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uh huh
Marty Walsh:
First Amendment lawyer Harvey Silverglate said protesters’ rights to free speech “go out the window” when they cause such massive disruption — and municipal employees have fewer such rights than regular citizens.
Harvey Silverglate seems to know Nelli's termination was a result of her protest not because her protest cause an intended traffic backup, which in turn and which she may not have considered, kept an ambulance from taking I-93.
It'll be interesting to see if we re-restrict driving in the breakdown lane after this. I don't think we will. Whose fault is that? Three legislators proposed laws that increase fines and jail time, and make it a felony.
This will have a chilling effect on city workers exercise of free speech.
Municipal worker's have
Municipal worker's have freedom of speech? Clearly you slept through the Menino administration!
Who got fired for protesting under Menino? More importantly...
Long before Nelli Ruotsalainen protested on I-93, Massachusetts decided to eliminate the breakdown lane and use it for rush hour traffic. The reason an ambulance couldn't take I-93 to get to Mass General (Mass Pike was "open") was because we (government, MassDOT, etc) decided to trade-off safety for increased auto capacity. That is not on Nelli Ruotsalainen, that is on us.
In 1981, firefighters blocked 93 to protest layoffs; no arrests
In 1981, firefighters and others blocked highways to protest layoffs; no arrests
bluemassgroup:
Interesting, I hadn't heard
Interesting, I hadn't heard of that, though I have heard many of the stories from the old time Boston firefighters of how bad those times were, while firefighters kept getting laid off and firehouses closed, there were more and more fires in the city.
But I don't necessarily look upon this quite the same as BlueMassGroup does in terms of why there were no arrests. In the protests they described, there was a significantly larger number of protesters, which of course makes it harder to even want to make arrests (so yeah, when protesting, do so in larger groups), and they only blocked the highway with their bodies for 20 minutes, not with half ton drums of concrete for 2 1/2 hours. That seems to me to be an obvious difference between the two and how they were handled, and if anything, in Boston at least, now is the most protester-friendly time than ever (read about the old TPF)
It happened.
It was a point to be made against a Mayor who was laying off firefighters and demanded the passage of his 'Tregor Bill'.
It didn't last long and was not repeated. The point was made.
There was one on Storrow Drive, too.
Off to watch the game.
firefighters and anarchists (formerly occupy)
On one hand, no one was arrested and no one was fired. That's the firefighters.
On the other hand, everyone was arrested and everyone who worked for the city was fired.
Now, the 28 protestors expected to be arrested. That is the nature of non-violent civil-disobedience. What is odd is that not one of the firefighters were arrested, not one. Boston Police didn't investigate and arrest the leaders. There was no law enforcement and no one claimed it caused a public safety crisis.
In firing Nelli, Mayor Walsh said he did not fire her for protesting per se, he did it because the protest caused a public safety crisis. I've tried to show how that is a specious argument. We traded off breakdown lanes for travel lanes-- that is our priority. The ambulance could have gone to Rhode Island. it was closer.
The conclusion that I come to is that when it comes to protesting on the highway different constituencies get preferential treatment, and some are punished more than others for reasons given that don't stand up to scrutiny or the facts.
The reason none were arrested
The protesting firefighters were also acting as proxies for the police, who were also experiencing layoffs but would have faced repercussions if they'd acted as the FFs did. If anyone thinks none of the 1981 protesters were arrested because they were nicer, or something, here's a bit from a news report of the time:
Note that there have been no reports of the the 2015 Rte 93 demonstrators confronting or threatening Boston Police in such a manner, yet they are arrested, while the 1981 demonstrators were not.
You seem to be hung up on this one incident with firemen
yet as I've stated before, it was stupid then and even stupider now. When you say the ambulance could have gone to Rhode Island, it begs the question: who the fuck are you to say where an ambulance with a sick person should go?
Again, this is an attitude of sheer narcissism. You fail to see that trying to drag unwilling participants into your little sideshow is not only inconsiderate, it turns more people off to your cause then helps them to see that it is just.
