Speaker 1: It's Nightside with Dan Ray on w BZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Well, welcome back everyone. There is a governor's race that
Speaker 2: is actually I think underway at this point, a little early,
Speaker 2: but never too early for politics. Here on Nightside, my
Speaker 2: name is Dan Ray, and I'm delighted to welcome one
Speaker 2: of the major candidates for governor here in Massachusetts, Mike Kanneely.
Speaker 2: Mike Kanneely, Welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 3: How are you, sir, Hey, Dan, I'm great, Thanks so
Speaker 3: much and great to be with you tonight.
Speaker 2: Well, thanks very much for joining us. We had another
Speaker 2: Republican on Tuesday night, Brian Shortsleeve, who is I think
Speaker 2: going to be a significant candidate for governor as you
Speaker 2: will be on the Republican side. And my sense is
Speaker 2: that the Republican Party might be a little stronger in
Speaker 2: this state in twenty twenty six than they have been
Speaker 2: in recent years. Do you get a sense the Republican
Speaker 2: Party is growing a little bit at this point?
Speaker 4: Well, I do, Dan.
Speaker 3: I'm proud of the fact that over the last couple
Speaker 3: of years, I've done a lot of work to support
Speaker 3: the party and make our party stronger and more competitive.
Speaker 3: So coming out of the Baker administration. In early twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three, I signed on its finance share for the
Speaker 3: party and spent two years raising money for the party
Speaker 3: to support the party and its candidates, investing significant amount
Speaker 3: of my own money in those races as well, and
Speaker 3: really getting the message out that we are a party
Speaker 3: that wants to compete, that needs to compete, and in
Speaker 3: a state where we're a strong majority independent state, I
Speaker 3: don't think those voters want one party rule. And so
Speaker 3: we are a state that's sixty five percent independent, but
Speaker 3: yet one party controls everything. So yes, I think the
Speaker 3: party is a lot stronger, a lot more motivated. And look,
Speaker 3: this is the governor. We just absolutely have to win.
Speaker 3: And I hear this every day around the state that
Speaker 3: governor heally is failing us in so many dimensions. So
Speaker 3: the party is stronger, the message is stronger, and this
Speaker 3: is a must win race for us. Will say, you know,
Speaker 3: I made this point before. I want to be governor
Speaker 3: of all the people, but I will be the Republican
Speaker 3: governor of all the people. I look forward to working
Speaker 3: with everyone to continue to make our parties strong at
Speaker 3: all levels. And the governor's off, Yeah, the governor's I
Speaker 3: was currently important. All races will be important as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. One of the themes of this program is
Speaker 2: that any state needs two competitive parties. I mean, if
Speaker 2: I was working in Utah, I would be advocating to
Speaker 2: strengthen the Democratic Party. We see in other states around
Speaker 2: New England. Event in New Hampshire, Christanunu, who, with all
Speaker 2: due respect to your former boss, Charlie Baker, I feel
Speaker 2: Christan Una was the best governor in the state. You
Speaker 2: have a different type of governor over in a little
Speaker 2: bit of a different flavored governor over in Virginia, Phil Scott.
Speaker 2: If you're elected to become governor, who would people identify
Speaker 2: you with? Would you be a more of a Christian
Speaker 2: Nunu or Phil Scott, Charlie Baker or I guess you
Speaker 2: could say of Mike Kanneely.
Speaker 3: Well, you know what, Dan, from the start, we've said
Speaker 3: we're not we're going to resist labels over the course
Speaker 3: of the campaign, and we're not going to articulate my
Speaker 3: campaign in the context of that of other politicians. I'm
Speaker 3: going to be out with my ideas, my vision for
Speaker 3: the state, informed by what the people of Massachusetts tell
Speaker 3: me every day, so that we view the race and
Speaker 3: how we view the issues in the campaign.
Speaker 2: Okay, so in terms of I hate the phrase thirty
Speaker 2: second elevated pitch, but give us some. If you meet
Speaker 2: someone in the street and they say, hey, I heard
Speaker 2: you on Night's Out of the Other Night, tell them
Speaker 2: our audience a little bit about yourself, your background, so
Speaker 2: we can just kind of frame who Mike Kannely is
Speaker 2: and then we can get to some issues.
Speaker 3: I'm happy to do it, Dan soo. Dan, I'm a
Speaker 3: son of Massachusetts, raised in Medford and Ready. My mom
Speaker 3: took care of kids. My dad was a member of
Speaker 3: the local steel workers union, put himself through nine years
Speaker 3: of night school, went on to become the CEO of
Speaker 3: Roach Brothers Supermarket. So I'm to grubbing. I watched my
Speaker 3: dad go from the factory for to the CEO suite.
Speaker 3: I learned hard work and determination and faith and family.
Speaker 3: And that's why I was raised. And I had a
Speaker 3: long career in business, in the private equity business for
Speaker 3: nineteen years, traveling the country to forty states, met with
Speaker 3: a thousand CEOs. Our firm invested in one hundred companies.
Speaker 3: We built businesses, we created jobs. But I decided a
Speaker 3: dozen years ago. What I really wanted to do was
Speaker 3: serve the people of Massachusetts, and so that's what I've
Speaker 3: done the last twelve years, full time public service to
Speaker 3: the commonwealth. I spent two years in Lawrence, Walking working
Speaker 3: on the turnaround of the public school district. Over the
Speaker 3: course of twenty thirteen and fourteen, we cut the size
Speaker 3: of the bureaucracy by forty percent. We put those dollars
Speaker 3: in the classroom. We brought parents and teachers and community
Speaker 3: members together, and we increased the high school graduation rate
Speaker 3: from fifty two percent to seventy two percent. And then
Speaker 3: spent eight years in state government, four years as the
Speaker 3: Cabinet Secretary, learned how to the same approach and that role,
Speaker 3: streamlining programs be more efficient with the taxpayer dollars, and
Speaker 3: working with business and government and community leaders all across
Speaker 3: the state to get things done. We built infrastructure, we
Speaker 3: introduced new workforce skills programs, made sure we stayed number
Speaker 3: one in the innovation economy. We reopened to our economy
Speaker 3: and supported our small businesses. In the last couple of years,
Speaker 3: in addition to my work for the Republican Party, which
Speaker 3: we touched on, I spent two years of Boys and
Speaker 3: Girls Clubs of Boston and in that work, it was
Speaker 3: helping me in Roxbury, Dorchester, Manipan, Chelsea, and South Boston
Speaker 3: basically to do better at school and do better in life.
