Governor Baker Announces MBTA Special Panel

Governor Baker Announces MBTA Special Panel National leaders in transportation, economic development, municipal planning to carry out MBTA analysis by end of March Boston – Today, Governor Charlie Baker announced the selection of national leaders in transportation, economic development and municipal planning to perform an in-depth diagnostic review of the MBTA’s core functions.  The panel will synthesize recent MBTA studies, conduct a performance review, examine the T’s core functions and benchmark results with other transit operations in order to ascertain the status of the system’s governance, finances, and capital planning. The special panel is expected to complete its review by the end of March. “Public transportation plays a major role in supporting and driving the region’s economy and in order to fix the problems with the MBTA they first must be diagnosed,” said Governor Baker.  “This group of national leaders in transportation and public administration will provide us with a framework we can build on.  Providing reliable public transportation now will require careful review, adequate resources and a serious discussion of re-structuring.  It’s clear that following past procedures will only yield the same unacceptable results.” The experts include Jane Garvey, a national leader in transportation policy and top pick for Secretary of Transportation in the Obama administration, Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez , the Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at Harvard University, and Katie Lapp, former Executive Director and CEO for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, North American’s largest transportation network.  Paul Barrett will serve as chair. MBTA Special Panel’s Objectives: 1. Develop a fact-base from available data and recently published reports to enable the MBTA and the Commonwealth to ground its future plans and recommendations. Synthesize the findings and recommendations of the previous reports Prepare a 'state of the operations' review on the strengths and areas needing improvement and attention; topic areas to include: maintenance, maintenance planning and preparation, operations, communications, decision-making, and governance Conduct benchmark review of similar transit systems operations [if !supportLists]2.   [endif]Undertake a rapid diagnostic on the state of MBTA asset management and maintenance, including: A review of reports and/or Request for Proposals issued by the MBTA related to asset management, system preservation, State of Good Repair and maintenance planning, budgeting and implementation at the MBTA An investigation of the current size of the MBTA’s State of Good Repair backlog, assessing the extent to which previous report recommendations related to asset management and system preservation were followed and evaluating what information the board received as it relates to these issues A review of the MBTA’s overall capital program to assess the processes for selecting projects, allocating funds between maintenance and expansion projects and delivering capital projects on time and on budget [if !supportLists]3.      [endif]Make recommendations to improve the MBTA’s governance, structure, financials, and operations in both the short and longer-terms to enable the MBTA to plan, operate and maintain a 21st century public transportation system. MBTA Special Panel Members: Paul Barrett has over two decades of public service experience in state and local government, including serving as an Assistant Director for Harbor Planning and Development for the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and overseeing the Boston Municipal Harbor Plan under Mayor Raymond L. Flynn. Barrett would later be named Director of the BRA, responsible for executive direction of Boston’s planning, zoning and development activities. Following his service at the BRA, Barrett was named Secretary of Economic Development and Executive Director of the Rhode Island Port Authority by Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun. Jane Garvey is an industry expert in the public and private infrastructure sector, currently serving as North American Chairman of Meridiam Infrastructure. A former Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Works and director of Boston Logan International Airport, Garvey was the 14th Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from 1997 to 2002 and also served as Acting Administrator and Deputy Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) where she developed the Innovative Financing Initiative to assist states in using federal highway funds more efficiently. Robert P. Gittens is the Vice President, Public Affairs at Northeastern University where he represents Northeastern University with a variety of citywide partnerships and organizations such as the New England Council and the Boston Private Industry Council.  Gittens serves on the boards of non-profit organizations, such as the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education and the Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay.  Prior to joining Northeastern, Gittens served the Health and Human Services Secretary for the Swift Administration and was a Commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services.  Gittens is an alumnus of Northeastern University’s School of Law and earned his B.A. in Political Science from Northeastern University as well. Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez is the Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at Harvard University where he holds a joint appointment at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Graduate School of Design. He teaches courses in economics, infrastructure and transportation policy in both schools and his research focuses on infrastructure needed to support urbanization and the roles of the private and public sectors in providing infrastructure. Katherine Lapp has over 20 years of public service in New York City and State government including serving as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) from 2002 through 2006 where she guided the strategic, financial, and business operations of the largest regional transportation network and a budget of $10.2 billion, while also implementing a four year financial planning model. Lapp is currently the Executive Vice President at Harvard University where she serves as the chief administrative and business officer, responsible for crafting the University’s budget, financial and long-term capital planning, human resources and information technology. She also served in a similar role as Executive Vice President for Business Operations at the University of California. Brian McMorrow brings 20 years of management experience with MassPort where he is currently serving as Chief Financial Officer for the Aviation Division, overseeing financial and operational business performance for Logan International, Worcester Regional and Hanscom Airports. Previously, McMorrow was MassPort’s Deputy Director of Administration and Finance and facilitated strategic operations and planning with the Commonwealth’s Division of Capital Planning and Operations, now the Division of Capital Asset Management. McMorrow has a Master of Science Degree in Engineering Management from Northeastern University’s School of Industrial Engineering and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. Joe Sullivan was elected as Mayor of Braintree in 2007 and is the former President of the Massachusetts Mayors' Association.  Previously, Sullivan served as State Representative and the Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, where he played a critical role in the re-establishment of the Old Colony Rail for the South Shore, the Metropolitan Highway System Legislation, Rt. 3 North add-a-lane project, MBTA forward funding legislation in 2000 and helped provide funding for a state wide road and rail program. In 2006, Sullivan served as a member of the Blue Ribbon Transportation Finance Commission which identified the important needs of transportation throughout Massachusetts.  Mayor Sullivan graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

