Tale of Two Cultures:
It is hard to overstate how many Hispanic workers are in the city of New Orleans now. They are on construction sites all over the city, and I have personally seen guys who know no English working on public schools and for FEMA road cleaning crews. This is in a city that last year had no signs of Hispanics when I visited for long weekend wedding. Most of them are originally from Mexico and Honduras. They are regularly a topic of discussion at the Mayoral debates. (Those are forums where the candidates for an office have an intelligent discussion about their differing views on how to make a City better, very popular in open liberal western democracys)
There are a few places to get day laborers, but the main place is Robert E. Lee Circle a main crossroads area just beside downtown. Every morning there are 50 to 100 people looking for work. The going rate is 100 to 120 dollars a day, cash. Interestingly enough, more than the pay at McDonalds or other entry level jobs here, and of course that is without withholding, etc.
I recently needed some day laborers to do some cleanup on a job here. I was about to take a couple of Hispanic Americans to do the work, when a couple of native born guys from Michigan came up and asked if they could get some work. I explained exactly what the job was(cleaning debris from under a house), how much it paid, and how long the day was. They said “no problem” and explained they were looking for permanent work. I told them I always have a need for responsible, productive workers and if they worked out well, I could use people fulltime.
My experience was typical with native born Americans, before they started they talked about how experienced and reliable they are and how much they want a job. Then they get into the job, which is dirty and uncomfortable, as described, and they start to complain a bit. A few hours later, they are openly saying they aren’t getting paid enough for the job, finally near the end of the day they revolt and quit before the agreed upon time, usually with comments about the work being beneath them, or whatever, with demands for immediate payment when they want to quit, a couple hours before the end of the workday. Of course, I pay them and their time with me is done, as they kick away steady employment to go back and wait with the multitudes at Lee Circle.
The next day, I hired two Hispanic Americans to do the same job on the other half of the building. No complaints, good attitude, friendly and joking. They came back and worked a second day for me.
About a week later, I had to get under the house where the two crews had been working to start redoing the plumbing systems on the house. I first went under the Native Born American side, and was generally pleased that they guys had done a good job in difficult circumstances, thinking to myself that it was too bad they didn’t stick it out. Then I went under the Hispanic American side, and their cleanup job was far superior, it was like the dirt under the house had been prepared to become a putting green. A truly exemplary job had been done, with a better attitude. Who would you rather hire?
A week or two later, I was working on the roof and again I needed help. Again I went to Lee Circle where I had agreed to hire dos personas Hispanic, when another Native Born American came up and said he was experienced in construction and could do roofing and asked for a job. I said sure, I’ll give you a chance. All three of the guys worked out OK for the day, and we agreed to be at work the next morning at 7:30. The Native Born American then started asking insistently for me to give him a ride to the place he was staying, I told him no, I still was working and had to take advantage of all the daylight hours I could. He got to be a bit annoying; can you imagine begging someone who just hired you for a ride, and being annoying to them????
The next morning, the Hispanic guys were there right on time at siete y media (7:30) and we started pounding away on the roof in the 90 degree weather. Around 9 am the Native Born American came by and I asked where he had been, and he started making up excuses. Needless to say, I told him he wasn’t needed.
I’ve discussed with many people who try and help people to be ready for the workforce, from the Veteran’s Administration, to Madison Park High School Teachers. It is amazing the low level of understanding of what it takes to be a successful employee. If you are not going to get a good education, the low skill workforce is going to become increasingly more difficult with more competition, which is going to keep wages stagnant. There are people who want to work and who are willing to work. Many people have an air of expectancy: “I deserve better than this”, but if people don’t want to do the work to be educated, reliable and valuable they will quickly learn there are others who can take these low skilled jobs, that are more motivated and hardworking and who see work not as demeaning, but as a step to something better.
Meanwhile, my wife tells me my Spanish is getting better all the time!!!
Monday, May 15, 2006
Thursday, May 11, 2006
a troubled man for troubled times
i was disappointed that in the mayoral race here in NOLA that Manny Chevrolet didn't do better.
He is a blind, manic deptressive, clarinet player who has run for office before. His motto: a troubled man for troubled times".
Some of his other signs "still troubled..."
It is hot and muggy down here, and as in Boston there is the smell of increased violence. More cops, more unhappy cops, more people just hanging around. I discovered one of the city's big time coke dealers yesterday. I'm always amazed how many people you meet can tell you who the coke dealer is in a city as he drives around his 100K porsche, but the police don't know or don't do anything about it. And I don't even do drugs. Some people two houses down from one of my projects are growing marijuana right on their front porch, in one of the historic vases. Pretty funny.
Looks as if I will be suing the city again soon, they really don't want to hold open meetings, we'll try and bring them kicking and screaming into doing the unthinkable: actually holding meetings and letting the public see what they are up to. Kudos again to Adam Reilly for blogging about their meetings, a noticable shift towards professionalism and doing something when people are watching.
Had a nice conversation with Councilor Kelly at the south end baseball opening day. I thought he looked pretty good for a man who is has been fighting cancer very hard. He seemed in good spirits, and quite welcoming.
One of the kids on my team got Manny Delcarmen's necklace, 10 bucks from Jonathon Papelbon, and faux world series ring from larry luccino, what a haul!!! Papelbon was great, with his dog "bosss". He was so kind, and so friendly with all the kids, what a great guy and a true southern gentleman. A huge hit! Also great was Ron Jackson, the hitting coach, "just keep your eye on the ball and don't let the ghosts of baseball haunt you."
Tragedy about my friend herman daly falling from his roof. He and his wife have been so nice, coming to my wedding, with a print they gave me hanging above the fireplace in the BIG House. A person who gave so much back to his community, very quietly, is a true shame. The funeral is saturday.
When are those bold ideas coming from city hall? I asked the building department if the "streamlining of the permitting process" promised last summer has started yet. They laughed at me.
On the positive side, I think the Mayor did the right thing by having the "independent" BRA up the cost of buying out of the affordable housing to$200K is a good thing. I believe that integrating income levels in a mix of housing is good for the city. Concentrated poverty is to be avoided.
be big!
He is a blind, manic deptressive, clarinet player who has run for office before. His motto: a troubled man for troubled times".
Some of his other signs "still troubled..."
It is hot and muggy down here, and as in Boston there is the smell of increased violence. More cops, more unhappy cops, more people just hanging around. I discovered one of the city's big time coke dealers yesterday. I'm always amazed how many people you meet can tell you who the coke dealer is in a city as he drives around his 100K porsche, but the police don't know or don't do anything about it. And I don't even do drugs. Some people two houses down from one of my projects are growing marijuana right on their front porch, in one of the historic vases. Pretty funny.
Looks as if I will be suing the city again soon, they really don't want to hold open meetings, we'll try and bring them kicking and screaming into doing the unthinkable: actually holding meetings and letting the public see what they are up to. Kudos again to Adam Reilly for blogging about their meetings, a noticable shift towards professionalism and doing something when people are watching.
Had a nice conversation with Councilor Kelly at the south end baseball opening day. I thought he looked pretty good for a man who is has been fighting cancer very hard. He seemed in good spirits, and quite welcoming.
One of the kids on my team got Manny Delcarmen's necklace, 10 bucks from Jonathon Papelbon, and faux world series ring from larry luccino, what a haul!!! Papelbon was great, with his dog "bosss". He was so kind, and so friendly with all the kids, what a great guy and a true southern gentleman. A huge hit! Also great was Ron Jackson, the hitting coach, "just keep your eye on the ball and don't let the ghosts of baseball haunt you."
Tragedy about my friend herman daly falling from his roof. He and his wife have been so nice, coming to my wedding, with a print they gave me hanging above the fireplace in the BIG House. A person who gave so much back to his community, very quietly, is a true shame. The funeral is saturday.
When are those bold ideas coming from city hall? I asked the building department if the "streamlining of the permitting process" promised last summer has started yet. They laughed at me.
On the positive side, I think the Mayor did the right thing by having the "independent" BRA up the cost of buying out of the affordable housing to$200K is a good thing. I believe that integrating income levels in a mix of housing is good for the city. Concentrated poverty is to be avoided.
be big!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
City Council doesn't deliberate; Dicara Drops Fundraiser
Here's a picture of me in Louisiana building with Habitat for Humanity!Just got back from New Orleans last night, in time to read in the morning papers about the City Council voting itself a raise. A raise for the Mayor, who does all the work, has all the power, and all the responsibility I might agree with, but a raise for the council? After they just argued in Open Court that they have no power or authority over virtually anything?
I just spent 6 months or so traveling the city with these guys, speaking to the same groups, talking about the issues. Never once did they say they were underpaid. In fact, they said "it was the greatest job in the world", and " I wouldn't want to do anything else". Their apparent incredible job satisfaction rate doesn't jibe with the pay raise, which I believe is about the only piece of legislation they have passed other than outlawing some super serious guns, none of which I believe have been used in any of the shootings this year.
Good for Felix and Chuck Turner for voting against. And they are two of the members who could most use the money. A bit disappointed in Sam Yoon for not voting against it. He spent a year and half running for a job that paid 70K a year, how could he in good conscience vote himself a raise when the city needs more cops.
Meanwhile, the instigator of these raises Larry Dicara suddenly canceled a fundraiser that was to be at his house tonight. We just got a call and no explanation yesterday that it was cancelled. I already sent in my check to help raise money for Nuestra Comunidad's Nuestra Culinary Venture's Our Kitchen, but I was looking forward to enjoying the food of the group, and a nice night out at Mr. Dicara's house (who should be applauded for hosting the event).
Serendipity? Who knows?
If I had been elected I would try and get an amendment passed that the City Council can only vote itself a pay raise in the last quarter of their term. We should pass this law for all elected bodies, legislature, Congress, etc. That way, they would have to justify the raises in a more demonstrable manner.
Meanwhile, about these raises. So they had a report from Dicara's committee, then they were supposed to have a hearing on it that was cancelled 1/2 an hour before it was scheduled, doesn't appear that any public notice was given, but yet the report from Feeney's committee say that a number of her committee members conferred with the report: I believe Kelly, Ross, Murphy, McDermott conferred. In other words: members of the committee discussed, deliberated and recommended something without any public notice or input.
Sounds like all the making of an Open Meeting Lawsuit!!! It takes 3 citizens to file one, anyone interested?
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Accentuate the positive (ideas)
Some interesting ideas I've come across that I thought might be good for Boston and MA:
1) Drunk driving license plates: If someone is convicted of being a drunk driver the Registry will for a number of years make them register their car with license plates that indicate they are drunk drivers. Positives: public humiliation will hopefully be a deterrent, other drivers can be more aware of them. Negatives: The rich can set up trusts and corporations to get around this.
2) If a student drops out of high school they lose their license to drive. They can not receive a license unless they are in school, or have passed a GED.
1) Drunk driving license plates: If someone is convicted of being a drunk driver the Registry will for a number of years make them register their car with license plates that indicate they are drunk drivers. Positives: public humiliation will hopefully be a deterrent, other drivers can be more aware of them. Negatives: The rich can set up trusts and corporations to get around this.
2) If a student drops out of high school they lose their license to drive. They can not receive a license unless they are in school, or have passed a GED.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Scuttlebutt among the no power council
Word on the street is that Larry Dicara will resign from the board that advises on salary compensation. I loved Mike Ross's quote about how any person qualified to advise on those matters already would have business with the city. It reminds me of those maps "a Bostonian's view of the world" that have a Big Boston, slightly big Cambridge, tinier New York, and a far off California, china, etc....
Somehow, I personally believe that in Boston there is professional whose job is to know about salary compensation who doesn't have his hand in as many pies as Larry Dicara does at City Hall. Many of the Big Accounting firms have people whose job it is to assess salaries. The world of Boston does not revolve around City Hall, it puts up with it getting in the way of doing good things in business and in the private sector way too often.
Half an hour before the city council was going to have its hearing on salary increases it cancelled it. What was that all about??? Word is that the city council is afraid of the state ethics commission. I'm not sure why.
I am trying to get a street permit for our neighborhood associations annual fair. I called our neighborhood liason, who didn't get back to me for over a week, so I called again. He gave me the name of whom I had to call.
I called them, and they told me they were the wrong person, and they told me who to call.
I called them, and they told me they were the wrong person, and they told me who to call.
I called them, and they told me they were the wrong person, and they told me who to call.
I called them, and they said to write a letter.
What we should do, is what a neighborhood group in Dorchester did last year. They were unhappy with the Mayor about something, so they just didn't even bother getting a permit and shut down three streets on their own. A lot of people come to that annual picnic, so they were a bit apprehensive but they figured the Mayor would show up.
Sure enough he did (since it was an election year) and nothing happened. Why play by the rules? City Hall doesn't, and they only enforce ones that help them personally. So much for the rule of law....and we wonder what message that sends to our kids and teens, and wonder why they don't talk to the authorities.
Somehow, I personally believe that in Boston there is professional whose job is to know about salary compensation who doesn't have his hand in as many pies as Larry Dicara does at City Hall. Many of the Big Accounting firms have people whose job it is to assess salaries. The world of Boston does not revolve around City Hall, it puts up with it getting in the way of doing good things in business and in the private sector way too often.
Half an hour before the city council was going to have its hearing on salary increases it cancelled it. What was that all about??? Word is that the city council is afraid of the state ethics commission. I'm not sure why.
I am trying to get a street permit for our neighborhood associations annual fair. I called our neighborhood liason, who didn't get back to me for over a week, so I called again. He gave me the name of whom I had to call.
I called them, and they told me they were the wrong person, and they told me who to call.
I called them, and they told me they were the wrong person, and they told me who to call.
I called them, and they told me they were the wrong person, and they told me who to call.
I called them, and they said to write a letter.
What we should do, is what a neighborhood group in Dorchester did last year. They were unhappy with the Mayor about something, so they just didn't even bother getting a permit and shut down three streets on their own. A lot of people come to that annual picnic, so they were a bit apprehensive but they figured the Mayor would show up.
Sure enough he did (since it was an election year) and nothing happened. Why play by the rules? City Hall doesn't, and they only enforce ones that help them personally. So much for the rule of law....and we wonder what message that sends to our kids and teens, and wonder why they don't talk to the authorities.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Going's on, opening day
didn't get to goto opening day today, down in new orleans, but the sox won there is hope.
Nice to see the politicians burying their heads in the sand and circling the wagons:
Tobin "nitpicking", Flaherty: " judges make mistakes, we'll see if there are any appellate issues"
Here's a prediction: In a million years, Flaherty & Co. won't appeal this decision, they want it gone and buried. They are guilty and they know it. If Flaherty appeals this decision, I will personally call him up and offer to write a check for $1000 to his favorite charity. As the judge noted, there is no legal basis for their arguments.
Had a nice talk with Michael Jonas, in our conversation it came up about the role of the media. I had the same conversation with an ex-globe writer a couple days ago. The Globe just is not the paper it once was. Why did citizens bring suit to get access, that is the media's job. In year's gone by, the editors would fight these fights, now they acquiesce to the powers that be. We needed an affadavit from one of the reporters about what they had seen, and although he was willing, the paper's lawyers refused to allow him to write an affadavit just about what he had seen. We live in scary times when the press is afraid of the powers that be.
Then they feel better about themselves by mocking politicians, such as today's Globe article about the candidates for Scappiccio's seat. My hat is off to all of them for going out and collecting the signatures and trying to make a difference. But no, the Globe didn't really delve into any of the issues, they just wrote a human interest piece trying to paint some of them as wacky.
As TR wrote, it is easy to sit on the sidelines but the true champions are those that take the risk and get involved.
I've been a bit down lately, my baseball team has had a number of equipment items stolen, both Clara and I had our cars broken into and stuff stolen, murder 200 feet out our backyard, and one of my workers in New Orleans was beaten up and robbed last Friday. It is sad to see the criminal element returning to Nola. It is palpable, tangible. There are jobs with every business down here, what type of person robs in a city that has already had almost everything taken.??? It really gets to me, and I start feeling about not caring about my fellow man, and just trying to do the best for your immediate family and friends. But in my heart, I feel that myopic attitude eventually leads to the type of quagmire that is the middle east. But it is hard sometimes.
