$850,000 in Community Compact Grants awarded

Baker-Polito Administration Awards Over $850,000 in Community Compact Grants

Second round of Efficiency and Regionalization Grants awarded to 38 communities

BOSTON – Today the Baker-Polito Administration awarded over $850,000 in Community Compact Cabinet grants to 38 municipalities and 8 school districts across the Commonwealth. These grants will assist municipalities in exploring and implementing efficiency and regionalization initiatives. In December, the administration awarded more than $1 million to over 70 municipalities during the first round of Community Compact Cabinet’s efficiency and regionalization grants.

“Our administration formed the Community Compact Cabinet, led by Lieutenant Governor Polito, to solidify state government’s role as a reliable partner for cities and towns,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “We are proud to announce the second round of grants to help cities, towns, and school districts from across the Commonwealth work together on improving their regionalization and efficiency efforts to better serve their residents.”

“We are pleased to continue supporting our municipalities through this effective grant program,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Chair of the Community Compact Cabinet. “As former local officials, Governor Baker and I understand the importance of maintaining strong relationships with our 351 cities and towns and we believe these grants will increase efficiencies and maximize taxpayer dollars to make every corner of the Commonwealth a better place to live, work and raise a family.”

“Supporting our cities and towns and giving them the tools to best deliver services has been a priority since the administration has taken office,” said Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore. “The $2 million in regionalization and efficiency grants awarded over the last four months will help the Commonwealth’s cities and towns better serve their communities in a more efficient way, and I am pleased that we once again are able to provide this important funding.”

The Community Compact Cabinet’s Efficiency & Regionalization grant program is a new initiative for Fiscal Year 2017 that provides financial support for governmental entities interested in implementing regionalization and other efficiency initiatives that allow for long-term sustainability. The grants will provide funds for one-time or transition costs for municipalities, regional school districts, school districts considering  forming a regional school district or regionalizing services, regional planning agencies and councils of governments interested in such projects.

The Governor’s FY18 budget proposal filed in January, 2017 includes $2 million for the Community Compact Best Practices program and $2 million to continue supporting these thoughtful efficiency and regionalization grants. Also previously announced, the Governor’s third capital budget, released this upcoming spring, will provide another $2 million for the Community Compact IT Grant program.

Grant Recipients:

Regionalization / Shared Services

• Rural Economic Development Planning (Chester, Blandford, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, and Russell) - $100,511
• Joint Economic Development (Boston, Braintree, Cambridge, Chelsea, Quincy and Somerville) - $100,000
• Shared Town Administrator (Lenox and Lee) - $86,000
• Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) On-line Permitting Platform and Shared Permit Data Standard (Ayer, Milton, North Reading, Westborough) - $70,619
• Regional Animal Control (Fitchburg, Lunenburg, Townsend) - $42,257
• Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) Economic Development Planning Services (Clarksburg, Great Barrington, Hinsdale, and Lanesborough) - $22,735

Municipal / School Shared Services

• Wareham Town and School HR Functions - $72,499
• Carver Town and School Facilities Department - $41,500
• Easthampton City and School IT Department Consolidation - $38,000
• Southbridge Town and School Facilities Management Team - $35,000
• Norwell Town Hall and School Administration Building Consolidation - $25,000

School Regionalization

• Exploration of further consolidation of the Quabbin Regional School District - $100,000
• Exploration of  further school regionalization (Orange Elementary School District and Petersham Center School District to the Ralph C. Mahar Regional School District) - $53,000
• Exploration of forming a Regionalization School District (Acushnet Public Schools and Fairhaven Public Schools) - $40,000
• Exploration of further consolidation of the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District - $28,000

About the Community Compact Cabinet:

Formed in January 2015, the Community Compact Cabinet is chaired by Lt. Governor Polito and comprised of the secretaries of Housing & Economic Development, Education, Transportation, and Energy & Environmental Affairs, the Senior Deputy Commissioner of Local Services, the Assistant Secretary of Operational Services, and the Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth. The Community Compact Cabinet elevates the Administration’s partnerships with cities and towns, and allows the Governor’s Office to work more closely with leaders from all municipalities. The Cabinet champions municipal interests across all executive secretariats and agencies, and develops, in consultation with cities and towns, mutual standards and best practices for both the state and municipalities.  The creation of Community Compacts creates clear standards, expectations and accountability for both partners.

