麻州財政廳長宣傳經濟賦權辦公室 參訪BCNC

麻州財政廳廳長高伯珂（Deborah B. Goldberg ）上任後，宣傳新設的“經濟賦權辦公室（Office of Economic Empowerment). ”之旅，昨（八)日來到波士頓華埠社區中心（BCNC）。

        高伯珂表示，新設的辦公室，主要是為監管，推動一系列的活動，以增加經濟穩定及安全。昨日到波士頓華埠中心拜訪，主要是為強調，該廳要在全州各個社區，以提供重要的財務技能，工具，來幫助學生，家庭，耆英及退伍軍人的目標。他們希望幫助人們幫助自己。

            波士頓市議員吳弭（Michelle Wu）表示，高伯珂的學習財務計畫，將對全州的家庭，尤其是移民社區有幫助，可以在經濟方面幫他們打開實現美國夢的大門。她很高興有機會從旁協助。

            高伯珂表示，她從第一天上任起，就設立了由副廳長領導的OEE辦公室，推動學習金融，讓大學更可負擔，支持薪資評等項目。

            上個星期，OEE辦公室宣佈組成薪資平等顧問委員會，包括波士頓市長馬丁華殊（Martin Walsh）將擔任該委員會的榮譽主席。 

            高伯珂辦公室表示，創立於1968年的BCNC，目前聘有72名員工，200多名義工。學習財務是該中心的工作重點之一，One Hen Inc.是其中幫助兒童成為社會企業家的項目，教兒童們學會處理財務，管理金錢技能。該中心的成人學習金融項目是“打造更好生活（Build a Better Life）”，提供免費的財務計畫和諮詢顧問。

            查詢麻州財政廳賦權辦公室詳情，可上網 www.mass.gov/treasury ，或跟蹤推特#EqualPayMA。

圖片說明：

            波士頓華埠社區中心主任李隆華（左一），董事會主席鍾潔姿（中）等人歡迎麻州財政廳廳長高伯珂（左二）。（韓夢蕾攝）

            麻州財政廳廳長高伯珂（右）在波士頓華埠社區中心主任李隆華（左）陪同下參觀該中心。（韓夢蕾攝）

MA governor and Boston Mayor's statement on Marathon Bombing Trial

Governor Baker Statement on Guilty Verdict in Boston Marathon Bombing Trial

                                                                       

BOSTON – Governor Charlie Baker released the following statement in response to a jury’s decision to convict Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on all counts for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing:

“I applaud the verdict rendered today by the jury in the Marathon bombing case, and I hope this brings some degree of closure to those individuals and their families whose lives were changed forever on that horrific day.”

STATEMENT OF MARTIN J. WALSH ON BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING VERDICT 

"I am thankful that this phase of the trial has come to an end and am hopeful for a swift sentencing process. I hope today’s verdict provides a small amount of closure for the survivors, families, and all impacted by the violent and tragic events surrounding the 2013 Boston Marathon. The incidents of those days have forever left a mark on our City. As we remember those who lost so much, we reflect on how tragedy revealed our deepest values, and the best of who we are as a community."

Team Hoyt’s Dick Hoyt Named Grand Marshal of the 2015 Boston Marathon

Team Hoyt’s Dick Hoyt Named Grand Marshal of the 2015 Boston Marathon

Along with son Rick, Dick Hoyt Completed 32 Boston Marathons. Lisa Rainsberger to be Honorary Starter of Elite Women’s Race.

BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced today that Dick Hoyt of Team Hoyt will be the Grand Marshal of the 2015 Boston Marathon® on Monday, April 20. Two of the Boston Marathon’s most recognizable figures, Dick and son Rick Hoyt completed their 32nd and final Boston Marathon together in 2014. Dick announced afterwards that he would retire from the Boston Marathon.

Dick and Rick Hoyt first ran from Hopkinton to Boston in 1980. In the three decades since, both father and son have inspired countless participants and spectators with their unrelenting will power, determination, and incredible bond. Since 2008, Boston Marathon Principal Sponsor John Hancock has been proud to serve as a corporate sponsor of Team Hoyt, supporting Dick and Rick’s inspirational example.