Speaker 3: So we introduced academic support programs for those workforce readiness programs.
Speaker 3: And so what ould argument It should be that I'm
Speaker 3: the only person in this race with this kind of
Speaker 3: a launch track record both in business and public service.
Speaker 3: And that's what we're going to need as a Republican
Speaker 3: nominee to defeat Governor Healey and the campaign. We've articulated
Speaker 3: three priority Affordability, opportunity, and better government. Happy to touch
Speaker 3: on any one of all of those, but Governor Heally
Speaker 3: Governor Heally's list in all those dimensions, and I've got
Speaker 3: strategies and policies in place to help us reverse the
Speaker 3: course there. So you know, affordability, I've been thinking about
Speaker 3: this DAN as a day one agenda. Okay, so take
Speaker 3: affordability day one. We need real strategies to address a
Speaker 3: housing crist We're not producing enough housing.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: We have to work with our cities and towns to
Speaker 3: help them produce the housing they want. Governor Healey's idea
Speaker 3: is to threaten and mandate and sue our cities and towns.
Speaker 3: That's not appropriate or helpful. We need real strategies around
Speaker 3: the cost of energy. I said for a long time now.
Speaker 3: Governor Heally does not have an energy policy. She has
Speaker 3: a climate agenda, which is making our energy a lot
Speaker 3: more expensive. So all those charges and gimmicks on our
Speaker 3: energy bills to facilitate a so called green energy transition,
Speaker 3: you know that stuff has to go away and we
Speaker 3: need a lot gert supply of energy after we have
Speaker 3: a governor now that's that's briged about shutting down natural
Speaker 3: gas pipelines. And taxes are too high, but this governor
Speaker 3: continues to propose new forms of taxation, whether it's candy,
Speaker 3: prescription drugs, reducing charitable deductions, taxes at the local level.
Speaker 3: So we will have day one strategies around addressing the
Speaker 3: cost of living around here in meaningful ways.
Speaker 2: You mentioned housing real quickly. The MBTA Communities Act that
Speaker 2: was signed by Charlie Baker, as I'm sure you know,
Speaker 2: implemented by Governor Healy and threatened by Attorney of Communities
Speaker 2: being threatened by Attorney General. Yeah, what would happen to
Speaker 2: the MBTA Communities Act under a you know, Mike Kenney governorship.
Speaker 3: Well, what we get back to is the same kind
Speaker 3: of collaborative leadership we had before. I mentioned before traveling
Speaker 3: all the ground all around the state as a Cabinet secretary,
Speaker 3: I went to one hundred and fifty one cities in towns,
Speaker 3: and it was all about working with them to help
Speaker 3: them get things done they wanted to get done. It
Speaker 3: wasn't about mandating things. It certainly wasn't about threats and lawsuits.
Speaker 3: And local control is really important around here. We have
Speaker 3: three to fifty one cities and towns and by law,
Speaker 3: by culture, by jradition, they get to decide what happens
Speaker 3: within their city in town and so we viewed MBTA
Speaker 3: Communities as something that could be a flexible framework or
Speaker 3: a tool in the toolbox for our cities and towns.
Speaker 3: And this administration has taken us a long way from that.
Speaker 3: They've doubled down on mandates and threats and lawsuits and
Speaker 3: made it something very inflexible. So we would get back
Speaker 3: to the same kind of collaborative leadership we had. You know,
Speaker 3: it was our view that we're in a housing crisis
Speaker 3: and we need more housing. But for us, it was
Speaker 3: all about easing the path at the local level. We
Speaker 3: had a Zoni reform called Housing Choice, which lowered that
Speaker 3: local approval threshold from two thirds supermajority down to a
Speaker 3: simple majority, and that was consistent with our view of
Speaker 3: the problem. Let's create an easier path to work with
Speaker 3: cities and towns, not mandate things. And I think what's
Speaker 3: happened now is Governor Healey and the Attorney General let's
Speaker 3: weaponize this against our cities and towns. And that's not
Speaker 3: appropriate or helpful.
Speaker 2: We have a lot to cover. We got to take
Speaker 2: a quick break. My guess he's Mike an Eely, Republican
Speaker 2: running for governor here in Massachusetts. We're going to talk
Speaker 2: a little bit about the report, the reform report issued
Speaker 2: yesterday by the state auditor about the way the Healy
Speaker 2: administration dealt with the emergency shelter crisis from twenty twenty
Speaker 2: one through twenty three. I'll also I have a couple
Speaker 2: of other questions. We have full phone line, so you
Speaker 2: can hold off on calling at the moment, folks. As
Speaker 2: soon as the phone lines start to clear, we'll get
Speaker 2: to callers as quickly as possible. It's more important for
Speaker 2: you and a chance to talk to Mike Knely than
Speaker 2: it is for me to talk to him. And we'll
Speaker 2: take phone calls after just really one question on the
Speaker 2: state auditor's issue, not only to audit the state legislature
Speaker 2: where she's running into a brick wall, but also your
Speaker 2: reaction to her to her report. She's a Democrat. Yeah,
Speaker 2: she's probably, in fact, the most progressive in the best
Speaker 2: sense of the word democrat in Massachusetts. We'll take a
Speaker 2: quick break. We'll be back with Mike Kanneely, Republican Canady
Speaker 2: for governor, right after this.
Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm w Z
Speaker 1: Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: My guest is Mike Kaneely. He's a Republican running for governor. Mike,
Speaker 2: the efforts by the state auditor to audit the legislature,
Speaker 2: it seems to me seventy two percent of the public,
Speaker 2: lots of Republicans, lots of Democrats, and lots of independence
Speaker 2: want that audit to occur. The Democratic leadership in the
Speaker 2: House and Senate is basically stonewalling the state auditor. Your
Speaker 2: reaction to her efforts there and also your reaction to
Speaker 2: the report the seventy four page report yesterday that I
Speaker 2: thought was a scathing rebuke of how the Healey administration
Speaker 2: had handled the housing crisis when the immigration situation seemed
Speaker 2: to overwhelm them here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it sure was. Dan. Let me just
Speaker 3: say I mentioned one of the three elements of our
Speaker 3: platform is the government you can believe in, and you
Speaker 3: cannot believe in a government that's not accountable and they
Speaker 3: can't manage a crisis and so on. The auditor, as
Speaker 3: you mentioned, seventy two percent of the voters said they
Speaker 3: wanted that audit, and all of Beacon Hill, including Governor
Speaker 3: Healey and the Attorney General, were basically saying they don't
Speaker 3: care about what the people said, and they're pushing back
Speaker 3: on it. And I was proud not only to vote
Speaker 3: for that, I'm on the seventy two percent. I think
Speaker 3: I'm personally a top five donor to that ballot question.
Speaker 3: I donated ten thousand dollars to it. And this just
Speaker 3: has to happen. This is not appropriate. But one of
Speaker 3: the great lessons in public life is listened to the people.
Speaker 3: And on the second part of your question, what came
Speaker 3: out this week highlights the importance of audits because she
Speaker 3: did a very thorough job auditing the shelter system and
Speaker 3: Governor Heal's response the migrant crisis. And look where she uncovered.
Speaker 3: I mean, three billion dollars we think of spending and housing, transportation,
Speaker 3: no bid contracts to donors. There's another reports about just
Speaker 3: horrific criminal incidents that happened in the shelter system. So
Speaker 3: I would say, in response to both parts of your question,
Speaker 3: it is in my view shameful that Beacon Hill is
Speaker 3: pushing back on what the people have said they want.
Speaker 3: And so it came out this week with the audit,
Speaker 3: shows the importance of audits, and so good for the
Speaker 3: auditor for pursuing both those and I mentioned, you know
Speaker 3: day one things in response to both parts of your question.
Speaker 3: Day one, I will support the auditor to get that
Speaker 3: audit done if it hasn't been done already. In day one,
Speaker 3: I'll declare that we're not a sanctuary state and will
Speaker 3: have local state and county law enforcement working with the
Speaker 3: Feds to get the criminals out of our shelters, off
Speaker 3: our streets, and out of our state. That has to happen,
Speaker 3: But this is a crisis that has been badly mismanaged
Speaker 3: by the Heally administration. It's an example, a perfect example
Speaker 3: of very poor bismal crisis leadership and management. Good for
Speaker 3: the auditor for bringing that to the four.
Speaker 2: One of the things that was extraordinary the audit was
Speaker 2: that no big taxicab contract was given to a really
Speaker 2: centrally located cab company out at the far end of
Speaker 2: Cape cod Truro. They charged one hundred and forty dollars.
Speaker 2: If I've read that report correctly, and I think I have.
Speaker 2: For everyone who looked for a cab when the cab
Speaker 2: rolled up to pick someone up, whether it was one
Speaker 2: hundred yards away from Truro or or wherever, that was
Speaker 2: one hundred and forty dollars just to get the meter started.
Speaker 5: I know.
Speaker 3: Look, I've been part of I've been part of managing
Speaker 3: businesses and managing a cabinet secretariat and this is not
Speaker 3: how to manage anything. And in response to some some
Speaker 3: really bad stuff that happened in the shelters and Governor
Speaker 3: Healer's response was things will happen, and I think that's
Speaker 3: three where create sums up a lot of ratitude. Things
Speaker 3: will happen, some very bad things happen both fiscally and criminally. Frankly,
Speaker 3: and again, good for the auditor for shining to light
Speaker 3: and all this stuff. This is why you need audits,
Speaker 3: and this is day one stuff for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Then we're going to go to phone calls because
Speaker 2: we have full, full lines and I want to talk.
Speaker 2: I love to give people an opportunity to chat with
Speaker 2: my guests. We're going to start it off with Claire
Speaker 2: in Concord, Massachusetts. Claire, appreciate your calling in. You are
Speaker 2: on with Mike Kinneely, Republican candidate for governor. To go ahead, Claire.
Speaker 2: Well that's a slow start, so we'll put Claire on hold.
Speaker 2: Let's go to Elizabeth in Dorchester. Elizabeth, you've been waiting
Speaker 2: almost as long as Claire. Go right, Go right ahead, Elizabeth.
Speaker 6: Yes, good evening. Then my question for mister Kanneely is,
Speaker 6: communities like Roxbury and Dorchester have been ignored for years.
Speaker 6: I know people who've experienced homelessness there, and did you
Speaker 6: get the help they needed yet? The Ballina cast Reccent
Speaker 6: was turned into a migrant shelter. How would you uplift
Speaker 6: communities like these?
Speaker 3: Well, it's a great question. I appreciate it. First of all,
Speaker 3: I've worked in those communities. I mentioned my work at
Speaker 3: Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston and Compass, Roxbury, Georchester, Mattapan, Chelsea,
Speaker 3: and South Boston. I've seen some of this up close.
