Speaker 1: It's night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Boston's news
Speaker 1: radio home.
Speaker 2: Thanks very much to call as we start another week
Speaker 2: of Nightside right here on WBZ Boston's news radio. I
Speaker 2: am Dan Ray. Rob Brooks is back in the control
Speaker 2: room at Broadcast Central headquarters. He will be able to
Speaker 2: begin taking your phone calls after the nine o'clock news.
Speaker 2: During the first hour tonight, we're going to talk with,
Speaker 2: amongst well, we're gonna talk with Amy Cornavalley, the newly
Speaker 2: re elected chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party. Going to
Speaker 2: talk with Daniel Vales of the TSA about the deadline
Speaker 2: now that is back again to get your real ID.
Speaker 2: Going to talk with Quincy mayor Tom Coke about a
Speaker 2: little bit of movement on the Long Island Bridge. You're
Speaker 2: going to talk with a representative of the Salvation Army
Speaker 2: about those horrific wildfires that just now keep going. We're
Speaker 2: talking about a week a week of wildfires in southern California,
Speaker 2: and the the loss is simply immense. Now in terms
Speaker 2: of lives, I think I saw a statistic that said
Speaker 2: twenty four people and just you know, billions of dollars
Speaker 2: worth of damage, probably the largest single catastrophe in the
Speaker 2: history of the United States in terms of a natural disaster,
Speaker 2: but we'll get to all of that a little bit
Speaker 2: later on tonight. We will also talk later tonight with
Speaker 2: Boston Business Globe reporter John Cesto about the fact that
Speaker 2: Massachusetts we're still losing people, although not at as much
Speaker 2: of a rate as we did a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2: So the bleeding, if you will, the metaphorical bleeding, is stopping,
Speaker 2: but can it be ended? I don't know. We'll also
Speaker 2: talk about tuition going up, according to UMass President Marty
Speaker 2: Mean three percent. That is not good news for people
Speaker 2: who are students or people who are helping pay the
Speaker 2: bills for students in the UMass system. Now let's start
Speaker 2: off with Amy Connavalley, who had a pretty pleasant weekend,
Speaker 2: at least on Saturday. Amy, congratulations, you have been re
Speaker 2: elected the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party. Some might
Speaker 2: say that's sort of being appointed captain of the Titanic.
Speaker 2: But what are you going to do to steer the
Speaker 2: vote in a better direction here in Massachusetts away from
Speaker 2: the theoretical icebergs that sometimes the party encounters.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Dan, and thanks very much for having me
Speaker 3: on screenspeed with you in your listeners once again. So
Speaker 3: the Massachusetts Republican Party is actually on the rebound. We've
Speaker 3: actually gained membership in the last two years after a
Speaker 3: number of years of shrinking members We've gained thirteen five
Speaker 3: hundred new registered Republicans in the Commonwealth over the last
Speaker 3: two years. In addition to that, we've gained some seats.
Speaker 3: We gained two state Senate seats, and we have our
Speaker 3: eyes focused on the twenty twenty five and twenty twenty
Speaker 3: six elections, twenty twenty five at the municipal level and
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six at the legislative and congressional level. So
Speaker 3: I would say, you know, the future is a lot brighter.
Speaker 3: We are in a Democratic super majority state, but we
Speaker 3: have a long history of electing Republican governors here in Massachusetts,
Speaker 3: and we're going to work awfully hard as a team
Speaker 3: to try to prove to the voters and show them
Speaker 3: how we can do things differently and we think much
Speaker 3: better for people of the Commonwealth.
Speaker 2: Well, the Democrats have a lot of problems that they're
Speaker 2: dealing with. You have the mayor in Boston who has
Speaker 2: a real estate tax problem that she can't even get
Speaker 2: resolved with the Democratic legislature. Now the governor, if the
Speaker 2: reports are to be believed, is taking a second look
Speaker 2: at the Massachusetts Shelter Law, which was passed in ninety
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty three and signed by Governor Decacus. I was
Speaker 2: actually at that ceremony, which was never intended for the
Speaker 2: manner in which it has been used. So, I mean,
Speaker 2: the Democrats have fumbled quite a bit. How do you
Speaker 2: take advantage of that and say that people, hey, we're
Speaker 2: a one party state, and things like that can happen
Speaker 2: in a one party state. Competition is good? Now the
Speaker 2: largest group of voters in Massachusetts are the unenrolled, as
Speaker 2: I know you realize, and the Democrats are the second largest.
