Further Debate Issues

At our debate meeting this past Wednesday the representative for the Mayor, Ed Fouy, indicated that they had been talking with channel 4, channel 5 and a Fox/Herald combination in addition to the NECN/Globe/WBUR/WGBH group that we had the meeting with.

After the meeting I spoke with Yoon and Flaherty's people who said they had not been contacted by other TV sources. As I traced the story further yesterday, some of the other sources (after reading my blog) thought they were being shut out by the 4 candidates, which couldn't be further from the truth. It seems as if they somehow had the impression that Mr. Fouy was the debate person who was going to schedule things for all the candidates. Again this couldn't be further from the truth as Mr. Fouy had never spoken to any of the other candidates despite the fact that Yoon, Flaherty and I had been trying to set up a meeting with him for weeks.

So, long and short of it---the three challengers want debates, Mr. Fouy does not speak for us, and if you are a news source, community group, ward committee, neighborhood association or what have you, please contact the candidates to set up some forums in your neighborhood.

I for one, will debate anyone, anytime, anywhere. Not just debate in an adversarial way, but discuss ideas to improve civic life. The City deserves an open discussion about the future. It will be good for the City to get many thoughts and ideas circulating to make our great town of Boston even better.

My email to Mr. Fouy:

Dear Mr. Fouhy,

In speaking to some media sources other than the consortium that we spoke to on Wednesday it seems as if they somehow had
the impression that you were speaking on behalf of all candidates to set up dates and times for debates. As you know that is not the case, as you have not been in contact
with us and Mr. Menino's campaign refuses to even provide a phone number for you so that we may contact you.

If you are negotiating or talking to the other TV stations about debates without including the other candidates I hope you will at least
inform them that you are acting solely on behalf of the Mayor and not on behalf of any of the other other candidates.

Again, I look forward to meeting with you at whatever time and place is convenient to you to talk about debate issues.

Thanks,
Kevin McCrea

Letter to the Editor about Parcel 3

Dear Editor:

In Brown v. Board of Education it was determined that separate but equal was by definition unequal. If we compare how Mayor Menino has treated Ruggles Place v. Columbus Center it is clear that separate but unequal is absolutely unequal. Columbus Center is in the heart of the business district, in an affluent neighborhood hardly touched by the recession. Ruggles place is in heavily minority Roxbury, an area with high unemployment and unrelenting crime. Menino and our government have sought $79 million dollars in public subsidies and a 30 year timeline for Columbus Center, they have sought no public money and only 5.5 years for the Elma Lewis Partners to get Ruggles Place finished. This is unfair and unequal and is an example of how unfair our development process is in Boston.

It is amazing how physically similar the projects are: each one is near an Orange Line Station, on approximately 7 acres of land with 1.3 million square feet of space. However, the politics of the projects is divergent. The Columbus Center project has faced stiff resistance from many in the community from the beginning, whereas Elma Lewis Partners has had and continues to have strong support in its community. Maybe Elma Lewis Partners should not have changed their relationship with Menino friend and contributor John Kavanagh, but should that determine whether a project goes forward?

Menino used the excuse that Elma Lewis Partners did not have the financing lined up so he had to take back their designation. After an outcry from the community he made the BRA re-designate the parcel after BRA director John Palmieri insisted at a public meeting in Dudley Library that there was no process for that to occur. Palmieri spoke the truth, there is no process in Boston. What he left out is that there is only what the Mayor wants done. What the Mayor has done is not to treat Elma Lewis Partners and Roxbury equally.

The City is littered with projects that have been put on hold but whose designation has not changed. At Hayward Place Menino gave a away $30 million dollars of public property for free that has not been developed. The historic Gaiety Theater was knocked down and is now just an empty lot. Downtown Crossing is a giant crater. Just recently right in Dudley Square the Mayor has put his own project, the Ferdinand Building, on hold because of the bad economic conditions 5 years after he announced he was going to renovate it in 2004.

The Mayor needs to stop treating people separately and unequally. Elma Lewis Partners should be granted a more realistic timeline to build this project that has such strong community support. It is the only fair thing to do. A real leader would figure out how to get this public asset completed, not shelved.

Sincerely,
Kevin McCrea

Positive, Busy Night

Spent last night at the Youth Shines Art Auction, followed by the MASS CLU celebration and awards dinner and finally at the five year anniversary party for El Planeta where we just missed the Governor. It was nice to be able to spend a fun night out with my wife Clara as well.

