Rose Kennedy Greenway

[Sicilian]

I think that's where the debate should be, datadyne.

 

[Suffolk 83]

Economies of scale matter here people. No idea how many acres the highline is or Central park. But it matters. The bigger it is, the cheaper its going to be. The 500k something outsourced is for what? Nobody knows. Should it be more transparent? Yes. But you need to pay a "groundskeeper" probably about 200k. You need to pay someone with connections to get you more money. (100k) You have to pay these people if you're aiming for a better greenway. This shit doesn't pop up over night. Payroll is always going to be your biggest expense.

 

[JohnAKeith]

Looking for a comparison, they always offer this one:

The Greenway’s maintenance costs ran to more than $300,000 per acre last year. By contrast, it costs about $50,300 per acre to maintain New York City’s Central Park, which also is run by a conservancy.

 

[Waldorf]

Sicil -- Salaries should be commensurate with responsibilities -- From what I can see -- after the construction is completed -- then just running the Greenway doesn't seem to require a person paid $225,000 and a staff of 40 -- especially since the maintenance is outsourced

You need people to:
1) look for donors -- 3
2) coordinate daily / weekly events -- 2
3) coordinate log-term art installations, seasonal licenses for food vendors, etc -- 3
4) purchasing -- 1
5) budget and books -- 2
6) Human resources -- 1
6) PR -- 1
6) web -- 2

= 15

I think that would seem to be sufficient for most things -- outside of the executive director and the lead person dealing with donors, budget and a couple of others (5) the rest could be college interns -- that would probably save another $million for programming and better plantings of shrubberies

You forgot about the operations staff: horticulturalists, maintenance personal (fountains, lighting, furniture, hardscape, trash removal, etc.), technicians.

Clearly most people do not understand what it takes to run a park like this. The knee jerk reactions is "Fire everyone, they're all corrupt! They make too much, they must not be doing their jobs!" Who are we to judge. When you compare the financials of the Conservancy (which has MassDOT and City officials on its board) they are clearly in line with similar complex park systems: Discovery Green in Houston, the Highline in Manhattan, and Battery Park City Parks near the WTC. The real problem is that people are reading into the hysteria created by the Herald.

The bottom line is that the Greenway is well maintained for what it is.

 

[Waldorf]

Looking for a comparison, they always offer this one:

The Greenway’s maintenance costs ran to more than $300,000 per acre last year. By contrast, it costs about $50,300 per acre to maintain New York City’s Central Park, which also is run by a conservancy.

Right. Central Park is mostly pastoral land with huge expanses of grass. It's much easier to maintain a wooded area than a highly manicured city block.

 

[whighlander]

Right. Central Park is mostly pastoral land with huge expanses of grass. It's much easier to maintain a wooded area than a highly manicured city block.

Better comparisons would be Boston Public Garden and the P,O. Sq. Park

 

[whighlander]

You forgot about the operations staff: horticulturalists, maintenance personal (fountains, lighting, furniture, hardscape, trash removal, etc.), technicians.

Clearly most people do not understand what it takes to run a park like this. The knee jerk reactions is "Fire everyone, they're all corrupt! They make too much, they must not be doing their jobs!" Who are we to judge. When you compare the financials of the Conservancy (which has MassDOT and City officials on its board) they are clearly in line with similar complex park systems: Discovery Green in Houston, the Highline in Manhattan, and Battery Park City Parks near the WTC. The real problem is that people are reading into the hysteria created by the Herald.

The bottom line is that the Greenway is well maintained for what it is.

No -- the statement in the article was that all of that was outsourced that was why I did not include such -- although there is a separate deal for volunteers from the Mass Horticultural Society to do the planting and maintenance down in the area near to where the occupation had been located

 

[Justin7]

That figure is payroll for 29 employees. That's a reasonable figure for a staff that size. What is a worthwhile question, and I think what you are really getting at, Justin7, is are they doing something that requires 29 employees? I don't know the answer to that one, but I do know that the pay grades seem right for an organization that size. On speculation alone, I'm willing to say that the number of staff doesn't seem unreasonable, it's just something that is outside of my expertise. Did the Harold check with any comparable operations? Maybe a college grounds keeper, etc.?

