DIRTY ENERGY KOCH!  WHO'S FUNDING THIS OPPOSITION?  TOO MANY LIES HAVE BEEN SPREAD...TOO MUCH DISINFORMATION! LOOK AROUND & GATHER FACTS! Wind Power by Country 2025 - World Population Review WORLD POPULATION REVIEW BY COUNTRY Top 10 Nations Leading in Wind Energy CLIMATE FACT CHECKS NOTE THIS IS 2021: Wind energy penetration in leading wind markets in 2021, by select country STATISTICA WIND INSTALLATIONS AS OF 2023  OGV 2023 FACING HEADWINDS — The town of Nantucket and the Nantucket-based group ACK for Whales are challenging the legality of three offshore wind projects situated off the coast of Massachusetts, per The New Bedford Light . — “Climate resiliency summit led by Vatican stops in Dorchester,” by Robert Goulston, GBH News: “Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu delivered homework assigned to them last year by Pope Francis at a summit on climate change. Last spring, Healey and Wu attended the pope’s summit on climate change in Rome, where they signed a call to action committing to mitigation and adaptation strategies. On Thursday, they provided updates on their progress at the ResilientMass Summit hosted by UMass Boston in Dorchester.” MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS — “Cannabis commission failed to collect up to $1.7 million in fees, says investigator,” by Walter Wuthmann, WBUR: “The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission failed to collect upwards of $1.7 million in licensing fees, according to a state Inspector General's office investigation. Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro called the lapse ‘an egregious operational breakdown’ that underscores the need for statutory reform of the troubled agency.” FROM THE 413 — “Uncertainty looms over future of this West Springfield school despite town’s assurances,” by Aprell May Munford, The Springfield Republican. — “Pittsfield City Council considers pay raise for School Committee members to encourage potential candidates to run for office,” by Maryjane Williams, The Berkshire Eagle. — “Northampton Housing Authority boss placed on leave,” by Alexander MacDougall, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Cara Leiper, the executive director for the Northampton Housing Authority, has been placed on paid administrative leave following a January complaint submitted to the authority’s board and various state agencies accusing her of numerous legal and ethical violations that include providing housing to close friends and family members.” THE LOCAL ANGLE — “Does Worcester’s mayor support a police oversight board? It’s complicated,” by Adam Bass, MassLive: “Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty is reserving judgment on whether he supports a civilian review board that would provide more oversight into the Worcester Police Department (WPD). In an appearance on Radio Worcester Wednesday morning, Petty said they would keep an open mind about the city having a civilian review board. The mayor said he wants to review the findings of an ongoing study regarding the effectiveness of civilian review boards before deciding on the matter.” — “Even well-to-do towns like Milton are hard hit by school fiscal problems,” by James Vaznis, The Boston Globe. ***MUST READ!**** — “From Tijuana to Mass., asylum seekers and their families face uncertainty and desperation,” by Shannon Dooling, WBUR.  THE US/CIA DESTABILIZED NATIONS SOUTH OF OUR BORDER, INSTALLED BRUTAL THUGS TO GOVERN & ALLOW MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS TO PLUNDER RESOURCES & EXPLOIT POPULATIONS...THE US TRAINED DEATH SQUADS AT THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS...PEOPLE DO NOT LEAVE THEIR COUNTRIES, THEIR COMMUNITIES WITHOUT GOOD REASON... Biden Nominates Elliott Abrams, Death Squad Backer Convicted of Lying to Congress, to Gov’t Commission DEMOCRACY NOW HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH TRANSITIONS — Hockomock Digital founder and West Bridgewater Town Moderator Jason Ross was selected to attend the 2025 Manfred Wörner Seminar. — Wendy Hamilton is now director of federal government affairs at Walmart. She was director of operations for House Minority Whip Katherine Clark. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Laura Driscoll and Liz Johnson. Happy belated to Mike Carraggi, who celebrated Thursday. HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to Peter Cherukuri, Harvard Kennedy School’s David King, Ned Gandevani and Sanjay Misra, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers Anna Duffy, Dusty Christensen, Bill Ryan and Mark Daley. 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 .   Follow us on Twitter Kelly Garrity @KellyGarrity3   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters Follow us

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