Thank you
I've been reading this thread off and on since it was posted and I agree. Anonymous isn't make a great case, and is hung up on one or two issues, rather than the whole picture.
Erase the ambulance and firemen argument for a moment, and you'll understand that it still was an asinine thing to do, which not only deflected from the real issue of your protest, but you've managed to piss off so many more people now, that your 'movement' has little or no support anymore from the general public.
That and I cannot simply believe you're wasting your time argument for this so called protest, when the people who did this weren't even really apart of the movement (the original one) and were just a bunch of trustifarian opportunistic anarchists, who really could care less about BlackLives but more about pushing their own anarchist agenda further.
Just admit it, you lost. You lost all the support you had before due to a bunch of idiotic anarchists with something to prove. Good luck trying to re-gain the public's support for these protests. You wont. But go ahead, keep trying to convince us it was the right thing to do, you're just digging your hole deeper and deeper.
Nelli Ruotsalainen
obviously has no friends or family in the trade unions.
athlete, good student. worked in payroll youth services
Looks like she came to the US to go to URI and she was a kick ass soccer player. Also, she won awards for her scholarship.
As a payroll staff assistant, she processed payroll for thousands of youth employees, clerked, worked on constituent correspondence and did site visits to review employment standards.
Somehow I think we're firing the kind of employee we're fortunate to have because they protested and stopped a lot of traffic not becuase of how they do their job.
Stupidity is no excuse
It's not like she was at an antiwar or pro pot rally exercising her right to free speech. She knowingly participated in an event that drew people into it that had no choice or stake in the matter. We have a Common, we have a State House, we have the internet. There are plenty of places where people can express their sentiments about problems without creating a dangerous situation for others, first responders and their own dumb asses.
To me,these aren't protesters, they're narcissists.
I respect your right to view their protest as motivated
I respect your right to view their protest as motivated by a personality trait but I don't agree. Since Eric Garner's jury returned no true bill on December 3, protestors all over the US have used this same tactic--blocked traffic on major transportation routes. They tried to four times at an earlier protest in Boston with 1400 people there. Our state police blocked them from taknig the ramp. Black Lives Matter protestors did so successfully in Providence, also in Ferguson, Oakland, etc etc. No this is not about the personalities of the 28 people arrested Thursday on I93. It is extremely disruptive, that is its purpose, that is its controversy.
Yes, but is it right?
I am not belittling their cause in any way, only their methods. You cite examples where others have done this stunt, yet does that make it right? As much as people should have the choice to express themselves, what gives them the right to involve people who do not wish to participate? Or to put themselves and others at risk?
This is not the sixties. What sets these idiots apart from those brave souls back then is that those people lived, eat and breathed their cause 24/7, not when there is no new iPhone to stand in line for or a Skrillex concert to go to.
The civil rights leaders we roundly approve of now
The civil rights leaders we roundly approve of now, like Martin Luther King Jr, did not have popular support for his protests. He was viewed as threatening, albeit less threatening than Malcolm X, a Bostonian. (Also MLK went to BU for his doctorate.)
The black kids that sat at lunch counters were not hailed as heroes, they were challenging the status quo and everyone wanted them to find another way to make their point.
It wasn't until people across the country saw the use of state violence to suppress civil rights protests such as marching from Selma to Birmingham, that the public changed their minds.
These protests wont work the same way, they don't count on state violence to change public opinion. Instead, they're saying we will disrupt until the issues are addressed.
We have a forward thinking legislature. Between December 3 and January 15, three state legislators have written bills that address the issues.
Now if we could get Marty Walsh to recognize that Bostonians who are black and who are not criminals and who live in Dorchester and Roxbury and who do not want to be stopped repeatedly by police because they're "suspicious" should be able to have that. Let's figure out a way.
The Bay State Banner -- Jan 15, 2015
http://t.baystatebanner.com/news/2015/jan/15/dorchester-residents-slam-p...
Choices, eh?
Responding to the questions you pose in the first paragraph...
What gives police departments around the country the right to racial profile, stop, frisk, harass and detain persons of color at a much higher rate than others. Can you at least see the similarities between having no choice in being racially profiled and having no choice if you get stuck in traffic?