Speaker 3: And your example about the rec Center becoming a migrant shelter,
Speaker 3: and they can use the word shameful once already that
Speaker 3: is shameful, and it does highlight the fact that these
Speaker 3: communities have been ignored. One of the things I'm most
Speaker 3: passionate about in my public service is equality of opportunity.
Speaker 3: We've got to make sure all communities, all people of
Speaker 3: their chance at success. And so I look at opportunity
Speaker 3: gaps in a couple of respects. One is academically now,
Speaker 3: only about forty percent of all of our students at
Speaker 3: all Gray levels can read and write at Gray level
Speaker 3: forty percent, But that is twenty percent for our black
Speaker 3: and Latino students in Massachusetts, and they're being outpaced on
Speaker 3: that same national test by the piers in Mississippi, Georgia,
Speaker 3: and Florida. That is not appropriate. We have to get
Speaker 3: back to closing some of these opportunity gaps and making
Speaker 3: sure we're addressing academic achievement across all the great levels
Speaker 3: across all people. I also point to gaps around life expectancy.
Speaker 3: You know, the life expectancy of a back Bay resident
Speaker 3: is ninety two years. Of a Roxbury resident it's sixty
Speaker 3: nine years.
Speaker 7: Now.
Speaker 3: It doesn't take one law to get from Roxbury to
Speaker 3: the back Bay, but that is a twenty three year
Speaker 3: life expectancy difference. And so we need better education, better
Speaker 3: professional opportunities for our kids in those communities, better healthcare.
Speaker 3: And the good news is I spent time in those
Speaker 3: communities to understand the needs and the opportunities frankly, way
Speaker 3: better than Governor heally does. And so I appreciate the question,
Speaker 3: but that'll be a huge priority for me as Governor Elizabeth.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much for your question, Thank you for
Speaker 2: your patience. I want to ask you a question that
Speaker 2: comes to mind recently. In Hyde Park, which is part
Speaker 2: of Boston, obviously, there was a five year old boy
Speaker 2: who got off a school bus and within a matter
Speaker 2: of seconds he was run over by that school bus. Now,
Speaker 2: I'm sure you've heard the story. The bus allegedly, the
Speaker 2: bus driver allegedly had been in an accident a little
Speaker 2: earlier in the afternoon side swiping a couple of cars,
Speaker 2: I believe in Mattapan it has now been over three
Speaker 2: weeks and we know very little. We have not heard
Speaker 2: much from the mayor. And now again, I know you're
Speaker 2: not running against the mayor, but this is a democratically
Speaker 2: controlled city, a democratic district attorney, a police commission appointed
Speaker 2: by a democratic mayor. My theory, Mike, and I'd love
Speaker 2: to know if you buy into this theory, is that
Speaker 2: if there was tragically a child at the age of
Speaker 2: five run over by a bus in Wellesley, Weston Whaland
Speaker 2: or Winchester, I think we'd know a lot more about
Speaker 2: the cause of the accident, the status of the bus driver,
Speaker 2: the circumstances that led up to the accident. Then yeah,
Speaker 2: we've heard about this little boy in Boston, and to me,
Speaker 2: that just reeks of a city of Boston that does
Speaker 2: not care about not only if they don't care about
Speaker 2: the youngest in their community, how did they care about
Speaker 2: anyone in their community.
Speaker 3: Well, again, I agree with that, and these communities have
Speaker 3: been north and I think it does speak to the
Speaker 3: fact that there's a leadership opportunity for a publican governor
Speaker 3: to speak out against these things, and yet we're talking
Speaker 3: about the city of Boston, not the Commonwealth. But we've
Speaker 3: got one party rule across city and state right now,
Speaker 3: and there's simply not enough accountability. Now'll give you another example.
Speaker 3: The state was in a law negotiation with Boston about
Speaker 3: Boston Public Schools and put them into a They didn't
Speaker 3: put him in receivership, but they put him in kind
Speaker 3: of a plan where performance is monitored, and that terminated
Speaker 3: without any real increase in performance, and the healthy administration
Speaker 3: just let Boston Public Schools off the hook. That is
Speaker 3: not acceptable, and so we need to have strong Republican
Speaker 3: leadership in the Corner office in the State House to
Speaker 3: point things like this out and to speak up against
Speaker 3: this one party rule.
Speaker 2: My guest is Mike Knneely. He's a Republican candidate running
Speaker 2: for governor. We'll continue our conversation with him and with callers.
Speaker 2: And by the way, I think what might have happened
Speaker 2: with that first caller. Folks, listen to the program through
Speaker 2: your telephone. There is a ten second delay. So if
Speaker 2: you were sitting across the room and you're listening on
Speaker 2: a speakerphone, we will call for you and you won't
Speaker 2: be there, So please hold on to that telephone and listen.
Speaker 2: Listen to us through the phone, not on your speakerphone,
Speaker 2: particularly if it's halfway across the road. Back on Nights
Speaker 2: Out with Mike Kenealy right after this.
Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on WA Austin's
Speaker 1: News Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, let's keep rolling here. My guest is Mike Kanely,
Speaker 2: Republican running for governor of Massachusetts. There will be a primary.
Speaker 2: He is facing a candidate that we had with us
Speaker 2: on Tuesday night, Brian short Sleeve, And I think the
Speaker 2: Republican Party has two very qualified, experienced candidates, one of
Speaker 2: whom is likely to end up facing the incumbent mar Heally. Mike.
Speaker 2: One question I asked Brian shortly the other night is
Speaker 2: are you committed to support the winner of the primary,
Speaker 2: whether it is you or someone else?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Sure, absolutely.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's a pretty straight in. So let's keep rover here.
