Greetings from Nicaragua

I have had a lovely few days here in Nicaragua. I am thinking of opening a motorcycle dealership here because it is less corrupt than Boston. I cleared some land with a couple of locals and a chainsaw for a friends project, met with his builder and laid out the new buildings, and talked about how we can make it as ecologically friendly as possible, such as solar hot water heaters, recharging rain water, using grey water to irrigate the garden, etc.

I was out surfing with my friend who i was staying with and his girlfriend. we had a perfect quarter mile long beach to ourselves. just at dusk an oliver riddley turtle came ashore and i got into a foot race with a local with a machete to save the turtle. i was able to convince the gentleman that it would bring him good luck to let the 100 pound turtle go, and back into the surf i directed him. i love turtles, and to see one hacked up on a perfect evening would be terrible.

ive been staying in total surf shack. we have a composting toilet out side, one tap of running water for dishes which hadnt been done for eons until i washed them this morning. i havent had a shower since i left the states 5 days ago, just making frequent trips into the ocean to swim, surf, and body surf. played soccer with the local kids on the beach, and bought some souvenirs for friends back home.

it turns out that this weekend was motorcycle weekend, so about 300 bikers and i enjoyed the beach side shacks, the ac-dc coverbands, and the dancing and the drinking and the partying went on well past when i went to bed at 3 am, after helping two american girls get rides on motorcycles with guys who knew how to ride, and werent drunk!

It has been very relaxing, and the people are friendly, and you really get a sense of how much we use and waste in the western world. do we really need a wii, a flatscreen, 3 cars, movie theaters, etc. why not get out for a hike, play some ball with the locals and be exhausted leading to a good nights sleep!

still, cant wait to get home to see Dr. Lora!

many young folks here, very idealistic, very fed up with the futility of governments. they are starting eco tours, trying to save parklands, and trying to educate and enpower locals. very rewarding.

hope everyone is doing well in boston, i watched the usa lose to canada in hockey in a room full of canadians (tons of them here) so i was happy for them.

adios!

Email reply from the Governor's Office

I got an automated email from the Governor's office:



Dear Mr. mccrea:

Thank you for taking the time to apply for appointment to a state board or commission. All of your information was successfully added to our electronic system, which allows us to search for civic-minded constituents whose interests and expertise match the requirements for any given board.

Governor Patrick deeply appreciates your commitment to serving our communities. We will remain cognizant of your areas of interest as the Governor moves forward with appointments to the over seven hundred state boards and commissions. Should you have any questions or concerns, or if you would like to add additional information to your profile, please reply to this message or call us at 617.725.4055.

Sincerely,
The Appointments Team
Office of Governor Deval L. Patrick



I called the phone number and asked when the decisions would be made by and I was put through to the voice mail of Madelin (sp?) Grant. I left a message asking when the decision would be made, with my phone number.

I will keep you apprised of the situation loyal readers!

What does it take to get good schools?

There are two articles today which, I believe, approach the same topic. In the Boston Globe there is an article about how the City of Boston has not evaluated teachers in order to get rid of bad ones and improve education for all. In the NY Times there is an article about the head of several successful schools about how the most important thing in a successful school is getting good teachers.

Do I need to explain further?

How much does the Governor care about filling posts?

These are the positions on the Finance Commission which are appointed by the Governor to oversee the independent Financial Commission which is supposed to be the watchdog agency for the City of Boston. As you can see, 2 positions are open, 2 positions expired and only former Mike Ross worker Reuben Kantor is legitimate. With a hat tip to the Zak, you can apply for this position (unpaid) at:

http://appointments.state.ma.us/BoardDetail.aspx?brdid=160218


Mr. Paul J. Minihane Chairman Chair 10/09/2009
Mr. Reuben Kantor Seat 1 07/17/2013
VACANT Seat 2
VACANT Seat 3
Mr. Robert O'Connell Seat 4 08/09/2007


Kind of hard to believe that the State or City really wants anyone overseeing their finances when no one is appointed to the commission overseeing the finances.

Happy Mardi Gras!

VEGAS, BABY!!!

KEVIN WITH HIS GIANT BEADS AT THE VENETIAN !!

Valentine's Day is my birthday, so this year my wife surprised me with a weekend in Vegas. We left friday morning and came back Sunday night and the fun almost never stopped. We had a wonderful suite at the Venetian, we saw Cirque du Soleil "O" at the Bellagio, saw Penn & Teller at the Rio, I played in a Poker tournament at the Mirage and came in second, won money playing craps, saw some other sights, Clara went shopping, and because I miss New Orleans and Mardi Gras so much, I bought the biggest pair of beads I've ever seen. They were quite the topic in the airports flying home!

