Giants Win!!!

The 7 to 10 year old team I have been with for the last 5 years has won again. The South End Giants played through a rainstorm and a tough Mets team, to win the championship 3 to 1. The Giants haven't been defeated in the playoffs for 4 years in a row now!

Congratulations to the team, coach Johnny and Mario, and all the kids who learned and grew all season long, were great teammates, and a pleasure for me to be around.

Mothers Day Baseball

A pitchers duel turned into high scoring run fest on Mother's Day at Roche Park.
It started out as a pitching duel between, Joshua Perez of the Giants and Dyvine of the Mariners.
A bases loaded walk to God scratched home the first run in the second inning by the the Giants. In the bottom of the third the Mariners were now facing Keson John and they took the lead with their patience at the plate scoring 4 runs despite just one ball being put into play.

In the top of the fourth the Giants put on their rally caps and erupted for 8 runs, led by a grand slam by Jason Pepin, backed up by a Ryan Hernandez home run. But the shorthanded Mariners, who were down to 8 players due to an injury, came back in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 9-9 again with patience at the plate but this time with a couple of run scoring singles by Dante and Dyvine. The Giants brought out Jason Pepin on the mound to get the final out of the inning.

As the sun faded away, the Mariners brought in Francisco in relief for the final inning. The Giants rallied again with Josh Perez getting the big hit, a triple to right. Jason came back in the bottom of the fifth to close the victory with two strikeouts and a nice play at the mound to throw a runner out at first.

On such a tension filled game, that was well played by both teams, it almost goes without saying that

GOD SCORED THE WINNING RUN!


BIG thanks to my mom for being my coach and getting me to all the games when I was a kid. And thanks to all the moms of my Giants who are so supportive of our team.

Love,
Kevin

Excellent analysis of the civic forum

http://brighton-community.blogspot.com/

Problems with management at Boston Public Schools?

The Budget Crisis That Wasn't

If you had read the papers in the early spring and had a child in the Boston Public Schools, you may have lost sleep worrying that the BPS was in desperate financial straits. Parents can rest easy. Unbeknownst to most taxpayers, Boston is now one of the wealthiest school districts in the entire United States based on expenditures per pupil.

According to the state's website Boston's school budget per pupil is the same as Weston's and thousands of dollars higher than "wealthy" districts like Brookline, Hingham, Newton, Wellesley and Winchester. For a full list of where Boston stands relative to other communities in Massachusetts, click here: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/ppx.aspx and then click twice on the column headed "expenditures per pupil".

While the rest of the state lays off teachers, adds fees and cuts school services, thanks to additional staffing and salary increases, Boston's education budget will increase 5.7% next year and this is further complemented by an additional 1-2% drop in the number of students meaning that per capita expenses will increase in 2009 by roughly 7% or almost $50 million.

So whence the massive shortfall?


There are many problems in the BPS. It has become painfully obvious that more money is not the solution to these problems as Boston perennially ranks in the bottom 5% on statewide standardized test scores in spite of massive spending increases over the past 15 years.

Open Meeting Law victory

I heard from my sister while I was driving home that we won a victory in the Open Meeting Lawsuit victory. Since Mccrea v. Flaherty was appealed by the City Council it will now be case law that the way that Michael Flaherty and the City Council interprets the Open Meeting Law is illegal, and the way that Kathleen Devine, Shirley Kressel and I interpret it is correct.

Of course, the Globe and Herald had two horrible articles in the paper today about it, and they clearly did not read nor understand the ruling. We won outright on some matters, and on the other matters the court took the time to explicitly deny the arguments(excuses) of the council as to why they were violating the law.

What the appeals court did do was agree that the City Council should be allowed an opportunity to present more evidence as to why their meetings were legal, even though the council was the party that moved for Summary Judgment.

So far, the council has spent approximately $50,000 to $100,000 of legal fees to fight for their right to have 6 members go into a room to discuss matters, then have those 6 leave a room and 6 more enter a room to discuss matters. Then when they have sorted everything out, not in the public eye, they will rubber stamp a decision at a council meeting.

Of course, they have rejected all of our olive branches to stop the litigation and try and craft a progressive, country leading open meeting policy that would really include the public.

And they wonder why only 11 percent or so voted in the election.

Message on foreclosure from Sen. Wilkerson

April 11, 2008



Dear Community Leader:



As the State Senator for your district, I recognize you as someone who interfaces with many residents every day. As you know, we are in the midst of a housing crisis like never seen before across Massachusetts! I know from the escalating number of constituents calling and walking in to our office every day that our district has been especially hard hit. I want to let you know what we are working on in the hope that you could pass the information on and be supportive of our efforts. Just in the past several weeks, between February 15th and April 3rd :



There have been 5,960 foreclosure petitions filed across Massachusetts (730 in Boston)
There have been 4,215 auctioned properties in Massachusetts


The foreclosure crisis is destroying whole communities not just here in Boston, but all around Massachusetts. If we continue at this pace, we will far surpass the 29,000+ record-number of foreclosures in Massachusetts for 2007.