Speaker 2: How do you push through that? This is this is
Speaker 2: a big lift. You have some candidates who I think
Speaker 2: could be a potential gubernatorial candidates. I saw lou and Evangelitis,
Speaker 2: the sheriff of Worcester County said he might be looking
Speaker 2: at that that run tell us, tell us what you're thinking.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, Dan, you know, talking about two party government,
Speaker 3: talking about transparency, and of course the auditor has shown
Speaker 3: how opaque the legislature is, and you know even the
Speaker 3: media trying to cover what's happening on Beacon Hill, it's
Speaker 3: almost impossible to find out, you know, how how things
Speaker 3: are debated, how legislative legislation is debated, and you know,
Speaker 3: we've got moved past the time where we have amendments
Speaker 3: to bills and open debate, and that's not a good
Speaker 3: thing for public policy. So having more Republicans represented on
Speaker 3: Beacon Hill, having a Republican in in the gubernatorial seat,
Speaker 3: brings back a level of transparency and accountability for public
Speaker 3: policy and taxpayer dollars, and that's been missing, as has
Speaker 3: been very clear on this migrant issue, which now over
Speaker 3: two billion dollars has been spent over the last two years.
Speaker 3: And now the governor, you know, seems to have perhaps
Speaker 3: thrown up our hands after Republicans have been you know,
Speaker 3: saying for two years now that the current system is
Speaker 3: is not working. So we would argue, we certainly know
Speaker 3: we have great quality candidates, and we would argue having
Speaker 3: more Republicans present is a good thing for democracy and
Speaker 3: public policy.
Speaker 2: And one of the things about the Shelter law is
Speaker 2: that not only have has the law, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: been used for in a manner which it was never intended.
Speaker 2: Number one, it was always intended. And I remember at
Speaker 2: the time there was a spike of homeless people in
Speaker 2: this country and a spike of in Massachusetts of women
Speaker 2: with children, and so the law was passed to make
Speaker 2: sure that women and children, and it may sound a
Speaker 2: little sexist, but it was passed at that time to
Speaker 2: make sure that women in sheilton and children, women with
Speaker 2: children and who were single and alone are abandoned, that
Speaker 2: they had a place to stay. And that was the
Speaker 2: purpose of the law. And now we find out that
Speaker 2: not only was the purchase purpose of the law stretched incredibly,
Speaker 2: but in addition that the regular criminal background checks that
Speaker 2: should have been done on the folks who were availing
Speaker 2: themselves of the new interpretation of the law were never
Speaker 2: made and the governor was kept in the dark. There's
Speaker 2: a lot to unravel.
Speaker 3: There a lot to unravel. And you're right, you know,
Speaker 3: in the ironic thing about the original purpose of the
Speaker 3: law is that women and children who have been living
Speaker 3: in the Commonwealth for years and perhaps have come upon
Speaker 3: hard times now are really being at the end of
Speaker 3: the line and not finding that the shelter is even
Speaker 3: available to them, because perhaps they're they're receiving other public assistants,
Speaker 3: and those migrants coming across the border from day one
Speaker 3: when they arrive are finding the shelter system open to them,
Speaker 3: and Massachusetts residents are being frozen out, and that clearly
Speaker 3: was not the.
Speaker 4: Intent of the law.
Speaker 3: And now we're of course, now we're seeing that the
Speaker 3: shelters themselves are in many cases unsafe place places to
Speaker 3: live for the individuals who are there because background checks
Speaker 3: were not done on the individuals as they came in.
Speaker 3: And we also understand it's it's not been covered much
Speaker 3: by the media, but the vendors who go into these shelters,
Speaker 3: who are the case managers and interacting with these individuals,
Speaker 3: we understand they're still operating in most cases under emergency
Speaker 3: provisions and they're not background checked either. And there's been
Speaker 3: some issues with the background with some of those individuals
Speaker 3: because of course that the Commonwealth needs to find people
Speaker 3: who speak the language and which is oftentimes a difficult thing.
Speaker 3: So yeah, so it maybe not serving anybody well, and
Speaker 3: the law needs to be changed.
Speaker 2: You've got a big test. Let me ask you if
Speaker 2: the people tonight who are listening, who liked what they've
Speaker 2: how can they most easily get in touch with you
Speaker 2: or the Republican Party, particularly people who are looking to
Speaker 2: get active politically, young people who might be thinking about
Speaker 2: running for office, or older people who are thinking about
Speaker 2: any involved in politics. What's the easiest way for them
Speaker 2: to get in touch with you?
Speaker 3: Thanks Dan.
Speaker 5: So, we actually do have some candidate training sessions coming
Speaker 5: up in February in March, and i'd welcome anybody who's
Speaker 5: interested in learning more about running for office, or that
Speaker 5: perhaps they know somebody who wants to run for office.
Speaker 3: That's the best way to get involved, and they can
Speaker 3: check out our website at massgop dot com, or they
Speaker 3: can send me an email at AC at massgop dot
Speaker 3: com and happy too happy to talk to anybody who's interested.
Speaker 2: At any ConA Valley, AC at massgop dot com. Amy,
Speaker 2: appreciate your time tonight, Best of luck. We all will
Speaker 2: be better off if there is an active two party
Speaker 2: state competition breeds competency, and I just think that it
Speaker 2: will only in order the benefit of everyone in the
Speaker 2: come off if we had a legitimate two party system.
Speaker 4: Thanks Amy, Thank you Dan.
