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Rich white folks sure liked Dianne Wilkerson

By adamg on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 9:49am

The Globe finds more "members of Boston's business elite" who helped the former state senator out even as they sought various favors from state agencies.

Neighborhoods: 
Roxbury
Free tagging: 
Dianne Wilkerson


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Comments

By massmarrier on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 12:11pm.

It's splendid that she was able to do as journalists and judges do — separate outside influences from her actions. Less perfect legislators of weaker morality might have let tens of thousands of dollars corrupt her.

Pardon me. My unicorn has arrived. I must ride off.

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By david_yamada on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 10:17am.

...those same members of the business elite will now open their hearts and wallets to help others in Roxbury, like folks facing home foreclosures and whatnot.

If HBO ever does a Boston version of "The Wire," they could base an entire season on Wilkerson and her friends.

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By adamg on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 10:27am.

All these stories make one wonder if she really supported the lab simply because she was a big fan of biological research.

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By anon on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 12:06pm.

great point-

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By neilv on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 12:45pm.

Did Wilkerson support the BSL4 lab?

I never could think of a good reason why a politician would choose to plop down the nastiest bioweapons and pandemic bugs in a dense urban area of their own constituents.

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By adamg on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 1:07pm.

From a Phoenix article on the pre-indictment senate race:

Wilkerson supports the Boston University Biolab project, again citing anticipated jobs ...

From a South End News op-ed piece (also pre-indictment):

Similarly, Wilkerson has largely supported the Boston University BioLab, again for the jobs, but her expectations for constituent employment opportunities in this highly specialized bio-defense facility are simply unrealistic. Ironically, the original development plan for the project site was reduced by 300,000 square feet when the bio-terror lab, with its spacious security-buffer needs, was added. The manufacturing uses included in that plan would have provided hundreds of well-paying jobs at the site for her constituents, without risk to their lives. Why wasn't she fighting for that?

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By neilv on Sun, 02/08/2009 - 3:28pm.

...janitorial staff at a BSL4.

A few years ago, I did a little layperson reading up on bio lab safety. The gist of my understanding was "mistakes happen." You get things like colonies of nasties growing on some surface outside the area where they're supposed to be contained. And a pandemic flu virus accidentally being sent to thousands of labs.

You can also get coverups of accidents when an institution wants to be able to have even worse accidents:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art...

I assume that a major accident or sabotage at that facility is highly unlikely, but I still wouldn't want to work there, nor ride the same subway as people who work there, nor own a lunch place with a salad bar near there.

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