New issue of CommonWealth released today
CommonWealth’s summer issue is posted online in its entirety. Click here to see the full contents, or click on a link below to go directly to the story of your choice (one-time free registration required).
The cover story, by editor Bruce Mohl, focuses on Secretary of State William Galvin’s administration of a $50 million-a-year state tax credit program designed to promote the rehabilitation of historic buildings. The tax credit program is structured in a way that gives Galvin tremendous political leverage. The secretary has also gone to great lengths to keep the names of tax credit recipients under wraps. CommonWealth had to file a public records request to obtain the names. Among the big winners: the Boston Red Sox and politically well-connected developers Richard Friedman and Arthur Winn.
Staff writer Gabrielle Gurley, in “Pump It Up,” documents the precarious finances of the state’s debt-ridden transportation agencies and says an increase in the state’s gasoline tax may be the only way out.
Our final feature deals with the state’s Community Preservation Act. Originally created as a way for the state to provide financial help for municipalities creating open space and affordable housing or pursuing historic preservation initiatives, the act increasingly is being used for questionable recreational projects like synthetic-turf playing fields and even residential sidewalks.
Executive editor Michael Jonas sits down with Harvard political scientist Archon Fung to talk about his new book, Full Disclosure: The Perils and Promise of Transparency. Fung and his co-authors say transparency policies can be powerful tools for democracy, but only if citizens receive the right kind of information and know what to do with it.
A new column called Real Talk, by Alison Lobron, makes its debut in this issue. A young person’s take on public policy issues, the column suggests that today’s economic realities mean young people need to define success differently than their parents did.
In our Perspectives section, Charlie Lord, executive director of the Urban Ecology Institute at Boston College, makes the case for the urban forest, while transportation expert Terry Regan argues that those who seek to expand the reach of the MBTA may actually be undermining the transit agency.
Ben Forman and John Schneider of MassINC say the state’s economic development policies should be promoting growth in the 11 Gateway Cities, but unfortunately just the opposite is happening. The authors say the state invests half a billion dollars annually in business incentives, but less than 5 percent goes to programs that draw companies to economically distressed areas.
Finally, be sure to check out our regular features. Washington correspondent Shawn Zeller scrutinizes US Rep. John Olver, the Bay State’s money man in Washington. B.J. Roche, in What Works, says regionalization is paying dividends in Franklin Country. Dan Kennedy, in Mass.Media, reports on New England Ethnic News. And managing editor Robert David Sullivan tracks state spending on prisons, maps municipal spending on culture, and reveals that foreclosures are hitting multifamily homes especially hard.
It’s an exciting time at CommonWealth. Our recent Education issue is garnering rave reviews, and The Boston Foundation recently gave us a grant to pursue investigative reporting. Our success depends on your ideas and support. Let me know what you think of this issue and, as always, send me your thoughts and ideas at bmohl@massinc.org.
Thanks,
Bruce Mohl
Editor