Speaker 2: All Right, when we get back, we're going to talk
Speaker 2: about something that you may have a memory of remember
Speaker 2: when they was in October twentieth deadline you had to
Speaker 2: get a Massachusetts or had to get a driver's license
Speaker 2: with what was called the real ID. Well, after about
Speaker 2: four and a half years delay, they are now mandating
Speaker 2: it and we're going to talk to someone from the
Speaker 2: TSA bring it up to speed if you do not
Speaker 2: have at this point a real ID driver's license. Right
Speaker 2: after the break here on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan ray Mine from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Well, I remember about five years ago when we all
Speaker 2: were looking at a deadline of October of twenty twenty,
Speaker 2: I believe, and we had to get our real ID
Speaker 2: drive licenses and I did get mine back then it
Speaker 2: was not easy. And now after about five years, the
Speaker 2: government is once again mandating that you've got to have
Speaker 2: a real ID driver's license. With us is Daniel Valez.
Speaker 2: He's a spokesperson with the TSA here in New England.
Speaker 2: Daniel remind us why it is so important, particularly for
Speaker 2: people who travel and will want to go into federal
Speaker 2: buildings to get this real ID driver's license.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so thanks Dan for having me on. I appreciate it. Yeah,
Speaker 4: we are one hundred and fourteen days away from the
Speaker 4: real ID deadline of May seventh, twenty twenty five, and
Speaker 4: that's when every traveler who's eighteen years of old, eighteen
Speaker 4: years of age or older has to have a real
Speaker 4: ID or an enhanced driver's license or some type of
Speaker 4: acceptable form of ID to be able to access military bases,
Speaker 4: nuclear power plans that's where you're going, or spy domestically.
Speaker 4: You're going to have to have a real ID. And
Speaker 4: the main reason we're implementing the real ID is for security.
Speaker 4: So Congress passed the real ID Act back in two
Speaker 4: thousand and five to enhance security standards for identification directly
Speaker 4: in response to the security vulnerabilities that were highlighted by
Speaker 4: the nine to eleven attacks. We had nineteen hijackers on
Speaker 4: nine to eleven that had thirty separate driver's licenses and
Speaker 4: identification cards on them. So this real idea is going
Speaker 4: to help us secure our military bases, the and our
Speaker 4: flights that are traveling every day throughout the country.
Speaker 2: Can I ask you a really dumb question, how do
Speaker 2: we know that the nineteen hijackers had thirty sets of
Speaker 2: drivers' licenses? Weren't they just obliterated when the planes hit
Speaker 2: the various locales the Pentagon.
Speaker 4: But I think it I think it stems from I
Speaker 4: think it stems from them. One we had video of
Speaker 4: them presenting licenses, so that was some of them, and
Speaker 4: then others they were of the find through databases.
Speaker 2: Okay, fair enough, Okay, So I don't want to I
Speaker 2: don't want to distract you from what we got to do.
Speaker 2: What happens if someone, let's say, uh, their driver's license
Speaker 2: doesn't come up for renewal until next year, are they
Speaker 2: supposed to now go into the registry and get the
Speaker 2: driver's license more quickly? So if you know, if they
Speaker 2: want to, you know, fly domestically, obviously, if you're gonna
Speaker 2: fly internationally, you gotta you have to have a passport.
Speaker 2: Everyone understands that. What is the choice of someone who
Speaker 2: who is in May after May seventeenth or whatever the
Speaker 2: date is, or in June July whatever, want to fly somewhere,
Speaker 2: but their driver's license is not renewable for a cup
Speaker 2: for a year or two.
Speaker 4: So when I was in Boston about three weeks ago,
Speaker 4: I was up there with the Massachusetts Registry Motor Vehicles
Speaker 4: and they were telling folks that if your ID doesn't
Speaker 4: expire till after the deadline, you can still come in
Speaker 4: and renew it. They will allow you to renew it
Speaker 4: to get a real ID. If that's not something you
Speaker 4: want to do and you want to wait until your
Speaker 4: license is due to be renewed and then get your
Speaker 4: real ID, you can do that. However, on May seventh,
Speaker 4: if you have a passport that's the most popular alternative
Speaker 4: ID that will be accepting. You're going to have to
Speaker 4: travel with your passports until you do eventually go and
Speaker 4: get your real ID, or you know what if the
Speaker 4: bottom line is, if you don't want to get a
Speaker 4: real ID at all, you can use your US passport
Speaker 4: if that's what you have. That's an acceptable form, and
Speaker 4: we keep that. We're thinking, you know, we're thinking that
Speaker 4: a lot. We're going to see a lot of US
Speaker 4: passports come May seventh. On twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: Ye, when did they reset the deadline to to May seventh?
Speaker 2: How long ago was that set?
Speaker 4: Well, we've we've reset it a bunch of different times.
Speaker 4: I don't remember the exact day the last time we
Speaker 4: reset it, Okay, but I know, you know, the biggest
Speaker 4: the biggest reason for the extension of the deadline was COVID.
Speaker 4: I mean COVID.
