politics & elections

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quadratdackel

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So we've got one of those elections things coming up (two counting the primaries). The governor's race in particular is relevant to a lot of the development stuff we're discussing here. I haven't chosen a candidate yet, although I'm leaning towards Deval Patrick. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this race and any other race going on.

I pulled whatever I could find on housing & transportation topics off the governor candidates' websites:

Chris Gabrieli (D): I don't know much about Gabrielli, except that he's rich and chose not to follow campaign spending limits, which suggests he's trying to buy the election. No idea if he'd be a good governor. I couldn't find anything on development issues, but he did have an issues section. I submitted a question on housing- hopefully the campain will post an answer.

Kerry Healey (R): I couldn't find anything on development issues, because there was no issues section, just a collection of press releases. From a conversation with Michael Dukakis I had a few months back, unlike Romney, Healey is opposed to smart growth. It didn't seem like Dukakis was making it up to score political points, but I'm no expert. I also saw Healey speak a few weeks back and was rather unimpressed. It's a shame, because I like the idea of a Republican governor to keep the Democratic legislature in check, but the governor's about too much more than that for me to want to vote for this person, especially if her oponent is so much better.

Christy Mihos (I): I don't know much about this person. I think it's supposed to be a longshot because he's an independent.
Housing
Christy proposes to double state spending on the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Trust fund, increasing it from $20 million to $40 million annually.
Christy supports fully funding Soft Second loans, which are given through a state program to assist first-time homebuyers.

Transportation/Tolls
Christy supports eliminating Massachusetts Turnpike tolls from Weston to the New York border by selling the eleven service plazas west of Route 128.
Christy opposes MBTA fare increases.
Christy is in favor of extending the Attleboro commuter rail line to Fall River and New Bedford. Christy is in favor of extending the Blue Line to Lynn and replacement of Silver Line buses with dedicated light rail service.
Christy supports giving all Turnpike drivers FREE Fast Lane Transponders to increase efficiency, cut costs at the MTA, and to provide Turnpike motorists with a safer and more convenient commute.
Christy supports additional investment in mass transit systems.
Click to expand...
Deval Patrick (D):
I saw Patrick speak a few months back and was really impressed. While I'm always skeptical of politicians' abilities to substitute charisma for substance, Patrick has a huge amount of content online, including on housing and transit on a housing page and an environment page. It sounds pretty good to me. Here's a sample:
Partnering with cities and towns, with developers as well as neighborhood and environmental advocates, my administration will stimulate development of a range of housing options. Affordable rental housing, clustered near public transportation, will enable young families and lower-wage workers to have stable shelter and easier access to jobs, and seniors to remain in their neighborhoods. Two-family homes for entrepreneurially-minded residents will give some a leg up. Smaller, ?starter? homes for young professionals and young families, with an emphasis on energy efficient design so that both the cost of maintenance and the environmental impact are limited, will give still others their start. Sensitivity to design and density will improve the fabric of our neighborhoods. Main streets will prosper with people living downtown. People of varying ages and incomes will live near one another in safe and stable communities. Housing policy will be closely coordinated with transportation and other infrastructure investment in my administration, so that we are encouraging business and neighborhood development in every region of the Commonwealth.

The greatest unmet need in the housing market remains in places near transit. We have the sites, the rail lines, and the tools to encourage more of this housing. By strengthening our transit neighborhoods we can keep and draw young professionals back to Massachusetts, build stronger more resilient communities, and revitalize our ?second cities.?

I will also support investment in clean, safe, convenient public transportation, connecting every major city and town to Boston.
Click to expand...
Tom Reilly (D):
My impression of Reilly is that he's the classic Democratic machine politician working his way up the ladder, whatever that means.
Increasing the housing supply and making housing more affordable by identifying a predictable funding source for Chapter 40R and cutting red tape holding back housing production by streamlining the permitting process

Reducing costs in energy and housing by fully implementing Reilly?s proposals dealing with those vital issues
Click to expand...
link
Promoting ?Smart Growth? by:

Supporting the recapitalization of the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund
Filing an open space bond bill and reinvesting in land protection
Promoting economic development in the Commonwealth?s cities outside Boston linked to key transportation infrastructure improvements
Click to expand...
link
 
I'll be voting for Patrick in the primary. Hopefully dems don't make the same mistake they made in '02 when they passed on Reich for a dull insider like Shannon O'Brien.
 