That is what I meant, yes. I think this is a clear example of government waste. My issue is with:

a) the total amount of public money being spent to finance the management of the Greenway;

b) bonuses being rewarded during a down economy and during a period when fundraising costs outweighed fundraising gains - fundraising, I believe, was originally meant to provide the entirety of the conservancies budget - instead the people of Massachusetts are being taxed in order to provide Ms. Brennan and her staff with bonuses for what is arguably poor performance.

Yes, this was a hit piece by the Herald, but still in the wake of the bank bail outs, it is hard to ignore tax financed bonuses for private sector employees.

 

[TheRifleman]

All right everybody forget transparancy we are all wrong. As long as we got the stamp of approval from this group we really should not question authority.
Forget 4.7 Million I think we should give them an extra 5 Million.

Conservancy has Boston’s ‘seal of approval’
Review: Nonprofit has friends in high places
By John Zaremba
Friday, January 27, 2012 - Updated 2 hours ago



The embattled Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, which oversees 15 acres of downtown parkland, is a politically wired nonprofit agency with high-voltage connections to the upper reaches of both the Democratic and Republican establishment — from Gov. Deval Patrick to former GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker to Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Kennedy clan, a Herald review found.

Conservancy chief Nancy Brennan, the daughter of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, was appointed unanimously in 2005 by a board that included then Harvard Pilgrim CEO Charlie Baker, former Gov. William Weld, Kennedy in-law Edwin Schlossberg, current BRA director Peter Meade and Raytheon CEO William Swanson.

Among the current Conservancy board members:

• Bentley College president Gloria Larson, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. As a member of Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield, Larson voted to approve a controversial $11 million golden parachute to outgoing CO Cleve Killingsworth — an action that led to a bill that would bar non-profits and charities from paying their directors.

•   Cheryl Cronin, a lawyer, Democratic political fundraiser and activist who has raised money for numerous political figures, including Patrick, and has represented the likes of Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the Big Dig’s general contractor, in its battle with the state over costs.

•    Georgia Murray, managing partner at MMI LLC, a real estate investment firm, and wife of former Boston Redevelopment Authority director Mark Maloney.

Brennan, a former executive director of the Plimoth Plantation, served on Patrick’s 2007 transition team and has donated generously to the governor, Menino, Baker, Attorney General Martha Coakley and Senate President Therese Murray.

“It tells me you’ve got the seal of approval of the Boston community. It’s a very strong seal of approval, with that kind of mix,” said Joe Slavet, former head of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau and a longtime city watchdog.

Brennan led Plimoth Plantation from February 1998 to November 2004. Prior to that, she helped launch the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and for more than a dozen years was the director of the now-defunct Baltimore City Life Museums.

 

[whighlander]

All right everybody forget transparancy we are all wrong. As long as we got the stamp of approval from this group we really should not question authority.
Forget 4.7 Million I think we should give them an extra 5 Million.

Riff -- I think you hit the Bull$$$eye -- someone called the Not_for_Profits the "Full Employment Act for the Brahmans" -- not the old Brahmans -- these are the new Brahmans -- where its not which rich family you hail from -- its which connected group you hail from or at least which connected group you are allowed to talk to --- as in the old Brahmans where the "Cabots talk only to the Lowell and the Lowells talk only to God"

This organization reeks of incestuousness and makes me want to think -- How come John Forbes Kerry didn't have a seat at the table

 

[whighlander]

Not to change the subject -- But

I came across this by accident -- it has a Greenway aspect

This is from an ad for a course on LED Lighting

Introduction to Programmable Lighting
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 7:30 PM - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 9:30 PM (ET)
Artisan Asylum Somerville, MA

http://lightprogrammingfebruary.eventbrite.com/

Description:
In May of 2011, the Massachusetts Avenue bridge in Cambridge was brought to life with a dynamic interactive LED array (see video above). The 10,000 pixel display is activated by sensors (proximity sensors, cameras, buttons, microphones, mobile phones) that respond to the movement and activities of viewers in the area. By combining sensors and programmable lighting, the project illustrates the potential for blurring the boundaries between traditional city lighting and the responsive infrastructures of tomorrow. (Description adapted from post in the PanasonicElec blog.)

