波士頓市議員Tito Jackson 訂今日下午宣佈參選波士頓市長

波士頓市議員Tito Jackson。(周菊子攝)

            (Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓報導)波士頓市第55任市長選戰，開打了。波士頓市議員Tito Jackson預定今(12)日下午2點在洛士百利(Roxbury)杜爹利廣場的烘培餐廳(Haley House Bakery Café)正式宣佈參選下屆市長。

波士頓市議員Tito Jackson。(周菊子攝)

            Tito Jackson的有意參選波士頓市長，早就不是新聞，但他本人一直未鬆口，英文報章也不斷質疑可能性，還指他籌募的競選經費，實在差得遠。根據州政府的競選財務網站，Tito Jackson的競選帳戶結餘為64,884.38元，波士頓現任市長馬丁華殊 (Martin J. Walsh) 的競選帳戶，儘管已從12月時的$1,870,305.97，陡降至$190,263.09，仍然是Tito Jackson的3倍。

            Tito Jakoson神秘兮兮地在1月11日這天發出通知，將於12日這天做重要宣佈，但波士頓環球報很不給面子，甚至在他宣佈的12個小時之前，就已經報導，他將宣佈參選市長。

            波士頓環球報稱Tito Jackson的參選，將使他成為三十多年來，繼曾任麻州眾議員的Mel King之後的首名非洲裔美人波士頓市長候選人。不過，馬丁華殊在2013年參選市長時的競爭對手，包括現在是波士頓市經濟發展長的巴洛斯 (John Barros)，曾任麻州眾議員的Charlotte Golar Richie，當時的波士頓市議員楊西(Charles Yancey)等，至少有3人是非洲裔美人。那一年共有12仁參選波士頓市長，今年會有多少人，目前還很難說。

            42歲的Tito Jackson認為自己會是一名比馬丁華殊更強而有力的市長，將會更注意掙扎中的中產階級，更關心教育，可負擔住宅，以及收入不均等問題。

            波士頓環球報指出，馬丁華殊的受歡迎率很高，但他上任以來，也遭遇了不少挫敗，包括試圖承辦奧林匹克比賽，IndyCar 車賽都沒成功。聯邦調查局還來調查他的政府團隊有沒涉嫌威脅廠商。不過馬丁華殊表示他自己將專心做市長，帶領波士頓繼續衝刺前所未有的成長，他也會持續改善波士頓市的教育，政府，讓波士頓更安全。

            有意成為波士頓市公職候選人的參選者，必須在4月19日到5月16日之間，像波士頓市選務局正式索取申請表，有意參選市長者，必須在5月23日之前，取得3000個支持者的有效簽名。

            波士頓環球報指出，Tito Jackson的這場市長選戰，明顯處於不利地位，因為波士頓市從1949年以來，還沒有在位市長競選連任失敗過。黑人候選人也通常面對選民出席投票率不高，經費不足等等。

GREATER BOSTON RESIDENTS DRIVING FEWER MILES,

GREATER BOSTON RESIDENTS DRIVING FEWER MILES, MAKING MORE TRIPS VIA TRANSIT, WALKING, AND BIKING

Safety concerns, poor infrastructure, & limited capacity on MBTA remain key challenges, says report

BOSTON — A new analysis of data shows Greater Boston’s transportation system needs strategic, targeted investment in coming years if the region hopes to stay economically competitive and to keep up with shifting preferences away from driving and car ownership and toward more sustainable options for getting around, such as walking, biking, and taking public transit, according to a report released this week by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and the Northeastern University Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy in Boston.  The analysis was funded, in part, by the Barr Foundation, which is based in Boston.

The Sustainable Transportation Indicators report, “Transportation: Staying on Track,” measures changes in the way people use and interact with our transportation system and offers a high-level view of the region’s transportation performance. Meant to evaluate how well the region is meeting its transportation goals for 2030 as laid out in MetroFuture, Greater Boston’s regional land use plan, the indicators report shows some clear patterns and trends.

While automobile dependence is the norm in suburban communities, it is waning in urban areas, and developers are increasingly building near transit because buyers and renters want to live there.

Despite the Great Recession, at least 54,000 new units of housing were built near transit between 2000 and 2010, and ridership on the MBTA has increased by 10% since 2010. Despite these trends, MBTA service hours increased only 0.15% and the MBTA has struggled to maintain its assets in good repair, contributing to delays and unreliability.

Investment in walking and biking infrastructure has been slow, although 14% of all commutes in the Inner Core now take place by walking or by bicycle. Concerns about safety and poor infrastructure keep many would-be walkers and cyclists in cars instead, contributing to increased congestion and missed opportunities for physical activity.

