Governor Baker Acts to Deliver Reliable Public Transit with MBTA Reform Legislation

Governor Baker Acts to Deliver Reliable Public Transit with MBTA Reform Legislation

An Act for a Reliable, Sustainable MBTA pursues special panel recommendations; establishes 3-year fiscal control board

BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker filed An Act for a Reliable, Sustainable MBTA, acting on many of the recommendations made by the special panel that reported their findings earlier this month. The legislation would establish a Fiscal Management and Control Board (FMCB) and Chief Administrator to oversee operations and finances through 2018, create capital plans, introduce reporting and audit requirements and lift procurement restrictions for the MBTA. Together the FMCB and Chief Administrator would be charged with establishing a safe, reliable, financially sound and sustainable customer-oriented public transit system.

“This bill directly responds to the special panel's recommendations. We look forward to the Legislature's swift action on the reforms necessary to restore the public’s faith in the Commonwealth’s transit system,” said Governor Baker. “The T failed its stress test this winter when we needed it most, exposing the deep operational problems and lack of planning. We simply cannot afford a repeat and this legislation sets in motion significant reforms to once again deliver accountability, reliability and the world-class transportation system Massachusetts deserves.”

“The special panel concluded that a strong fiscal and management control board is vital to solving the MBTA’s chronic and pervasive failures,” said Secretary Pollack.  “The legislation would give the MBTA many new tools that are essential if we are to succeed in transforming the MBTA organizationally and rebuilding and modernizing its assets.”

“At the MBTA we are already hard at work implementing the Special Review Panel’s recommendations, but this legislation and the fiscal and management control board that it creates are essential to ensuring that we can correct longstanding problems at the T so that it can provide the reliable transit services that our riders want and deserve,” said Frank DePaola, interim executive director of the MBTA.

More about An Act for a Reliable, Sustainable MBTA:

Effective Oversight and Management: A Fiscal Management Control Board (FMCB) will function as the board of the MBTA, consisting of 5 members, 3 appointed by the Governor, and 1 each referred to the Governor by the Senate President and Speaker of the House, through June 30, 2018. The daily operational, budgeting and planning duties would lie with a Chief Administrator appointed by the Governor.

Reconstitute the MassDOT Board: Chaired by the Secretary of Transportation, the MassDOT Board will consist of 11 members, eight serving four-year terms coterminous with the Governor, and three serving three-year terms. Members will include a representative from an MBTA core community, an outer MBTA community and a city or town served by a regional transit authority.

Financial Accountability and Transparency: The FMCB will immediately develop one and five year operating budgets with a focus on improving productivity and increasing revenues. A clear separation of the operating and capital budgets will be implemented and improved procurement practices will move the MBTA to assuring that its capital funds are timely and well spent.  The MBTA Retirement Fund would be frozen for payouts to new hires until an independent audit is completed within 180 days and would be subjected to annual audits and public record law.

Operations, Personnel and Contracting: The FMCB will have the ability to restructure the organization of the MBTA and install rigorous performance management metrics while altering existing procurement requirements and lifting the Pacheco Law’s application to the MBTA.

華埠清潔委員會 4/30 開會

The Cleanup Chinatown Committee invites all Chinatown residents, landlords, and business owners to a Community Education Forum to discuss the prevalent problems of illegal trash dumping and street littering in Chinatown.

Officials from the City of Boston’s Department of Public Works, Department of Environmental Services, Department of Inspectional Services, and Boston Police, will discuss Boston’s Recycling Program, Street Sweeping Program and Hokies Program and other plans to help the Chinatown community combat the difficult problems. 

 Date :                          Thursday, April 30 2015 at 7 pm

Location:                     Asian American Civic Association (AACA)

Address:                      87 Tyler St, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111

Questions:                   617-426-9492 ext. 206

Free recycling trash bags will be distributed by the City to all attendees .

To RSVP, contact Scarlett Wu, 617-426-9492 ext. 206 or scarlettwu@aaca-boston.org

Baker-Polito Administration Announces LED Conversion Project

Baker-Polito Administration Announces LED Conversion Project

           

LYNN – Today, in celebration of Earth Day, Governor Charlie Baker was joined by Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Matthew Beaton at Lynn Heritage State Park to announce a statewide energy efficiency initiative at Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) properties.  As part of an investment for energy savings, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and public safety, the Baker-Polito Administration announced that more than 4,500 street and outdoor lights across the Commonwealth will be converted to energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting and associated fixtures.

