The first one is even a SLOW SATURDAY SPECIAL!
"Agent has backing to market Massport; Wins competition on China shipping" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | October 24, 2009
Massachusetts Port Authority managers will ask their board to offer a new contract next week to a consultant who has received more than $1.5 million from the agency under an unusual contract that was never previously opened to competition.
Related: Massport's Chinese Connection
The consultant, Jiansheng “Jason’’ Li, has been the agency’s representative in China since 2000. The agency has conducted no formal performance reviews and imposed no requirement that he work a set number of hours. Massport had no resume on file for Li when the Globe wrote about his contract in February. After the February story about the contract, which started as a comparatively modest $15,000 project, Massport officials decided to seek competitive bids for his services as a marketing consultant.
Yeah, the Globe is a real savior.
Li’s services were split into two contracts: one for the port and another for Logan International Airport, which is run by Massport. Li won the selection committee’s top score for the agency’s port business. Another company won the right to represent Logan in China. Both contracts depend on board approval. Li did not apply for the airport contract.
If Li’s new contract is approved by Massport’s board of directors at a meeting Tuesday, he will be paid $735,000 over the next three years, including expenses. Massport’s port director, Mike Leone, said six companies bid on the maritime contract, but only three, including Li’s China Market Solutions, were deemed qualified. One finalist dropped out of the bidding before interviews, leaving only one other qualified competitor.“It was a complete, thorough selection process, and the selection was based on a variety of factors,’’ including experience and the ability to meet all the agency’s needs, Leone said. Li and his competitor had the same cost proposals in their bids, Leone said. He did not know if the companies deemed unqualified were offering to perform the services for less money.
Massport officials previously conceded that Li’s contract “may not have been managed to the standards that we want and expect.’’
But he is going to GET the JOB anyway!!!!
Li did not return a call yesterday afternoon seeking comment. An associate called back and said Li was out of the country. Leone and others at Massport credit Li with building and maintaining what has become an essential part of their port business. In 2002, Li helped Massport negotiate a contract with China Ocean Shipping Group Co., nown as COSCO, one of China’s two national shipping companies. The business has grown substantially, as US-China shipping trade has taken off.
So the COSCO WAREHOUSE and SHOPPING CLUB is FULL of CHINESE GOODS, huh? NO WONDER Massachusetts' economy is cratering!
Leone said that Asian trade now accounts for 60 percent of business at the port, and the port has maintained that business as the overall economy has slumped. The agency has collected $89 million in docking and unloading fees from COSCO.
Isn't that how the beetles got here?
Massport’s selection committee is recommending another company, The Center for Aviation Policy and Economics of Evanston, Ill., to represent Logan in China. Li had been unable to secure nonstop passenger service with Beijing, his top aviation goal under his previous contract. Massport managers are recommending a contract worth up to $624,800 for five years in hope that the new company can secure the plane route. The firm’s owner has vast experience in Asia, including a key job overseeing United Airlines’ expansion into the Asian market, said Betty Desrosiers, director of strategic projects and technology integration for Massport.
Li’s contract will pay him substantially more than the aviation consultant will earn. Massport spokesman Matthew Brelis said “the Port of Boston and Logan Airport are very different entities with different advantages.’’
--more--"Yup, they have BIG PLANS, Boston!
"Boston has big plans for port; Hub applies for stimulus funds" by Casey Ross, Globe Staff | October 27, 2009
What, another Big Pit??
Boston officials are launching a multiyear effort to revitalize the city’s industrial port that includes expanding the cruise ship terminal, restoring freight rail service, and rebuilding docks to help compete for lucrative ship repair contracts....
City officials believe an $84 million upgrade financed by the government would trigger related investments by private businesses that would expand and redevelop under-used property in the area.
When they say "financed by the government" that means YOU, TAXPAYERS!!
Haven't you FINANCED ENOUGH?
The Boston Redevelopment Authority has applied for federal stimulus money to pay for the upgrades, and yesterday Mayor Thomas M. Menino launched a campaign to win the funds by hosting a tour of the port area for US Representative Stephen F. Lynch and other officials who will lobby on the city’s behalf in Washington, D.C.
