Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBSY Koston's new video.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back everyone. I'm delighted to be joined
Speaker 2: by Josh Craft. Last week Josh Kraft announced that he
Speaker 2: was running from Mayor of Boston and so Josh, hopefully
Speaker 2: we'll have you on several times between now and whenever.
Speaker 2: But welcome for your first appearance here on Nightside.
Speaker 3: How are you, sir, I'm great, Dan, thank you, and
Speaker 3: I want to also congratulate you on four thousand shows guys.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Yeah, I know, pretty good run.
Speaker 3: Well, You've been an institution in the city and the
Speaker 3: in the region, and your show is educated and informed
Speaker 3: many and it's an integral part of the city and
Speaker 3: the community. So congratulations, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Rob was mentioning that last night they were using some
Speaker 2: of my audio from my live shots during the Blizzard
Speaker 2: of seventy eight, which probably means I've been around much
Speaker 2: too long. But let's talk about the future, and let's
Speaker 2: talk about you. First of all, tell us a little
Speaker 2: bit about yourself. Obviously, know we know that you come
Speaker 2: from this incredible family that owns the New England Patriots,
Speaker 2: but just tell us a little bit about yourself, because
Speaker 2: I think that you need the first of all, to
Speaker 2: introduce yourself to.
Speaker 4: Your potential constituents.
Speaker 5: Well, thank you, Dan.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So, as you said, I'm a member of the
Speaker 3: Craft family, my dad Robert, my late mom Myra, and
Speaker 3: you know I've spent However, I wasn't in the family business.
Speaker 3: I spent most of my life thirty five years working
Speaker 3: in community, and thirty of those years with Boys and
Speaker 3: Girls clubs in Boston. And I started back in the
Speaker 3: fall of nineteen ninety in South Boston doing an outreach
Speaker 3: program with kids in the West Broadway housing development in
Speaker 3: the Old Colony development and Mary Allen McCormick and working
Speaker 3: with kids and might have been having some issues in
Speaker 3: school and other things. And really, back, like I said
Speaker 3: nineteen ninety, it opened my eyes to things that only
Speaker 3: read about or heard about, you know, on radio or TV.
Speaker 3: And also what exposed me to was the power of community,
Speaker 3: the power of people coming together to help folks overcome
Speaker 3: obstacles or what have you. And the Boys and Girls
Speaker 3: club and I made it my career and shortly after
Speaker 3: started a club in Chelsea in the basement of the
Speaker 3: Innis Public housing development and we got a beautiful building
Speaker 3: there and then I spent my last twelve well, I
Speaker 3: spent nine years moving the club around the city of Chelsea.
Speaker 3: We finally got a club built in two been another
Speaker 3: six years there and became CEO of Boys and Girls
Speaker 3: Club in o Way and did that for twelve years.
Speaker 3: And really community work became a calling for me, working
Speaker 3: with people in community and that's me in a nutshell.
Speaker 3: I know it's quick, but no, that's.
Speaker 4: You know, that gives us a little bit.
Speaker 2: So my question then is, obviously, I'm sure you had
Speaker 2: plenty of options other than to do that's that sort
Speaker 2: of service, and that's genuine service.
Speaker 4: What drew you to that?
Speaker 2: Was there a moment in time where you said, Hey,
Speaker 2: I'm a pretty lucky guy. I can give back here.
Speaker 2: What got you to that point?
Speaker 3: I'm definitely a lucky guy. I think, as I said
Speaker 3: in my announcement speech, I wasn't born on third base.
Speaker 3: I was born at home Plate, and I'm very much
Speaker 3: aware of that. But I think the community service work
Speaker 3: and beyond Boys and Girls Club, I was involved in
Speaker 3: a lot of volunteer you know, board service. I chair
Speaker 3: the Hate Crimes Task Force for the state with Secretary
Speaker 3: Reading but you know, Dan, it's pretty you know. I
Speaker 3: was always told in life that if you love what
Speaker 3: you do, you'll never work a day in your life.
Speaker 3: And for me, community work, being with people, learning from
Speaker 3: different people, I loved it and I still love it,
Speaker 3: and I never really thought I worked a day in
Speaker 3: my life because of that, and that's what I enjoy.
Speaker 3: It's what inspires me, and that's that's it, you know,
Speaker 3: meeting people, understanding different people from different backgrounds and how
Speaker 3: to bring them together to build a sense of community
Speaker 3: and to move us all forward.
Speaker 2: I very much ascribe to that, to that philosophy as well.
Speaker 2: So at some point you or some people must have
Speaker 2: said to you, or you must have looked in the
Speaker 2: mirror and said, gee, I'm going to take this one
Speaker 2: step further and I'm going to offer myself as mayor
Speaker 2: of Boston.