On a positive note, we've started practicing with my defending champion Giants. One of the things I love about coaching 6 to 10 year olds, is there is always something new. This year I have a kid that can throw with both his left and right hands, BUT,....he can't catch with either one!!!
Also, nice talk with Matt O'Malley. He is working for Andrea Cabral on legislative matters, and is not the campaign manager for Mr. Ryan running for Scappiccio's seat. It was incorrectly reported in some papers.
My doctor, the incredibly competent dr. heyward has given me a clean bill of health! woohooo!
Think BIG!!
Nice to see the politicians burying their heads in the sand and circling the wagons:
Tobin "nitpicking", Flaherty: " judges make mistakes, we'll see if there are any appellate issues"
Here's a prediction: In a million years, Flaherty & Co. won't appeal this decision, they want it gone and buried. They are guilty and they know it. If Flaherty appeals this decision, I will personally call him up and offer to write a check for $1000 to his favorite charity. As the judge noted, there is no legal basis for their arguments.
Had a nice talk with Michael Jonas, in our conversation it came up about the role of the media. I had the same conversation with an ex-globe writer a couple days ago. The Globe just is not the paper it once was. Why did citizens bring suit to get access, that is the media's job. In year's gone by, the editors would fight these fights, now they acquiesce to the powers that be. We needed an affadavit from one of the reporters about what they had seen, and although he was willing, the paper's lawyers refused to allow him to write an affadavit just about what he had seen. We live in scary times when the press is afraid of the powers that be.
Then they feel better about themselves by mocking politicians, such as today's Globe article about the candidates for Scappiccio's seat. My hat is off to all of them for going out and collecting the signatures and trying to make a difference. But no, the Globe didn't really delve into any of the issues, they just wrote a human interest piece trying to paint some of them as wacky.
As TR wrote, it is easy to sit on the sidelines but the true champions are those that take the risk and get involved.
I've been a bit down lately, my baseball team has had a number of equipment items stolen, both Clara and I had our cars broken into and stuff stolen, murder 200 feet out our backyard, and one of my workers in New Orleans was beaten up and robbed last Friday. It is sad to see the criminal element returning to Nola. It is palpable, tangible. There are jobs with every business down here, what type of person robs in a city that has already had almost everything taken.??? It really gets to me, and I start feeling about not caring about my fellow man, and just trying to do the best for your immediate family and friends. But in my heart, I feel that myopic attitude eventually leads to the type of quagmire that is the middle east. But it is hard sometimes.
On a positive note, we've started practicing with my defending champion Giants. One of the things I love about coaching 6 to 10 year olds, is there is always something new. This year I have a kid that can throw with both his left and right hands, BUT,....he can't catch with either one!!!
Also, nice talk with Matt O'Malley. He is working for Andrea Cabral on legislative matters, and is not the campaign manager for Mr. Ryan running for Scappiccio's seat. It was incorrectly reported in some papers.
My doctor, the incredibly competent dr. heyward has given me a clean bill of health! woohooo!
Think BIG!!
Friday, March 31, 2006
Stoners building levees in New Orleans
Just had a neighbor come introduce himself. He's here from the Northeast working on the Levees. He says they are way behind the schedule publicly given.
He then asked for a piece of furniture I was throwing out of the house because "I like to get stoned and work on shit"
And we wonder why the levees are behind schedule.
But, he was quite friendly and indicated that he'd love to go out for a beer sometime.
Just another day in the Big Easy.
He then asked for a piece of furniture I was throwing out of the house because "I like to get stoned and work on shit"
And we wonder why the levees are behind schedule.
But, he was quite friendly and indicated that he'd love to go out for a beer sometime.
Just another day in the Big Easy.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Thanks for the Thanks!!!
I'm down in New Orleans (just bought an historic building to restore today) so I'm not around to receive the thanks up there, but many people have called and emailed. Thank you very much.
And thanks to Shirley Kressel and Kathleen Devine for working with me on this, they are such concerned citizens who understand open government is best for all of us. Their passion for justice is almost superhuman at times.
It's too bad that some of our elected officials take time to work side jobs, when there is so much work to do to make our city and government work better.
kevin
And thanks to Shirley Kressel and Kathleen Devine for working with me on this, they are such concerned citizens who understand open government is best for all of us. Their passion for justice is almost superhuman at times.
It's too bad that some of our elected officials take time to work side jobs, when there is so much work to do to make our city and government work better.
kevin
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Read it and weep, the Superior Court Decision in the Open Meeting Lawsuit
As Kyle Robidoux said in a voice message to me: the good guys finally won one. (or did they?...)
There should be a pdf available to read on my website www.electkevin.us as soon as possible.
I'm off to New Orleans tomorrow, interested to hear people's thoughts.
There should be a pdf available to read on my website www.electkevin.us as soon as possible.
I'm off to New Orleans tomorrow, interested to hear people's thoughts.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Back room Action in Suffolk Superior Court
One of my co-plaintiff's in the suit against the Boston City Council just got a call from Andrea Estes of the Globe. Apparently Andrea has a copy of the summary judgement decision from the judge in our case. Of course, the City Council was found to have violated the law numerous times but we knew that all along, despite the protestations of Michael Flaherty of his great innocence.
The interesting question to me is: how did Andrea Estes get a copy of the decision before any of the plaintiffs involved in the case, and before the decision was posted on the Suffolk Superior Court's online register of the status of cases.
Nice to know there are plenty of leaks and backroom goings on at the Superior Court Level as well.
The interesting question to me is: how did Andrea Estes get a copy of the decision before any of the plaintiffs involved in the case, and before the decision was posted on the Suffolk Superior Court's online register of the status of cases.
Nice to know there are plenty of leaks and backroom goings on at the Superior Court Level as well.
Bringing some diversity to the Herald
Congratulations to Kevin Rothstein, who genuinely seems to be a good guy. He is now co-blogging at the Herald with a black lawyer/reporter Kimberly Atkins. A couple months ago, I noted in this space that all 23 of the Herald's bloggers were white.
Who knows if Kevin reads, or cares, about what I write, but either way it is a good sign.
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/politicsBlog/ is the link to their reporting.
Who knows if Kevin reads, or cares, about what I write, but either way it is a good sign.
http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/politicsBlog/ is the link to their reporting.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
City giving away more money to Rich Corporations while we can't afford cops
Reported today the BRA is selling some land for $15 bucks a square foot to fidelity on the waterfront.
Hey, I'll give you $16 bucks a square foot!! So much for an open bidding process. Corruption, they name is BRA!
Too bad the city council voted away all their power over the BRA or maybe they could find some money to hire cops. Although I'm sure there won't be many shootings on the waterfront park.
Way to Go!
Hey, I'll give you $16 bucks a square foot!! So much for an open bidding process. Corruption, they name is BRA!
Too bad the city council voted away all their power over the BRA or maybe they could find some money to hire cops. Although I'm sure there won't be many shootings on the waterfront park.
Way to Go!
Friday, March 10, 2006
Bulger Brothers Book
I couldn't put it down, a friend loaned it to me and I read it within 24 hours. Amazing what a tiny town Boston is, even a relatively obscure person like myself has had interactions with many of the players in this book. (I was threatened by some south boston lackey supposedly of Whitey's years ago, but in deposition he was described as a crack head)
I was at a breakfast last year at Boston College High School where Billy spoke, and the homage paid to him by the local pols was amazing for someone who was clearly a dictator, probably corrupt, and maybe involved in criminal activity. But, he brought home the bacon and that seems to be all that politics is about now, both locally and nationally.
I highly recommend it.
I was at a breakfast last year at Boston College High School where Billy spoke, and the homage paid to him by the local pols was amazing for someone who was clearly a dictator, probably corrupt, and maybe involved in criminal activity. But, he brought home the bacon and that seems to be all that politics is about now, both locally and nationally.
I highly recommend it.
Potential New Open Meeting Law at State House
The legislature is thinking of trying to make the Open Meeting Law stronger. A first draft of their proposal is below. They have asked for input from me and many other constituents. My first reading of this proposal is that it doesn't address the core issues of timeliness and accountability. In fact, it maybe construed as another source of hack jobs, and another layer of insulation for elected officials.
Kevin
An Act TO FURTHER ENFORCE THE OPEN MEETING LAW.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 11A1/2 of chapter 30A is hereby amended by adding the following:
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Office of Public Accountability (“the Office”) is hereby created within the office of the attorney general. The Office shall be governed by a board of advisers, known as the Open Meeting Law Board (“the Board”). The Board shall consist of 4 persons to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be the president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association or a designee, 1 of whom shall be the president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association or a designee, and 1 of whom shall be the president of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association or a designee; 1 person to be appointed by the secretary of the commonwealth; and 2 persons to be appointed by the attorney general, 1 of whom shall be a member of a public employee union and 1 of whom shall serve as chair of the Board.
The terms of the members appointed shall be 3 years.
The Board shall review all complaints of violations of the open meeting law. The Board shall refer complaints of violations of the open meeting law against local governmental bodies to the appropriate district attorney within ten days of receiving the complaint. The Board shall direct the attorney general to investigate any complaints of violations of the open meeting law by state agencies. The Board shall receive a status report of any investigation conducted by the office of the attorney general or the appropriate district attorney within ninety days of the date the complaint was referred.
The Board shall also create educational materials to be made available to local officials in order to foster awareness and compliance with the open meeting law.
The Board shall report annually to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives and the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight a list of all allegations investigated by the Board, including the name of the governing body investigated, the location of the governing body, the date of the violation, and the type of violation alleged.
SECTION 2. Section 23A of chapter 39 is hereby amended by striking the following words from the definition of “deliberation”:
“Deliberation”, an exchange between a quorum of members of a governmental body attempting to arrive at a decision on any public business within its jurisdiction.
And be further amended by striking the definition of “meeting” and inserting in its place the following:
“Meeting”, any corporal convening, or any other real-time electronic convening including but not limited to video, telephone or web conferencing, and deliberation of a governmental body for which a quorum is required in order to make a decision at which any public business or public policy matter over which the governmental body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power is discussed or considered; but shall not include any on-site inspection of any project or program.
SECTION 3. Section 11A of chapter 30A are hereby amended by striking the definition of “deliberation” and inserting in its place the following:
“Deliberation”, an exchange between a quorum of members of a governmental body attempting to arrive at a decision on any public business within its jurisdiction.
And be further amended by striking the definition of “meeting” and inserting in its place the following:
“Meeting”, any corporal convening, or any other real-time electronic convening including but not limited to video, telephone or web conferencing, and deliberation of a governmental body for which a quorum is required in order to make a decision at which any public business or public policy matter over which the governmental body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power is discussed or considered; but shall not include any on-site inspection of any project or program.
SECTION 4. Section 23B of chapter 39 is hereby amended by striking the following:
“(8) To consider and interview applicants for employment by a preliminary screening committee or a subcommittee appointed by a governmental body if an open meeting will have a detrimental effect in obtaining qualified applicants; provided, however, that this clause shall not apply to any meeting, including meetings of a preliminary screening committee or a subcommittee appointed by a governmental body, to consider and interview applicants who have passed a prior preliminary screening.”
And inserting in its place the following:
“(8) To consider and interview applicants for employment only during the preliminary interviewing process. All interviews after the first interview shall be open to the public.”
SECTION 5. Section 23B of chapter 39 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “attend” in the first paragraph, the following: “witness, or view, as applicable.”
SECTION 6. Section 11A ½ of chapter 30A is hereby amended by inserting after the word “attend” in the first paragraph, the following: “witness, or view, as applicable.”
SECTION 7. Section 23B of Chapter 39 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the 14th paragraph and inserting in its place the following paragraph:—
The court may impose a civil fine against the governmental body of up to $1,000 and a civil fine of up to $500 against each attending member of the governmental body for each meeting held in violation of this section. The fine shall not be imposed against any member of the governmental body who is recorded in opposition to the government act that is found in violation of the open meeting law. In addition, the court may assess reasonable attorney’s fees and costs against such governmental body where the court finds that:
after receiving notice of the filing of a complaint authorized by this section, the governmental body opens to the public any meeting or opens to the public the records of any such meeting, and
the requested meeting or public record are described in the complaint, and
the requested meeting or public record had been requested in writing by the complainant before filing the complaint, and
before the complaint was filed, the governmental body or custodian of the record had refused to open to the public the requested meeting or to make the requested public record available to the complainant.
SECTION 8. Section 11A ½ of Chapter 30A, of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding thereto as the last paragraph reading as follows:
The court may impose a civil fine against the governmental body of up to $1,000 and a civil fine of up to $500 against each attending member of the governmental body for each meeting held in violation of this section. The fine shall not be imposed against any member of the governmental body who is recorded in opposition to the government act that is found in violation of the open meeting law. In addition, the court may assess reasonable attorney’s fees and costs against such governmental body where the count finds that:
after receiving notice of the filing of a complaint authorized by this section, the governmental body opens to the public any meeting or opens to the public the records of any such meeting, and
the requested meeting or public record are described in the complaint, and
the requested meeting or public record had been requested in writing by the complainant before filing the complaint, and
before the complaint was filed, the governmental body or custodian of the record had refused to open to the public the requested meeting or to make the requested public record available to the complainant.
SECTION 9. Section 23B of chapter 39 of the general laws is hereby amended in the sixth paragraph, by inserting after the words “time and place of such meeting” the following words:-
“, and the agenda for such meeting or a list of items to be discussed, if such agenda or items have been determined by the time of the posting”.
SECTION 10. Section 11A ½ of chapter 30A of the general laws is hereby amended in the sixth paragraph, by inserting after the words “time and place of such meeting” the following words:-
“, and the agenda for such meeting or a list of items to be discussed, if such agenda or items have been determined by the time of the posting”.
SECTION 11. Section 23B of chapter 39 is hereby amended by striking the following: “No quorum of a governmental body shall meet in private for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.”
And inserting in its place: “No quorum of a governmental body shall meet, by any means, in private nor communicate by electronic mail or other electronic means for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.”
SECTION 12. Section 11A1/2 of chapter 30A is hereby amended by striking the following: “No quorum of a governmental body shall meet in private for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.”
And inserting in its place: “No quorum of a governmental body shall meet, by any means, in private nor communicate by electronic mail or other electronic means for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.”
Kevin
An Act TO FURTHER ENFORCE THE OPEN MEETING LAW.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the
authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 11A1/2 of chapter 30A is hereby amended by adding the following:
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Office of Public Accountability (“the Office”) is hereby created within the office of the attorney general. The Office shall be governed by a board of advisers, known as the Open Meeting Law Board (“the Board”). The Board shall consist of 4 persons to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be the president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association or a designee, 1 of whom shall be the president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association or a designee, and 1 of whom shall be the president of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association or a designee; 1 person to be appointed by the secretary of the commonwealth; and 2 persons to be appointed by the attorney general, 1 of whom shall be a member of a public employee union and 1 of whom shall serve as chair of the Board.
The terms of the members appointed shall be 3 years.
The Board shall review all complaints of violations of the open meeting law. The Board shall refer complaints of violations of the open meeting law against local governmental bodies to the appropriate district attorney within ten days of receiving the complaint. The Board shall direct the attorney general to investigate any complaints of violations of the open meeting law by state agencies. The Board shall receive a status report of any investigation conducted by the office of the attorney general or the appropriate district attorney within ninety days of the date the complaint was referred.
The Board shall also create educational materials to be made available to local officials in order to foster awareness and compliance with the open meeting law.
The Board shall report annually to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives and the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight a list of all allegations investigated by the Board, including the name of the governing body investigated, the location of the governing body, the date of the violation, and the type of violation alleged.