Speaker 2: Uh, that's what. Yeah, that's what. That's what up set
Speaker 2: the Apple card. Let me ask you a question, if
Speaker 2: I could, Daniel, I remember when I got my real
Speaker 2: ID driver's license, which I'm holding in my hand. You
Speaker 2: can't see it, but trust me, I'm holding in my hand.
Speaker 2: It was a pain in the neck to get it.
Speaker 2: You had to bring a whole bunch. I brought my passport,
Speaker 2: I brought my Social Security card. You had to bring
Speaker 2: like a draw, your driver's license, of course, and then
Speaker 2: you had to bring I think some some bills that
Speaker 2: proved that you lived at the address. I mean, it
Speaker 2: was very com Has that been streamlined at all? Enough?
Speaker 4: Well from for my understanding, especially for Massachusetts. At a minimum,
Speaker 4: you must provide documentation showing your full legal name, your
Speaker 4: date of birth, your soul Security number, two, proofs of
Speaker 4: address proof what proof of residents where you live like Bill,
Speaker 4: and your build status in the US, Yeah, Bill would work.
Speaker 4: Each state has their own separate requirements. The best thing
Speaker 4: to do is to visit the Massachusetts r m V
Speaker 4: and click on the real ID link and it'll tell
Speaker 4: you exactly what you need.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a pain in the neck, but frankly, for convenience,
Speaker 2: you got to do it. Uh. And there's I I'm
Speaker 2: glad I did it. When I did it, I got
Speaker 2: it done. I guess in it, you know, in advance
Speaker 2: of COVID, because things got shut down after COVID. And
Speaker 2: it does make traveling a little easier. You can leave
Speaker 2: your passport at home. You don't have to fear losing
Speaker 2: it or whatever. But yeah, point again to this is
Speaker 2: a this is a huge undertaking by the government. I
Speaker 2: mean that seriously, And I wish your best of luck.
Speaker 2: I'm glad that you came on tonight, and just kind
Speaker 2: of people should look at their passport and look at
Speaker 2: their driver's licenses, and you need to have in the
Speaker 2: upper right hand corner of your driver's license a gold
Speaker 2: circle with a star inside of it, and that is
Speaker 2: and it says USA and that. So some people may
Speaker 2: have had may have gotten their real idea and forgotten
Speaker 2: about it. So if you before you head off to
Speaker 2: the registry, take a look at your license and see
Speaker 2: if in the upper right hand corner you have this
Speaker 2: gold circle with a white star and the word USA
Speaker 2: in the in the lower right of the circle.
Speaker 4: Fair enough, fair enough.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just want people I'd hate like people go through.
Speaker 2: You know, they got it three years ago, four years ago,
Speaker 2: and they forgot about it, and they find themselves back
Speaker 2: of the Register of Motor Vehicles unnecessarily. Daniel, appreciate you call.
Speaker 2: You made it very clear, and I really do think
Speaker 2: that it was a helpful interview tonight. Thanks so much.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you, Dan. I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 2: You bet you we'll talk again when we get back.
Speaker 2: When we talked to Quincy Mayor Tom Coke, you're not
Speaker 2: happy about a decision that was made in Massachusetts which
Speaker 2: has moved the city of Boston a little closer to
Speaker 2: the possibility of reconstructing the bridge to Long Island. We'll
Speaker 2: talk with Mayor Coke right after the news at the
Speaker 2: bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray ONBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Thanks to Cole joining us. Now is Quinsy Mayor Tom Coke? Yes, well, recently,
Speaker 2: I should say, actually I believe it was on January seventh,
Speaker 2: the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection granted Boston and a
Speaker 2: permit which previously had not been allowed Mayor Coke welcome
Speaker 2: to nightside, sir, how are you? That's the heck of
Speaker 2: a welcome, hon you know, and Dan Well, I forgot
Speaker 2: to get the bad stuff out of the way. First. Look,
Speaker 2: there's there once was a bridge that linked Boston to Quincy,
Speaker 2: and I believe it was Mayor Marty Walsh who felt
Speaker 2: that that bridge should come down and the the the
Speaker 2: underpinnings of the bridge remained. But but the bridge is
Speaker 2: no longer there. And you're not in favor of the
Speaker 2: bridge because it's going to have a real impact on
Speaker 2: the portion of your city that is known as squantum.
Speaker 2: Tell us about that, first of all. And uh tell
Speaker 2: us what this latest ruling means in terms of this
Speaker 2: fight between Boston and Quincy. No other way to describe it,
Speaker 2: I think, Mayor, I don't want to I don't want
Speaker 2: to be.
Speaker 4: Dis no understood, understood and and and with respect to
Speaker 4: mighty wells, respect Mayor Michelle Wou. I have opposed the
Speaker 4: bridge from day one because it will introduce an amount
Speaker 4: of traffic to my neighborhoods in North Quinsey Atlantic Squantum.
Speaker 4: And you know, there was never any description of what
Speaker 4: they would do at the island. There's a lot of
Speaker 4: concepts about programs. There used to be programs out there.
