Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WVS, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: I don't want to channel Bob Lobell, great sportscaster that
Speaker 2: I work with at Channel four so many years, but
Speaker 2: Brad Marshaan, Why can't we get players like that in Boston.
Speaker 2: I'm sure Dan Watkins is heiring me, and he's probably
Speaker 2: screaming at the top of his lungs. But I'm only joking.
Speaker 2: I hope Marsian wins the Stanley Cup. That's who I'm
Speaker 2: rooting for. I don't know Marsian, but I hope he
Speaker 2: picks up a Stanley Cup this year. We are not
Speaker 2: talking about the Stanley Cup. We're talking about a really
Speaker 2: sad story. It was in late April. It was in
Speaker 2: a Monday afternoon in April. I think it was April
Speaker 2: twenty eighth. If I'm not mistaken, I should check my
Speaker 2: calendar here to be absolutely sure. But a little boy,
Speaker 2: five year old boy got off his school bus. He
Speaker 2: was a kindergarten student at a Boston public school that
Speaker 2: was the twenty eighth, got off the bus and somehow
Speaker 2: some way of us struck him and he died. And
Speaker 2: this has become a big story at least, it's a
Speaker 2: big story to me, and it's also a big story
Speaker 2: to my guest, Rob Burchie, who is an attorney associated
Speaker 2: with the New England First Amendment Coalition. Rob, I guess
Speaker 2: let let me leave this in your very competent hands.
Speaker 2: This is a case that the New England First Amendment
Speaker 2: Coalition is is looking for more information, more public information.
Speaker 2: This is a story that has kind of disappeared from
Speaker 2: the headlines. Why do we not know more about the
Speaker 2: circumstances of the crash that the status of the investigation is.
Speaker 2: What was the driving record of this driver who reported
Speaker 2: and I believe you folks have on earthed some information
Speaker 2: had a pretty poor driving record and maybe arguably never
Speaker 2: should have been driving Boston school buses. Welcome to Nightside
Speaker 2: first of all, Rob, and maybe you can can can
Speaker 2: set the stage for us in terms of the issues
Speaker 2: that the New England First Amendment Coalition is I think
Speaker 2: so rightfully concerned about.
Speaker 3: Thanks some upstand, I'm pleased to be with you. It
Speaker 3: is in fact the Transgit case. I was particularly struck
Speaker 3: to see the photo in the globe of this boy's
Speaker 3: casket emblazoned with Spider Man. You know, it moves your heart.
Speaker 3: The transity here is amplified by the fact that we
Speaker 3: are able to know so little about the driving history
Speaker 3: of the bus driver who struck.
Speaker 4: Lens.
Speaker 3: What we do know found out is that he was
Speaker 3: taken off the road for two days about two weeks
Speaker 3: before the accident, for some retraining. We know that he
Speaker 3: had four other crashes in the month preceding when he
Speaker 3: struck Lens. We have information that he had three other
Speaker 3: accident incidents or indicating that he had three other incidents
Speaker 3: right before what happened with Lens hitting a parked car,
Speaker 3: hitting a rear tire, or something like that. Why don't
Speaker 3: we know more? The reason we don't know more is
Speaker 3: really the function of well intentioned law called the Work
Speaker 3: and Family Mobility Act, which was intended to allow immigrants
Speaker 3: to apply for learners permits, to take road tests, and
Speaker 3: to obtain drivers licenses without having to give proof of
Speaker 3: their being in the country legally. But the wording of
Speaker 3: that statute, and particularly the regulations that the Attorney General
Speaker 3: implemented to enforce them, are so broad that they essentially
Speaker 3: make it impossible to obtain the driving history of any
Speaker 3: Massachusetts resident, which is contrary to what the situation was
Speaker 3: before the law was passed. Drivers' histories have always been available.
Speaker 4: We learned about yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2: Well the other thing that I found interesting, and again
Speaker 2: I'm interested in this story. I've done a couple of
Speaker 2: hours on the fact that there's so so it's a
Speaker 2: real positive information. And John Hilliot from the Globe staff
Speaker 2: renewed my attention on this today. And I guess he
Speaker 2: had problems here in Massachusetts. But one of the records,
Speaker 2: according to the reporter from the Globe, John Hilliard had
Speaker 2: speeding tickets in New Jersey in twenty sixteen, Connecticut in
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen, and in twenty seventeen, he was in violation
Speaker 2: of a New York law of in proper licensed class
Speaker 2: or endorsement. Though I guess the details are somewhat sketchy.
