The Globe reports
that Governor Baker has appointed Stephanie Pollack to lead MassDOT. Pollack served as associate director of Northeastern University’s Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy and was an advocate for the gas tax to support progressive transportation policies. The Governor, however, has vowed not to raise fees or taxes.
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
Congratulations to Stephanie Pollack… #Ward2Pride!
I found it ironic that Holly Robichaud accused Mark Fisher of exaggerating his role in the signature drive to repeal the automatic gas tax (or until he shared those letters from Tank the Automatic Gas Tax’s webmaster Chris Pinto and chairman Steve Aylward thanking him for collecting signatures).
https://www.facebook.com/markfisher2014/photos/a.664595476913494.1073741829.661318030574572/771277952911912/?type=1&permPage=1
I also find it ironic that Holly Robichaud served as a paid consultant for Tank the Automatic Gas Tax yet when it came to the governor’s race, she supported a guy who appointed a supporter of the automatic gas tax to his cabinet over the one guy who signed the No New Taxes Pledge.
@Josh. How wonderful for you that you are so amused.
And what does Holly Robichaud have to do with Stephanie Pollack?
For anyone who was wondering, as I was, who is Holly Robichaud, it seems she’s a Boston Herald columnist. But not conservative enough for Josh. 😉
Stephanie Pollack appears to be an excellent choice and this appointment is going to take on more than usual importance over the next 4 years because of Boston’s bid to host the Olympics. I’ll go out on a limb and predict that Boston is going to grab the prize because there’s something here that enthralls outsiders when they come here for the first time. Like it or not, I just feel we are going to be the winner, but we’ll know for certain when the decision is announced in early 2017, less than half way through the 4 year term Pollack is likely to serve. She and her Department will be right in the middle of something that is quite unprecedented for Boston.
The crux of the matter is that if we do, indeed, secure the Olympics, there will have to be a number of transportation and transit related improvements to make the whole thing work. From everything I have been able to read, it appears that the private sector sponsors have agreed to pay for all of these improvements. It should then be a top priority for federal, state and our MPO’s to make certain that all of these improvements result in permanent roadway and transit benefits for people in this area, not just dead end projects that anyone who has visited Montreal is well aware can easily happen.
That’s easier said than done, but that should be part of a fair payback for the disruption that hosting the Olympics certain to cause for people who live in this area.
Honestly asking: How are transportation policies “progressive”? Is it opposed to “stationary” transportation policies? Does it mean out-of-the box thinking or the usual regressive taxation without representation thinking?
Is there a difference in the mixture of the concrete?
Mark, they’re policies which would reform our transportation system. I guess how you define “progressive” really depends on what you think the goal is, but yeah, I think it would be against maintaining the status-quo by definition. I think transportation reform involves reducing our long-term addiction to fossil fuels, “an industrial form of crack” (<– a good read! H/T @CSteele02468). That won't happen without a lot of out-of-the-box thinking as well as a lot of funding. Hopefully our leaders will somehow also address the fact that construction and operating costs in Massachusetts seem to be some multiple of everywhere else in the country!
Progressive means building transportation infrastructure for people, not cars.
Didn’t the Supreme Court rule that cars are people too….or am I confusing that?
@Adam – thanks! appreciate the thoughts.
@Greg – wait, what do you mean? My car is already a person to me. Isn’t yours?
Julia, Holly Robichaud is not only a political columnist for the Boston Herald, she is also a former MA-GOP State Committeewoman and a political consultant.
Although Holly is a Republican operative, she is clearly not a conservative, as she was an enthusiastic supporter of Charlie “Left of Obama” Baker against Mark “full-platform, no excuses necessary, loyal & proud Republican” Fisher. Furthermore, she smeared Mark Fisher when he appeared on Jeff Kuhner’s radio show.
As a political consultant, Holly Robichaud is 6-24 in contested Massachusetts races.
As for the new transportation secretary, as I said before, I find it ironic that Charlie campaigned as opposing the automatic gas tax, yet appointed a supporter of the automatic gas tax to his cabinet. Then again, Charlie said he sought 100% of the vote last year, and as a result, he’s tried to take stands on both sides of the issue in order to please all the people all the time.
I think it’s a good sign that the Governor prefers to surround himself with people who are smart and capable, instead of people who simply agree with him on every subject. An echo chamber is very dangerous.
Tricia, unfortunately, based on Baker’s appointments of left-wing Democrats and left-wing big government RINOs like Matt Beaton, Kristin Lepore and Mike Valanzola, it appears that he is creating that very dangerous echo chamber.