Yoon and Flaherty have a joint press conference today announcing they will work together to unseat the Mayor. I'm happy that Yoon got Flaherty to agree to term limits. The race is shaping up as a real choice between old and new.
I just tried to call City Hall yesterday to find out how I could help with the foreclosed property issue. I got transferred to three people and then sent to a phone that just kept ringing and ringing (remember, No voice mail at City Hall). This is the incompetence that pervades the Menino regime.
It needs to change!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
More BS from the Mayor's office
In the papers over the weekend Dot Joyce said that it would cost $250,000 to get more emails found.
When I was on with Emily Rooney two weeks ago, I was on with the president of TechFusion who said that he could get the emails back in 3 weeks for $5,000.00. See his video here. As usual the Mayor is throwing away tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to a "friendly" consultant who surely can be trusted to say and not say the right things.
Why spend hundreds of thousands when you can spend $5,000? When will the citizens of Boston wake up?
When I was on with Emily Rooney two weeks ago, I was on with the president of TechFusion who said that he could get the emails back in 3 weeks for $5,000.00. See his video here. As usual the Mayor is throwing away tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to a "friendly" consultant who surely can be trusted to say and not say the right things.
Why spend hundreds of thousands when you can spend $5,000? When will the citizens of Boston wake up?
Friday, September 25, 2009
Greetings from Maine!
It is my wedding anniversary, and I promised my wife when the campaign was over we would take a long weekend (at least!) We are in Maine for three days as she has never been up the beautiful coast.
I read this morning in the NY Times a wonderful written/artistic/photographic piece by Maira Kalman about her love of NY City, her appreciation of the 300,000 city workers who care for the City and the sense of optimism and competence that dealing with them brings to her. Everything from clean streets, to a diverse work force to the lighting of the sewage tanks is impressive. Of course, she also mentions how Bloomberg doesn't work behind closed doors.
I suggest that you take 2 minutes to look at it, and see if you get the same vibe that I did that one would never equate Menino's Boston with Bloomberg's NY.
I read this morning in the NY Times a wonderful written/artistic/photographic piece by Maira Kalman about her love of NY City, her appreciation of the 300,000 city workers who care for the City and the sense of optimism and competence that dealing with them brings to her. Everything from clean streets, to a diverse work force to the lighting of the sewage tanks is impressive. Of course, she also mentions how Bloomberg doesn't work behind closed doors.
I suggest that you take 2 minutes to look at it, and see if you get the same vibe that I did that one would never equate Menino's Boston with Bloomberg's NY.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thanks for the many cards, emails and calls
I've received a ton of thanks, and I thank you. I was amazed at how the communities of color came out to vote for Menino. If you went by percentages you would think that Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester were the best places in the City to live, with people that are happiest with the government. Funny, but whenever I'm in Dudley everyone is begging for a job, or a better job, and the rents on my apartments in Roxbury have gone down, sale prices have collapsed, and Menino didn't even go to the forums.
My theory: because the schools have been so bad for so long, we haven't taught our children the critical thinking skills to properly analyze the situation, nor taught them the tools needed to bring change. One friend from Roxbury writes:
You guys did make an effort to be proud of. In the end the communities of color overwhelmingly supported Menino. Sadly, though, we still have lousy schools, few jobs and no future in our communities of color. But we got a lot of housing! What are we thinking?
You know the old saying in the black community: "All I have to do is stay black and die". When did it become: "All I have to do is stay poor, black and die"?
Take care Kevin! And I'll see you around.
My theory: because the schools have been so bad for so long, we haven't taught our children the critical thinking skills to properly analyze the situation, nor taught them the tools needed to bring change. One friend from Roxbury writes:
You guys did make an effort to be proud of. In the end the communities of color overwhelmingly supported Menino. Sadly, though, we still have lousy schools, few jobs and no future in our communities of color. But we got a lot of housing! What are we thinking?
You know the old saying in the black community: "All I have to do is stay black and die". When did it become: "All I have to do is stay poor, black and die"?
Take care Kevin! And I'll see you around.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Letter of Congratulations from Ray Flynn!
Hi Kevin,
Congratulations on a great and spirited campaign.
You did well - and Boston is a better city because of your campaign and discussing many important city issues.
Congratulations and be proud of your effort and spirit. Well done!
Sincerely,
Ray Flynn
Former Mayor of Boston
Congratulations on a great and spirited campaign.
You did well - and Boston is a better city because of your campaign and discussing many important city issues.
Congratulations and be proud of your effort and spirit. Well done!
Sincerely,
Ray Flynn
Former Mayor of Boston
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
I am so pleased with our results tonight. We spent less than 1% of the money spent in this race and received over 4% of the votes!
I want to thank all the people who worked for me, donated to me, and voted for me. I feel great, not a single moment wasted and I'm glad that the city is talking about eliminating the BRA, and the transparency problems at City Hall!!!
Thanks to all!