“Year after year, Dick and Rick Hoyt toed the starting line in Hopkinton to celebrate the Boston Marathon, showing millions of runners and spectators they could achieve anything and that there are no limits,” said Tom Grilk, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association. “Although he will not be racing this year, Dick will continue to be at the head of the field, leading 30,000 runners on their trek to Boston. Dick and Rick Hoyt will forever be synonymous with the Boston Marathon and the sport of running.”

Rick was born a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, unable to walk or talk. When Rick was 15, he asked Dick to push him in a five-mile road race to benefit a local recently-paralyzed lacrosse player. Since then, the Hoyts have competed in more than 1,000 road races, marathons, and triathlons, father pushing son in a specialized wheelchair. Team Hoyt’s 1,000th race together came at the 2009 Boston Marathon.

Rick will again participate in the Boston Marathon, this year pushed by fellow Team Hoyt athlete Bryan Lyons.

Dick, 74, and Rick, 53, had planned for the 2013 Boston Marathon to be their final race as a duo. In response to the tragic events of April 2013, the pair resolved to run Boston one more time in honor of those who were most affected. On April 21, 2014, the Hoyts crossed the finish line with nearly 20 members of Team Hoyt, the organization they created to help those who are physically disabled become active members of the community. In 2014, the team crossed the finish line on Boylston Street in 7 hours, 37 minutes, and 33 seconds.

As Grand Marshal, Dick will ride in a pace car ahead of the lead runners, heralding to spectators along the course that thousands of runners will soon be coming. The B.A.A. has reserved the grand marshal role as a position of recognition and honor. Last year’s grand marshal was four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers, while the 2013 Grand Marshals were Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb and Sara Mae Berman, Boston champions and pioneers of women’s marathon running.

The B.A.A. also announced today that 1985 champion Lisa Rainsberger will be the official starter for the Elite Women’s division of the Boston Marathon. This year, Rainsberger celebrates the 30th anniversary of her victory, the last by an American woman in the open division.

At the 1985 Boston Marathon, Rainsberger cruised to victory in a time of 2:34:06, defeating the field by more than six minutes. After starting the Elite Women’s division, Rainsberger will run the Boston Marathon. She is also planning to participate in the B.A.A. 5K two days prior.

Boston Athletic Association Executive Director Tom Grilk will start the Boston Marathon Mobility Impaired participants, while B.A.A. President Joann Flaminio will start the men’s and women’s Push Rim Wheelchair divisions. Christina Whelton, daughter of B.A.A. Board of Governors member Thomas W. Whelton, will start the Elite Men and Wave 1 at 10:00 a.m. A member of Boston’s legendary Brown family, Christina is the granddaughter of Walter Brown, founder of the Boston Celtics, former owner of the Boston Bruins, and President of the B.A.A. from 1941-1964.

Boston Housing Authority awarded $2 Million from HUD and more than $1 million from City of Boston to increase economic independence for families at the Charlestown public housing development

Boston Housing Authority awarded $2 Million from HUD and more than $1 million from City of Boston to increase economic independence for families at the Charlestown public housing development

Charlestown Works Program will provide incentives and training toward better job opportunities and greater financial independence for residents

Boston, MA - In an effort to help low-income residents find higher-paying jobs, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a $2 million grant for the next four years to the Boston Housing Authority.  BHA competed with 57 other applications across the nation to be one of nine agencies awarded a Jobs-Plus grant.  The HUD funding comes with more than $1 million in matching funds through the City of Boston aimed at increasing education levels, job search and placement and financial literacy assistance for public housing residents.

“I am committed to ensuring that every Boston resident has the opportunity to excel, thrive, and reach his or her fullest potential," said Mayor Walsh. "This funding will boost the expansion of high school equivalency and provide opportunities to residents in low-income public housing through additional English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programming at the Bunker Hill development." 

Currently, the Charlestown Adult Education Center enrolls about 150 people per year in its high school equivalency and ESOL programs.  HUD’s Jobs-Plus Pilot Program will connect the BHA’s educational programs with employment and training services, new rent rules that make work pay, and neighbor-to-neighbor outreaching— demonstrating how cross-agency partnerships make a difference in the economic prospects of public housing residents. The purpose of the program is to develop locally-based, job-driven approaches to increase earnings and advance employment outcomes through work readiness, employer linkages, job placement, educational advancement technology skills, and financial literacy for residents of public housing. The place-based Jobs Plus Pilot program addresses poverty among public housing residents by incentivizing and enabling employment through income disregards for working families, and a set of services designed to support work including employer linkages, job placement and counseling, educational advancement and financial counseling. Ideally, these incentives will help foster a culture of work and make working families the norm.  The grant covers BHA’s implementation of the Charlestown Works program and activities for a four-year period.

