city council

Boston City Council to consider bike-sharing program

adamg — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:09:03 -0400

At-large Councilor John Connolly is calling for a hearing to consider creation of a European-style bike-sharing program in Boston. The Menino administration has already begun looking at ways of increasing bicycle usage in Boston.

Connolly says the city should look at options from letting people use communal bikes for free to a ZipCar-like bike-rental program for people who need a bike for a short period of time.

City Council: Take your stinkin' dog-rental plan elsewhere

adamg — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:08:17 -0400

The Herald reports the Boston City Council voted (when?) to ban dog rentals in Boston - even as pet abandonments in the state rise threefold.

Ed. English-usage question: The Herald calls city councilors "solons." When did that happen? I thought only senators were "solons." And now I find myself wishing for a story involving solons and jakes.

East Boston Times: Sorry excuse of a newspaper or what?

adamg — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:02:25 -0400

Jimbo makes the case. Potential mayoral candidate Michael Flaherty is involved. I'd link to the paper's initial story and the column that has Jimbo upset, but the East Boston Times has kind of a pitiful Web site that is perpetually out of date.

Michael Flaherty needs to bone up on his reading skills

adamg — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:15:49 -0400

Tom Menino sure pulled a good one on him, slipping $2 million into the city budget to study moving City Hall to South Boston, which Flaherty managed to vote for even though he opposes the move, because, well, it was on page 342 of the budget:

In an interview after the hearing, he said that he did not realize he had already voted to approve the funding for the studies.

As a reporter, I once covered a similar issue in Natick - when one selectman realized he'd been similarly, if not quite so back-of-the-bookishly, bamboozled, he said "If I'd realized what I was voting for, I would have voted against myself."

No offense to Natick, but shouldn't we expect more from Boston councilors, who, after all, get paid full-time wages? Surely a man who would be mayor of Boston would realize he has to be on guard when it comes to the man who is mayor of Boston - even if he does have a point about spending $2 million on a study like that in times like these.

Hell on wheels

adamg — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:30:02 -0400

If Boston cab-fleet owners want fare increases, they should be forced to clean up their acts, City Council President Maureen Feeney says in a letter to Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who oversees taxi fares in Boston.

The taxicab industry has been described as "sharecropping on wheels" with drivers forced to pay thousands of dollars in fees before they can earn any salary. This system penalizes both drivers and passengers. It is time for a comprehensive look at our taxi cab system in Boston. I ask you to strongly consider establishing a commission to review the taxi cab industry in Boston and recommend reforms to address the serious concerns raised both by passengers and by drivers.

My office has received several reports of illegal and out-of-town cabs operating in Boston, and of illegal kickbacks from hotel doormen to livery services. Taxi cab drivers face serious challenges and, in addition to your hearing today, I hope you will continue to work with them to address these issues. ...

Globe: Taxi drivers push for fare increases.

Earlier:
Unfare?
Boston to Brookline cabbies: Butt out.

Man from Nantucket makes bid for Boston City Council

adamg — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:24:18 -0400

There once was a man from Nantucket
Floppy-haired selectman who stuck it
But to Boston he flew
City council he knew
Alas, voters told him, oh, f**k it

Oh, I'm sure you can do better, so have at it.

How Boston could save money

adamg — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:26:22 -0400

Stop fighting open-meeting lawsuits you're going to to lose anyway. Kevin McCrea, one of the plaintiffs in the latest open-meeting lawsuit, which the city, yes, basically lost, discusses the case and the $50,000 to $100,000 the city has had to spend on it so far:

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

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

State appeals court to Boston City Council: Knock it off

adamg — Thu, 01 May 2008 11:22:33 -0400

Terry Klein has a copy of the decision and some analysis of a case in which the council was accused of illegally barring the public from at least 10 meetings over a two-year period (including one on a tularemia outbreak at a BU lab). Although the court sent some issues back to a lower court for final disposition, the justices are clearly getting a little tired of the Boston City Council, in a decision that starts:

The city council of Boston finds itself, not for the first time, on the losing end of a determination that it has improperly excluded the public from its deliberations. ...

Elections on Saturdays?

adamg — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:45:36 -0400

City Councilor John Tobin thinks it would increase voter turnout; doesn't seem too concerned about observant Jews, ~~Jehovah's Witnesses~~ Seventh-Day Adventists.

The commercialization of Boston Common

adamg — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:55:42 -0400

The Alliance of Boston Neighborhoods wonders what happens when City Hall moves to South Boston - where will all the large events the city wants to move to the plaza from the Common go? And given how many of those events have been political in nature, what does Councilor Michael Ross, who represents Beacon Hil and the Back Bay have against democracy?

... For some reason, the discussion seems to have turned from protecting the green to raking in the green, and Councilor Ross opined that "cafés, restaurants, and other commercial ventures might be a good replacement for large-scale events." Of course! Commerce is pretty much the same as democratic assembly, except for the doorman in front and the bill at the end. Customers are citizens -- even better, right? Sure keeps out the poor and homeless, and good riddance, I say! The public realm is no place for 'em! And Ross responded to Tom Kershaw's complaint that he can't make enough money on Common land with his skating business on our Frog Pond, and would now like a liquor license for a night club. The alcohol prohibition on the Common, Ross offered, should be reconsidered. ...