Sunday, March 22, 2015

Charles River, MA, USA: More Olympics hypocrisy: Cambridge City Council

1. Cambridge Day report.
2. Reality.
3. Cambridge’s development department is consulted on all environmental destruction.
4. A few examples.
a. The Longfellow Bridge project.
b. Use of fake groups.
c. Alewife.
d. Secret definitions.
e. Fresh Pond.
f. Cambridge Common.
g. Street trees.
3. Summary.

1. Cambridge Day report.

The on line Cambridge Day reported in its March 19, 2015 report on the March 18, 2015 gathering in Cambridge organized by the committee working to bring the Olympics to Boston / Cambridge in 2024:

Last month the City Council adopted a policy order denouncing the
      organization for acting “without meaningful public input or any real
      community engagement.”

2. Reality.



The poor dears from the Cambridge City Council, talking oh, so piously about “without meaningful public input or any real community engagement.”

The use of fake groups and other techniques to achieve environmental destruction is the norm in Cambridge.

Cambridge lives by the developer logo: “getting things done” by whatever technique “works” is the norm, combined with declaring to be holy than thou city councilors and pols in the middle of the destruction.

We had a very interesting “event” as people were going into the March 18, 2015, gathering.  I was leafleting folks, objecting to the environmental destructiveness of the Cambridge City Council and its accomplices, especially on the Charles River, the heart of the Olympics in Cambridge.

Nevertheless, every councilor I approached accepted a flier, with one exception.  She has been on the destructive side on the Charles River outrages from the very beginning

Fliers are a major part of the expenditures of Friends of the White Geese.  Our expenditures are very heavily targeted on communicating the destructiveness of Cambridge and its accomplices.  Please remember, there is a button on this blog to make contributions to Friends of the White Geese.  Contributions are badly needed, especially for the various modes of communication.  There is only one organization that I know of which is MEANINGFULLY defending the environment in the political arena, on the Charles River and elsewhere impacted by the very destructive City of Cambridge.  We accept PayPal which, as near as I can gather, translates into most any credit card or direct payment from a bank account.

We created the Charles River Urban Wild Initiative to have a separate, non political entity for feeding the deliberately starved animals.  CRUWI is very strongly non political.  Thus the existence of and very strong separation of the two entities keep funds for each purpose totally separate.

O.K., let’s go into part of the outrages.




3. Cambridge’s development department is consulted on all environmental destruction by the bureaucrats involved.

The agencies really hesitate to destroy
 without the Development Department's concurrence.

The City Council has a right to fire for cause the Cambridge City Manager.  The very terrible nature of the Cambridge Development Department is certainly not as strong a cause to fire as was the Monteiro outrage, but it is adequate.  The reality is the Cambridge City Manager really implements the wishes of the Cambridge City Council.

That motion I reported a couple of days ago to destroy on the Cambridge Common as fast as possible is an excellent example of reality in the City of Cambridge.

I will go into the Monteiro outrage at the end of the hit list, for the uninitiated, rather than drive people away with more words.

4. A few examples.

a. The Longfellow Bridge project.

Here are a few photos of that destruction from this blog.

Before:






After:



One of the nicest things during the Olympics leafleting was a gentleman who noticed this totally useless waste of excellent trees.  With more money, we could possibly save more things.  That grove and its neighboring trees were some of them.

Other threatened / destroyed trees:






Note the orange dot, the mark of death to come.

Caveat:  I in the past, I have confused the photos of tree destruction at the Longfellow Bridge with that on the Cambridge Common.  The Longfellow Bridge photos are from a very concerned friend who I know provided individual photos.  I think the last three photos are Longfellow Bridge.  Please advise if I am in error.

b. Use of fake groups.

This dates back to the return of Cambridge City Manager James Leo Sullivan in 1974.  He had been fired in the mid 60s by the Cambridge City Council and was not interested in it happening again.

One of his big goals was the creation of “neighborhood associations.”

I recall a discussion with a former Cantabridgian who told me he was creating a neighborhood association in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston.  I told him we did not have to worry about that in Cambridge.  Friends of the Cambridge City Manager do that for us.

We shared a laugh at that.

The stench of these fake groups is outrageous.  Through various techniques over the 40 plus years since then, Sullivan and his two offspring, Healy and What’s-his-name, have developed a strangle hold on Cambridge politics.  That includes a strangle hold over the Cambridge City Council.  And a strangle hold on the environment of the Charles River and all else within the touch of this vile city government.

The fake groups are the reason why Cambridge is a threat to the environment of the entire area surrounding the City of Cambridge.  They keep a vile City Council in power, lying that that vile city government is holier than thou.

c. Alewife.

The fake group “defending” Alewife has been a fraud from the beginning.

Fighting private developers obeying zoning while

(1). Telling people to keep away from the Cambridge City Council and other municipal entities which control the zoning;

(2). Telling people to ignore the publicly owned properties which are the easy wins, if the Cambridge City Council’s “concerns” are other than flat out lies.

