Check out this opinion piece by Newton Mayor Setti Warren that appears on bostonglobe.com (perhaps it’s going to be in tomorrow’s paper?). Headlined “How to make housing affordable,” our mayor writes about housing challenges for the shrinking middle class and how to “maintain Massachusetts’ reputation as an economic leader with a solid middle class,”
He writes:
“It is time to make investments in both physical and human capital. It’s time to prioritize making higher education more affordable, investing in a statewide transportation system, increasing wages, and promoting workforce training, rather than requiring individuals and families to patch together what services they can to get by.”
It’s good to see him involved at this level but I suspect I’m not alone in thinking that the column sounds like the makings of a statewide platform.
The only thing missing in his message is ‘by the way, to do all this government manipulation taxes will have to go up’. If Setti thinks he is qualified to govern Massachusetts then he is living in a dream world.
He’s running for a place in President Clinton’s cabinet.
He’s earned it, and he’s entitled to run. I think he’s done a half decent job as mayor. But personally I’m sick of career politicians, especially in the Democratic party, who just regurgitate the same old crap over and over again. Like most elected officials, Setti has taught himself to ignore the obvious in favor of issues defined by the party at a higher level. So he’s done nothing to address sleep deprivation among high school students, despite having the power to change that with the stroke of a pen. And Setti has ignored hundreds of medical patients, many with debilitating and terminal illnesses, who need to need to leave the city of Newton in order to obtain their medication, because he failed to veto the moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. So when I think of the type of person I’d like to see as Governor, Setti Warren doesn’t even make the list.
Perhaps it’s time for an underride. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposition_2%C2%BD
It’s an interesting question Gail. Certainly, our mayor has been getting a lot of visibility outside of our city. (He appears frequently on Channel 2; has been speaking nationally about housing in his role with the U.S Conference of Mayors; etc.)
Could mean all sorts of things, I suppose.
But there’s one thing I’m willing to bet someone a nickle on: Setti Warren didn’t write or had help writing that Globe op-ed.
Can anyone besides me find the clue in the column that gives that away?
Good eye, Greg. I missed it the first time I read the column.
The answer lies in this sentence:
Given that this is a guy who ran for the United States Senate with a goal of increasing the tax rate on wealthy individuals despite not knowing the effective tax rate paid by them, I wouldn’t draw too strong of an inference based on the well spotted town v. city distinction.
I really don’t think the mayor would purposely or mistakenly refer to Newton as “our town.” I agree with the above assumption. Not only did he have help or had no part in its writing but someone did a lousy job of proofreading.
Since the word “proactively” is used in almost every statement he makes, whether it is correctly used or not, it brings into question who wrote some of his other statements, letters or op-eds.
I realize politicians use speech writers but generally not so much on the local level. The op-ed itself could mean so many things, I am not going to speculate on what it might mean.
Maybe Deval helped him like he helped our Superintendent? Or better yet put it thru Turnitin like our HS students do for all of their papers – that might give you a clue!
I was reading an article in the Boston Globe this morning and came across this:
“Andrea Kelley, a landscape architect and affordable housing activist, said she and a couple of others delivered the news in a private meeting with the mayor just off his City Hall office. And it did not go well.
Warren grew frustrated, she said, turning on another advocate in the room. “He was yelling at her and she was trying to finish her point and she would say, ‘With all due respect Mr. Mayor, please let me finish what I’m trying to say,’ and he would scream at her, ‘No, I’m going to tell you,’ ” she said.”
This further illustrates Setti Warren’s ineffectiveness as a leader. Not only has he proven incapable of building teams to solve some pressing local problems, but Setti Warren has developed a reputation for turning against him advocates of the very issues that he pretends to stand for.
There is a lot more in the article about building affordable housing. Globe link
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/09/02/boundaries-hope/m15ni02g8atfGwg4R9z7cI/story.html