Tag Archives: cambridge

Charlie Baker’s aides lied to me

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For a few weeks, I’ve been trying to figure out which individual public services were effected by Charlie Baker’s unilateral $118M cuts to the state budget. Constituent aides in the Governor’s office have told me repeatedly and explicitly that the details of what Charlie Baker cut from the budget are not available for public circulation.

More recently, however, I used a public records request to get the complete list. (Check them out for yourself!) Unfortunately, there are still $64M worth of cuts missing from that list that I need to investigate. Worse, still, that means that Charlie Baker’s aides lied to me: the list is, indeed, available for public circulation. Last Wednesday, I called to ask why multiple people in the Governor’s office told me that I could not get the details of Charlie Baker’s budget cuts.

When I called, I spoke with John Tapley, constituent affairs director. You might remember John from when I called to ask about Charlie Baker’s position on Jeff Sessions. (Which, by the way, I still don’t know.) You might also remember that John Tapley would not wish me a happy Rosa Parks Day.

My conversion with John this time went something like this:

Hi! How are you? And happy new year! Who am I speaking with?

Hi, John. I called late last year to request a list of the 9C budget cuts that Governor Baker made by earmark. I was able to obtain a copy of it by a public records request. I was told by people in this office that it was not available for public circulation, can you tell me why I was told that?

John Tapley, who until this point sounded quite delighted to have had someone wish him a happy new year, turned sour. The pace of his voice hastened and its tone bristled.

“I don’t know who would’ve told you that,” he blurted.

“Nick did,” I interjected. Nick called me back on December 30 to tell me that the official position in the Governor’s office was that the public could not have access to the details of the cuts in public funds to public services. I forgot in the moment that John had told me the same thing when I spoked with him a day earlier, on December 29.

“Well, I don’t know why Nick would’ve told you that,” John answer. “Anyway, you have what you were looking for so you should consider the request complete.” He tried to scuttle me off the phone without an answer.

I squeezed in another word before he could hang up, “But I have another request!”

Is Governor Baker dedicated to transparency in state government?

“Yes, of course,” John replied. His voice was calmer again.

To show that Charlie Baker is dedicated to government transparency, will the Governor post the complete list of 9C budget cuts by earmark on his website with the other FY17 budget savings documents? The list of earmarks makes it much easier for the public to understand which services have been effected by his cuts.

John Tapley said that he’d pass on the concern. I want a yes/no answer to my request, so I continued.

And if the Governor refuses to post the list by earmarks on his website, I’d like to know why not.

At this point John was upset again. His pace quickened, and his answers got shorter and shorter.

“I will pass on the request,” he said.
“To whom?” I asked.
“We do not give out the identity of government employees,” he answered.
“Well, then can you give me the title of the person who will make this decision, please?” I asked.
John answered, “The director of legislative affairs.”
“Ah, Ryan Coleman,” I interjected.
John walked back his response, “Well, he might not be involved in the decision.”

“Can you call me back with the decision once someone in legislative affairs makes it?” I asked.

John Tapley refused to take my contact information and he refused call me back. Every other time I have spoken with someone in constituent affairs, the aide asked me for my contact information. I never had to offer it. Tapley broke the mold.

“No, you’ll just have to call back,” he huffed.

He hung up with me without saying good bye.

Call to ask Charlie Baker to stop hiding the details of his budget cuts from the People of Massachusetts

Are you confused why the Governor won’t make it easier for people to understand how he’s using your money? Call Charlie Baker’s office at (617) 725-4005 and ask him to post the details!

Here’s a script you can use:

Hi, my name is Joshua Reyes and I live in Cambridge, MA. Who am I speaking with?

Hi, John! How are you today?

Is the Charlie Baker dedicated to transparency in his administration? Having a list of budget cuts by earmark would make it easier for me and everyone else in Massachusetts to understand which individual public services were effected by the Governor’s December 9C budget cuts.

Will Charlie Baker post a list of 9C budget cuts by earmark with on the web with the other fiscal year 2017 budget savings documents?

John, will you call me back with his decision? Thank you very much! And have a great day!

Let me know who you speak with and what they say!

Give back what Charlie Baker took away!

This post’s service that Charlie Baker defunded is Aid to Incarcerated Mothers (AIM), a group that empowers mothers to make good choices.