Speaker 4: When did you get to that point?
Speaker 2: And I'm sure it's like everyone who becomes a politician,
Speaker 2: and you're a politician at this point, candidate for public office.
Speaker 5: Huh.
Speaker 4: It has to be an evolution.
Speaker 2: I mean, you didn't wake up some morning on you know,
Speaker 2: July third, whatever, twenty twenty four and say, you know what,
Speaker 2: I want to do next?
Speaker 4: How did you how did you get to that point?
Speaker 4: And again in a.
Speaker 3: Nutshell, yeah, in a nutshell, you know, and get to
Speaker 3: the endgame, you know, to be the mayor of Boston.
Speaker 3: I know it's not an easy job. But to me,
Speaker 3: as I said, I've done community work my whole life,
Speaker 3: and being the mayor of Boston or any city or
Speaker 3: town is the ultimate community job because you're dealing with
Speaker 3: so many different people, a lot of different agendas, people
Speaker 3: with different backgrounds, people with different thoughts, and to create
Speaker 3: that means of community with all of them is the
Speaker 3: ultimate community experience. So for me, in some ways, I
Speaker 3: felt that was always trending towards not the mayor of Boston,
Speaker 3: but a large community building challenger opportunity. And to be
Speaker 3: specific about this job, I started thinking about it seriously
Speaker 3: fourteen fifteen months ago. It was probably a couple months ago,
Speaker 3: maybe six six, seven weeks ago I made the firm
Speaker 3: decision to move forward, but it was it's been on
Speaker 3: my mind for, you know, fourteen to fifteen months or so.
Speaker 4: So let's talk about some.
Speaker 2: Of the distinctions that you will have to draw with
Speaker 2: the incumbent mayor. And I've heard, I read your announcement.
Speaker 2: I read all of the material, many columns as I could.
Speaker 2: You've actually been I think treated pretty fairly by by
Speaker 2: the Boston Globe, a couple of ittorial welcoming editorials. And
Speaker 2: I think it's important for Boston to have a mayor's race.
Speaker 2: And I think that you bring a set of experiences
Speaker 2: and you know the city and you know the community.
Speaker 2: So what has driven you to say, Okay, I can
Speaker 2: do a better job. Because as I read your speeches
Speaker 2: and I read the reports, I think that's what you're saying,
Speaker 2: that you can be a better, more effective mayor than
Speaker 2: the incumbent.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Thanks Dan, And for myself, when I look at this
Speaker 3: opportunity and the current administration, it's not about ideology. It's
Speaker 3: about getting results, making an impact. And I feel like
Speaker 3: that's something I've been able to do throughout my professional career,
Speaker 3: and I think that's the difference. I think that there's
Speaker 3: a need for this for the city administration, the mayoral administration,
Speaker 3: the current administration not not providing, not providing enough results
Speaker 3: for the citizens of the city or impact. And that's
Speaker 3: something that I'm confident myself and our administration could do,
Speaker 3: and that's to me the number one difference. It's about
Speaker 3: not about ideology, it's about getting results.
Speaker 2: Okay, so let's let's talk One of the themes of
Speaker 2: your first few days here is the need for more housing. Uh,
Speaker 2: and you peer that with some ideas about rent control.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about housing. What can a mayor do to
Speaker 2: to create more housing? Obviously, the more housing we have,
Speaker 2: the less expensive. I mean, it's the kind of economics
Speaker 2: one on one supplying to me and the one's going
Speaker 2: to argue with you about that.
Speaker 4: But what can do that's not being done currently?
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, I know when I spoke about it,
Speaker 3: I said rent control, And you know I'd like to say,
Speaker 3: make a slight variation of that for us. We would
Speaker 3: call it opt in rent control, where landlords would have
Speaker 3: an opportunity to opt into a program where keeping their
Speaker 3: rents at a sustainable wage, particularly for workforce and affordable
Speaker 3: housing clients or housing folks and the and at the
Speaker 3: back end they get a tax break tax abatement at
Speaker 3: the end of the year. And this should be a
Speaker 3: ten year commitment and then could revisit it after ten years.
Speaker 3: So it's not I know, rent control, as you know,
Speaker 3: it's seemed on on a slide deck or what have you.
Speaker 3: But it's sort of So we've changed the name more
Speaker 3: to an opt in rent control incentivizing landlords and you know,
Speaker 3: it benefits landlords and it benefits renters as well, and
Speaker 3: we're going to focus on we're not it excludes luxury units,
Speaker 3: so workforce and affordable units.
Speaker 4: Okay, So come back to the housing issue, and that is.
Speaker 2: This. Has a study been done as to how many
Speaker 2: more housing units, whether they be rental apartments, condominiums, or
Speaker 2: standalone homes or three decors that we need. Has anyone
Speaker 2: taken the time to look at that and do a
Speaker 2: survey and say, okay, here's where we are and here's
Speaker 2: where we got to get to.
