Follow the money

A friend who works at an East Boston non-profit recently told me that it has become more difficult to get MassPort to drop a contribution on the place, and the agency doesn't even return phone calls like they used to. He added that Suffolk Downs has become much more accessible and willing to make donations.

Of course, it all makes sense. MassPort doesn't need us much any more. They got almost everything they wanted in the past decade (additional runway, centerfield taxiway), so there's not as much motivation to smooth over ties with the neighborhood. There is still the consolidated rent-a-car facility, but it seems that there is less of an activist mindset in Eastie anyway. The Latino community here doesn't see Logan Airport as the encroaching beast that Italian-Americans of older generations did because the newer residents haven't been mowed over in a battle with MassPort yet.

Suffolk Downs, on the other hand, needs us. Multi-millionaire Richard Fields bought the track to build a casino there once the state's political establishment came around to approving expanded gambling, and now they're almost there. In order to quiet those in the neighborhood who might raise a ruckus, it helps to give cash to local non-profits. Community agencies can always use the help, and the total is just a tiny percentage of what Fields will make once the slots and table games start raking it in.

The East Boston Times is doing its part to support the racetrack. There have been nothing but pro-Suffolk Downs and pro-casino gambling stories in the local weekly, and this week the paper published a Suffolk Downs press release, also available on the track's web site, verbatim on the front of the sports section. Shouldn't readers be made aware that this material is written as marketing pablum?

Newest Logan runway hasn't lessened delays

In April of 2001 the East Boston Sun Transcript (owned by the group that currently owns the EB Times) published a column of mine in which I listed six reasons why I believed adding a sixth runway at Logan Airport was a mistake. I wrote:

First, let us address Massport's main argument. Their commercials and their literature assert that adding a runway would decrease airport delays and congestion, at the same time alleviating some of the problems that locals have with Logan: noise, pollution, and traffic.

The fact is that the FAA's own web site indicates that most airport delays -- 75% of those in February, for example -- are due to poor weather conditions. An additional runway would mean additional flights delayed or canceled when the weather is bad. Therefore, building Runway 14/32 would have the opposite effect outlined in Massport's propaganda.

Runway 14/32 was eventually built and became active in November of 2006. Today there is a report in the news that says Logan Airport (and the smaller regional airport in Manchester, NH) "ranked 78th out of 89 metropolitan areas in the nation" in on-time flights and, "This year’s performance is a 2 percent improvement from the same time period in 2008, but 4 percent worse than five years ago."

Massport, as usual, played fast and loose with the facts. I know virtually nothing about the logistics of air travel, yet I was able to deduce that their arguments didn't make sense. Then, as now, Massport cannot be trusted.

Globe: 'Hey, Massport lied'; Eastie: 'No kidding'

In an editorial today The Boston Globe is shocked...shocked!...that Massport has not lived up to promises that were made to facilitate the construction of Runway 14/32. Of course, the residents of East Boston have said many times that Massport's leaders have been lying to this community for more than 40 years.

A federal judge lifted a 30-year injunction to allow the laying down of the newest runway partly because the agency, as the Globe says, "argued that it would reduce delays when strong northwest winds ruled out use of other runways, without sending substantially more flights over any of the nearby neighborhoods." And then?

Since the new runway’s completion in 2006, there has been a major increase in takeoffs over East Boston, Chelsea, Somerville, Cambridge, and Medford. The airport and the FAA owe it to Logan’s neighbors to reduce the burden on them without compromising on safety.

And what is their excuse for this bait-and-switch? "Massport officials say the problem was not easily foreseeable..." Thousands of pages of reports and studies, and thousands of dollars paid to lobbyists and to lawyers, and they didn't know what the hell they were doing. Good job. Maybe I'm giving them too much credit. Maybe they're just incompetent.

Nope. They're incompetent AND they're liars.

Local coyote dies

A coyote was killed today after it was spotted on the runways at Logan Airport. According to reports, the animal was hit by a truck as Massport workers attempted to corral it.

The coyote could be the same one that local photographer George Cumming posted on his blog about a week ago -- see image at right -- and that he has been seeing locally for at least a year. A local coyote expert told George that this looks like a lactating female, which means that there may be some hungry kits out there tonight.