Oh, no!!!
See: How Big is Your BRA, Boston?
More on them later.
“This is an economic engine for our city,’’ said Menino, who is seeking reelection next Tuesday. “A lot of different types of businesses are starting to come here and we should use [the stimulus program] as an opportunity to push forward as best we can.’’
The 190-acre Marine Industrial Park, at the eastern edge of the South Boston waterfront, is owned and managed by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. It includes the cruise ship terminal at Black Falcon Pier and dozens of businesses housed in other industrial buildings, from local printers and seafood merchants to chains such as Au Bon Pain and Legal Sea Foods.
Legal Jew Food?
"Berkowitz, whose family founded Legal Sea Foods in Cambridge."
Although it already handles substantial business now, the cruise ship terminal is too small to accommodate baggage and passenger screening needed for large vessels. The city wants to build a second terminal that could accommodate as many as three vessels simultaneously, including the world’s largest cruise ships, which are more than 1,100 feet long and typically contain multiple restaurants and nightclubs, basketball courts, rock-climbing walls, and other facilities....
And WHAT ABOUT the HOMELESS in your FINE CITY, BRA?!!!!!
A second component of the city’s plan would be to reintroduce freight-rail service that would transport products and supplies to businesses operating throughout the industrial park. Currently, businesses there ship in and out using heavy trucks, which are more expensive than rail and pollute more....
Other components of the port plan include rebuilding three dilapidated jetties to receive and repair cargo ships, and improve the road system within the industrial park. The city’s grant application predicted that the $84 million in improvements would result in $380 million in private investment and the creation of more than 5,000 jobs over the next 20 years....
We are ALWAYS PROMISED SO MUCH and it NEVER COMES to FRUITION!
Lynch, a South Boston Democrat whose district includes the industrial park, pledged to spearhead the effort in Congress, where he said competition for a dwindling pool of stimulus dollars will be fierce.
Then the STIMULUS FAILED!!
“These are basic infrastructure needs that have been here for a long, long time,’’ Lynch said of the proposed improvements....
WHERE, oh, WHERE did ALL THE $$$ GO ALL THESE YEARS, Bostonian?
See: Bankers' Bark Worse Than Bite to State
Sigh.
Also see State Government On Probation (and related links within, thank you).
“We are actually shovel ready,’’ said Lawrence Mammoli, director of engineering and facilities management for the BRA. “We will be putting people to work almost immediately upon receiving these funds.’’
Yeah, sure.
See: Slow Saturday Special: State Slow on Stimulus Spending
And about those BRA people:
"In Allston, BRA’s e-mails paint a disparaging picture; Project manager apologizes for offending residents" by Andreae Downs, Globe Correspondent | October 24, 2009
Another SLOW SATURDAY SPECIAL!
Internal Boston Redevelopment Authority e-mails that belittle Allston residents who question a controversial housing proposal have heightened worries among some in the neighborhood that the city undervalues their opinion on development matters.
I think it is LESS than undervalues. They DO NOT CARE!!!
The more than 200 pages of e-mails, posted on an Allston blog, are to and from Jay Rourke, a senior BRA project manager, to colleagues, his boss Heather Campisano, the developer, and employees of Harvard University. The messages concern plans to relocate Charlesview Apartments, an affordable housing complex next to Harvard Business School, from North Harvard Street to a Harvard-owned former strip mall farther down Western Avenue.
In one missive, Rourke comments on neighbors meeting to plan a less-dense alternative to the developer’s proposal by saying, “Let them play their games.’’ In another, he says, “When referring to the ‘community,’ I’m speaking of a few individuals who are forcing their ideas and beliefs on the masses.’’
Oh, I CAN THINK of a GROUP that is doing that as I type!!
A later Rourke e-mail about neighborhood activists asks, “Why do we continue to meet with these . . . people?’’
"These people?" "These people?" Aren't you supposed to be a public servant?