波士頓華埠迎羊年 冒雪掛出紅燈籠

大波士頓昨（十九）日的天氣是多雲時晴偶陣雪，華埠街頭也掛出“福”字紅燈籠，要為羊年新春添喜氣，但老天爺耍脾氣，等著週六再來送瑞雪。

紐英崙中華公所預定今（廿）晚在帝苑大酒樓舉辦的羊年春宴，倒是趕在週六之前，有如躲過一劫。

大波士頓今年的風雪不斷，麻州州長查理貝克上任一個多月來，面對的麻州問題幾乎都與風雪有關，讓他也感嘆“老天爺才是管轄人（It’s mother nature rules）“。

國家氣象局的預報指出，這週末，估計波士頓又得忍受一場廿四小時的雨雪交雜。到週日時，氣溫卻會回暖至華是四十度左右。

駐波士頓台北經濟文化辦事處，波士頓華僑文教中心與紐英崙中華公所等機構合作的第二場“駿馬奔騰迎新春，四海同心賀吉歲”揮毫寫春聯活動，從二月八日起不斷延期，看來終於可以在廿二日當天早上十點在中華公所舉辦了。

由於氣溫升高，會融雪成水，冷天下雨會增加屋頂承重量，氣象預報人員提醒民眾小心淹水，屋頂坍塌。

在氣溫回升前，週五的氣溫加上風冷因素，可能降至負十八到負廿八度。        

圖片說明：

            波士頓華埠為慶祝農曆羊年新春，在華埠牌樓旁貼出了春聯。（菊子攝）

            乞臣街，必珠街及泰勒街，共掛出廿一盞左右，貼有福字的大紅燈籠。（菊子攝）

  華埠餐廳只有“Shojo“明明白白地以”三陽開泰“迎接羊年。

            超級大雪讓華埠樓宇出現懸冰處處景象。（菊子攝）

           ）

乞臣接的人行道，被積雪擠得只有一個人那麼寬。（菊子攝）

 掛出來迎接羊年添喜氣的大紅燈籠，都被大雪逼的戴上白帽子。菊子攝

            

           ）

英文報請“餃子女兒”談中國年菜

瑞雪兆豐年的羊年，昨天（二月十九日）跨入大年初一。儘管西方社會為乙未吉羊到底是公羊（goat），綿羊（sheep)，還是山羊(goat)，糾結不已，許多人更關心，年夜飯，初一到十五，五臟廟要怎麼祭。

波士頓環球報（Boston Globe）今年挑了衛斯頓（Weston）的“餃子女兒（Dumpling Daughter）”東主劉娜迪（譯音，Nadia Liu）來談中國人慶祝新年的食物及其象徵意義。

她說，新年最重要的事是團圓。一旦家人團聚了，第一件事就是吃餃子。

他母親通常在一年將過的最後一天做餃子，她和她姊姊就會都很興奮，等著第二天吃餃子當早餐，

            劉娜迪是林莎莉（譯音， Sally Ling）的女兒。早年就已經住在麻州的華人都知道，林莎莉和劉南這對夫婦，當年是大波士頓餐飲界名人，不但在波士頓市，牛頓市都開有餐廳，其中座落在北端（North End）水前區（waterfront），就在出名西餐廳 Jasper旁邊的“林莎莉餐廳”，更是少有的高級中餐館，還大牌的不穿西裝打領帶就進不去。

