| | |  | BY LISA KASHINSKY | Presented by the Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work | CHECK AND BALANCE — Bostonians won’t just choose their next mayor next month, they’ll also decide how much power she’ll have over the city’s behemoth of a budget. Ballot Question 1 proposes a charter change that would overhaul the budget process. Currently, the mayor presents a multi-billion-dollar budget and councilors can only vote to accept or reject it. The ballot initiative , spearheaded by City Councilor Lydia Edwards and supported by mayoral rivals City Councilors Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, would let councilors draw up their own budget in response to the mayor's — so long as it doesn’t exceed the dollar amount the mayor put forward — and override a mayoral veto. It would also establish an Office of Participatory Budgeting to give residents a greater say in the process. Supporters say participatory budgeting would empower councilors to better fight for their constituents’ needs. Yes on 1 advocate Andres Del Castillo of Right to the City Boston said it would lead to “more transparency and accountability” in the city’s budgeting and “allow residents across the city to engage in that debate.” Edwards told Boston.com’s Nik DeCosta-Klipa she hopes it’ll lead to a more constructive back-and-forth between the mayor and councilors. Opponents say participatory budgeting would put too many cooks in the kitchen and flood the budget process with special interests. “We would have essentially 13 city councilors, all with their own agendas, all competing with each other,” said Pam Kocher, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a watchdog group advocating for the city to keep a “strong-mayor" government. Boston already has a $1 million youth participatory budgeting process. Several major cities use forms of participatory budgeting, including Cambridge and New York City. Brad Lander, the Democratic nominee for NYC comptroller who ushered participatory budgeting onto the city council there a decade ago, said to look at how much money mayors are willing to pony up for participatory budgeting (most of a city’s budget goes to perennial costs like salaries). Acting Mayor Kim Janey committed $1 million to set up the participatory budgeting office. Wu said she’ll “see that investment through” and glean best practices from other cities. Essaibi George pledged $1 million. GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The race is (still) on in the special election to finish out former state Rep. Brad Hill’s term, even though his 4th Essex District won’t exist come next fall. With less than two weeks until the primary, Republicans Lisa-Marie Cashman and Robert Snow, and Democrats Jamie Belsito and Darcyll Dale, say they’re staying in the race — despite a redistricting map that would divvy up the district and place them in either state Rep. Lenny Mirra (R-Georgetown) or state Rep. Christina Minicucci’s (D-North Andover) districts in 2022. Why run for a seat for only a year? Cashman said the district’s been without representation for two months while lawmakers are deciding how to dish out roughly $4.8 billion in federal aid. Belsito said she’s fighting to make sure current constituents still “have a voice” over the next year. Tweaks to the House map approved yesterday also put Simon Cataldo’s Concord precinct back in the 14th Middlesex district he’s running to represent after state Rep. Tami Gouveia decided to run for lieutenant governor. Vivian Birchall, another Democrat, is also running. TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker joins Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone and other officials for a Mystic River Pedestrian Bridge announcement at Encore Boston Harbor at 3 p.m. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito visits Cape Ann Museum at 9 a.m. and Belmont Street Community School in Worcester at 1:30 p.m. Wu and Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins appear on the Boston Globe’s “Black News Hour” at 8 a.m. on Boston Praise Radio. Janey visits Epiphany School’s Early Learning Center at 11:30 a.m. State Sen. Eric Lesser hosts a lunchtime livestream on East-West Rail ridership estimates at noon. THIS WEEKEND — Wu and Sen. Elizabeth Warren kick off the first day of early voting at 10:15 a.m. Saturday outside BPL in Copley; Wu and Essaibi George participate in forums with state Rep. Russell Holmes at Morning Star Baptist Church. The Dorchester Reporter’s Bill Forry and Gintautas Dumcius talk the mayor's race on WBZ’s “Keller at Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Wu is this week’s guest on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Wu and Rep. Ayanna Pressley lead "Souls to the Polls" at 2:30 p.m. Sunday starting at the Charles Street AME Church. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: lkashinsky@politico.com. Go Sox! | |
| | A message from the Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work: It's clear: Massachusetts app-based drivers want to maintain their flexibility while gaining access to new benefits and protections.