What is encouraging is how many people who are coming up to me when they see my button and saying "are you Kevin?" and then talking about how interested they are in my campaign. Many people are saying that they realize Flaherty is just a younger version of Menino, and that they are disappointed in Yoon not taking a stand on anything and trying to be on both sides of every issue. They are frustrated, as am I (and the other candidates), about the lack of media attention.

I know that Sam, Michael and I would like to talk about substantive issues, whereas the Mayor would like to run and hide as far as he can from answering questions. I wish Michael and Sam would answer questions about why they haven't been working so hard and proposing so many things in the last 10 and 4 years of their time on the council?

One good piece of news is that in talking to Univision and Stephen Mindich, publisher of El Planeta they both said that their business is up slightly. There is real growth in the targeted ethnic media business.

Debate Debacle

More later, but I just got out of a meeting with WGBH, WBUR, and the Boston Globe along with the other campaigns.

The media had been offering one pre-primary debate and one post primary debate and we thought all sides had agreed to that and we were just going to hash out details.

However, Ed Jesser (sp?) and Ed Fouhy (sp?) who were there on behalf of the Mayor refused to commit to a debate date after the primary. They were generally against committing to anything, answering most questions about when they would commit to something with "soon" without any deadline.

Yoon, Flaherty and I have been trying to get a meeting with Fouhy for weeks which he has been putting off, I got him pinned down to 'before July 1st' at this point. It was the best I could do.

Brian McGrory who was extremely diplomatic but clearly unhappy because they thought they had a deal done at one point said to Menino's people "You're being too cute by half".

The media sources had clearly laid out to the candidates that they wanted to have two debates and that the candidates needed to agree to both debates or there would be neither.

So, since Menino balked the Media sources rescinded their offer and we have no debates scheduled.

I'm hoping the people and the press call his bluff and schedule a debate for September 15th and see if he decides not to show.

Globe Editorial echoes my thoughts on education

The Globe has an excellent guest editorial from Kim Janey and Myriam Ortiz today.

They make an excellent point:

Parents in communities of color no longer trust officials to keep their promises. They have seen too many commitments broken in the past. Children don't learn from promises; they must see the reality of improvements in teaching and learning in their schools and classrooms.

What I don't understand is why people don't make the connection the the official that they no longer should trust is Mayor Menino. He has had absolute control over the school system for 16 years. If promises have been broken, they come from him.

I agree that this 3 to 5 zone plan is too quick. An overall plan needs to be implemented to move this city into a program of neighborhood schools, where parents can be confident that every school is worthy of sending their child to.

CNA Street Fair this Saturday!

Claremont Neighborhood Association

20th Annual

Flea Market &

Street Fair

Saturday June 6th, 2009

(rain date June 7, 2009)

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Wellington Street @ Columbus Ave

South End, Boston

Antiques, Collectibles, Household Goods and Raffle!!!

Children’s Programs, Food and Live Music



****FREE ADMISSION****

MassEquality endorses without an equal process

Mass Equality endorsed the incumbent today without ever contacting me. I wonder if they contacted Yoon or Flaherty.

My response to Bay Windows:

"I'm often asked 'what is something that you like that the Mayor has done?' and I usually answer that I have been impressed with his support for the GLBT community which I have seen up close as a long time member of the South End community.' However, more can be done. For example, the Mayor still pays for the police and fire overtime for the South Boston Parade which he refuses to do for the Tall Ships. As Mayor, I would use that leverage of hundreds of thousands of dollars to breaking down that last vestige of discrimination. I am disappointed that Mass Equality would not even contact me so that they could hear what I could do for the city, and for the chance to learn more about their issues. However, I am proud of the GLBT support from across the city that I have received, and proud of the fact that I kicked off my campaign in the home of my friends Barry and Kevin, who've been together for almost twenty years in Dorchester. I am looking forward to the citizens of Boston being more open minded to progress."

WRKO's Feinburg accuses Flaherty of being a shill for Firefighters Union

Todd Feinberg of WRKO straight out says to Michael Flaherty that he sounds like "a representative of the Firefighters Union." You can hear it here.

Michael is opposed to the Mayor trying to get state legislation passed to make mandatory random drug testing for safety personnel. He says that it is the Mayor's fault that this has not been implemented in a contract with the Firefighters Union which has endorsed councilor Flaherty.

I have spoken to many firefighters who say they support drug and alcohol testing, they just want to get paid extra for that testing as part of their collective bargaining.

I support a true random drug and alcohol test for the firefighters, the police (who have a testing program), and other safety personnel. If you have to take a drug test to get a job at Home Depot, than surely we should test for these incredibly important jobs.

Increasing Voter Turnout -Press Release

We sent out this press release today. Any other good ideas on how to increase voter participation?