            劉娜迪說，春捲是另一道受歡迎的菜，據說因為形狀像金條，吃了象徵聚財。吃年糕，則是為了步步高升。

位於衛斯頓中心購物區，只有32個座位，            “餃子女兒”，在新年期間準備的年糕菜是雞肉，香菇，大白菜炒年糕，有冬瓜，雞肉，香菇，燻火腿，豌豆，胡蘿蔔，蝦，帶子等地八寶湯，代表著豐盛，以及象徵發達的“八”。

曾經在“林莎莉餐廳”工作三十多年的糕餅師傅Sao Shan，還會為新年做紅豆糕，圓圓的形狀，象徵傳承。

劉娜迪建議那些想自己在家試試做中國年菜的人，可以煮長長的麵條，自己擀皮，或買餃子皮來包豬肉韭菜餃子，取個長命百歲，元寶滿桌的好意頭。

劉娜迪透露，他們家人通常會聚到林莎莉在新澤西州的家裡過農曆新年，但今年家人分散在世界各地，所以她和母親林莎莉要在“餃子女兒”店裡過新年。

“餃子女兒(Dumpling Daughter)的地址是 37 Center St., Weston, ＭＡ。電話781-216-8989，網站 www.dumplingdaughter.com。

三僑團籲麻州政要支持台灣加入TPP

繼「新英格蘭大波士頓台灣商會」(TCCNE)及「波士頓台灣同鄉聯誼會」(TBAB)後，「紐英崙中華專業人員協會」(NEACP)也致函麻州Baker州長等政要，籲請支持台灣加入「跨太平洋夥伴協定」(TPP)

「新英格蘭大波士頓台灣商會(TCCNE)」會長許欽俊及「波士頓台灣同鄉聯誼會(TBAB)」會長林展輝與其他理事及會員，日前以連署方式，致函麻州州長查理貝克（Charlie Baker）、兩位聯邦參議員沃倫（Warren）及馬基（Markey），以及尼爾（Richard Neal)、 基汀（William Keating）和約瑟夫甘迺迪（Joseph Kennedy)三位對台友好的聯邦眾議員後，「紐英崙中華專業人員協會」(NEACP)也本著支持台灣故土心情，12日由會長周萬欽、董事會董事長王世輝，以及其他董事、會員連署致函前述政要，籲請他們支持台灣加入「跨太平洋夥伴協定」(Trans-Pacific Partnership, TPP)。

TPP是一橫跨太平洋兩岸，由包括美、日在內12個主要國家正如火如荼談判中的自由貿易協定(FTA)，談判預計在2015年底將獲致協議。根據已公諸於世的相關資訊，TPP的自由化水準頗高，將超越目前一般的FTA，會員國彼此間除將撤除大部分的貿易及投資障礙，還將調合彼此間影響貿易及投資的國內法規，例如環保、勞工保護及智財權等，甚至連改革國營事業都列入談判。一旦TPP成形，將是全球最大、影響力舉足輕重的FTA，除有助會員國及該區域的整體經濟、貿易和投資成長外，會員國間的經濟體制也將進一步整合。

馬英九領導的執政當局已多次對外宣示加入TPP的決心，並同步接洽TPP現有的12個成員國政府，希望他們能正視台灣在太平洋地區的重要經貿地位，支持台灣加入TPP的談判。美國是TPP舉足輕重的會員，對其他會員具有一定的影響力，廣泛爭取美國各界的支持，正是台灣嘗試突破的各項努力之一。而在美的台灣僑界一向支持台灣不遺餘力，也多希望助政府突破國際上的困難局面，樂見台灣參與國際社會。以上三個僑團分別於信中指出台美2013年的雙邊貿易額達636億美元，台灣是美國在全球排名第12大的貿易夥伴(2014年更挺進至第10名)，且是亞太地區第10大的經濟體，台灣倘能加入TPP，不僅有益美國等12個TPP的成員，也有利整個亞太區域的穩定發展。此外，台灣是麻州在亞洲排名第4大的出口市場，台灣在麻州的投資已超過7億美元，創造上千個工作機會，台美間透過TPP進一步開放貿易及投資，對麻州的出口及創造就業有利。而且台灣有決心能符合TPP全面而高標準的開放水準，請麻州政要支持台灣。