83% support legislation like H.1234 that would do just that — offering them flexibility, independence, protections against discrimination, a portable benefits fund and more. Learn more. | | | | |
| | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down and who really has the president's ear in West Wing Playbook, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | |  | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
| – “Massachusetts reports 1,267 new coronavirus cases, nearly 300,000 booster doses,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald. – “There were 1,804 Massachusetts students, 350 school staffers with COVID in past week, pooled testing positivity rate below 1%,” by Benjamin Kail, MassLive. – "Town-by-town COVID-19 data in Massachusetts," by Ryan Huddle and Peter Bailey-Wells, Boston Globe. | | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
| – “Massachusetts lawmakers push for genocide education in middle and high schools,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive: “The state Senate on Thursday passed a bill that requires all middle schools and high schools in Massachusetts to incorporate curriculum on the history of genocide, as lawmakers feared students increasingly lacked Holocaust education amid a rise in anti-Semitism.” – “Increasingly popular e-bikes are everywhere — and live in a legal gray zone in Massachusetts,” by Taylor Dolven, Boston Globe: “In Massachusetts, e-bikes are categorized as mopeds and prohibited on bike paths, though bike advocates say the law is largely unenforced. Now, some lawmakers are pushing a bill that would bring the state in line with 46 others and Washington, D.C., in regulating the very expensive but increasingly popular e-bikes as bikes.” | | VAX-ACHUSETTS |
| – “Correction officers union appeals judge’s denial in vaccine mandate fight,” by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: “The union representing correctional officers has vowed to ‘go down swinging’ in its attempts to block Gov. Charlie Baker’s vaccine mandate and has appealed a federal judge’s ‘disappointing’ denial of an injunction. The organization said it’s preparing yet another lawsuit to fight the order.” – “Mass. Preparing To Start Elementary School Vaccines Next Month,” by Mike Deehan, GBH News: “Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders told a legislative oversight panel Thursday the Baker administration expects approval of the vaccine for younger children sometime in the first week of November and will deliver the shots to pediatricians, school-based clinics, local boards of health and other providers. ” – “State: School testing delays are being resolved,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “Massachusetts health and education officials acknowledged on Thursday that ‘logistical challenges’ led to a delayed rollout of the state’s COVID-19 testing program in schools, but they said the problems, which were primarily attributable to low staffing, are being addressed.” – “New study reveals why Provincetown did not become a COVID superspreader,” by Kay Lazar, Boston Globe: “The team of researchers, led by scientists at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, concluded that Cape Cod’s high vaccination rate and quick public health measures in Massachusetts likely prevented the outbreak from erupting into many more infections.” | | FROM THE HUB |
| – “Boston Methadone Mile latest: Questions arise over new encampments, Tompkins prepares mobile courtroom,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Mass and Cass plans continue to move forward, with Acting Mayor Kim Janey’s recent moves being generally well-received — albeit with some questions over whether the homeless will just move onto other neighborhoods — and preparations continuing at the Suffolk County jail for a mobile courtroom and treatment space.” – “Doctors and researchers are concerned about the city’s efforts to remove tents at Mass. and Cass. Here’s why,” by Dialynn Dwyer, Boston.com: “Dr. Mark Eisenberg, a primary care physician at MGH-Charlestown Health Care Center with specialties in infectious diseases and addiction medicine, told Boston.com that while he applauds the move to declare the situation at Mass. and Cass a public health emergency, he doesn’t support the executive order. Doing a ‘sweep’ of the encampments will just criminalize and displace the people living there, he said.” – “Council backs law to give Boston surveillance tech oversight, limit info sharing between BPS and BPD,” by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: “The law, years in the making, requires that any surveillance technology sought by Boston police be approved by the council beforehand. Authorities must also get the council’s sign-off to use any technology they already own for a new purpose.” | | THE RACE FOR CITY HALL |