Kevin
By my rough, rough calculations in the Money spent per vote category:
Menino $25 per vote
Flaherty $26 per vote
Yoon $17 per vote
McCrea $ 4 per vote
Based on this, who would you want running your City Budget? Yoon is correct that we need campaign finance reform, too bad he wasn't talking about it for the last 4 years and introducing legislation. As usual, the candidates finished in order of money spent.
I want to thank all the people who worked for me, donated to me, and voted for me. I feel great, not a single moment wasted and I'm glad that the city is talking about eliminating the BRA, and the transparency problems at City Hall!!!
Thanks to all!
Kevin
By my rough, rough calculations in the Money spent per vote category:
Menino $25 per vote
Flaherty $26 per vote
Yoon $17 per vote
McCrea $ 4 per vote
Based on this, who would you want running your City Budget? Yoon is correct that we need campaign finance reform, too bad he wasn't talking about it for the last 4 years and introducing legislation. As usual, the candidates finished in order of money spent.
Please Vote for Kevin McCrea today
Dear Friends,
I hope that you vote for me today. I guarantee that you will feel good about the vote, that you won't feel that the vote is wasted. Every vote that I receive is a vote against the status quo. It is a vote against timid politicians who go along to get along until they want more power and then they make empty promises which can not be verified or backed up.
I have made specific promises, to work in the schools every week, to put a few more cops on the street, to stop giving property and tax breaks away to connected insiders, to eliminate the BRA and even out the balance of power at City Hall.
I once heard someone say, "promise only what you can deliver, and deliver more than you promise". That is the essence of my campaign. There are no empty promises from me and you will get more than just words from me.
I will make Boston government the most open, honest and accountable in the country. I will value education first, and cut funds from schools last. I won't raise taxes when we have a spending problem.
I will answer questions, ask questions and engage the community. I look forward to bringing Boston to its potential.
Sincerely,
Kevin
I hope that you vote for me today. I guarantee that you will feel good about the vote, that you won't feel that the vote is wasted. Every vote that I receive is a vote against the status quo. It is a vote against timid politicians who go along to get along until they want more power and then they make empty promises which can not be verified or backed up.
I have made specific promises, to work in the schools every week, to put a few more cops on the street, to stop giving property and tax breaks away to connected insiders, to eliminate the BRA and even out the balance of power at City Hall.
I once heard someone say, "promise only what you can deliver, and deliver more than you promise". That is the essence of my campaign. There are no empty promises from me and you will get more than just words from me.
I will make Boston government the most open, honest and accountable in the country. I will value education first, and cut funds from schools last. I won't raise taxes when we have a spending problem.
I will answer questions, ask questions and engage the community. I look forward to bringing Boston to its potential.
Sincerely,
Kevin
Monday, September 21, 2009
A supporter from the Community writes in, thanks!
The Boston Globe writes in glowing terms of a mayor who has been resting on his laurels. At this point one can assume that he’s thinking if I retired I wouldn’t know what to do so I’m going to run again for mayor! Even though Boston is an “increasingly diverse city” looking at the Mayor’s office and the positions of leadership over the past 16 years, the Mayor has yet to have his office and city offices reflect the face of the city!
It’s no wonder that the Boston Globe’s financial situation has been dismal; their continuous biased reporting of elections makes it no surprise. One might ask of the Boston Globe’s candidate, was it “skill, experience and clarity of vision to do the backroom deals, turn a blind eye to what is now referred to as “universities buying land on the sly.” Michael Flaherty is being disingenuous to now being so verbally against the Mayor when, in fact, he knew all along about these shady deals and said NOTHING. To say Flaherty has sought to be a servant of all neighborhoods, what has he done for Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and the Hyde Park Community?
To acknowledge “effective policing has been a strength of Menino’s tenure” confirms how out of touch the Mayor, Flaherty and the Boston Globe are with what is going on in and around the Boston communities. How effective can this policing be when crime is up, there are unsolved homicides, youth violence is up in the city, every time you turn on the TV you hear about shootings and killings. It is quite suspect that now that people are getting ready to vote reporting is down on crime and street violence!
The Mayor and Flaherty speak about the finest Universities and Colleges yet people in the community have fear of children going to school, dropping out – not graduating to even apply to those said institutions! The Goble is eager to see Tom Menino and Michael Flaherty face off in November because keeping the same would give the same results! The Globe speaks about “strong-mayor system” you have businessmen, universities, developers and unions who enjoy the benevolence of the Mayor that is why they all endorse the mayor. The people who matter are the people in the communities who are suffering because they always get the short straw.
For the Globe to state that Kevin McCrea is not ready to be mayor is indicative of their bias – a message that you cannot be a newcomer in politics and make changes happen because its only people politically connected or have people with big purses are the only ones that win. What the Globe fails to realize is that the communities are crying out for new leadership. Leadership that will address their needs and concerns – not just give them the same platitudes. It is vital that homicides/crime in the communities be addressed, vital that residents in the communities get jobs, vital that residents keep their homes, and vital that the inferior schools be addressed.