Speaker 4: Reality was, the bridge was so badly to take it down,
Speaker 4: and it was said to me at that time it
Speaker 4: probably would never go up again. So then when may
Speaker 4: Walsh announced we're going to rebuild the bridge, that began
Speaker 4: a long and we continue to be in that process.
Speaker 4: And I said to him at the time, with all
Speaker 4: due respect, that I'm going to do everything I can
Speaker 4: to keep you from building that bridge. And I said
Speaker 4: the same thing that Michelle wou when we met a
Speaker 4: few years back, and here we asked, she's going to
Speaker 4: be going on her second term, assuming she runs again,
Speaker 4: and we still held the bridge entangled in legal and
Speaker 4: environmental permits and we're going to continue to appeal. Were
Speaker 4: you going to use every legal avenue we can to
Speaker 4: keep them from building that bridge? And by now the
Speaker 4: bridge is probably cost to build. It would be in
Speaker 4: the three hundred billion dollar range. So I know the
Speaker 4: Boston Seven some challenges right now. Finally resources, I don't
Speaker 4: know how you find it for the bridge.
Speaker 2: So so the bridge was taken down.
Speaker 4: What year, well, Mayor Walsh was the mayor. Okay, so
Speaker 4: I don't know if.
Speaker 2: It did he agree with that or did was it
Speaker 2: taken down over his objections.
Speaker 4: He's the one that authorized it coming down because it
Speaker 4: was I thought I wasn't safe. That wasn't safe, and
Speaker 4: and then within a year or whatever, it was the
Speaker 4: indicator that he was going to look to rebuild it.
Speaker 4: And you know, and I understand, you know, there were
Speaker 4: a lot of programs out on Long Island that a
Speaker 4: lot of people were served, and maybe the Allies was
Speaker 4: safe for some of those programs, but I don't believe
Speaker 4: you need to have a bridge to do those programs.
Speaker 4: And by all accounts stand and this isn't me talking
Speaker 4: out of my panny, but there was a globe done
Speaker 4: some time ago, maybe a couple of years ago. The
Speaker 4: buildings out there need a half ability into three quarters
Speaker 4: of a billion dollars worth of work, never mind the
Speaker 4: cost of the breach. When you start to really look
Speaker 4: at it, you know that's that's an awful lot of money.
Speaker 4: I'm sure you could be doing some of these things
Speaker 4: on the mainland.
Speaker 2: Well, for example, there's Mattapan State Hospital, which, to the
Speaker 2: best I'm not sure if that's being utilized at this point.
Speaker 2: Shat a hospital. I think I don't think that's being
Speaker 2: fully utilized. You probably more familiar with this than I am.
Speaker 2: I'm only speaking as someone who has some familiarity with Boston.
Speaker 2: It's not as if Boston has no other options. Why
Speaker 2: is Mayor Wu so intent on apparently, and she's at
Speaker 2: the same time appealing for relief for her residential taxpayers.
Speaker 2: Looks seems to me like a whole bunch of conflicting
Speaker 2: signals coming out of this mayor's office.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's and that's why I don't understand it. You know,
Speaker 4: indicated to me early on. Look, she didn't know she
Speaker 4: would build it, but she wants to get all the
Speaker 4: permits and plays, so you know, that was their their
Speaker 4: goal and goals keeping from doing that. Now the other
Speaker 4: thing that you should know, I'm let me say.
Speaker 2: Did that sound somewhat disingenuous? Man?
Speaker 6: I mean, it's like, well, I was your next door
Speaker 6: neighbor and I said to you, you know, Tom, I'm
Speaker 6: not gonna intend to put up a twenty five foot
Speaker 6: fence between your house and my house and and block
Speaker 6: your view of whatever you whatever your view is.
Speaker 2: I'm just going to try to get the permits in place.
Speaker 2: I mean it is.
Speaker 4: It is a lot, no question.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: But the other thing is that and for people to
Speaker 4: fully understand is that this this is considered a private
Speaker 4: bridge because it's a private activity out there, so they
Speaker 4: they're not eligible for state or federal dollars. So the
Speaker 4: entire cross of that bridge would be born by the
Speaker 4: City of Boston. And as you said, the way the
Speaker 4: nights going, I don't know how they find them money
Speaker 4: for that. Now, by the way, Dan, they have a
Speaker 4: summer program, a summer day camp which was one of
Speaker 4: Tom Andino's babies out there for inner city kids, and
Speaker 4: they ferry those kids every day during the summer, So
Speaker 4: I don't know why you wouldn't bury folks up to
Speaker 4: the other side of the island.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the great summer camp that may Or
Speaker 2: Menino and the late Great Jack Conner's built out there,
Speaker 2: which is a great, a great program.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Now, I don't know. There might be days in the
Speaker 2: winter time when the wind is howling and it's the
Speaker 2: northeastern but I would say probably you know, three hundred
Speaker 2: and forty days out of the year you could run
Speaker 2: a ferry out there, right, I mean, what are we
Speaker 2: talking about a couple of a couple of weeks of bad,
Speaker 2: really bad weather where you couldn't run a ferry.
