Leading with Heart: Advancing Cardiovascular Health in Massachusetts: At Mass General Brigham Heart and Vascular Institute, we’re ensuring the best quality of care for every one of our patients, from Boston to Northampton. Mobile van services and community partnerships are helping our experts reach people who might otherwise face barriers to preventive care. Learn more.
Keller @ Large
The eunuch populism of the 119th Congress may be on the verge of getting, er, cut short, soon to be followed by the grifter populism of the executive branch.
But populism as a political force isn’t going away. From Andrew Jackson’s Trump-like contempt for democratic checks and balances and love of the spoils system to the hate-filled burn-it-down nihilism of today’s far left and right, it’s the political itch Americans just can’t stop scratching, even when it exacerbates the eczema.
Massachusetts is no exception. And while some of us flatter ourselves as avatars of populism, our self-serving conflation of it with NIMBYism on housing says otherwise.
No one seriously disputes that the extreme scarcity of affordable housing is helping drive human and financial capital out of state, and while we know what’s causing it, recourse is limited. We can’t do anything about the weather and the rise of remote work as an option for people escaping our five-month winters. Major tax cuts would have to go awfully deep to make us competitive with the states people are fleeing to, and only rich ideologues would love the resulting collapse of government-funded services.
So the only thing we can do is try to build our way out of it. That’s why then-Gov. Charlie Baker signed the MBTA Communities Act, a 2021 law passed with near-unanimous legislative approval that required 177 cities and towns to set up at least one district near T service where multifamily housing could be constructed without a special permit.
For the reactionary defenders of exclusionary local zoning, this long-overdue baby step was on par with the iron boot of imperial Japan decimating the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. “Tell the MBTA their buses can’t stop in Bedford anymore,” wrote one over-caffeinated citizen to his local newspaper.
The arguments follow the usual NIMBY script. New multi-family housing would allegedly swamp local infrastructure, flood the streets with a tsunami of extra cars, and sweet mother of pearl, where will they all park?
Jon Keller is a MASSterList columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].
MA voters support stronger AI safety: AI safety requires transparency and accountability. A new poll shows that 75% of Massachusetts voters support requiring the largest AI companies to publish safety plans, report serious incidents, and face penalties for non-compliance. See the poll.
HAPPENING TODAY
10:00 | Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government begins accepting written testimony on nine bills affecting Danvers, Stow, Ludlow, Hopedale, Becket, Hull, Tisbury, Belmont and Dighton. A Rep. Davis proposal (H 5641) would enable Becket to impose a six-month moratorium on large-scale photovoltaic installations and battery energy storage systems. Testimony will be accepted through 5 p.m. on Sept. 28 | More Info
10:00 | Mayor Wu, Boston Public Health Commission and University of Massachusetts Boston host a press conference announcing a new academic partnership to bolster public health education across the city | Point Lounge, 3rd Floor, UMass Boston Campus Center, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Dorchester
11:00 | House meets in an informal session | House Chamber | Livestream
11:00 | Senate meets without a calendar | Senate Chamber | Livestream
1:00 | House Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs meets and discusses the National Conference of State Legislatures' summit, which was held in Chicago at the end of July | Room 437 | More Info
JOB BOARD
Vice President of Membership and Engagement — NEW, Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers
Staff Attorney, Disability Law Center
Chief Financial Officer, Boston Public Health Commission
Financial Investigations Manager, Mass Gaming Commission
Deputy General Counsel and Clerk of the Commission, Civil Service Commission
Behavioral Health Coordinator, For Kids Only Afterschool
Assistant Secretary / MEPA Director, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
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The Massachusetts nonprofit sector is composed of a wide variety of subsectors, from education and health to human rights & services, arts & culture, philanthropy, and more. With many of these nonprofits now struggling in the face of federal threats, it’s more critical than ever to support these organizations whose work touches every resident of the Commonwealth. Learn more.
ON BEACON HILL
OVER-SEEN: Federal transit officials ended their oversight of the MBTA that began in 2022 amid a series of incidents including derailments and a passenger death. The Federal Transit Authority says the state's staffed-up Department of Public Utilities is well-positioned to monitor T safety. | State House News Service (gift link)
HOUSING BUY RIGHT: The House and Senate each included language in their economic development bills, now being negotiated, that would let renters whose apartment building is for sale band together to match an outside offer. Similar tenant right-to-purchase laws have been around elsewhere since the 1970s, but one version here met Gov. Charlie Baker's veto pen five years ago. | CommonWealth Beacon
GUN LAW RALLY: Gov. Healey, teachers unions and Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden rallied Sunday against the repeal of the state's 2024 gun law, one of nine ballot questions. | Boston Herald
CASHING ZYN: Republican candidate for governor Mike Minogue, whose financial disclosures show that he owns tobacco company stocks either directly or through a business, wants to legalize the sale of flavored nicotine pouches like Zyn. Minogue's campaign says he does not have day-to-day involvement in the investments, held in managed accounts. | Boston Globe
NOT PLYMOUTH ROCK: The Jurassic armored mud ball could join the ranks of state symbols like the Boston cream pie and black-capped chickadee. A bill to declare it the state's official sedimentary structure passed the House in August, and the geologist behind the measure cites "positive conversations" with the Senate. | Greenfield Recorder
NEWS NEXT DOOR
ZONE DEFENSE: In rejecting Marshfield’s challenge of the MBTA Communities Act, the Supreme Judicial Court says Town Meeting voters don't have the power to exempt a community from the obligations of state law. | MassLive
NORTH SHORED UP: The once-affordable North Shore has seen a 100% increase in median house prices in 10 years, pricing out first-time buyers, as cities like Peabody, Beverly and Salem attract national attention. | Banker & Tradesman
RESEALING PROCESS: Bourne officials are talking about designing a new town seal, which would require a Town Meeting vote. The current seal, from 1895, uses imagery more associated with Western Native American populations to depict Wampanoag people. | Cape Cod Times
Massachusetts is a national leader in healthcare, but soaring costs are putting immense pressure on families, employers, and providers. With spending outpacing the state’s cost-growth benchmark, how can we realistically contain costs while maintaining high-quality care? Join MASSterList and key healthcare leaders on Thursday, October 8, for an urgent, data-driven conversation about the forces driving healthcare costs on Beacon Hill and the critical policy choices facing the Commonwealth. Register.
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JOB BOARD
Director, Finance & Accounting, AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod
Director of Grants Development, Boston Public Health Commission
Chief Procurement Officer, Barnstable County
Deputy Comptroller, City of Newton
Associate General Counsel-MRSB, Office of the State Treasurer and Receiver General
Utilities Program Manager, MassDevelopment
Climate Action Coordinator, City of Newton
Project Manager, District Services, Longwood Collective
Chief Financial Officer, Bristol County Sheriff's Office
Housing and Human Services Policy Analyst, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center
Government and Community Affairs Division Chief, Mass Gaming Commission
Senior Legal Counsel, Office of the Child Advocate
Marketing and Communications Manager, St. Francis House