SECTION 2. Section 23A of chapter 39 is hereby amended by striking the following words from the definition of “deliberation”:
“Deliberation”, an exchange between a quorum of members of a governmental body attempting to arrive at a decision on any public business within its jurisdiction.
And be further amended by striking the definition of “meeting” and inserting in its place the following:
“Meeting”, any corporal convening, or any other real-time electronic convening including but not limited to video, telephone or web conferencing, and deliberation of a governmental body for which a quorum is required in order to make a decision at which any public business or public policy matter over which the governmental body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power is discussed or considered; but shall not include any on-site inspection of any project or program.
SECTION 3. Section 11A of chapter 30A are hereby amended by striking the definition of “deliberation” and inserting in its place the following:
“Deliberation”, an exchange between a quorum of members of a governmental body attempting to arrive at a decision on any public business within its jurisdiction.
And be further amended by striking the definition of “meeting” and inserting in its place the following:
“Meeting”, any corporal convening, or any other real-time electronic convening including but not limited to video, telephone or web conferencing, and deliberation of a governmental body for which a quorum is required in order to make a decision at which any public business or public policy matter over which the governmental body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power is discussed or considered; but shall not include any on-site inspection of any project or program.
SECTION 4. Section 23B of chapter 39 is hereby amended by striking the following:
“(8) To consider and interview applicants for employment by a preliminary screening committee or a subcommittee appointed by a governmental body if an open meeting will have a detrimental effect in obtaining qualified applicants; provided, however, that this clause shall not apply to any meeting, including meetings of a preliminary screening committee or a subcommittee appointed by a governmental body, to consider and interview applicants who have passed a prior preliminary screening.”
And inserting in its place the following:
“(8) To consider and interview applicants for employment only during the preliminary interviewing process. All interviews after the first interview shall be open to the public.”
SECTION 5. Section 23B of chapter 39 is hereby amended by inserting after the word “attend” in the first paragraph, the following: “witness, or view, as applicable.”
SECTION 6. Section 11A ½ of chapter 30A is hereby amended by inserting after the word “attend” in the first paragraph, the following: “witness, or view, as applicable.”
SECTION 7. Section 23B of Chapter 39 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the 14th paragraph and inserting in its place the following paragraph:—
The court may impose a civil fine against the governmental body of up to $1,000 and a civil fine of up to $500 against each attending member of the governmental body for each meeting held in violation of this section. The fine shall not be imposed against any member of the governmental body who is recorded in opposition to the government act that is found in violation of the open meeting law. In addition, the court may assess reasonable attorney’s fees and costs against such governmental body where the court finds that:
after receiving notice of the filing of a complaint authorized by this section, the governmental body opens to the public any meeting or opens to the public the records of any such meeting, and
the requested meeting or public record are described in the complaint, and
the requested meeting or public record had been requested in writing by the complainant before filing the complaint, and
before the complaint was filed, the governmental body or custodian of the record had refused to open to the public the requested meeting or to make the requested public record available to the complainant.
SECTION 8. Section 11A ½ of Chapter 30A, of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding thereto as the last paragraph reading as follows:
The court may impose a civil fine against the governmental body of up to $1,000 and a civil fine of up to $500 against each attending member of the governmental body for each meeting held in violation of this section. The fine shall not be imposed against any member of the governmental body who is recorded in opposition to the government act that is found in violation of the open meeting law. In addition, the court may assess reasonable attorney’s fees and costs against such governmental body where the count finds that:
after receiving notice of the filing of a complaint authorized by this section, the governmental body opens to the public any meeting or opens to the public the records of any such meeting, and
the requested meeting or public record are described in the complaint, and
the requested meeting or public record had been requested in writing by the complainant before filing the complaint, and
before the complaint was filed, the governmental body or custodian of the record had refused to open to the public the requested meeting or to make the requested public record available to the complainant.
SECTION 9. Section 23B of chapter 39 of the general laws is hereby amended in the sixth paragraph, by inserting after the words “time and place of such meeting” the following words:-
“, and the agenda for such meeting or a list of items to be discussed, if such agenda or items have been determined by the time of the posting”.
SECTION 10. Section 11A ½ of chapter 30A of the general laws is hereby amended in the sixth paragraph, by inserting after the words “time and place of such meeting” the following words:-
“, and the agenda for such meeting or a list of items to be discussed, if such agenda or items have been determined by the time of the posting”.
SECTION 11. Section 23B of chapter 39 is hereby amended by striking the following: “No quorum of a governmental body shall meet in private for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.”
And inserting in its place: “No quorum of a governmental body shall meet, by any means, in private nor communicate by electronic mail or other electronic means for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.”
SECTION 12. Section 11A1/2 of chapter 30A is hereby amended by striking the following: “No quorum of a governmental body shall meet in private for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.”
And inserting in its place: “No quorum of a governmental body shall meet, by any means, in private nor communicate by electronic mail or other electronic means for the purpose of deciding on or deliberating toward a decision on any matter except as provided by this section.”
Friday, March 03, 2006
I wanna be like Mike (Capuano)
''The places I go -- Israel, Ireland, Brazil -- I think they are justified," he said. ''Anybody who wants to follow me around is more than welcome to do it on these trips."
A quote from Congressman Capuano in the Globe
So, in the spirit of learning more about what my elected officials are doing for me, I called Congressman Capuano's office to inquire about how to join my representative in Congress on his next trip. I got in touch with Mr. Mike Gorman, who asked me to send a letter in writing, which follows. I'll keep the blog up to date on information I receive back from the Congressman.
February 21, 2006
Mr. Gorman,
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. As per your request, I'm sending you my contact information so that you may get in touch with me for the next informational trip or "junket" that Congressman Capuano goes on.
As you mentioned, sometimes the Congressman goes to dangerous parts of the world. I'm not put off by that, and I'm sure wherever the Congressman goes is plenty safe enough for me, but I acknowledge that I'm traveling at my own risk.
Also, as you mentioned, sometimes visa issues are a problem so the more lead time you can provide me the better. I assume that I will be traveling at my own expense, and that it will be my responsibility to obtain tickets, visas, etc. I do not expect anything other than to take advantage of Congressman Capuano's generous offer to let any constituent "tag along" on these fact finding missions. I've met the Congressman a couple times at speaking engagements here in the south end and I share his frustration with trying to get progressive things passed with the makeup of the current Congress.
Thank you again for the opportunity, and I look forward to traveling and finding out about how these work.
Sincerely,
Kevin McCrea
A quote from Congressman Capuano in the Globe
So, in the spirit of learning more about what my elected officials are doing for me, I called Congressman Capuano's office to inquire about how to join my representative in Congress on his next trip. I got in touch with Mr. Mike Gorman, who asked me to send a letter in writing, which follows. I'll keep the blog up to date on information I receive back from the Congressman.
February 21, 2006
Mr. Gorman,
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. As per your request, I'm sending you my contact information so that you may get in touch with me for the next informational trip or "junket" that Congressman Capuano goes on.
As you mentioned, sometimes the Congressman goes to dangerous parts of the world. I'm not put off by that, and I'm sure wherever the Congressman goes is plenty safe enough for me, but I acknowledge that I'm traveling at my own risk.
Also, as you mentioned, sometimes visa issues are a problem so the more lead time you can provide me the better. I assume that I will be traveling at my own expense, and that it will be my responsibility to obtain tickets, visas, etc. I do not expect anything other than to take advantage of Congressman Capuano's generous offer to let any constituent "tag along" on these fact finding missions. I've met the Congressman a couple times at speaking engagements here in the south end and I share his frustration with trying to get progressive things passed with the makeup of the current Congress.
Thank you again for the opportunity, and I look forward to traveling and finding out about how these work.
Sincerely,
Kevin McCrea
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
I'm a bead 'ho! Happy Mardi Gras!!
Greetings from Mardi Gras!! As declared by Rex, King of Mardi Gras, there will be no work done today.
There are masses of crowds along St. Charles and other parade routes. A bit to my surprise, I can't resist the beads! Clara and I have probably amassed 100 pounds of beads from all the various parades and a trek down Bourbon Street last night.
And I got a Coconut from Zulu, the prize possession from Carnival.
New Orleans is throwing a party bigger than anything Boston can imagine. I'm impressed by the restraint of the local constables. They maintain control while hammered people throw things at each other, motorcyclists roar by without required helmets, women flash epidermis, and trash piles up. It's all good.
We've had a wonderful time, while still working and everyone thanks us for coming down and helping out. No fighting amongst the people despite the drinking, there is great cameradie amongst everyone.
Back to Boston tomorrow, thankfully my taxes are paid, so not worried about any investigative articles by the local fourth estate!
There are masses of crowds along St. Charles and other parade routes. A bit to my surprise, I can't resist the beads! Clara and I have probably amassed 100 pounds of beads from all the various parades and a trek down Bourbon Street last night.
And I got a Coconut from Zulu, the prize possession from Carnival.
New Orleans is throwing a party bigger than anything Boston can imagine. I'm impressed by the restraint of the local constables. They maintain control while hammered people throw things at each other, motorcyclists roar by without required helmets, women flash epidermis, and trash piles up. It's all good.
We've had a wonderful time, while still working and everyone thanks us for coming down and helping out. No fighting amongst the people despite the drinking, there is great cameradie amongst everyone.
Back to Boston tomorrow, thankfully my taxes are paid, so not worried about any investigative articles by the local fourth estate!
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
DiCara indicates we need better Mayor & City councilors
Fox guarding the Henhouse:
Former City Councilor Larry Dicara indicated that Boston needs to increase pay to the Mayor and the City Councilors so that we can attract better applicants. Apparently he and the blue ribbon panel don't think we're getting qualified candidates for the job. I, for one, appreciate his honesty that "we need to do better".
Perhaps one of these great leaders will introduce a law that public officials can only receive or vote themselves new pay raises in the last quarter of their term in office so that they can answer to the voters as opposed to immediately after an election.
Funny, in campaigning with these people for 6 months or so, with them talking about how much they love the job, I never once heard them say that they felt the draw of the private sector because of the low pay.
There were fifteen people running for office raising well over a million dollars raised and spent for $70,000 jobs with no power, two graduates from Harvard and they think we need to pay them more to attract better people? How about putting some money in the Boston Public Schools so maybe one day one of them might be qualified enough and make enough money to run for office, as opposed to the candidates (like myself) who went to schools other than those run by the BPS.
One of the most comical aspects of the campaign for me was the constant back stabbing amongst the councilors about the tiny amount of time the others worked. Different stories I heard directly from city councilors:
"Flaherty and Scappiccio are never around they are always practicing law"
"Arroyo is never around, he is always in central or south america"
"Hennigan is only around on Wednesday's"
"I can never find Murphy"
"He stole my idea and didn't give me any credit"
As talked about on Kevin Rothstein's blog, the fact that DiCara is in charge of giving these guys raises is so corrupt and insider that if you wrote a novel about it, no one would believe it. There are so many reasons NYC is growing and Boston is shrinking, but this nepotism is certainly part of the problem, and clearly not part of the solution.
Former City Councilor Larry Dicara indicated that Boston needs to increase pay to the Mayor and the City Councilors so that we can attract better applicants. Apparently he and the blue ribbon panel don't think we're getting qualified candidates for the job. I, for one, appreciate his honesty that "we need to do better".
Perhaps one of these great leaders will introduce a law that public officials can only receive or vote themselves new pay raises in the last quarter of their term in office so that they can answer to the voters as opposed to immediately after an election.
Funny, in campaigning with these people for 6 months or so, with them talking about how much they love the job, I never once heard them say that they felt the draw of the private sector because of the low pay.
There were fifteen people running for office raising well over a million dollars raised and spent for $70,000 jobs with no power, two graduates from Harvard and they think we need to pay them more to attract better people? How about putting some money in the Boston Public Schools so maybe one day one of them might be qualified enough and make enough money to run for office, as opposed to the candidates (like myself) who went to schools other than those run by the BPS.
One of the most comical aspects of the campaign for me was the constant back stabbing amongst the councilors about the tiny amount of time the others worked. Different stories I heard directly from city councilors:
"Flaherty and Scappiccio are never around they are always practicing law"
"Arroyo is never around, he is always in central or south america"
"Hennigan is only around on Wednesday's"
"I can never find Murphy"
"He stole my idea and didn't give me any credit"
As talked about on Kevin Rothstein's blog, the fact that DiCara is in charge of giving these guys raises is so corrupt and insider that if you wrote a novel about it, no one would believe it. There are so many reasons NYC is growing and Boston is shrinking, but this nepotism is certainly part of the problem, and clearly not part of the solution.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
CNN Video of my crew in LA
Go to http://www.cnn.com/video/partners/clickability/index.html?url=/video/us/2006/02/16/helton.rebuilding.the.bayou.cnn
Yes, that is me in my Red Sox hat and red "Elect Kevin" T-shirt running the show.
It is a great piece and it is right on target. Chris the local Bayou Cajun was a great guy, as well as his brothers. The other volunteers were all great and we did see how people from all over, with different backgrounds could come together and do good things.
k
Yes, that is me in my Red Sox hat and red "Elect Kevin" T-shirt running the show.
It is a great piece and it is right on target. Chris the local Bayou Cajun was a great guy, as well as his brothers. The other volunteers were all great and we did see how people from all over, with different backgrounds could come together and do good things.
k
CNN report on my crew in Louisiana
Here is a report from a CNN reporter who I worked with while down in Louisiana. I was the guy on the roof telling him to keep the plywood coming!
It can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/16/helton.habitat/index.html There will be a video airing on CNN around March 1st.
It can be seen at:javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2006/02/16/helton.rebuilding.the.bayou.cnn','2006/09/01');
Building hope on the bayou
Finding fulfillment amid hurricanes' ruin
By John HeltonCNN
Thursday, February 16, 2006; Posted: 11:26 a.m. EST (16:26 GMT)
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CNN.com producer John Helton helps set a truss on a Habitat for Humanity home in Louisiana.
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GRAY, Louisiana (CNN) -- I wasn't ready to leave -- there was still work left to do.
In the days following Hurricane Katrina, I did like millions of others and sent a donation to a relief fund.
And I did like 32,000 other people did and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity's Operation Home Delivery, which built sections of homes around the country, then shipped them to the Gulf Coast to be assembled there.
I had done carpentry work while I was going to school and have worked on several Habitat houses around Atlanta. I like to build stuff.
The relief work along the Gulf Coast gave me an opportunity to put my muscle where my mouth is.
So on a chilly, muddy Monday morning in late January, I gathered in a circle with 18 other volunteers, some who had flown or driven from as far away as New York, California or Minnesota, to be assigned tasks building a subdivision in the small community of Gray, Louisiana, between Thibodaux and Houma.
Three houses had been started by the previous week's group. We would have worked on those and framed four others by the end of the week.
Bill Moriarity, Habitat's coordinator on this and a couple smaller projects in Louisiana, saw me and my video camera and asked, "Are you here to work or to do that?"
I told him I was there to work. But I wanted to tell this story, too. And during the week I tried to do both.
No one asked about my skills, so I was assigned to be the ground man on one of the houses, handing up plywood, nails and whatever else was needed by the crew putting down decking on the roof.
That was OK -- it left time for shooting some video in between my hoisting tasks.
As I slogged through the sticky but slippery mud, hay put down to cover the ground stuck to my boots, making them look like muddy fuzzy slippers.
In the afternoon, the roof crew didn't need anything from the ground so I evolved from the mud people and joined the roofers to nail things down.
As the week went on, we refined things, and the build began to resemble any other job site I had worked on. Except for a lot less profanity -- Habitat is a faith-based organization.
It still happened -- the first reaction to a hammered thumb or a bumped head is hard to suppress. But normally it was muffled and followed by quick glances around to see if anyone was offended, then an apology just in case anyone was.
The smart-alecky camaraderie that construction crews seem to effect also emerged after a couple days.