Speaker 4: Perhaps, I mean we this. Ferries run all over the
Speaker 4: world for for cities that live in the habble like Boston,
Speaker 4: and they do it exactly.
Speaker 2: What was the last time you and Mayor WU talked
Speaker 2: about this? So do you talk to it or is
Speaker 2: it just between your subordinates? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Just you know, early on we first met when she
Speaker 4: first got in and I met with her and some
Speaker 4: of her staff members, and uh, you know, I just
Speaker 4: want to make sure she knew directly from me how
Speaker 4: I felt about it, why I was opposing it, and uh,
Speaker 4: we haven't really talked about it since. I mean she
Speaker 4: she called me maybe a year ago when they won
Speaker 4: one of the battles to let me know they won
Speaker 4: one of the battles. But we but we haven't had
Speaker 4: any any discussions about it, and uh, she you know,
Speaker 4: she we did have a conversation. My my story is
Speaker 4: the same, you know, we're not I'm not making any changes.
Speaker 4: The quality of life of my neighborhoods have gone up
Speaker 4: since the bridge went down, and the values and property
Speaker 4: vality in those areas also went up. So you know,
Speaker 4: it definitely would have an adverse effect on the quality
Speaker 4: of life and my constituents. And you know, when Mighty walls,
Speaker 4: I don't think I'm talking out of school. When we
Speaker 4: met for breakfast and I told them I was going
Speaker 4: to do everything again to keep me So come on,
Speaker 4: I says, with all the respect made, you'd be doing
Speaker 4: the same thing if the show was on the other floor.
Speaker 4: And and he laughed, and he said, sure, of course,
Speaker 4: of course, is that very personal?
Speaker 2: Do you have or are you contemplating any form of
Speaker 2: court action to try to reverse this this permit?
Speaker 4: We probably will take this, will appeal this to superior court. Absolutely,
Speaker 4: And there's still the Coast Guide permit that's hanging u.
Speaker 4: There's there's other steps in the process here. This isn't
Speaker 4: a slam dunk by any means for Boston.
Speaker 2: Wow. I just think I just think it's very interesting. Look,
Speaker 2: you've been mayor in in Quincy for for some time.
Speaker 2: You've got to be doing something right to have been
Speaker 2: re elected as many times as you've been, how many
Speaker 2: how many reelections? You're sort of the Tom Menino, if
Speaker 2: you will, He was the Tom Cooke of Boston. Look
Speaker 2: at it. How many how many years have you been
Speaker 2: in office down there now?
Speaker 4: Well, I did four two year terms and in my
Speaker 4: third four year terms, I'm in my eighteenth year. Just
Speaker 4: getting the hang of it, Dan, just get the hang of.
Speaker 2: It, getting good at it. Okay, Well again, obviously, you
Speaker 2: are representing your constituents first and foremost, and I think
Speaker 2: that's absolutely that's absolutely commendable. And there's there's no I
Speaker 2: assume pushback from any of your neighborhoods down there saying, oh,
Speaker 2: mayor we got to change our position. I assume you're constituents,
Speaker 2: particularly those who are going to be affected by it,
Speaker 2: are appreciative.
Speaker 4: Of the and that that showed in the election results. Honestly, Dan,
Speaker 4: I did. I mean, I have individual people that come
Speaker 4: out to me and think I'm doing the wrong thing
Speaker 4: because they're in the social world of of helping people,
Speaker 4: and I get it. But when you walk through them,
Speaker 4: the other options that are out there for people, and
Speaker 4: quite frankly, you know, the states could land around this
Speaker 4: is a regional issue. The state could be helped fullness
Speaker 4: as well. So I know Boston, you know, it gets
Speaker 4: a bad rap in some ways. People. It's not all
Speaker 4: Boston people. That they come in there, and whether it's uh,
Speaker 4: you know, the the stretch along mass Ave that's the issue,
Speaker 4: or in public places. Yeah, and it's not all Bostome people.
Speaker 4: So there are regional issues that we should be addressing,
Speaker 4: and I think this is the one should be addressed regionally.
Speaker 2: Well. The other thing too is, if if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 2: there's been some some suggestions of uh, some of the
Speaker 2: the either the jail space uh that is that's available
Speaker 2: in Suffolk County, some of it could be utilized on
Speaker 2: a day, daytime basis, not where people are in jail,
Speaker 2: but where they could avail themselves of benefits. I think
Speaker 2: we all know that there's a lot of commercial property
Speaker 2: in Boston which has not been refilled post COVID.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: Why are the city officials in Boston not taking outside
Speaker 2: the box and doing something that on a short term
Speaker 2: basis that might even be the solution on a long
Speaker 2: term basis, I don't understand that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's good question. I hope they are thinking about
Speaker 4: other options and that you know, we even haven't even
Speaker 4: talked about Connie. What's going to have on Connie Hospital?
