Next week, lawmakers are scheduled to take up 10 proposed amendments, including one that would declare "only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Massachusetts."
Also on the agenda are ...
An amendment that would increase the number of voter signatures needed to qualify an initiative petition for the ballot.
The Boston Globe
Saturday, February 7, 2004
10 amendments on lawmakers' agenda
Menino administration officials have again opted to run the city-owned George Wright Golf Course themselves, sacrificing at least $300,000 in annual earnings in order to keep the contract from being awarded to a firm which has ruffled the feathers of some mayoral pals....
Those cases have led to allegations of free golf outings for Mayor Thomas M. Menino and other officials, and Johnson's claims that he
tried to stop Menino confidant Edward Jesser from parking his Jaguar in a fire lane or other unauthorized areas....
Johnson also has sued over the city's decision to award the contract for the William A. Devine course at Franklin Park to another bidder.
Those suits exposed Menino and the city's golf course overseer as being allowed to pay free rounds of golf at Franklin Park.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, February 7, 2004
Pols opt to nix top bid, let city run Hyde Park golf course
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Again, it is the time to act ... and act quickly
we must!
Sen. Stanley Rosenberg's attempt to strangle the
initiative petition process, even despite the unfavorable report it
received from the Legislature's Committee on Election Laws, is number
three on the agenda for Wednesday's constitutional convention. We've
learned that he's going flat-out to get it passed. It is not dead,
as we thought.
Go to:
CLT'S "SAVE DEMOCRACY PROJECT"
The constitutional convention is composed of all
House and Senate members meeting jointly, this coming Wednesday. If
you want to save the initiative petition process, you must contact
your state senator and representative and instruct them to vote down
Sen. Rosenberg's attempt to kill the process, S.362.
FIND
YOUR STATE REP AND SENATOR
ALPHABETICAL
LIST OF REPS AND SENATORS
BY CITY/TOWN
Or call and ask to speak to your state
representative and senator
at (617) 722-2000.
Not that it's doing us a whole lot of good lately,
but without the initiative petition process at least as a threat --
the people's last resort -- we'll have nothing left with which to
stand up to the Beacon Hill Cabal!
*
*
*
The next time you hear the municipal Whiner-in-Chief begging for -- no,
demanding -- more state local aid for Boston from us state
taxpayers, remember that Mayor Tom Menino, like some medieval lord, needs it to fund his private golf courses.
Next year alone, the governor's budget proposes that we generous state taxpayers
dole out $418.5 million to
support Menino's
impoverished city, and still the mayor insists that's not
enough.
|
|
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Chip
Ford |
The Boston Globe
Saturday, February 7, 2004
10 amendments on lawmakers' agenda
By Matthew Rodriguez and State House News Service
The Massachusetts Constitution dates from 1780 and has been amended 120 times in its long history. The last time was in 2000, when voters changed the redistricting timetable and limited voting by incarcerated felons.
Next week, lawmakers are scheduled to take up 10 proposed amendments, including one that would declare "only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Massachusetts."
Also on the agenda are:
The Boston Herald
Saturday, February 7, 2004
Pols opt to nix top bid, let city run Hyde Park golf course
By Jack Meyers
Menino administration officials have again opted to run the city-owned George Wright Golf Course themselves, sacrificing at least $300,000 in annual earnings in order to keep the contract from being awarded to a firm which has ruffled the feathers of some mayoral pals.
By rejecting all the bids for the three-year contract, the city again blocked Johnson Golf Management from getting the pact. Johnson Golf's owner, Douglas Johnson, has twice sued the city over improper contract practices.
Those cases have led to allegations of free golf outings for Mayor Thomas M. Menino and other officials, and Johnson's claims that he tried to stop Menino confidant Edward Jesser from parking his Jaguar in a fire lane or other unauthorized areas.
Johnson Golf's bid called for paying the city $475,500 per year for three years. The second-highest bid was for $335,000 per year.
Acting Parks Commissioner Antonia Pollak defended the decision, saying, It's not all about the money. I certainly want revenue for the Parks Department, but if the asset is not being well managed ... it's going to cost us more in the long run.
She said the agency needs time to evaluate the facility's long-term needs. Also, she said some customers felt the city needed to have a more direct role in the course's operations, citing what she said were complaints about Johnson Golf's management from 1999 to 2002.
The fact they were cutting corners to pay us was beginning to show, Pollak said about Johnson Golf's earlier contract.
Kevin Burke, the attorney for Johnson Golf, said the city's decision to run the Hyde Park course itself was predictable.
It seems to be `Anybody but Johnson' is their position, he said. Our analysis is that the city is losing over $300,000 per year by declining to accept our bid and attempting to run (the course) themselves.
Regarding allegations of complaints, Burke said, The vast majority of the people who complained were people ... who were stealing or people breaking the rules.
Among the changes that angered some longtime members when Johnson Golf first took over management of the George Wright course was the use of new tags to track golf cart rental keys.
A year ago, Johnson Golf was the high bidder to operate George Wright but the city awarded it to another firm.
Johnson Golf filed suit, blocking the award, so the city decided to run the facility itself. Johnson also has sued over the city's decision to award the contract for the William A. Devine course at Franklin Park to another bidder.
Those suits exposed Menino and the city's golf course overseer as being allowed to pay free rounds of golf at Franklin Park.
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