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Election roundup: Mistah Speakah worries about his car in the South End; Janey may have gotten ahead of a free bus

Jon Santiago had a press conference in the South End today so that a bunch of his fellow state representatives, some of whom even live in Boston, could endorse him for mayor.

No doubt they had nice things to say about Santiago, but people could be forgiven if they stopped listening after Santiago introduced Speaker of the House Ron Mariano, from leafy Quincy, who, we guess, was joking when he said he came despite being "afraid my car's gonna get stolen," in the gritty neighborhood.

John Barros, who lives in Dorchester, called on Santiago to reject Mariano's endorsement:

Santiago said nothing, which speaks volumes to the lack of leadership we could expect from him if he were elected Mayor of Boston.

Representative Santiago should decline the Speaker's endorsement and join me and the growing number of Bostonians who ask that the Speaker simply say he was wrong and he's sorry.

Bonus Mariano fun fact: His district has a very unusual shape, one that might remind you of something.

During a mayoral forum yesterday, Stop-Calling-Me-Acting Mayor Kim Janey announced free 28 service between Mattapan and Nubian squares, which drew some appreciative snapping from Councilor Michelle Wu, who has been pushing for free T service for years now (as has Janey). But CommonWealth Magazine reports Janey may have gotten ahead of herself - and the bus:

A T spokesman said Monday evening that nothing has been finalized and there is no launch date for such a pilot program.

Janey announces the free service and Wu gives some appreciative snapping:

The Jewish Insider reports Boston's Jewish community has no Wakanda strategy and has yet to coalesce around a mayoral candidate this year - which might not be surprising given that Boston actually has three fairly distinct Jewish communities: Orthodox in Brighton, ex-suburban empty nesters downtown and "a younger, progressive, LGBTQ-friendly community" largely living in places like JP and Roslindale.

Mayoral candidates will answer questions about education in Boston at a forum on Thursday sponsored by the Boston Teachers Union and Boston Education Justice Alliance. Starts at 6 p.m. Free registration required.

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Comments

Is that where all the mayoral candidates fight to see who can throw who into the Muddy River?

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Dianne Wilkerson came up with the name during the DA's race a couple years ago for her strategy to getting Black leaders to coalesce around a single candidate. She's trying it again this year, although now she's calling it Wakanda II.

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So, bribe money in each side of her bra?

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https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2021/05/25/the-rehabilitation-of-di...

But does she regret her own actions?

“I would say yes,” said Wilkerson. “But I don't know what I could have done, like I did not expect [the informant] to bring cash and I couldn't walk down the street with it in my fist. It was out of caution as opposed to subterfuge. Like, I didn't even have an envelope.”

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Not accept the cash in the first place?

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[Comment withdrawn] I agree with Adam's clarification below...

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C'mon man, facts don't matter around here.

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Here. Mariano is a bit hard to hear, but no, he wasn't reliving his days at Northeastern, he was responding to Santiago thanking him for "coming all the way to the South End" to make an endorsement. And then he looks around to make sure his minions were laughing at his joke.

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The Herald reports.

Which is where I see you got the bit about Mariano and Northeastern, but you left out the part where Mariano said he was thinking about that in his own head.

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I actually got it from the Globe article, but you're correct Adam. Weird reporting on this story and I made the mistake of first reading about it in the Globe--should've checked here first for the honest news!

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This guy represents Quincy Point. Not exactly Elysium.

His districts covers at least two superfund sites, an oil tank farm, and lies right across the street from a gas plant which has yet to immolate Hingham school children despite dire warnings from the Bare Cove Mommy Tank Corps.

I'll take a spot at Kava over DQ on 3A any day.

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I grew up in the shadow of one of the Superfund sites and the town that lost a large amount of money and in the EPA's bioremediation in their most populated area, at the time. The rainbow Kool-Aid that glowed in the dark was great as a 5 year old.

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That's exactly what caught my eye. In my mind leafy is more associated with one of those Metrowest towns that start with W, not Quincy. Moreover much of the South End is pretty nice these days, and probably more desirable for most people. This comparison isn't exactly Brookline/Roxbury or Milton/Mattapan.

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But really, a guy from Quincy joking about crime in the South End? As the Herald notes:

Mariano lives in a condo complex in Quincy Point. The district he’s represented for three decades has plenty of its own weird crime, as his constituents have included a man who chopped up a woman with a borrowed hacksaw and a club owner who was stabbed in a karaoke-related dispute.

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Honestly, the 32 would have been the better bus route to do the free thing with. It is like the step child of the Forest Hills bus stops and pre-covid was the most crowded. Going down HP Ave at rush hour deserves a free bus ride.

