Connect with us

Boston, MA

America’s new highest-paid mayor could come from Boston suburb

Published

on

America’s new highest-paid mayor could come from Boston suburb


The highest-paid mayor in the U.S. could soon come from a coastal New England town best known for its naval warship museum and ties to two U.S. presidents.

Quincy, a Boston suburb with a population of about 100,000, is preparing to sign off on a recommended 87% to 133% pay increase for its long-serving mayor, Thomas Koch.

Koch, who started his seventh term this year, currently makes about $159,000 has not taken a pay raise in nearly a decade. He took office in 2008.

“By any standard, that’s a bit of a long period of time, particularly given some of the price level changes we’ve had recently,” consultants hired to assess his salary said at last week’s city council meeting. “Setting a static level and leaving it static for nine years, like has been the case, is probably not optimal.”

Advertisement
Mayor Thomas Koch of Quincy, Mass. with his family

Mayor’s Office

The potential raise was not reflected in the proposed budget brought to the council on May 6. Koch said he will be “bringing in a separate order the next council meeting” on May 20 “to deal with the mayor’s and the city councilors’ raises.”

“We’ll make the adjustment as needed in the budget,” Koch said Monday night.

Dorminson Consulting of Boston suggested officials consider a $298,000 to $370,000 salary for Koch. The proposed $370,000 salary would be a $211,000 raise, or about a 133% increase from Koch’s current pay. If the council signs off on the higher end of the suggested range, it would make Koch the highest paid mayor in America.

The firm told the councilors they took into account the city’s population, consumer price index and a survey of more than 1,200 mayors and city managers’ salaries.

At Monday’s city council meeting, Koch called Quincy’s budget “stable,” with the city not needing to make any layoffs or cuts, unlike many of its neighbors.

Advertisement

“Quincy’s been on a pretty good run. We don’t live here, but we are financial economists at heart, and we know what we’re looking at. You’re on a good run,” the consultants told officials. “The consequential effects of trying to undercut quality is going to be tough to overcome.”

Quincy is the seventh-largest city in Massachusetts. A one-time major producer of granite, the city touts its status as the birthplace of former Presidents John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams as well as John Hancock. Perhaps more culturally important for Massachusetts residents, it’s also where Dunkin’ Donuts was founded.

The mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, is currently the highest earning mayor in the country, with a salary of about $357,000. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass comes in second with a salary of $301,000.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was the city’s 418th highest-paid employee in 2023, with a salary of about $258,000.

In 2022, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s salary was upped to to $250,000 starting in 2026. Massachusetts’ second-largest city, Worcester, pays City Manager Eric Batista a salary of $313,000.

Advertisement

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.



Source link

Advertisement

Boston, MA

TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2024: Boston Metal

Published

on

TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2024: Boston Metal


Steel manufacturing accounts for 10% of annual global CO2 emissions, so decarbonization can’t come fast enough. Boston Metal’s patented molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) solution takes the coal out of steelmaking, replacing the most carbon-intensive manufacturing steps (e.g., coking) with a process that produces molten ore with renewable electricity and generates no CO2 emissions. The company unveiled the first commercial application of its technology in March, when it opened a facility in Brazil that will recover high-value metals from mining waste. “The challenge with everything in decarbonization and the industrial space more broadly is always how fast things can be built or scaled,” says Adam Rauwerdink, senior vice president of business development for Boston Metal. The startup, spun out of MIT, aims to license its MOE technology to manufacturers by 2026 to produce “green steel.” That goal drew closer last year, when Boston Metal got $262 million from investors including Aramco Ventures, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, and ArcelorMittal, the world’s second largest steelmaker.



Source link

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Boston-bound flight aborts takeoff at Reagan National to avoid runway collision

Published

on

Boston-bound flight aborts takeoff at Reagan National to avoid runway collision


Boston-bound flight has close call at Reagan National

Advertisement


Boston-bound flight has close call at Reagan National

02:04

Advertisement

WASHINGTON D.C. – For the second time in six weeks, a Boston-bound flight was forced to slam on the brakes to avoid a potential collision with another plane at Reagan National Airport. The FAA is investigating the incident.

At about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, American Airlines flight 2134 with more than 100 passengers and crew on board was cleared for takeoff.

A private plane was cleared to land on an intersecting runway. The private plane, a King Air, was told to abort landing, but it was already on the ground.

The American Airlines flight was already going 80 knots when it was forced to stop, leaving the pilot to tell air traffic control an inspection would be needed. The flight eventually left four hours behind schedule and landed safely at Logan Airport in Boston.