Among the report’s key findings:

·         Both car ownership and vehicle miles traveled are down since 2011 in Metro Boston’s Inner Core, and remained flat in the suburbs. This is good news for global warming and public health, and demonstrates a change in residents’ preferences -- especially considering that the economy strengthened during the same time frame that car ownership fell by 4% and miles driven dropped by 2%. (The Inner Core includes Boston and 19 surrounding cities and towns, with roughly half the region’s population.)

·         People are flocking to transit, but service levels have not kept pace. The MBTA has experienced a 10% spike in ridership since 2011, but service isn’t keeping pace with demand. Users regularly experience delays in service, coupled with limited investments in new equipment and systems that could improve on-time performance.

·         Commuters of color are disproportionately affected by the network’s shortcomings. Black bus riders spend 64 more hours per year in transit compared to white bus riders. While household spending on transportation is lower in Metro Boston than in other parts of the country, the cost burden still falls most heavily on lower-income households.

·         Our public policy is driving people into cars, making traffic worse than it needs to be. Since 2006, the price of gas has dropped in real dollars by 1%, while MBTA fares have risen 97%.  If these changes were reversed, even more people would likely leave their cars behind and use transit, sidewalks, and bicycles to get around.

“People are voting with their feet, and with their keys.  They’re beginning to leave their cars behind and get around by walking, biking, and taking the T.  This change is great for the environment and public health, and it also reduces congestion on the roads.  But we’re making it hard for people to make this shift, by raising fares on the T, keeping the gas tax low, and failing to invest for the future,” said Marc Draisen, Executive Director of MAPC.

“So much of our transportation experience is based on personal stories and perceptions,” said Mary Skelton Roberts, senior program officer at the Barr Foundation. “By analyzing our travel patterns, infrastructure, and policy, the Sustainable Transportation Indicators report articulates, with data, what Greater Boston residents are experiencing in transportation, which in turn helps us better target strategies that will improve those experiences.”

New Urban Mechanics is currently accepting Summer Fellowship.

The Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics is currently accepting applications for the 2017 New Urban Mechanics Summer Fellowship. The deadline to apply is this Sunday, January 15, 2017.

The Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) serves as Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh's civic innovation group. MONUM pilots experiments that offer the potential to significantly improve the quality of City services.

This Fellowship is designed for entrepreneurial graduate students interested in working in public service. One of the fellowship projects is likely to focus on forward looking climate planning. Candidates with backgrounds in engineering, planning, climate, policy, design, or related fields are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Greenovate program wouldn’t exist today without the research work of a MONUM Fellow -- this paid fellowship is for the creative, curious and entrepreneurial graduate student with a passion for public service. For more information and to apply visit: http://newurbanmechanics.org/boston/join-our-team/.

Governor Baker Nominates Mark J. Pasquariello to the Pittsfield District Court

Governor Baker Nominates Mark J. Pasquariello to the Pittsfield District Court

BOSTON – Governor Charlie Baker has nominated Mark J. Pasquariello, a dedicated attorney with diverse experience and trial skills, to serve as a judge in the Pittsfield District Court.

“I am pleased to nominate Mark Pasquariello,  a well-respected Western Massachusetts attorney with both criminal and civil experience for the Governor’s Council consideration,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “I am confident that if confirmed that he will approach the wide variety of cases that will come before him in a fair and balanced manner.”

“Mark Pasquariello’s twenty-six years of diverse experience and dedication to the law will make him an outstanding addition to the Pittsfield District Court, if confirmed by the Council,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. “He is an attorney who has earned the respect of his peers, the bench and the bar and I am confident that he will serve the citizens of the Commonwealth well.”

There are 62 District Courts throughout the Commonwealth hearing a range of criminal, civil, housing, juvenile, mental health and other case types, including all felonies punishable by a sentence up to five years, misdemeanors and violations of city and town ordinances and by-laws.

For more information about the District Court, visit http://www.mass.gov/courts/court-info/trial-court/dc/.

Judicial nominations are subject to the advice and consent of the Governor’s Council. Applicants for judicial openings are reviewed by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and recommended to the governor. Governor Baker established the JNC in February, 2015 pursuant to Executive Order 558, a non-partisan, non-political Commission composed of volunteers from a cross-section of the Commonwealth's diverse population to screen judicial applications. Twenty-one members were later appointed to the JNC in April, 2015.