Study on pollution proposed

The Globe reports that the governor's transportation bill does have a provision that would require the state to conduct "a comprehensive study of the health effects of air pollution caused by air, road, and rail transportation." According to the article, this could be a monkey wrench in Massport's plan to build a new parking garage right next to the Jeffries Point neighborhood.

Another acre lost to the Evil Empire

The house that used to be 18 Neptune Road is now a pile of wood. Massport, which purchased the last building on the stretch of the street that heads toward Logan Airport in 2007, had the structure torn down yesterday, and I just noticed it as I came of the highway exit nearby. According to the agency's web site, the land will be used as a "buffer" with some type of "interactive display."

Time for Aloisi to step up

There is a report today in the Globe on last week's community meeting about the parking garage that Massport is stuffing down East Boston's throat. The Southwest Service Area proposal (sometimes referred to as the consolidated rental-car facility, or CONRAC) would put 9,000 parking spaces in a 49-acre lot that abuts the Jeffries Point and Mount Carmel residential areas.

Eastie residents have legitimate concerns, but as usual Massport responds with sweet talk. The project's draft environmental impact report, from June 2008, includes comments submitted from the public, and in a smart and detailed letter, former state secretary of transportation Fred Salvucci laid out some of the neighborhood's objections. After noting the specifics, Salvucci writes that:

The long history of unfulfilled environmental commitments should be reviewed and redressed by [the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office] as a prior condition to any processing of the Massport proposal. The relationship between Massport and the adjacent community over the past two decades is littered with unfulfilled commitments, a "bait and switch" pattern of commitments that disappear once Massport gets approval to proceed with terminals, runways, or taxiways, at which point the environmental commitments are never fulfilled.

After listing seven specific broken promises, Salvucci writes:

This behavior pattern makes a mockery of the Environmental Process and can be redressed only by insisting that Massport deliver on prior commitments, prior to being allowed to proceed with any new projects. The non-urgent (and possibly not even useful or desirable) $450 million Southwest Service area proposal is the right place for MEPA to draw a firm line and force Massport to dramatically change its behavior.

Salvucci hits a key point that many newcomers to East Boston or people unfamiliar with the decades-long struggle aren't aware of: Massport lies, and it does so with impunity. Before any big new projects move forward, the agency's pattern of abandoning its promises should be reviewed, after which Massport should be made to live up to its word. Only then can there be discussion of the Logan Airport's future, and the people who live around the airport -- not just those who stand to profit from it -- should have a larger voice in such matters.

I call on Jim Aloisi, the state secretary of transportation, to step in and to hold Massport accountable. He grew up on Chelsea Street in Eastie and is well aware of the history. He has the power to intervene on this matter and to prevent the further trampling of the rights of local residents.

Reshuffling state transportation

Boston.com reports that a plan surfaced in the legislature today that would combine the MBTA, the state highway department and the Turnpike Authority into one quasi-public agency. Because of my experience growing up in East Boston, I don't trust quasi-public entities, such as Massport, which are not directly accountable to voters.

I think that the T, the Pike, the roads and all of the transportation agencies in the state -- including Massport -- should be combined under the authority of the state transportation department. This makes state government completely accountable for it all. That's not to say that corruption or incompetence or tyranny will not surface, only that we will know who to blame when it does -- and they can be voted out of office.

Why is Massport being kept out of the proposed Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority? Even the name seems to have been created with the goal of excluding the only agency of the bunch that makes a profit. Wouldn't it make some sense to use some of that cash to help run the MBTA, which has seen an increase in ridership? Or is Massport too powerful to touch?

Massport smiles while kicking Eastie in groin again

Longtime local activist Mary Ellen Welch, writing at EastBoston.com, argues against Massport's "proposed $455 million, 9,000-space Logan consolidated rental car and relocated commercial parking garage." The contract for the project, which will be right next to residential neighborhoods, was awarded to those models of efficiency and accountability, Parsons Brinkerhoff, just before Thanksgiving.

Welch cites a number of issues raised by the project. The incoming transportation secretary, James Aloisi, is a son of East Boston, and he should immediately step up to instruct Massport to complete the appropriate health studies and to include the neighborhood in the planning process before the first shovel of dirt is removed from the ground.