“This grant will help insure that our residents have the opportunities they need to increase their incomes and quality of life going forward,” said BHA Administrator Bill McGonagle.  “We also want to thank our Congressional delegation for their continued support and advocacy for the public housing residents of Boston.”

Thirty-five percent of residents aged 25 or over in the Charlestown development do not have a high school diploma and another 29% of residents have achieved a high school diploma but have not been able to further their education beyond high school level.  Few have the extra education or training necessary for available office, administrative and health care industry jobs that would provide financial stability.  The Charlestown development contains a total of 1,061 units, with 943 adults between the ages of 18 and 64.

Partners in addition to the City of Boston providing matching funds and/or services include Boston Private Industry Council, Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, Boston College, John F. Kennedy Family Service Center, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.  City Departments contributing include the Office of Jobs and Community Services, Boston Public Health Commission and Department of Neighborhood Development.  BHA is providing renovated program space at 76 Monument Street in Charlestown.  Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, along with Congressman Capuano fully supported the BHA’s grant application. 

MBTA Panel Calls for Fiscal Control Board, Multi-Year Plans to Fix Broken System

MBTA Panel Calls for Fiscal Control Board, Multi-Year Plans to Fix Broken System

BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker released a detailed report compiled by the MBTA special panel and outlined a plan of action to reform and improve the MBTA.  The panel’s recommendations include creating a five-member Fiscal and Management Control Board, as well as the creation of one, five and 20 year spending plans after the group uncovered massive structural and management failures that are on pace to bankrupt the system if left unchecked.

“Massachusetts deserves a reliable, well-managed, cost effective transportation system, and this in-depth report offers a plan of action to responsibly pursue organizational and operational reforms to reach this goal,”said Governor Baker.  “Thanks to the hard work of the panel members, we have action items to improve service reliability, correct the failures that would bankrupt the MBTA if left unchecked and rescue the transportation system our economy relies upon.”

On February 20^th, the Baker Administration announced a team of national leaders in transportation, economic development and municipal planning charged with performing an in-depth diagnostic review of the MBTA’s core functions.  The panel met 18 times over six weeks to review past studies, with MBTA staff, MassDOT leadership, transit advocates and labor representatives in order to benchmark the MBTA against peer agencies and analyze performance through objective analysis.   The panel synthesized recent MBTA studies, conducted a performance review, examined the MBTA’s core functions and compared results with other transit operations to assess the status of the system’s governance, finances, and capital planning.

From a press conference at the State House, the Baker Administration and members of the panel announced a summary of key findings and proposed recommendations for short and long term reforms centered on a fiscal management control board:

Key Findings:

·       Unsustainable Operating Budget: The MBTA would be insolvent if not for continuing and increasing subsidies due to a severe imbalance between costs and revenue.

·       Chronic Capital Underinvestment: The MBTA has not spent the capital funds already available to it, resulting in chronic underinvestment in the aging fleet and infrastructure.

·       Bottleneck Project Delivery: The MBTA struggles to get projects completed.

·       Ineffective Workplace Practices: The MBTA is ineffective at managing work due to weak workplace practices and chronic absenteeism.

·       Shortsighted Expansion Program: MassDOT and the MBTA lack a long-range expansion strategy shaped around the physical and financial capacity of the MBTA and future needs for regional transit.

·       Organizational Instability: The MBTA is hampered by frequent leadership changes, vacancies, and looming attrition.

·       Lack of Customer Focus: The MBTA is not organized to operate as a customer-oriented business.

·       Flawed Contracting Process: The MBTA’s procurement and contract management is inefficient.

·       Lack of Accountability: The Commonwealth provides more than half of the MBTA operating budget and additional funding for capital projects, but the MBTA is not accountable to the Governor or the Legislature.

Recommendations:

After considering a range of scenarios, the panel recommends creating a Fiscal and Management Control Board to enforce new oversight and management support, and increase accountability over a 3-5 year time frame. The goals will target governance, finance, agency structure and operations through recommended executive and legislative actions that embrace transparency and develop stability in order to earn public trust.