During breaks or while we were waiting on material, I would shoot video of other people working. I interviewed a couple of the future residents who were putting their 200 hours of "sweat equity" into their homes.
By Thursday, we were a tight crew. We had learned each other's capabilities or limitations, and how to work with each other.
On Thursday afternoon, the thought of shooting video never crossed my mind as we pushed to finish the plywood decking on the roof on our second house.
Delvin Portier, the construction superintendent on the site, was impressed on how much progress we made that day.
"Y'all got a lot done," he said.
"We kicked ass," I said.
"Yeah you did," he said.
Kim Smith, a former University of North Carolina golfer from Chicago, slapped hands with me as she passed by. Perfect.
We worked past the calls for breaks and lunch. It seemed like it would take five or 10 minutes for the hammering or sawing to go silent during our breaks.
Jim Meyers, who calls himself "retired" at 38 after selling the software company he co-founded in the 1990s, and I weren't in the group picture because we wanted to finish up nailing off the last rafter on the roof before getting down.
They later Photoshopped us into the picture, our disembodied heads floating among the back row of volunteers.
"It makes it look like you guys died during construction," said Scott Derenger, a stand-up comic from Chicago who entertained troops in Iraq with a couple other comics last year.
In the evenings, we gathered in the modular home in which the men in the group were staying. Because there were more men than women, we got the house because it had more beds. The women slept in two RVs and a closed-in barn.
Except for early Thursday morning when a tornado warning chased them through a driving rain and lightning into the house.
We had peaked on Thursday. We were moving slower on Friday. I run three miles a day three or four times a week and play basketball two or three times a week but my legs started cramping on Thursday afternoon and continued into Friday.
On Friday afternoon, some of the volunteers left to make flights home. The rest left Saturday morning. Some lingered in the kitchen and dining room Saturday morning, making sure we had each other's e-mail addresses and told each other how much we enjoyed the week.
In the days that followed, I used those e-mail addresses to ask some of my co-workers that week why they volunteered and what they felt after the week was over.
John Yutz, who drove down from his farm in Missouri, wrote that he had a "trust problem" when it came to sending money to strangers.
"I felt that Habitat For Humanity is the only organization that can help those who are truly willing to help themselves," he wrote.
I told him that the week was one of the most fulfilling in my life. He agreed.
"I felt good about the project when we left, and I wonder if this is a gift to (the future homeowners) or a gift to us. I have to say that in this case everyone wins."
Meyers called the experience "powerful" and said it let him see for himself how well the area was recovering from the hurricanes.
"In addition to feeling like I was helping in a meaningful, efficient, and persistent manner, I was also able to get some firsthand input from the local residents about the state of the recovery," he said. "I found it especially gratifying that almost all of the feedback that I got from locals regarding the (Habitat) efforts was positive."
I forgot to dump the nails out of the nailbag on my toolbelt as I left the site on Friday. That's OK -- I'm sure I'll use them when I go back.
It can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/16/helton.habitat/index.html There will be a video airing on CNN around March 1st.
It can be seen at:javascript:cnnVideo('play','/video/us/2006/02/16/helton.rebuilding.the.bayou.cnn','2006/09/01');
Building hope on the bayou
Finding fulfillment amid hurricanes' ruin
By John HeltonCNN
Thursday, February 16, 2006; Posted: 11:26 a.m. EST (16:26 GMT)
var clickExpire = "-1";
CNN.com producer John Helton helps set a truss on a Habitat for Humanity home in Louisiana.
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2.75% Fixed Student Loan Consolidation70% lower student loan payments - fixed rate, no fees, qualify in one...www.nextstudent.com
Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows$160,000 loan as low as $633/month. Compare rates - refinance now.www.lowermybills.com
Compare Refinance Quotes$170,000 Loan as low as $560/month. Get up to 4 free quotes with one easy form....www.nextag.com
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Volunteers find fulfillment helping hurricane recovery (9:43)
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GRAY, Louisiana (CNN) -- I wasn't ready to leave -- there was still work left to do.
In the days following Hurricane Katrina, I did like millions of others and sent a donation to a relief fund.
And I did like 32,000 other people did and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity's Operation Home Delivery, which built sections of homes around the country, then shipped them to the Gulf Coast to be assembled there.
I had done carpentry work while I was going to school and have worked on several Habitat houses around Atlanta. I like to build stuff.
The relief work along the Gulf Coast gave me an opportunity to put my muscle where my mouth is.
So on a chilly, muddy Monday morning in late January, I gathered in a circle with 18 other volunteers, some who had flown or driven from as far away as New York, California or Minnesota, to be assigned tasks building a subdivision in the small community of Gray, Louisiana, between Thibodaux and Houma.
Three houses had been started by the previous week's group. We would have worked on those and framed four others by the end of the week.
Bill Moriarity, Habitat's coordinator on this and a couple smaller projects in Louisiana, saw me and my video camera and asked, "Are you here to work or to do that?"
I told him I was there to work. But I wanted to tell this story, too. And during the week I tried to do both.
No one asked about my skills, so I was assigned to be the ground man on one of the houses, handing up plywood, nails and whatever else was needed by the crew putting down decking on the roof.
That was OK -- it left time for shooting some video in between my hoisting tasks.
As I slogged through the sticky but slippery mud, hay put down to cover the ground stuck to my boots, making them look like muddy fuzzy slippers.
In the afternoon, the roof crew didn't need anything from the ground so I evolved from the mud people and joined the roofers to nail things down.
As the week went on, we refined things, and the build began to resemble any other job site I had worked on. Except for a lot less profanity -- Habitat is a faith-based organization.
It still happened -- the first reaction to a hammered thumb or a bumped head is hard to suppress. But normally it was muffled and followed by quick glances around to see if anyone was offended, then an apology just in case anyone was.
The smart-alecky camaraderie that construction crews seem to effect also emerged after a couple days.
During breaks or while we were waiting on material, I would shoot video of other people working. I interviewed a couple of the future residents who were putting their 200 hours of "sweat equity" into their homes.
By Thursday, we were a tight crew. We had learned each other's capabilities or limitations, and how to work with each other.
On Thursday afternoon, the thought of shooting video never crossed my mind as we pushed to finish the plywood decking on the roof on our second house.
Delvin Portier, the construction superintendent on the site, was impressed on how much progress we made that day.
"Y'all got a lot done," he said.
"We kicked ass," I said.
"Yeah you did," he said.
Kim Smith, a former University of North Carolina golfer from Chicago, slapped hands with me as she passed by. Perfect.
We worked past the calls for breaks and lunch. It seemed like it would take five or 10 minutes for the hammering or sawing to go silent during our breaks.
Jim Meyers, who calls himself "retired" at 38 after selling the software company he co-founded in the 1990s, and I weren't in the group picture because we wanted to finish up nailing off the last rafter on the roof before getting down.
They later Photoshopped us into the picture, our disembodied heads floating among the back row of volunteers.
"It makes it look like you guys died during construction," said Scott Derenger, a stand-up comic from Chicago who entertained troops in Iraq with a couple other comics last year.
In the evenings, we gathered in the modular home in which the men in the group were staying. Because there were more men than women, we got the house because it had more beds. The women slept in two RVs and a closed-in barn.
Except for early Thursday morning when a tornado warning chased them through a driving rain and lightning into the house.
We had peaked on Thursday. We were moving slower on Friday. I run three miles a day three or four times a week and play basketball two or three times a week but my legs started cramping on Thursday afternoon and continued into Friday.
On Friday afternoon, some of the volunteers left to make flights home. The rest left Saturday morning. Some lingered in the kitchen and dining room Saturday morning, making sure we had each other's e-mail addresses and told each other how much we enjoyed the week.
In the days that followed, I used those e-mail addresses to ask some of my co-workers that week why they volunteered and what they felt after the week was over.
John Yutz, who drove down from his farm in Missouri, wrote that he had a "trust problem" when it came to sending money to strangers.
"I felt that Habitat For Humanity is the only organization that can help those who are truly willing to help themselves," he wrote.
I told him that the week was one of the most fulfilling in my life. He agreed.
"I felt good about the project when we left, and I wonder if this is a gift to (the future homeowners) or a gift to us. I have to say that in this case everyone wins."
Meyers called the experience "powerful" and said it let him see for himself how well the area was recovering from the hurricanes.
"In addition to feeling like I was helping in a meaningful, efficient, and persistent manner, I was also able to get some firsthand input from the local residents about the state of the recovery," he said. "I found it especially gratifying that almost all of the feedback that I got from locals regarding the (Habitat) efforts was positive."
I forgot to dump the nails out of the nailbag on my toolbelt as I left the site on Friday. That's OK -- I'm sure I'll use them when I go back.
Gabrieli behind the Green Curtain
Chris Gabrieli was at a board meeting recently, darting in and out, taking phone calls with people including Globe reporters writing about his supporters pushing his candidacy. He is clearly not sitting idly while unnamed supporters push his ascendancy, unlike Newtonian mechanics, he is not reacting to the push, but orchestrating it.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Thoughts from St. Charles on St. Fleur
Writing from St. Charles Street, in New Orleans.
It has been fascinating watching the Massachusetts political gyrations from New Orleans this week, while here in Louisiana two more elected officials have been indicted, and the state legislature has been called into special session to try and reform New Orleans City Government and the patronage strangled Levee Boards. AG Reilly should have returned our phone calls and enforced the court order obtained by his predecessor Shannon, and proved that he isn’t really above playing politics. If he had the guts to enforce the law on the Boston City Council and Menino he would have truly shown he believes that no one is above the law. Instead, we see that although by all accounts he is a decent and honorable person he is a part of the democratic hierarchy led by Menino, et al. that does not often answer to the electorate.
I’ve known Marie St. Fleur casually for years, as we share a mutual friend. I’m struck by the similarity of her parents’ story with that of her own. Because she, like her parents, understands that education is the key to success in the modern world. The story of her parents working long hours cleaning and doing other hard jobs so that she could get a good education and go on to law school is the familiar American Dream Story. Clearly her parents had to make hard choices every day about what to buy, what bills to pay, and what luxuries, if any, they maybe able to enjoy.
Marie and her family have clearly had to do the same thing. What an indictment of the horrible state of the Boston Public Schools her story is. When an insider elected official who could presumably get her children into any school in the Boston Public Schools decides to send her kids to the exclusive Beacon Hill private school Brimmer and May you know the schools aren’t good. Many teachers and school officials assure me that the connected Krewe can get their kids in where they want them—no coincidence that Mayor Menino’s grandkids are in the best elementary school in the city.
But what is more scathing is that Marie has decided a good education for her kids is more important than paying her own student loans, or paying her taxes. I can hardly think of a more real world example of why you shouldn’t send your kids to BPS.
It is no coincidence that of the 8 City Council at Large finalists last fall, none of them went to non-exam Boston Public Schools.
I wish Marie would speak up and out about the poor state of the Boston Public Schools that a large percentage of her constituents who don’t have her financial clout must send their kids to. But, I don’t remember any public statements from her about the tragic state of the schools, just words of praise for the great job the Mayor is doing. Apparently not great enough for her to send her own kids there, but good enough for those that vote for her.
It has been fascinating watching the Massachusetts political gyrations from New Orleans this week, while here in Louisiana two more elected officials have been indicted, and the state legislature has been called into special session to try and reform New Orleans City Government and the patronage strangled Levee Boards. AG Reilly should have returned our phone calls and enforced the court order obtained by his predecessor Shannon, and proved that he isn’t really above playing politics. If he had the guts to enforce the law on the Boston City Council and Menino he would have truly shown he believes that no one is above the law. Instead, we see that although by all accounts he is a decent and honorable person he is a part of the democratic hierarchy led by Menino, et al. that does not often answer to the electorate.
I’ve known Marie St. Fleur casually for years, as we share a mutual friend. I’m struck by the similarity of her parents’ story with that of her own. Because she, like her parents, understands that education is the key to success in the modern world. The story of her parents working long hours cleaning and doing other hard jobs so that she could get a good education and go on to law school is the familiar American Dream Story. Clearly her parents had to make hard choices every day about what to buy, what bills to pay, and what luxuries, if any, they maybe able to enjoy.
Marie and her family have clearly had to do the same thing. What an indictment of the horrible state of the Boston Public Schools her story is. When an insider elected official who could presumably get her children into any school in the Boston Public Schools decides to send her kids to the exclusive Beacon Hill private school Brimmer and May you know the schools aren’t good. Many teachers and school officials assure me that the connected Krewe can get their kids in where they want them—no coincidence that Mayor Menino’s grandkids are in the best elementary school in the city.
But what is more scathing is that Marie has decided a good education for her kids is more important than paying her own student loans, or paying her taxes. I can hardly think of a more real world example of why you shouldn’t send your kids to BPS.
It is no coincidence that of the 8 City Council at Large finalists last fall, none of them went to non-exam Boston Public Schools.
I wish Marie would speak up and out about the poor state of the Boston Public Schools that a large percentage of her constituents who don’t have her financial clout must send their kids to. But, I don’t remember any public statements from her about the tragic state of the schools, just words of praise for the great job the Mayor is doing. Apparently not great enough for her to send her own kids there, but good enough for those that vote for her.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Reporting from Habitat for Humanity
Spent the day sheathing a roof and installing trim on Day 1 of Habitat for Humanity's Bayou Building Blitz in Gray, LA. Swamp country.
Good day though, extremely nice people, very positive vibes from everyone. I'm exhausted but I got the roof up, should have it shingled tomorrow.
Mayor Nagin today finally signed the city council's legislation to allow licensed electricians to certify their work. Thanks for wasting one month of my time, and keeping families out of their houses 30 days longer than needed. Amazing the lack of foresight down here.
Mardi Gras is going to be wild, wacky and likely out of control.
Random notes:::
3)
some observed New Orleans things…
You can roll with Zulu for $1500 bucks and a connection, they need help to continue the tradition, for a once in a lifetime
A local tradition amongst all the local truckers seems to be to have a stuffed animal lashed onto their vehicle somewhere. Whether it is the front grill, or a lever arm to pick up dumpsters, the effigies of Bart Simpson, Santa Claus, Tickle me Elmo, are ubiquitous. I’m not sure if this is an old tradition, or are some sort of homage to all the broken and destroyed lives that can be seen in the dolls and toys littering different streets. It is funny to see large, hairy, grown men clearly proud of their non-age appropriate playthings.
The Fat Boys would be right at home down here. This city is overweight, often grotesquely. I was at Josephine’s last night, to see another great live act the Hot 8, an all brass rap and dance band, and literally one third of the women there were at least 50 pounds overweight, and a large number over 100 pounds overweight. The scene is the same wherever you go, Home Depot is full of Big good ol’ boys.
I’m having a personal contest to see which is the heaviest cop I can find in the city. Everytime I think I’ve found the largest, within a day or two I see someone even bigger, again, well over 100 pounds out of shape. The current leader was an older tall, bald white guy ambling over to a car he’d pulled over. His body shaped like a double 4 sided cone, pointed at the top, to where the cones meet in the middle, then tapering down to his shoes.
1/29/06
I’m in Gray, Louisiana in a Mission house in the Bayou working with Habitat for Humanity. We said prayers before meeting and eating. The group is all white, from all over: Rhode Island, New York, Minnesota, Chicago. The overall feeling is of people who want to help their fellow man, but frustrated that it is difficult to figure out how to do it. Government has been no help.
After dinner I went for a run around the area, across the street from the religious mission where we are staying is a trailer park with three dead end streets. There was a group of about 5 young black youths who told me to turn back, that it was dead end, that I’d get attacked by a big dog, I continued on jogging around and on my way out the kids told me not to come back, and that if they saw me again “they put a cap in me…” Even in the Bayou, a road, in this case the highway, divides white from black, similar to Mass Ave. separating Roxbury from the South End.