The messages demonstrate “pervasive contempt of the neighborhood from a public employee,’’ said Allston activist Harry Mattison, who posted the e-mails on his Allston-Brighton Community Blog earlier this month after submitting a Freedom of Information request.
GOODBYE, newspapers!
On Thursday, Rourke apologized to Allston residents who were offended by the messages. “These are internal e-mails,’’ he said. “They are my comments to staff members and should not reflect on the agency.’’
Rourke said he had lived in Allston for 27 years while growing up and is “passionate’’ about the neighborhood and the project. “In the heat of the moment, sometimes your passions get the best of you, unfortunately,’’ he said.
Heat of what moment? You were WRITING an E-MAIL, not in the middle of a crisis confrontation, you elite pud!
Later Thursday, the BRA said Rourke had received a “verbal warning’’ over the e-mails in his personnel file....
Big whoop! He should have been FIRED!!!
“I am appalled that BRA considers us an annoyance and the lack of respect with which some neighbors have been treated in those e-mail exchanges,’’ wrote Allston resident Rita Vaidya.
They work for Hah-vad, right?
Brent Whelan, an Allston resident who has been reviewing the project, said he was surprised by the tone of e-mails. “It made us wonder what kind of hearing we’re getting downtown,’’ Whelan said....
Not a very good one I would imagine -- like all of us fellow citizens.
Neighbors said the exchanges, some of which include notes that attached plans are “confidential,’’ and “not for public disclosure,’’ fed their suspicions that the city is withholding information, particularly the financing and maintenance plans for the project, which are still not public. They worried that the result may be another neighborhood catastrophe and point to the Filene’s Basement hole in Downtown Crossing and the unfinished Science Center....
Ah, who cares what THEY THINK!? They only LIVE THERE!!!
Related: Boston Museum of Science to Feature 9/11 Exhibit
--more--"
Hey, whatever you do, do NOT RENT a CAR at the AIRPORT!
"Logan rental vehicle fee will rise" By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | October 28, 2009
Is that ALL this state knows to do? RAISE TAXES and FEES?
Rental car customers will pay $2 more a day at Logan International Airport beginning Dec. 1, a fee increase that was approved yesterday by the Massachusetts Port Authority board to help pay for a consolidated rental car facility.
Related: Don't Park at MassPort
This brings the customer facility charge to $6 a day, which will go toward the $337 million facility that will house the eight rental car companies that serve the Logan Airport. A $4 fee has been in effect since last December. Massport also plans to fund the four-story 1.4-million-square-foot building - and 28 new environmentally friendly shuttle buses to replace the current fleet of about 100 - with a $114 million federal loan.
So does Massport ever PAY FOR ANYTHING THEMSELVES?
Oh!
Separately, passenger numbers continue to rise at Logan. After falling for more than a year, traffic increased in July and August from the same period a year before, and the trend continued in September, with a 6 percent increase. Of the 126,309 additional passengers last month, 86 percent traveled on the airport’s four new carriers: Southwest Airlines, Virgin America, Sun Country Airlines, and Porter Airlines. Massport also said yesterday that flu shots for the public at the airport will be suspended until the H1N1 vaccination becomes available, because of low numbers of people interested in the shots.
FLASHBACK:
"Massport, which runs Logan International Airport, is offering $25 seasonal flu shots not only to the 20,000 airport workers, but to the passengers in Terminal C, as well - and may expand its flu shot locations as the H1N1 vaccine becomes available.
Translation: DON'T GO to the AIRPORT and DON'T TAKE a FLIGHT on a PLANE!
“There’s just a lot of concern out there about how this virus is going to react, and we’re just feeling like we need to be responsible, good citizens,’’ said David Gambone, Massport’s director of human resources.... --more--"
--more--"
That why the FEES are going up?
Also related: Swine Flu Slaughter Effort Not Fooling Americans
The Great Swine Flu Scam
US Airways to shut Boston crew base
US Airways cutting 327 jobs at Logan
Even as passenger numbers continue to rise, huh?