As usual, on the flight out of Boston the TSA official didn't know what security level we were at and told me that the public is on a 'need to know' basis and then proceeded to give me an overly hard time. Penn & Teller have a very funny bit in their show where they purchased one of the airport metal screening devices for $4800 and they showed how they set it at different levels for different types of passengers (the one at Boston City Hall is set very low, like for first class passengers). They also showed a number of dangerous weapons you can bring through the device such as plastic 'comb/knives'. They also sold the Bill of Rights printed on a metal plate the size of a credit card to carry in your wallet. They are sold for $5 (www.securityedition.com) and I got Penn to sign mine after the show. They are avowed libertarians, and Penn is an atheist. Funny enough a Haitian cab driver the night before the show told us he doesn't like Penn because he has vanity license plates which say "NO GOD" because he is an atheist as well. My hat is off to them for being boldly patriotic and against the erosion of our civil rights during their show, a potentially bad thing for their bottom line. They are also very funny, although I was a bit disappointed they were still doing tricks I saw them do in Boston over a decade ago.

Happy Lundi Gras!

please support sarah wenig!

I'll never forget being at their candidates forum the very day The Globe broke the story of the deleted emails. The 3 of you each spoke well about the issues at hand, Menino - well, you know. Then he was endorsed by adults old enough to remember Watergate and so smug they didn't even consider their own credibility. It was the scariest thing I ever witnessed in civic life. These people would endorse the slightly veiled second coming of George Wallace if they were told to by the right person. So I'm running for delegate and in that crowd, I need to bring my own votes. PLEASE refer to your lists and encourage friends and supporters to come to the Ward 5 caucus, Saturday 2/20 @ 9:00 am - in the Guatemala Room of the Community Church, 565 Boylston st, 2nd fl, Copley Sq. My # is 617.835.2565. Give it to your friends. Ask them to vote for me, one more independant voice needed in the Back Bay area.


Sarah sent this to Sam Yoon, Michael Flaherty and I!

Don't you wish you had a job like this!:

The Boston Herald today reports on the huge salaries pulled down by Boston workers including a custodian making more than $100,000 a year.

My favorite quote is from John Tobin:

The extravagant perk drew a sharp rebuke yesterday from a flabbergasted City Councilor John Tobin, who said, “You have to live in a cave not to realize the good old days were good old days.”

The Jamaica Plain councilor said the city’s big-spending ways are hard to justify in the face of school and police cutbacks, library consolidation and other belt-tightening moves.

“It’s just hard to say it’s business as usual in the economy we’re in,” Tobin said.

So, to sum up that it is hard to justify the work that the Mayor and the City Council have done in approving these budgets and signing these contracts and hiring these people. Of course, John Tobin has voted for the budget every single year that I can remember. Remember, the only real role that the City Council has is to review the budget and know the numbers.

The importance of a good health care plan...

Health Care Plan
> > A wealthy hospital benefactor was being shown around the hospital when
> > during her tour, she passed a room where a male patient was masturbating
> > furiously.
> >
> > "Oh my GOD!!" screamed the woman, "That's disgraceful!!! Why is he doing
> > that??"
> >
> > The doctor who was leading the tour calmly explained, "I'm very sorry
> > that you were exposed to that, but this man has a serious condition
> > where his testicles rapidly fill with semen, and if he doesn't do that
> > at least 5 times a day, he'll be in extreme pain and his testicles could
> > easily rupture".
> >
> > "Oh well, in that case, I guess it's ok." commented the woman.
> >
> > In the very next room, a male patient was lying in bed and it was
> > obvious that a nurse was performing oral sex on him.
> >
> > Again, the woman screamed, "Oh my GOD!! How can THAT be justified?"
> >
> > Again the doctor spoke very calmly, "Same illness, better health plan."
> >

Only in New Orleans....

A flight was cancelled yesterday because the pilots were 2.5 hours late because of the parade. A passenger on the plane who was also a pilot suspected them of being drunk, so he called 911 and the flight was grounded!

Not a good day for my sewer main to back up in New Orleans...

Today was the day of the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Parade. It also happened to be the day that my main sewer backed up, and I had to get the City out to dig out the sidewalk to fix the broken pipe.

This could either turn out great or horrible..., it seems to be in that gray area under the sidewalk where it is hard to determine if I own it or the city owns it.

Hopefully the great spirit of positivism and Mardi Gras will have this end in a good way, but we are still waiting to get someone out there....

Update, the Superbowl parade is being broadcast live on NOLA.com, so far it is 50 minutes late, but that is New Orleans, the Big Easy....