It is not hard to find or feel the racial disparities, inequities, and mistrust down here. One of the projects I’m working on is in the Uptown area of town. Across the street from our project is a private Catholic girls school that re-opened in January. It is about 97 percent white, with the requisite skirts and screams during recess. On the other side of the street is the only operating public high school which is 100% black. It is de facto segregation, and what is most interesting to me is how completely accepted and unassuming people are about it. There were some black laborers working next door who commented how nice it was to hear the sound of (white) children playing again in the neighborhood.
Not surprisingly, their temporary bliss probably indicated a much higher sense of happiness and satisfaction in their lives than I, who wastes my time writing these epilogues about my observations of life and the unfairness of much of it. Not to mention vicissitudes conjuring up fanciful dreams of world peace, shared environmental responsibility, equitable capital distribution and more self esteem leading to better use of silicon such as lubrication of motorcycles.
Good day though, extremely nice people, very positive vibes from everyone. I'm exhausted but I got the roof up, should have it shingled tomorrow.
Mayor Nagin today finally signed the city council's legislation to allow licensed electricians to certify their work. Thanks for wasting one month of my time, and keeping families out of their houses 30 days longer than needed. Amazing the lack of foresight down here.
Mardi Gras is going to be wild, wacky and likely out of control.
Random notes:::
3)
some observed New Orleans things…
You can roll with Zulu for $1500 bucks and a connection, they need help to continue the tradition, for a once in a lifetime
A local tradition amongst all the local truckers seems to be to have a stuffed animal lashed onto their vehicle somewhere. Whether it is the front grill, or a lever arm to pick up dumpsters, the effigies of Bart Simpson, Santa Claus, Tickle me Elmo, are ubiquitous. I’m not sure if this is an old tradition, or are some sort of homage to all the broken and destroyed lives that can be seen in the dolls and toys littering different streets. It is funny to see large, hairy, grown men clearly proud of their non-age appropriate playthings.
The Fat Boys would be right at home down here. This city is overweight, often grotesquely. I was at Josephine’s last night, to see another great live act the Hot 8, an all brass rap and dance band, and literally one third of the women there were at least 50 pounds overweight, and a large number over 100 pounds overweight. The scene is the same wherever you go, Home Depot is full of Big good ol’ boys.
I’m having a personal contest to see which is the heaviest cop I can find in the city. Everytime I think I’ve found the largest, within a day or two I see someone even bigger, again, well over 100 pounds out of shape. The current leader was an older tall, bald white guy ambling over to a car he’d pulled over. His body shaped like a double 4 sided cone, pointed at the top, to where the cones meet in the middle, then tapering down to his shoes.
1/29/06
I’m in Gray, Louisiana in a Mission house in the Bayou working with Habitat for Humanity. We said prayers before meeting and eating. The group is all white, from all over: Rhode Island, New York, Minnesota, Chicago. The overall feeling is of people who want to help their fellow man, but frustrated that it is difficult to figure out how to do it. Government has been no help.
After dinner I went for a run around the area, across the street from the religious mission where we are staying is a trailer park with three dead end streets. There was a group of about 5 young black youths who told me to turn back, that it was dead end, that I’d get attacked by a big dog, I continued on jogging around and on my way out the kids told me not to come back, and that if they saw me again “they put a cap in me…” Even in the Bayou, a road, in this case the highway, divides white from black, similar to Mass Ave. separating Roxbury from the South End.
It is not hard to find or feel the racial disparities, inequities, and mistrust down here. One of the projects I’m working on is in the Uptown area of town. Across the street from our project is a private Catholic girls school that re-opened in January. It is about 97 percent white, with the requisite skirts and screams during recess. On the other side of the street is the only operating public high school which is 100% black. It is de facto segregation, and what is most interesting to me is how completely accepted and unassuming people are about it. There were some black laborers working next door who commented how nice it was to hear the sound of (white) children playing again in the neighborhood.
Not surprisingly, their temporary bliss probably indicated a much higher sense of happiness and satisfaction in their lives than I, who wastes my time writing these epilogues about my observations of life and the unfairness of much of it. Not to mention vicissitudes conjuring up fanciful dreams of world peace, shared environmental responsibility, equitable capital distribution and more self esteem leading to better use of silicon such as lubrication of motorcycles.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Oppose Public Money to the Columbus Center!
It just doesn't seem to make sense to me. A white republican from Belmont gives thousands of dollars over the years to black Roxbury state senator Dianne Wilkerson. Then Wilkerson slides in some legislation to give the guy 4 million dollars in public funding to build his for profit development, when they indicated in dozens of public meetings that they weren't going to need public funds.
As Byron Rushing told me, it is all about who you know.
If you don't want your tax dollars going to help these guys, as state rep Marty Walz so eloquently argued in the Boston Courant article send an email to Jane Gumble at the Department of housing, jane.gumble@state.ma.us.
For example:
jane.gumble@state.ma.us
Subject :
Columbus Center
Dear Ms. Gumble,
I am writing to oppose the gift of money to the Columbus Center Project. As a south end resident, MA taxpayer and real estate developer I have good knowledge of the cost to develop property and how to contribute to the overall good of the commonwealth.
There is no reason to give state funds that should go to education, healthcare, and the needy to an extremely rich group of developers so that they can make more money. They never in the dozens of public meetings indicated that they would require public money. As a developer who has made money without public subsidy, I know it can be done. Please keep our tax dollars focused solely on helping those in need, and the for the good of the commonwealth.
Sincerely,
Kevin McCrea
As Byron Rushing told me, it is all about who you know.
If you don't want your tax dollars going to help these guys, as state rep Marty Walz so eloquently argued in the Boston Courant article send an email to Jane Gumble at the Department of housing, jane.gumble@state.ma.us.
For example:
jane.gumble@state.ma.us
Subject :
Columbus Center
Dear Ms. Gumble,
I am writing to oppose the gift of money to the Columbus Center Project. As a south end resident, MA taxpayer and real estate developer I have good knowledge of the cost to develop property and how to contribute to the overall good of the commonwealth.
There is no reason to give state funds that should go to education, healthcare, and the needy to an extremely rich group of developers so that they can make more money. They never in the dozens of public meetings indicated that they would require public money. As a developer who has made money without public subsidy, I know it can be done. Please keep our tax dollars focused solely on helping those in need, and the for the good of the commonwealth.
Sincerely,
Kevin McCrea
Mayor holding community meetings
The Mayor is holding a series of 4 community meetings around the city. Attendance will be based on a lottery system.
Good for the Mayor to reaching out to the people. I'll be working for Habitat for Humanity in Louisiana when he holds these so can't attend. But if you can, you should. You can register by calling the city and get on their list (635-4000).
Tell him what is wrong, suggest how to fix it, and congratulate him on what is going well.
Good for the Mayor to reaching out to the people. I'll be working for Habitat for Humanity in Louisiana when he holds these so can't attend. But if you can, you should. You can register by calling the city and get on their list (635-4000).
Tell him what is wrong, suggest how to fix it, and congratulate him on what is going well.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Thanks and a Question to my Anonymous Sources
I would like to thank those anonymous sources who have been providing me helpful information about the machinations of local government goings on. I will try and use that information in a positive way.
In particular, to the person who told me about the potentially illegal conversations that contacted me last week, could you please contact me again and let me know approximately when and where those conversations took place.
Thank you very much for having the courage to get the information out.
Kevin
In particular, to the person who told me about the potentially illegal conversations that contacted me last week, could you please contact me again and let me know approximately when and where those conversations took place.
Thank you very much for having the courage to get the information out.
Kevin
Friday, January 13, 2006
Only Static in the New Orleans Electrical Department
Friday the 13th of January
How fouled up is the government infrastructure down here?
Well, I’m glad you asked that.
There are currently only 3 electrical inspectors in the city of New Orleans. They have 4 on staff, but one is out with shoulder surgery. He’ll be back Tuesday. But then one of the others is going out that day for foot surgery.
Only 3 inspectors in a city where 80 percent of the buildings need to be inspected, which is well over 100,000 locales.
The electrician on one of our jobs down here called in for an inspection on December 30th. We are ready to close in the walls and finish the building. But since we are doing the things the “right” and “proper” way, we have to wait, and wait, twiddling our thumbs. It’s not like they need housing or anything down here.
So I went and talked to the electrical department at the end of the day yesterday. I explained that we wanted to move ahead with the house and that the electrician had called in on the 30th of December. He pulled out the list and confirmed that yes, he had called in on the 30th, but that they were only doing inspections on things called in up until the 23rd of December. The “list” was a handwritten list on a notedpad. So the city of New Orleans is keeping track of their entire electrical department on some parchment in longhand.
Meanwhile, 80 percent of the city is renovating their houses without permits moving right ahead and completely disregarding the rules. The slumlord next to the building we are working on/staying in just had some electricians grab power from a hanging line and hook up his meter. He has tenants living in his building without gas, so no cooking, hotwater or heat. He didn’t properly tear out the inside of his house, so the mold and rot will basically eat the house apart from the inside. He has run wires, gone right over walls with new sheetrock and has hired the lowest common denominator of “workers” who as my brother says “put in their 4 hours everyday.”
But, he drives a Lexus, has a house on St. Charles, the nicest street in town and runs the local title company and has connections so he has nothing to worry about. Meanwhile the schmucks like me who follow the rules get delayed and lose money.
Apparently, the building department has a contract to subcontract the electrical work. In other words, some connected official or contractor is going to get to make money off of another government contract where the city is basically at a loss for funds as it is.
Here is the solution. Have the Mayor call the 20 biggest cities in America, or maybe all the cities with an NFL franchise. Ask if they could borrown an electrical inspector for a couple weeks. My feeling around America is that people and cities want to do their part if only given the opportunity, hey New Orleans let us Help!!! Instead, it would seem as if the powers that be just see this as another opportunity to make money off of tragedy, and the common people get screwed again. That or just absolute incompetence.
Maybe both.
How fouled up is the government infrastructure down here?
Well, I’m glad you asked that.
There are currently only 3 electrical inspectors in the city of New Orleans. They have 4 on staff, but one is out with shoulder surgery. He’ll be back Tuesday. But then one of the others is going out that day for foot surgery.
Only 3 inspectors in a city where 80 percent of the buildings need to be inspected, which is well over 100,000 locales.
The electrician on one of our jobs down here called in for an inspection on December 30th. We are ready to close in the walls and finish the building. But since we are doing the things the “right” and “proper” way, we have to wait, and wait, twiddling our thumbs. It’s not like they need housing or anything down here.
So I went and talked to the electrical department at the end of the day yesterday. I explained that we wanted to move ahead with the house and that the electrician had called in on the 30th of December. He pulled out the list and confirmed that yes, he had called in on the 30th, but that they were only doing inspections on things called in up until the 23rd of December. The “list” was a handwritten list on a notedpad. So the city of New Orleans is keeping track of their entire electrical department on some parchment in longhand.
Meanwhile, 80 percent of the city is renovating their houses without permits moving right ahead and completely disregarding the rules. The slumlord next to the building we are working on/staying in just had some electricians grab power from a hanging line and hook up his meter. He has tenants living in his building without gas, so no cooking, hotwater or heat. He didn’t properly tear out the inside of his house, so the mold and rot will basically eat the house apart from the inside. He has run wires, gone right over walls with new sheetrock and has hired the lowest common denominator of “workers” who as my brother says “put in their 4 hours everyday.”
But, he drives a Lexus, has a house on St. Charles, the nicest street in town and runs the local title company and has connections so he has nothing to worry about. Meanwhile the schmucks like me who follow the rules get delayed and lose money.
Apparently, the building department has a contract to subcontract the electrical work. In other words, some connected official or contractor is going to get to make money off of another government contract where the city is basically at a loss for funds as it is.
Here is the solution. Have the Mayor call the 20 biggest cities in America, or maybe all the cities with an NFL franchise. Ask if they could borrown an electrical inspector for a couple weeks. My feeling around America is that people and cities want to do their part if only given the opportunity, hey New Orleans let us Help!!! Instead, it would seem as if the powers that be just see this as another opportunity to make money off of tragedy, and the common people get screwed again. That or just absolute incompetence.
Maybe both.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
State House cracking down on the City Council?
The state legislature is considering making the Open Meeting Laws less ambiguous and with more bite and more streamlined.
It would be a step in the right direction to stopping the collusion, cronyism and corruption that
pervades our State. Let you legistlator know you support it!
It would be a step in the right direction to stopping the collusion, cronyism and corruption that
pervades our State. Let you legistlator know you support it!
New Orleans is BACK!
Scenes From New Orleans:
Well, New Orleans is back, and will never go away. I realized this at about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday Night at Miss Mae’s, the 24 hour bar across from the police station and basketball court on Napolean and Magazine.
Why did I realize this? Because my brother had discovered that this venerable institution sold “house” tequila for 50 cents a shot. This, combined with a buck fifty beers allowed him to buy us both a shot and a beer and have change left over from a five spot. No where else in North America is this possible. It was finally crystallized in my mind that America generally, and the South specifically needs New Orleans.
New Orleans is not an architectural style, or a festival, or a specific race or nationality; it is a concept. It is a concept of people accepting each other, celebrating the idiosyncrasies of mankind, and reveling in the fun that the human mind can conceive and that our devolved bodies can tolerate.
I am firmly convinced that there are at least 250,000 to 500,000 people that want to inhabit this conceptual commune, and they will be back. They are stifled and not whole in Houston, Baton Rouge, Birmingham. They need their Mojo working, and it just doesn’t work in Gainesville, Tucson, or Dallas.
Last night at Vaughan’s Kermit Ruffan’s and his horn sat in with the house band, and a local randomly spoke out “I love this place, I love this town, and I love these people.” Strong and true words for a place that is never on the straight and narrow.
Well, New Orleans is back, and will never go away. I realized this at about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday Night at Miss Mae’s, the 24 hour bar across from the police station and basketball court on Napolean and Magazine.
Why did I realize this? Because my brother had discovered that this venerable institution sold “house” tequila for 50 cents a shot. This, combined with a buck fifty beers allowed him to buy us both a shot and a beer and have change left over from a five spot. No where else in North America is this possible. It was finally crystallized in my mind that America generally, and the South specifically needs New Orleans.
New Orleans is not an architectural style, or a festival, or a specific race or nationality; it is a concept. It is a concept of people accepting each other, celebrating the idiosyncrasies of mankind, and reveling in the fun that the human mind can conceive and that our devolved bodies can tolerate.
I am firmly convinced that there are at least 250,000 to 500,000 people that want to inhabit this conceptual commune, and they will be back. They are stifled and not whole in Houston, Baton Rouge, Birmingham. They need their Mojo working, and it just doesn’t work in Gainesville, Tucson, or Dallas.
Last night at Vaughan’s Kermit Ruffan’s and his horn sat in with the house band, and a local randomly spoke out “I love this place, I love this town, and I love these people.” Strong and true words for a place that is never on the straight and narrow.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Congrats to the elected ones!
It is a lot of work, and they should be congratulated for their effort. Especially for Jimmy Kelly who is nothing if not a fighter. Although I may disagree with him on many things, he does work hard virtually 7 days a week, and unlike many of the other pols in city hall, you can call him up and schedule a meeting and discuss a topic, such as a development in his neighborhood.
Happy New Year!
Here's hoping the streets get safer, more money goes to youth programs, we make the non-profits pay up, and a biolab doesn't get built in the south end. We don't need it, for Boston to remain prosperous.
Happy New Year!
Here's hoping the streets get safer, more money goes to youth programs, we make the non-profits pay up, and a biolab doesn't get built in the south end. We don't need it, for Boston to remain prosperous.
Mayor's avoidance speech
(If)... you are a witness to a crime, you must speak up and keep the specter of fear far from our neighborhoods---Mayor Menino inaugural address
Yes, I've been witness to the city council and the Mayor circumventing the Open Meeting Law. Why don't you come forward and talk about it? Did the Mayor secretly send out "stop snitchin" shirts that he confiscated to the city councilors.
On a more serious note, I and two police detectives confronted the young man who cashed the check stolen from me for $3500.