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I, too, have a love/hate relationship with the 32, but if you are talking about running a pilot free bus program that will have those who are economically disadvantaged, the 28 is a much better choice.

Oh, and I was coming home from work last week. Got to Forest Hills and saw a pre-pandemic sized crowd waiting for the 32. Of course, I was going to walk at least some of the route anyways, but I got to Canterbury Street without being passed by anything. Still, it's about economic opportunity, and I wouldn't say that Hyde Park Ave is where it is needed.

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Well HP is a disadvantaged neighborhood of Boston but based on riders, there appears to be more.

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How is Hyde Park a disadvantaged neighborhood?

Remember, we are using the Blue Hill Avenue corridor as a point of comparison.

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As the 28 riders. They’re slightly less disadvantaged. Both routes could be free.

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But looking at metrics such as income, they are not the same at all.

Sorry, but I strongly object to the conflation of being a visible minority and being “disadvantaged.” There may be a strong overlap, but they are certainly not the same.

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Get one of your "few black friends" to go over apartment listings with you.

See who gets the most calls returned, and the most tours.

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I take the 32 on a regular basis. I live off the 32. I guess I am disadvantaged, no?

You might want to check your suburban white woman privilege there.

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That doesn't address the issue in the least.

More sea lions for you? Or are you going to wake the hell up to the fact that even given equal financial leverage it isn't Waquoit Jr. who is going to get pulled over and shot in the back of the head for a dim tail light?

You need to check your privilege - I'm quite aware of mine, you are absolutely batshit blind to yours.

p.s. Medford has a lot more people of color and people from marginalized groups than most "suburbs" that would be incorporated as part of Boston if it were a typical city of its era.

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I think you missed it. According to some (I'm assuming you) I am disadvantaged as I live in the area served by the 32 bus.

But good going with your version of "I have friends that are black," being "Medford has people of color." You surburbanites are a hoot sometimes.

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Santiago also celebrates the endorsement of Mayor Walsh's cousin, a union head with the same name (Martin Walsh). During Mayor Walsh's push for the Olympics in 2015, this cousin (the Martin Walsh in the article) stood up at a community meeting, shouting and used strong profanity as he threatened a woman who was trying to speak?

Here's the article with photos: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/05/22/mayor-marty-walsh-cousin-...

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Of course Santiago didn't say anything when someone more powerful than he is insulted the district he allegedly represents. He's a climber and an empty suit who's done nothing for his district since being elected. All he ever does is research what his desired voters (yuppies, gentrifiers, "new South End," people who'd never heard of Byron Rushing) want to hear and then say it in a measured and well-rehearsed tone. He would be a terrible mayor for the city, and my fear is that because he doesn't waste his time on little things like doing his job as a public servant, he can focus on collecting endorsements and he may actually win. That would be awful, though if he did win he'd probably announce a run for governor in the middle of his first term so at least we'd be rid of him soon.

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Is it a Stillson wrench? a keyhole saw? a Luger?

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of one, but I parked one car and then another on the street in the South End for the better part of 20 years, and neither was ever stolen. Each was broken into only once, presumably by an opioid addict looking for something easy to shift. (The nearby Waltham Tavern http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/2009/04/lesson-in-workforce-management-from... had a pill saw for users too hard up to buy a whole tablet.)

Each time, the miscreant missed a baggie of parking-meter quarters in the console and a quality full-size umbrella, basically came up empty. Caveat: those cars were battered if reliable sedans, an ancient boxy Volvo followed by a decrepit Camry, not the most attractive targets.

Counter-example: an earlier ride, a hideous shit-box Toyota hatchback, got stolen when I lived in the Back Bay, from a resident space behind the Harvard Club on Newbury. That one had some valuables in it, like a brimming 72-count CD carrier (it was the late 90s) hidden from view. The car turned up two days later a few miles away, stripped of all removable contents (but not parts), and looked like the thief's last move was to drive it at speed headlong into a brick wall.

The cruelest cut there was the loss of some rare hip-hop bootlegs I have never been able to replace. I like to think the motley assortment of artists in that box was baffling, maybe edifying, to whoever yoinked it: Public Enemy live, Cocteau Twins, Thee Headcoatees, and Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit in the mix.

On the plus side, fear of getting their luxury car stolen from the South End prompted my wife's loathsome aunt and her husband, right-wing bigots both, to flee immediately after the last bite of dessert of a home-cooked holiday dinner, mercifully their sole visit. I have rarely savored a Fernet-Branca as much as at that moment. Once in a while, one can be grateful for panicky suburban dumbfuckery.

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Luxury probably won't be stolen, but I've had my car stolen in the South End. Stupid remark from him but my God people, nobody's perfect. Let it go.

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