·       New Fiscal and Management Oversight: Replace the current MassDOT Board with a five-member Fiscal and Management Control Board, with three members appointed by the Governor and one each nominated by the Speaker of the House and the Senate President.  The Governor appoints a Chief Administrative Officer to lead the T, who reports to the Control Board.

·       Capture Revenue Opportunities: Significantly increase MBTA self-generated revenue from fares, advertising and real estate, as well as through grants and federal programs.

·       Budget Firewall: Build a firewall between the operating and capital budgets - construct one, five and twenty year plans for each.

·       Capital Planning: Create a dedicated state-funded capital program to modernize vehicles and infrastructure and pause construction spending for system expansion (except for federally funded projects) until such a plan is in place.

·       Customer Service: Create customer-oriented performance management and strengthen communications.

·       Update System Routes: Rationalize and reform system routes, including buses.

The MBTA special panel is co-chaired by Katie Lapp, Executive Vice President for Harvard University and former Executive Director and CEO for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Brian McMorrow of Massport, and includes Jane Garvey, a national leader in transportation policy, Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez, the Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at Harvard University, Joseph Sullivan, the Mayor of Braintree and former Chair of the Joint House-Senate Transportation Committee, and Robert Gittens, the Vice President of Public Affairs at Northeastern University.

Defending Champions Highlight Top Contenders in 2015 Boston Marathon Push Rim Wheelchair Division

Defending Champions Highlight Top Contenders in 2015 Boston Marathon Push Rim Wheelchair Division

Ernst van Dyk (RSA) and Tatyana McFadden (USA) to defend their titles.

BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) announced today that defending push rim wheelchair division champions Ernst van Dyk (RSA) and Tatyana McFadden (USA) will compete in the 2015 Boston Marathon® on Monday, April 20. Van Dyk and McFadden will look to add another olive wreath to their decorated Boston Marathon collection, leading a field that includes past Boston Marathon champions, world champions, Paralympic medalists, and world record holders. For the 30th consecutive year, principal sponsor John Hancock Financial Services will provide the prize purse for the race. The men’s and women’s champions will each earn $20,000 (USD) in prize money. New for 2015, the total prize purse for the push rim wheelchair division has increased by $24,500 to $84,500, distributed equally among men and women.

This year’s Boston Marathon also marks the 40th anniversary since Bob Hall became the first athlete to participate in a wheelchair, pioneering the division for the sport in the process.

Van Dyk, 42, won an unprecedented tenth Boston Marathon title in 2014, breaking the tape on Boylston Street in 1:20:36. Van Dyk is the all-time winningest athlete in Boston Marathon history, and will try to win his eleventh title since 2001. His 2014 winning time ranked as the second fastest of his ten wins in Boston.

Other top contenders on the men’s side include two-time Boston Marathon winner Masazumi Soejima (JPN), course record holder Joshua Cassidy (CAN), and 2013 champion Hiroyuki Yamamoto (JPN). Yamamoto won the 2013 Boston Marathon in 1:25:32 by two minutes, while Cassidy is the fastest push rim wheelchair marathoner of all time thanks to his 1:18:25 performance in Boston in 2012.

Paralympic Games medalists Kurt Fearnley (AUS), David Weir (GBR), and Marcel Hug (SUI) all will take the starting line in Hopkinton seeking their first Boston Marathon title. All three have been victorious at other Abbott World Marathon Majors races. Kota Hokinoue (JPN), last year’s Boston Marathon second place finisher; and Tomasz Hamerlak (POL), silver medalist in the 2013 IPC World Championships Marathon, also figure to be in contention on the men’s side.

McFadden won her second consecutive Boston Marathon last year in 1:35:06, defeating the field by more than two minutes. McFadden’s win was extra special considering it came on her 25th birthday. In 2014, McFadden would go on to win the London, Chicago, and New York City Marathons for the second year in a row. At the 2015 Boston Marathon, McFadden aims to keep her winning streak alive. She is also a decorated Paralympian, and has represented the United States at both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.

Wakako Tsuchida (JPN), five-time Boston Marathon champion and course record holder (1:34:06); Susannah Scaroni (USA), 2014 Boston Marathon third-place finisher and 2013 Los Angeles Marathon champion; and Shirley Reilly (USA), winner of the Boston and London Paralympic Marathons in 2012, also return aiming for the podium’s top spot. Also highlighting the field are Amanda McGrory (USA), a two-time London Marathon champion who was eighth in Boston last year; and Shelly Woods (GBR), a three-time Paralympic Games medalist.