“In celebration of Earth Day, I am pleased to announce this collaborative statewide LED program as an illustration of Massachusetts’ unrelenting commitment to energy efficiency and conserving the Commonwealth’s financial and energy resources,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “This program highlights the type of strategic investments necessary to ensure a clean energy and environmental future for generations to come.”

The two-phase project is expected to save the Commonwealth more than $500,000 every year.  Since LED lights have a lifespan of approximately 15 years, DCR will also save on maintenance costs. 

Once completed, the project is projected to save approximately 3 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, equivalent to annually providing electricity for 395 homes. It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,000 metric tons, equal to taking 223 cars off the road each year.

“By converting to LED lighting at DCR facilities across the state, the Baker-Polito Administration has taken a crucial step in ensuring that Massachusetts continues to lead the nation in energy efficiency,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton. “This eco-friendly approach to lighting public recreation areas is a fiscally sound decision that benefits both the Commonwealth’s residents and our state’s natural environment.”

DCR is collaborating with the Department of Energy Resource’s (DOER) Leading by Example Program to support the conversion. DCR is investing $1 million in capital funding and will leverage $1.2 million in Non-Building Energy Efficiency Investment Program (NEEIP) funds from the Department of Energy Resources. NEEIP provides green bond financing for self-supporting energy projects that will cover the cost of financing through energy cost savings. Phase 1 of the project will also qualify for some $280,000 in Mass Save® incentives from Eversource, National Grid, and Chicopee Electric Light.

“The retrofit of these streetlights to LED will not only improve energy efficiency, it will also improve public safety along DCR’s many parkways across the Commonwealth,”said DCR Commissioner Jack Murray. “I thank Governor Baker and Secretary Beaton for their commitment to ensuring Massachusetts continues to lead the nation in energy efficiency.”

“These high efficiency lighting upgrades are a great illustration of how Massachusetts leads by example in saving energy, while reducing costs and our impact on the environment.” said DOER Acting Commissioner Dan Burgess.

“It’s good to be with the Governor and the Secretary at Lynn Heritage State Park to celebrate Earth Day and to kick off this statewide LED Initiative which will lead to significant energy savings and improved public safety across the Commonwealth,” said State Senator Thomas M. McGee.

“I am pleased that this DCR property within Lynn is taking part in this statewide initiative of converting to LED lights as it helps to make our city more energy efficient while cutting energy costs,” said State Representative Robert Fennell. “I applaud Governor Baker and Secretary Beaton on its implementation and look forward to working with the Administration over the next few years on other initiatives that will improve the quality of life for all citizens of the Commonwealth.”

Phase I of the project began on March 2, 2015, and includes the retrofit of approximately 2,000 cobrahead and shoebox luminaries from high intensity discharge (HID) lamps to LED lamps. Phase I is expected to be complete by the summer of 2015. Phase II of the project, which will be put out to bid this summer, will retrofit an additional 2,500 fixtures.

DCR has also converted its Geographic Information Systems Program into a complete ArcGIS Online (AGOL) web-map technology of the entire system. This system, located in 43 cities and towns across the Commonwealth, enables DCR staff to track the condition of each light, resulting in additional maintenance savings.

The Leading by Example (LBE) program works with state agencies to meet specific target for greenhouse gas emission reductions, energy consumption reduction and renewable energy procurement. Since 2007, state agencies have made significant progress, including meeting the 25 percent GHG reduction target, generating 15 percent of electricity demand from onsite renewable and combined heat and power energy, and reducing heating oil use by 72 percent. LBE results have been a factor in Massachusetts’ four years as the number one state for energy efficiency in the country, as ranked by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

Maxine Hong Kingston 湯婷婷 抵薩福克大學交流

Suffolk has a special guest on campus this week, acclaimed writer and winner of the National Medal of Arts, Maxine Hong Kingston.  Many of you might have read one of her books, The Woman Warrior, considered a classic in the field.

Tuesday 21 April 2015, tonight, Maxine and husband Earll Kingston will give a reading overview of her work. At the Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street, Boston, at 7:00pm.

Thursday 23 April 2015, we will see selections from the film “Every War has Two Losers,” and listen to a discussion of war, peace, literature, and the connections among them.  At the C. Walsh Theatre, 55 Temple Street (behind the Mass State House), 1:00pm to 2:30pm.

These events are Free and Open to the Public. Maxine Hong Kingston is visiting as a Suffolk University Distinguished Visiting Scholar.

