Mike Ross
Mike Ross to stay in Boston, not run for Congress
By adamg - 1/23/12 - 3:55 pmThe Boston city councilor today announced he won't be moving to Newton to run for the congressional seat being given up by Barney Frank.
In a statement, Ross explained why he felt he would make a good representative, but doesn't really say why he decided not to run, except that "the difficult decision that a run for this congressional seat is not the best decision for me at this time."
His complete statement:
Mike Ross gets closer to moving out of Boston
By adamg - 12/13/11 - 7:53 pmSets up exploratory committee for possible run for Congress in the 4th District. Legally, he doesn't have to move to Newton, or wherever, but in practical terms, if he runs, he's outta here.
Mike Ross thinking of moving out of Boston to run for Congress
By adamg - 11/30/11 - 8:57 pmThe Jamaica Plain Gazette reports the Boston city councilor is considering moving back to Newton, where he grew up, to run for Barney Frank's seat.
School Committee approves school moves; Mike Ross decries blow to democracy
By adamg - 11/16/11 - 7:12 amThe Globe reports the School Committee gave its pro-forma approval last night to Superintendent Carol Johnson's school musical chairs.
Ross angrily denounced the plan to move the Mission Hill K-8 School in his district to the closed Agassiz in Jamaica Plain; according to the Globe, he uttered the ultimate Boston political insult: That moves like that mean "Boston will never be considered a world-class city."
Trash talking at the City Council: Proposals would limit hours, numbers of commercial trash haulers in Boston
By adamg - 9/27/11 - 7:59 amTwo city councilors are working on proposals that could prohibit 3 a.m. commercial trash pickups in neighborhoods like the North End and limit the number of companies allowed to pick up trash there at all.
Mike Ross: If City Hall won't build a school for Back Bay/Beacon Hill, use empty space in City Hall
By adamg - 6/27/11 - 4:36 pmCity Councilor Mike Ross, who represents the two neighborhoods, says parents there have the lowest odds of winning the school assignment lottery of any in the city and that he's getting tired of being repeatedly put off by school and BRA officials - eight years after they rejected a proposal by parents to buy a private building and just give it to the city for a school.
The effort to site a school that serves downtown families should be prioritized. Parents have not soon forgot when in 2003 the city walked away from an opportunity to purchase a school on Brimmer Street from Emerson College. The total cost of purchase and renovation would have been approximately 14 million dollars, a fraction of what a school would cost today. Today the Brimmer Street location is home to a private school. Eight years later the school department and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) say that they are "working on a solution." Their meetings need to be transparent and open to the public. Their solutions need to be more imaginative. ... If the Boston team cannot find a location for a downtown school they need to get more creative. Somewhere within the monolith of City Hall there must be space for a school. Perhaps the pitter-patter of tiny shoes will get the BRA motivated to try harder. Even the Parkman House on Beacon Street could be put to use.
Check out the racial, geographic and gender makeup of workforces at large Boston construction sites
By adamg - 1/13/11 - 4:13 pmAs promised by city councilors Mike Ross and Ayanna Pressley, a city Web site now lets you see how construction projects in the city match up with the city's construction job policy, which asks developers to ensure at least half their workers are Boston residents, 25% are people of color and 10% are women.
City councilors want to unleash a squadron of food trucks
By adamg - 12/8/10 - 4:04 pmCouncilors Mike Ross and Sal Lamattina propose up to 25 new licenses for food trucks to roam the city, bringing fresh, hot, inexpensive meals to the masses.
Ross: Turner must go, like, on Friday
By adamg - 11/29/10 - 2:32 pm
City Council President Mike Ross says he is reluctantly urging his colleagues to expel Roxbury Councilor Chuck Turner at a meeting on Wednesday.
In a letter to councilors, Ross said he appreciates the long years of hard work Turner has put in, but said the council has little choice but to expel him immediately now that he's a convicted felon, rather than waiting to see if a judge lets him out on probation in January, as Turner had requested, in the hopes he could finish out his term:
We have but one judicial system in this country, and whether we personally agree with the verdict or not, a jury of his peers found Councilor Turner guilty of very serious crimes. As public officials, we are sworn to uphold the laws of this city, state and nation. We are not above the law and none of us is above the rules we have established as a body. If we act as if we are this body loses its credibility, its integrity and the trust of the people we serve. Many are cynical of government as it is, we cannot add to their distrust.
Ross said if the council agrees, he would also move to continue paying Turner's staff members to continue their constituent work and to hold elections in Turner's District 7 as soon as possible.
The council meeting begins at 3 p.m. in the council's fifth-floor chambers in City Hall.
Ross's letter and background material (1.5M PDF file).
What if students living off campus had to sign leases that included a ban on loud parties?
By adamg - 11/7/10 - 6:21 pmNorthEndWaterfront.com reports city councilors Mike Ross (of course) and Sal LaMattina are working on an idea to "have students sign leases where certain loud party' terms are included." The idea is to then enforce those terms with fines or outright eviction.
Why is NorthEndWaterfront.com reporting on this? Seems the North End might soon have to rename itself East Allston, based on a rising number of complaints about out-of-control parties run by college students (the more enterprising of whom charge admission).
