Over the Mystic: Baker's All In on This Project

The Baker administration anticipated the grumbling that would follow in the wake of its announcement last week that it was going forward with a $35 million project to build a 785-foot-long pedestrian and bicyclist bridge over the Mystic River linking the Encore casino site in Everett to Assembly Square in Somerville.  

Administration officials came to the Oct. 22 announcement ceremony armed with facts on how the bridge would help both people and the environment, and on how much it would do for communities deemed both Gateway Cities and areas deserving of "environmental justice" improvements.

Gateway Cities serve as foundations and hubs for economic activities that drive the economies of their regions.  In Massachusetts, the legislature has designated 26 Gateway Cities, including Chelsea, Everett, Fall River, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lynn, Malden, Revere and Worcester.

A neighborhood conforms to the Commonwealth's definition of an environmental justice area if it meets one or more of the following criteria: 1. the annual median household income is not more than 65 percent of the statewide annual median household income; 2. minorities comprise 40 percent or more of the population; 3. Twenty-five percent or more of households lack English language proficiency; or 4. minorities comprise 25 percent or more of the population and the annual median household income of the municipality in which the neighborhood is located does not exceed 150 percent of the statewide annual median household income.

Three days after the Baker administration announced it is fully committed to "completing the design, permitting and construction of the Mystic River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge," The Boston Globe published an opinion column under the headline, "A bridge to a casino, but not to a recovery center."  

The columnist juxtaposed the all-positive story from the administration on the pedestrian/bicyclist bridge with the long-stalled project to rebuild the bridge from Quincy to Long Island (in Boston Harbor), which would enable the City of Boston to re-open a desperately needed substance abuse treatment facility on the island, writing:

"In this tale of two bridges, is there a more textbook case about what society and government deem important?  As Alex Green, who teaches public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School tweeted over the weekend: 'Bridge to casino.  No bridge to massive Long Island rehab facility.  Massachusetts priorities, one decision at a time.' "

Closed due to safety concerns in October 2014, the Long Island bridge had to be demolished several months later.  Boston has since been attempting to rebuild it but has been blocked at every turn in the process by the City of Quincy.  The matter remains mired in the courts.  

Count me among those who believe the Mystic River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge is a great idea and a great investment by the state -- even if it plumps up the bottom line of Encore's owner,  Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts.  (I say that as a lifelong, committed non-gambler.)

The bridge may help some gamblers get from Somerville to the casino and back, but I can't imagine there'll be lots of gamblers making it their primary route to the Encore.  The walk will be too much like work for most of the folks who get their kicks sitting for hours in front of slot machines.  And why would they walk to the casino when they can take a free shuttle to it from the Wellington T station, just one stop away from Assembly Square on the Orange Line?

The main beneficiaries of the bridge will be: (a) bicyclists who will no longer have to risk their lives on the traffic-clogged Alford Street Bridge (Route 99) from Everett to Somerville, (b) persons of humble circumstances from Somerville who will find it easier to take jobs at the casino, and (c) persons of humble circumstances from Everett who will find it easier to take jobs at the offices, apartment and condo complexes, shops and restaurants in the boomtown created by Somerville at Assembly Square.

The no-vehicle/no-carbon-emissions bridge will also open up new possibilities for people and enterprises beyond Everett and Somerville because it will connect the Northern Strand, one of the most popular pedestrian and bike trails in Greater Boston, to Somerville and adjoining municipalities.  

The Northern Strand is built mainly on old, abandoned freight railroad lines.  It begins in Lynn and courses for eleven-and-a half miles through Saugus, Malden, Revere and Everett before culminating on the banks of the Mystic.  

Once the new bridge is in place, anyone will be able to use the Northern Strand to bike, run or walk uninterrupted all the way to Somerville -- and, if they're especially fit and energetic, from Somerville to points in Boston, Cambridge and beyond. 

Through this bridge, Kathleen Theoharides, Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, sees the state "delivering a mobility solution that prioritizes equity, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and enhances access to local businesses and services for residents in these environmental justice communities." 

The comparison between the construction of the Mystic River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge and the replacement of the Long Island bridge is rather thin.  The two cities involved with the first project, Everett and Somerville, are totally in favor of it, whereas the cities involved with the second project, Boston and Quincy, are on opposite sides.

Two points I'd like to stick in at the end:

The state collects taxes from the Encore casino equal to 25 percent of the casino's gross receipts.  That does not automatically entitle the casino to reap the benefits of a state-funded infrastructure project, but it allows the casino and its supporters to argue the bridge is worthy of public investment.  Developers and businesses argue from weaker vantages all the time.