How many of those people in that
traffic jam are guilty of racial profiling?
That's a ridiculous logic, anon.
This:
is something that I refuse to buy into.
So if someone treats you
So if someone treats you poorly, you should treat others poorly and that will make it better?
Im all about that dubstep
Skrillex concerts and Iphone updates you say? That's very off-base. Seems like you, the mainstream media, the Boston police and others have heard and then regurgitated the, "these young college students have better knock it off" line. That sh!t it tired and trite.
All, yes literally all, of the people I've met and talked with at the rallys and marches, I've yet to come across a Skrillex fan. And don't worry, thats usually the first question I ask after I met people standing up for justice.
I have come across a old people, young people, white people, black people, asian people, cis-gendered, trans-gendered, and all other sorts of people , standing up to say, "this is wrong."
But who can hear them over the noisy, clumsy, and foolish Skrillex music that is your ignorant line of thought...
Ah, the brashness of youth
Thanks, by the way. For that forward thinking that lumps me in with the mainstream media, the BPD and the power structure for expressing my opinion in a public forum. How tolerant of you.
And I have to ask, as an old white person,where did I say that their cause was wrong?
It's not always what you say, it's how you say it...
You are right. You never explicitly said the cause was wrong, though you certainly inferred it by putting todays movement in contrast to the 60s civil rights movement. And you certainly talked disparagingly about it by making allusions that all protestors are into Skrillex and not dedicated because now people can find out information on phones.
And you lumped yourself in there when you repeated one of their favorite lines and discounted them as 'young technology people' devoid of researched opinions and actual grievances. That's on you friend, not on me.
Okay, but
This:
is something that not only rings very true, but it's something that the protestors might want to consider before they decide to shut down MBTA stations, sit in the middle of the tracks, and toblock traffic, especially on Interstate highways, during rush-hour periods.
If you want a smooth commute...
... then work for justice.
I agree 100% that this protest was idiotic but
I'm shocked that they're firing someone because she participated. Even if it's a "public safety" issue, she did it on her own time, not as a public employee or on office time. If she "endangered public safety" in some other way--driving drunk or setting off fireworks, would she getting fired? The whole thing seems creepy and vindictive.
firing
make bad decisions in your personal life, you have a propensity for it in your professional life. She worked for the Center for Youth and Families. Even in her limited capacity of payroll work, she visited sight offices with children in them at all times of the day. What if she was persuaded to get access to these sights for the demonstrators?? The city has to worry about the Mindset of even part-time payroll clerks.
People all over the U.S. have
People all over the U.S. have used the same tactic? People all over the U.S. do stupid and dangerous things every day. Does that mean we should stop and listen to them?
Why do you dislike working
people Elitistdovv?
Right move by the mayor
Can anyone explain how a girl from Finland gets hired as a communications specialist for youth and families? What are the duties of a communication specialist and how many are on the payroll?
it's silly to claim she's not qualified
I would say that since you don't know what it takes to be a communication specialist, you look silly claiming she's not qualified. She speaks four languages and writes well enough in English to win recognition for her scholarship at URI. We definitely need smarter anons.
Which four languages?
Ones in high demand like Haitian Creole, (Central/south American) Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Caribbean/African French, Cambodian etc.? Not a high demand for purely European languages.
Athletic scholarship or academic?
you're an idiot.
.
English
Sigh.
All Completely Relevant To Teh Citteh.
Don't be ridiculous
People who are good at languages are, in general, a lot better at communicating with people who speak different languages, than people who are not good at languages. I have a lot of confidence that if I put someone who speaks 5 languages at the front desk, she'll find a way to communicate with the Hungarian who comes in looking for help, well enough to get the job done, even if she doesn't speak Hungarian.
If the person at the front desk knows Hungarian, then
of course s/he will be able to communicate to someone who speaks Hungarian as his/her first language.
Scroll up
Scroll up. About 5 lines, and read the part where I wrote
You're just digging yourself in deeper and deeper here in this conversation.