Speaker 2: This is like a guy that never should have been
Speaker 2: driving a school bus. I mean, with this record, it
Speaker 2: seems to me, I don't know, and somehow the Massachusetts
Speaker 2: and you know, we value transparency. You know, it's up
Speaker 2: to your organization, the organization that you're affiliated with, the
Speaker 2: New England First Amendment Coalition, to get some of this information.
Speaker 2: And I haven't heard much from any of the political leaders.
Speaker 2: How frustrating is it to run up against the law
Speaker 2: that you characterize as well intentioned back in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 2: this Work Family Mobility Act, and realized that the law
Speaker 2: was presented as a law which was going to help
Speaker 2: people who were here earn a living and get to
Speaker 2: work even though they did not have legal status. And
Speaker 2: now it seems as if it basically allows a lot
Speaker 2: of information to be withheld. I never saw that being
Speaker 2: highlighted when this law was passed and we discussed it
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, Dan, we do say we value transparency
Speaker 3: in the Commonwealth, but indeed we have one of the
Speaker 3: weakest public record statutes in the country. And the reaction
Speaker 3: on this issue has confirmed that meyri Wu and the
Speaker 3: school superintendent are both against disclosure of the driving record.
Speaker 3: Although I think if you read the regulations, the registry
Speaker 3: actually would be allowed to release this information. It's not
Speaker 3: required to release the information, but it would be allowed to.
Speaker 3: Governor Healy, for Toure credit, has supported a change in
Speaker 3: the REGs to allow such histories to be given out.
Speaker 2: But now she's the governor of Massachusetts, and again I
Speaker 2: don't want to impugne her motives here. And I saw
Speaker 2: on the story that John Hilliard reported that she also
Speaker 2: supports releasing the records according to a spokesperson, But it
Speaker 2: seems to me that as the governor, she could instruct
Speaker 2: the Registry of Motor Vehicles. I guess a little problem
Speaker 2: is that the Attorney General is the one who's interpreting
Speaker 2: the law and has instructed the Registry of Motor Vehicles
Speaker 2: not to release any information, as I understand the checkerboard.
Speaker 2: If you will, am, I do I have that for
Speaker 2: you accurately.
Speaker 3: You absolutely do. And in fact, in September last year,
Speaker 3: well before this incident meeth Act, the New England First
Speaker 3: Amendment Coalition of which on our board member, sent a
Speaker 3: letter to the Attorney General Campbell uh complaining about the
Speaker 3: Work and Family Mobility Act and the regulations under it
Speaker 3: because the way it was being interpreted was outside the
Speaker 3: scope and intent of the of the Act itself by
Speaker 3: making it impossible to get individual driving records or commercial
Speaker 3: driver's license records. And what what was that was the
Speaker 3: last September. We followed up twice and still have not
Speaker 3: received a response to that letter, not even.
Speaker 2: The courtesy of a response, which is troubling. So my
Speaker 2: other question is, and again I don't want to I
Speaker 2: don't want to put words in your mouth, but I
Speaker 2: think you said that Mayor Wou and the Superintendent of
Speaker 2: schools in Boston, Mary Skipper, who the the leaders won,
Speaker 2: the superintendent of schools the other the mayor of Boston,
Speaker 2: who you would think would have the most interest, they
Speaker 2: have chosen not to release information. Either are they doing
Speaker 2: that as far as you know, with the legal guidance
Speaker 2: of the Attorney General, or are they doing it on
Speaker 2: their own.
Speaker 3: I don't know, Okay, yeah, I don't know what the
Speaker 3: motivation is. I don't understand what the motivation is. When
Speaker 3: you're home withhold documents, you just increase suspicion that there's
Speaker 3: wrongdoing or something more to hide than what we already
Speaker 3: know about.
Speaker 2: And I know that the lawyer for the for the
Speaker 2: family of the little boy who died, who was killed,
Speaker 2: he's trying to get more information. You just I don't know.
Speaker 2: You know, for for a an enlightened state, you know
Speaker 2: that that believes that if this was one of the
Speaker 2: states in other parts of the country where maybe uh,
Speaker 2: you know, there's not such a value put on transparency.
Speaker 2: You might understand it and say, well, that's that's backwater,
Speaker 2: you know, filling the name of the state you might choose,
Speaker 2: but this is Massachusetts. And as a little boy who
Speaker 2: was dead five years old and you cannot who just
Speaker 2: got off his school bus, a kindergarten student who was
Speaker 2: absolutely innocent to the world. None of the politicians who
Speaker 2: were involved have been impacted as this family has. I
Speaker 2: just don't know. The little boy's name is Lens Arthur Joseph.
