Marty Walsh hitting his stride

Halfway through his first term, the Mayor of Boston and the city are looking good.  Both Marty Walsh and the city have grown significantly over the past two years, as reflected in his State of the City speech on Tuesday. Walsh's laundry list of accomplishments is real: record housing starts, including record affordable units; violent crime …

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Popular mayor not immune to criticism

The Boston Globe took Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to the woodshed this week. In a 3/4 page editorial (a sign of energy unusual for the paper's diminished  editorial page), the paper screamed "Enough."  It proceeded to lambaste the mayor for continuing his $1 million (to date) lawsuit to stop Steve Wynn's proposed casino in neighboring Everett. The …

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Warnings for seniors and horses

Yes, yes, it's important to see the big picture. But sometimes viewing life from 30,000 feet is not actually better. Two stories in today's Boston Globe show how grand urban plans or budget metrics can sacrifice a touch of humanity. First, in the interest of saving money, the Social Security Administration has been closing field offices, …

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Marty Walsh paints the big picture

If Boston Mayor Marty Walsh can avoid giving away the store in the next rounds of union negotiations,  he'll save some money to help fund some of his promised initiatives. He avoided discussion of the challenge of union money demands this morning when he laid out his vision to the greater Boston business community, with the New England Council packing the Boston Harbor Hotel's Wharf Room.  …

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