The Cambridge City Council has indulged in multiple frauds yelling at private developers obeying zoning while failing to place crucial and massive flood storage protections under all new area projects through takings or otherwise.  The fake group’s leader bragged about Cambridge’s destruction of 3.4 plus acres behind 165 CambridgePark Drive.  A least one fraudulent “environmental” group gave her a podium to brag about destruction that that group had claimed to oppose.


This is a City of Cambridge puff piece photo.  The trees in the background used to fill the entire area.

d. Secret definitions.

“Environmentalism” as used in the City of Cambridge by ALL visible groups except Friends of the White Geese translates as defending that part of the environment NOT being destroyed by Cambridge / its friends.

e. Fresh Pond.

A massive project beautifying animal habitat.

Animals are so inconsiderate of human tastes.  Animals want to live.  Humans who yell want gardens.

This is how humans are destroying our world.

f. Cambridge Common.

A minimum of 22 excellent trees being destroyed with state moneys.

The city council just yelled at the Cambridge City Manager to destroy, destroy, destroy.










g. Street trees.

One of the few parts of the vileness the Machine dignifies, because it cannot be hidden.

Excellent trees are routinely destroyed for replacement with saplings.

There are a few reasons.  One is that contractors get paid to destroy trees and contractors get paid to plant saplings.  Welfare for contractors.

A second is sick manipulation of the Tree City award.

Tree City rewards planting of trees.  Excellent, mature trees are in the way of saplings.

Cambridge, in its sick mentality, gets no political benefit from mature, excellent trees.  Cambridge gets plenty of benefit from planting saplings to replace excellent trees which should not be destroyed.

This destruction is from the Mid-Cambridge area, Chatham and Dana Streets.  My photos, notice by a concerned neighbor.











f. Charles River.

The principal purpose of this blog.  See so many reports.











g. More, more, more.

I have fought this outrage for 40 years.  I have many victories.

James Leo Sullivan, at his return, was clearly highly offended by the realities of the government of the City of Cambridge.

Robert Healy was fired along with James Leo Sullivan in the 60s.  By the time he retired with honor, he and James Leo had created and put into place a government which clearly proved the vileness which is the reality behind political control in the City of Cambridge.

h. Monteiro.

Malvina Monteiro is a black, Cape Verdean woman who was head of the Cambridge Police Review Board.

She made a very serious mistake, comparable to the mistake of the voters keeping a vile City Council in office.

She believed the lovely words from the folks keeping that vile City Council in office.

The voters have almost certainly removed one guilty city councilor and probably a second as a result of this outrage.

Monteiro filed a civil rights complaint alleging that women are discriminated against in their pay by the City of Cambridge based on their gender.

According to Superior Court Jury, Superior Court Judge and Appeals Court reviewing panel, the Cambridge City Manager destroyed her life in retaliation for her filing that complaint.

The cost of this outrage amounted to the following:

(a) Compensatory Damages:                                                                            $1,062,400.00
pre-judgment statutory interest of twelve percent (12%) per annum               $438,003.70                        from January 5, 2005 until June 12, 2008
post-judgment statutory interest of twelve percent (12%) per annum on the compensatory                        damages as well as the accumulated pre-judgment interest ($1,500,403.70)       $350,727.57                   from June 12, 2008 until May 24, 2010;
(b)  punitive damages                                                                                     $3,500,000.00
         post-judgment simple interest of twelve percent (12%) per annum                        $81,814.41  
                  June 12, 2008 until May 24, 2010
c reasonable attorneys' fees                                                                            $545,842.00
costs                                                                                                                $23,697.00
                                                                                                            $6,002,484.68
Payment

$8,300,000.00    Check.

Outside Council

1998 complaint to 2008 trial                                             $2,144,000.00  
        CM to Finance Committee, 6/12/12

        Appeals                                                                             $488,409.00  
        CM to Finance Committee, 6/12/12

Sum of payment to Monteiro, Plus Outside Council                     $10,932,409.00

Total paid in the five cases, Cambridge Day, 6/21/12.

City Solicitor letter, 6/12/12.                                            $14,569,558.00

Appellate fees and costs for plaintiff.  App Ct.,
        MLW 10/22/12, p. 20, App. Ct. Docket 2010-P-1260, 10/10/12 $298,349.33


Exactly zero members of the sitting City Council had any use for the repeated communications from jury, judge and appeals court panel which gave them full power to fire City Manager Robert Healy for malfeasance in office.

This action combined with the environmental outrages puts the lie to the holier than thou claims of those who really control the City of Cambridge, MA, USA.

3. Summary.

James Leo Sullivan, through his successors, has proven just how vile the situation in Cambridge, MA truly is.  He was not pleased with the 60s firing.  Cambridge’s destructive impact extends into regional / state bodies.