Speaker 4: You know? So I do believe there are a lot
Speaker 4: of options within the whatever it is, forty six square
Speaker 4: miles of Boston on the mainland without having to spend
Speaker 4: a half to you know, three quarters of a billion
Speaker 4: dollars on of you know, you could probably do that
Speaker 4: for tenth of that somewhere in the mainland. So I'm
Speaker 4: still perplexed by it, the position that Boston has taken.
Speaker 2: Yep. Well, you present the arguments very well, Mayor, and
Speaker 2: I wish you best of luck on it. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much, Quincy Mayor Tom Coke in his eighteenth year
Speaker 2: of service as mayor in the City of Quincy, appreciate
Speaker 2: you taking the time tonight, Mayor Coke.
Speaker 4: Thanks Dan, You're very welcome when.
Speaker 2: We get back, and to talk about a real big
Speaker 2: problem which I think everyone is now familiar with, the
Speaker 2: California wildfire. Is going to talk about the representative of
Speaker 2: the Salvation Army as to how those of us here
Speaker 2: in New England or anywhere up and down the East
Speaker 2: Coast who are listening to night Side tonight can try
Speaker 2: to help out through a legitimate charity where you know
Speaker 2: that whatever funds you might send actually will go to
Speaker 2: benefit people in need. My name's Dan Ray. This is
Speaker 2: Nightside and it's eight forty six here on a Monday night,
Speaker 2: the thirteenth, and I believe it's a full moon tonight,
Speaker 2: the wolf moon. We'll talk about about that sometime later
Speaker 2: on this week. We may talk about it tonight, depending
Speaker 2: upon the call as we get later on. We'll be
Speaker 2: back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: Well, I think you would have to be living under
Speaker 2: a rock not to know what has transpired in southern California,
Speaker 2: in Los Angeles, in some of the most expensive portions
Speaker 2: of Los Angeles west of the city towards the Pacific
Speaker 2: Ocean in the last week, devastation of a level that
Speaker 2: from fires, wildfires that a few of us have ever
Speaker 2: seen in our lifetime. And as always, one great organization
Speaker 2: that is rising to the challenge, and that is the
Speaker 2: Salvation Army with us is Emily Mew. She is with
Speaker 2: the Salvation Army here in Massachusetts. She's the director of
Speaker 2: EDS for Massachusetts Salvation Army. Emily, I'm not sure what
Speaker 2: EDS stands for, and I don't want to take a
Speaker 2: guess at it. So you're the director, would you explain
Speaker 2: what EDS is in the Salvation Army?
Speaker 7: Hi, Dan, sure, EDS stands for Emergency Disaster Services. So
Speaker 7: I work in the department that responds to things that
Speaker 7: are happening in southern California.
Speaker 2: Probat each could have taken a guess at it, but
Speaker 2: I didn't want to be incorrect. So so you're located
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts, uh and, but but you're assigned to try
Speaker 2: to do work uh for for the Salvation Army in
Speaker 2: southern California. At this point?
Speaker 5: Is that?
Speaker 2: Am I? Is that what I'm to understand?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 7: I I do that work here in Massachusetts and sometimes
Speaker 7: get deployed two areas that are affected by national disasters.
Speaker 7: So if we were to have something here in Massachusetts,
Speaker 7: I would be in charge of coordinating the effort to
Speaker 7: respond here locally.
Speaker 2: Okay, So so I'm a little confused. Tell me what
Speaker 2: your role is in terms of Southern California.
Speaker 4: So I don't.
Speaker 7: I don't at the at this moment, have a role
Speaker 7: out there. I I am only providing some information today.
Speaker 7: There is the possibility at some point that somebody from
Speaker 7: Massachusetts could potentially get deployed to southern California.
Speaker 4: But I just don't.
Speaker 7: I just do that this that job here in Massachata.
Speaker 2: So what message do you want to bring to our
Speaker 2: listeners about what we here in the East can do
Speaker 2: through the Salvation Army to help people who are really
Speaker 2: in desperate shape, who literally have butt the closure in
Speaker 2: their back.
Speaker 3: Sure, so in Southern California, I do know some of
Speaker 3: the work that we are doing. I was on a
Speaker 3: call earlier this morning learning you know what are not
Speaker 3: just what we the Salvation Army is doing down there,
Speaker 3: but also some of our partners, and you know, we
Speaker 3: can here in Massachusetts except financial donations that will go
Speaker 3: to the Salvation Army in Southern California, and one hundred
Speaker 3: percent of those financial donations go directly to the response
Speaker 3: effort on the ground. So you know, even though Massachusetts
Speaker 3: personnel is not local to Southern California, we can still
Speaker 3: help in that way and recruit, you know, financial assistance
Speaker 3: to support our efforts.
Speaker 2: Have you had a chance to talk with your fellow
Speaker 2: colleagues in Southern California who have seen this up close
Speaker 2: in person. We've all seen the pictures in television there
Speaker 2: it's it's you know, I mean, it is just something
Speaker 2: that looks like a war zone. Particularly when they when
Speaker 2: they fly over and they take the picture of all
Speaker 2: the properties, the buildings that are now in rubble. But
Speaker 2: I assume at some point you must have talked to
Speaker 2: some of the folks, your folks on the ground out there.