He is on probation for a prior armed robbery, he is an 18 year old (so he is an adult), he admitted to the crime, told us who gave him the check but wouldn't testify against him, and he had a bag of marijuana on him when we confronted him. Do you think that was enough to get him arrested? No way, not in Boston. They let him go. They wonder where kids get the money for guns? Well, when the police don't arrest kids and their cohorts who steal $3500 and have illegal drugs on them, you know something is wrong. More about this unreal episode later.
But make sure you don't sell shirts that proclaim your first amendment rights.
Yes, I've been witness to the city council and the Mayor circumventing the Open Meeting Law. Why don't you come forward and talk about it? Did the Mayor secretly send out "stop snitchin" shirts that he confiscated to the city councilors.
On a more serious note, I and two police detectives confronted the young man who cashed the check stolen from me for $3500.
He is on probation for a prior armed robbery, he is an 18 year old (so he is an adult), he admitted to the crime, told us who gave him the check but wouldn't testify against him, and he had a bag of marijuana on him when we confronted him. Do you think that was enough to get him arrested? No way, not in Boston. They let him go. They wonder where kids get the money for guns? Well, when the police don't arrest kids and their cohorts who steal $3500 and have illegal drugs on them, you know something is wrong. More about this unreal episode later.
But make sure you don't sell shirts that proclaim your first amendment rights.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Is the Herald Racist?
I often read Kevin Rothstein's blog on the Herald Website, and for some reason it occurred to me to look at the makeup of the Herald's bloggers today.
22 white, 0 Minorities
But, it is the City Newspaper, and the city is only 50 percent minority. It may have been triggered by my dinner last night at Brasserie Flo (or Jo, I'm never sure) where the clientele was 99 percent white (one couple had an hispanic kid with them, and my hispanic wife.
I can't understand why anyone would get the impression that our city is segregated.
Good to see the Mayor reappointed the same 2 people to the school committee, why do they bother asking for applications?
22 white, 0 Minorities
But, it is the City Newspaper, and the city is only 50 percent minority. It may have been triggered by my dinner last night at Brasserie Flo (or Jo, I'm never sure) where the clientele was 99 percent white (one couple had an hispanic kid with them, and my hispanic wife.
I can't understand why anyone would get the impression that our city is segregated.
Good to see the Mayor reappointed the same 2 people to the school committee, why do they bother asking for applications?
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Crime in the Hood vs. Lack of Police : Live, while it happens
I'm still in shock over this so I'll try to be objective.
To make a long story short, a kid from the neighborhood stole a check from me, then wrote it out to himself for $3500. He went to the local check casher where he had to give a copy of his license, with his social security number and date of birth and have a photo taken. Not the brightest of kids.
A woman who works there alerts someone in my company and I come by to get the information from her then check my bank account online and get a copy of the check and see that sure enough, that check had been stolen from my checkbook.
Armed with a name, address, phone number, and ID I called 911. They took my name and number, took the information, and said someone would call back within an hour. I told them I needed to speak to a detective or officer. I said "will it really be an hour, or should I go to the station." She said not to goto the station. A bit over 2 hours later, a clerk called back and I again explained what was going on.
Except by now, I had already called some of my contacts in the south end, especially through the South End Youth Baseball. We were able to track the kid down, and get a partial confession from him (he insists he did it on his own, although his story is internally inconsistent). I had found out he already has a police record, and is a senior at East Boston High School.
So, now the clerk calls me and I explain the story and she says I needed to talk to an officer or detective. (Exactly what I told them 2.5 hours earlier!) I finally get through to a detective after 3 wrong diversions, who says he is really busy, they've got something going on tonight and that he is off over the weekend, so we set up a time to talk on Monday. I hope to see some sort of Big Bust in the papers tomorrow.
Nice to know that when $3500 bucks gets stolen from you and you do all the detective work and track the guy down, get a confession, and can have him meet you somewhere to have him arrested that the Boston Police Department can get on it within 4 days. I wonder who you have to be to get more immediate service?
As I've been writing this, I looked at the evidence further and realized there is a third person involved in this as well.
Another disturbing aspect of this story is that when I was speaking to the clerk who called me back after the 911 call, I asked her why the call took so long. I had promised a call within an hour and it took over two hours. She told me, "oh, well we just tell everyone that they will get a call back within an hour. We just return calls when we can, usually it is within an hour but often it takes longer. That one hour thing is just something we tell the public"
So, if anyone would like to see someone get arrested (and hopefully some money recoverd) I'm trying to set it up for Monday afternoon, maybe around 5:00 pm. Although he called me tonight and already changed his story to saying he only had $500 of the money left. Two hours ago he said he had $1000. His mother and aunt have already left messages for me.
Not really sure what to do. But, so far there is no remorse in him, it sounds like he just wants to get out of going to jail. He is a kid that grew up in the south end baseball league, and we hate to see one of "our" kids go bad. Still, he is perfectly young enough to straighten. What is most distressing is that he won't snitch on his friends, maybe we can try and use this as a test case of showing leniency for being honest.
I'm tired and rambling, and not really feeling in the xmas spirit. But, I hope you enjoy yours.
peace,
kevin
To make a long story short, a kid from the neighborhood stole a check from me, then wrote it out to himself for $3500. He went to the local check casher where he had to give a copy of his license, with his social security number and date of birth and have a photo taken. Not the brightest of kids.
A woman who works there alerts someone in my company and I come by to get the information from her then check my bank account online and get a copy of the check and see that sure enough, that check had been stolen from my checkbook.
Armed with a name, address, phone number, and ID I called 911. They took my name and number, took the information, and said someone would call back within an hour. I told them I needed to speak to a detective or officer. I said "will it really be an hour, or should I go to the station." She said not to goto the station. A bit over 2 hours later, a clerk called back and I again explained what was going on.
Except by now, I had already called some of my contacts in the south end, especially through the South End Youth Baseball. We were able to track the kid down, and get a partial confession from him (he insists he did it on his own, although his story is internally inconsistent). I had found out he already has a police record, and is a senior at East Boston High School.
So, now the clerk calls me and I explain the story and she says I needed to talk to an officer or detective. (Exactly what I told them 2.5 hours earlier!) I finally get through to a detective after 3 wrong diversions, who says he is really busy, they've got something going on tonight and that he is off over the weekend, so we set up a time to talk on Monday. I hope to see some sort of Big Bust in the papers tomorrow.
Nice to know that when $3500 bucks gets stolen from you and you do all the detective work and track the guy down, get a confession, and can have him meet you somewhere to have him arrested that the Boston Police Department can get on it within 4 days. I wonder who you have to be to get more immediate service?
As I've been writing this, I looked at the evidence further and realized there is a third person involved in this as well.
Another disturbing aspect of this story is that when I was speaking to the clerk who called me back after the 911 call, I asked her why the call took so long. I had promised a call within an hour and it took over two hours. She told me, "oh, well we just tell everyone that they will get a call back within an hour. We just return calls when we can, usually it is within an hour but often it takes longer. That one hour thing is just something we tell the public"
So, if anyone would like to see someone get arrested (and hopefully some money recoverd) I'm trying to set it up for Monday afternoon, maybe around 5:00 pm. Although he called me tonight and already changed his story to saying he only had $500 of the money left. Two hours ago he said he had $1000. His mother and aunt have already left messages for me.
Not really sure what to do. But, so far there is no remorse in him, it sounds like he just wants to get out of going to jail. He is a kid that grew up in the south end baseball league, and we hate to see one of "our" kids go bad. Still, he is perfectly young enough to straighten. What is most distressing is that he won't snitch on his friends, maybe we can try and use this as a test case of showing leniency for being honest.
I'm tired and rambling, and not really feeling in the xmas spirit. But, I hope you enjoy yours.
peace,
kevin
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Strike two versus the council
The court today rejected the city council's motion for reconsideration.
The fine legal team full of lawyers at City Hall has now lost two of their arguments for not
complying with what to a layman like me reads very simply: all meetings are to be open to the public, and if someone files suit, the defendants are supposed to appear in court in 10 days to explain their actions.
Well, so far, as we've been lectured by city council counsel sweeney about how this is as clear as "high school civics" he has had his motion to dismiss and his motion for reconsideration both returned to him. Thanks for spending the taxpayer's money so wisely!
The fine legal team full of lawyers at City Hall has now lost two of their arguments for not
complying with what to a layman like me reads very simply: all meetings are to be open to the public, and if someone files suit, the defendants are supposed to appear in court in 10 days to explain their actions.
Well, so far, as we've been lectured by city council counsel sweeney about how this is as clear as "high school civics" he has had his motion to dismiss and his motion for reconsideration both returned to him. Thanks for spending the taxpayer's money so wisely!
Monday, December 19, 2005
Code of Silence
Dear Mr. Walker:
Excellent article. But, I would say there is another aspect of this which has been partially alluded to in the press. Kids, although they may not be the most educated in the world, still understand hypocrisy. And they see and are aware of the world around them.
We have a president and an administration that values its code of silence and wants to prosecute anyone who leaks information. We have the blue wall of silence which protects police officers from any outside investigation. We have our own Boston City Council holding closed door secret meetings to discuss how the city is divided up, and fighting tooth and nail to keep from having to tell the truth about what they discuss in those meetings.
As one who lived in Charlestown in the 80's and 90's, you are right on the mark. But widen your scope about who else does not come forward to talk. It is just extremely unfortunate that when it trickles down to dorchester, mattapan and roxbury, it ends up costing lives.
Kevin McCrea
Excellent article. But, I would say there is another aspect of this which has been partially alluded to in the press. Kids, although they may not be the most educated in the world, still understand hypocrisy. And they see and are aware of the world around them.
We have a president and an administration that values its code of silence and wants to prosecute anyone who leaks information. We have the blue wall of silence which protects police officers from any outside investigation. We have our own Boston City Council holding closed door secret meetings to discuss how the city is divided up, and fighting tooth and nail to keep from having to tell the truth about what they discuss in those meetings.
As one who lived in Charlestown in the 80's and 90's, you are right on the mark. But widen your scope about who else does not come forward to talk. It is just extremely unfortunate that when it trickles down to dorchester, mattapan and roxbury, it ends up costing lives.
Kevin McCrea
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Odd rape rumor & holiday invite!
I heard that a family member of one of the city councilor candidates was charged with rape
on or about the election day, but somehow the story got buried. My source is someone who I have no reason to doubt (and probably doesn't even know I have a blog).
It is an odd story if true because there are certainly news sources in this city who love this kind of stuff (see the Diane Wilkerson family saga in the news print). If false, who would start such a weird rumor.
For any diehard McCrea fans out there, my beautiful wife and I are having a holiday party this friday, and if you'd like to bring over an ornament for the tree and enjoy some holiday spirit, send me an email (electkevin@gmail.com) and see if I can put you on the guestlist!
on or about the election day, but somehow the story got buried. My source is someone who I have no reason to doubt (and probably doesn't even know I have a blog).
It is an odd story if true because there are certainly news sources in this city who love this kind of stuff (see the Diane Wilkerson family saga in the news print). If false, who would start such a weird rumor.
For any diehard McCrea fans out there, my beautiful wife and I are having a holiday party this friday, and if you'd like to bring over an ornament for the tree and enjoy some holiday spirit, send me an email (electkevin@gmail.com) and see if I can put you on the guestlist!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Peter's Park Planning
I was at a community meeting tonight at the Cathedral. Peter's Park is one of the parks I coach baseball at in the South End. We have been promised a remodel for years, and we finally have $600,000 earmarked for it.
The good news is that they seem to have retained all the elements that people want. The bad news is that they say they are over budget with their design.
And they won't tell us how overbudget they are. But, they ask people to work out in breakout groups their thoughts. A pretty fruitless conversation. Why can't these people be honest with us and tell us what they are over budget by? Can't the public be trusted with the dangerous information of how much it costs to move a tennis court by 50 feet? Or how much it costs to put up a fence around a kiddie playground?
God knows you might be able to bring down the government with that kind of information.
Here's an idea I use out here in the business world. I have the architects design something that can be built with the money we have allocated for the project. And I don't waste further money by having architects continue to do revisions without any of them being within the budget.
And we wonder why property taxes are going up by 9.2 percent this year. I campaigned telling people they were going up 9 to 10 percent, amazing what quantitative analysis will do.
The good news is that they seem to have retained all the elements that people want. The bad news is that they say they are over budget with their design.
And they won't tell us how overbudget they are. But, they ask people to work out in breakout groups their thoughts. A pretty fruitless conversation. Why can't these people be honest with us and tell us what they are over budget by? Can't the public be trusted with the dangerous information of how much it costs to move a tennis court by 50 feet? Or how much it costs to put up a fence around a kiddie playground?
God knows you might be able to bring down the government with that kind of information.
Here's an idea I use out here in the business world. I have the architects design something that can be built with the money we have allocated for the project. And I don't waste further money by having architects continue to do revisions without any of them being within the budget.
And we wonder why property taxes are going up by 9.2 percent this year. I campaigned telling people they were going up 9 to 10 percent, amazing what quantitative analysis will do.
Back from New Orleans....
I followed the "stop snitchin" ridiculous from New Orleans with a sad smile. Nothing like going after first amendment rights in order to stop terrorism, I mean gun violence. Sounds like George Bush.
Saying that, whenever I saw kids with stop snitchin shirts I stop and ask them why they are wearing them, and what a bad message it sends. However, I'll fight for their right to wear them.
I thought about putting out a "START snitchin" shirt, and giving a shirt to the mayor and the 13 councilors, telling them to show an example and come forward and answer the charges in the open meeting lawsuit. They can be beacons of truth and honesty in that jungle hemmed in by walls of silence. Not holding my breath.
Word on the street is that Flaherty will have a difficult time retaining his majority for the city council presidency.
I asked a state rep about the columbus center money from the state and city. He said he talked to the mayor about it, and the mayor asked why the legislature is giving money to the Red Sox in the Fenway, the mayor isn't really behind that.
I asked the Rep. if it is just who you know and he said yes, it is just relationships. The Mayor likes the guys doing the Columbus Center more than the Red Sox people.
Why did the BRA give the Columbus Center people the old buyout number of $52,000 in stead of the new buyout number of $92,000 when they haven't built anything?
Now they want $50 million in public subsidy? Why can't I get 10 percent public subsidy when I build affordable housing? And they are building less percentage wise than most. Why should we subsidize high end housing? Why should million dollar condos pay less in taxes percentage wise than a 3 family house in dorchester?
Word is that Flaherty's brother is looking to run for Jimmy Kelly's potentially vacated seat. Could be a big battle between the Flynn camp and the Flaherty camp.
Went to a house party for Deval Patrick in the South End over the weekend. He is very intelligent, speaks well, but hardly any specifics on what he would do. Everything he is for has a caveat. He is willing to blame Romney for the poor direction the state is going, and most other things. He indicated they have raised more money than Reilly over the last 5 months, and many more donors. I'm hoping that a good race will bring out specifics on how to address the issues of housing, health care, etc. that the state is facing.
Saying that, whenever I saw kids with stop snitchin shirts I stop and ask them why they are wearing them, and what a bad message it sends. However, I'll fight for their right to wear them.
I thought about putting out a "START snitchin" shirt, and giving a shirt to the mayor and the 13 councilors, telling them to show an example and come forward and answer the charges in the open meeting lawsuit. They can be beacons of truth and honesty in that jungle hemmed in by walls of silence. Not holding my breath.
Word on the street is that Flaherty will have a difficult time retaining his majority for the city council presidency.
I asked a state rep about the columbus center money from the state and city. He said he talked to the mayor about it, and the mayor asked why the legislature is giving money to the Red Sox in the Fenway, the mayor isn't really behind that.
I asked the Rep. if it is just who you know and he said yes, it is just relationships. The Mayor likes the guys doing the Columbus Center more than the Red Sox people.
Why did the BRA give the Columbus Center people the old buyout number of $52,000 in stead of the new buyout number of $92,000 when they haven't built anything?