As of today, 266 compacts have been signed

$90,000 in Grant Funding to promote equal opportunity for women, minority in construction

AG HEALEY LAUNCHES GRANT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN, MINORITY WORKERS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Program Will Award Total of $90,000 in Grant Funding to Eligible Applicants 

 BOSTON – Continuing her commitment to advance the economic opportunity of Massachusetts residents, Attorney General Maura Healey today announced a new grant program aimed at providing opportunities for women and minority workers and small business owners in the public construction industry.

“The construction industry provides highly-skilled and good-paying jobs that help families thrive,” said AG Healey. “This grant will help ensure that these opportunities continue to be accessible to women and minorities in our state.”

The Equal Opportunity in the Construction Trades Grant program will provide funding to projects that promote opportunity through apprenticeship programs, job trainings and diversity and inclusion trainings, and support and outreach programs. The new program is open to workers’ centers, unions, non-profit organizations, chambers of commerce, public schools, municipalities, small businesses, and post-secondary student organizations.

The grant program will utilize funding from a judgment the AG’s False Claims Division secured with CTA Construction Company for the purpose of promoting equal opportunity in public construction, employment or education.

The AG’s Office anticipates awarding a total of $90,000 to multiple grantees. The funding will be awarded to recipients in two ranges:

·         One or more grants of up to $40,000 will be awarded to eligible unions, municipalities, schools, small businesses, nonprofit organizations and chambers of commerce to provide education, training and technical skills to workers interested in careers in the construction industry and;

·         One or more micro-grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to eligible nonprofit organizations or student organizations to fund outreach and training for women and minority workers to join the construction industry.

Special consideration will be given to applicants who can demonstrate the grant will be used to promote equal opportunity within underrepresented populations including veterans.

This is a one-year grant program that will start on June 1, 2017 and end on May 31, 2018. Interested applicants can visit the AG’s website, www.mass.gov/ago/grants for more information and for application instructions. Applications must be received by 4 p.m. on Friday, March 31, 2017.

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Tito Jackson will not participate in St. Patrick's Day Parade this year

Statement By City Councillor Tito Jackson On His Decision To Not March In The 2017 St. Patrick's Day Parade Regardless of Whether OutVets Decides To March Or Not

Boston, MA - Boston City Councillor Tito Jackson will not participate in the 2017 St. Patrick's Day Parade regardless of whatever decision OutVets reaches about their own participation. He released the following statement this afternoon:

I am proud to have marched in the South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade only when our LGBTQ veterans have also been invited to participate. I did look forward to doing the same this year, but after the shabby and disrespectful way OutVets, a group of distinguished and honorable LGBTQ veterans have been treated by some of the Parade's organizers, the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, I have no interest in participating in this event until members of the LGBTQ community are permanently included. The nine narrow-minded committee members who voted to exclude OutVets on March 8, 2017 failed to meet the standards this nation and city pride themselves on - a deep and abiding commitment to treating every person with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Boston is a welcoming community, one that celebrates diversity in all its forms, and I am proud to be a part of this great city that has led the nation in our shared struggles to battle against LGBTQ, gender, and racial discrimination.

I am proud to stand with OutVets. I am also proud to stand with the four members of the organizing committee who did vote to include OutVets earlier this week. And I am proud to stand with the people of South Boston who I know are equally as outraged by the treatment of OutVets and other members of the LGBTQ community as I am. Discrimination should have no friend in Boston, and I will not support an event organized by some who went out of their way to exclude our LGBTQ friends and neighbors.

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哈佛設計學院3/20邀波士頓市長演講

CAMBRIDGE, MA - Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh will give the 17th Annual John T. Dunlop Lecture on Monday, March 20, 2017 at the Harvard Graduate School of Design at 6:30 pm. The lecture is free and open to the public (registration required), and will also be webcast live on the Joint Center for Housing Studies website.

Since taking office in 2014, Mayor Walsh has made his mark in Boston and, increasingly, on the national stage as well. A former leader of Boston's construction trade unions who also served as a state representative, he has made housing and community development central to his efforts to ensure that Boston is a "thriving, healthy, and innovative" city with "equality and opportunity for all."