Speaker 6: That.
Speaker 3: I can't answer, Dan, I don't have an answer to that.
Speaker 3: I do know that on the sideline currently, there's more
Speaker 3: than twenty three thousand permitted housing units that are sitting
Speaker 3: on the sideline in the city. And it's not just
Speaker 3: units that aren't being built, it's you know, construction jobs
Speaker 3: as well as significant amount of tax revenue that's sitting
Speaker 3: on the sidelines.
Speaker 2: So say city, when you say sitting on the sideline, shushu,
Speaker 2: I want to make sure you're not talking about properties
Speaker 2: that exist now and no, no, no.
Speaker 3: No permited, yeah and ready to be built and for
Speaker 3: whatever uh regulations or bureaucracy, they can't get going. And
Speaker 3: I think we'd like to incentivize people in whatever way
Speaker 3: we can to get shovels in the ground because in
Speaker 3: the end, accessibility is affordability, and we need to create
Speaker 3: access to more units. And look at it. I'm not
Speaker 3: naive to think, oh, you just go in and in
Speaker 3: day one. No, you got to work with people. You
Speaker 3: got to understand people, and there's a give and take
Speaker 3: and ending tootiation. But yeah, you got to sit down
Speaker 3: with people you might not always agree with. You got
Speaker 3: to sit down with people other people that don't agree
Speaker 3: with each other and find a pass forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds to me like you'd like to become
Speaker 2: what I would call a red tape cutter, somebody who
Speaker 2: might be able to come some of the regulations that
Speaker 2: are holding things back exactly.
Speaker 4: All right.
Speaker 2: My guest is Josh Kraft, candidate from mayor. He held
Speaker 2: a very impressive announcement on Tuesday. We will take phone
Speaker 2: calls if you're the only lines that are open right
Speaker 2: now are the six, one, seven, nine, three, one, ten
Speaker 2: thirty line. The two five, four to ten thirty is
Speaker 2: full up. We're going to ask people to ask questions
Speaker 2: and not try to engage in debates. This is an
Speaker 2: opportunity for you to find out something about Josh Kraft.
Speaker 2: It's got a long time between February and September of
Speaker 2: primary and then September a final election in November, so
Speaker 2: well we'll get more conversation. Should go on with Josh
Speaker 2: Graft hit upon some of the other issues that he
Speaker 2: feels are important and issues that distinguish him from the
Speaker 2: incumbent mayor Michelle Will back on night Side.
Speaker 4: My name is Dan Ray.
Speaker 1: Right after this now back to Dan Ray, Mine from
Speaker 1: the Window World Nightside Studios on w b Z, the
Speaker 1: news radio.
Speaker 4: My guess is Josh Josh Craft running from Mayor of Boston.
Speaker 2: Josh, let me hit a couple a couple of quick
Speaker 2: issues and then I want to give folks an opportunity
Speaker 2: to to talk. Well, we'll get to phone calls right
Speaker 2: after nine thirty. We have full lines. A couple of things.
Speaker 2: Bike lanes. I feel strongly about bike lanes. I was
Speaker 2: told by State Senator Nick Collins of South Boston. I
Speaker 2: think that the city has spent one hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: one million dollars installing bike lanes there everywhere. But what's
Speaker 2: your thought on bike lanes?
Speaker 3: Well, thanks, Jan, Well, let me first say I am
Speaker 3: not against bike lanes. I'm all for bike lanes. However,
Speaker 3: four bike lanes that are put down and installed in
Speaker 3: the thoughts away that does not lead to congestions for pedestrians, bikers,
Speaker 3: cars and buses. And you know, from everywhere I go,
Speaker 3: whether it's I hear about the bike lanes from seniors, families,
Speaker 3: folks and the say, you know, disabled folks, small business
Speaker 3: owners and a lot of people and a lot of
Speaker 3: their issues that they can't move around the city the
Speaker 3: way they used to. Especially small businesses are feeling it.
Speaker 3: And you know, to see a proliferation of bike lanes
Speaker 3: without really a direction of a thought out plan on
Speaker 3: how to put them down is concerning. And a lot
Speaker 3: of people who have expressed consternation with that or whatever
Speaker 3: they're not they don't feel really listened to or heard
Speaker 3: with it. And then one hundred and twenty million dollars
Speaker 3: and in a sort of haphazard not that out planned,
Speaker 3: it's not a great way to do it, but I
Speaker 3: want to want sorry, I just want to end up.
Speaker 3: I think I do support bike lanes, but just done
Speaker 3: in a thoughtful, correct way.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I tell you, if you ever take a walk on
Speaker 2: Center Street in West Roxbury from the Holy Dame Circle
Speaker 2: to uh, the business people out there are just beside themselves.