I watched the game with my New Orleans friends in the shirt I last wore at the Superdome for their home playoff game in 2006, good kharma!!!

Who DAT????

Steve Murphy is running for State Treasurer!

Apparently the one month of this term is enough already!

I can see how with Steve's excellent performance with the Boston City Budget
of voting for pay raises for councilors while city services are being cut
that people would think he is the change they are looking for!

Read more here!

Robert Jubinville is running for Governor's Council!

I have met this gentleman, and he seems to understand that reform is needed not just with our politics but with our courts.

Votejubinville.com is the link.

I hope you will consider him for your vote!

Mayor puts out great proposal to ban smoking in public housing!

I give credit where credit is due, and I like the new proposal by the Mayor to ban cigarette use in BHA Housing.

Dance a thon-next Saturday for Haiti victims

Benefit: "HOUSE OF LOVE for HAITI" Dance-A-Thon
A 12 HOUR DANCE-A-THON & MUSICAL EVENT presented by Boston HouseMusic Coalition / Love & Nappiness together with ROXBURY YMCA & PARTNERS IN HEALTH

Start Time: Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 12:00pm
End Time: Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 12:00am
Location:
Roxbury YMCA (Gymnasium)

285 Martin Luther King Blvd.
City/Town:
Roxbury, MA

Fort Hill --lookout for issues

Over at Universal Hub, there has been a discussion about Daryl Settles from Bob the Chef's and the Beehive fame trying to put in an establishment on Centre Street. Some people, including my friend John Keith, think the people there are behind the times in not wanting to get hip. I disagree. I have lived there and own property there, and I feel so much more at peace up there than I do here in the South End where life seems to be constant battle between jealous neighbors, devious developers, and keeping up with the Joneses. My comments:


John Keith-

My good friend. I think you seem to have become very angry (okay, many of us who
run for office to do good things are angry at the status quo) but this anger at
the Fort Hill residents is misplaced. I have lived and worked in Fort Hill for years,
most recently living on Highland Street in Summer 2008. It is a great area, with nice
friendly neighbors who look out for each other. It actually reminds me of the way
the South End was 15 or so years ago, back when people cared more about architectural detail
than how much square footage everything had.

There are some points to the NIMBY attitude on the hill, but isn't that their prerogative? I proposed putting a restaurant and community
gathering place into the old plantation building at the top of the hill owned by Mel King's brother.
I met with the neighbors, we talked about different ideas, they indicated they didn't want
a restaurant and we dropped the idea. The building still stands abandoned, dangerous and an eyesore,
but the 'democratic process' worked. The people I know (including tenants) love living on the Hill,
and I think it is a great area, otherwise I wouldn't own property there.

Just because not everyone wants what the South End has, doesn't make them bad or stupid, just wanting
something different in life. You (of all people!) should appreciate that. Not everything in life
needs to be real estate values (My South End properties have gone up in value, my Fort Hill ones down), but I will agree with you that if amenities like a local bar, restaurant and grocery store went in, that
the values would go up. But then, maybe the people that make the neighborhood great might not be able to afford it anymore and have to move out, sort of like the South End......

Is Democracy real in the USA?

This is a fascinating article which articulates much better than I could, how corporate America and the wealthy have taken over our system. I love the phrase "pliable candidates", an excellent description.

Thanks to my friend Mark.

anyone want some specific sox tickets? send me an email:

From the Red Sox for season ticket holders:

We realize that now more than ever the type of commitment and dedication you have shown is not easy. Yet your passion and devotion remains constant and helps to give Fenway Park a home field advantage that is unparalleled across the league. You are truly the lifeblood of this organization. As a small token of our gratitude, we want you to be among the first to have an opportunity to purchase additional tickets for the 2010 season, before they are made available to the general public on January 30.


If you want some tickets send me an email, electkevin@gmail.com, tell me which dates and how you will pay.

Representative of Boston?

I went to my wife's annual work party last night and had a wonderful time. She is a psychologist who works for a professional psychology association, staffed by many smart, educated people, many with Ph.D's. It was held at the College Club on 44 Commonwealth Avenue, a beautiful building.

There were slightly more than 50 people, two hispanic: my wife and the husband of another associate, and one African American, the banker who has helped the company out. During the Yankee swap, (we won some glass globes to water our plants) I asked for a show of hands of how many people in the room had gone to Boston Public Schools. One man put his hand up, the insurance agent for the company who had gone to Boston Tech, a now defunct school. Anecdotally, I have met many successul people in many walks of life who went to Boston Tech, what happened?