Transportation shake-up

For years I thought eliminating the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was a good idea. In fact, I believe it was supposed to be dissolved after paying off its initial bonds, years ago, but we know how state government tends to work toward self preservation.

While the Pike and MBTA have been in debt for years, Massport makes money, so my idea was to bring them all together under the umbrella of the state's Executive Office of Transportation, which includes the Mass. Highway Department and the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The other reason I consider this a good idea is that having Massport under the direct control of elected officials would make the authority more sensitive to public opinion.

Boston.com is reporting that Gov. Patrick has a plan to dismember the Pike, turning everything west of Route 128 over to the state highway department, while Massport would take over the roadway from 128 to the airport. The Port Authority, which already controls the Tobin Bridge, would gain all three harbor tunnels.

I guess this is an improvement on the current state of things, though I'd like to see the entire plan and to hear feedback. The first concern that I see is that I don't trust Massport and this proposal gives the agency more power. Quasi-government authorities can be monsters, and through the years this particular one has been monstrous.

This reshuffle seems to do little to help the MBTA, which provides valuable services to many people. At a time when more residents are turning to public transportation, the state should shore up and help out that agency. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see a lot of cushy white-collar jobs associated with the T. It's here to serve, at a reasonable price, people who don't have vehicles or who are leaving those vehicles at home. Shouldn't we support that mission more aggressively?

Turf battle amongst police

WBZ-TV has a special report on a story that I'd read somewhere once before -- that Boston Police have no jurisdiction in areas of the city that are owned by Massport. Instead, the State Police control those sections of Boston, which include Logan Airport and Piers Park in East Boston, 285 acres in South Boston and another 90 in Charlestown.

The story speculates that the regulations were instituted so that the State Police would benefit from lucrative detail work, but -- as South Boston state rep. Brian Wallace says in the story -- "This should be about public safety, not about dollars."

Apparently no one from either police agency or Massport would go on camera for the story, but reporter Joe Shortsleeve does say that the agencies are trying to work out a deal that returns police power in those areas to local law enforcement.

You can't always get what you want...unless you are Massport

NECN has a report on Logan Airport's centerfield taxiway -- Massport's latest cure-all. It's scheduled to be completed by 2010 at a cost of $43 million, though the report says that part of it will be in service by the end of the year.

Throughout the report Massport's hype is repeated without question, while East Boston resident and activist Mary Berninger gets the obligatory few seconds to point out her concerns about the effects on the community.

Peter Howe, a former Globe reporter now at NECN, should know better than to buy the Massport line that the taxiway will mean fewer delays. In fact, a report on NECN just yesterday noted that the biggest reasons for planes sitting on the runway are weather, "the antiquated air traffic control system" and delays at the New York City area airports.

I was hoping that James Aloisi, Massport's newest board member and a guy from East Boston, would add a little conscience to the organization, but maybe I am asking too much.

Godzilla to step on us again

The newest proposal that Massport is going to stuff down East Boston's throat is a consolidated rental-car facility, which would double the number of vehicles (to 9,000) parked in lots that abut the Jeffries Point neighborhood. A public meeting was held Monday, and the Globe reports that community leaders and elected officials are skeptical of Massport's usual chorus of, "We are trying to be a good neighbor."

Of course, the quasi-independent authority and quasi-monster that is Massport has never been honest with Eastie residents and has never taken our pleas seriously. Did the community's efforts to block Runway 14/32 or the centerfield taxiway ever give pause to the agency and cause it to do anything but push harder?

According to the article, a Massport representative at the meeting said that the proposed consolidated rental-car facility is "a trend that other major airports are following in terms of providing services that travelers have come to expect." Well, how about the things that local residents have come to expect, like air that is safe to breathe?

Massport slot filled

James Aloisi, who grew up in East Boston one block over from me, will fill the vacancy on Massport's board of directors. He has been appointed by Gov. Patrick to take the place of Lois J. Catanzaro, who recently resigned. Aloisi will finish out the term, which expires in June, and then he'll serve a full seven-year term.

Aloisi, who has held various positions in state government in the past -- including general counsel for the Mass. Turnpike Authority -- is a director in the law firm Goulston & Storrs, where he specializes in transportation law. Massport's board has seven members, among them the state's transportation secretary, Bernard Cohen. They are all appointed by the governor and receive no salary or benefits.