Speaker 2: What are they describing the situation.
Speaker 7: As so they're I mean, they're heavily into the work.
Speaker 7: I myself haven't had an opportunity to speak to anyone individ, Julie,
Speaker 7: but I do know that you know, some of our
Speaker 7: locations in southern California, we have forty three local Salvation
Speaker 7: Army community centers across that region, and all are involved
Speaker 7: one way or the other. Some are are affected themselves,
Speaker 7: are in evacuation zones and needed to get out, which
Speaker 7: you know can impede our response, but some are actively
Speaker 7: engaged in providing emergency shelter and temporary housing. I know
Speaker 7: our Pasadena location was a temporary shelter at some at
Speaker 7: one point in the early days. Many of our our
Speaker 7: volunteers and staff are in our kitchens preparing meals, Some
Speaker 7: are coming together in prayer, offering emotional and spiritual care
Speaker 7: support and you know, really being there for the people
Speaker 7: that have experienced devastating loss. So I know, you know
Speaker 7: they're on the ground doing doing the work, doing that
Speaker 7: tough job of not only struggling themselves because they're in
Speaker 7: that zone and you know, the red flag warnings are
Speaker 7: still on effect, but they're also simultaneously providing services to
Speaker 7: their to their fellow community members and friends. There are
Speaker 7: UH several evacuation shelters open. We're providing meals at those
Speaker 7: centers UH to the displaced staff or to the displaced residence,
Speaker 7: to the staff, to the medical UH personnel, as well
Speaker 7: as utility workers and first responders, and just being in
Speaker 7: there in the community and and providing that support is
Speaker 7: is is really impactful, not only for mm hm.
Speaker 2: So so what kid people then here in New England
Speaker 2: or are station right now? Is being heard probably in
Speaker 2: I don't know, twenty twenty five states as the as
Speaker 2: the night comes comes across the country. We we penetrate
Speaker 2: many states, virtually all states east of the Mississippi River.
Speaker 2: If if people want to make a contribution, what what
Speaker 2: is the easiest way for them to UH to send
Speaker 2: a contribution through you folks here in Massachusetts directly to California,
Speaker 2: what what what way would you suggest?
Speaker 7: So I would suggest two ways. You can call in
Speaker 7: to one eight hundred sal Army s A L A
Speaker 7: R M Y, or go to I think the easiest
Speaker 7: one to remember since I'm on the radio is help
Speaker 7: Salvation Army dot org uh and that would provide a
Speaker 7: drop down menu and they can select the Southern California
Speaker 7: wildfires and that will go directly to the Salvation Army
Speaker 7: in Southern California. And again one hundred percent of that
Speaker 7: will go directly.
Speaker 3: To the to the to the effort through the Salvation Army.
Speaker 2: No, I mean, I think everybody knows what a great
Speaker 2: job the Salvation Army does. We often see the Salvation Army.
Speaker 2: It's most visible around Christmas with you know, with the cattle,
Speaker 2: et cetera. How many people are involved in the Salvation
Speaker 2: Army across the country, I mean it is an army
Speaker 2: of people. How large is the is the organization?
Speaker 7: It's I don't have that number off the top of
Speaker 7: my head, but I know we have like sixty four
Speaker 7: hundred community centers across the nations. Were present in every
Speaker 7: single zip code in the US, so you know, anybody
Speaker 7: can go in to a local center and receive services
Speaker 7: at any place across the country. I mean, I couldn't
Speaker 7: wager a guess on how many. But we work, like
Speaker 7: many organizations work with volunteers as well, and here in Massachusetts,
Speaker 7: we can't do what we we do without a number
Speaker 7: of volunteers. So, you know, I know it's not easy
Speaker 7: to get involved immediately, but if any people are interested
Speaker 7: in being a volunteer for the Salvation Army and getting
Speaker 7: trained to respond locally, they can you know, maybe at
Speaker 7: some point in the future help with a situation like
Speaker 7: this as well.
Speaker 2: Great Emily, thanks very much for your time tonight, and
Speaker 2: thanks for the work you do. There are a lot
Speaker 2: of charities out there now that are trying to scam people.
Speaker 2: The one thing people can certainly be certain of if
Speaker 2: they donate for this cause through the Salvation Army, either
Speaker 2: it helps Salvation Army dot org or one eight hundred
Speaker 2: Sale Army, that that money will get to a place
Speaker 2: where it will help some family.
Speaker 4: Thanks so much, Emily, You're welcome.
Speaker 7: I really appreciate being here. Thank you.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome. When we get back, we will start
Speaker 2: the program at hand, and we are going to talk
Speaker 2: about the increase increase that now is expected at the
Speaker 2: University of Massachusetts, and that news was disclosed over the
Speaker 2: weekend by UMass President Marty Mehan while he was being
Speaker 2: interviewed on Channel five. We'll be back on Nightside right
Speaker 2: after the nine o'clock news