BRA’s independence has eroded, critics say
Friday, June 7, 2013
By:
Dave Wedge,
Richard Weir and
Erin Smith
The Boston Redevelopment Authority — under fire in the mayor’s race for favoritism and secrecy — has morphed from a powerful independent economic development engine into an arm of City Hall doing the bidding of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, critics say.
“The mayor has used it very much as a tool of his office, and people aren’t treated equally by the BRA,” said Karmaloop.com CEO Greg Selkoe, a former BRA employee and vocal critic of the Menino administration. “If you’re connected, you get a totally different process, and the laws aren’t very clear.”
Menino’s public backing of projects — or opposition — has long held hefty sway as developers not only struggle to navigate the complex maze that is the City Hall approval process, but also desperately seek his blessing. The mayor has publicly backed developments that have forever altered the city’s landscape and stonewalled efforts to build skyscrapers he doesn’t like.
“Each neighborhood in our city has had a front row seat to Boston’s dysfunctional planning and development process over the years,” said former City Councilor Michael Flaherty, who criticized the mayor’s grip on the BRA when he ran for mayor in 2009.
“Developers and residents alike are often forced to guess what may or may not be appropriate. This confusion pits everyone against each other as they try to figure how to play by the hidden, changing or nonexistent rules, in which case it becomes more about who you hire,” said Flaherty, who is running for City Council.
The Herald reported yesterday that two top tier mayoral candidates — Councilors John R. Connolly and Michael P. Ross — called for more transparency at the BRA.
While in charge for the past 20 years, Menino has demanded to be in the development loop even before projects are formally presented to the BRA, an unwritten rule officials say can mean the difference between a multi-million-dollar project being greenlighted or sunk.
“(Developers) make sure the mayor is aware of the development before even going ... to the BRA,” said Sam Tyler, director of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a City Hall watchdog agency. “I think everyone knows the mayor doesn’t like surprises, so they want to make sure they keep him informed.”
Under previous mayors, the BRA and its executive directors have exercised more power and independence. In the 1960s, Mayor John Collins gave BRA chief Edward Logue free rein to transform rundown Scollay Square into Government Center. Under Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, BRA head Stephen Coyle was also given a free hand to make development decisions.
“If you ask people to describe the BRA and the Zoning Board,” Flynn said of Menino’s administration, “they will probably say that they are unaccountable to the people of Boston’s neighborhoods.”
Among the major projects Menino has famously backed or opposed:
• Last year, developer Donald Chiofaro abandoned dreams of a $1 billion twin skyscraper complex near the New England Aquarium with offices, housing and a hotel after fighting Menino — mainly over the height of the towers — for more than three years;
• The mayor was reportedly so hands-on with 111 Huntington Ave. at the Prudential Center — known as the “R2D2 Building” — that he personally requested the unique spires on top so that it wouldn’t add more block-style buildings to the city’s skyline.
Menino spokeswoman Dot Joyce defended the mayor, saying, “The BRA is an easy target — it’s the change agency and has been extremely successful in transforming this city and helping to make Boston the youngest city in the country.”
BRA spokeswoman Susan Elsbree said: “We are not getting involved in the campaign.”