Speaker 2: But but that's I'm sure you'll have an opportunity to
Speaker 2: do that. Also, let's talk about White Stadium, and I
Speaker 2: know that the people are saying, wow, you know it.
Speaker 4: Was a prep family.
Speaker 2: They're maybe they're trying to build a soccer stadium in
Speaker 2: every conflict of interest. You pretty much dealt with that
Speaker 2: the other day. But want to address that issue and
Speaker 2: also address why White Stadium is being destroyed At this point,
Speaker 2: I had someone on the other end who was telling
Speaker 2: me that scores of beautiful trees are being uprooted near
Speaker 2: White Stadium in order to provide parking spaces. My understanding
Speaker 2: is a lot of the community there is pretty upset
Speaker 2: with what's going on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, and that really goes to my thoughts
Speaker 3: and feelings on White Stadium. The first, I think the
Speaker 3: project needs a pause, a hard pause, for two reasons.
Speaker 3: And you just captured one the folks most impacted, the
Speaker 3: folks that live around it. The majority have expressed real
Speaker 3: and genuine concerns with what's going on there and how
Speaker 3: it impacts them and their quality of life. You got
Speaker 3: to listen to that, you got to hear that, you
Speaker 3: got understand it. And the second part is, you know,
Speaker 3: when you spend one hundred million dollars and maybe more
Speaker 3: than that, when a public when a city spends that
Speaker 3: much money of public money, tax dollars on a project
Speaker 3: that primarily benefits a private entity, I think you've really
Speaker 3: got to look at it balanced out, especially with the
Speaker 3: the communities concerns, the most impacted community folks concerns with it,
Speaker 3: and you really got to think it out and take
Speaker 3: community concerns seriously and the amount of money you're spending seriously.
Speaker 3: So again, I think a hard pause is needed on
Speaker 3: the project.
Speaker 2: My guess is Josh Kraft running from mayor. Certainly the
Speaker 2: family name needs no introduction, but this is hopefully an
Speaker 2: introduction for all of you to talk and ask him
Speaker 2: a question, to make a comment. We'll take a very
Speaker 2: quick break for the news at the bottom of the hour,
Speaker 2: and Josh will be taking your phone calls. I'm going
Speaker 2: to try to stay out of it, but I'm going
Speaker 2: to ask all.
Speaker 4: Of you not to make speeches.
Speaker 2: Ask a question about something that concerns you, formulate it
Speaker 2: in your mind, and give him a chance to respond back.
Speaker 2: On Night's Side, the lines are full right after.
Speaker 1: This, It's Night Side Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2: We're going to try to get as many questions and
Speaker 2: answers in. My guest is Josh Kraft running from mayor
Speaker 2: of Boston announced on Tuesday. Appreciate him spending the time
Speaker 2: with us tonight. Let's go to Brighton first and talk
Speaker 2: with Glenn. Glenn, you were first tonight with the candidate
Speaker 2: for mayor, Josh Craft. Your question of comment, Glenn, I had.
Speaker 5: A quick comment and a quick question. My comment is
Speaker 5: it sounds like you're trying to lible Democrat each other.
Speaker 5: I mean green schools and rent control and what's the
Speaker 5: quest question? My question is what's your view on police
Speaker 5: like I don't believe in defunding them, which is why
Speaker 5: I voted for her opponent in the last election.
Speaker 7: Or niece George, great question, Yeah, a public safety is
Speaker 7: essential to this city and I would never defund the police.
Speaker 5: You got my vote, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Thanks, thanks, thank you appreciate it. That's a that's
Speaker 2: a quick question and a direct answer. I think that's important. Thanks,
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Glenn held on a long time, asked
Speaker 2: that question. Next up Bill in Boston, Bill, you were
Speaker 2: next on Nightsager, right ahead.
Speaker 8: Good evening, Dan Gatti, I'm the sigatore. I wanted to
Speaker 8: comment that in the previous mayor election. Then Janey into
Speaker 8: the race late three months after Walsh was named to
Speaker 8: be the Lafe secorate for Joe Biden, and that caused
Speaker 8: a split in the Black vote in Boston. Had she
Speaker 8: not gotten in late, Andrew Campbell would likely have become
Speaker 8: the mayor. I have a question for Josh, and my
Speaker 8: question is in working with the young people and the
Speaker 8: boys and Girls clubs in Boston and Chelsea, what did
Speaker 8: you learn about the circumstances of their families as they
Speaker 8: faced living in such an increasingly expensive city as Boston, the.