Speaker 2: Going to go to Henry and Quincy. Henry, you're next
Speaker 2: on Night Side with Mike Kaneely. Go right ahead, Henry.
Speaker 4: Hey, Dan, longtime listener, first time caller.
Speaker 2: Hey, we gotta give you, We're got to give you
Speaker 2: a ride of the clause is a first time call here,
Speaker 2: if you go right ahead.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that.
Speaker 8: Dan.
Speaker 3: Well, Hey, Mike, I'm wondering what's something that you're most
Speaker 3: proud of of the Baker administration and something do you
Speaker 3: feel like the administration may have fallen short? Well, I
Speaker 3: think in terms of the economy and our management of
Speaker 3: the budget. You look at those two things together. During
Speaker 3: the Bigger administration, they were two hundred thirty thousand new
Speaker 3: jobs created in Massachusetts, and we have budget surpluses. We
Speaker 3: actually returned three billion dollars to the tax period during
Speaker 3: that period of time. Contrast that in the Heally administration,
Speaker 3: we are fiftieth among the fifty states in job growth
Speaker 3: over the last couple of years. I think I read
Speaker 3: recently we've lost about twenty five thousand private sector jobs
Speaker 3: but added ten thousand government jobs. That's not where we
Speaker 3: need to go in terms of our economy. And the
Speaker 3: budget is similarly understrained. You know, the budget this year
Speaker 3: is going to cost sixty one billion dollars. A dozen
Speaker 3: years ago it was thirty billion dollars. And so the
Speaker 3: Heally administration has us not a track where the budget's
Speaker 3: growing taxes are growing. Our economy is slowing down, and
Speaker 3: that's going to create enormous problems for us going forward
Speaker 3: as a state. So this theme of great opportunity everybody
Speaker 3: and means having leaner, more effective government, more fiscal discipline,
Speaker 3: and much more robust job growth. We're not seeing that,
Speaker 3: I think in terms of the Baker administration generally, look,
Speaker 3: I think you have to say the m bt A.
Speaker 3: I think there's been a month a number of instances
Speaker 3: that happened during the eight years of the Baker administration.
Speaker 3: It seems to me that GM now is doing a
Speaker 3: pretty good job getting that system turned around. So those
Speaker 3: are the two things I point to the combination of
Speaker 3: fiscal management and the strong economy to let the strong
Speaker 3: job growth and budget surpluses on the one hand, and
Speaker 3: in terms of a deficiency, if you will, I think
Speaker 3: the manage public transit.
Speaker 2: Henry, appreciate you.
Speaker 3: You get my full support.
Speaker 2: Thanks, Ny, appreciate you go.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much.
Speaker 2: Connor in Rubert Connor, you were next time I said
Speaker 2: with Mike Connelly Kennely.
Speaker 9: Hey, thanks for taking my call down. My grandmother listening
Speaker 9: to your show every night for a long time. So
Speaker 9: I think should be pretty happy to hear me calling tonight.
Speaker 2: Well, I hope it. I hope it continues in the
Speaker 2: family here, Connor go right.
Speaker 9: I'm carrying on the legacy. Thank you, Mike. My question
Speaker 9: for you is, you know it's no secret More Hilly
Speaker 9: have tarblele relationship with President Trump. I'm curious, how do
Speaker 9: you think that impacts Massachusetts and how you would work
Speaker 9: with the president.
Speaker 3: That's a great question. Look, Governor Heally built her career
Speaker 3: by suing President Trump during her time as Attorney General,
Speaker 3: and when things happen to Washington that she doesn't like,
Speaker 3: she goes on TV and protest about it. And so
Speaker 3: we don't have the kind of relationship with President Trump
Speaker 3: that we ought to have as a state. And so
Speaker 3: what I would do is look to work with the president,
Speaker 3: work with anybody to help move our state forward. And
Speaker 3: I said before, when bad things happen, more Heally says,
Speaker 3: get me on TV, I would say, get me on
Speaker 3: a plane.
Speaker 7: I'd want to.
Speaker 3: Go down to Washington and meet with the President and
Speaker 3: his team and make the case for Massachusetts and have
Speaker 3: a collaborative relationship. But again, we have a governor now
Speaker 3: that made her career serving as the opposition to the President,
Speaker 3: and that's not going to set us up for a
Speaker 3: productive dialogue going forward.
Speaker 2: Color appreciate you call.
Speaker 3: Thank you much, Thanks, thank you, have a great night.
Speaker 2: Let me go to John in Boston. John, You're next
Speaker 2: on Nightside with Mike Kneely, Republican candidate running for governor.
Speaker 7: Hi Dan Hi. Mike, have a question about the MBTA
Speaker 7: Communities Act. I live in the City of Boston, but
Speaker 7: my parents they live out in the Metro West and
Speaker 7: they bought their home thirty five years ago, and now
Speaker 7: they're being designated as an MBTA community, and they're concerned
Speaker 7: about the hundreds of new housing developments that are going
Speaker 7: to come into the their town, and you know the
Speaker 7: impact that that's going to have on their taxes, the
Speaker 7: need for new schools, the new infrastructure. So I'm just wondering,
Speaker 7: you know, this bill was signed, and while you are
Speaker 7: the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, can you produce
Speaker 7: one document or one public statement from while you are
Speaker 7: a cabinet secretary thing that you were opposed to the
Speaker 7: MPT Communities Act.