So in a 50 percent minority city, a growing successful business has less than 5 percent of its workers and associates as minorities and no members of the Boston Public Schools. This is a super progressive firm as well, with health care, time off, owned by a lesbian couple with many openly gay employees, by all accounts a great place to work for both employees and owners.

It is hard for me to not come to the conclusion that BPS is not filling the jobs of today or teaching for the jobs of tomorrow. It is not totally the fault of any one group, the Mayor, the Superintendent, the teachers, the parents, but until we acknowledge the huge failure that it is, instead of saying 'we're getting better every year' we are not going to have substantive change.

NY Times outlines changes for the City Council...

These changes could almost verbatim be established in Boston, if you changed "NY" to "Boston", and reduced the number of councilors and aides commensurate with the size of NY vs. Boston.

This is great food for thought, thank you NY TIMES:

By DAVID PECHEFSKY
Published: January 22, 2010

IN Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s State of the City speech on Wednesday, he spoke of the City Council as if it were an equal partner in government. Indeed, the mayor’s surprisingly close re-election, the unusual defeat of a handful of council members and some spirited races in the general election in a city where winning the Democratic primary is tantamount to victory, might lead one to expect the 51-member body to be imbued with new democratic vigor. However, the council members inaugurated this month have joined a body whose governance structure is hardly more democratic than a high school student council’s — where the principal calls the shots.

Ultimately, all City Council decisions are made by the speaker and the speaker’s staff. The speaker controls which members get to sit on which committees and who heads those committees, what legislation comes up for a vote, the hiring and firing of the 250-plus central staff and the money that members get to dole out to their districts.

Since the 1989 City Charter reform enlarged the Council’s powers, a strong speaker has been seen as necessary to counterbalance the mayor, but this balance doesn’t hold. Because the current speaker, Christine Quinn, has so much control over the Council, Mayor Bloomberg can deal almost exclusively with her, ignoring the members and, by extension, their constituents.

The consequence of a cozy relationship between the speaker and the mayor is a Council that goes along with the mayor on most major issues. That’s why we’ve seen the City Council approve — at the mayor’s initiative — the rezoning of large areas of the city for high-end development, congestion pricing and the overturning of referendum-approved term limits.

Fortunately, creating a representative and transparent City Council that can check mayoral power won’t require a wholesale rewriting of the charter. All that is needed are three small but significant changes.

First, the Council should reform its process for approving the city budget. The mayor now prepares the budget with his Office of Management and Budget and city agencies, and then submits a relatively final document to the Council. Council committees hold hearings to review the mayor’s plan, but they have no real ability to make changes.

The Council’s budget negotiating team then spends torturous hours behind closed doors, proposing a few alternative cuts, which are usually rejected by the mayor’s side, and haggling over additional expenditures, which make up a tiny fraction of the whole. The final size of the Council’s “pot” is decided between the speaker and the mayor.

There are better alternatives. For instance, Council committees should vote on the components of the budget under their purview, like Congressional appropriations committees. Votes in committee would be in the form of resolutions and would therefore lack the force of law, but they would be a template for the Council’s negotiations with the mayor and carry more weight than the current closed-door deliberations.

This would engage more members earlier in the process, instead of allowing all the action to happen around the end-game exercises of the negotiating team, and encourage the Council to look at the budget in greater detail and more comprehensively. Best of all, city agencies would have to publicly substantiate the worthiness of their programs or risk an embarrassing vote in the Council.

Second, we need to restructure how the Council is staffed. The members of the central staff, which provides technical assistance and policy advice, serve at the pleasure of the speaker, meaning they can be fired at any time.

So if a councilman requests an analysis of a particular piece of legislation, staff members need to assess whether that councilman is in good standing with the speaker and whether his proposal is likely to get the speaker’s support. If the answer is no to both, then the request gets a low priority on the work pile. This results in some good ideas never getting a full vetting and some bad ones that are never put to rest.

As many parliamentary democracies have already done, the Council should establish a legislative services commission that sets the rules for hiring, compensation, promotion and retention of legislative staff. The result would be a professional staff that works for the Council as a whole, is better insulated from politics and better able to provide objective aid and analysis.

The third fix is to reform how the speaker is selected, and it would require a charter amendment. Instead of being chosen by the council members, the speaker should be popularly elected citywide (and the redundant public advocate position should be eliminated). The speaker should then be subject to a recall vote by three-fourths of the council members; if the speaker lost that vote, a special election would then be held to fill the position. This would ensure that the speaker remains responsive to council members and the electorate.

With these reforms, the speaker would lose some power, but gain a public mandate akin to the mayor’s — as well as leadership over a strong institution that could fulfill its true potential as an agent of democracy.