Speaker 3: Circumstances where they had to rely on you know, well,
Speaker 3: I'll talk to to the Boys and Girls club. Maybe
Speaker 3: it's just both parents might be working. If there was
Speaker 3: only one parent in the house, that parent was working,
Speaker 3: and you could see, you know, they'd hustle. You know,
Speaker 3: we were serving dinners, so it made it easier for
Speaker 3: a lot of parents that were working full time, whether
Speaker 3: I said both parents or if it's a single parent,
Speaker 3: and you could see with some families how there was.
Speaker 3: It was always a hustle. I got to get here
Speaker 3: because I got to get this done. I got to
Speaker 3: get here, got to get this done. And for whatever,
Speaker 3: you know, rushing to get things done, knowing that constant
Speaker 3: pressure and stress, and I'd hope that working through the
Speaker 3: Boys and Girls Club, we were taking some of that away,
Speaker 3: providing not just activities for kids, but access to opportunities
Speaker 3: for them in their future. So that's what I learned.
Speaker 3: I could see the stress that some families had with it,
Speaker 3: and I hope that our organization when I was there,
Speaker 3: and other Gray organizations across the city, whether it's the
Speaker 3: Why or wherever, could help ease some of that stress.
Speaker 8: Knowing that you don't have to do this. I want
Speaker 8: to say thank you for running for mayor of Boston.
Speaker 8: Thank you very much, Bill.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you called great, gracious, thank you. Okay, we're
Speaker 2: going to go next to Paul in Boston. Paul you
Speaker 2: were next on Night Side with Meryl Kennedy.
Speaker 4: Josh Kraft, good evening.
Speaker 3: Hello, Uh.
Speaker 6: I'm calling it.
Speaker 3: I'm calling because, uh.
Speaker 9: Do you hear me?
Speaker 4: We heard?
Speaker 9: Okay, Okay, this is not a trick question or anything, Josh.
Speaker 9: You get a lot going on, and it's early in
Speaker 9: this contest. But I'm just curious if I had a
Speaker 9: conversation with a former mayor was going on to do
Speaker 9: some other things. And he's happy what he's doing.
Speaker 3: He's a friend.
Speaker 9: But uh, I we well, Carver, I thing about president politics,
Speaker 9: and I just said, I drive through the city, Maddie,
Speaker 9: and I see three No, I said, I said, I see,
Speaker 9: I see very few tower cranes. He looked right at
Speaker 9: me and said, Paul, there are three in the sky
Speaker 9: right now of Boston. Those are guy's not the mayor anymore,
Speaker 9: and he knows and takes years before a tower crane
Speaker 9: will even be erected to put a new building up.
Speaker 9: Do you have any idea of how you might be
Speaker 9: able to change this, because it's a it's a big
Speaker 9: giant project. But and my other comment is.
Speaker 4: Why don't we take them one at a time? Please, Paul,
Speaker 4: Let's take them one Josh.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and.
Speaker 3: I know the mayor, the ex mayor you were talking to,
Speaker 3: is the best you know, and a good guy. I
Speaker 3: learned a great guy and I learned a lot from
Speaker 3: him when I was running boys and girls clubs. And yeah,
Speaker 3: I know we we got to get cranes and cranes
Speaker 3: in the sky, but people to work, which also means
Speaker 3: somehow reimagining our downtown and bringing life back to our
Speaker 3: downtown as well. And I will work with business folks,
Speaker 3: other folks, the chamber whoever to figure out ways to
Speaker 3: get those things moving again in the best possible way.
Speaker 4: Oh you said you had one on the quick point,
Speaker 4: make it quickly, because they got a whole bunch of
Speaker 4: go ahead.
Speaker 9: I like to say, Josh, because you know Einstein said
Speaker 9: that people can find a problem for resolution. But there's
Speaker 9: a guy that's giving up his adult working life to
Speaker 9: be a coalition builder. And I own a business at
Speaker 9: Hyde Park. I can't vote to have I don't live
Speaker 9: in the city anymore. But I think some people bussy.
Speaker 9: Josh needs your head examined to go on a twenty
Speaker 9: four to seven job, for you could do admittedly many
Speaker 9: other things that make a lot more money and you're
Speaker 9: right here rolling up your sleeves, so I wish you'd
Speaker 9: love the best.
Speaker 2: Well, you're able to make campaign contributions, Paul, even though
Speaker 2: you don't live in Boston to the candidacy.
Speaker 4: You understand that, right, Yes, yes, sir, Okay, thanks having Paul,
Speaker 4: Thanks Paul, appreciate it. All right, let me get one
Speaker 4: in here.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to take people primarily from Boston, but I'm
Speaker 2: going to get Matt in Florida in real quickly.
Speaker 4: Matt, go right ahead.
Speaker 3: Uh yeah.
Speaker 6: My parents live in South Boston and they're too scared
Speaker 6: to ask this question, so they have a hand in this.
