Beacon Hill Shell Game

One of the nice things about YouTube is that a lot of the video clips stay online forever. Here's a campaign clip of Tim Murray a year ago, promising to restore state aid to cities and towns, and to deliver property tax relief. So far, he's delivered bupkus on that promise. So, just in case they take that embarrassing clip offline, here's the transcipt of what he said a year ago:

"As a mayor I've seen it up close these past four years... the shell game on Beacon Hill: where they claim they're cutting taxes, then starve cities and towns to pay for it. That's a big reason communities across our state have been forced to lay off police and cut services, while local property taxes are up 35%.

I'm Tim Murray, Democrat for Lieutenant Governor. ...and Deval Patrick and I are going to restore state aid and deliver property tax relief. It's time to shut down the Beacon Hill Shell Game."

I'm still waiting for the machine to deliver property tax relief. I'm still waiting for the machine to deliver the needed funding for WRTA, so that they don't have to cut service. I'm still waiting for the machine to take the burden of the airport off the city's budget. I'm still waiting for the machine to do SOMETHING for this city that'll make a positive difference in MY life.

Oh yeah... Now I'm still waiting to find out who the Mayor's going to be because the machine candidate has demanded a recount. How long will I have to wait for that?

Personally, I really have no slightest feelings, one way or the other, concerning who represents me in local government. I've met all the candidates, and I think they all have what it takes to do the job. But the real question in my mind is always, "WHO are they really representing?" Are they working to make life better for people like me? Or are they working to make life better only for their biggest campaign supporters?

During the local campaign season, I refused to blog in a partisan manner because I'm old school in that wise. Further, the spirit of the city Charter is to eschew partisan politics. I hold much more reverence for the secret ballot than I do for hype. Now that the local election is over, however, the gloves are coming off... it won't matter who I voted for if they end up pissing me off.