About Mark J. Pasquariello

Mark J. Pasquariello has been a solo practitioner in Adams, MA since 1997, specializing in criminal defense, guardianship and conservatorship matters, mental health litigation, real estate and probate of estates. Mr. Pasquariello was previously an associate with Grinnell & Dubendorf in Williamstown handling domestic relations matters, criminal trials, and general civil litigation.  Before private practice, Mr. Pasquariello served in the public sector as a clerk to United States Federal District Court Judge Frank Freedman in Springfield and Penobscot County Superior Court Judge Eugene Beaulieu in Maine, and an Assistant Berkshire County District Attorney. During law school Mr Pasquariello served as a law clerk to Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. Jeffrey Behm and Sandra A. Strempel in Vermont and U.S Federal District Court Chief Justice Shane Devine in New Hampshire. Mr. Pasquariello graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical and Materials Engineering and received his juris doctorate from Vermont Law School in 1989.  He lives in Windsor, MA with his wife, Julia Allan.  They have two children.

臺灣國立澎湖科技大學徵求新任校長

臺灣國立澎湖科技大學徵求新任校長

位於臺灣海峽的澎湖縣由90座島嶼組成，開發較臺灣早約四百年，擁有歷史悠久的人文古蹟。澎湖群島遍布玄武岩地質景觀，清澈海灣及氣候，使澎湖成為國際風帆船選手年度巡迴必經之地。成立於1991年的國立澎湖科技大學，以當地豐富之天然海洋與風力資源為基礎，致力於海洋科技、綠能技術、航運管理、行銷物流、以及海洋運動之教育發展，期培養具國際觀之海洋產業人才。

該校現正公開徵求新任校長人選。校長任期為4年1任，應具備行政領導與溝通協調能力、擁有辦學治校理念、公認的學術成就與專業聲望、以及處事公正且能超越政治、宗教、黨派等營利單位等利益。候選人推薦截止日期為2017年3月1日。

有關新任校長遴選辦法、候選人資料表及相關資訊，請至國立澎湖科技大學「新任校長遴選」專區查看 www.npu.edu.tw/news/index.asp?m=9&m1=14&m2=346。聯絡人：杜碧文小姐，電話：886-6-9264115轉1502，E-mail：krys2007@gms.npu.edu.tw。

MAYOR WALSH APPOINTS DIVERSITY OUTREACH DIRECTOR

MAYOR WALSH APPOINTS DIVERSITY OUTREACH DIRECTOR TO ADVANCE CITY'S DIVERSITY AGENDA IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

Expansion of the Office of Diversity will advance city's diversity goals

BOSTON - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced the appointment of Tania Del Rio as Diversity Outreach Director, a new role created to ensure the city's strategic plan for diversity is implemented throughout the City of Boston. Tania joins Chief Diversity Officer Danielson Tavares in advancing the Mayor's goals of increasing diversity across Boston's workforce and ensuring that City government is reflective of its people. "Tania is a skilled professional who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in working with both public and private sector entities to this role, and I am excited to have her on board as the Diversity Outreach Director," said Mayor Walsh. "I'm proud of the steps we've taken and the progress we've made to make sure the city's workforce is reflective of the city itself, and I am confident that Tania's expertise will help bring us one step closer towards achieving our diversity goals." As the Diversity Outreach Director, Tania will be responsible for outreach and recruitment efforts to the community at large to promote diversity in Boston; developing and maintaining relationships with businesses, nonprofits, educational and religious organizations; compiling, tracking and reviewing diversity statistics; and serving as a point of contact for both internal and external audiences in regards to their hiring and recruitment efforts.  "I'm tremendously excited to join the City of Boston and the Mayor's effort to make opportunities equally available for people from all demographic groups, and to ensure that our workforce can reflect Boston's richly diverse population," said Del Rio. "It is a mission that I deeply care about and hope to make much progress towards in this new role." Prior to joining the City's Office of Diversity, Tania Del Rio served as the Head of the Protection and Community Affairs Departments at the Consulate of Mexico in Boston. In that role, she focused on ensuring the rights of immigrants in New England were protected, and collaborated with community leaders to amplify their advocacy efforts. This work put her in contact with people from a broad range of experiences, including prison populations, children and youth, faith-based and cultural organizations, as well as private sector partners. She also worked with the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs on using data to produce a diagnostic and recommendations for increasing gender diversity in the Foreign Service. Tania holds a Master in Public Policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts from New York University. She currently resides in East Boston with her family. The City of Boston's Office of Diversity is committed to ensuring a diverse government workforce in order to more effectively provide services to every neighborhood, resident and business owner. Today's announcement builds on Mayor Walsh's commitment to increasing diversity in our city's workforce. Mayor Walsh first announced the Office of Diversity in December 2014 to lead the Mayor's diversity agenda, including the ongoing development and delivery of the City's diversity goals and objectives in the areas of hiring, leadership and career development, diversity training, strategic planning, recruitment and retention. Since that time, under the leadership of Mayor Walsh, the city has published diversity data online for the first time, brought on 44% people of color out of full-time new hires, appointed the most diverse command staff in the Boston Police Department in history, reinstated the BPD Cadet Program to hire a more diverse pool of candidates; and worked to ensure that minority and women-owned small businesses are afforded fair and equitable opportunities when competing for city contracts. To find out more information about the Mayor's Office of Diversity, please visit here.