The person fit to be mayor is the one who can move forward effectively with these issues without all the political dancing that has been going on for these past months. While these issues apparently are not important to the Boston Globe it is, however, critical to the communities.
It’s no wonder that the Boston Globe’s financial situation has been dismal; their continuous biased reporting of elections makes it no surprise. One might ask of the Boston Globe’s candidate, was it “skill, experience and clarity of vision to do the backroom deals, turn a blind eye to what is now referred to as “universities buying land on the sly.” Michael Flaherty is being disingenuous to now being so verbally against the Mayor when, in fact, he knew all along about these shady deals and said NOTHING. To say Flaherty has sought to be a servant of all neighborhoods, what has he done for Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and the Hyde Park Community?
To acknowledge “effective policing has been a strength of Menino’s tenure” confirms how out of touch the Mayor, Flaherty and the Boston Globe are with what is going on in and around the Boston communities. How effective can this policing be when crime is up, there are unsolved homicides, youth violence is up in the city, every time you turn on the TV you hear about shootings and killings. It is quite suspect that now that people are getting ready to vote reporting is down on crime and street violence!
The Mayor and Flaherty speak about the finest Universities and Colleges yet people in the community have fear of children going to school, dropping out – not graduating to even apply to those said institutions! The Goble is eager to see Tom Menino and Michael Flaherty face off in November because keeping the same would give the same results! The Globe speaks about “strong-mayor system” you have businessmen, universities, developers and unions who enjoy the benevolence of the Mayor that is why they all endorse the mayor. The people who matter are the people in the communities who are suffering because they always get the short straw.
For the Globe to state that Kevin McCrea is not ready to be mayor is indicative of their bias – a message that you cannot be a newcomer in politics and make changes happen because its only people politically connected or have people with big purses are the only ones that win. What the Globe fails to realize is that the communities are crying out for new leadership. Leadership that will address their needs and concerns – not just give them the same platitudes. It is vital that homicides/crime in the communities be addressed, vital that residents in the communities get jobs, vital that residents keep their homes, and vital that the inferior schools be addressed.
The person fit to be mayor is the one who can move forward effectively with these issues without all the political dancing that has been going on for these past months. While these issues apparently are not important to the Boston Globe it is, however, critical to the communities.
FREE PIZZA AT 8 PM!
We are having a fun night lined up tonight.
Cafe 47 at 47 Massachusetts Avenue is going to have an open event for us at 8 pm tonight, there will be free pizza and of course all the questions I can answer until I go to
The Seven's at 77 Charles Street at 9 pm!
Please come by, ask questions and let me convince you to vote for me tomorrow!
Cafe 47 at 47 Massachusetts Avenue is going to have an open event for us at 8 pm tonight, there will be free pizza and of course all the questions I can answer until I go to
The Seven's at 77 Charles Street at 9 pm!
Please come by, ask questions and let me convince you to vote for me tomorrow!
Menino wasn't being honest about approving tax breaks
(You can see Menino's signature on these tax giveaways here)
Menino sold tax breaks,
forfeited up to $40 million
September 20, 2009
Public records show that Mayor Thomas Menino and his
redevelopment staff approved three transfers of the 1 Beacon
Street tower’s MGL Chapter 121A tax break since 2000. The
transfers to new buyers served no public purpose, as the law
requires.
Without the transfers, the tower owners would have
paid the City an estimated $30-$40 million more in property
taxes than their negotiated 121A payments for these years.
The exact loss remains to be calculated, since it is not
established annually by Menino staffers as required by law.
No payments were officially needed to get these tax
breaks, yet the owners gave the BRA a total of $3.1 million in
“voluntary contributions.” Former BRA official Paul McCann
has admitted that while the BRA has no authority to demand
1 Beacon Street this money, it has been “BRA policy” for thirty years to collect
$1 per square foot every time the tax break is transferred to a
new owner.
The 1 Beacon Street skyscraper got the tax break in
1969 when the BRA declared that the tower would serve the public purpose of eliminating “blight” and public subsidy was essential. Developers of such projects agree to hold them for the full contract term, in this case, 40 years. The City cannot revoke such contracts unilaterally, but the 1 Beacon owners, wishing to sell, applied to the BRA to end theirs. The BRA and the Mayor approved the buyers’ requests to
transfer the tax break, even though the building is long completed, the blight is long gone and the buyers proposed no public-purpose improvements. The tax break could and should have ended with the first sale.
The 1 Beacon “contributions” are officially earmarked for affordable housing and improvements for the project, but BRA records account for only part of the $3.1 million, and show pay-outs unrelated to the tower, including checks to Clear Channel Communications, Inc. and the Downtown Crossing business association.
Menino has been betraying the people of Boston, selling tax breaks for money that is stored in the BRA, out of the city budget and out of City Council and public purview, for use by himself and the BRA as politically expedient.
How much taxpayers have lost through Menino’s tax break transfers, on this and other projects, is not known. In Boston, the City Council has no control over 121A decisions; but the Councilors have heard public testimony about 121A tax breaks, including this transfer issue, yet never investigated.