Black Job Matters
They shut down the highways
They got the Media Coverage they wanted
They were released and bailed
One white city worker from RI was fired
She can be replaced by a qualified minority who grew up in the city
Black Job Matters
city job titles
City workers often have generic official job titles which don't represent anything about their day to day responsibilities. Browse through the Herald salary database and you'll see a lot of highly paid "administrative assistants" who are in real life upper management. Of course if you look at their business card or it won't say "administrative assistant". You'll only see it in the files at human resources.
A lot of this has to do with salary. As long as the city keeps everyone at the same salary tagged with the same job title, the system is considered fine.
Didnt think you could plead
Didnt think you could plead the fifth at a labor hearing.
Plead the 5th
you can't, refusal to answer question regard a Labor Relations hearing, even if you are not the subject of the hearing, can get you terminated
Deport!
n/t
Are you a Native American
How do we know that your people came here legally if you aren't?
Maybe we should deport you.
She is quite fair.
Blond hair, blue eyes, exactly the kind of person of European extraction conservatives approve of.
Native American cliche
There is no such thing as a true Native American. Everyone came to the Americas from somewhere else. The group we commonly refer to came here across the Bering Straits from Asia via what we now call Russia.
Sure, they've been here for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years longer than my legally immigrated family, but they're still immigrants.
Yes, I'm 1/32nd Cherokee
Yes, I'm 1/32nd Cherokee, I can't be deported.
Time to go make some popcorn
Time to go make some popcorn and watch the comments roll in on this UHub post
Right?
Almost as good as the bike vs car threads! Our esteemed webmaster knows which side of the bread the olive oil is on.
Personally, I think that Mayor Marty Walsh was right.
The woman in question acted irresponsibly, and proved that she couldn't be trusted. I would've done what Mayor Walsh did, had I been in his place.
The idea that she should be
The idea that she should be fired because she proved she can't be trusted is super scary. We all do things on our days off that aren't appropriate for work.
the idea...
When you're a civil servant, you are held at a different scale than private employees, that's one of the things being a Civil servant is all about, nothing she did on her "unpaid personal day" (in my department that is not allowed) should be considered as civil.
firing Nelli Routsalainen--violation of civil service principles
It's even scarier for the message it sends. It says that if you work for the city, don't protest in a way and for a cause that's in conflict with the mayor's politics, which by the way is a violation of civil service principles.
Walsh continues to maintain that the racial disparity in policing statistics 2007-2010 don't represent how we police now although he wont produce new statitics or explain how policing policy has changed. He says that he doesn't know what the protestors want because they won't meet with him. Meanwhile in a meeting this week, kids and parents in Dorchester met with police and told them they don't feel safe with police in their neighborhood. Read the article in the Bay State Banner
That's nice, but
She ain't civil service.
Take out police and fire, and there aren't many civil service jobs in the City of Boston. Of course, if you ask me they should all be.
What a hypocrite
Right, 'cause Walsh would never do anything like that. I don't think he gives a funk about public safety.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/10/mayor-martin-walsh-vows-keep...
I loathe this guy more and more every day.
on First Night Walsh was all "Dont traumatize the children'
I'm not pleased with this decision but it's his to make. He's not fooling anyone though, it's punitive for protesting.
I also think he's made a big mistake telling Bostonians they have no say-- referendum-- on whether we host the Olympics. Big mistake. This is not the kind of thing you can ram down people's throats.
New polls numbers are in on Boston 2024. Only 11% support. 44% oppose. The rest want to know more. Walsh is popular becuase he's a man of the people. On these two positions, he is not taking the populist position.
Walsh is not a "man of the people"
if he was, the idea of a referendum would not have been shot down by him almost immediately. Marty Walsh is bought and paid for, plain and simple. He will not by any way, shape or form have the career his predecessors had.
Angry
Connollyophile. Get over it. You elitists lost.
Elitist?
You know what I do for a living?
Slapping a keyboard
is no way to make a living. Otherwise Adam would be blogging from Tahiti.
Ha ha ha!
Neither do YOU and your ilk, obviously!