AIM works with women, their children and the institutions that affect them, both inside and outside the prison system. Our goal is to keep families whole, healthy and self-sufficient by providing individual therapy, counseling, psychological assessments, information, referral services, assistance with finding housing, free legal advocacy and training.

Charlie Baker cut $200,000 from Aid to Incarcerated Mothers in December. Learn more about how AIM keeps families in Massachusetts whole and consider volunteering or donating to AIM today!

You can get the details of Charlie Baker’s budget cuts by public record request

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It worked!

To ring in the new year, I requested the details of Charlie Baker’s $118M in cuts to the state budget because his office told me repeatedly that the details of Charlie Baker’s budget cuts are not available for public circulation. And. It. Worked.

Unfortunately, the document they sent me was byte-for-byte identical to the list of cuts I found on Senator Eldridge’s website late last month. That list is incomplete is still incomplete. Non-earmark cuts total $64M. And I still do don’t know the details whatever Charlie Baker slashed from the state in those missing $64M of cuts.

Here’s the same document we already had: Charlie Baker’s 9C secret listing of budget cuts by line item and earmark.

Service from the Office of Administration and Finance was swift. I have to say, I’m impressed. The public records officer wrote back within one business day.

Because I had finally found someone who wasn’t trying to make it hard for me to figure out what was going on, I wrote to her to ask why this document wasn’t already posted publicly with the other information about the FY17 cuts?

(I accidentally got the name of the public access officer’s name. Her last name is Kim, not Tori. Deputy Counsel Kim, I’m very sorry.)

Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2017 at 10:07 PM
Dear Deputy General Counsel Tori,

Happy new year! And thank you very much for your prompt response.

Can you tell me why the document titled “December 6 9C earmark list” is not available on http://www.mass.gov/anf/budget-taxes-and-procurement/state-budget/fy17-budget-info/fy17-budget-savings-information/ or any other publicly accessible page on your website?

Thanks again very much!
Josh

She responded first thing the next morning. Again, I was really impressed and really happy to receive a prompt, direct response from someone in the Governor’s office. While just receiving an email at all was encouraging, her answer was a bit disappointing.

Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 at 9:25 AM
Dear Josh,

The materials posted online at www.mass.gov are those communicated to the Legislature under the law governing 9C action. The earmark list was an additional, separate document that we provided in response to your public records request.

I hope that helps.

Best regards,

-Tori

So, the Governor does the absolute bare minimum required by law when it comes to posting information that effects millions of people across the entire Commonwealth. That’s not the sort of leadership I want from my governor. I’d like the Governor to make it as easy as possible for the people of Massachusetts to know how his cuts to public services will effect them. So I thought I’d help him.

Within minutes of reading Deputy Counsel Kim’s response—hoping that she was still at her computer— I scrambled to ask her to post the list of cuts by earmarks for state services on the Governor’s website:

Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 at 9:27 AM
Dear Tori,

Thanks again for the swift response.

The earmark list makes it much easier to see which individual programs will be effected locally by the Governor’s cuts. To show that the Governor and his administration are dedicated to transparency in government, will ANF post the December 6 earmark list with the other FY17 budget savings documents?

Thanks again very much,
Josh

Can you guess what happened next? Silence. Not a yes, not a no. Nothing.

Call the Governor and ask for government transparency

Please call the governor’s office (617) 725-4005 and ask Charlie Baker to post the 9C budget cuts by earmark online. Here’s a script you can use:

Hi, my name is Joshua Reyes and I live in Cambridge, MA. Who, may I ask, am I speaking with? Hi, John! How are you today?

I was wondering whether Charlie Baker supports a transparent state government?

I have read Governor Charlie Baker’s December 9C budget cuts listed by earmark. This list makes it much easier for individuals to understand which specific public services will be effected by his recent budget cuts. To show that the Governor is dedicated to a free, open, and transparent government, will he post the 9C budget cuts by earmark with the other documents on the FY17 Budget Savings webpage for the public to read?

I’d like a response. If the answer is no, I’d like to know why the governor refuses to post a document that will make it easier for people to understand how his decisions will effect them.

Thank you and have a nice day!

Please let me know who you speak with and what they say!

You can help a service Charlie Baker defunded!

You can help the individual services, too! Charlie Baker defunded the Samaritans, Inc., a suicide prevention and support service. The good folks at Samaritans have fielded over 2.5 million calls. Consider giving them some of what Charlie Baker took away!

Request the full budget cuts under new 2017 law!

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Happy new year!

A new law to make public records easier to get went into effect today!

Starting January 1, 2017, new public records access officers will start working to provide you with public records quickly and easily. Since Charlie Baker’s office has been trying to keep the details of governor’s $118M cuts to the state budget a secret, I decided to ring in the new year by testing out the new law.

To request a document, you need to go to the appropriate agency—in this case it’s the Office of Administration and Finance—find the record access officer, and submit a letter. The law doesn’t specify how to write the letter, so I used a template from the State Secretary’s website.

It’s quick and easy to make the request yourself! Here’s what to do:

  1. Fill out this request form with your name and contact information.
  2. In the field Summary of the Request, answer:

    A complete list of FY17 9C budget cuts by line item and earmark

  3. Open up Notepad (or Word or your favorite text editor) and copy and paste this letter into a new document. Replace parts in red with your personal information.
    [Today’s date]

    Tori Kim
    Executive Office for Administration & Finance
    Attn: Records Access Officer
    State House, Room 373
    Boston, MA 02133

    Re: Massachusetts Public Records Request

    Dear Ms. Kim:

    This is a request under the Massachusetts Public Records Law (M.G.L. Chapter 66, Section 10). I am requesting that I be provided a copy of the following records:

    A complete listing of the FY17 9C budget cuts by line item and earmark.

    The document entitled FY17 9C Line Item Listing posted under the FY17 Budget Savings Information in the Budget, Taxes, Procurement & Regulations section of the Administration and Finance website does not include a break-down of each cut by earmark. I am requesting a finer-grain document. Multiple constituent aides in the Governor’s office have confirmed by phone that such a document exists.

    I recognize that you may charge reasonable costs for copies, as well as for personnel time needed to comply with this request. If you expect costs to exceed $10.00, please provide a detailed fee estimate.

    The Public Records Law requires you to provide me with a written response within 10 business days. If you cannot comply with my request, you are statutorily required to provide an explanation in writing.

    Sincerely,

    [Your Name]
    [Your Mailing Address]
    [Your Telephone Number]
    [Your Email Address]

  4. Upload the letter you just made in the section that says Upload full PRR document.
  5. Click Make Request.
  6. Call the Office of Administration and Finance at (617) 727-2040 to confirm they received your request.

    Here’s a quick script:

    Happy new year! My name is Joshua Reyes and I live in Cambridge, MA. I’m calling to check on the status of my public record request.

    Can you tell me the status of my request for a complete listing of financial year 2017 9C budget cuts by line item and earmark?

    Thank you and have a good day!

It is possible that Charlie Baker’s office will deny the public record request. If they continue to hide the details of Charlie Baker’s massive $118M cuts to the state budget, they will be required under law to explain why they will not give you the information. And then we can appeal! (Here’s a guide to the public records law from start to finish.)

Let me know how it goes! I’ll do the same.

Charlie Baker’s secret budget cuts don’t add up.

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Update: A quick search on Twitter unearthed the document I’m looking for. You can grab a copy of Charlie Baker’s FY17 9C cuts by line item and earmark for yourself!

Compare: Notice how much information they left out from the official public line item listing. No wonder they didn’t want the detailed one circulated externally. There are enough cuts to different services in here to effect everyone in the Commonwealth.

Correction: The constituent aide and I were looking at 9C cuts to last year’s budget. I’ve updated link to the public line item accounting of FY17 budget cuts above. The public numbers and secret, private numbers still don’t match. The official and secret budget cuts are off by 64 million dollars!

Normally the Massachusetts state legislature handles the state budget and state budget cuts. Earlier this month, Governor Charlie Baker made unilateral so-called 9C budget cuts to slash funding from state services without going through the legislature. I called Baker’s office to find out more about his budget cuts.

This morning a constituent aide from Governor Baker’s office called back to tell me the details of the Charlie Baker’s budget cuts are NOT for external circulation. It wasn’t his decision though. His contact in Legislative Affairs made the call. He did ask if I had any specific questions. So I asked:

Why are the details of Charlie Baker’s reductions in public money to public services not public? Why can’t that document be circulated to the public?

He didn’t know. I guess the internal affairs of the Governor’s office are as secretive to their constituent aides as they are to Massachusetts constituents. I explained how this all started:

The reason I called initially is because I read an article explaining that a emergency food program in Cambridge called the Cambridge Weekend Backpack program lost its funding due to the 9C budget cuts. It tried to verify the cuts, but could not from the public line item listing.

At this point, the aide interrupted, “They are verified.” So I asked:

Can you tell me which line item the Cambridge Weekend Backpack program falls under? I could not guess based on the very general category names of the publicly posted account.

Happy to help, the aide agreed to look up the details for me in the document that he refused to send me. And he found it! A cut for $110,000, just like the original reporting said. It was bundled under a reduction to Department of Agricultural Resources Administration.

But wait a second! The budget cut to the Department of Agriculture Resources Administration that the governor’s office posted to the public was only $9,250. How could the true, secret value be over $100,000 more? So I asked the aide:

Why is the reported reduction in that line item only $9,250? You just told me that a single cut to that department is $110,000. Why are the numbers different?

He added that question to the list.

(Update: The Boston Globe reports that the line item reduction for emergency food assistance programs 2511-0105 was $650,000. Which is it? Is any of these numbers correct, Governor Baker?)

And he asked me if I had any more questions. The aide reminded me that their office is busy and cannot spend a lot of time with every constituent. So I made him an offer.

I understand that you’re very busy. And I really appreciate your calling me back and taking this time with me. If it would be easier for you, I can come to the office to pick up a print out of the 9C budget cuts and go over it myself. That way you can attend to other things.

The aide sympathized with me, but reminded me that the details of the budget cuts cannot be released to the public. For some reason they didn’t want me to know how the budget cuts would effect the entire state, so I asked specifically:

Can you send me the details of all of the services that were effected in Cambridge? I’d like to know so that I can choose which ones to donate to.

He said he would try to find out:

  1. Why are the details of Charlie Baker’s 9C budget unavailable to the general public?
  2. Why is there a discrepancy between the publicly reported budget cuts and the the internal, secret cuts?
  3. Which services in Cambridge are effected by the cuts and by how much?

In the meantime, he referred me to the Office of Administrative and Financial Affairs since they published the public line item account of the budget cuts. I called them and left a message.

Do you think it’s bizarre that Charlie Baker won’t release the details about how he uses public money on public services to the public, too? Call his office at (617) 725-4005. Let me know what they say!

Happy birthday, Cambridge (née Newtowne)!

Quote

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From Site for Cambridge Selected on Mass Moments:

On this day in 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony proprietors chose a site along the northern bank of the Charles River for their capital. They named it Newtowne, and laid out an orderly grid of streets fortified by a wooden palisade. It was the first planned town in English North America. Six years later, the colony’s first college was established in Newtowne. In honor of the English university town, Newtowne was renamed Cambridge. Contemporary William Wood noted “this is one of the neatest…towns in New England, having many fair structures with many handsome…seats.” Despite its well-ordered appearance, Cambridge did not remain the colony’s capital. In 1638 the General Court settled five miles downstream, in the neighboring town of Boston.

Grinch Charlie Baker takes away food from hungry children for Christmas

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Imagine being a child at home on Christmas.

"Freedom From Want" - NARA - 513539

What if there wasn’t any food in your house, how would you feel? How would you feel when you found out the governor doesn’t think you’re important enough to feed?

For Christmas this year, Grinch Charlie Baker, in a dazzling display of cold-heartedness, cut a grant of $110,000 from the state budget that funds Food For Free’s Cambridge Weekend Backpack emergency food program for children. The Cambridge Weekend Backpack program provides 500 of the city’s poorest kids food on weekends because, without it, they’d go hungry. (You can donate to help them out!)

Charlie Baker, is this how you lead the state—by taking food from the mouths of hungry children? I want better from my governor. So last Thursday I called his office and spoke with one of his aides to ask when Governor Baker plans to reinstate the funding.

Here’s a script you can use to call, too! It’s easy: just call (617) 725-4005.