Now they want $50 million in public subsidy? Why can't I get 10 percent public subsidy when I build affordable housing? And they are building less percentage wise than most. Why should we subsidize high end housing? Why should million dollar condos pay less in taxes percentage wise than a 3 family house in dorchester?
Word is that Flaherty's brother is looking to run for Jimmy Kelly's potentially vacated seat. Could be a big battle between the Flynn camp and the Flaherty camp.
Went to a house party for Deval Patrick in the South End over the weekend. He is very intelligent, speaks well, but hardly any specifics on what he would do. Everything he is for has a caveat. He is willing to blame Romney for the poor direction the state is going, and most other things. He indicated they have raised more money than Reilly over the last 5 months, and many more donors. I'm hoping that a good race will bring out specifics on how to address the issues of housing, health care, etc. that the state is facing.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
What me worry?
We filed a motion to amend our complaint, and all we amended were our possible remedies (which are open to the judge to decide). Since they have all along protested vigorously their innocence, why are they so worried about what will happen if they lose? Since they know they are innocent (ha, ha) why bother wasting their valuable time?
My favorite part is how they say that we are being two faced by asking repeatedly for a trial in short order, but now are amending our complaint. We are amending our complaint as we learn new things. We are ready for a trial anytime, anywhere, anyplace. It is defendants, Flaherty, and others like Menino and the BRA etc., who will do anything and everything they can to delay the trial or get it thrown out on a legal hair splitting
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
SUFFOLK, SS SUPERIOR COURT
CIVIL ACTION NO. 05-1798-B
KEVIN McCREA, SHIRLEY KRESSEL, and KATHLEEN DEVINE,
Plaintiffs,
v.
MICHAEL F. FLAHERTY and the BOSTON CITY COUNCIL,
Defendants.
DEFENDANTS’ MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO FILE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT
INTRODUCTION
Now come the Defendants, the Boston City Council and Michael F. Flaherty, in the above-captioned action and hereby oppose the plaintiffs’ motion to file second amended complaint. The plaintiffs seek to amend the complaint in five significant, and wholly inappropriate ways:
1. The plaintiffs seek to include a request to hold the Boston City Council in contempt and impose sanctions for violation of a consent decree entered into between the City Council and the Attorney General in February, 1988;
2. The plaintiffs seek to have this Court impose upon the City Council a mandatory oath requiring councilors to profess their adherence to the Open Meeting Law at the start of each term;
3. The plaintiffs seek a requirement that votes taken by the Boston City Council be posted in various ways and passed at a second vote prior to becoming final;
4. The plaintiffs seek to have this Court fine and strip from office City Councilors remaining on the Council from the time of the 1988 consent decree; and,
5. The plaintiffs ask this Court to impose sanctions upon defendants’ lead counsel in this case.
All of the amendments sought by the plaintiffs are improper. The relief sought by the plaintiffs would constitute an illegal de-facto re-writing of the Boston City Charter, insofar as the requiring of an oath, or amendment to the City Council’s voting procedures. The City Council, under the City Charter, is the judge of its own members. The plaintiffs also seek to have this Court now consider stripping sitting Boston City Councilors from their duly-held and lawful office. To the extent the plaintiffs seek to impose sanctions on the defendants’ counsel, those requests are improper in terms of scope and timing, and are in any event entirely devoid of merit.
For these reasons and those discussed below, the defendants respectfully submit that this Honorable Court should deny the plaintiffs’ motion at this late stage of the proceedings.
BACKGROUND
This litigation concerns the plaintiffs’ allegations that the Boston City Council and its President violated the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law by holding closed-door sessions at various points during 2003, 2004, and 2005. On or about May 6, 2005, the pro se plaintiffs filed their original complaint in this Superior Court action. On or about May 16, 2005, the plaintiffs filed their amended complaint. The plaintiffs sought to invalidate a December 15, 2004 vote of the Boston City Council to extend various Urban Renewal plans in the City of Boston. The plaintiffs also sought an order compelling the City Council to comply with the Open Meeting Law at future meetings. The defendants moved to dismiss. On or about October 18, 2005, Justice Kottmyer of this Court issued her Memorandum of Decision and Order on that motion, allowing it to the extent of dismissing the plaintiffs’ request to invalidate the December 15, 2004 vote on timeliness grounds, but denying the motion in all other respects. The defendants moved for reconsideration of that motion insofar as the denial is concerned. That motion is pending. On or about October 31, 2005, the defendants filed their Answer to the Amended Complaint. On November 21, 2005, the defendants served, pursuant to Superior Court Rule 9A, their motion for summary judgment. On that same day, the plaintiffs served the defendants with their Motion to File Second Amended Complaint. In that complaint, the plaintiffs now seek various sanctions relating to the above-referenced consent decree, and other wide-ranging sanctions and alterations to the Boston City Charter.
DISCUSSION
A party wishing to amend a complaint by adding an additional count after the filing of a responsive pleading must seek permission of the court. Rule 15 of the Mass. Rules of Civil Procedure. Such a motion seeking leave to amend is directed to the discretion of the trial judge. See Forman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178 (1962). While it is has been ruled that such leave to amend should be granted liberally, DiVenuti v. Reardon, 37 Mass.App.Ct. 73, 77 (1994), allowance of a motion to amend is not automatic. Terrio v. McDonough, 16 Mass.App.Ct. 163, 167 (1983). Numerous grounds exist which might warrant the denial of a motion to amend, and these include undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies in a pleading by prior amendment, undue prejudice, and futility of amendment. Manfrates v. Lawrence Plaza Ltd Partnership, 4l Mass.App.Ct. 409, 413 (1996). Denials based on undue delay are generally coupled with consideration of other factors such as prejudice to the opposing party. Sharon v. Newton, 437 Mass. 99, 102 (2002).
In this case, the plaintiffs’ Motion to Amend is the result of undue delay, which would result in considerable undue prejudice, and should be denied for this reason if no other. Moreover, the proposed amendments would in any event prove futile, and would not survive a motion to dismiss, as the relief they seek to request in their amended complaint would be wholly improper and in some cases impossible as a matter of law. Finally, the defendants leave it for this Court to determine whether the plaintiffs bring their motion in bad faith. Particularly, the defendants would respectfully ask this Court to note that the plaintiffs served this motion, without notice of any kind, after demanding a trial date, and served it the same day the City served a dispositive motion.
1. The Plaintiffs’ request is the result of undue delay.
As noted above, the denial of a motion to amend based on undue delay is generally coupled with consideration of other factors such as prejudice to the opposing party. Sharon v. Newton, 437 Mass. 99, 102 (2002). Cf. Sullivan v. Iantosca, 409 Mass. 796, 800 (1991) (no prejudice where trial not imminent and discovery was far from complete).
In Sharon v. Newton, the defendant City sought to amend its answer to add an affirmative defense, a move the plaintiff opposed on grounds of undue prejudice. The trial judge allowed the amendment, and the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judge’s exercise of discretion because the proposed amendment “did not raise a new issue on the eve of trial and could not be considered futile or irrelevant. . . .” The same clearly cannot be said here. The plaintiffs have repeatedly asked this Court to accelerate the proceedings, and on numerous occasions have criticized what they perceive to be delays caused by the defendants. The plaintiffs gave no indication of their intent to seek amendment prior to serving the motion in open court, on the same day the defendants served a dispositive motion. To allow amendment now, with a dispositive motion pending, after the plaintiffs have repeatedly insisted that this matter be resolved in a timely fashion, would unduly prejudice the defendants.
2. The proposed amendments would be futile.
It is proper to deny a motion to amend where the amendment would be futile and would not survive a motion to dismiss. Mathis v. Massachusetts Elec. Co., 409 Mass. at 265; Mancuso v. Kinchla, 60 Mass.App.Ct. 558, 572 (2004). Cf. Cappuccio v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Spencer, 398 Mass. 304, 314 (1986)(motion to amend properly denied where proposed amendment would not cure defect in complaint).
Here, the plaintiffs propose to amend their complaint in significant and wide-ranging respects. None of the claims they seek to address in the amendments would survive a defendants’ motion to dismiss.
First, the plaintiffs seek to enforce a consent decree entered into between the City Council and the Attorney General in 1988.[1] The plaintiffs do not have standing to enforce this consent decree. The Boston City Council and the Massachusetts Attorney General entered into this consent decree in February, 1988, at the conclusion of litigation centering on alleged violations of the Open Meeting Law. None of the plaintiffs in this case were parties to the 1988 action, and the plaintiffs here have no right to enforce that decree. It is a settled principle that a consent judgment, such as the one entered in the 1987 litigation, conclusively determines the rights of the parties as to all matters within its scope. See Fishman v. Alberts, 321 Mass. 280, 281 (1947)("The great weight of authority supports the principle that [a consent judgment] is as binding and conclusive upon the parties as if it had been entered after a trial and a determination of all the issues"); Levy v. Crawford, 33 Mass.App.Ct. 932, 933 (1992)("As a general proposition, an agreement for judgment serves as a waiver of all matters within the scope of that judgment"); Thibbitts v. Crowley, 405 Mass. 222, 227 (1989) (burden on party to modify consent judgment entered against it more formidable than had party litigated and lost). In addition, an agreement for judgment is a separate and valid contract whereby the parties make a "free, calculated and deliberate choice to submit to an agreed upon decree rather than seek a more favorable litigated judgment." Thibbitts v. Crowley, supra, quoting United States Steel Corp. v. Fraternal Ass'n of Steel Haulers, 601 F.2d 1269, 1274 (3d Cir.1979). Therefore, the 1988 Consent Decree is a contract between the Attorney General and the Boston City Council. It is a similarly well-established principle that a contract creates no rights in a third-party unless that party is identified in the contract. The Supreme Judicial Court has recognized that, "when one person, for a valuable consideration, engages with another, by simple contract, to do some act for the benefit of a third, the latter, who would enjoy the benefit of the act, may maintain an action for the breach of such engagement." Rae v. Air-Speed, Inc., 386 Mass. 187, 195 (1982), quoting Brewer v. Dyer, 7 Cush. 337, 340 (1851). In order to recover as a third-party beneficiary, the plaintiffs must show that they are intended beneficiaries of the contract between the Boston City Council and the Attorney General. See Rae v. Air-Speed, Inc., 386 Mass. at 195. A party is an intended beneficiary where "the circumstances indicate that the promisee intends to give the beneficiary the benefit of the promised performance." Id. at 194, quoting Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 302(1)(b) (1981). The plaintiffs here are not identified in the Consent Decree, and have no rights to enforce it. Their proposed amendment would not survive a motion to dismiss and should therefore not be allowed.
Second, the plaintiffs seek to impose a host of new requirements concerning the qualifications and procedures of the Boston City Council. Under the plaintiffs’ proposed relief, City Councillors, upon swearing in at the start of each annual session, would be required to subscribe an oath pledging adherence to the Open Meeting Law. Next, the plaintiffs seek to have this court modify the process by which a vote of the Boston City Council would become final. The plaintiffs also seek to have this Court fine and strip from office any City Councilor remaining from the time of the 1988 Consent Decree. These requirements would plainly impose restrictions and limitations on the members of the City Council without foundation in the Boston City Charter and would therefore constitute an improper and de facto amendment of the Boston City Charter. The plaintiffs would involve this Court in the realm of matters intimate to the City Council and committed exclusively to the City Council by statute. All of the requests for relief proposed by the plaintiffs’ lie squarely outside this Court’s jurisdiction and are without basis in either statute or decisional law.
The Boston City Charter sets forth the requirements that must be fulfilled by any City Councillor.[2] Section 11A of the Boston City Charter specifies that, “[e]very person elected. . . city councilor. . . shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take, and subscribe. . . the oath of allegiance and oath of office prescribed in the constitution of this commonwealth and an oath to support the constitution of the United States.” Section 17 of the Boston City Charter commands that, “[t]he City Council shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its members. . . .” Section 54 of the Boston City Charter also instructs that, “[a]ny person who is a registered voter of the city duly qualified to vote for a candidate for an elective municipal office therein may be a candidate for nomination to such office. . . .” Thus, all that is required in order to be a City Councillor is that the candidate be a registered voter and be willing to take the oath specified in the City Charter. By imposing an oath requirement, this Court would be improperly modifying the statutory requirements that each City Councillor must meet to hold office. Where a City Charter includes such language, specifying that the body in question is to be the judge of the election and qualification of its members, the court is without jurisdiction to impose its own qualifications on that body. Peabody v. School Committee of Boston, 115 Mass. 383, 384 (1874). Indeed, this Court is without jurisdiction to consider the merits of any case challenging the qualifications of any individual to sit as a City Councillor, in light of the language in the City Charter. Dinan v. Swig, 223 Mass. 516, 517-518 (1916). Moreover, members of the Boston City Council are already subject to the Open Meeting Law. An oath to observe that law would not alter in any respect the obligations of Boston City Councillors to observe that law.
Finally, the plaintiffs seek to impose sanctions on the defendants’ lead counsel. Such a request is not a proper subject of amendment. The plaintiffs seek to sanction Attorney Sweeney for what they characterize as “knowingly pursuing a course of action that will delay justice and waste the limited resources of the Court in resolving these violations.” It is not clear from the language in the plaintiff’s request whether the plaintiffs seek to impose sanctions on Attorney Sweeney under Rule 11 or whether they seek to make him a defendant in the case. In either case, the plaintiffs’ motion should be denied. The plaintiffs base their request for sanctions on the fact that Attorney Sweeney represented the Boston City Council in the 1988 action initiated by the Attorney General. They do not allege any wrongdoing in that action, but claim instead that Attorney Sweeney’s representation of his client in the matter translates into an affirmative obligation to manage the affairs of the Boston City Council and ensure that they do not violate the Open Meeting Law.
The plaintiffs offer no examples of the delay and waste they complain of, leaving the defendants little recourse in defending their actions. As to the 1988 Consent Decree, the plaintiffs have no right, as described above, to enforce that decree or seek sanctions for any failure to observe it. Moreover, Attorney Sweeney cannot be held responsible, under any circumstances, for any client’s observance or non-observance of a consent decree. In sum, their request simply lacks foundation in either the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure or any case law. The plaintiffs’ motion to amend should be denied to the extent it seeks to sanction defendants’ counsel or make him a defendant in this action, particularly at this late stage of the litigation.
3. The proposed amendments are sought in bad faith.
If this Court determines that the plaintiffs seek their amendments in bad faith, it may deny the plaintiffs’ motion. A determination of bad faith can be made upon consideration of “the totality of the circumstances, the relevant public policies, and the equities” of the matter. U.S. Ex. Rel. LaValley v. First National Bank of Boston, 1994 WL 601874 (D. Mass., Oct. 13, 1994). The defendants submit that a review of the relevant circumstances would permit this Court to conclude that the plaintiffs have acted in bad faith by bringing this motion. The plaintiffs demanded a trial date in this matter and were granted one. The plaintiffs gave no indication that they would seek to amend their complaint until serving the defendants with this motion, on the same date the defendants served their motion for summary judgment. Such tactics suggest bad faith, and the defendants respectfully request that this Court engage in a searching analysis of the relevant circumstances in determining whether the plaintiffs have brought this motion in bad faith.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, the defendants Boston City Council and Michael F. Flaherty respectfully request that this Honorable Court DENY the plaintiffs’ motion to file a second amended complaint.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this day a true copy of the above document was served upon each party appearing pro se by U.S. mail, first class, postage paid.
_______________________________
Date Justin F. Kollar
Respectfully submitted,
Defendants Boston cITY cOUNCIL
and Michael F. Flaherty, as City
Council President,
By their attorney,
Merita A. Hopkins
Corporation Counsel
______________________________
Mark Sweeney, BBO# 490160
First Assistant Corporation Counsel
______________________________
Justin F. Kollar, BBO# 661086
Assistant Corporation Counsel
City of Boston Law Department
City Hall, Room 615
Boston, MA 02201
(617) 635-4097
[1] That action was captioned Shannon v. Boston City Council, Docket no. SUCV1987-05397.
