Mayor Menino delivered his annual speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce this morning. He addressed an enormous crowd at the Park Plaza Hotel. The theme was leadership.
A highlight of the speech was Menino’s proposal to create a $40 million fund to keep development going in the city. I sensed a palpable feeling of excitement in the room over this plan.
The mayor drew laughter when he likened the ceos of the Big Three auto makers trip to Washington to the film “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”
With Boston in need of revenue, he called for “equitable PILOT agreements.” These are arrangements whereby non-for-profit entities give a payment to the city in lieu of being taxed.
The best thing about today’s speech was that Mayor Menino confronted the tough fiscal times. He did not attempt to sugar coat what is happening. That is called leadership.
I write, as always, as a former press secretary to the mayor.
Dispatches from Seth Gitell 
December 19, 2008 at 12:57 pm |
Please let readers know more about moving from The Phoenix to the city administration. The good work of writing critically about the city for the weekly appeared contradicted by writing for our Mayor.