Mike said:
I'll be voting for Patrick in the primary. Hopefully dems don't make the same mistake they made in '02 when they passed on Reich for a dull insider like Shannon O'Brien.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I forgot about the Shannon O'Brien mess. What was that all about? Reich would have been great.

I'll be voting for Patrick, Deval as well because he won't be perceived as a homegrown corrupt machine politics type (e.g. Reilly).
 
ZenZen said:
Mike said:
I'll be voting for Patrick in the primary. Hopefully dems don't make the same mistake they made in '02 when they passed on Reich for a dull insider like Shannon O'Brien.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I forgot about the Shannon O'Brien mess. What was that all about? Reich would have been great.

I'll be voting for Patrick, Deval as well because he won't be perceived as a homegrown corrupt machine politics type (e.g. Reilly).
Click to expand...

I'll be voting for Christy Mihos, out of spite for public officials, the turnpike authority and the fees you have to pay the state to get anything done.
 
I'll be voting for Deval Patrick. Okay, so I'll be a few months short of having the ability to vote, so technically I won't be voting. But we can pretend
 
You'll all be voting for Deval Patrick because he's a democrat, black and you want to seem tolerant and cool.
 
bosdevelopment said:
You'll all be voting for Deval Patrick because he's a democrat, black and you want to seem tolerant and cool.
Click to expand...

Well, I know that's why I'll be voting for him at least, though I can't speak for everyone...
 
There's nothing a governer can really do to change the housing situation in the state other than say, lobby for 14 billion dollars and use that money to construct 140,000 affordable housing units in and around Boston. This would attract all sorts of people to the Boston Metro area and keep our economy thriving for years to come. ... 14 BILLION.

Putting more money in the housing trust fund is ridiculous. What in the world will even one hundred million really accomplish? Will it keep people in this state that are fed up with their local real estate taxes and opt for a waterfront townhouse in the Carolinas?
 
bosdevelopment said:
There's nothing a governer can really do to change the housing situation in the state other than say, lobby for 14 billion dollars and use that money to construct 140,000 affordable housing units in and around Boston. This would attract all sorts of people to the Boston Metro area and keep our economy thriving for years to come. ... 14 BILLION.

Putting more money in the housing trust fund is ridiculous. What in the world will even one hundred million really accomplish? Will it keep people in this state that are fed up with their local real estate taxes and opt for a waterfront townhouse in the Carolinas?
Click to expand...

If the regulatory process was streamlined to the point where it went as fast or faster than the speed of the development/design process, so a developer could concieve of a project, design it, submit it and recieve approval in less than 30 days from submission, and developers were allowed to build as high as they wanted with no neigborhood input allowed, the housing market would most certainly improve.
 
DudeUrSistersHot said:
bosdevelopment said:
There's nothing a governer can really do to change the housing situation in the state other than say, lobby for 14 billion dollars and use that money to construct 140,000 affordable housing units in and around Boston. This would attract all sorts of people to the Boston Metro area and keep our economy thriving for years to come. ... 14 BILLION.

Putting more money in the housing trust fund is ridiculous. What in the world will even one hundred million really accomplish? Will it keep people in this state that are fed up with their local real estate taxes and opt for a waterfront townhouse in the Carolinas?
Click to expand...

If the regulatory process was streamlined to the point where it went as fast or faster than the speed of the development/design process, so a developer could concieve of a project, design it, submit it and recieve approval in less than 30 days from submission, and developers were allowed to build as high as they wanted with no neigborhood input allowed, the housing market would most certainly improve.
Click to expand...

If streamlining the regulatory process is your goal, Mihos is your man.
 
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