Charlesview

BRA postpones vote on moving Allston housing complex

adamg — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:44:31 +0000

Harry Mattison gets the scoop on the delay of tomorrow's originally scheduled vote. Michael Pahre wonders if it has to do with local officials, in particular Councilor Ciommo, still expressing reservations over the latest proposal.

BRA has records it's not coughing up

adamg — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:12:01 +0000

Harry Mattison, who posted copies of BRA correspondence about the Charlesview project he got under a public-records request, notes today's Globe story about those records, and reads an interesting sentence in that story:

Elsbree said BRA staff had reviewed the project's finances to ensure that it can be completed.

See, in his public-records request, Mattison specifically requested "all financial documents" related to Charlesview, and yet the CD he got from City Hall had no financial documents in it. What do you say, Brighton resident and Secretary of State Bill Galvin?

Mattison also explains how Mayor Menino, who controls the BRA, has mishandled the Charlesview process.

Ed. note: Naturally, the Globe doesn't link to Mattison's collection of e-mails. Click on the first link in this post for them. UPDATE: They added a link.

Copies of BRA correspondence on a Harvard project in Allston

adamg — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:16:28 +0000

Harry Mattison posts copies of BRA correspondence related to the Charlesview project that he got under a public-records request. As is usual with such stuff, the BRA gave him photocopies of printouts of the e-mail, rather than, oh, a CD with text.

Just in the first couple of pages, it's interesting to see BRA hostility toward a neighborhood group.

Apparently, Boston City Hall has run out of blank CDs

adamg — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:24:32 +0000

You may recall how, in a fit of pique, city lawyers last Friday dumped a shopping-cart worth of paper copies of e-mail on a desk and told reporters to have at it for a few minutes.

They've done it again. Harry Mattison reports the BRA pulled the same paper-copies shtik on him in response to a public-records request he made related to BRA dealings on the Charlesview relocation project. Because, you know, providing electronic copies of the electronic documents would make things too easy or something. He also reports the only reason the BRA didn't charge him $560.39 for the basic search and 20 cents per page for each copy was because City Councilor Mark Ciommo got involved, which is probably a good thing since the papers rise nine inches high (with photo of the stack).