The 40-year tax break at 1 Beacon ended on September 15, but most of the “voluntary
contribution” money is still held by the BRA.
Mayoral candidate Kevin McCrea says, “Menino is cheating the people of Boston by selling years of tax discounts to amass funds that he and his development staff can spend however they wish. This money should be recovered from the BRA and put into the City budget, to serve our citizens. If elected, I will eliminate the BRA, end the 121A give-aways, renegotiate or terminate existing 121As, and ensure fair taxation citywide.”
Menino sold tax breaks,
forfeited up to $40 million
September 20, 2009
Public records show that Mayor Thomas Menino and his
redevelopment staff approved three transfers of the 1 Beacon
Street tower’s MGL Chapter 121A tax break since 2000. The
transfers to new buyers served no public purpose, as the law
requires.
Without the transfers, the tower owners would have
paid the City an estimated $30-$40 million more in property
taxes than their negotiated 121A payments for these years.
The exact loss remains to be calculated, since it is not
established annually by Menino staffers as required by law.
No payments were officially needed to get these tax
breaks, yet the owners gave the BRA a total of $3.1 million in
“voluntary contributions.” Former BRA official Paul McCann
has admitted that while the BRA has no authority to demand
1 Beacon Street this money, it has been “BRA policy” for thirty years to collect
$1 per square foot every time the tax break is transferred to a
new owner.
The 1 Beacon Street skyscraper got the tax break in
1969 when the BRA declared that the tower would serve the public purpose of eliminating “blight” and public subsidy was essential. Developers of such projects agree to hold them for the full contract term, in this case, 40 years. The City cannot revoke such contracts unilaterally, but the 1 Beacon owners, wishing to sell, applied to the BRA to end theirs. The BRA and the Mayor approved the buyers’ requests to
transfer the tax break, even though the building is long completed, the blight is long gone and the buyers proposed no public-purpose improvements. The tax break could and should have ended with the first sale.
The 1 Beacon “contributions” are officially earmarked for affordable housing and improvements for the project, but BRA records account for only part of the $3.1 million, and show pay-outs unrelated to the tower, including checks to Clear Channel Communications, Inc. and the Downtown Crossing business association.
Menino has been betraying the people of Boston, selling tax breaks for money that is stored in the BRA, out of the city budget and out of City Council and public purview, for use by himself and the BRA as politically expedient.
How much taxpayers have lost through Menino’s tax break transfers, on this and other projects, is not known. In Boston, the City Council has no control over 121A decisions; but the Councilors have heard public testimony about 121A tax breaks, including this transfer issue, yet never investigated.
The 40-year tax break at 1 Beacon ended on September 15, but most of the “voluntary
contribution” money is still held by the BRA.
Mayoral candidate Kevin McCrea says, “Menino is cheating the people of Boston by selling years of tax discounts to amass funds that he and his development staff can spend however they wish. This money should be recovered from the BRA and put into the City budget, to serve our citizens. If elected, I will eliminate the BRA, end the 121A give-aways, renegotiate or terminate existing 121As, and ensure fair taxation citywide.”
Police watching me???
This is the Menino person taking a picture of our volunteer. Notice the camera/phone in his left hand!
A friend of mine who previously was in the security business, a veteran, was picking up signs at my house yesterday. He reports that there was a police cruiser and an unmarked car with someone watching my house. Is it a Menino intimidation move, or just something random?
Last week after the Mayoral forum in the Back Bay, a Menino guy went up to one of my volunteers handing out flyers and snapped a picture of him right in his face. My guy then took out his camera and snapped a picture back!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Campaigning like a Mad Man
AT ACADEMY HOMES WITH SINGER RAY DIAMOND!
I've been campaigning like crazy. Today I started off at 7 a.m. with Jean Claude Sanon on WCEA. Mayor Menino came on the station later with Marie St. Fleur, the first time he has been on the show in 16 years, despite being asked many times. He clearly is feeling worried, as well he should with the record he has.
I attended services at Morningstar Baptist Church with some supporters and got to hear Ego Ezedi preaching, he was impressive. Then it was off to separate events at Brighton and Allston. I'm about to do a TV spot for WBZ, and then off to the Ashmont Grill in Dorchester for our 9 nights in 9 days.
Please vote Tuesday and if you can help at the polls please call and lend a hand even if it is for only a couple hours. 617-267-2453!
Thanks!
Shirley Kressel weighs in on Sam Yoon's slips of the tongue
I was astounded, at the English High mayoral candidates’ forum, to hear Sam Yoon flatly say that your statement that he secretly voted to give Paul Walkowski a big raise and pension boost was “false.” He called you a liar, when he knows that the City Council’s official video of its June 20, 2007 meeting shows him with all the other Councilors meeting around the president’s dais -- with all microphones carefully turned off -- in the middle of the meeting to get prepared for that vote when it came up later in the meeting. Council President Feeney convened them to pre-arrange the vote, because she intended not to call out the docket number or say in public what it was about, so no one could even trace it in the minutes. He then did vote for it when it did come up, as you show in your You-tube video; we know he did, because it was an amendment voted to an Ordinance introduced for the first time (and as a late file, to hide it further!), and so it required unanimous approval to pass.
