Linehan hires former candidate for state representative as aide
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District 2 City Councillor Bill Linehan has tapped a former candidate for state representative as his aide. Mark McGonagle will start in Linehan’s office on June 4, replacing Tim Brown.
McGonagle, who ran for the Fourth Suffolk District seat in the House in 2010, said the new job is a “good opportunity to come home again, so to speak.”
McGonagle is a South Boston native and his wife Kathlin grew up in Dorchester’s Harbor Point neighborhood. Read more
Treasurer to bring 15 gallons of ice cream to Jackson turkey fry
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Attendees at City Councillor Tito Jackson’s annual turkey fry will get some cool dessert, courtesy of State Treasurer Steve Grossman and Lower Mills’s Ice Creamsmith.
The turkey fry starts at noon this Saturday, May 26, and is scheduled to last until 6 p.m. Between 200 and 300 people are expected to attend the event, which will be located at Jackson’s Schuyler St. home. “If you provide the turkey, I provide the ice cream,” Grossman said he told Jackson. Read more
Somebody call a Waahmbulance for former state Rep. Bunte
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When someone blows the whistle, or new information comes to light, there are often two types of people in the crowd paying attention to the ensuing mess: Those who call for more information and transparency, and those who want to find out who leaked what.
Former state Rep. Doris Bunte is among the latter. Read more
Pressley chief of staff heading up consulting firm's expansion into New England
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A top aide to City Councillor At-Large Ayanna Pressley is joining a national public affairs and communications firm. James Chisholm, Pressley’s chief of staff, will be heading up Resolute Consulting’s new Boston office as a vice president.
Resolute Consulting is based in Chicago, Pressley’s hometown, and founded in 2002. The company, which has worked with AT&T and Coca-Cola, also has offices in Atlanta, Detroit, Columbus and Washington, D.C.
Chisholm joined Pressley’s City Hall staff in Jan. 2010, after working on her first campaign. Chisholm left City Hall was last week. Read more
Arroyo taps Coppinger campaign aide as operations director at City Hall
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City Councillor At-Large Felix Arroyo has picked up Patrick Sheridan Rossi, a former campaign aide to state Rep. Ed Coppinger, as operations director.
Rossi started last week. His hiring comes after former chief of staff Stu Rosenberg left City Hall earlier this month for a job as field director with a U.S. Senate race in his native Wisconsin.
Rossi worked campaigns for City Council and the State House, where he once interned. He was the campaign manager for Coppinger, who represents West Roxbury and Roslindale in the House. Read more
Chang-Diaz pushing budget amendments on underperforming schools, alternative ed
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The state Senate is scheduled to debate its version of the fiscal 2013 budget this week, and if it follows the House strategy, it'll happen in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it fashion. The debate is set to start on Wednesday, May 23rd.
State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Jamaica Plain), the chair of the Senate's side of the Education Committee, filed a number of amendments, focusing on full day kindergarten, public health and youth violence prevention. Below the jump is a list of the amendments, provided by her office. Read more
Dorchester is a backdrop in Mass. Senate race ads
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Dorchester residents are seeing some familiar faces in the television ads for the Massachusetts Senate race.
“Her father was janitor; my father was a janitor,” says Catherine O’Neill, a Savin Hill resident whose statement opens U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren’s latest ad, which started airing on Wednesday. O’Neill is active in local politics and recently wrote a politically-themed play, “Murph,” which just wrapped up a run at the Boston Playwrights’ Theater.
“Big banks, institutions, Wall Street — she’s not afraid of anybody,” O’Neill adds later in the 30-second ad. Read more
Menino announces picks for advisory committee on casino
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A partner at the law firm McCarter & English will be heading up Mayor Thomas Menino’s advisory committee on a Boston casino. Brian Leary, a former reporter and anchor for WCVB-TV, will join five others on the committee as City Hall is expected to negotiate a mitigation agreement with the owners of Suffolk Downs, which is seeking to open a destination resort casino in East Boston. Read more
Political drama 'Murph' at Boston Playwrights Theatre April 13 to 28
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Dorchester writer Catherine O’Neill’s political drama, ‘Murph,’ starts next week at the Boston Playwrights Theatre.
Set in Boston on “the eve of the Clinton administration,” the play revolves around the fictional state Rep. Kevin Murphy and his acolytes. “These characters are composites of people I’ve been in political foxholes with,” O'Neill, who has worked on several local campaigns, told the Reporter last year.
The drama, directed by Brett Marks, stars James Bocock, John Geoffrion, Emily Kaye Lazarro and Robert Pittella.
The play runs from April 13 to April 28. Read more
Poll has good news for Coakley, medical marijuana initiative
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Favorability numbers for Attorney General Martha Coakley have increased by 26 points since she ran in the special U.S. Senate election in Jan. 2010, according to a new poll. Voters returned her to the attorney general's office the following November. Read more
Rep. Fox could pick up another challenger
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A second candidate could be taking on state Rep. Gloria Fox (D-Roxbury) this year. Rufus Faulk, a 30-year-old program director with the Boston TenPoint Coalition, told the Reporter on Monday he’s jumping into the race.
Born and raised in Roxbury, Faulk has worked for the coalition’s gang mediation initiative for seven years. He has degrees from Temple University and Boston University.