East Boston's city councilor Sal LaMattina, State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli and State Rep. Carlo Basile recently sent a letter to Gov. Patrick asking that the Massport vacancy be filled by someone from East Boston. I don't believe that Aloisi still lives in the neighborhood. Does he fit the bill?

Eastie round-up

Several items regarding East Boston have been in local newspapers in the past couple of days:

***BostonNow reports that Logan Airport's "back door" is going to be closed down to drivers who don't live in the neighborhood. Years ago that route, at the end of Maverick Street, was blocked off with a booth and a gate, and there was a sign saying it was for Eastie residents only. Over time, however, nobody was assigned to the booth, and the gate was always in the up position. Recently the booth and gate were dismantled. Now, apparently, there will be a new, electronically-operated gate and residents will get a "smart card" that opens it.

***The Boston Globe had a story yesterday about attempts by McDonald's to open their drive-through windows 24 hours a day at locations throughout the city. The eatery in Central Square has been one of the spots hoping to bring in late-night customers. The story says that McDonald's was attempting to bypass meetings with community groups, but local leaders became wise to their plan and now the fast-food purveyor is meeting with them. Interestingly, the lawyer who tried to sneak the plan past residents is Steven Baddour, who is also a state senator from Methuen.

***The Boston Herald had a story yesterday that combined two of my recent postings here. On July 21 I wrote that noise complaints to Massport are up and on Aug. 6 I wrote that delays at Logan Airport are no better despite the new runway. The Herald story says that complaints about increased noise are "coming from outraged Cambridge, Charlestown, Chelsea, Somerville, Everett and East Boston residents and politicians." Massport claims that wind shifts are behind the increased flight traffic over those neighborhoods. Blah blah blah. They have never been straightforward with us, so why would we ever believe anything they say?

***An interesting story in today's Herald notes that the first Boston Police officer to be killed in the line of duty was Ezekiel W. Hodson, who was shot down on Oct. 18, 1857, at the intersection of Maverick and Havre streets, just outside what is now Maverick Square. A granite memorial is scheduled to be unveiled on the spot in October. Crime reporter Michele McPhee, who always goes out of her way to show her street cred in her stories, sullies up the fascinating slice of history by attempting to tie it together with current news.

The waiting game

The US Department of Transportation reports today that flight delays across the country are the highest they've been in 13 years. Well, here in Boston things must be different because the honest people at Massport assured everyone that Logan Airport needed to add a fifth runway to lessen the number of delays, right?

Let's take a look. According to statistics at the DOT site, 59.53% of the arrivals at Logan were on time in June of 2006. One year later, in June 2007 -- six months after Runway 14-32 was put into action -- 59.37% of the planes arrived on time. Well, departures fared better: 67.59% left on time last June and 68.41% were on schedule this June. Hey, a jump of 0.82% percent isn't worth sneezing at.

Actually, it's worth laughing at, as is much of the other data. Now, of course, we're being told that the centerfield taxiway will make everything run smoother. Well, the good folks at Massport wouldn't dismiss our quality of life concerns without good reason, so it must be true, right?

Our own personal alarm clock

The first planes woke me at 6:25 this morning. Without getting out of bed I could tell that the wind was coming from the west (because that would have aircraft taking off and landing over East Boston) and that the sky was at least mostly sunny (when you live most of your life next to an airport, you learn that airplanes sound different in different types of weather).

The gentleman who answered the phone a short while ago at Massport's Noise Complaint Line (617-561-3333) was courteous and listened to my complaint ("The planes woke me up!") and took my name.

A glance at the Massport web site brought me to a chart that tracks the number of complaints registered by the Complaint Line. This year, so far, there have been more than four times as many calls by Eastie residents. There's an even bigger jump -- 1,500% --in calls from residents of Chelsea. It is possible that this year's weather patten has caused the huge increase in calls, but more likely the culprit's name is Runway 14-32, which went into operation late last year following a 30-year court battle.

This is who they are

Despite all Massport's warm and fuzzy talk about being a good neighbor, the reality is much different. Take a look at this story about a woman nearly beaten to death on Massport property.