In 2014, the new administration released Housing a Changing City: Boston 2030, which stated that Boston needed to create 53,000 housing units to accommodate the city's growing population. The city is expected to soon top 700,000 people for the first time since the 1950s and, in keeping with this plan, permitted almost 20,000 new units by 2016 and is reviewing plans for about 20,000 more.

The city, which built a state-of- the-art shelter for homeless people, is also developing strategies to effectively end chronic homelessness and has launched Imagine Boston 2030, which will produce Boston's first comprehensive plan in over 50 years.

In addition, the Walsh administration has undertaken notable efforts to keep Boston at the forefront of the global innovation economy, to strengthen its schools, expand opportunities for historically disadvantaged communities, improve police-community relations, and address Boston's troubled history of race relations.

In recent months, Mayor Walsh has also emerged as an important voice in national debates about immigration and other key federal policies and programs that could greatly affect residents, neighborhoods, and communities in Boston and other cities.

The John T. Dunlop Lecture, presented annually by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, honors a distinguished member of the Harvard community in recognizing the contributions of Professor John T. Dunlop. In addition to serving as Chairman of the Economics Department and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor Dunlop was United States Secretary of Labor during the Ford administration. Professor Dunlop had a lifetime career in mediation, arbitration and dispute resolution. A commitment to the nation's construction industries and housing also distinguished his work. He served as chairman of the Construction Industry Stabilization Committee and played a role in the establishment of the National Institute for Building Sciences. Dunlop was inducted into the National Housing Hall of Fame by the National Association of Home Builders in 1986.

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY’S SHAKESPEARE UNAUTHORIZED EXHIBITION ON VIEW THROUGH MARCH 31

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY’S SHAKESPEARE UNAUTHORIZED EXHIBITION ON VIEW THROUGH MARCH 31

Exhibition presented by Iron Mountain Incorporated, three weeks remain to view

BOSTON – March 09, 2017 – Boston Public Library honors William Shakespeare’s lasting legacy with its Shakespeare Unauthorized exhibition, on view through the end of the month in the McKim Exhibition Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square. The exhibition, with 54,735 visitors to date, is presented in conjunction with the ongoing BPL citywide initiative All the City’s a Stage: A Season of Shakespeare at the Boston Public Library, commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016 and connecting audiences to theater and the dramatic arts with programs throughout the library system.  Shakespeare programming continues through June, with upcoming performances by Seven Times Salt, “Sonnets and Soliloquies” by Carey and Gibson, a Lowell Lecture Series talk by Marjorie Garber, Shakespeare to Hip Hop, and more.

Boston Public Library holds one of the largest and most comprehensive publicly-held collections of Shakespeare, including the first four folios of his collected works, 45 early quarto editions of individual plays, and thousands of volumes of early source material, commentaries, translations, manuscripts, and more. Visit www.bpl.org/shakespeare to view the complete offerings of the initiative.

Shakespeare Unauthorized: Experience the original works of “The Bard”

Shakespeare Unauthorized, a major gallery exhibition on view from October 14, 2016 through March 31, 2017, includes extraordinarily rare first and early editions of familiar and beloved plays like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and The Merchant of Venice, as well as all four Shakespearean folios, most notably the BPL’s own copy of the world-famous First Folio. Through the pages of these precious books, visitors can experience Shakespeare in his original language and spelling, just as he would have been read by book lovers and theater-goers hundreds of years ago.

Shakespeare Unauthorized is made possible through the financial support of Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM), the global leader in storage and information management services. Based in Boston, Iron Mountain provides charitable grants of funding and in-kind services to cultural and historical preservation projects like Shakespeare Unauthorized through its Living Legacy Initiative.

Shakespeare Unauthorized contains far more than just books of plays: this exhibition features surprising rarities and mysterious objects; scandalous forgeries made by con men and accomplished scholars; books from the luxurious private libraries of early English aristocrats; and memorabilia from four centuries of acting and stagecraft.

C&G Partners created the engaging exhibition design that showcases the extraordinary historic material on display in Shakespeare Unauthorized.

About BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARYBoston Public Library has a Central Library, twenty-four branches, map center, business library, and a website filled with digital content and services. Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America. It was the first large free municipal library in the United States, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. Each year, the Boston Public Library hosts thousands of programs and serves millions of people. All of its programs and exhibitions are free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are just the beginning. To learn more, visit bpl.org.

About IRON MOUNTAIN

Iron Mountain Incorporated® (NYSE: IRM) is the global leader for storage and information management services. Trusted by more than 220,000 organizations around the world, Iron Mountain’s real estate network comprises more than 85 million square feet across more than 1,400 facilities in 45 countries dedicated to protecting and preserving what matters most for its customers. Iron Mountain’s solutions portfolio includes records management, data management, document management, data centers, art storage and logistics, and secure shredding, helping organizations to lower storage costs, comply with regulations, recover from disaster, and better use their information. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain stores and protects billions of information assets, including critical business documents, electronic information, medical data and cultural and historical artifacts. Visit www.ironmountain.com for more information.

Image: William Shakespeare’s First Folio, 1623. Boston Public Library, Rare Books Department.

Martin Walsh's statement on Outvets and St. Patrick parade

STATEMENT FROM MAYOR MARTIN J. WALSH

BOSTON - Wednesday, March 8, 2017 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh released the following statement regarding the exclusion of OUTVETS from this year's St. Patrick's Day parade: "I will not tolerate discrimination in our city of any form. We are one Boston, which means we are a fully inclusive city. I will not be marching in the parade unless this is resolved. Anyone who values what our city stands for should do the same."

Vision of Boston 2030 released

Yesterday's plan release and what comes next

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday at the Boston Public Library! Whether you came to the Mayor’s announcement in the morning, the panel discussion in the evening, or the exhibition during the day, we appreciated your support and hope that you came away ready to help us make the plan a reality. You can read the plan online or download it at boston.gov/go-boston-2030. You can also watch a recap of the morning announcement here and the last two-thirds of the panel discussion here. You can visit the exhibition in the lower library of the Boston Public Library through Friday at noon. If you’re passionate about improving Boston and want to get involved in other planning initiatives, you can Join Focus40 (the MBTA’s long term plan) for their Ideas of March event next Wednesday, March 15. Meet Imagine Boston at their next open house on April 8. Follow the Vision Zero initiative and apply for the Neighborhood Slow Streets program by March 24. Connect with Greenovate Boston and Climate Ready Boston. Learn more about the Mayor's Office of Resilience and Racial Equity and their work with 100 Resilient Cities. We couldn’t have developed this plan without you and we can’t realize the plan without you either. The Go Boston 2030 Team

CAPAC Chair Judy Chu Condemns Hate Crimes Targeting Minority Communities

CAPAC Chair Judy Chu Condemns Hate Crimes Targeting Minority Communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In light of recent attacks and hate crimes targeting South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Middle Eastern, and Jewish communities – including the recent shooting of two South Asian men in Olathe, Kansas and the shooting of a Sikh man in Kent, Washington – Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) issued the following statement:

“The alarming number of attacks facing the South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Middle Eastern, and Jewish communities is appalling and must end. The recent shooting of Deep Rai, a Sikh American, outside of his home in Washington follows the murder of Srinivas Kuchibotla and attempted murder of Alok Madasani in Kansas. The stark parallels in these cases are undeniable. In both attacks, the assailants told the victims to go back to their country before opening fire on them.

“While both shootings are now being investigated as hate crimes, this is not enough to stymie the increase in xenophobic attacks targeting communities of color and religious minorities that we have seen since the presidential election. In fact, just last week, we learned of the fatal shooting of another Indian man, Harnish Patel, who was murdered outside of his home in Lancaster, South Carolina. While the facts of this particular case are still being investigated, it is clear that we must do more to address the surging tide of hate and the emboldened anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric plaguing our national discourse.

“This begins with President Trump and our nation’s leaders not only condemning these incidents of hate, but also moving away from the dangerous rhetoric that has enabled this violence to flourish. We must also take proactive steps to investigate and prevent future hate crimes impacting our communities. These hateful actions run contrary to our values as a nation and have no place in our society. No community should have to live in a constant state of fear in their own country.”