Faulk joins community activist Jed Hresko, who has also announced a campaign for Seventh Suffolk state representative. The Democratic primary is set for September. Read more
Consalvo chief of staff running for Governor's Council seat
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District 5 City Councillor Rob Consalvo’s chief of staff is mounting a run for a vacant Governor’s Council seat. A holdover from the Bay State’s colonial era, the eight-member council signs off on judicial nominations, pardons and commutations and state treasury payments. Read more
(UPDATED) DeLeo, Yancey clash over school funding
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When City Councillor Charles Yancey mentions the prospect of a Mattapan high school, he is often greeted with weary smiles and eye rolls from City Hall insiders who know how frequently the longtime District 4 representative manages to work it into his remarks.
On Wednesday night, Yancey elicited a different reaction when he brought a Mattapan high school up during a forum at the Joseph Lee School featuring House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) and state Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty (D-Chelsea). Read more
DeLeo in Dorchester on Wednesday night as lawmakers work on sentencing bill compromise
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House Speaker Robert DeLeo is set to headline a neighborhood crime meeting in Dorchester on Wednesday night. The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Joseph Lee School at 155 Talbot Ave.
DeLeo (D-Winthrop) will be joined by state Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty, the House chair of the Judiciary Committee and Chelsea Democrat.
State Rep. Russell Holmes, a Mattapan Democrat and member of the House side of the Judiciary Committee, will provide the introduction. Read more
Plea change hearing set in former state Rep. Wallace's campaign finance case
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A hearing for a plea change has been set for next week in the campaign finance violation case of former state Rep. Brian Wallace. The South Boston Democrat and his former campaign treasurer were indicted last year by a Suffolk grand jury for allegedly failing to report thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in 2008.
Wallace’s attorney, Bill McDermott, declined to comment late Tuesday afternoon when asked about the plea change hearing, which is scheduled for March 20. A trial is potentially scheduled for May, according to court records. Read more
Rep. Collins wins Dem state committee seat
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State Rep. Nick Collins (D-South Boston) won a write-in campaign to grab a Democratic state committee seat, according to unofficial results. Collins won 1,518 votes to local activist Craig Galvin's 535 votes.
At Tuesday's presidential primary election, voters could choose a party committeeman and a woman for their respective state Senate district. State Sen. Jack Hart (D-South Boston) chose not to run for the First Suffolk committee seat, leading Galvin, who last year ran for Dorchester's District 3 City Council seat, to launch his candidacy. Read more
Report: Patrick skipping South Boston breakfast
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Nestled in the State House News Service item on Gov. Deval Patrick's plans for a vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands is this news: Patrick will be coming back on Sunday, March 18, but he won't be attending the annual St. Patrick's Day breakfast in South Boston.
The breakfast is hosted by state Sen. Jack Hart (D-South Boston). Elected officials take the stage at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center to roast and poke fun at each other.
State rep and local activist quarreling over Dem state committee seat
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An intraparty squabble appears to be spicing up an otherwise sleepy Super Tuesday, as a state representative from South Boston and an activist from Dorchester face off for a state Democratic Party slot.
Craig Galvin, a Dorchester Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for City Council in 2011, has been waging a write-in campaign to be the state Democratic Party’s committeeman for the First Suffolk Senate district. A man and a woman from each of the state’s 40 Senate districts are elected to state committee seats, which are up for grabs every four years during the presidential primary election. Read more
Former Mayor Flynn backs Brown on 'conscience clause'
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Former Mayor Ray Flynn this week wrote a letter of support for U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s push for a “conscience clause” exempting employers from covering contraceptive services based on religious or moral objections. Read more
In maiden speech, Baker calls for 24-hour substance abuse helpline
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City Councillor Frank Baker, in a maiden speech to his colleagues, on Wednesday called for a 24-hour substance abuse help line, saying the city and the state do not have a round-the-clock service.
Substance abuse help lines do exist at the city and state level, but they do not function 24 hours a day, according to Baker. "We need to ask ourselves why we don’t have a helpline in the City of Boston, why the services provided are not available 24 hours a day, and what we can do to make this invaluable resource accessible to our residents," Baker said.
Baker said the issue is personal for him, having lost a 25-year-old niece to heroin last year and a brother to drug overdose 19 years ago. The latter sent him into a negative spiral, which came up during the 2011 campaign.
Baker's maiden speech, as prepared for delivery, is available after the jump. Read more
Pressley to appear on MSNBC's 'Ed Show,' talk Blunt Amendment
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City Councillor At-Large Ayanna Pressley will appear on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" on Thursday night to talk about women's health issues and the controversial proposal known as the Blunt amendment.
The amendment, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), allows employers to opt out of health benefit mandates for religious or moral reasons. Read more
St. Mark's civic group could vote on whether casino referendum should be city-wide
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The St. Mark’s Area Civic Association could weigh in Tuesday night on whether there should be a city-wide vote on a Boston casino.
According to an agenda previewing the meeting, attendees of the monthly meeting will be polled on the issue. The association’s meeting starts 7 p.m. in the lower hall of St. Mark’s Church on Dorchester Ave. Read more
Lynch: Obama compromise on contraception rule ‘reasonable’
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U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston), who criticized President Obama’s initial contraception rule, is backing the White House’s compromise as U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic candidate for Senate Elizabeth Warren battle over the issue via radio ads.
The Obama administration said in January that employee health coverage through religious groups and organizations must include contraception, before backtracking and saying they can be exempt. Read more