***KEVIN MCCREA ON INCREASING VOTER PARTICIPATION***

Citizen participation in our election process is at an all-time low. Massachusetts is ranked last in the United States in terms of contested elections, and Boston’s turnover rate for mayor and councilors is notoriously low. Voter turnout in elections, especially in City elections, is also at historic lows.

Kevin McCrea says “Our leaders say they care about voter turnout, but they don’t do anything about it.” “People are not happy with the candidates or with the process, and they are turning away, as evidenced by the lack of participation.” McCrea is putting forth the following proposals, “In order to encourage citizen engagement and restore public trust in the political process”:

1. Change the municipal election cycle so that we hold the Mayoral election in Presidential years. The next election should be in 2013 and then in 2016 and every four years thereafter. This will have the following benefits:
a. It will increase broad voter participation and reduce the influence of special interests. The last Mayoral election had less than 100,000 voters; the last Presidential election had more than 200,000.
b. It will save millions of dollars in election costs, according to the Boston Elections Department, by requiring elections only every two years.
2. Institute term limits for Mayor. The limit should be either two or three terms.
3. Institute same-day voter registration, and allow mail in ballots. (As California does: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_m.htm)
4. Lower the barrier for participation by reducing the number of signatures required to get on the ballot, and extending the time required to get signatures.
5. Give a specific amount of free air time on BNN for each candidate.

Mccrea finishes with “These are essential steps toward improving turnout in Boston. I will ask for citizens’ suggestions for other reforms as well, such as Campaign Finance Reform, and will entertain any other progressive idea to make Boston more open and democratic.”

Kevin McCrea’s full platform can be viewed at his website www.kevinmccrea.com. Kevin McCrea’s campaign director, Antionetta Kelly, can be reached either through e-mail at antionetta.kelley@gmail.com or phone at (617)267-2453.

Talking about the Parks

Received this email, hope people can speak out. Why is it that we are cutting the Parks budget which everyone uses, but not the BRA budget when there is a lull in construction and development?

This Monday, June 1st is the only time the park-using public can weigh in on the city's parks budget for the coming year. It's during work hours in the morning at City Hall. But if you are free, we'd love to have Franklin Park and other greenspace advocates there. Reply to this email with your phone number and I'll call Sunday evening to let you know what it will be like. If you care about public safety and hope the horse patrols can be saved; if you'd like to see more programming in our parks or have witnessed unmet maintenance needs, this is a great place to speak out. The already bare-bones park budget will be cut by another 5% - we're going to see the difference and need to let city officials know this is unacceptable.

--
Christine Poff
Franklin Park Coalition
617-908-4002
www.franklinparkcoalition.org

Is Yoon a grief councilor or city councilor?

Dave Wedge of the Herald reports:

What’s ‘the story’?

Mayoral hopeful Sam Yoon had a bizarre tete-a-tete with a Herald reporter this week at a Dorchester murder victim’s home.

Crashing an interview with the family of slain 29-year-old mother Deanna Watkins, the city councilor pleaded with the scribe to ignore his presence, insisting he was “not the story.”

But then Yoon interrupted the interview and launched into a self-righteous soliloquy, demanding the media “get this woman’s story out immediately.” He admonished the reporter for a story that upset the family, apparently unaware the article ran in a different newspaper. Yoon’s mouthpiece later called the Herald demanding the solon be quoted in the story about Watkins’ slaying. He was not.

But thanks to his head-scratching antics, he has managed to make himself part of “the story.”

How does New Orleans beat us to this stuff?

After Hurricane Katrina I went down to New Orleans and helped out/worked for two years with Habitat for Humanity and for private homeowners. I ended up buying an historic building that I renovated and added some units of housing to the local housing stock. I stay in touch with my neighborhood association (The Irish Channel Association, naturally!) and just got this email today.

Hi Neighbors,

Listen to ProjectNOLA.com's live NOPD police scanner. ProjectNOLA developed this channel in effort to help keep locals aware of crimes in progress, active dangerous threats, and suspicious activity in their area. In addition, it is their hope that the local community will gain a better appreciation and understanding of the dangers and hardships experienced by those who daily risk their lives... to protect and serve ours.

http://projectnola.com/police-alerts/live-nopd-police-scanner

Thanks,

Wendy Waren
Board Member, Irish Channel Neighborhood Association



Now maybe it is because crime is worse down there that this is more useful to residents, but maybe someone enterprising enough could set this up in Boston. Of course, my goal as Mayor would be to try and build a society where the airwaves of a station like this are nothing but occasional static.

Over 70 percent say they judge the man not the race!

