Kerry fined $50 for failing to clear snow from the side of his Beacon Hill mansion
Archives For Marty Walsh
Amendment submitted to City Council
BOSTON — Boston Mayor Martin Walsh wants to make it easier for elderly landlords and owners who live in their rental buildings to own housing units in the city.
Boston has registered 108,000 rental units for an inspection program intended to ensure residents live in safe and healthy homes.
Walsh announced on Saturday that he is filing an amendment to a city ordinance to waive registration fees for rental units for up to three families, including the owner. The waiver will also apply to homes for up to six families whose owner is age 65 or older, or has an infirmity or faces other circumstances that make the fee a hardship.
Walsh will submit the amendment to the City Council on Monday. The measure will also refund registration fees that have been paid by properties qualifying for the exemption.
New program keeps subways, some buses running until 3 a.m.
BOSTON — State leaders announced Thursday late-night MBTA service for some of its most popular routes.
The new pilot program will keep subways running until 3 a.m. along the 15 most popular bus routes on Saturdays and Sundays. Corporate sponsors, including the Red Sox, will underwrite part of the estimated $21 million cost. Fares will remain the same during the test period.
“Hospital workers and cleaning service workers and others have asked for it, and because they asked for it, late night service on the T starts in March 28,” Gov. Deval Patrick said.
The announcement was met with cheers, but it’s a one-year pilot program that needs much more than cheers to succeed.
“We need to help the MBTA by encouraging people to take public transportation,” Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said.
The MBTA is training most of the 133 new recruits that will be needed to operate the subways, trolleys and buses.
The extended T-service will not only benefit people working late, but may pave the way for clubs and bars to stay open later — a possibility floated last week by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
The pilot program will begin the last weekend in March.
Immaculate Heart of Mary School pulls out of St. Patrick’s Day parade
HARVARD, Mass. — A Catholic school in Harvard will not march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston after learning that a gay military veterans group will be allowed to participate in the parade.
The Immaculate Heart of Mary School’s band and students have marched in the annual South Boston parade for nearly 25 years along a float depicting the culture and faith of Irish people around the central figure of Saint Patrick.
“The familiar scene of Saint Patrick joyfully giving his blessing to the crowds has, sad to say, come to an end. In the footsteps of Saint Patrick, IHM does not condone and will not appear to condone the homosexual lifestyle,” Principal Thomas Dalton said.
Organizers of the parade have decided to ease its two-decade ban on gay organizations, a MassEquality official said Saturday.
A group of gay military veterans will be allowed march under its banner in a tentative deal brokered by Boston Mayor Martin Walsh. Marchers from the gay rights group would not be allowed to wear clothing or hold signs that refer to sexual orientation.
Walsh had threatened to boycott the city annual parade unless gay groups are allowed to march. He met parade organizers Saturday and hopes that a solution that works for all involved.
“We must stand firm with the Church which states in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by Pope John Paul II, that ‘homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity’ and ‘are intrinsically disordered…Under no circumstances can they be approved,'” Dalton said.
The parade draws an estimated 1 million spectators to South Boston every year.
Sgt. Winifred Cotter’s selection all about ‘trust,’ mayor says
BOSTON — Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is answering questions about nepotism after he chose his new driver — Boston Police Department Sgt. Winifred Cotter, who is also his cousin.
“Winnie is a police officer who has an extensive career in the Police Department. She is a police sergeant. She is somebody I completely trust. She worked in city government a lot longer than I have, and it’s absolutely not nepotism,” Walsh said.
Walsh did say how extensive the search was. He said Cotter is well qualified. Her appointment marked another milestone.
“We want to make history here in Boston, and one of the things we did was make Winnie Cotter the sergeant on the team — first female sergeant to run the detail for the mayor in the history of Boston,” Walsh said.
The mayor’s driver is considered a plumb assignment and career booster. When their run is over, past drivers have ended up in top leadership posts in the police department.
“There were people qualified, but it is also about trust. And I am putting people around me that I am trusting,” Walsh said.
Walsh announces key appointments
BOSTON — Marty Walsh gave his final public address Sunday afternoon before becoming Boston’s first new mayor in 20 years.
Speaking at an interfaith service at the Old South Church on Copley Square, the 46-year-old, who will formally take office Monday morning, thanked his supporters, and laid out his priorities for the new administration.
“I’m looking forward to working with the clergy to deal with the issues around poverty; to deal with the issues around violence; to deal with the issues around inequality,” he told the crowd.
“I’m looking forward to the swearing-in,” the long-time state representative added. “But I’m really looking forward to Tuesday, going to work.”
Earlier in the day, Walsh hosted a brunch for senior citizens at Northeastern University. He stressed in that speech that fair housing will be another item at the top of his agenda.
“I’m going to make some announcements [Monday] about our [Boston Housing Authority] housing developments,” he told the crowd, most of whom were bused in on money raised by Walsh’s transition team specifically for his inaugural weekend. “How we’re going to fix those up; how we’re going to make those safer; how you should not have to live in fear.”
The Dorchester native has already begun the tough task of taking over for Tom Menino, a giant in local politics who served as the city’s mayor for 20 years. He announced exclusively Sunday morning on WCVB’s “On The Record” program that he has appointed former mayoral candidate and city councilor Felix Arroyo to head the newly created Health and Human Services department.
He also announced Saturday the appointment of 29-year-old Daniel Koh as his chief of staff. Koh, currently the general manager of HuffPostLive, is a former Menino adviser.
Walsh has yet to name a new police commissioner or superintendent of Boston Schools. He said Sunday he won’t make those appointments until after Monday.
The setup, meantime, was well underway at the Silvio O. Conte Forum at Boston College. Walsh earned his undergraduate degree from BC, and the venue marks a departure from tradition; inaugurations are generally held closer to downtown.
As many as 8,000 people could be in attendance at the arena where BC’s hockey and basketball teams play. That would make it one of the largest inaugurations the city has ever seen.
“I’m getting a little nervous — probably about the speech,” the mayor-elect told reporters Sunday. “I practiced it a little bit last night, and we made some edits; I’m going to practice again tonight. And then we’ll make a few more edits, so I’m a little nervous about that.”
Walsh will address the Boston City Council a few hours after his inauguration; will swear in two new members of the Boston School Committee; will visit the New England Center for Homeless Veterans; and then will attend the inaugural ball at the Hynes Convention Center.
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