Recently, I filed three bills in the Senate to protect tenants, mandate judicial foreclosure and to create a six month moratorium on new foreclosures. In order for these bills to gain traction, I need your support around the community for this package of legislation and for you to serve as a resource for the families, homeowners and tenants whose lives are being devastated every day by this crisis. Here are the summaries of the bills I’ve filed:



An Act to Require Judicial Foreclosure – Sen. 2696

This bill will enable Massachusetts to join 29 other states in requiring that a court approve foreclosures. Homeowners should have a day in court and an opportunity to raise defenses before they are stripped of the biggest asset they are likely to own in their lives. If you've been reading the daily newspapers over the last several weeks, you know that homes are being auctioned and sold before foreclosures are even complete. Even if lenders violate the law or make errors in how much money is actually owed, borrowers currently have no rights. This must change.



An Act Relative to a Temporary Moratorium on Foreclosures – Sen. 2697

This bill will provide for a 6 month moratorium on foreclosures to keep homeowners from losing their homes while more comprehensive solutions are effected on the state level. During this moratorium, a commission will be established to make recommendations that will help residents of Massachusetts deal with the crisis. This time will also provide an opportunity for mortgage holders to work with borrowers and find solutions that will help them remain in their homes.



An Act Requiring Just Cause for Eviction in Foreclosed Properties – Sen. 2698

This bill would protect from eviction tenants who are current in their rent and otherwise occupying a property lawfully after foreclosure, in other words, requiring just cause for evictions. If the foreclosing lender does not have just cause to evict, the tenants can remain, paying reasonable rents and abiding by the standard rules of tenancies. This protection will also protect municipalities as they scramble to address vacant and unsupervised properties which can become public safety hazards through burst pipes, fires, vandalism, and disrepair due to neglect. This bill will keep people in their homes and help to stabilize neighborhoods during the current crisis.



I need your help to let others know that activity is occurring. These bills can only pass if we work together to make the case that we have to provide help to homeowners and tenants and not just the big lenders who are being bailed out on the federal level.



In the meantime, if you have clients, constituents, patients, neighbors etc, who need assistance with their mortgage and are dealing with pending foreclosure, I encourage you to put them in touch with either the City of Boston’s Foreclosure Prevention Initiative by calling 617-635-HOME (617-635-4663) or the Legal Advocacy Resource Center (LARC), which provides referrals on a case-specific basis to appropriate groups. You can contact LARC by calling 617-603-1700.



If you have any additional questions or would like any more information about bills that I have filed please don’t hesitate to contact my office.



Sincerely,



Dianne Wilkerson

State Senator

Second Suffolk District


Wesley J. Ritchie

Director of Policy

Office of Senator Dianne Wilkerson

Second Suffolk District

617-722-1673

Getting Inner City school kids motivated

Low-income urban students know they attend substandard, second-tier schools that lack the technology, resources and extracurricular programs commonplace in schools of more affluent communities. And yet we continue to expect these students to prioritize education when budgetary and funding inequities demonstrate that urban education is neither a local, state, or national priority. Why should students on the Westside of Chicago not have access to the same resources, technology, and programming that is certainly offered at our nation’s “Top 100 High Schools?” Engaging technology programs like Hoops High demonstrate that attendance and (thus) academic performance will greatly improve in urban schools that are able to offer a range of exciting extracurricular classes directed at both the needs and the interests of the students.


Although this is exactly what I've been saying for years, it was reiterated in the New York Times today.

Why should teenagers care about something, when the adults who tell them to care, don't care about it themselves?

Dance Crew from Dorchester area could win MTV contest, please vote!

A friend of mine, Kevin Barry, is helping this Dorchester Group maybe win this MTV award which could lead to great things. I really salute Kevin who is so concerned with the state of his neighborhood and the ineffective leadership, but who goes out and does what is really required to make a neighborhood 'awesome'.


“AMERICA’S BEST DANCE CREW”
Could live in Boston!
STATUS QUO Dance Crew

From Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury

Competing in MTV’s Grand Finale – The Final 2 of
“Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew”
Let’s Represent Boston – Support Boston’s Youth by voting for Status Quo to win it all - bring home a Championship to Boston


Watch the Live Finale on MTV Thursday March 27th10pm

Vote for Status Quo to win the dance competition and represent Boston.
Vote as Often as you can. Vote! Vote! Vote Again!
Vote Now, until 9:00 pm Thursday, March 27th
1. Call toll free: 1-866-ULove01
2. Cell phone text message #1, 23882
3. Vote online: www.mtv.com

“The best tricks of any dance crew”

Vote from 11pm Thurs March 20th until 9pm Thurs March 27th
See www.cityofboston.gov for profile of Status Quo and contest


Again, another weekly reminder to vote for the hometown boys from Boston!! I thank you all for your efforts last week as Status Quo was #1 in amount of votes in the last round.
I hope you were able to catch them in their performances last night/Thursday; if not check MTV over the weekend. I am sure they will play the reruns!
Looks like it will be a tight race for the finals so try and remember to vote again this week. Information is below and attached for your convenience on how you can help bring another championship team to Boston!!!