In 1975, Massachusetts native Bob Hall became the first athlete ever to be officially recognized for completing the Boston Marathon in a wheelchair. Since his triumphant achievement four decades ago, the push rim wheelchair division has grown to see more than 1,470 finishers.

At a press conference on Thursday, April 16, the Boston Athletic Association will detail enhancements to the push rim wheelchair division this year, including a new starting procedure, separated men’s and women’s starts, and an enhanced prize money purse.

Residents Call for Just Cause Eviction Policy

BOSTON (April 7, 2015) – “Up with the wages, down with the rents!” rang the shouts of tenants and community activists as they marched into City Hall Plaza this afternoon. Led by tenants who have been forced out of their homes by speculative developers, the march began on Hudson Street in Chinatown, where protesters called on First Suffolk LLC to halt its acquisition of historic brick row houses that threatens to displace low income immigrant families. Chinatown has experienced skyrocketing real estate values following the addition of nearly 3,000 luxury units in the past 15 years.

Pei Ying Yu, an elderly tenant displaced from her Hudson Street apartment, broke into tears as she described the ordeal of being forced from her home after the building was purchased by First Suffolk LLC.  “All we want is to return to our home,” said Yu.

Arriving at City Hall Plaza, speakers included tenants, foreclosed homeowners, and community leaders from Jamaica Plain, East Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan, who called for new policy solutions to the displacement crisis. After speaking in front of City Hall, some 300 marchers moved indoors to pack a city council hearing on displacement, community stability and neighborhood preservation, sponsored by Boston city councilor Tito Jackson.

Darnell Johnson of Right to the City Boston noted more than 4,500 households experienced foreclosure in Boston over a six-year period and that most had joined the rental market. Sixty-seven percent of Bostonians today are renters.

“Low wages, corporate greed and for-profit development robs our neighborhood stability,” said Johnson. “It’s only fair to establish a policy to protect vulnerable residents against no-fault eviction, and at the same time support small property owners who are willing to keep apartments affordable.”

Kadineyse Peña of the Boston Tenants Coalition called for increased developer payouts under the city’s Inclusionary Development Program and for targeting resources to low and moderate income Bostonians most threatened with displacement.

“Rents keep going up, but wages have been stagnant,” said Peña, citing a Brookings Institution study that placed Boston third in a ranking of major US cities with growing income inequality gaps.  “Developers are making huge profits and need to pay their fair share.”  Others noted that a real estate transfer tax on luxury sales has brought more than $100 million in new revenues to San Francisco.

Karen Chen, Co-Director of the Chinese Progressive Association, called for neighborhood stabilization zones around new transit nodes and in rapidly gentrifying areas like Chinatown or East Boston.  “We need to have policies focused not only on new development but also long-term preservation of affordable housing before our people are pushed out of the city.”

The BASE and Malden’s Angel Baseball Celebrate a Grant by Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito

The BASE and Malden’s Angel Baseball Celebrate a Grant by Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Mayor Gary Christenson and Julio Henriquez, President of Malden’s Angel Baseball Program joined The BASE founder and President Robert Lewis, Jr. at the BASE’s Roxbury headquarters for a press conference with Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito presented $50,000 in baseball scholarships to the BASE, a non-profit that offers an intensive training program for area baseball coaches and academic tutoring combined with year-round baseball instruction for inner-city students, many of whom have had school or family challenges. Last year, Lewis announced that Angel Baseball players will be receiving as much as $1 million in scholarship funding for the opportunity to earn full or partial scholarships to New England colleges and universities.

Angel Baseball, established in 2004 provides an opportunity for local youth to play competitive baseball at a nominal cost. Through scholarships from the BASE, students have participated in showcases for no cost and in 2014, two players received full college scholarships. The BASE, in partnership with Angel Baseball, aims to expand and launch additional programs in Lawrence, Lowell, Springfield and Worcester. Mayor Christenson, who has been a strong supporter of Malden Angel Baseball commended the BASE and Angel Baseball.

“The funding provided by Governor Baker will go a long way to assist the BASE and Malden’s Angel Baseball in their continued collaboration to support young athletes academically, while providing the opportunity to experience the game of baseball,” said Mayor Christenson.

To learn more about Angel Baseball, visit www.Angel-baseball.com or email angelbaseballgiants@gmail.com.