Speaker 2: He was a kindergartener at the up UP Academy in Dorchester.
Speaker 2: It's heartbreaking. What is the next move that the New
Speaker 2: England First Amendment Coalition might consider or are you still
Speaker 2: calculating and figuring out what you try to do next.
Speaker 3: We're still doing some calculating. We are preparing now a
Speaker 3: follow up letter to the Attorney General that will obviously
Speaker 3: build on what happened to Lynnz Joseph and talk about
Speaker 3: that and we'll fight for new regulations, you know. In
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three, John Halliard points out in his excellent
Speaker 3: Clothes story, in twenty twenty three, we were allowed to
Speaker 3: get the driver's records of Boston City Councilor Kendra Laura,
Speaker 3: after she drove her vehicle into a jamake a plane
Speaker 3: home and to show that she was behind the wheel
Speaker 3: despite her license having been revoked. She didn't have insurance,
Speaker 3: she had an expired inspection sticker. Today, we would not
Speaker 3: be able to get that information. Today, we would not
Speaker 3: be able to get the driver's background information for any of.
Speaker 4: The other.
Speaker 3: Bus drivers, or transfer according our children to the Boston
Speaker 3: public schools.
Speaker 2: I might add too, and again I don't want to
Speaker 2: politicize this because that's not the purpose of our conversation,
Speaker 2: but the then Boston City councilor, who obviously was pretty
Speaker 2: embarrassed by what was going on, her son, I believe
Speaker 2: was only five or six years old, was in the
Speaker 2: backseat of the car and reportedly I don't believe was
Speaker 2: wearing a seat belt or was injured somehow in the crash,
Speaker 2: whether he was wearing it or not. She eventually was
Speaker 2: defeated as she stood for re election, and I suspect
Speaker 2: that that ugly automobile crash and all the information that
Speaker 2: came forward probably was instrumental in the minds of many
Speaker 2: of her constituents as to whether they wanted to return
Speaker 2: her to the city council or not. And she was.
Speaker 2: She was a very rare incumbents city councilor who lost
Speaker 2: the election. And if this law had been in place,
Speaker 2: we probably never would have known and her constituents would
Speaker 2: have never known about it. And again that is the need,
Speaker 2: is the need for transparency. Rob. I appreciate your time.
Speaker 2: I know you spend as you have a long day.
Speaker 2: I'd love to have you back. Let's stay on top
Speaker 2: of this if we can help you in any way,
Speaker 2: shape or form. Let us know the New England First
Speaker 2: Amendment Coalition great organization. Folks can find it pretty easily.
Speaker 2: I assume they could become members or support it whether
Speaker 2: they happen, if you bar or not.
Speaker 3: Correct, absolutely absolutely, and you'll find a lot of very
Speaker 3: interesting resources on our website. Fact dot org any fac
Speaker 3: dot org.
Speaker 2: Sounds great, rob Berchie, thank you very much for your time.
Speaker 2: It's the end of a long day for you, and
Speaker 2: I thank you for your time this evening and look
Speaker 2: forward to having you back on at some point. Let's
Speaker 2: keep on, Let's keep on top of the story.
Speaker 3: Thanks Stan for the opportunity and for shedding a light
Speaker 3: on decision pleasure my absolute pleasure.
Speaker 2: Thanks Bob when we get back and want to open
Speaker 2: up the phone lines. I mean, this is a piece
Speaker 2: of legislation that was passed in twenty twenty three, which
Speaker 2: I don't think if people knew what the legislature was doing,
Speaker 2: was in effect removing transparency as well as providing an
Speaker 2: opportunity for people who were not here legally to still
Speaker 2: apply for learners permits and to seek driving licenses. That
Speaker 2: that was not the intent, in my opinion, of this
Speaker 2: piece of legislation, but it obviously has been as their consequence,
Speaker 2: the effect and the impact of it. We've talked about
Speaker 2: it before. Where's Mayor Wu, where is the superintendent of schools?
Speaker 2: Where's the attorney general? On this? This is an issue
Speaker 2: that I think it's got nothing to do with Democrat
Speaker 2: versus Republican. It has everything to do with who's in charge.
Speaker 2: If you'd like to join us, And this is a
Speaker 2: story that it could have been any It could have
Speaker 2: impacted any one of us if we've ever had children
Speaker 2: of that age and who have ridden on school buses.