The project is being set up again this winter as part of the -- FIGMENT Lights festival on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Collaborative Electronic Mixed Media Institute (CEMMI), under the direction of Dan Taub (who worked on the original LightBridge project) will be installing "The Blueway": from January 19 to March 21, lighting in the dry streambed of Chinatown Park will echo the feel and motion of water, and passers-by will create ripples in the display through motion sensors. Through this class, you can be a part of the programming team for the installation!

There is an interesting video of the Mass Ave Bridge installation on the sign-up page

I also tracked down the the FIGMENT Lights on the Greenway

"This winter, FIGMENT Boston is collaborating with the Rose Kennedy Greenway to light up the Chinatown Park in new and creative ways! FIGMENT Lights is a part of Winter Lights on the Greenway, a series of lighting displays and innovative art installations intended to bring warmth and cheer to Boston’s ribbon of contemporary parks over the long winter nights."

http://boston.figmentproject.org/2012/01/figment-lights-on-the-greenway/

 

[TheRifleman]

Riff -- I think you hit the Bull$$$eye -- someone called the Not_for_Profits the "Full Employment Act for the Brahmans" -- not the old Brahmans -- these are the new Brahmans -- where its not which rich family you hail from -- its which connected group you hail from or at least which connected group you are allowed to talk to --- as in the old Brahmans where the "Cabots talk only to the Lowell and the Lowells talk only to God"

This organization reeks of incestuousness and makes me want to think -- How come John Forbes Kerry didn't have a seat at the table

Whighlander,

How is this not bribery from this one quote

Brennan, a former executive director of the Plimoth Plantation, served on Patrick’s 2007 transition team and has donated generously to the governor, Menino, Baker, Attorney General Martha Coakley and Senate President Therese Murray.

Now she is the director of the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
So should we call donations to our elected officials investments or bribes?

It is one thing to support a local leader but to get a high ranking position out of your donations is sort of a conflict of interest.

The Rose Kennedy Greenway needs to sell off the parcels to the local landlords.
OR
Nancy Brennan needs to find a way to raise 2.3 Million and leave the taxpayers out of this disaster. Then there will be no questions asked about bonuses. That is what you get for being a high ranking director

 

[BostonObserver]

The Rose Kennedy Greenway needs to sell off the parcels to the local landlords.

That's a great idea. Let's sell the parcels to Arthur Winn, Druker or Jon Rosenthal. Ooops, not Winn, he's having a big day next Tuesday.

 

[Bubbybu]

this thread has turned into the Boston Herald

 

[BostonObserver]

Brennan is the tip of the iceberg.

 

[JohnAKeith]

If nothing else, this is but another example of how "authorities" don't work. The state says, "We can't do anything, it's not ours," and the city says, "We can't do anything, it's not ours." Etc. Etc. Etc.

 

[Waldorf]

No -- the statement in the article was that all of that was outsourced that was why I did not include such -- although there is a separate deal for volunteers from the Mass Horticultural Society to do the planting and maintenance down in the area near to where the occupation had been located

That's wrong. There's a full team of in-house maintenance and hort staff that work around the clock. They are the hardest working people I've seen. Met them on the Greenway on several occasions. The only thing that is outsourced is general litter pickup, grass mowing, snow plowing which is performed by a non-profit called Work Inc I believe (they help people with disabilities get back to work). Also, while there is a volunteer program, MassHort has nothing to do with the Greenway except the initial planting of the former MassHort parcels which took place in 2008.

As poorly designed the Greenway is, the upkeep and events seem to be pretty stellar.

I wouldn't take what you read in the media as creed, but I see how it's easy to have that gut response.

 

[Waldorf]

Brennan is the tip of the iceberg.

How so? Do you know something?

I don't know what's going on, but I can't stand all this arm chair speculation, especially when we don't have all the facts and figures yet.

 

[BostonObserver]

I've delt with many of the non-profits in Boston and yes the are top heavy with Brahmins and hacks.

 

[Waldorf]

I've delt with many of the non-profits in Boston and yes the are top heavy with Brahmins and hacks.

Maybe so, but please offer evidence, not feelings.