Massachusetts Awarded $2 Million to Improve Career Education

Massachusetts Awarded $2 Million to Improve Career Education

Commonwealth among recipients of New Skills for Youth grant from

JPMorgan Chase and CCSSO

BOSTON – The Baker-Polito Administration announced today that the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have selected Massachusetts as one of 10 states to receive a $1.95 million grant to strengthen and expand high-quality career-education pathways for students.

The grant, which will be distributed over the next three years, is part of the $75 million, five-year New Skills for Youth initiative developed by JPMorgan Chase in collaboration with CCSSO and Advance CTE and aims to strengthen career-focused education starting in high school and ending with postsecondary degrees and/or industry-recognized credentials aligned with high-skill jobs.

"Our administration has focused on aligning our K-12 schools and higher education system with the needs of our workforce so that our students, employers, and communities will share a stronger future," said Governor Charlie Baker. "Lieutenant Governor Polito and I are honored that Massachusetts and the potential of our students will be recognized through this grant." 

"We thank JPMorgan, the Council of Chief State School Officers and other partners who have helped make this grant award possible," said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. "This New Skills for Youth grant complements our administration's prioritization of STEM-focused career education by developing more high-quality pathway programs and expanding the number of students who graduate from high school with college credits and real world experience."

"This important grant opportunity comes at an optimal time for the Commonwealth and perfectly aligns with our administration's career and technical education priorities for Massachusetts in this and coming years," said Secretary of Education Jim Peyser. "Creating high-quality career pathways will not only offer our students and their families more opportunities to succeed in school and in their careers, but also help strengthen the Massachusetts economy."

"Constant changes in technology and globalization make it imperative for the Commonwealth to increase opportunities for skill acquisition for all our students,"Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Ronald L. Walker, II, said. "This grant will help us continue the work of creating effective career on-ramps for younger workers through education pathways."

"I am thrilled that Massachusetts students will be among the beneficiaries of this grant," said Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester. "I look forward to continuing our collaboration with educators and industry to set students on a clear path toward their own career goals."

"This grant will have enormous impact for some of our neediest students," said Higher Education Commissioner Carlos E. Santiago. "We owe it to them to make sure that career exposure and training is integrated into a robust curriculum that will give them what every employer demands – a full box of workplace-ready tools, including quantitative reasoning skills, critical thinking skills, and the ability to write well, to work as part of a team and to lead."

Massachusetts has received the grant from CCSSO for the New Skills for Youth initiative after a rigorous review process, which included examination of the state's plan to transform the process of designing and developing career preparedness education programs.

This includes:

•                     Launching a major competitive grant program to fund the creation of high-quality career pathways that fully prepare students for high-skill, high-wage careers; 

•                     Developing a comprehensive career advisement system in partnership with the Massachusetts School Counselors Association so that all students can make more informed college and career choices; and

•                     Creating clear guidelines to help high schools develop and implement high-quality career pathways that will better prepare students for success after graduation.

"Preparing our youth for high-quality and in-demand careers is critical to the future strength of our communities," said Rick MacDonald, head of commercial banking in New England for JPMorgan Chase. "This investment will help to open more career pathways and give more young people the chance to learn, compete, and succeed." 

"Bunker Hill Community College is committed to creating clear pathways to fulfilling careers for our students," said Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger, whose institution participated on the state team applying for the grant."This grant will allow us to continue this important work through our partnerships with local businesses and corporations and well as high schools."

"As an employer, I know how critical career-focused education is, and it has been exciting to be part of the team pursuing this grant," said Susan Coghlin Mailman, president of Coghlin Electric Contractors, Inc. "I appreciate the coordinated effort that our state is putting forth in order to strengthen opportunities for our youth which will ultimately create a stronger and more qualified work force."

In March 2016, JPMorgan Chase and CCSSO awarded Massachusetts a $100,000 grant as part of the first phase of the New Skills for Youth initiative for planning and early implementation of long-term career readiness education programs that align with the needs of employers. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia received Phase I grants.

The grant awarded today represents the second phase of the New Skills for Youth initiative, which provides 10 of the original 24 recipients with funding to execute the career-readiness plans they developed during the first phase.