Speaker 2: This is just this cannot stand. Six one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten thirty six one seven nine three one ten
Speaker 2: thirty I think the mayor who found who finds herself
Speaker 2: in another controversy today, which we might talk about tomorrow.
Speaker 2: I want to know, Mayor Wu, why don't you provide
Speaker 2: the information on this accident so we can understand what
Speaker 2: happened and potentially why it happened, and as a matter
Speaker 2: of fact, how in the heck could have this ever
Speaker 2: have happened, that this little boy loses his life to
Speaker 2: someone who's driving a school bus, who not only should
Speaker 2: have been driving a school bus, but whose driving record
Speaker 2: should have proven to the world he was not someone
Speaker 2: who should have been trusted behind the wheel. Join the
Speaker 2: conversation six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six
Speaker 2: one seven, nine three one ten thirty. I got a
Speaker 2: couple of other topics, so this is one. Don't wait
Speaker 2: around on bring it and let's talk about it. And
Speaker 2: if you want to keep on talking about it, we can,
Speaker 2: but I will shut it off at ten o'clock if
Speaker 2: the interest is not there, because there were a couple
Speaker 2: other topics we're going to talk about back on night side.
Speaker 2: My name is Dan Ray, and again I'm not tilted
Speaker 2: in windmills. I'm telling you right now this is the
Speaker 2: court of public opinion and the mayor and the superintendent
Speaker 2: in Boston are dead wrong.
Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's go to the phone. It's going to go
Speaker 2: to Peter in Braintree first. Peter, you of first this
Speaker 2: hour on Nightside. Thanks for getting us. Going love to
Speaker 2: know what you think about this story, this little five
Speaker 2: year old boy. We know so little now about the
Speaker 2: driving record of the driver, what happened, how this child
Speaker 2: lost their life. I'm I'm furious over correct. You go
Speaker 2: right ahead, Peter.
Speaker 5: Okay, I love my five year old daughter to start
Speaker 5: until by the school bus in nineteen eighty six.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Peter, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 4: Oh and I.
Speaker 5: Another day there was a kid from the Cape and
Speaker 5: who who did every time I I I tried to
Speaker 5: communicate with the family and going to the wake and
Speaker 5: just so they understand that I understand what they're going through.
Speaker 5: And I'm m I got. And it was also the
Speaker 5: day that Christine mccalli the Space shows. Yes sure, yeah,
Speaker 5: so so my my my pa. My pain is suffering, Peter.
Speaker 2: Very very very if I could without causing you additional pain, here,
Speaker 2: uh was your daughter?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 2: She had was she waiting for the bus, had she
Speaker 2: gotten off the bus?
Speaker 5: It was in the one and it was in the
Speaker 5: one she was getting on the bus and five years old.
Speaker 5: Just the the channel in my life and uh uh
Speaker 5: I think.
Speaker 2: The uh, Peter, Peter looking, I don't. I don't want
Speaker 2: you to have to relive that.
Speaker 5: I just I just no, no, no, no. The reason
Speaker 5: I called, I just said, you know you're talking, You're.
Speaker 6: I would I would.
Speaker 5: Be more than happy to go talk to this family.
Speaker 5: And you know, I almost like even though it's thirty
Speaker 5: years ago.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Peter, what I what I might suggest to you
Speaker 2: is that I do not have contact with the family. However,
Speaker 2: in the Globe story this morning, their attorney, one of
Speaker 2: their attorneys is an attorney Matthew Fogelman. Rob. If you
Speaker 2: could write that down for me, Matthew Fogelman, I'm sure
Speaker 2: Peter would be able to contact him and uh and
Speaker 2: he would be able to uh reach out to his.
Speaker 5: I would really like to just.
Speaker 2: I understand that. And even even if you could just
Speaker 2: send a message. But so Rob will help you. Matthew Fogelman.
Speaker 2: Rob is the name f O G E. L M
Speaker 2: A n H. And make sure that that Peter has
Speaker 2: that name. Okay, and if you want to give Peter
Speaker 2: my direct line, but Peter, hold hold on, Peter, Yeah, Peter,
Speaker 2: just for a second, Robi, if you want to give
Speaker 2: him my direct line, I'll be happy to try to
Speaker 2: track that lawyer down for him if he has had
Speaker 2: any problems with it. Okay, Peter, thank you for your calling.
