DemonHuskySome #FOI results on the failure of DCR and Gov Healey to open Riverbend Park on Saturdays
@carfree Rep Decker responds (very much a sorry I got caught, not sorry for my actions)
https://twitter.com/MarjorieDecker/status/1684245083304996878?s=20
@carfree Some press on the State's decision not to open Riverbend Park on Saturdays
Emails Reveal State Officials' Flawed Excuses For Taking Away Riverbend Park Access in Cambridge - Streetsblog Massachusetts
Emails obtained under the Massachusetts Public Records law reveal how Governor Healey’s newly-hired Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Rebecca Tepper, decided to restrict access to public parkland by cancelling her agency’s popular car-free Saturdays on Memorial Drive in Cambridge earlier this year. In a memo to the Governor, Tepper wrote that “this has become […]
Kevin Patrick Doyle 🍅🥫@DemonHusky @carfree so its Decker, as we suspected
@Kevin but she said it wasn't her 🤔
https://twitter.com/ianhi7919/status/1683877401363894272?s=20
wild turkey fanboy on Twitter
“@jakewalker @MikeConnollyMA @CarFreeBoston @MemDrAlliance @ccassa @noisecapella really interesting to read about @MarjorieDecker being opposed given the email from her I received after calling her office in which she said: "I want to be very clear that I have not ever publicly or privately advocated against Saturday closures."”
Car Free Boston@Kevin @DemonHusky we have to keep pushing here. Because environmental racism is a real thing but it seems like closure would divert more cars to Storrow and all the traffic on Mem Drive is still causing pollution in the same neighborhoods. The benefits of having access to more open space for exercise, enjoying the waterfront, have to count for something for the same residents.
Christopher Schmidt@Kevin @DemonHusky @carfree Decker and a pretty deliberate misreading of the political actions of the City Council / Simmons overstating her hand.
Simmons doesn't "represent the area" (anymore than the other 7-8 Councillors who voted against her on this), and the letter claimed that the Council "isn't unified" / voted against it, which they absolutely did not.
Maybe it's not willful (just ignorant) but either way, it's giving the voice of a single person drastically outsized influence.
@crschmidt @DemonHusky @carfree looks like Tepper comes from a straight legal background and not a political/organizing background so my guess is they just don’t understand how Cambridge works, and mistook Simmons’s interest in the matter for representation.
@Kevin @DemonHusky @carfree Yeah, I'm probably being insufficiently kind as someone deeply invested and informed on Cambridge politics.
But I also think that by March 2023, this issue had been widely discussed and to take the position that Simmons was representing "the Council" requires almost willful ignorance.
@Kevin @crschmidt @carfree I know it was addressed to the governor and not from her, but she is a resident of Cambridge, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect her and her office to have a better than usual understanding of how the city representation works.
@DemonHusky @crschmidt @carfree either that or Maura is going to be extremely confused when she goes to vote in November and realizes Simmons is at-large like everyone else.
@Kevin @DemonHusky @carfree Since I bothered to check, just want to note that Maura Healey has voted in municipal elections every year since at least 2011.
Michael.Kinkema@DemonHusky @carfree I think my favorite piece of this so far is the comms person shit talking @cmilneil
https://twitter.com/badusername2121/status/1683905189001019392/photo/1
Tom on Twitter
“@jakewalker @MikeConnollyMA @CarFreeBoston @MemDrAlliance @ccassa @noisecapella @KimDriscollMA This statement exemplifies why @MassDCR is wholly unqualified to manage roads. All “parkways” should either become parks or be turned over to @MassDOT. DCR has no idea about traffic management but still prioritizes cars over conservation and recreation.”
@DemonHusky That or the general counsel stating that there is nothing preventing DCR from expanding the days/hours of Riverbend park.