Wait. People's ilks get a bad rap
Wait, how do you know what her ilk is?
I have an idea, let's back off the personal attacks on other people who comment and instead discuss the comment. Can you read the Globe article and comment on what it says about Walsh's effectiveness dealing with public safety issues?
loathe
you could always move…..
She is a part time worker.....
They are very easy to fire. If this was a teacher, she would probably still have her job.
or a fucking cop
Obviously.
Cops doing this would probably be fired.
I know 2 in the last 2-4 years who have been fired for Facebook postings/emails that were non criminal.
If it were a cop who were drunk driving or beating up his wife, he may not have be fired.
It would behoove people
to have a better understanding of labor law, differences between working for a government (municipal, state, county, federal), collective bargaining contract (union), employee at will, contract worker, etc. It seems to me most people very poorly understand labor law and how it affects them, and most also seem to believe they have more 'rights' than they really do, which for most people (who are employee at will) are next to nothing.
This young woman and others like her should have better understanding of labor law, assuming they are actually really surprised she was fired.
well said.
Can you "behoove" us with some insights into labor law that illuminates our understanding of this situation?
"behoove"
I could read you the personal conduct clauses in my union contract that my job has, but they are very boring. But be sure, they are there, the key wording we all know as city workers, " action up to and including termination".
Good job!
"Free speech" sometimes comes with consequences. Here's where I'm called racist and privileged, and that I just don't "get it".
You've got a point, MatthewC, but
I'd put it another way: If people are going to exercise their First Amendment rights, they have to realize that, with the rights of free speech comes a responsibility, which today's protestors, all too often, are unwilling to accept.
She wasn't fired for free speech
She was fired for being arrested. Civil disobedience and free speech are not the same thing.
However, this is why you often get elders, students, and trustifundians doing civil disobedience - they don't face the same consequences as people who have jobs and they know that full well. They are using their privileges because they know that others cannot afford to do so.
If this firing violated the work rules, then there is reason to complain. An example of this would be a contract or other rules specifying that one needed to be convicted and not just arrested. Otherwise, the organization that created this action really needs to get some better people aboard to brief their volunteers on the likely and legal consequences of their actions.
Do you really think that all elders, people with trust funds
and students are out there involved in Civil Disobedience? I've got news for you, SwirlyGrrl. I never did get involved in stuff like that and never will, because it's never been my cup of tea, plus I've had struggles of my own that I'm not about to disclose to you (especially you!) or anybody else on this board, plus it's never really been my cup of tea, anyway.
More to the point, I'm better off for it.
Do you really read posts before you reply to them?
Because I'm pretty sure this poster said no such thing. And you repeatedly assume that posts are directed at you, personally, when they are not. Well, except for this one, which is. Enjoy.
Seriously Miki?
Where in what I posted did I say anything about you personally in any way at all? Please explain for the sane folks here.
Because you have a nasty attitude.
You have such a nasty attitude towards people, including myself, who you don't consider "normal", average people, and/or who have way different opinions than yours. So I think that the tactics that the protestors of the BLM movement are not only excessively and unnecessarily disruptive and really detract from the issue. Boston and the immediate cities and towns surrounding it have a serious congestion problem as it is, even under normal circumstances, especially during rush-hour, or if emergencies really do crop up. The fact that the protestors are unnecessarily making already-hideous situations far worse is what really turns me off, as does the insulting manner of people like yourself who don't like different opinions, because you feel that your so-called rights are under attack.
Well, here's a suggestion, SwirlyGrrl. Stay out of my face, because I don't want to talk or debate with you. Thanks.
Um, okay
If that is your desire, then maybe you shouldn't randomly attack someone whom you have no desire to talk or debate with.
Which is exactly what you just did.
You attacked ME first, SwirlyGrrl, so
I counterattacked you in retaliation. If you can't deal with it, don't bother me anymore.
Please explain
Where, exactly, did I attack you in this post?
It was a reply to MattyC, not to you. In fact, I'm not even sure that Adam had approved your unregistered comment yet when I did reply to MattyC. You are not mentioned in the text at all.