| – “Third poll shows Wu with dominating lead, but a majority of voters support Essaibi George on policing,” by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: “The poll, by the progressive think tank Data for Progress, showed Wu with 57 percent support among likely Boston voters, compared to 32 percent for Essaibi George — a lead of 25 percentage points for Wu, which is slightly less than the lead other recent polls have given her, but still comparable. ... Essaibi George has proposed spending more on policing, and respondents shared similar views: 64 percent said that local government should be spending more 'creating a fair and effective public safety system.'” – “Like Other Arab Americans In Politics, Boston's Essaibi George Faces Questions About Her Identity,” by Saraya Wintersmith, GBH News: “Boston mayoral candidate Annissa Essaibi George, who counts herself as a person of color, has faced questions about her identity since she jumped into the historic field — then filled with candidates who were visibly not white. The Arab-Polish Boston native said she has identified as a person of color for the six years she has held public office, but she acknowledged she has not always. With less than two weeks to go before the Nov. 2 election, how Essaibi George identifies remains a quietly persistent issue on the campaign trail. Wu supporters interviewed by GBH News tended to be more skeptical than Essaibi George voters in accounting for the depth of her cultural and ethnic identification.” – “Essaibi George continues outreach to communities of color,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Emma Platoff and Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: “For weeks, City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George has been intently focusing her mayoral campaign on communities of color, meeting with Haitian seniors and Black hospitality workers, walking through Uphams Corner with Cape Verdean leaders, and campaigning with Roxbury mothers, even as polls show her badly trailing her rival and fellow city councilor, Michelle Wu. … On Thursday, Essaibi George was at Franklin Field public housing in Dorchester, promoting the diversity agenda she unveiled late last month and promising to devote $100 million in federal relief funds to the Black community.” – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Boston City Council at-large candidate Carla Monteiro has been endorsed by Boston state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, who’s running for governor. – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: David Halbert has been endorsed by Boston state Rep. Jon Santiago and Acton state Rep. Tami Gouveia. – WATCH: WBUR’s town halls with Wu and Essaibi George . | |
| | A message from the Massachusetts Coalition for Independent Work:  
| | | | | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
| – “T delays Green Line extension a second time,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “The MBTA is once again delaying the initial opening of the Green Line extension into Somerville, this time because cramped quarters in a newly built facility for delivering electricity to the subway line is making it difficult to get enough workers inside to finish the job on time.” – More from Mohl: “New T board likely to move at slower pace,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine. | | DAY IN COURT |
| – “Feds say Boston Grand Prix CFO spent COVID-19 funds on diamond ring, Match.com membership,” by WCVB: “John F. Casey, 57, formerly of Ipswich, pleaded guilty to 23 counts of wire fraud, three counts of aggravated identity theft, four counts of money laundering and three counts of filing false tax returns, federal prosecutors said.” | | FROM THE DELEGATION |
| – Rep. Jake Auchincloss is joining Rep. Bill Keating in blasting Sen. Ted Cruz’s “Stop the SURGE Act” that calls to send immigrants from the Texas border to Cambridge, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. “What you intend as a threat, we in Massachusetts consider a promise — the promise of more immigration, which makes the Commonwealth richer both economically and culturally,” Auchincloss wrote in the letter, which a TikTok (his first) shows him signing and delivering to Cruz’s office. – Yet another advocacy coalition is targeting Rep. Richard Neal. This time it's a $100,000 ad buy telling the House Ways and Means chair and his colleagues to "make polluters pay" in the reconciliation bill. The billboard, radio and social ads start today and will run in 12 states, including Massachusetts. Reps. Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley support the "Make Polluters Pay" legislation. | | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
| – “Competition fierce for offshore wind's a 'once in a generation opportunity',” by Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times: “But, even with the nation’s first wind farm, Vineyard Wind 1, now in its construction phase, Massachusetts risks losing that advantage as Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and other states invest in the infrastructure to encourage the manufacturing and supply chain industries that will provide the bulk of the jobs and billions in investments.” | | THE LOCAL ELECTIONS ROUNDUP |