The poll results were very encouraging that Boston is getting over its divided racial past.

Bay State Banner still says Menino must go!!

In another unequivocal editorial today the Bay State Banner rejects Tom Menino's bid for a 5th term.

They end with:

The developers had no choice but to accept the 18-month extension offered by Menino, even though that may not solve their problem. There is still a freeze on credit for commercial real estate development. No one knows for certain when investment funds will be available again. A sincere gesture of support by Menino would have been an extension of 18 months after a moratorium until the economic recession abates.

The fact remains: Menino’s rejection of the Elma Lewis project is an insult to the community. There is nothing in the mayor’s educational background to suggest that he is more competent than the combined intellect and judgment of the members of the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee. Menino apparently has a plan for the site that does not benefit the residents of Roxbury.

A fifth term for Menino is one too many.

When you compare the 18 months that Menino has given them with the years and years (I've seen at least one 30 year timeline) that Menino is giving Columbus Center and other projects you realize that Menino is not being honest with Elma Lewis Partners. The City of Boston has halted construction on the Ferdinand Building in Dudley Square because of the global financial problems, but not a mile away up Tremont Street they want to hold the minorities to a different standard? Separate and Not Equal is definitely NOT EQUAL. If I was Mayor I would give them a longer time frame, and work with them to put together what needs to be done to make it a viable project. I have met many people in the area, particularly in Roxbury, who are willing to wait to make this vision a reality.

Inefficiency on Newbury Street

A couple weeks ago I sent out a press release on how the DPW should be run. I don't believe any of the press picked it up. (I will reprint below) Yesterday, Michael Levinson of the Globe called me to get a comment on the Mayor supposedly running a more efficient City Hall, he wrote an article about it today. Right after I spoke to him, I went to Johnson Paint on Newbury Street to pick up some paint for a job. They were repaving Newbury Street which seems to happen often.

I went inside and said to the guys "this repaving isn't good for business, how often do they do this?" The guys exclaimed, "this is the FOURTH year in a row they have repaved the street, and it is terrible for business." I asked if they really have repaved it four years in a row and they insisted it had, and explained how 3 years ago they replaced gas lines, then the next year they opened up the street for water lines in the same place, and now they are redoing it again.

So I decided to check with the authorities and I called DPW. They transferred me to the Mayor's office who transferred me to the DPW. That was fun! I got a gentleman in the Engineering Department who looked it up and told me that yes they were repaving the street due to utility work. I asked if this was the fourth year in a row and he looked it up and said he could only confirm that yes they redid the street last year as well (his records didn't go back any further).

I then asked if it was possible that they would be repaving the street again next year, and he said "Yes, its possible, its possible."

HOW IN THE WORLD CAN THE MAYOR SAY HE IS RUNNING THIS CITY EFFICIENTLY????

Here is my press release about the DPW:

***KEVIN MCCREA ON DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS***

The Department of Public Works, like many departments in the City of Boston, is reactive not proactive.

As Mayor, I would initiate a long term planning process for the maintenance and improvement of our streets that will save money and result in better roadways for all the citizens to use. Currently there is no long term plan for maintaining and improving the streets of Boston. Every spring the DPW makes a determination of which streets need to be fixed and repaved, which doesn’t allow for any forward planning by the residents, businesses, and utilities that need these streets for daily use.

I recently called the Department of Public Works to find out when my street was scheduled to be repaved, and I was told to call my City Councilor. This is no way to run or plan a major city road system. Under my leadership we will hire roadway management professionals to initiate a 20 year plan for maintaining and upgrading all the streets in Boston. In conjunction with my effort to promote transparency in the entire City of Boston, the plan will be available online. Maintaining roadways should not be a political process, it should be based on engineering and quantified data.

A plan for our roadways will be a vital element of my plan to eliminate the Boston Redevelopment Authority and create a Master Plan for Boston. My plan will be weighted more toward urban users of Boston roads so public transit, pedestrian and bicycle uses will be prioritized. The basic idea going forward will be that fewer cars, more walking and biking and use of public transit will be healthier for our city, the environment and our citizens.

Under this plan everyone affected will be notified in advance of pending street improvements. This will include Boston Water & Sewer, the gas, electric and telecommunications companies, and all other affected parties. This way we can all plan in advance the future upgrades we need to our businesses and residences. One of the major reasons for potholes in this city is because when the roads are cut open for utility work the patching leads to quicker deterioration of the roads. Not only will this plan save money for all parties it will make the roads better as well.

In addition, when road openings must be undertaken we need to have inspectors hold accountable the parties that make the repairs, not just immediately but in the future as well. Any repair should last as long as the timeline of the main road; if it doesn’t the original street opener will be responsible for bringing it into compliance.