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry at what you went through. Just horrible, horrible,
Speaker 2: thank you. All right, thanks, thank you, Peter. Okay, when
Speaker 2: we get back, we'll continue our conversation. The number six one, seven, two, five, four,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. Got a couple of lines at six one
Speaker 2: seven nine three one. Why is it in Massachu? It's
Speaker 2: you know, a state that is supposed to be as
Speaker 2: enlightened as we are, as we claim to be. Let
Speaker 2: me put it like that, that we are not able
Speaker 2: to look this this, this driver's name is out there, okay.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: I assume at some point there must be a grand
Speaker 2: jury sitting on this. We're not going to let it die, Okay.
Speaker 2: I guarantee you that I'll do a story every week
Speaker 2: on it if I have to. But where's the where's
Speaker 2: the district attorney? D? A. Hayden? Where is where's the mayor,
Speaker 2: where's the school superintendent, where's the attorney general. It sounds
Speaker 2: like to me just everybody's going to shut up about it,
Speaker 2: and the and and it's going to go away. No,
Speaker 2: it's not going to go away as long as this
Speaker 2: reporter is like John Hilliard at the Globe, and I
Speaker 2: hope someone from the Herald picks up the baton as well.
Speaker 2: The only line is six one, seven, ten thirty. Coming
Speaker 2: right back on night Side.
Speaker 1: It's nice with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Well, here we are in New England, where we think
Speaker 2: of ourselves as being fairly advanced dealing with an issue
Speaker 2: like this, and now we find out that the books
Speaker 2: and the information is closed and you have to have
Speaker 2: a great First Amendment Coalition, the New England First Amendment Coalition.
Speaker 2: Rob Burchie was with us in the earlier in this hour,
Speaker 2: the frustrations that they have just trying to get simple
Speaker 2: information from our political leaders and our administrative leader. Steven
Speaker 2: is in Cambridge. Steve, welcome, How are you, sir?
Speaker 4: Dan?
Speaker 7: I'm well on youse.
Speaker 2: I'm doing fine. But this is one that I'm going
Speaker 2: to stick with. Steve. I gotta tell you.
Speaker 7: I'm glad to hear that. I think you're the first
Speaker 7: person I saw that story in the Globe today and
Speaker 7: thought it was a very good story. But when I
Speaker 7: saw it, I immediately thought of you, because you brought
Speaker 7: up these issues. You brought up this matter before I
Speaker 7: saw anything in either Globe bar the Herald.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we were on and I can probably find
Speaker 2: the exact date, but sometime sometime in mid March. As
Speaker 2: a matter of fact, I can almost pull the date
Speaker 2: off here, just so that people know that you're you're
Speaker 2: telling telling the truth here. Yeah, it was May fourteenth,
Speaker 2: no news on the bus death of five year old
Speaker 2: Lens Joseph, And we're going to stick with it. It was.
Speaker 2: I thought that John Hilliard and the Globe did a
Speaker 2: great job today, and I know that the New England
Speaker 2: First Amendment Coalition is a great organization and on this
Speaker 2: issue they are one thousand percent right. What do you
Speaker 2: think's going on? Why do you think this has been
Speaker 2: covered up? Basically?
Speaker 7: I mean, well, I have two points. The first point
Speaker 7: is I think that this law was probably designed to
Speaker 7: protect illegal immigrants who have very bad driving records, or
Speaker 7: his records are completely unknown, and the affirmative action that
Speaker 7: was probably put in place by mass legislators and mass
Speaker 7: political leaders. And this is a way to cover up
Speaker 7: any kind of scrutiny.
Speaker 2: By by the way, let me if I can given
Speaker 2: this is an air quotes. Credit to the sponsors of
Speaker 2: this piece of legislation, who did not return any calls
Speaker 2: today from the Boston Globe, State Senator Brendan Crichton and
Speaker 2: state Representatives Christine Barber and Tricia Farley Bouvier. I know
Speaker 2: that Tricia Farley Bouvier is a very progressive legislator. Legislator,
Speaker 2: trust me on that they surprisingly did not respond to
Speaker 2: any any request for comments from the Boston Globe, nor
Speaker 2: did the Attorney General, nor did the Mayor's office here
Speaker 2: in Boston. It's disgraceful. This little boy's been dead now
Speaker 2: for six weeks, six weeks today.
Speaker 7: Well, and I wonder the gentleman from the First Amendment.
Speaker 2: Yes, Bertie Rob Burchie.
Speaker 7: I can't see why he said this law had good intentions.
Speaker 7: I mean, this law is a form of censorship. Well,
Speaker 7: the public can't get information, hiding information, How can that
Speaker 7: ever be in our nation considered good?
