In light of Boston's current $238,000 annual expenditure on bottled water throughout all city operations, outgoing City Councilor-at-Large Sam Yoon proposed this past July "a resolution in support of replacing bottled water usage with tap water in municipal facilities," as has been done in San Francisco and Seattle. Though the measure never got a hearing, and will disappear with Yoon next session, Boston Chief of Environment and Energy Jim Hunt says Menino last month had new fountains installed at the Boston Public Health Commission. Hunt also says Hizzoner has directed planners to design a strategy to retrofit the building.
"We do believe that City Hall is taking steps in the right direction," says Bolaria. "And they should want to — this is a great opportunity for any politician to lead the way."
Related:
Chaos Theory, Bay State's top lobbyists, Get smart, More 
- Chaos Theory
In less than two weeks, when Massachusetts voters elect Martha Coakley to the US Senate — let's not pretend that Republican state senator Scott Brown has any chance of pulling off the monumental upset — they will trigger a massive domino effect that has the state's political class buzzing with anticipation.
- Bay State's top lobbyists
Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.
- Get smart
There are lots of theories about what's wrong with Maine's economy.
- Lynch’s left flank
US Representative Stephen Lynch has held Massachusetts’s ninth congressional district since 2001 — a fact that has irritated the state’s liberals ever since.
- Mayor-Select Marie?
Tom Menino, just a few months into an unprecedented fifth term as Boston’s mayor, has raised eyebrows by hiring State Representative Marie St. Fleur of Dorchester to the newly created, $120,000-a-year position of chief of advocacy and strategic investment.
- Library woes
In an attempt to save four Boston Public Library branches that are slated to close due to budget shortfalls, some state legislators from Boston have threatened to block all state funding the library receives if it shutters any of its 26 branches.
- Boston tucks away a $125 million windfall
As debate continues over the city’s finances — and whether the city of Boston can afford firefighters’ raises, branch libraries, community-center staffing, and other costs in tight times — the city is planning to quietly tuck away a one-time windfall of more than $125 million.
- ‘There are no rules’
On April 19, the Globe first reported that arbitrators had awarded the Boston firefighters union a 19-percent raise. By the next morning, both the Globe and the Herald were citing Menino administration figures of a $74 million cost.
- A Race Well Run
Five months ago, when Massachusetts failed to win a Race to the Top education grant from the federal government, the Phoenix took the legislature and teachers' unions to task for being too timid and politically motivated to do the right thing.
- Governor Fuzzy: Has Deval Patrick lost his edge — already?
Some folks — including this newspaper — who supported Governor Deval Patrick's re-election and wish him well as he wrestles with the daunting task of steering Massachusetts through the next four years are scratching their heads.
- Generation X: Letters to the Boston Phoenix Editor, January 7, 2011
Your article, “ Gen X Goes to Washington ” (November 26, 2010) was great. I’m glad this topic is finally being discussed.
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News Features
, Deval Patrick, Corporate Accountability International, state, More
, Deval Patrick, Corporate Accountability International, state, Beacon Hill, U.S. Government, U.S. State Government, Politics, Tom Menino, Sam Yoon, Boston Public Health Commission, Less