Whoa whoa whoa
I'm not in this thread. That other guy namejacked me.
My apologies!
You all look alike on screen ;)
Sometimes
your idiocy surprises even me, and I'm quite an idiot at times.
I'm an idiot? Hey...speak for yourself, Bob LePonge.
You're a first-class asshole. You and SwirlyGrrl are tied for the first place, imho.
Unlike you, I'M not surprised by the assholism of either you OR SwirlyGrrl.
I do have rather a crush on Swirrly
but since both of us seem to be married, and not to each other, and since I quite like the person to whom I've been married for these past few decades, I'm afraid it'll have to remain unrequited.
Thanks, Bob
Yes, very happily married - planning a 25th anniversary escape to Iceland! But, hey, crushes are fine, and you are so sweet.
Hey
You shouldn't dignify my post with a kind response; that'll just encourage the others.
Non-violent women FIRED, Violent man who carries a gun EMPLOYED
Nelli Routsalainen was fired on the spot for allegedly creating a public safety crisis. The fact is, as far as we know, not one person was hurt. A lot of people were delayed.
Mike Doherty is alleged to have assaulted his girlfriend, assaulted an Uber driver, taken the Uber driver's car, assaulted a good Samaritan and yelled racial slurs at them. He is still getting paid on administrative leave.
There are employment contracts at play here and likely Nelli is an employee-at-will but no one forced Marty Walsh to fire the Nelli without the same kind of due process other employees get under collective bargaining.
Apples to Oranges?
Or maybe
Currantinnnen to (Imported, bien sur) Lemoninnen.
"Allegedly" creating a public safety crisis?
Kind of denying the facts here, eh?You really think Doherty will ever be a cop here again?
When they start a union for moronic agitators with inflated senses of self worth, I'm sure Ms.Routsalainen will be well represented by her union delegate.
Identify one member of the public who was harmed.
Identify one member of the public who was harmed. I'll wait.
There certainly was potential but if our judgement rests on facts there was no public safety crisis manifest.
Not this time
I'll wait for when the Code Pink people decide to stop traffic on 128. Or maybe when PETA decides to shut down the Pike. See where I'm going with this?
harmed
everybody driving on that road was harmed, just not the way that satisfies your emotions. they blocked a Federal Highway for christ sake! You bike riders just don't get that people need these roads everyday for every reason under the sun.
Risk of self-harm
I was so very "harmed" that I didn't even realize that anything unusual was happening. Seemed like the usual traffic cluster to me.
Those who jumped on inbound of the barricade got a much faster commute than they usually do. They actually benefited from the blockage.
If the traffic jams that resulted are "harm" then we need some serious measures to prevent "self harm" by those who create traffic jams on a daily basis.
"When they start a union"
There already is such a union.
Where they proceeded to block all traffic. They did it again the two days later. Nobody was arrested.
Stupid then
Stupid now. What's your point?
False equilevence
Doherty would be long (Pre-Über incident) gone from the force if he were a part time, nonunion, non-civil service employee. But he isn't, so due process has to run its course.
As I wrote earlier on this, I once helped counsel for a national airline who needed proof that a pilot was arrested for robbing the PX at Westover AFB, a crime that ended in a police standoff. They were conducting the termination hearing something like TWO years after the incident.
I comment here anonymously partially because I could totally see my employer try to use some non-work related post to somehow shitcan me. And I have 2 of the 3 protections Doherty has. But feel free to keep your fiction up.
On a completely, and perhaps contradictory, note. Good to see you commenting again. Haven't seen you in a while.
I'm equating two things,
I'm equating two things,
He has labor agreement protections. She does not. I am not equating their protections. I'm equating their status as an employee of Boston and that they both were arrested. It is not a false equivalency.
There are factors outside of the equivalency that are not equal that explain the disparate treatment in some part.
I'm saying he's getting highly favorable treatment and she is getting prejudicial and punitive treatment.
I don't think she should have been fired. I think the public safety crisis is largely a political fiction.
Nice to see you too, my friend.