Ron

管樂三金剛將抵波演出“新泉香如故”

中華表演基金會將於五月二日（週六）晚八點，在紐英崙音樂學院喬登廳 (Jordan Hall) 舉辦中國古典印象音樂會 『新泉香如故』，由中國管樂三大金剛，包鍵、胡建兵及陳濤，以及古箏翁慧、古琴劉麗、琵琶周懿 、 大阮蔡振起等演繹古典韻律，今日新作，輝映中國古典文學及詩詞書畫。

            中華表演藝術基金會表示，紐約北美中樂團曾兩次來波士頓，在喬登廳 (Jordan Hall）推出“荒漠錦堂—智化寺古音樂”，以及 ”玄門步虛”音樂會，深受好評。該會特地情商該團再度來訪，演出。

            當晚將演奏七段曲目，包括琴簫合奏古曲”普庵咒“，古箏獨奏”林泉“，琵琶合奏”月兒高“，笛箏合奏”秋江夜洎“，聲獨奏”江南柳“，管子、古箏合奏”香如故“，古琴合奏”憶古人“等。其中陳濤作曲的“秋江夜洎”將是世界首演，”江南柳“及”香如故“是美國首演。

            中華表演藝術基金會表示，這場音樂會的門票分為$50 (貴賓保留區、可預先指定座位)及$30(不對號自由入座)兩種，學生票$15 (不對號自由座區)。提供100張免費學生票 (14歲以上，每人一張) 請上www.ChinesePerformingArts.net索票，六歲以下兒童請勿入場 。購票可洽喬登廳票房，617-585-1260，也可在網站購票www.ChinesePerformingArts.net(無手續費)。查詢可洽中華表演藝術基金會會長譚嘉陵，電話，781-259-8195，電郵Foundation@ChinesePerformingArts.net。

圖片說明：

            胡建兵，笙演奏家，北美中樂團創建人和歷任團長。（圖由中華表演藝術基金會提供）

            包鍵，管子演奏家，北美中樂團藝術總監。（圖由中華表演藝術基金會提供）

四川飯庒段然將代表美國角逐國際酒保頭銜

因為四元價差而更出名的華裔酒保段然，在拉斯維加斯的夜總會及酒吧會議教人“如何調製贏人喜愛的雞尾酒”後，才回到波士頓，月底又將代表美國，到雪梨參加“百家地傳奇（Bacardi Legacy）”比賽。

一旦段然從三十五國參賽者中脫穎而出，將在“孟買藍寶石”贊助下，再前往摩洛哥（Morocco）角逐“最有想像力酒保”頭銜。

            段然雖然在國際酒保界很成功，但讓他一舉成名，幾乎人盡皆知，卻是因為去年十二月，他和哈佛商學院副教授艾德文(Ben Edelman)的一場“四元“論爭。艾德文抱怨他從布魯克蘭鎮四川飯莊買外賣時，被人多收了四元。

            四川飯庒（Sichuan Garden）是段然的父親段小毅及母親，從屋本（Woburn）市開起來，並擴張出去的餐館。三歲時隨父母從中國移民來美的段然自己，在屋本四川飯庒內經營Baldwin酒吧，早就因為調酒出色，名聞同行。

            該一論爭有如病毒般迅速傳播，各媒體追蹤報導幾乎每一細節，社交媒體也把這故事傳到了地球各角落，段然在那段期間的知名度，更是火速高漲。

麻州長辦公室確認MBTA六董事將辭職

麻州州長辦公室昨（廿一）日表示，監管麻州地鐵（MBTA）的六名董事，都將下台一鞠躬了。

麻州州長查理貝克（Charlie Baker）上週要求董事會七名成員中的六人辭職時，該會主席簡金斯（John Jenkins）還說，只有議會，不是州長，能夠廢除該會。但麻州州長的發言人畢克雷（Tim Buckley）昨日證實，除了麻州州長指派進董事會的交通長普拉克（Stephanie Pollack）將繼續留任外，其餘六人都將卸任。

            畢克雷說，州長感謝那些董事們過去的服務，但將籌組一個新董事會來協助麻州交通廳（MassDOT）運作。

            據悉，麻州州長將向議會遞案，重整該會，並制定新的財政管理，控制委員。

            地鐵（MBTA）的代理總經理狄帕拉（Frank DePaola）卻持懷疑態度的表示，他擔心換一個新董事會，將打亂麻州交通廳和MBTA已建立的一些合作關係。

            麻州議會交通聯席委員會主席，參議員麥吉（Thomas M. McGee）也有點推拒這一做法，表示將於四月廿七日像麻州州長的專家團提許多問題。