I talked to the office of my City Councilor today to find out when my street would be repaved and he directed me to the DPW. This is the circle of mismanagement and non-accountability in Boston that needs to change.

Kevin McCrea’s full platform can be viewed at his website www.kevinmccrea.com. Kevin McCrea’s campaign manager, Jonathan Tracy, can be reached either through e-mail at jonstracy@hotmail.com or phone at (503) 502-3101 or (617)267-2453.

So much for the Mayor's efficiency rating

A voter writes in:

Hello, Kevin.



Mayor Menino claims this morning that his $5 million computer system improves speed of reacting to citizen inquiries.



http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/27/computer_system_quickens_city_response_to_complaints/?page=full



But city agencies often ignore inquiries altogether, never putting them into the tracking system to begin with.



The only way to honestly portray City responsiveness is to track and report every single call that comes in. But the way it is now, City employees fabricate good statistics for themselves – and their departments – by never tracking the ignored requests at all.



According to the latest study by CommonWealth Magazine, 14 City agencies never responded to the magazine’s inquiries, including: Public Health Commission, Emergency Shelter Commission, Police Department, and the Mayor’s Office. And look what happened to the inquiry to Boston’s chief information officer, asking why 14 agencies never answered at all? It, too, went unanswered.



http://www.massinc.org/fileadmin/CommonWealth/Spring_2009/email.pdf

Menino is proven to be Chicken Little, and I am proven right

The Globe today reports that the City is sending out 25 notices of teacher layoffs.

The Mayor has been running around like Chicken Little since December saying the sky is falling, the sky is falling we are going to have to lay off hundreds and hundreds of teachers. I wrote back in January on this blog that the Mayor was lying, that the financial situation was not so dire, and that he was only doing this to try and get a meals tax increase.

Here we are months later, the economy has gotten worse, the State is getting fewer and fewer dollars every month but yet, miraculously we are only having 25 layoffs.

Why do we tolerate such dishonesty from our elected officials? In the meantime children and parents have been begging and pleading for their favorite teachers and programs, putting them through angst and trauma. I have had elected officials tell me privately that this was all just a show, but did they have the courage to come out in public and disagree with the Mayor? No way. No profiles in courage, not even from Flaherty or Yoon.

It is time for a change.

More Corruption at the BRA

The Globe today has another story about a BRA employee who feels they are above the law and has engaged in pension abuse.

The BRA (the Mayor) plays all sorts of games with money. At the City Council hearing on their budget they didn't even bring their budget, bringing a one page sheet with last year's budget. They are talking about "potentially" having to lay people off or "maybe" having a wage freeze but it hasn't happened and I predict it won't.

John Palmeiri, the BRA director, is not paid by the BRA either he is paid by the same EDIC that this woman was paid from. I wonder why? Why would someone be the head of an agency and not receive pay from that agency?

When the Paul McCann issue was exposed by the Globe I wrote on my blog about how the Mayor fired McCann and brought up the point that this clearly shows the BRA is under direct control of the Mayor. I got an unsolicited email from Jessica Shumacher the BRA spokesperson:

Kevin,

A point of clarification:

The Mayor and the City’s corporation counsel advised the BRA that they were in violation of the pension laws. On Friday, the BRA suspended its contract with Paul McCann and today, terminated the contract.

But, I have Menino on video saying that he terminated McCann's contract. I wrote back to Shumacher on April 29 asking:

Jessica,

just to be clear, can you let me know if any former BRA or EDIC officials have contracts with either the BRA or EDIC.

Also, is it available online anywhere where a citizen could examine all the contracts the BRA has with outside sources?

Thanks,
kevin

NO RESPONSE. I wrote again on May 10:

Jessica,

I haven't heard back from you, would you mind answering the question about whether any former BRA or EDIC officials have contracts with either the BRA or EDIC?


Also, is it available online anywhere where a citizen could examine all the contracts the BRA has with outside sources?


thanks,
kevin

Still no response. The BRA is a giant slush fund and campaign contributer repayment center run by the Mayor off the books with no fiscal oversight. It must be done away with and citizen oversight through the City Council of planning and development needs to occur.

Menino doesn't want to talk about anything he has done...

The Herald today quotes the Mayor:

“Give me a break,” Menino said. “You guys want me to defend my record. I’m not doing that.”


Of course, why would a 16 year sitting incumbent want to defend his record?

NY City has exam schools for kindergarteners-a gifted kids program

Another example of how Boston is so set in its ways, and afraid to try new things to make excellence for our kids a priority.