Keller: The troubling signs that mean it'll be more tractor pull than victory lap for the next governor

You say you want to govern Massachusetts for the next four years, maybe more? 

Be careful what you wish for.

Even as the polls show the electorate in a sour mood, local incumbents mostly breezed through their primaries and seem poised to do the same in November. This hints at an odd phenomenon — here in arguably the bitching-moaning-and-finger-pointing capital of America, voters don’t seem to blame our elected officials as aggressively as you might expect.

For politicians elected during the COVID era, the pandemic has absorbed the blame for some of its worst side-effects. Public school math and reading test scores were declining for years before 2020, but COVID still gets most of the credit for their precipitous implosion since then. The collapse of downtown office property values is blamed on the pandemic-era work-from-home boom. And COVID aside, it’s hard to pin the housing crisis too aggressively on Beacon Hill when the lead culprit is generations of NIMBYism at the local level. 

However you divvy up the blame pie, the result is the same — a mess that promises to turn the next few years at least into more tractor pull than victory lap.

Don’t take our word for it. Cue the all-stars on the editorial board of Mass Benchmarks, the UMass Donahue Institute/Federal Reserve Bank of Boston bible of regional economic analysis. 

At their most recent board meeting they ingested the current data and served up a smorgasbord of troubling questions about our future. For every bit of welcome good news there were disturbing caveats.

The Massachusetts GDP outperformed the nation with two percent growth in the second quarter, in spite of the Trump administration’s efforts to strangle us with tariffs and ICE.  “Genuine economic strength…[stemming] primarily from higher productivity growth,” notes the board. But it seems most of that bump reflects “strong equipment purchases related to artificial intelligence, including data centers.”

Uh-oh. Are we pitching our tent on quicksand?

…One Commonwealth, the nonprofit political advocacy group that Gov. Healey and Lt. Gov Driscoll launched in 2024 to back housing initiatives aligned with their agenda, is endorsing Question 7. Healey and Driscoll also support the ballot measure, which would allow single-family home construction on smaller lots. “Question 7 is a common sense step to ensure our communities have room for the next generation of families and is a tool to create opportunities for home ownership,” One Commonwealth executive director Kate Kelly said in a statement...

...Congressional candidate Nadia Milleron, an independent challenging U.S. Rep. Richard Neal for the second time, opened a campaign office at 19 Hamilton St. in Southbridge and is inviting "all residents of Worcester County and beyond to visit"...

...Elizabeth Turnbull Henry is stepping down as president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts after almost a decade. Henry, who's also led the ELM Action Fund, will become executive director of the Blue Horizons Foundation, which focuses on global decarbonization. Casey Bowers, who joined ELM in 2018 as legislative director, will serve as interim president...

10:00 | Board of Agriculture meets. Agenda includes a presentation about the Agricultural Preservation Restriction program, focused on listening sessions and labor housing policy updates | The Big E, Massachusetts Building, 1305 Hampden Ave., West Springfield | Agenda and Zoom

11:00 | Senate meets in an informal session | Senate Chamber

11:00 | House meets in an informal session | House Chamber

12:00 | Gov. Healey visits New Bedford fire station 9 to highlight a proposed $1.3 million to help keep the station open | 799 Ashley Blvd., New Bedford

3:30 | Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Foundation hosts “Meet the Real Small Business Owners Using AI.” The event is part of its Small Business Strong Learning Series | Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, 265 Franklin Street, Suite 1701, Boston

Assistant Attorney General — NEW, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General

Lead Organizer / Civic Engagement Coordinator — NEW, Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants

Deputy General Counsel — NEW, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities

Vice President of Membership and Engagement, 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

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PLA IT BY EAR: A Fiscal Alliance Foundation report takes aim at a 2025 executive order aimed at bolstering the use of project labor agreements, linking PLA requirements to steeper costs and warning of implications for major infrastructure projects. A spokesperson for Gov. Healey knocked the findings as "junk research." | State House News Service (gift link)

MINOGUE “ON THE RECORD”: Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue says the state has a spending problem that he wants to solve, and that he does not agree with President Trump's tariffs and NIH cuts affecting Massachusetts institutions. | WCVB

COMMUTER RAIL FARE: Final bids for the next nine-year deal to run the MBTA's commuter rail are due today, and experts project a major surge in the operating costs through 2036. | Boston Globe

IN THE CHAMBER: With voters set to decide this November on a repeal of the state's 2024 gun law, the Supreme Judicial Court is also poised to consider the question of how much discretion local police should have in deciding to issue a gun license. | CommonWealth Beacon

MAYOR IN COURT: Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge of assault and battery, which stems from his alleged touching of a teenager on her waist and shoulder during a parade in May. Moises called the case against him "flimsy" and suggested it might be politically motivated. | GBH News

WARNOCK IN WORCESTER: Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock gave the keynote at the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ at Worcester's DCU Center, weighing in on what he called the "Big Ugly Bill," Elon Musk's wealth, and the lessons he feels the country can take from a flock of geese. | Telegram & Gazette

FUNDRAISER FALLOUT: The owner of Montano's Restaurant in Truro say they've received hate mail, online threats and a hoax 911 call after hosting a fundraiser for Republican candidates Mike Minogue for governor and Tyler MacAllister for Congress. | Boston Herald

PICKING UP THE TAB: Springfield is seeking federal funds to help recoup its extra costs from the recent cyberattack on city schools, plus state dollars to help pay expenses, including zoo damage, from an August windstorm. | The Republican

Hundreds of flights at Logan canceled by storm, some impacts remain Monday

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Lowell Police seize bikes, e-bikes in downtown safety crackdown

Salem woman attends ICE check-in with over 120 supporters

Nor'Easter Uncovers Large Shipwreck Fragment On Nantucket's South Shore

Boloco wins three-week reprieve as it explores employee ownership, new location

Behavioral Health Coordinator, For Kids Only Afterschool

Assistant Secretary / MEPA Director, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

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