[2] "The Boston City Charter is a patchwork of special laws enacted over the years by the Legislature." Edwards v. City of Boston, 408 Mass. 643, 649 (1990). "The scheme or framework of government is to be ascertained from all the provisions of the charter." City Council of Boston v. Mayor of Boston, 383 Mass. 716, 719 (1981), quoting Fiske v. Worcester, 219 Mass. 428, 429 (1914).
My favorite part is how they say that we are being two faced by asking repeatedly for a trial in short order, but now are amending our complaint. We are amending our complaint as we learn new things. We are ready for a trial anytime, anywhere, anyplace. It is defendants, Flaherty, and others like Menino and the BRA etc., who will do anything and everything they can to delay the trial or get it thrown out on a legal hair splitting
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
SUFFOLK, SS SUPERIOR COURT
CIVIL ACTION NO. 05-1798-B
KEVIN McCREA, SHIRLEY KRESSEL, and KATHLEEN DEVINE,
Plaintiffs,
v.
MICHAEL F. FLAHERTY and the BOSTON CITY COUNCIL,
Defendants.
DEFENDANTS’ MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO FILE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT
INTRODUCTION
Now come the Defendants, the Boston City Council and Michael F. Flaherty, in the above-captioned action and hereby oppose the plaintiffs’ motion to file second amended complaint. The plaintiffs seek to amend the complaint in five significant, and wholly inappropriate ways:
1. The plaintiffs seek to include a request to hold the Boston City Council in contempt and impose sanctions for violation of a consent decree entered into between the City Council and the Attorney General in February, 1988;
2. The plaintiffs seek to have this Court impose upon the City Council a mandatory oath requiring councilors to profess their adherence to the Open Meeting Law at the start of each term;
3. The plaintiffs seek a requirement that votes taken by the Boston City Council be posted in various ways and passed at a second vote prior to becoming final;
4. The plaintiffs seek to have this Court fine and strip from office City Councilors remaining on the Council from the time of the 1988 consent decree; and,
5. The plaintiffs ask this Court to impose sanctions upon defendants’ lead counsel in this case.
All of the amendments sought by the plaintiffs are improper. The relief sought by the plaintiffs would constitute an illegal de-facto re-writing of the Boston City Charter, insofar as the requiring of an oath, or amendment to the City Council’s voting procedures. The City Council, under the City Charter, is the judge of its own members. The plaintiffs also seek to have this Court now consider stripping sitting Boston City Councilors from their duly-held and lawful office. To the extent the plaintiffs seek to impose sanctions on the defendants’ counsel, those requests are improper in terms of scope and timing, and are in any event entirely devoid of merit.
For these reasons and those discussed below, the defendants respectfully submit that this Honorable Court should deny the plaintiffs’ motion at this late stage of the proceedings.
BACKGROUND
This litigation concerns the plaintiffs’ allegations that the Boston City Council and its President violated the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law by holding closed-door sessions at various points during 2003, 2004, and 2005. On or about May 6, 2005, the pro se plaintiffs filed their original complaint in this Superior Court action. On or about May 16, 2005, the plaintiffs filed their amended complaint. The plaintiffs sought to invalidate a December 15, 2004 vote of the Boston City Council to extend various Urban Renewal plans in the City of Boston. The plaintiffs also sought an order compelling the City Council to comply with the Open Meeting Law at future meetings. The defendants moved to dismiss. On or about October 18, 2005, Justice Kottmyer of this Court issued her Memorandum of Decision and Order on that motion, allowing it to the extent of dismissing the plaintiffs’ request to invalidate the December 15, 2004 vote on timeliness grounds, but denying the motion in all other respects. The defendants moved for reconsideration of that motion insofar as the denial is concerned. That motion is pending. On or about October 31, 2005, the defendants filed their Answer to the Amended Complaint. On November 21, 2005, the defendants served, pursuant to Superior Court Rule 9A, their motion for summary judgment. On that same day, the plaintiffs served the defendants with their Motion to File Second Amended Complaint. In that complaint, the plaintiffs now seek various sanctions relating to the above-referenced consent decree, and other wide-ranging sanctions and alterations to the Boston City Charter.
DISCUSSION
A party wishing to amend a complaint by adding an additional count after the filing of a responsive pleading must seek permission of the court. Rule 15 of the Mass. Rules of Civil Procedure. Such a motion seeking leave to amend is directed to the discretion of the trial judge. See Forman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178 (1962). While it is has been ruled that such leave to amend should be granted liberally, DiVenuti v. Reardon, 37 Mass.App.Ct. 73, 77 (1994), allowance of a motion to amend is not automatic. Terrio v. McDonough, 16 Mass.App.Ct. 163, 167 (1983). Numerous grounds exist which might warrant the denial of a motion to amend, and these include undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies in a pleading by prior amendment, undue prejudice, and futility of amendment. Manfrates v. Lawrence Plaza Ltd Partnership, 4l Mass.App.Ct. 409, 413 (1996). Denials based on undue delay are generally coupled with consideration of other factors such as prejudice to the opposing party. Sharon v. Newton, 437 Mass. 99, 102 (2002).
In this case, the plaintiffs’ Motion to Amend is the result of undue delay, which would result in considerable undue prejudice, and should be denied for this reason if no other. Moreover, the proposed amendments would in any event prove futile, and would not survive a motion to dismiss, as the relief they seek to request in their amended complaint would be wholly improper and in some cases impossible as a matter of law. Finally, the defendants leave it for this Court to determine whether the plaintiffs bring their motion in bad faith. Particularly, the defendants would respectfully ask this Court to note that the plaintiffs served this motion, without notice of any kind, after demanding a trial date, and served it the same day the City served a dispositive motion.
1. The Plaintiffs’ request is the result of undue delay.
As noted above, the denial of a motion to amend based on undue delay is generally coupled with consideration of other factors such as prejudice to the opposing party. Sharon v. Newton, 437 Mass. 99, 102 (2002). Cf. Sullivan v. Iantosca, 409 Mass. 796, 800 (1991) (no prejudice where trial not imminent and discovery was far from complete).
In Sharon v. Newton, the defendant City sought to amend its answer to add an affirmative defense, a move the plaintiff opposed on grounds of undue prejudice. The trial judge allowed the amendment, and the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judge’s exercise of discretion because the proposed amendment “did not raise a new issue on the eve of trial and could not be considered futile or irrelevant. . . .” The same clearly cannot be said here. The plaintiffs have repeatedly asked this Court to accelerate the proceedings, and on numerous occasions have criticized what they perceive to be delays caused by the defendants. The plaintiffs gave no indication of their intent to seek amendment prior to serving the motion in open court, on the same day the defendants served a dispositive motion. To allow amendment now, with a dispositive motion pending, after the plaintiffs have repeatedly insisted that this matter be resolved in a timely fashion, would unduly prejudice the defendants.
2. The proposed amendments would be futile.
It is proper to deny a motion to amend where the amendment would be futile and would not survive a motion to dismiss. Mathis v. Massachusetts Elec. Co., 409 Mass. at 265; Mancuso v. Kinchla, 60 Mass.App.Ct. 558, 572 (2004). Cf. Cappuccio v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Spencer, 398 Mass. 304, 314 (1986)(motion to amend properly denied where proposed amendment would not cure defect in complaint).
Here, the plaintiffs propose to amend their complaint in significant and wide-ranging respects. None of the claims they seek to address in the amendments would survive a defendants’ motion to dismiss.
First, the plaintiffs seek to enforce a consent decree entered into between the City Council and the Attorney General in 1988.[1] The plaintiffs do not have standing to enforce this consent decree. The Boston City Council and the Massachusetts Attorney General entered into this consent decree in February, 1988, at the conclusion of litigation centering on alleged violations of the Open Meeting Law. None of the plaintiffs in this case were parties to the 1988 action, and the plaintiffs here have no right to enforce that decree. It is a settled principle that a consent judgment, such as the one entered in the 1987 litigation, conclusively determines the rights of the parties as to all matters within its scope. See Fishman v. Alberts, 321 Mass. 280, 281 (1947)("The great weight of authority supports the principle that [a consent judgment] is as binding and conclusive upon the parties as if it had been entered after a trial and a determination of all the issues"); Levy v. Crawford, 33 Mass.App.Ct. 932, 933 (1992)("As a general proposition, an agreement for judgment serves as a waiver of all matters within the scope of that judgment"); Thibbitts v. Crowley, 405 Mass. 222, 227 (1989) (burden on party to modify consent judgment entered against it more formidable than had party litigated and lost). In addition, an agreement for judgment is a separate and valid contract whereby the parties make a "free, calculated and deliberate choice to submit to an agreed upon decree rather than seek a more favorable litigated judgment." Thibbitts v. Crowley, supra, quoting United States Steel Corp. v. Fraternal Ass'n of Steel Haulers, 601 F.2d 1269, 1274 (3d Cir.1979). Therefore, the 1988 Consent Decree is a contract between the Attorney General and the Boston City Council. It is a similarly well-established principle that a contract creates no rights in a third-party unless that party is identified in the contract. The Supreme Judicial Court has recognized that, "when one person, for a valuable consideration, engages with another, by simple contract, to do some act for the benefit of a third, the latter, who would enjoy the benefit of the act, may maintain an action for the breach of such engagement." Rae v. Air-Speed, Inc., 386 Mass. 187, 195 (1982), quoting Brewer v. Dyer, 7 Cush. 337, 340 (1851). In order to recover as a third-party beneficiary, the plaintiffs must show that they are intended beneficiaries of the contract between the Boston City Council and the Attorney General. See Rae v. Air-Speed, Inc., 386 Mass. at 195. A party is an intended beneficiary where "the circumstances indicate that the promisee intends to give the beneficiary the benefit of the promised performance." Id. at 194, quoting Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 302(1)(b) (1981). The plaintiffs here are not identified in the Consent Decree, and have no rights to enforce it. Their proposed amendment would not survive a motion to dismiss and should therefore not be allowed.
Second, the plaintiffs seek to impose a host of new requirements concerning the qualifications and procedures of the Boston City Council. Under the plaintiffs’ proposed relief, City Councillors, upon swearing in at the start of each annual session, would be required to subscribe an oath pledging adherence to the Open Meeting Law. Next, the plaintiffs seek to have this court modify the process by which a vote of the Boston City Council would become final. The plaintiffs also seek to have this Court fine and strip from office any City Councilor remaining from the time of the 1988 Consent Decree. These requirements would plainly impose restrictions and limitations on the members of the City Council without foundation in the Boston City Charter and would therefore constitute an improper and de facto amendment of the Boston City Charter. The plaintiffs would involve this Court in the realm of matters intimate to the City Council and committed exclusively to the City Council by statute. All of the requests for relief proposed by the plaintiffs’ lie squarely outside this Court’s jurisdiction and are without basis in either statute or decisional law.
The Boston City Charter sets forth the requirements that must be fulfilled by any City Councillor.[2] Section 11A of the Boston City Charter specifies that, “[e]very person elected. . . city councilor. . . shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take, and subscribe. . . the oath of allegiance and oath of office prescribed in the constitution of this commonwealth and an oath to support the constitution of the United States.” Section 17 of the Boston City Charter commands that, “[t]he City Council shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its members. . . .” Section 54 of the Boston City Charter also instructs that, “[a]ny person who is a registered voter of the city duly qualified to vote for a candidate for an elective municipal office therein may be a candidate for nomination to such office. . . .” Thus, all that is required in order to be a City Councillor is that the candidate be a registered voter and be willing to take the oath specified in the City Charter. By imposing an oath requirement, this Court would be improperly modifying the statutory requirements that each City Councillor must meet to hold office. Where a City Charter includes such language, specifying that the body in question is to be the judge of the election and qualification of its members, the court is without jurisdiction to impose its own qualifications on that body. Peabody v. School Committee of Boston, 115 Mass. 383, 384 (1874). Indeed, this Court is without jurisdiction to consider the merits of any case challenging the qualifications of any individual to sit as a City Councillor, in light of the language in the City Charter. Dinan v. Swig, 223 Mass. 516, 517-518 (1916). Moreover, members of the Boston City Council are already subject to the Open Meeting Law. An oath to observe that law would not alter in any respect the obligations of Boston City Councillors to observe that law.
Finally, the plaintiffs seek to impose sanctions on the defendants’ lead counsel. Such a request is not a proper subject of amendment. The plaintiffs seek to sanction Attorney Sweeney for what they characterize as “knowingly pursuing a course of action that will delay justice and waste the limited resources of the Court in resolving these violations.” It is not clear from the language in the plaintiff’s request whether the plaintiffs seek to impose sanctions on Attorney Sweeney under Rule 11 or whether they seek to make him a defendant in the case. In either case, the plaintiffs’ motion should be denied. The plaintiffs base their request for sanctions on the fact that Attorney Sweeney represented the Boston City Council in the 1988 action initiated by the Attorney General. They do not allege any wrongdoing in that action, but claim instead that Attorney Sweeney’s representation of his client in the matter translates into an affirmative obligation to manage the affairs of the Boston City Council and ensure that they do not violate the Open Meeting Law.
The plaintiffs offer no examples of the delay and waste they complain of, leaving the defendants little recourse in defending their actions. As to the 1988 Consent Decree, the plaintiffs have no right, as described above, to enforce that decree or seek sanctions for any failure to observe it. Moreover, Attorney Sweeney cannot be held responsible, under any circumstances, for any client’s observance or non-observance of a consent decree. In sum, their request simply lacks foundation in either the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure or any case law. The plaintiffs’ motion to amend should be denied to the extent it seeks to sanction defendants’ counsel or make him a defendant in this action, particularly at this late stage of the litigation.
3. The proposed amendments are sought in bad faith.
If this Court determines that the plaintiffs seek their amendments in bad faith, it may deny the plaintiffs’ motion. A determination of bad faith can be made upon consideration of “the totality of the circumstances, the relevant public policies, and the equities” of the matter. U.S. Ex. Rel. LaValley v. First National Bank of Boston, 1994 WL 601874 (D. Mass., Oct. 13, 1994). The defendants submit that a review of the relevant circumstances would permit this Court to conclude that the plaintiffs have acted in bad faith by bringing this motion. The plaintiffs demanded a trial date in this matter and were granted one. The plaintiffs gave no indication that they would seek to amend their complaint until serving the defendants with this motion, on the same date the defendants served their motion for summary judgment. Such tactics suggest bad faith, and the defendants respectfully request that this Court engage in a searching analysis of the relevant circumstances in determining whether the plaintiffs have brought this motion in bad faith.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, the defendants Boston City Council and Michael F. Flaherty respectfully request that this Honorable Court DENY the plaintiffs’ motion to file a second amended complaint.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this day a true copy of the above document was served upon each party appearing pro se by U.S. mail, first class, postage paid.
_______________________________
Date Justin F. Kollar
Respectfully submitted,
Defendants Boston cITY cOUNCIL
and Michael F. Flaherty, as City
Council President,
By their attorney,
Merita A. Hopkins
Corporation Counsel
______________________________
Mark Sweeney, BBO# 490160
First Assistant Corporation Counsel
______________________________
Justin F. Kollar, BBO# 661086
Assistant Corporation Counsel
City of Boston Law Department
City Hall, Room 615
Boston, MA 02201
(617) 635-4097
[1] That action was captioned Shannon v. Boston City Council, Docket no. SUCV1987-05397.
[2] "The Boston City Charter is a patchwork of special laws enacted over the years by the Legislature." Edwards v. City of Boston, 408 Mass. 643, 649 (1990). "The scheme or framework of government is to be ascertained from all the provisions of the charter." City Council of Boston v. Mayor of Boston, 383 Mass. 716, 719 (1981), quoting Fiske v. Worcester, 219 Mass. 428, 429 (1914).
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