Speaker 2: I think what he was saying and I don't want
Speaker 2: to put words in his mouth, but I think what
Speaker 2: he was saying was that it was entitled if remember
Speaker 2: the Family Mobility Act, and there were a lot of
Speaker 2: people said, well, this will be great because people who
Speaker 2: were here, even if they're here illegally, they at least
Speaker 2: will be able to get driver's licenses. Remember we had
Speaker 2: argued a couple of years ago that if they were
Speaker 2: going to pass it, have driver's licenses, which if it
Speaker 2: was inevitable they're going to pass, said, you know, most
Speaker 2: of our driver's licenses are what I would call horizontal.
Speaker 2: If you look at them there longer than than taller.
Speaker 2: Just turn these other licenses and make them a different shape,
Speaker 2: make them, you know more, you know, perpendicular, and so
Speaker 2: that police officers when they stop these drivers they who
Speaker 2: you know, who were not citizens, uh, and have gotten
Speaker 2: a special break from the legislature that that police officers
Speaker 2: would know who they're dealing with. But no, the legislature
Speaker 2: wanted no part of that. They wanted to give the
Speaker 2: exact identical type driver's licenses to people who are not
Speaker 2: here legally. And I think what Attorney Bertie was saying
Speaker 2: was that that even if the intention of the legislature
Speaker 2: was to make driver's licenses available to people so at
Speaker 2: least they could maybe survive and become more self sufficient.
Speaker 2: And if that was the purpose, the impact of the
Speaker 2: result is that information about accidents that involve anyone, whether
Speaker 2: they're here legally or US citizens, now going to get shrouded.
Speaker 7: Oh well, I mean I think anything that Again, I
Speaker 7: think that you know, for example, when they make it
Speaker 7: so that employers can't find out the criminal records of
Speaker 7: you know, they say they we want, I mean that
Speaker 7: should be up to the employer to make that decision.
Speaker 7: I don't think the public should be you know, shield
Speaker 7: the truth. Yeah well, I.
Speaker 2: Was just saying that you and I think alike. And
Speaker 2: if we were in the state legislature, we never voted
Speaker 2: for this piece of legislation. Okay, but there are not
Speaker 2: enough people in the state legislature who are smart enough.
Speaker 2: First of all, look at the leadership up there right now. Uh,
Speaker 2: no one in the state legislative leadership is attending MENSA meetings. Okay,
Speaker 2: that we know, so they they will just you know,
Speaker 2: put a bill through. Nobody reads the bill. All the vote.
Speaker 2: Those of you who want to you know, who want
Speaker 2: to vote, vote yes, Okay, raise your hand, okay, go
Speaker 2: right ahead. They follow the leadership whatever the leadership tells
Speaker 2: him to do. That's all a bunch of a bunch
Speaker 2: of sheep.
Speaker 7: Well, as you always say, Dan, it's it's at the
Speaker 7: ballot box that things have to change.
Speaker 2: Well, they do, and unfortunately this little boy and his family,
Speaker 2: this is being brushed under the rug. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: there would be more publicity about this if there was
Speaker 2: some person who was homeless who died in the street. Okay,
Speaker 2: But this is a five year old boy, little boy
Speaker 2: who was simply doing what you know. His family wanted
Speaker 2: to get him a bus and go to school and
Speaker 2: get his education, and he was doing everything right. He
Speaker 2: probably didn't even realize what he was doing at five,
Speaker 2: I mean, go to school and all that. But but
Speaker 2: there's no there's there's no one up there speaking for
Speaker 2: the five year olds at the Massachusetts legislature.
Speaker 7: Okay, it certainly seems not.
Speaker 3: Dan.
Speaker 7: Keep on this story. I hope they'd unfolds in a
Speaker 7: way that may prevent something like this happening Land.
Speaker 2: I hope so that this law should certainly be amended
Speaker 2: for the Attorney General to interpret it this way. I
Speaker 2: hold her fault for this interpretation. I think it's an
Speaker 2: intentional interpretation. And Steve, by the way, I've had like
Speaker 2: a few phone calls here. You heard Peter's call yours.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of people who are sitting listening to
Speaker 2: the show tonight who don't want to pick up a
Speaker 2: telephone and call. I want to hear from the moms.
Speaker 2: Can you imagine if that was your child, five year
Speaker 2: old child, you'd be going out of your mind totally.
Speaker 2: At least I would I invite them to call six
Speaker 2: seven take.
Speaker 7: I was just so happy to see that story in
Speaker 7: the Globe today.
Speaker 2: Globe did a great job on it, and hats off
Speaker 2: to the Globe. Hats off to the Globe on that one.
Speaker 2: And I don't take my hat off to the Globe too often.