Speaker 6: Would you be willing to take a pledge that says
Speaker 6: your family will not build a soccer stadium while you
Speaker 6: are the mayor of Boston because a lot of people
Speaker 6: just think you're only doing this, you know, grease palms.
Speaker 6: Thank you, that's my only question.
Speaker 3: Thank you? All right, thanks.
Speaker 4: I don't understand that, but I don't know where he's
Speaker 4: coming fromwhere, God.
Speaker 3: Josh, let me just say this, when it comes to
Speaker 3: my family's business that's in front of the city, I
Speaker 3: would recuse myself from many in all decisions that impact
Speaker 3: my family's business. Or my family's business has impact on
Speaker 3: the city, I would refuse myself from that. That being said,
Speaker 3: you know I have I've had nothing to do with
Speaker 3: decisions made by the Craft Group for thirty plus years,
Speaker 3: and whether I'm the mayor of Bust or not, I'm
Speaker 3: confident that would continue on for the rest of my life.
Speaker 3: But let me be clear that I would recuse myself
Speaker 3: from any decisions that deal with my family's business that
Speaker 3: are in front of the city. So I can't I
Speaker 3: would not take that pledge, but I would refuse myself.
Speaker 4: I would also.
Speaker 2: Add I'm not an expert here, Josh, but I believe
Speaker 2: that the soccer stadium that's on the consideration will be
Speaker 2: built in effort, which is a separate community might be
Speaker 2: built in effort, which has nothing to do with Boston.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean there's a portion of it that is
Speaker 3: in Boston, a small portion, so I get that. And
Speaker 3: it also impacts transportation, you know, in the Charlestown as well,
Speaker 3: so I completely understand that.
Speaker 2: But I mean, okay, good hitch, let me get one more.
Speaker 2: David in San Francisco. David, You're next on a Night's Hiker.
Speaker 2: Right ahead, You're own Josh Kraft running from Ayor to Boston.
Speaker 10: Go ahead, David, Thank you Dan, and good luck to you.
Speaker 10: Mister Krafft.
Speaker 2: No, no, he's asking me how to spell my last name.
Speaker 2: Rob will gave you the correct spelling my last name. David,
Speaker 2: do you have a question for Josh.
Speaker 3: Yes i am.
Speaker 10: I'm out here in San Francisco on Weft Coast, and
Speaker 10: I'm just so far away from Boston politics. However, I
Speaker 10: do listen to WBZ all day and I was wondering
Speaker 10: if you have intentions of really fixing the MBTA.
Speaker 4: Great good question, as Yeah.
Speaker 3: Look, first I'd say that I think the current person,
Speaker 3: mister Phil Aang, has been really doing a great job,
Speaker 3: as good a job as I can remember A and B.
Speaker 3: It's really not a city issue at the state issue.
Speaker 3: So but I'd be happy. One of the things I've learned,
Speaker 3: I'd be more than happier. I would want to work
Speaker 3: with folks in the state, especially with the MBTA impact
Speaker 3: boss and to make it better, more efficient for people
Speaker 3: that need it.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 2: Also, by the way, David, you recently had a mayoral
Speaker 2: election in San Francisco where an incumbent mayor was turned
Speaker 2: out of office.
Speaker 10: Oh yes, I didn't follow that.
Speaker 2: Okay, I did, Thank you very much, David. Stay there, Robi,
Speaker 2: give you the correct spelling my last name. Maybe maybe
Speaker 2: David's going to send me, I don't know, a check
Speaker 2: in the mail.
Speaker 3: You never know, Josh your four thousand show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe you never know. The only lines open right
Speaker 2: now are six one, seven, nine thirty. A couple of
Speaker 2: lines there if you want to fill them up. We're
Speaker 2: going to get some more questions and comments and conversation
Speaker 2: with Josh Kraft Kennedy from mayor in Boston, he announced
Speaker 2: formally on Tuesday.
Speaker 4: Certainly at the end of this hour.
Speaker 2: Josh, I want to give you some time to sort
Speaker 2: of make a pitch and also give us the website
Speaker 2: where folks can get into touch with you and your campaign.
Speaker 3: But I have.
Speaker 2: Albertino coming up in Dorchester, Catherine in Boston, and more
Speaker 2: callers on the way. We're back on Night Side with
Speaker 2: my guest Josh Kraft right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: My guest is Josh Kraft. A lot of phone calls, Josh,
Speaker 2: let's keep them going. We're picking up the pace here.
Speaker 2: Catherine in Boston. Catherine, you're next time Nightsiger.
Speaker 11: Right ahead, Hi Dan, Hi, mister Kraft. I have a
Speaker 11: two part question. So I'm a lifelong resident. I'm a
Speaker 11: lifelong resident of Dorchester. I'm raising my two kids here.
