Weekly Transcript Round-Up for 8/16/24: Cont'd Fallout on Chrispin Demotion & CRE Tax Hike; See the tallies for White Stadium & Net Zero votes; Next Step for Roxbury Development Saga
This week there was action at City Council hearings, from City Council offices, and at a number of the City’s appointed boards PLUS the Boston Globe’s editorial page and columnists joined the City’s elected & appointed officials in the making-news business:
Eight of thirteen Boston Councilors signed a letter criticizing Mayor Wu & Police Commissioner Cox over the demotion of Eddy Chrispin and called for Chrispin’s reinstatement.
Mayor Wu’s CRE Tax Hike stayed in the news with this week thanks to the Globe: on Monday the editorial board criticized Mayor Wu for starting a fight with Senate President Spilka, and then on Wednesday columnist Joan Vennochi published an inside-baseball heavy column speculating on what the Spilka-Wu fight means.
The conversion of Franklin Park’s dilapidated White Stadium into a professional soccer stadium for Boston’s new women’s pro-soccer team was approved by the Boston Parks Commission and Globe columnist Adrian Walker calls it a “victory” for Mayor Wu.
On Wednesday Boston’s Zoning Commission rejected Mayor Wu’s proposed Net Zero regulations, but on Monday dozens of appointees to City boards, including a replacement for one of Wednesday’s no votes, went before the Council. Another appointee discussed Monday could play a deciding role in a high-profile Roxbury development.
EIGHT COUNCILORS PUBLICLY OPPOSE CHRISPIN DEMOTION
The Boston Herald reported last Friday on a letter from a majority of Boston City Councilors that criticized the Wu administration over the demotion of former Deputy Superintendent Eddy Chrispin. The Councilors had two issues:
The decision itself, where Councilors echoed criticism leveled by the POST Commission itself and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who appointed Chrispin to POST, writing: “We write this letter five weeks after the announcement because we remain steadfast against the decision, and we are deeply concerned by the rationale behind the removal.”
Dishonest public statements from the Boston Police Department, which were first highlighted by GBH after Mayor Wu contradicted statements that BPD had made to the press in her own explanation of the demotion on Boston Public Radio, writing: “What makes the demotion all the more troubling is the inconsistent reasoning given for his removal from the Command Staff.”
This letter follows a number of community meetings organized by former State Representative Marie St. Fluer and MAMLEO, the MA Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, who Chrispin is representing on the POST Commission.
GLOBE OPINION SECTION KEEPS CRE TAX HIKE FIGHT IN THE NEWS
On Monday the Boston Globe’s Editorial Board blasted Mayor Michelle Wu in an unsigned piece for starting a public fight with State Senate President Karen Spilka over the Mayor’s proposed CRE Tax Hike.
Then on Wednesday Globe columnist Joan Vennochi published an inside baseball heavy column speculating on motives for those involved in the fight.
The Globe opinion section is now keeping this story in the news on its own: there has been no new news on either a special session of the legislature, or whether this legislation can advance in informal session.
WHITE STADIUM APPROVAL A WU VICTORY, GLOBE COLUMNIST WRITES
The Boston Parks Commission approved plans for White Stadium on Monday, August 12, after declining to advance them at a meeting last month. The video & transcript for Monday’s meeting is not yet available, but you can read the transcript for the July 29 meeting where the plan was rejected here.
Globe columnist Adrian Walker followed up with a piece laying out how this was a major win for Mayor Wu.
ZONING COMMISSION REJECTS NET ZERO PROPOSAL, BUT REPLACEMENT FOR ‘NO’ VOTER IS ON DECK
Boston’s appointed boards were in the news this week with dozens of appointees going in front of the City Council and the City’s Zoning Commission rejecting the Wu administration’s Net Zero proposal.
One of the Zoning Commission’s no votes on Wednesday, August 14, was the Commission’s Chair Jay Hurley, who holds the AFL-CIO/Greater Boston Labor Council seat on the Zoning Commision - the vote is at the 1:42:20 mark in the transcript. Hurley is being replaced in that labor seat by Jaimie McNeil, the chief of UNITE HERE 26. McNeil became one of Mayor Wu’s most prominent political allies after joining with three other unions - SEIU 32BJ, SEIU 1199, and the Boston Teachers Union - in 2023 to raise and spent $100,000 to elect three of Mayor Wu’s endorsed City Council candidates, all three of whom won their elections and are now serving City Councilors.
McNeil was introduced to the City Council on Monday, along with another appointee, Angela Ward Hyatt, who is being named to the Highland Park Architectural Conservation District Commission. The HPACD Commission was a big part of the recent Globe story about a small Roxbury developer whose modest apartment proposal was being killed by the bureaucratic hurdles imposed by this new historic commission. From the Globe’s article:
Ward Hyatt did not attend Monday’s meeting, instead sending a letter, so Councilors did not have the opportunity to ask about her thoughts on the now high-profile project - watch the meeting here, the nomination is at the 57:21 mark in the transcript. Committee chair District 8 City Council Sharon Durkan indicated during the meeting that both McNeil and Ward Hyatt, along with a number of other candidates, would be recommended for approval at the next regular City Council meeting on August 28.
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