Speaker 7: That they do something right every once in a while.
Speaker 2: Absolutely nothing wrong with that, Steve. I appreciate the call.
Speaker 2: Thanks Steve, talk soon, all right, good night. Steve is
Speaker 2: a great caller. He's one of my cherished callers, and
Speaker 2: I hope some of you become great callers. I think
Speaker 2: this is an important story. Six one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten, thirty six one seven nine three one ten thirty,
Speaker 2: coming right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1: You're on night Side with Dan Ray on w Boston's
Speaker 1: news radio, Rock to the Calls.
Speaker 2: Who goes go to Victor and jamake a plane. Victor,
Speaker 2: appreciate your calling. In your next on Nightside, Victor, go
Speaker 2: right ahead.
Speaker 4: How are you going, Dan, Good evening, Good evening.
Speaker 8: I have different feelings on this. I actually catch a
Speaker 8: list almost every day to go to work in different places.
Speaker 8: I can tell you from personal experiences, my personal experience,
Speaker 8: some of these drivers.
Speaker 4: Need to be dry. Thing they don't.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 8: It is legislation that's put in place that prevents some
Speaker 8: of them from driving. However, and I understand people need
Speaker 8: to make a living. I understand that totally, but you
Speaker 8: have you need to have some safety measures in place.
Speaker 8: When I was an electronics class, they said safety first. Okay,
Speaker 8: that's how That's how I feel about this issue.
Speaker 3: Because a five year.
Speaker 8: Old getting off the bus from kindergarten school just shouldn't
Speaker 8: have happened.
Speaker 4: Period. It shouldn't have happened.
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable, and now it's being covered up. It's you know,
Speaker 2: if well.
Speaker 8: Because no one wants to take the blame. That's this
Speaker 8: long short of it.
Speaker 2: Well, but but I thought we elected political leaders who
Speaker 2: appoint administrative leaders who have some responsibility to the public.
Speaker 2: Where's the responsibility to this child, Where's the responsibility to
Speaker 2: this child's family, Where's the responsibility to the friends and
Speaker 2: relatives of this child and to the general public. I
Speaker 2: mean when the city councilor in your neck of the woods, Kendrick,
Speaker 2: Laura had her problems with the car, her automobile back
Speaker 2: in jun or twenty twenty three. Okay, everybody knew about it,
Speaker 2: which is the way it should have been.
Speaker 8: Well, like I said, Dan, I mean, she had a
Speaker 8: position on the council board. You know, a five year old,
Speaker 8: unless he's a member of a real, real rich family,
Speaker 8: they're not going to get a lot of coverage. If any.
Speaker 2: Well, we'll keep fighting for it, Victor. And I want
Speaker 2: to tell you how much I appreciate you took the
Speaker 2: time to call. And I mean that also, thank you,
Speaker 2: my friend, Thank you very much. You did a good thing. Tonight.
Speaker 2: Let me go to next to Bob and Cambridge Bob
Speaker 2: next on nights, I go right ahead, Hi, Dan, how
Speaker 2: wire you doing fine? Bob? Thanks for calling in. What's
Speaker 2: your take on this?
Speaker 6: Well, thanks for having this subject come up. I recently
Speaker 6: retired driving for a bus company here and Greater Boston.
Speaker 6: In this company, would it be okay to, you know,
Speaker 6: say the name, I'm going to say positive things? Yeah,
Speaker 6: go ahead, sure, the bus company. I recently retired from
Speaker 6: what's called Transaction Cooperate Shuttles. This is a company that
Speaker 6: has been volted several times by the Boston Globe as
Speaker 6: one of the tough places to work in a Greater area.
Speaker 2: Okay, so yeah, I'm with you on that. But what
Speaker 2: I'm saying is I want to focus on this child
Speaker 2: and why you're going to tell me the company is
Speaker 2: a great company. They check their drivers, and I say,
Speaker 2: I'm glad you gave them a plug. But it's more
Speaker 2: important we focus on what happened to this child and
Speaker 2: why the politicians aren't getting the information out about what
Speaker 2: the driver's record was. This driver should not have been
Speaker 2: driving a school bus.
Speaker 6: Can I can? I can I get into that the
Speaker 6: driver right, You're absolutely right. I think a lot of
Speaker 6: the blame here goes onto the cup bus company that
Speaker 6: this bus driver wasn't dust.
Speaker 2: They should, They should probably lose their contract with the
Speaker 2: City of Boston.
Speaker 6: That's at the least and yet probably got this contract.