Speaker 11: I wanted to know do you plan on keeping Boston
Speaker 11: a sanctuary city and will you cooperate with the federal
Speaker 11: governments plans for deportations?
Speaker 3: All right, thanks Catherine.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 3: First of all, what I am not for the mass
Speaker 3: deportations of undocumented immigrants. You know, I support the current
Speaker 3: stance because I spent my life in the cities and
Speaker 3: I came in contact with many of these families that
Speaker 3: were doing their best to live the right way. That
Speaker 3: being said, you know, I know Mayor Walsh signed the
Speaker 3: Trust Act or created the Trust Act when he was
Speaker 3: in office that that permitted Boston Police to work with
Speaker 3: federal ICE agents to arrest and deport undocumented violent criminals.
Speaker 3: So I stand by and support Mayor Walsh's Trust Act,
Speaker 3: and that's where I stand on that.
Speaker 4: Okay, Captain Hope. That helps, Thank you, Thank you very much,
Speaker 4: appreciate you here, good question. Next up.
Speaker 2: Albertino in Dorchester Albertino. Next on Nice Ob with Josh Kraft.
Speaker 3: Go right ahead, Albertino, thany Man, good night, and when's
Speaker 3: a craft? How are you today? I'm great. I have
Speaker 3: two questions for you. First, I want to tell you
Speaker 3: that Kate Ridian immigrant. I immigrated to Boston when I
Speaker 3: was fifteen, thirty nine years ago, and I love Boston
Speaker 3: and to the point where I want to I feel
Speaker 3: like you are the right person for this job. For
Speaker 3: a lot of reasons, I'm not gonna go. But my
Speaker 3: first question is about the high school that I went to,
Speaker 3: Madison Park. I don't know if you're familiar with the
Speaker 3: project to renovate Madison Park, which it was put on hold,
Speaker 3: and a lot of people are saying that the reason
Speaker 3: they put it on hold because of the White stagent.
Speaker 3: But if you win the election, what are you going
Speaker 3: to do about that project? That's our first question? Okay, okay,
Speaker 3: all right. So I don't know all the numbers, and
Speaker 3: I don't know if the money from the Madison project.
Speaker 3: I'm not saying it's not true. I just don't have
Speaker 3: the fact, so I can't comment on that. I can
Speaker 3: say that, you know, I think creating a more robust
Speaker 3: technical school job opportunities through Madison Park. Hopefully engaging with
Speaker 3: the unions in getting young people headed in that direction
Speaker 3: is something I support. And I know that we need
Speaker 3: to make Madison Park more impactful and stronger, and I'm
Speaker 3: all for that. I would like to sit with the
Speaker 3: folks that could help us do that, be it unions, teachers, educators,
Speaker 3: community folks and alumni like yourself.
Speaker 2: Let me, can I make a suggestin chentleman, Albertino, if
Speaker 2: you would like to leave your phone number with Rob
Speaker 2: and a daytime phone number, and Josh, if you get
Speaker 2: a chance to look into this, and maybe week two
Speaker 2: from now whatever you give you Artina a call back.
Speaker 4: That might work.
Speaker 2: Okay, perfect, Albertina will do that. We're gonna take your
Speaker 2: number and we'll get Rob will give it to Josh
Speaker 2: when he leaves, and then he'll look into this and
Speaker 2: I know he'll get back to you.
Speaker 3: Okay, Okay, I have another question for of course, Albertina.
Speaker 4: Let me do this. I gotta be fair.
Speaker 2: I've only given everybody one at a time, so I'm
Speaker 2: gonna get you some. Hopefully that's your most important question.
Speaker 2: Let me get going here real quickly. If I can
Speaker 2: I'm gonna ask Bishop right in Boston, Bishop.
Speaker 3: Go right ahead, new ye had damn that? Were you?
Speaker 4: Good? Bishop? We're tight on time, my friend, go ahead.
Speaker 12: Okay, all right here here's my question for the running
Speaker 12: mayor question about Blue Hill Avenue and the going back
Speaker 12: to the bike lane. Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester border
Speaker 12: right there across from Morton Street. Do we really need
Speaker 12: the bike lane? Oh my goodness, I don't see no
Speaker 12: one in that neighborhood riding bikes.
Speaker 5: So that's my question.
Speaker 3: Do Bishop right, so you said we really need one
Speaker 3: or we don't.
Speaker 4: No, he asked, do we really need one? Meeting, I
Speaker 4: don't think he's very much happy about that bike lane.
Speaker 12: No going in that neighborhood riding bikes.