He knew very well what it was about, because he’s a member of the Rules Committee, which had decided to hire Walkowski to do that report on exempting the Council from the Open Meeting Law. When I asked him, at his recent Tubman House event, to explain why he, a champion of both transparency and frugal governemt, voted clandestinely for this give-away of public money, he said “you have to pick your battles if you want to get things done in politics.” That was after he said he was honoring a death-bed wish of a colleague, Jimmy Kelly, to take care of his staff. Instead of assigning Walkowski to staff work within the existing budget of one of the Councilors, the Rules Committee, which Yoon was on, decided to create a new statutory position, $17,000 higher than Walkowski's salary, for him to work in for a couple of years on a report to evade the Open Meeting Law and retire at a much higher pension. That would have been a worthwhile battle for him to pick. That pay slot is still there, a handy pre-retirement "transition position" for anyone who needs a temporary pay boost to get a pension boost; has Yoon (or Flaherty) filed to eliminate it? No.
This bold and wrong assertion of Sam’s reminded me of another he made on a radio forum, I think on WBZ, where he said our second Open Meeting Law suit against the Council (filed in 2006, when he was a member) – the one about Committee voting in private communications, in this instance on the Council pay raise -- was defeated BECAUSE SAM STOOD UP AND MADE A STATEMENT. I asked him at Tubman what he was talking about. He said he spoke up on the floor of the council and supported the pay raise to recruit better talent, and a video of that was shown at the trial to show the council deliberating, and that’s why we lost. Amazing. First, there was no video shown at that trial, by either side. Second, the suit wasn’t about the whole council deliberating, it was about the committee process of serial written votes without a public session (which the Council, knowing it won that suit by some fluke and might not be so lucky next time, immediately changed to have public “working sessions” for committees). Third, the Council won because they misled the court, saying that committees don’t actually vote on the substance of their reports, they just take a poll on sending it off to the floor for action – that is, that committees don’t deliberate and decide substantive matters, they just do an administrative chore of sending reports (written by …whom?) to the full council. Only Mike Ross, to his credit, admitted, on the witness stand, that when he votes on a report, he is voting on the substance of the report; the rest who testified (including Flaherty, but not Yoon) went along with committee chair Maureen Feeney’s story: just housekeeping here in committee, no positions expressed by anyone when we send up a report on a matter, with a recommendation on whether it ought to pass.
Sam said things that are seriously wrong, not just honest mistakes of facts and figures, taking advantage of the scant opportunity for rebuttal at these forums to say things that can’t quickly be explained.
Shirley Kressel
He knew very well what it was about, because he’s a member of the Rules Committee, which had decided to hire Walkowski to do that report on exempting the Council from the Open Meeting Law. When I asked him, at his recent Tubman House event, to explain why he, a champion of both transparency and frugal governemt, voted clandestinely for this give-away of public money, he said “you have to pick your battles if you want to get things done in politics.” That was after he said he was honoring a death-bed wish of a colleague, Jimmy Kelly, to take care of his staff. Instead of assigning Walkowski to staff work within the existing budget of one of the Councilors, the Rules Committee, which Yoon was on, decided to create a new statutory position, $17,000 higher than Walkowski's salary, for him to work in for a couple of years on a report to evade the Open Meeting Law and retire at a much higher pension. That would have been a worthwhile battle for him to pick. That pay slot is still there, a handy pre-retirement "transition position" for anyone who needs a temporary pay boost to get a pension boost; has Yoon (or Flaherty) filed to eliminate it? No.
This bold and wrong assertion of Sam’s reminded me of another he made on a radio forum, I think on WBZ, where he said our second Open Meeting Law suit against the Council (filed in 2006, when he was a member) – the one about Committee voting in private communications, in this instance on the Council pay raise -- was defeated BECAUSE SAM STOOD UP AND MADE A STATEMENT. I asked him at Tubman what he was talking about. He said he spoke up on the floor of the council and supported the pay raise to recruit better talent, and a video of that was shown at the trial to show the council deliberating, and that’s why we lost. Amazing. First, there was no video shown at that trial, by either side. Second, the suit wasn’t about the whole council deliberating, it was about the committee process of serial written votes without a public session (which the Council, knowing it won that suit by some fluke and might not be so lucky next time, immediately changed to have public “working sessions” for committees). Third, the Council won because they misled the court, saying that committees don’t actually vote on the substance of their reports, they just take a poll on sending it off to the floor for action – that is, that committees don’t deliberate and decide substantive matters, they just do an administrative chore of sending reports (written by …whom?) to the full council. Only Mike Ross, to his credit, admitted, on the witness stand, that when he votes on a report, he is voting on the substance of the report; the rest who testified (including Flaherty, but not Yoon) went along with committee chair Maureen Feeney’s story: just housekeeping here in committee, no positions expressed by anyone when we send up a report on a matter, with a recommendation on whether it ought to pass.