I don't get why you don't understand this
The City would love to do to Doherty what they did to the Finnish girl, so why would they not do it to her?
They don't want to be discriminatory (relating the two cases to each other), but they are hamstrung with Doherty.
Whether she should have been fired is not my issue. The reality is that she can. I've seen people's careers end with the City of Boston over less and seen people who the City of Boston wanted to fire keep on with their jobs due to due process.
To put it this way:
Neither Nelli or Mike Doherty are exactly role models to uphold. Why didn't Walsh act even more fairly and just can both of them?
Excellent Point!
Walsh and Evans SHOULD have fired Doherty on the spot, not only because he deserved it but also for public relations reasons. Let him and his union take the city to court.
Why would BPD want to be associated with Doherty for a single day? Until they clean their own house, they won't have the public's full support.
Yet gun-toting bigot thug Doherty
Is still collecting a paycheck. How come Walsh didn't have to wait for a conviction to fire this lady? The irony is priceless. Walsh hasn't uttered word one about our own favorite racist scumbag cop, but he sure was swift and decisive here.
To me, it indicates where he really stands on toleration of police racism and violence, and it really ain't good. Lot of nasty trends going on in America right now, in terms of economics, police misconduct and militarization, as well as a lot of disturbing and misguided dialogue about "the limits of free speech". Walsh is not helping, as far as I can tell.
Walsh won't need a conviction for Doherty either.
If Walsh could fire Doherty right now, he would. But Doherty isn't a part time worker. Part time workers can be fired for showing up to work late.
Walsh goes along to get along
Walsh in some way is like George W Bush. A guy you would like to sit in a bar with and maybe have a beer and talk shit with. No more, no less.
When you look at Marty Walsh, do you see a leader? Do you see a guy as comfortable with the Brahmins as well as the blacks? No. Walsh will never be an inspirational figure in this city. Like Bush, he was put in place to do a job as it's directed to him by others. Let's just hope he doesn't crash this city the way the bigger puppet did to the rest of the country.
Dvdoff.....
Sounds like you are saying Walsh is some sort of politician or something.
Come now..
Does Walsh possess one tenth of the charisma of a Kevin White or one fifth the balls of a Tom Menino?
The fault in your stars
Both Kevin White and Tom Menino had some well-known failings
Marty's been in office for one year. I'd like to give him some more time.
Has he done ANYTHING right by you or should someone else have been elected?
No.
Not yet. You'd have to agree Mahty is off to a somewhat tepid beginning, no?
Charisma on the part of politicians.
Back in the late 1960's (when then-Mayor Kevin White first became elected mayor of Boston and took power.), there were some really charismatic politicians/leaders (then-Mayor Kevin White among them), who the young people of that day really looked up to, admired, and voted for, if they were old enough to vote. Charisma among politicians and other leaders is not the "in" thing these days, and those who supposedly DO exhibit charisma show charisma that's totally forced, fake, and a weak attempt at a bonhomie that's not really there.
Except for one thing
aren't both recovered alcoholics who don't drink anymore?
There is no freedom of speech
There is no freedom of speech when you speak out against city employees, which in this case they were (cops).
Gerry Callahan: "May be hope for you yet"
When Gerry Callahan learned Marty Walsh fired Nelli Ruotsalainen, it renewed his hope that Marty Walsh would be a good mayor.
I'm not sure Gerry Callahan's approval is something that helps Mayor Walsh.
boston.com:
Even Dennis Callahan thinks Nelli Ruotsalainen was fired for protesting. She was protesting for Black Lives Matter. That is not lost on Dennis Callahan.
It is not lost on the people who follow Dennis Callahan. Check out the retweets and favorites. My god, one of their favorite things is that Marty Walsh fired Nelli Ruotsalainen for protesting.
Marty Walsh has been tolerant of protest until now. Although I did not appreciate the ridiculous rhetoric about traumatizing children at 5:30 on First Night. Now Walsh has tied a price tag to it beyond what law enforcement does in cases of non-violent civil disobedience. That's what it was, a non-violent civilly disobedient protest that caused massive disruption, nothing more.