The Encore casino itself is private property but the grounds around it, and (most attractively) the waterfront portions of it, are open at no fee or obligation to the public.  Wynn Resorts created a new waterfront park when it reclaimed and rehabilitated a shoreline and riverbed dangerously contaminated during the decades a chemical factory operated on the site.  It is a beautiful public amenity. 

This Moment in Corruption: The Case of the Larcenous Postal Supervisor

Federal authorities have made known the story of a longtime U.S. Postal Service employee who developed something on the side in the cocaine trade.

The Office of Acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Nathaniel R. Mendell announced Oct. 22 that Shawn M. Herron, 44, a resident of Whitman, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of theft of mail by a postal employee.

A press release from Mendell's office states that Herron has been employed with the Postal Service since 2005 and has served as Supervisor of Customer Service at the Canton Post Office and, more recently, as Manager of Customer Services at the Fall River Post Office (FPO).

"Herron tracked packages he suspected of containing narcotics," the release says, "and, rather than dealing with them appropriately, opened them and stole the contents.  Specifically, Herron profiled priority parcels from Puerto Rico and West Coast states, as well as parcels flagged by law enforcement as potentially containing illegal narcotics, and then removed them from the mail stream."

The release continues, "Herron tracked the suspected parcels through Postal Service databases and monitored their arrival at the FPO.  After their arrival, Herron located the parcels and brought them to his personal office space, where he stole the narcotics for distribution."

Herron is looking at some serious punishment.

The distribution charge provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $500,000.

The theft of mail charge carries a prison sentence of up to five years, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

COVID Recovery Bill Notable for Its Broad Scope and Slow Motion

SECOND OF TWO PARTS 

On June 28, Governor Charlie Baker submitted to the legislature An Act Relative to Immediate COVID Recovery Needs, saying he wanted to use $2.915 billion of direct federal aid to address "urgent hardships and challenges" facing those hit hard by the pandemic, including "communities of color and low-wage workers."

Line Item 1599-2032 in this bill, now designated House Bill 3922, calls for $400 million in grants for municipal water and sewer infrastructure improvements.  It specifies that grants be used to remediate "combined sewer overflow into waterways, including projects to improve water quality in the Merrimack River."

Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) happen during heavy rainstorms in some communities with old underground pipes handling both rainwater run-off and sewage.  When run-off and sewage reach the pipes' capacity limits, water system operators direct the overflows to natural waterways; otherwise, sewage would  back up into homes, businesses and other structures, to devastating effect.

The problem is particularly acute along the Merrimack River, a drinking water source for communities like Lowell, Methuen, Andover, Tewksbury and Lawrence.  Hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage are diverted every year into the river because of CSOs.  

Baker's bill is a Godsend to those living along the Merrimack or in one of the communities that take their drinking water from it.  If it only cleaned up the Merrimack, it would be a monumental achievement...but there's so much more it would do. 

HB3922 proposes new spending in multiple areas, including the following:

• $300 million to support expanded homeownership opportunities, focusing on first-time homebuyers who reside in municipalities disproportionately impacted by COVID.
• $200 million to support housing production and related efforts that seek to help communities of color "build wealth by promoting homeownership among residents of disproportionately impacted municipalities."
• $200 million to produce rental housing and provide increased housing options to workers and residents of disproportionately impacted municipalities.
• $300 million to finance the statewide production of housing for veterans and senior citizens.
• $250 million to support investments and regional collaboration aimed at invigorating downtowns across the state.
• $100 million for downtown development that will specifically spur economic growth in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by COVID.
• $100 million for cultural facilities and tourism state-wide.
• $240 million for job training programs addressing workforce skills gaps, thereby helping Massachusetts citizens secure the jobs that most need to be filled at this time.
• $50 million for "fiscally stressed" hospitals in disproportionately impacted municipalities.  (The Governor pointed out, "These hospitals have taken extraordinary measures to support their communities during the pandemic, despite interruptions to their revenue streams.")
• $175 million for addiction treatment and related behavioral health services.
• $100 million "to close the digital divide and increase broadband internet access."
• $100 million for marine port development.

The flood of federal dollars brought to Massachusetts by the pandemic is so large that, even if this $2.9 billion-dollar legislation were enacted and implemented as is, $2 billion in federal COVID relief would remain on the table for the legislature to spend as it sees fit.

Despite having the word "immediate" in its title, House 3922 seems to be inching along in the House.  Officially filed on June 30 and sent to House Ways & Means, a hearing on the bill was not held until September 15. No official steps have been taken on it since.

Great is the temptation to think the legislature may be slow-walking the bill because lawmakers are unhappy with the Baker-authored $2.9-billion/$2-billion split in control of the funds between the administration and legislature, respectively. In the filing letter accompanying the bill, Baker made it clear that he wanted to put "his" $2.9 billion to immediate use.  The Governor's patience is no doubt wearing thin.