Boston mayoral race has a touch of class

Boston mayoral candidates Marty Walsh and John Connolly met in their first debate Tuesday and discussed issues to a draw. No surprise.  There's little that separates them on matters of policy.  Rep. Walsh did what he had to in proving himself engaged and comfortable on education.  Councillor Connolly, who has claimed ownership of that issue, …

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Charlotte Golar Richie: the next mayor of Boston?

I have crossed paths with Boston mayoral candidate Charlotte Golar Richie at various times over the last few decades, but without getting a real sense of her as an individual.  Certainly, I knew her from her bio: Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya; two master's degrees; two-term member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where she chaired the Housing …

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Municipal health costs solution may be within sight

Finally, some of our traditionally intimidated politicians are showing a bit of common sense on the issue of excessive health benefits for local public workers unions. We’re not there yet, but we’re moving in the right direction.The problem is cost sharing, or, in the case of local public workers, lack of sharing. State employees in …

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Patrick Term II Starts Strong

Good news coming out of this morning’s speech by Deval Patrick to the Mass. Municipal Association. He will be filing legislation to require cities and towns to provide public employee health insurance either by joining the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) or devising a similar plan on their own. This was something Republican Charlie Baker …

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Charlie Baker: Right on Municipal Workers’ Health Insurance

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker’s main issue differentiating himself from Governor Deval Patrick has for weeks been his emphasis on cutting state spending, including eliminating 5000 jobs. But he hasn’t been specific about where those jobs are, so his criticism of the Patrick administration has lacked clarity, credibility and clout, easily dismissible as campaign rhetoric …

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Governor Patrick: Lead Communities to Health Insurance Savings

Governor Patrick is said to be planning a visit to Newton this Saturday.  His campaign will be giving out bumper stickers and signing up supporters. Here’s what I hope he talks about:  the cost of health insurance to cover city workers.  It’s a case study in what ails local communities these days.Newton faces an $11 …

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