Speaker 3: What I complaint to is the fact that when it
Speaker 3: passed and got handed to us legislature, we looked at
Speaker 3: it and said, how can we make this legislative mandate
Speaker 3: into a flexible tool in the toolbox for our cities
Speaker 3: and towns. And we worked relentlessly with a prodate range
Speaker 3: of stakeholders for months to create that framework, and by
Speaker 3: the time we left office, it didn't seem to make
Speaker 3: anybody have much of a problem with it. What's happened
Speaker 3: ince then, as I mentioned, is Governor Healy and the
Speaker 3: Attorney General have weaponized that against our communities. And so
Speaker 3: the concerns that you mentioned happening in that town. You know,
Speaker 3: it's the job of the governor to get out there
Speaker 3: and listen to those concerns. She's doubled down on mandates
Speaker 3: and threats and lawsuits, and it's been way too much
Speaker 3: lecturing and not enough listening. And so that's going to
Speaker 3: be my approach, and it's the approach I took a secretary.
Speaker 3: I traveled the state endlessly for four years to get
Speaker 3: stuff done, to listen and collaborate. And I don't think
Speaker 3: this governor really understands local control and how things get
Speaker 3: done around here. You don't get things done by ordering
Speaker 3: cities and towns to do things. You get things done
Speaker 3: by working with them. And so that is the approach
Speaker 3: I would take for the cities in towns. Hear their
Speaker 3: concerns and help them do what they want to do,
Speaker 3: versus tell them something that may not want.
Speaker 2: John appreciate your call. Nope, if he didn't want to say,
Speaker 2: go by, Let's go to Anthony in Boston. Anthony and Boston,
Speaker 2: you were next on Nightside. Go right ahead.
Speaker 4: Hi, Dan, I've been the longtime listener of your show,
Speaker 4: so I appreciate you for letting me on.
Speaker 2: You're very welcome first time calling.
Speaker 4: Yes it is.
Speaker 2: Well, we've got to give you a round of applause
Speaker 2: and my digital studio audience. Go right ahead. You're on
Speaker 2: with Mike and Eely. You get one of the Republican
Speaker 2: candidates for governor. Go ahead, Anthony.
Speaker 4: All right, Hi Mike. I'm a young college student living
Speaker 4: in Massachusetts, specifically in Boston, and honestly, I don't see
Speaker 4: a future living here. I was wondering what you would
Speaker 4: do to make the state more affordable for people like me,
Speaker 4: whether they're in college or they're just you know, a
Speaker 4: young adult who want to stay and raise the family.
Speaker 3: Oh don't go. Help is on the way. We got
Speaker 3: real solutions here. Look cost of living for us as
Speaker 3: a few different component. I mentioned housing, and I think
Speaker 3: it's unfortunate by the way I talked about a collaborative
Speaker 3: approach to help the cities and towns develop more housing.
Speaker 3: I think you mentioned to live in Boston. Boston has
Speaker 3: taken the opposite approach on this. I mean they have
Speaker 3: virtually shut down housing production of the city of Boston
Speaker 3: by mandating more affordability housing and so called inclusionary zoning programs,
Speaker 3: by trying to reenforce a much stricter green building code.
Speaker 3: This again is where the climate agenda gets in the
Speaker 3: way of the economic agenda, and so they've shut down production.
Speaker 3: And over the last I think decade or so, Boston
Speaker 3: has produced probably thirty percent of all the housing produced statewide.
Speaker 3: And so when Boston's housing production shuts down, it as
Speaker 3: an incredibly detrimental effect in the overalls on the whole state.
Speaker 3: So we need real solutions for producing more housing. Supplying
Speaker 3: demands a real thing, and so housing prices are high
Speaker 3: because it's not enough supply. But we need real, practical
Speaker 3: collaborative solutions on that one. You know, the energy costs
Speaker 3: they mentioned it is again the green agenda driving upper
Speaker 3: energy cost is not helpful. We've got to get away
Speaker 3: from that and be serious about the cost of energy.
Speaker 3: I've made this point now publicly a few times that
Speaker 3: I don't believe that anybody in Governor Healer's administration who
Speaker 3: views it as their job to look after the cost
Speaker 3: of energy. I think there's plenty of people focus on
Speaker 3: the so called climate crisis, but not enough people focus
Speaker 3: on the nuts and bolts of government in trying to
Speaker 3: bring down the cost of energy. You mentioned also your
Speaker 3: future and the state. I mean, data is a function
Speaker 3: of having great schools and great economic opportunities, and so
Speaker 3: I'm very concerned about our academic performance as a state.
Speaker 3: I think I mentioned that don't think Governor Heals has
Speaker 3: an academic strategy. I think they're kind of I think
Speaker 3: we're just kind of drifting along and resting on our
Speaker 3: laurels as being the long standing number one in education
Speaker 3: while our scores declined, and she's managing our decline in education,
Speaker 3: not leading us forward. And I mentioned the economy as well.
Speaker 3: Our job growth is slowed. So my vision for state
Speaker 3: is one where we've got responsible, accountable government, lower spending,
Speaker 3: lower taxes, real strategies to manage our cost of living,
Speaker 3: great schools and great jobs and a state government that
Speaker 3: wants to work with everybody to make that happen and
Speaker 3: that it will create a much better future for us.
Speaker 3: So I hope you stick around, wait till January twenty
Speaker 3: twenty seven, and things are going to get better.
Speaker 2: Anthony. What school are you going to?
Speaker 4: I go to Stuffolk University.
Speaker 2: Good. Good for you. And are you from Boston originally
Speaker 2: or are you from you know, either out of New England
Speaker 2: or just simply outside of.
Speaker 4: Boston, originally from New Hampshire, originally.
Speaker 2: From New Hampshire. Okay, well, welcome to Boston, and thanks
Speaker 2: for listening to Night's Side. And I hope that you
Speaker 2: can the program more often because I really enjoy listening
Speaker 2: to young people with their ideas. So feel free to
Speaker 2: call any night. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I appreciate it. Dan, thank you, Mike, look forward
Speaker 4: to voting for you.
Speaker 3: All right, thanks you, thank you.
Speaker 2: Take a very quick break here, one more round. We
Speaker 2: got Al, Brad and James, we'll get all of you,
Speaker 2: and we have a couple of vote well, we only
Speaker 2: have one open line left and that's six one coming
Speaker 2: back on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Night Side Dan Ray, I'm bas Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: All right, let's keep rolling here. We're going to get
Speaker 2: as many folks in as we can. We have full lines.
Speaker 2: Let's go to Alan weston al next on Nightside.
Speaker 4: Go right ahead, Hi, how you doing today?
Speaker 10: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: You're welcome. Goright ahead, you're with Mike Kanely all.
Speaker 10: Right with with Governor Healy wanted to raise taxes on
Speaker 10: prescription drugs. And I don't want to be redundant with
Speaker 10: the costs of Massachusetts. But will you cut taxes to
Speaker 10: make the state more affordable?
Speaker 3: I will absolutely, And I think what happened with Governor
Speaker 3: Heally is obviously she's not set a tone within her
Speaker 3: administration about now new taxes and the need to cut taxes. Otherwise,
Speaker 3: these ideas with the surface. And I spent eight years
Speaker 3: inside state government. I know it operates. And the fact
Speaker 3: that she's come up with proposals on candy taxes, prescription drugs,
Speaker 3: letting municipal leaders raise taxes at the local level, reducing
Speaker 3: charitable deductions means that means she has empowered her team
Speaker 3: to go seek out new sources and revenue, and that's
Speaker 3: just not appropriate. And so it has to happen is
Speaker 3: we've got to recognize state government's doubled over the last
Speaker 3: decade or so and they keep wanting to raise taxes,
Speaker 3: and it really is up to the executive, the leader,
Speaker 3: to say, no, that's not going to happen. We're going
Speaker 3: to hold the line up spending. We're going to cut spending,
Speaker 3: and we're going to hold the line on taxes and
Speaker 3: try to cut taxes. And I have to believe when
Speaker 3: the budget goes from thirty to sixty one billion dollars,
Speaker 3: their efficiency is to be found. And I've done this before.
Speaker 3: I mentioned to Lawrence cut the size of the bureaucracy
Speaker 3: about forty percent. You know, we realized it actually wasn't
Speaker 3: that hard. If you're focused on it that way, you
Speaker 3: can get it done. Let's take the same approach. I
Speaker 3: take the same approach within my Secretary and Housing in
Speaker 3: Economic Development, streamlining programs, getting things done so that these
Speaker 3: are proven reforms that have lasted, and you need that approach,
Speaker 3: streamline reform state government, bring the spending down, that lets
Speaker 3: you bring taxes down and tell your team, under no circumstances,
Speaker 3: she did come to me with a proposal to raise
Speaker 3: taxes that's simply is not going to happen.
Speaker 2: You didn't mention her secretary of Transportation, is that Marcia
Speaker 2: Tippet's nuts, I believe is her name, who wanted to
Speaker 2: put in toll roads anywhere she could find an empty
Speaker 2: spot in Massachusetts, following along with the philosophy that there's
Speaker 2: only two things in the common wealth that are taxed
Speaker 2: as I'm sure you know, Mike, anything that moves and
Speaker 2: anything that doesn't move. So thank you very much.
Speaker 10: Al, you definitely have my support.
Speaker 3: Thank you, thanks so much. And the example bringing up
Speaker 3: is an example of administration that lacks discipline. There's no
Speaker 3: way in my administration the cabinet secretary speaks in public
Speaker 3: or anywhere about I.
Speaker 2: Don't know how Monica Tibbet's not kept her job.
Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't know either. I can't talk
Speaker 3: to Let's keep going.
Speaker 2: I want to get everybody in here. If I can't,
Speaker 2: let me go to Brad and andover. Brad, we've another
Speaker 2: community heard from. Go ahead, Brad, You're next with Mike Keneally.
Speaker 2: Go right ahead, Brad.
Speaker 8: Thanks Dan, I really appreciate it, And Mike, thanks for
Speaker 8: taking the question. I really like where you're at so
Speaker 8: far on the affordability crisis and the migrant crisis. But
Speaker 8: I'm wondering, do you support the Second Amendment referendum to
Speaker 8: repeal Chapter one five?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 3: I do, so, just to be clear, I support the
Speaker 3: referendum to repeal it, so I would like one thirty
Speaker 3: five repeal. Yes, I do.
Speaker 2: Pretty good question, Pretty good answer. Thank you, Thank you, Brad,
Speaker 2: appreciate it. Let me keep rolling. You're going to go
Speaker 2: to James and Milton James an extra nightside. Go ahead,
Speaker 2: go right ahead, Thanks.
Speaker 10: For having me.
Speaker 11: So I just wanted to ask, by not voting the
Speaker 11: last three presidential elections, you basically wanted Hilly Quinn and
Speaker 11: Joe Biden and Kamal Harris to be president, So you
Speaker 11: have to give your responsibility as a voter. I got
Speaker 11: to ask, why would we ever trust you to be governor?
Speaker 3: If I wanted them as president, I would have voted
Speaker 3: for them, and you should trust me as governor based
Speaker 3: on my ideas and my track records. Okay, We've got
Speaker 3: very clear ideas around affordability, opportunity, and better government. I've
Speaker 3: got a clear track record of delivering both in business
Speaker 3: and public service. So that's why you should trust me.
Speaker 3: Delivered for nineteen years in private equity, for twelve years
Speaker 3: full time in public service. I think we have the
Speaker 3: right ideas, the right policies, the right experience. That's why
Speaker 3: you should trust.
Speaker 2: Me, right, James, the right question? Good good? I'm sorry. Good. Now.
Speaker 3: We desperately need to change the leadership and all the
Speaker 3: dimensions I mentioned. Governor Heally is feeling us and I
Speaker 3: am the Republican that can defeat her Umber twenty twenty
Speaker 3: six and get the state back on a better path.
Speaker 2: All right, James, direct question, direct answer, Thank you much.
Speaker 2: Let me go next to Max in Boston. Max, next
Speaker 2: on Nissager, Right ahead.
Speaker 12: Mike, you already have one support. But I think it's
Speaker 12: also a lot about more than just the governor's race.
Speaker 12: How would you use your platform to help elect other
Speaker 12: Republicans across Massachusetts?
Speaker 3: That is a great question. I said at the outset.
Speaker 3: I want to be the governor of all the people,
Speaker 3: but be the Republican governor. And I've spent the last
Speaker 3: couple of years working hard at the state Party to
Speaker 3: support our candidates up and down the ballot, and so
Speaker 3: in addition to being the finance chair for the party,
Speaker 3: I was chaired something we call their Legislative Support Fund.
Speaker 3: We supported our state legislative candidates, So I think it's
Speaker 3: very important we have strong candidates for the state wide
Speaker 3: offices and federal offices for that matter, strong candidates for
Speaker 3: the legislative seats. And the party has a growing effort
Speaker 3: now to support candidates at the local level. So I
Speaker 3: think every level of government's important, a local state legislative,
Speaker 3: the constitutional offices in federal government. And I would do
Speaker 3: that as the core part of my job as the
Speaker 3: Republican governor, to do what I could do to grow
Speaker 3: the party, make the party stronger. So I will, like
Speaker 3: I said, my work with you guys to and FOCSRO
Speaker 3: Republicans listening to make our party strong will never stop.
Speaker 3: I think that's going to be a core part of
Speaker 3: my focus going forward.
Speaker 2: Maks, great question, Thank you for your call. Let me
Speaker 2: go next to TJ in Lawrence. TJ. You're on with
Speaker 2: Mike Kenneally. Go right ahead, TJ.
Speaker 5: Hi Dan, thanks for having me tonight. My question for you,
Speaker 5: Mike is what's your plan for dealing with the criminal
Speaker 5: legal immigrants in the state currently? Will you deport them
Speaker 5: or do you have a better plan for that.
Speaker 2: Well, government to deport people, But go ahead, mine.
Speaker 3: Well, I think what has to happen. By the way,
Speaker 3: I love getting a call from Lawrence. They spent two
Speaker 3: great years working up there on the public school turnaround.
Speaker 3: It's a great community with great people. Look, it has
Speaker 3: to be coordination with local, county and state law enforcement
Speaker 3: with the Feds, okay, to get criminals of our shelter,
Speaker 3: off our streets and out of our state. And that
Speaker 3: isn't happening now. You know, there was a Supreme Court
Speaker 3: decision here in Massachusetts called the One Decision, and it
Speaker 3: basically said that there was not any capacity now for
Speaker 3: local and state law enforcement to work with the feds
Speaker 3: to do who you suggested. And Republican legislators have reformed
Speaker 3: legislation like that and it's gone nowhere. So we have
Speaker 3: to have a focus on that and just a different
Speaker 3: leadership tone. And again the tone of governor Hellly is
Speaker 3: to oppose the federal government. My tone would be to
Speaker 3: work with them and try to accomplish important things like
Speaker 3: getting criminals out of our states. So that needs to happen.
Speaker 3: Declaring day one, in uncertain terms, we're not a sanctuary state.
Speaker 3: And working with the Feds to get the criminals out
Speaker 3: of our That simply has to happen.
Speaker 2: TJ. Thank you very much for you call. Appreciate it. There.
Speaker 2: Of course, there's a federal court decision in two thousand
Speaker 2: and eleven, the Arizona decision, in which the US Supreme
Speaker 2: Court concluded that the federal government prehemps immigration policy in
Speaker 2: this country and that they should set immigration policy in
Speaker 2: this country. I still don't understand why that has not
Speaker 2: been argued and the Lend decision was not more respectful
Speaker 2: of that case. But we'll leave that for another night. Mikennely,
Speaker 2: how can folks who are interested in your campaign get
Speaker 2: in touch with you and or your campaign?
Speaker 3: Well, go to the website Mike Keney dot com and
Speaker 3: it tells a lot more about me and my background.
Speaker 3: On my Trekker corrector, it's got an issues page. We
Speaker 3: talk about the ideas and policies I want to pursue,
Speaker 3: and so encourage folks take a look at that, get
Speaker 3: involved with the campaign. You can volunteer, you can donate
Speaker 3: and learn more about it. But this is a very
Speaker 3: very important race. Our state is not on a good
Speaker 3: path right now. Governor heally is failing us, and I'm
Speaker 3: the Republican that can make a change in leadership and
Speaker 3: become the next governor of the state. So I encourage
Speaker 3: folks to take a look and love to have you
Speaker 3: on board.
Speaker 2: Mike Kennely, appreciate your time tonight. I thought it was
Speaker 2: a good hour. Both you and Ryan Shortsleeve, I think
Speaker 2: are two very formidable candidates. It'll be interesting to see
Speaker 2: which one of you is the nominee, but both of
Speaker 2: you have pledged that you will support whoever is the nominee.
Speaker 2: And I think the Republican Party has a long way
Speaker 2: to go, but I think there's a path that they
Speaker 2: can follow in twenty twenty six. Mike, thanks so much
Speaker 2: for your time tonight. We'll have you back.
Speaker 3: Thanks gat to be ready. Thank you, You're very welcome.
Speaker 2: All Right, we get back. We're going to talk about
Speaker 2: that had tragic, horrific event last night in Washington that
Speaker 2: took the lives of two young people who worked on
Speaker 2: the Israeli staff at the Israeli embassy in Washington, and
Speaker 2: we'll be talking with the Consul general here in New England.
Speaker 2: Consul General, the Israeli Consul General Benny Sharoni right after
Speaker 2: the ten o'clock news