| – “She made history as the first Black woman mayor popularly elected in Mass. Now, she’s the underdog in her reelection bid,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “Yvonne Spicer originated the role of mayor here nearly four years ago, when voters chose the STEM educator and Museum of Science executive to lead the freshly minted city government they had just voted to create. … Now, the incumbent finds herself an underdog in her reelection bid against a challenger who could hardly be viewed as the next face of change. Charlie Sisitsky, a 76-year-old former city councilor who ran the Department of Public Works in neighboring Natick for two decades, is the consensus candidate of voters who have soured on Spicer’s leadership.” – GBH’s Adam Reilly has more on Spicer’s uncertain future as Framingham’s mayor. | | THE LOCAL ANGLE |
| – Say it ain’t snow: “Here’s how snowy this winter will be, according to NOAA,” by Julia Taliesin, Boston.com: “The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its winter weather predictions on Thursday morning, and it actually looks like it will be a mild winter.” – “Serial child rapist Wayne Chapman dead: ‘Hopefully there’s more justice on the other side’,” by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: “Wayne Chapman is dead, ending a nightmare sex offender story. He goes to his grave having admitted to molesting up to 100 boys across multiple states. He was also the lone person of interest in the disappearance of 10-year-old Andy Puglisi of Lawrence in 1976.” – “Massachusetts town Select Board asks FBI to investigate its own police department for payroll discrepancies,” by Will Katcher, MassLive: “The Boxborough Select Board is seeking the help of the FBI’s Public Corruption Unit in investigating payment discrepancies within the town’s police department.” – “Faculty members at Middlesex School sign letter to trustees, slamming decision to disinvite Nikole Hannah-Jones from speaking on campus,” by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: “Nearly 100 faculty members and staffers at Middlesex School have signed an open letter to the trustees blasting the Concord boarding school’s decision to disinvite Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer-Prize winning New York Times journalist who conceived The 1619 Project, from speaking on campus.” – “New Bedford PD unveils new policy for labeling gang members,” by Anastasia Lennon, New Bedford Light: “Some six months after a Boston-based youth advocacy group released a critical report alleging the city’s police department over-polices Black people and youth in the city, the department announced a new policy for policing gangs and identifying members or affiliates. … The policy brings some significant changes, including a requirement to notify people if they are labeled as gang members.” – “Mass. jobless claims continue to decline,” by Christian M. Wade, CNHI/Eagle-Tribune: “There were 4,553 new applications for state benefits filed for the week ending Oct. 16 — a decline of 344 claims from the previous week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly report.” – “Attleboro mayor meets Patriot linebacker 'by accident',” by George W. Rhodes, Sun Chronicle: “Rookie linebacker Ronnie Perkins of the New England Patriots had some business at the Registry of Motor Vehicles on Monday, but he also found himself visiting with the mayor.” – “MIT’s endowment rose by 49% to $27.4 billion in 2021, strongest annual financial performance in over 20 years,” by Cassie McGrath, MassLive. TRANSITIONS – David Winslow, a former Massachusetts judge and chief legal counsel to former Gov. Mitt Romney, is the next president of the New England Legal Foundation. Ron Bell is now senior strategist of field operations for David Halbert’s Boston City Council at-large campaign. HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to state Rep. John Rogers, Jonathan Carvalho, Jenna Lamond, Atlantic Council’s Trey Herr, Lindsay Kalter and Connor Meoli. HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND – to Saturday birthday-ers Molly Drennan, Annika Lichtenbaum and Arielle Tait; and to Sunday birthday-ers Rep. Seth Moulton, Ernie Corrigan of Corrigan Communications, Leigh Appleby and Michael Antonellis. THIS WEEK ON THE HORSE RACE — Hosts Steve Koczela, Jennifer Smith and Lisa Kashinsky get you up to speed on the latest happenings in the Boston mayor’s race and what a new poll means for Gov. Charlie Baker. Deanna Moran, director of environmental planning at the Conservation Law Foundation, joins to talk about climate resiliency in Boston and beyond. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. | |
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