Sam said things that are seriously wrong, not just honest mistakes of facts and figures, taking advantage of the scant opportunity for rebuttal at these forums to say things that can’t quickly be explained.
Shirley Kressel
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Menino intimidating my donors
A developer/property owner in Boston who gave me a donation has been 'contacted' by the Menino people and given a bit of a hard time. Is this the the way a democracy is supposed to work?
Nothing like good old threats and intimidation to keep the populace in line.
Nothing like good old threats and intimidation to keep the populace in line.
More lies from Menino & Yoon doesn't know Papelbon?
Mayor Menino through his nameless minions at City Hall has been trying to discredit my assertions that he has signed off on 40 million dollars in tax breaks for the buyers of One Beacon Street. Well, with much thanks to the hard work and research of Shirley Kressel we have come up with the evidence. Menino personally signed off on the transfer of the tax credits to the new owners when the building was sold in 2000, 2004 and 2006. Since his signature was required, he clearly could have NOT signed off and the City would have an extra $40 million in the bank and instead of proposing cutting the budget for school books from $3 million to $2 million, we could buy new school books for everyone, and not lay off any teachers so our children can fully utilize those schoolbooks.
A funny moment from last nights radio debate with Jeff Santos on 1510 AM was when Sam Yoon was slated to go first and Jeff asked him what the Red Sox should do with Jonathon Papelbon. Sam froze for a second and then candidly said "this is one of those times I wish I was answering last, before trying to remember who Papelbon was. He did eventually say he thought the Red Sox should keep Papelbon. Is Boston ready to elect a Mayor who doesn't keep up with the Red Sox? That would be a huge shift!
A funny moment from last nights radio debate with Jeff Santos on 1510 AM was when Sam Yoon was slated to go first and Jeff asked him what the Red Sox should do with Jonathon Papelbon. Sam froze for a second and then candidly said "this is one of those times I wish I was answering last, before trying to remember who Papelbon was. He did eventually say he thought the Red Sox should keep Papelbon. Is Boston ready to elect a Mayor who doesn't keep up with the Red Sox? That would be a huge shift!
Friday, September 18, 2009
See pictures and video from last night's debate
At last nights Mayoral forum in JP at English High School the Mayor did not show up again.
You can see pictures and video here.
The response has been great, after every forum people come up to me and tell me they are voting for me. The Mayor showed up in Back Bay where the rich people are, but he wouldn't show up in East Boston, Roxbury or JP.
Time for a Change
You can see pictures and video here.
The response has been great, after every forum people come up to me and tell me they are voting for me. The Mayor showed up in Back Bay where the rich people are, but he wouldn't show up in East Boston, Roxbury or JP.
Time for a Change
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
With Emily Rooney yesterday on Greater Boston
Mayoral candidates: Kevin McCrea
"He’s been a geophysicist, condo developer and motorcycle racer. Now he is looking to lead the city. Greater Boston’s profiles on the mayoral candidates continues with Kevin McCrea."
"He’s been a geophysicist, condo developer and motorcycle racer. Now he is looking to lead the city. Greater Boston’s profiles on the mayoral candidates continues with Kevin McCrea."
Live Chat Today on Boston.com
Live Chat with me today at Boston.com, please send in any and all questions!
Yoon's campaign manager threatens and swears at me and then tells the Globe that I'm not civil!
The Boston Globe did a profile piece on me this week which I thought was very fair. In the article, Sam Yoon's campaign manager Jim Spencer was quoted as saying: “If we’re trying to bring a new civility into Boston politics so that we can get things done, clearly Kevin McCrea is not a very good ambassador."
My new definition of politician is "one with no shame." Earlier this year Jim Spencer called me at home, cussed me out and threatened me. Why? Because I had the audacity as a citizen to ask Sam Yoon a question about why he voted for a certain bill. Not very civil. I've invited Sam Yoon to my house for dinner, congratulated him on his City Council victory, and called his office to work on the transparency committee he said he was going to initiate at his 'hearing on transparency' he held last December. It is nine months later and nothing has been done, no committee on transparency, but Sam uses the fact that he held a hearing last December in his stump speech as if having a meeting for an hour or two and then not doing anything is some sort of action on an issue.
I've held back on writing or talking about his because both Sam Yoon and Jim Spencer called to apologize for Spencer's actions but if they then want to tell the press that I'm not civil, well I beg to differ.
JIM SPENCER THREATENING KEVIN McCREA
February 21, 2009
As I reported on my blog, on Wednesday night I ran into Sam Yoon at the Strand Theater for the premier “The Black List”. I asked Sam why he had voted to change City Laws to give Paul Walkowski a $15,000 raise (almost 40 percent!) to write a report on excluding the City Council from the Open Meeting Law. Sam said it was a worthy question and instructed me to call his office to set up a meeting.