Speaker 6: This is where the politician side comes into it. They
Speaker 6: probably got this contract because there's been a lot of
Speaker 6: problems in Boston with the school busting in the past
Speaker 6: few years.
Speaker 2: Oh. Absolutely, missing bus. Absolutely, Bob, And that's what that's
Speaker 2: what I want you to talk about. You worked for
Speaker 2: a great company. It's like saying, you know, you know,
Speaker 2: you know, someone's playing for the first place team. They're
Speaker 2: doing great, but we're talking about this team. This team
Speaker 2: failed this child and failed this child's family, and now
Speaker 2: that it's being covered up. Bob, I got a couple
Speaker 2: more I want to get to as well. Thank you
Speaker 2: for calling, and thank you to Dan.
Speaker 6: Dan. Thanks. But the blame line, the blame, the majority
Speaker 6: of it lies on the supervision and the office people
Speaker 6: in that company for letting this guy drive. They should
Speaker 6: have been with you.
Speaker 2: Totally, Bob. I couldn't agree with you more. Thank you
Speaker 2: much appreciate it. Let me go to Billy in Dorchester.
Speaker 2: Billy'd like to get you and one more in if
Speaker 2: I can go ahead.
Speaker 4: Billy. Yes, where's Josh Kraft?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would think he'd be looking into this. If
Speaker 4: he wants to be the mayor of Boston.
Speaker 2: Well, I would hope that maybe someone might have said
Speaker 2: to him. I'm not going to call him ahead of
Speaker 2: time and say, hey, Josh, we're talking about a subject
Speaker 2: that you should be I would be hoping that it
Speaker 2: have somebody, uh his camp BA staff who would be
Speaker 2: sworn enough to say, hey, they're talking about a great issue.
Speaker 2: That's the city of that affects the city of Boston
Speaker 2: on night side talking to people all over the country.
Speaker 4: Shortly after this child was killed, that's the name of
Speaker 4: the company, the contractor. And shortly after this child was killed,
Speaker 4: they terminated five employees. I believe they checked their credentials
Speaker 4: and they weren't up to date, or they were avoided
Speaker 4: or not in effect.
Speaker 2: So it took it took it. It took the death
Speaker 2: of a five year old child for them to clean
Speaker 2: up their act. That's that's great.
Speaker 4: There you go, all who was already hired an attorney
Speaker 4: on this.
Speaker 2: You know, well, again, your question is a good one.
Speaker 2: Where's Josh Josh Kraft? These are the sort of issues
Speaker 2: that I think he should be talking about in my opinion,
Speaker 2: Thanks Thanks Billy, Thanks Man David and Leicester Lester. Excuse me, David,
Speaker 2: go right ahead. I mispronounced your town in Lester, Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: Go ahead, Dave.
Speaker 9: Hello, Dan, thank you very much. You know I just
Speaker 9: turned my phone on my radio on, so it sounds
Speaker 9: like I may have missed, you know, the religious development
Speaker 9: about the quality of the driver here.
Speaker 2: No, there's no late development because they're keeping it all
Speaker 2: under wraps. They're keeping it all under wraps, and that's
Speaker 2: what we're talking. I wish you had called earlier because
Speaker 2: it would have been great to have your perspective. Dave.
Speaker 2: I'm running out of time, and I'm going to change
Speaker 2: topics because I'm disappointed that there weren't more people who
Speaker 2: called on this. To be honest with you, I think
Speaker 2: this is an important topic. There's a little kid five
Speaker 2: years old, dead, dead, never to come back, never to
Speaker 2: come back because they did not supervise this company, and
Speaker 2: the company did not supervise its drivers. There's a great
Speaker 2: article in the Globe today. I wish you would read it.
Speaker 2: It's by John Hilliard following fatal crash little known of
Speaker 2: bps driver. And I hope that tomorrow, if you miss this,
Speaker 2: you go to Nightside and Demand and listen to the
Speaker 2: hour because we did have some good callers, not as
Speaker 2: many as I wanted, but we did have the ones
Speaker 2: who called were all good. David. I thank you.
Speaker 4: So you hand up with me.
Speaker 2: Oh no, I've got to go to the newscast, Dave.
Speaker 2: I'm running. I'm literally out of time. I didn't hang
Speaker 2: up on you. I'm just saying I wish it called earlier,
Speaker 2: and I hope we will stay on this story. I promise.
Speaker 4: Okay, can I hold.
Speaker 2: No, I'm changing topics, David, I'm changing topics. Thank you
Speaker 2: very much. Here comes the news at ten o'clock