Hello, how are you? My name is Joshua Reyes and I live in Cambridge, MA. I read in the Cambridge Chronicle that Governor Baker recently cut state funding for a program called Food for Free. Have you heard about that program?

I just want to remind you that Food for Free provides food to poor children on the weekends who would otherwise go hungry. They serve about 500 kids where I live in Cambridge.

Having food to eat is a basic dignity and these kids should not be expected to provide for themselves. Taking away food from poor kids is an especially horrible Christmas present from the governor. Can you tell me when Governor Baker plans to reinstate funding for Food for Free?

Thank you and have a good day!

Carry the giving spirit of Christmas all year round. Please call Charlie Baker’s office today to tell him to give back the food food he took away from hungry kids. Please let me know how it goes!

Charity Spotlight: Massachusetts Bail Fund

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I recently donated to the Massachusetts Bail Fund. I love them. Here’s why:

Would you like to go to jail without receiving a trial? Nope. Me, neither. But that’s how the justice system works.

When you are suspected of a crime and due in court, you usually have two options: wait for the trial in jail or fork over money as bail. If you don’t show up to court, you lose the money. If you do, you get it back once the case is closed.

When the type of justice you get depends on how much money you have, the wealthy always win out. If you can afford to drop $500, you get to go home, go to work the next day, and continue with your life.

But what if you couldn’t afford bail? We lock you up to wait for your turn in court. Taxpayers pay $125 each night we force you to stay there. You have no control over how long it’ll take for a date in court to open up. You could wait weeks, months, and sometimes years, for a trial. Those bills add up. Meanwhile, you don’t show up to work because you’re behind bars. You lose your job. You can’t pay your bills. Your life is ruined before you even make it to court, just because you couldn’t post as little as $50 for bail.

The Massachusetts Bail Fund fronts the bail for clients who can’t afford it themselves. When a case closes, the fund gets the money back. Last month, they posted bail for 382 people.

And it works: half of the cases were dismissed. That means the judges decided that it wasn’t worth the time to finish these cases. No harm, no foul. Without help from the bail fund, nearly two hundred people would have sat in jail just to wait in line to go back home. In October, they lost only 4 bails. That’s a 99% success rate. Imagine if everything worked 99% of the time. That’s a world I’d like to live in.

Since the money goes back to the bail fund after each case closes, your donation can be re-used to help more people. That’s good for the clients, that’s good for their families, that’s good for the community, that’s good for law enforcement, and that’s good for you, the taxpayers. What a smart investment!

I love this fund because I’m cheap. Instead of shelling out $4,000 a month to lock someone up just to hang out, I’d rather the state spend it on something that I use, like the MBTA. I’m just selfish like that. Charlie Baker, fix the T.

Look up bail funds in your state! Or donate to the Massachusetts Bail Fund.

Thankful to live in Massachusetts

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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I’m going to take today and following few days to slow down and relax, look around me with a careful and thankful eye, and reflect on what I have to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my friends and family—for their love, loyalty, and support. I am thankful for where I live. I am thankful for a warm, dry home, access to good, healthy food, clean water, and a fuzzy, sometimes-affectionate cat named Donut.

I am thankful for my community. Cambridge is a great place to live. We have wonderful public and social services, a thoughtful municipal government, a vibrant and diverse population of interesting and often friendly people, good jobs, good bars—here’s looking at you, the Abbey— fun when you want it, quiet when you need it, tall trees, wild turkeys, fluffy bunnies, and four full seasons. I’m thankful for all of it.

And I am thankful for my state. I am both proud and horrified to say that Massachusetts was the only state in the lower forty-eight to vote Democrat everywhere on the county-level in the last presidential election. (Apparently, Hawaii did, too.)

As all parts of the country, folks in Massachusetts are hurting, too. I am thankful that my neighbors across the state voted against solutions that promote finger pointing, blame, and hate to ease their pain. I am thankful that in Massachusetts we voted to protect our environment, to fight for women’s rights, black rights, immigrant rights, Muslim rights, gay rights, and general civil rights, and to dignify people with the basic rights to health care, equal pay for equal work, and higher wages.

Are you thankful for you local and state governments?

On this day of thanksgiving, I hope you are, too!