The next day I called Sam’s office and asked for a meeting. They put me on hold for 15 minutes and then told me that Sam didn’t have any time to meet and couldn’t schedule anything to answer a question from a constituent. They offered a phone call, but as I explained I wanted to show Sam a video of him voting for this and get his explanation. I asked for the first 10 minutes he had available at City Hall in the next 6 months, and I offered to meet him any time, any where, but they still said he was unavailable. They said he was on a 24/7 election cycle and he couldn’t commit to anything. Sure sounds like a politician to me I mentioned, different from his public statements that he is not a politician. They answered that Sam is not a politician, he is “an elected official”. They asked me to leave my number and if anything came up they would get back to me.
Jim Spencer, who is sort of the Karl Rove to Sam, and runs his campaign called me and left two messages Thursday before he we traded voice messages and he called me Friday afternoon around 3:30.
Jim proceeded to instruct me that this is a political question, not a constituent question and that as a Mayoral candidate I would get my chance in some forum in the future to ask the question. I pointed out that I was a constituent that Sam is my city councilor and is getting paid $80,000 dollars plus to handle constituent issues and I had asked him this question before he announced he was running for Mayor.
Jim let me know that Sam is running a serious campaign, that he expects that I will be running a serious campaign, and that Sam was spending his Friday afternoon making phone calls for campaign contributions. He said they had a lot of work to do, a lot of people to talk to, and a lot of money to raise. Jim let me know he is a very busy guy, and that Sam is a busy guy and that they and I shouldn’t be wasting our time with this, and that I shouldn’t be engaging in “gotcha politics.”
He proceeded to tell me that my blog wasn’t transparent because I moderated it. He says that they tried to post something on my blog but that it wasn’t posted. I asked him what it was and he couldn’t remember it exactly but it was something to do with one of their staffers getting me information. I told him that I had to start moderating comments because people were swearing and saying disparaging things about my family, but that if comments were respectful I posted them even if they were critical of me, which some of them are. He appreciated that sentiment, and I said to him that he was obviously free to post something on Sam’s blog (which Sam hasn’t updated since 2005: http://www.wymsy.net/website.cfm?websiteid=2861&page=42&threadid=8&threadname=Same%20Sex%20Marriage&mode=publish)
He let me know that Sam is a “straightforward and honest guy” but then Jim Spencer warned me in a harsh tone of voice “but I am a political player so DON’T FUCK WITH ME BECAUSE I WILL FUCK BACK!”
He said that Sam’s staff had been working on getting my public records request done, but that it was the City that wanted to charge me money for the information. He said it shouldn’t be that way, and that Sam WANTS to be open and transparent. [what is preventing him?]
After ranting a bit more he finally asked me what I wanted to know from Sam and I told him the same thing I have been saying, that it was in an email to Sam and is on my blog: why did Sam vote to give Walkowski a $15,000 raise and a pension giveaway.
Jim proceeded to tell me that it is easy to be on the outside looking in, but that on the inside you have to get things done.
I told him that it seems like it was just a go along to get along arrangement and Jim said “Sure it was a go along to get along” thing that was “probably out of respect for Jimmy Kelly”.
He then proceeded to tell me that “Kevin McCrea is not a very rational guy”. I asked him why I was not a rational guy, and he again said I was wasting his time and mine with this phone call and we mutually agreed we both had better things to do and we signed off.
5 minutes later Sam Yoon called and left a message (I was busy with other stuff), we connected a bit later and Sam offered to set up a meeting to talk [after his staff said he didn’t have any time in the next 6 months?] about the Walkowski thing. I told him my head wasn’t clear at the moment after having his campaign manager threaten and swear at me. I did tell him that I did think he wanted to change things, as do I, but that he has one way to do it and I have another, and my way doesn’t involve threatening people. We wrapped up the phone call when he mentioned he was late to see his family and I wished him well.
February 25, 2009
Jim Spencer calls sometime after 7 pm and leaves the following message: “yeah, Kevin this is Jim Spencer calling when you get a chance if you would give me a ring maybe in my office tomorrow my number is 617-561-3296 you know I really wanted to call you up you know and apologize for our conversation the other day, I’m really sorry that you saw what I said as threatening it was certainly not my intention to threaten you and if you took it that way I definitely apologize for it, and if you would give me a call when you get a chance I would love to talk to you about it, …thanks and I hope things are going well.”
My new definition of politician is "one with no shame." Earlier this year Jim Spencer called me at home, cussed me out and threatened me. Why? Because I had the audacity as a citizen to ask Sam Yoon a question about why he voted for a certain bill. Not very civil. I've invited Sam Yoon to my house for dinner, congratulated him on his City Council victory, and called his office to work on the transparency committee he said he was going to initiate at his 'hearing on transparency' he held last December. It is nine months later and nothing has been done, no committee on transparency, but Sam uses the fact that he held a hearing last December in his stump speech as if having a meeting for an hour or two and then not doing anything is some sort of action on an issue.
I've held back on writing or talking about his because both Sam Yoon and Jim Spencer called to apologize for Spencer's actions but if they then want to tell the press that I'm not civil, well I beg to differ.
JIM SPENCER THREATENING KEVIN McCREA
February 21, 2009
As I reported on my blog, on Wednesday night I ran into Sam Yoon at the Strand Theater for the premier “The Black List”. I asked Sam why he had voted to change City Laws to give Paul Walkowski a $15,000 raise (almost 40 percent!) to write a report on excluding the City Council from the Open Meeting Law. Sam said it was a worthy question and instructed me to call his office to set up a meeting.
The next day I called Sam’s office and asked for a meeting. They put me on hold for 15 minutes and then told me that Sam didn’t have any time to meet and couldn’t schedule anything to answer a question from a constituent. They offered a phone call, but as I explained I wanted to show Sam a video of him voting for this and get his explanation. I asked for the first 10 minutes he had available at City Hall in the next 6 months, and I offered to meet him any time, any where, but they still said he was unavailable. They said he was on a 24/7 election cycle and he couldn’t commit to anything. Sure sounds like a politician to me I mentioned, different from his public statements that he is not a politician. They answered that Sam is not a politician, he is “an elected official”. They asked me to leave my number and if anything came up they would get back to me.
Jim Spencer, who is sort of the Karl Rove to Sam, and runs his campaign called me and left two messages Thursday before he we traded voice messages and he called me Friday afternoon around 3:30.
Jim proceeded to instruct me that this is a political question, not a constituent question and that as a Mayoral candidate I would get my chance in some forum in the future to ask the question. I pointed out that I was a constituent that Sam is my city councilor and is getting paid $80,000 dollars plus to handle constituent issues and I had asked him this question before he announced he was running for Mayor.
Jim let me know that Sam is running a serious campaign, that he expects that I will be running a serious campaign, and that Sam was spending his Friday afternoon making phone calls for campaign contributions. He said they had a lot of work to do, a lot of people to talk to, and a lot of money to raise. Jim let me know he is a very busy guy, and that Sam is a busy guy and that they and I shouldn’t be wasting our time with this, and that I shouldn’t be engaging in “gotcha politics.”
He proceeded to tell me that my blog wasn’t transparent because I moderated it. He says that they tried to post something on my blog but that it wasn’t posted. I asked him what it was and he couldn’t remember it exactly but it was something to do with one of their staffers getting me information. I told him that I had to start moderating comments because people were swearing and saying disparaging things about my family, but that if comments were respectful I posted them even if they were critical of me, which some of them are. He appreciated that sentiment, and I said to him that he was obviously free to post something on Sam’s blog (which Sam hasn’t updated since 2005: http://www.wymsy.net/website.cfm?websiteid=2861&page=42&threadid=8&threadname=Same%20Sex%20Marriage&mode=publish)
He let me know that Sam is a “straightforward and honest guy” but then Jim Spencer warned me in a harsh tone of voice “but I am a political player so DON’T FUCK WITH ME BECAUSE I WILL FUCK BACK!”
He said that Sam’s staff had been working on getting my public records request done, but that it was the City that wanted to charge me money for the information. He said it shouldn’t be that way, and that Sam WANTS to be open and transparent. [what is preventing him?]
After ranting a bit more he finally asked me what I wanted to know from Sam and I told him the same thing I have been saying, that it was in an email to Sam and is on my blog: why did Sam vote to give Walkowski a $15,000 raise and a pension giveaway.
Jim proceeded to tell me that it is easy to be on the outside looking in, but that on the inside you have to get things done.
I told him that it seems like it was just a go along to get along arrangement and Jim said “Sure it was a go along to get along” thing that was “probably out of respect for Jimmy Kelly”.
He then proceeded to tell me that “Kevin McCrea is not a very rational guy”. I asked him why I was not a rational guy, and he again said I was wasting his time and mine with this phone call and we mutually agreed we both had better things to do and we signed off.
5 minutes later Sam Yoon called and left a message (I was busy with other stuff), we connected a bit later and Sam offered to set up a meeting to talk [after his staff said he didn’t have any time in the next 6 months?] about the Walkowski thing. I told him my head wasn’t clear at the moment after having his campaign manager threaten and swear at me. I did tell him that I did think he wanted to change things, as do I, but that he has one way to do it and I have another, and my way doesn’t involve threatening people. We wrapped up the phone call when he mentioned he was late to see his family and I wished him well.
February 25, 2009
Jim Spencer calls sometime after 7 pm and leaves the following message: “yeah, Kevin this is Jim Spencer calling when you get a chance if you would give me a ring maybe in my office tomorrow my number is 617-561-3296 you know I really wanted to call you up you know and apologize for our conversation the other day, I’m really sorry that you saw what I said as threatening it was certainly not my intention to threaten you and if you took it that way I definitely apologize for it, and if you would give me a call when you get a chance I would love to talk to you about it, …thanks and I hope things are going well.”
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