What lesson will friends of Nelli Ruotsalainen in Finland take from Mayor Marty Walsh's response to protest free speech?
Blocking an interstate highway goes way beyond
what's necessary to get the message across, imho. I have no sympathy for Nelli Ruotsalainen, because she was participating/leading a stupid event that was a threat to public safety, in a big way. I'm glad she got canned from her part-time job with the city. It serves her right.
Please explain
How, exactly, was your commute or day or safety compromised by any of this, Miki?
Let's leak PERSONNEL matters (Lawsuit material) to the HERALD
So much for a day in court. The SENTENCE FIRST, the verdict later.
Drunken civil servants have been put on ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE in other cases, but it was Mayor Walsh's uncharacteristic & quick decision to terminate a woman who engaged in civil disobedience on her day off and then tell the press.
Whether you agree with the tactics of these demonstrators or with the justice rendered in the New York and Ferguson grand jury cases, the Mayor should not have jumped to ANNOUNCE the termination. Poor judgement on many sides here.
More bridges than one have been closed in #Boston.
Good point- they're always trotting out that excuse
When it suits them to. "The city does not publicly comment on personnel matters". Except when they do.
part timer thing an issue
Or, what Pete said above.
To terminate a full time employee, even nonunion, involves due process. I've seen managers who the higher ups wanted to fire and who did something worthy of termination be put on administrative leave. I've also seen part time high school kids get shown the door for silly little things.
Add in an ongoing criminal case (for the full time, civil service employee) and you are talking a headache for hr.
part timer….
She made it easy on her managers, she chose not to answer any questions in her Labor Relations hearing pleading the fifth amendment, that in unto itself is grounds for termination. As I've stated before, you can be terminated in a LR hearing for not answering questions even if you are not the subject of the hearing, these are the rules that city workers operate under all the time. So the next time you think we all have it free and easy in municipal employment…..think again.
How do you know she didn't answer questions in personnel heaing?
Another City Hall leak?
I knew Nelli Ruotsalainen played D1 soccer at URI. Check this
https://tacklethis.wordpress.com/about/
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You Marty defenders and protester haters are amusing
I voted for Marty. I admit now I made a mistake.
The 1981 firefighters protests are VERY relevant, not false equivalency. It's exactly the same thing, no matter how much fancy talking you do.
The young Finnish woman's rights should be respected by Marty whether she is a union member or not. She hasn't been convicted of anything. A suspension with or without pay might be in order, not a firing.If and when a conviction happens, that changes everything.
This is purely political on Marty's part. As a union man, he should believe that workers rights should be respected regardless of union membership or not. Shame on him.
And don't get me started on his lies about the Olympic process being transparent.
Nelli is obviously only a part-time worker, and not a union
Nelli is obviously not a union member, given the fact that she's only a part-time worker. I may not like Marty Walsh's stance on the idea of having the Olympics here in Boston, but I think he did the right thing by firing Nellie.
Maybe - maybe Not
The BCYF Department has a higher standard since its primary function is to be a safe resource for kids. All employees, union and non-union, as well as all volunteers, even high school teen interns or junior camp counselors, must successfully pass a CORI and SORI background check before they can work or volunteer in a building.
If the City deemed this as an issue associated with threatening public safety as this is being framed, then they may have been within their rights to terminate. The infraction **may** have also been known to have a direct impact on the status of the CORI findings when previously investigated.
She is NOT a City Employee
This person is not a City employee in the traditional sense. She is not a union represented employee of the City of Boston.
Rather she is a contract employee employed under the auspices of a specific grant to perform a specific task involved in youth communications and youth activities. She gets a 1099 at the end of the year she is employed in.
As such she is not represented by SEIU.
She performs work for the city
She performs work for the city, and the city pays her for that work. The fact that she gets a 1099 rather than a W2 does not mean she is not an employee http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/herman/reports/futurework/conf...
Good info HeWhoKnows
thanks
Given her status then,
Nellie should've thought twice before going out and leading/and-or becoming involved in the protest that involved blocking I-93.