Speaker 3: Okay, Yeah, Well, as I said, I'm not inti bike lane,
Speaker 3: but I think we need to do a hard talk
Speaker 3: on bike lane construction until we understand where they can
Speaker 3: be the most efficient and help the most bike riders
Speaker 3: as well as pedestrians and cars. So that also means
Speaker 3: that there's places that are congested and unsafe, then we
Speaker 3: have to look about, you know, removing them potentially in
Speaker 3: those areas.
Speaker 4: There's a great question, but I got two more.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna try to sneak in here, okay, And I'm
Speaker 2: with you, by the way, Bishop, I know that this
Speaker 2: is Dan Ray. I'm with you one thousand percent on
Speaker 2: that issue, my friend.
Speaker 3: You know that.
Speaker 4: Okay, Yes, sir, Thanks Bishop, talk to you soon. Okay.
Speaker 2: We're gonna try to get two in very quickly. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna ask Michael and Boston. Michael, please be as direct
Speaker 2: and quick as you can with Josh Kraft.
Speaker 4: Go ahead, Michael, sure.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 13: Do you have anything in mind, mister Craft to relieve
Speaker 13: the burden on taxpayers escalating taxis here in this a
Speaker 13: number two four or against reparations?
Speaker 5: Okay?
Speaker 3: For the first question, the tax relief, I think the
Speaker 3: first thing we have to do before we go for
Speaker 3: a home rule petition to shift tax burden is look
Speaker 3: at the budget ourselves an administration. I think over the
Speaker 3: last three years, the budget's grown twenty percent, three hundred
Speaker 3: new jobs ad it at six figures, and we need
Speaker 3: to you know, any I don't care if it's a
Speaker 3: municipal government, of business or a nonprofit. You always start
Speaker 3: before you do anything by looking at your budget, even
Speaker 3: in good times, and finding places where you can make savings,
Speaker 3: working with department heads to have them drill down and
Speaker 3: find out where they can make savings. Maybe it's with
Speaker 3: somebody's new jobs three hundred new jobs if Dan and
Speaker 3: as Dan said, one hundred and ten plus million dollars
Speaker 3: on bike lanes. Just looking at savings ourselves is one
Speaker 3: way to do that.
Speaker 2: That's a question on reparations. I assume he means reparations
Speaker 2: for the black community.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, and I've spoken to some folks about that.
Speaker 3: I know there's so many different ways of looking at it,
Speaker 3: but one of the things that I think is important
Speaker 3: is finding pathways to generational wealth. And that's something you know,
Speaker 3: I didn't mention early back at the beginning of this
Speaker 3: the twenty plus thousand new units we want to get
Speaker 3: moving that are permitted, creating a fund with the tax
Speaker 3: revenue that could create first time home buyers for workforce
Speaker 3: and affordable folks.
Speaker 2: Excellent, Well, thank you for your question. One final quick question, Amy,
Speaker 2: I'm going to get you in under the wire here.
Speaker 4: You gotta be quick. Amy is in Michigan.
Speaker 5: Go ahead, Amy, What is the deal.
Speaker 11: With the homeless population and what is your.
Speaker 3: Campaign going to.
Speaker 11: To help them?
Speaker 3: If anything?
Speaker 2: Okay, look, Josh, need a quick answer there. How concerned
Speaker 2: are you about the homeless population in Boston? That's Amy's
Speaker 2: question and what can be done?
Speaker 3: I'm concerned about it. One homeless person is one too many,
Speaker 3: and it's about bringing service providers, community leaders, health experts,
Speaker 3: mental health, substance abuse experts together to create a plan.
Speaker 3: And I know I could get more specific. I know
Speaker 3: we're running out of time, but.
Speaker 4: We certainly are. Josh.
Speaker 2: Look, let me just say this, You've given great answers.
Speaker 2: You were hit with questions from across and UH and
Speaker 2: you were honest enough to say you got to do
Speaker 2: some more research. So I hope you get back to
Speaker 2: Albertino in that.
Speaker 3: How can you get me Albertino's money? We can, we
Speaker 3: can money.
Speaker 4: Excuse me, his number, get his number, don't hang up first.
Speaker 2: First, I need your website where people can get in
Speaker 2: touch with you or help your campaign.
Speaker 3: Gosh for Boston dot com.
Speaker 4: Easy Josh from Boston dot com. Josh, Hopefully we.
Speaker 3: Will do this again, definitely, Zan and congratulations on your
Speaker 3: awesome career and four thousand shows.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much. Stay right there.
Speaker 2: Rob has Albertino's phone number for you, and we have
Speaker 2: the ten o'clock news coming, and we get back on
Speaker 2: and talk about his President Trump getting out over skis
Speaker 2: talking about Gossam. We'll be back on night Side right
Speaker 2: after the ten o'clock news. So the call is in
Speaker 2: the line, we should call it early, apologize,