American Airlines officials said in a statement, “The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority, and we’re grateful to our crew for their professionalism. We will support the FAA in its investigation.”

Advertisement

April close call at Reagan National

The FAA is already looking at a close call at Reagan National in April involving a Southwest Airlines jet and another Boston-bound JetBlue flight.

In that incident, an air traffic controller instructed the Southwest flight to cross the runway while the JetBlue flight was starting its takeoff roll down the same runway. The planes ended up about 300 feet from each other. No injuries were reported.  



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Boston organizers gear up for ‘safe and joyous’ Pride activities

Published

on

Boston organizers gear up for ‘safe and joyous’ Pride activities


Pride event organizers in Boston are gearing up for a month of fun-filled events — and making sure that, as the president of Boston Pride for the People put it, those events are “safe and joyous.”

Organizers are taking those steps as federal agencies issued a public service announcement earlier this month about possible targeting of LGBTQ+ related events during Pride Month. Boston police told GBH News there are no known threats against local Pride events.

“There needs to be awareness without alarm,” said Tanya Neslusan, the executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group MassEquality.

“I don’t think the general public needs to be concerned,” she added. “Organizers of Pride events need to be aware of the threats and work with proper authorities, who are apprised of whatever threats there are.”

Advertisement

Adrianna Boulin, the president of Boston Pride for the People, said her group is aware of the advisory and is working to keep this year’s event safe.

“We are in close contact with our partners at the City and state who will help us prioritize the safety of everyone who comes to Pride while allowing for the true message and celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride to shine,” Boulin wrote to GBH News.

Wolf Hamel, committee member of the Boston Dyke March on June 7, is also keeping safety in mind.

“This is something we’ve been thinking about for a while,” Hamel said. “We kind of develop our own contacts with people who pay attention to kind of our local, right-wing folks — you know, like NSC-131, or something like that, the folks who organized Straight Pride.”

Last year’s Boston Dyke March attracted between three and four thousand people. Hamel said their group recruits and trains community safety volunteers called the “dyke patrol,” who are trained in de-escalation and crowd management, and Hamel suggests attendees seek out community volunteers if they run into any problems.

Advertisement

“We try to use our volunteers to create a buffer so that, you know, people feel welcome at our event and safe at our event,” Hamel said.

Nina Selvaggio is executive director of Greater Boston PFLAG, an advocacy and equity-affirming group of parents, families, and friends of LGBTQ+ individuals. She said her group will march in the June 8 Boston Pride for the People parade, but is keenly aware of safety amid an intense national climate.

Selvaggio attributes the vitriol, domestically, to the election year.

“I think it’s frightening. We are in a moment in time that’s incredibly charged,” she told GBH News.

Selvaggio specifically points to anti-trans hatred and some 500 bills introduced at the state level around the country to restrict rights of LGBTQ+ people. She also cited the hoax bomb threat at Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Southern Poverty Law Center’s identification of several active hate groups in Massachusetts.

Advertisement

“Because it is really based in hate and fear, and I think it’s hard for little kids to understand that someone would hate them or want to do them harm, simply because of who they are, who they love,” Selvaggio said.

Sergeant Detective John Boyle, a Boston Police spokesman, tells GBH News there is no known threat against Boston Pride events. Doyle said there will be a police presence at the Boston Pride for the People parade and that, as always, if people “see something, say something” — report it.

While Boston police will be on hand at the Dyke March, Hamel said many in the LGBTQ+ community have had negative experiences with police.

“There’s a lot of people who got maced by the Boston cops. There’s a lot of people who had hearing damage from the sirens. And they just don’t feel safe with a large police presence around,” Hamel said.

The national public service announcement, issued May 10 by the FBI and DHS, said “foreign terrorist organizations (FTOS) or their supporters may seek to exploit increased gatherings associated with upcoming June 2024 Pride Month.”

Advertisement

The federal agencies flagged specific potential indicators of a more serious threat, like specific and violent threats, unusual surveillance of events, and attempts to bypass security.

Boston’s Pride parade and other events are rooted in commemorating the Stonewall riots of 1969, which served as the catalyst for the gay rights movement. Many in the LGBTQ+ community see June Pride events as an opportunity to celebrate civil rights wins and create a joyous atmosphere for LGBTQ+ families and allies.

Selvaggio said she’s not surprised by the national public service announcement, and while it is difficult to explain homophobia or transphobia to a child, their approach will be for families and children to march with bubbles and noisemakers and lead with love.

“We can’t be silenced. We won’t be silenced,” Selvaggio said. “We think it’s important to celebrate who we are, to be out and proud — and, at the same time, working to ensure that our folks are safe.”

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending