Assembly part 2

THE SOMERVILLE FILES: PART 2: GHOSTS OF ASSEMBLY SQUARE

Posted on June 26, 2013 by CHRIS FARAONE AND TOM NASH AND ADAM VACCAROEmail

This is the second installment in a multi-part DigBoston series about the intersection of politics, development, and power in the city of Somerville.

If you’ve yet to hear about Assembly Row, just wait for the commercials. Construction is strong underway at the billion-dollar development, which stretches along the Mystic River over four acres in Somerville. Your next blind date might be at the incoming Legal C Bar. Maybe you’ll apply for work at one of the retailers that will open there, or in the state-of-the-art office space that’s being built along with hundreds of condos. When you get to Assembly, though, try not to think about the ghosts buried deep beneath the esplanade.

When the grand vision for this consumer age Utopia comes to glory (current estimates are for fall 2014) there likely won’t be a memorial to honor the careers that were lost along the way. During the past four decades, the Assembly Square area—a long-vacant former industrial site that is now becoming Assembly Row—has been a tar pit for aldermen, developers, local pols, and even a high-ranking member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, all of whom were led astray by the promise of a fast and easy buck.

If Somerville did pay homage to those fallen members of the old boys club, etched in stone would be the likes of former Assessor Robert Campo and former State Rep. Vincent J. Piro, the latter of whom once accepted a $5,000 bribe from an undercover FBI agent. Along with two aldermen, both were indicted on corruption charges related to Assembly shenanigans.

With its quicksand-like knack for swallowing officials, Assembly’s foul legacy has tainted several administrations, and has left tangible traces in the politics of modern Somerville.

Stan Koty, who was Piro’s chief of staff during his downfall over bribery charges, currently heads the Department of Public Works, and has a wife and son who are employed by the city. Even after all these years, Koty’s sway over local elections is unmatched.

While the trials of Assembly Square have broken many men before him, Mayor Curtatone has leveraged the enduringly ugly situation all the way to the city’s top office. He’s endlessly campaigned, touting development at Assembly, and has worked to ensure that zoning is conducive to projects he supports. Those plans have changed over the years, the latest being a mixed-use urban oasis with a significant residential component. Meanwhile, opponents claim that Curtatone is underestimating the economic strain that could come with building homes on such a large scale.

In surveying Assembly development—along with corresponding plans for adding an Orange Line stop to the area—a few lingering difficulties endure. With construction jobs at stake, local workers are picketing the city over alleged broken labor promises. There’s also controversy simmering over a proposed supermarket, which community advocates argue could jeopardize the area’s potential.

To trace how the municipality arrived at this juncture, more than three decades into their largest development project in history, DigBoston summoned the ghosts of Assembly Square’s past.

Covered in slime, we came to understand what Somerville’s Big Dig says about the city itself, both then and now.

Photo credit: Derek KouyoumjianIllustrations by Carlos Montilla

OLD FACE, SAME PLACES

After 32 years in Somerville, Ford Motor Company closed its Assembly Square production plant in 1958. The shutdown came at the severe cost of the local economy, which at the time comprised about 80 percent first or second generation Americans, mostly from Ireland, Italy, and Canada. Though the mean family income in 1960 was $6,000, or slightly above the national average, property taxes were among the highest in the state, with Somerville owing almost $7 million—the equivalent of $51 million today—in short term loans to cover basic operating costs.

As the ’70s approached, there were ample reasons to invest in Somerville. In 1969, an unknown minister named S. Lester Ralph toppled the incumbent mayor James Brennan, spurring local media to style Ralph as a much-needed reformer in an age of rampant corruption. Notably, Ralph opened city hall up to reporters from the Boston Globe, who in 1971 exposed deep-rooted municipal corruption in a series that went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Among other revelations, the reporters showed that throughout the ’60s, Somerville spent the modern day equivalent of $31 million on no-bid contracts given to businesses connected to the government by financial and familial ties.

In 1980, Mayor Eugene Brune took office, and promptly installed a staff of young, idealistic professionals. In a tumultuous decade, Brune was a competent and ethical mayor, but his time was marked by indictments and convictions: an assistant director at the city’s housing authority was found guilty of fraud; an administrator at the Council on Aging was charged with misappropriating funds; a director of the Somerville-Cambridge Economic Council was caught embezzling $33,000 to support his cocaine habit. Much of the rigmarole revolved around Assembly Square.

Close to Boston and directly on the water, Assembly Square has always been ripe for development.

That opportunity first presented itself in the mid-’70s, after a warehouse outfit on the property closed down, allowing the city to purchase the land. A local builder, the East Bay Development Corp., promised office space, revitalization, and more than 1,000 jobs. Instead, Somerville got a Jordan Marsh, a Kmart, and a headache that would last into the new millennium.

Known for his year-round tan and impeccable swagger, Vincent Piro worked his way up from Somerville alderman to state committeeman to a seat in the state House of Representatives in 1967. By 1984, Piro had become the majority whip on Beacon Hill, making him an attractive target for a federal probe into apparent bribery swindles. Posing as a representative for the East Bay Development Corp., an FBI agent named Jack Callahan had already busted—and subsequently flipped—Alderman Timothy Creedon, who brokered city approval for Assembly liquor licenses in exchange for an $8,500 payoff.

With Creedon on board, the US Attorney’s Office dispatched Callahan to visit Piro at the State House with a wire on. The plot initially worked; Piro asked the undercover for $25,000, specifying that he had to “grease a few guys.” But three weeks later, Piro invited Callahan back to his office and returned the money, claiming that his conscience wouldn’t let him take the bribe.

Despite taped evidence, Piro never went down in the liquor license dragnet. A judge declared a mistrial in his proceedings in 1984; six months later, the state rep was found not guilty in federal court. Others were less fortunate. Alderman Creedon was sentenced to a year in prison for pocketing bribes, while Assessor Robert Campo was also indicted in connection with Assembly corruption. The perp walk continued with the indictment of Campo’s son-in-law, Ward 3 Alderman Michael McKenna.

At the Campo-McKenna trial, testimony revealed that aldermen Frank Bakey, Alan Kenney, and Vincent Ciampa also accepted contributions in exchange for votes on liquor licenses. So, apparently, did Ward 5 Alderman Joe Macaluso, who admitted to taking $350 from a donor who had first tried to bribe him. Years later, Macaluso had a criminal complaint issued against him after cops found a car that he reported stolen parked on his Martha’s Vineyard property.

And still, he remains a fixture in Somerville government—Macaluso currently serves as executive director of the Somerville Housing Authority.

THE OPPOSITION

Despite a lack of a cohesive master plan and funding, in the early 1990s, Assembly took a big step with the arrival of a Home Depot. But between economic downturns and a costly focus on crime fighting, Mayor Michael Capuano’s administration accomplished little in the way of beautifying the site.

In 1998, former school committee member Dorothy Kelly Gay replaced Capuano in a special election, defeating sitting Aldermen Joe Curtatone and John Buonomo. Gay’s rise coincided with the formation of the Mystic View Task Force—a citizen group established to advocate for community interests in the Assembly building process. Their goals: $30 million in new property tax revenues, 30,000 new permanent jobs, and 30 acres of open space.

Mystic View presented evidence that, developed as an office-based neighborhood with supporting retail and housing, Assembly Square could easily achieve those goals. But in order to do that, big-box behemoths—which had dominated much of the Assembly discussion—could not be an option. Office complexes score high value assessments, which result in greater tax revenue and more jobs. Not so much in the case of stores and restaurants, though developers find retail sexy on account of space being easy to lease. Mystic View held the position that focusing the whole project around retail would underutilize the property, as previous development initiatives had shown. Furthermore, they argued that such development would fall short of spurring the tax influx that the city needed.

Mayor Gay had other ideas; though she told the Globe that she agreed with Mystic View, to the dismay of many, she called for a big-box concept. The task force alleged that the proposal violated a Somerville zoning ordinance, leading to a conflict that became a key political instrument for Alderman Curtatone when, in 2003, he launched his second bid for mayor. Casting Assembly as a central campaign issue—arguing that it would become a strip mall over his “dead body”—Curtatone won the election. In his efforts, the four-term alderman had the backing of Assembly veterans including Stan Koty, the former Piro chief of staff. (Soon after Curtatone took office, Koty was handed the DPW seat that he holds to this day.)

Curtatone also got assistance from Natasha Perez, a former campaign staffer who worked on his previous mayoral run. Perez, also deputy director of the state Democratic party at the time, was working for a company called Gravestar, which belonged the limited partnership that wanted to develop a strip mall at Assembly. There, Perez was tasked with managing political and media relations for Assembly development efforts.

In the process of campaigning, the aspiring mayor—whose campaign account started off more than $100,000 in debt in 2003—accepted thousands in donations from real estate professionals. Bolstered by these private forces, he outspent his opponent by nearly 400 percent, and sailed to victory. With Curtatone in office, Boston-based attorneys Palmer & Dodge, whose partners pumped nearly $2,000 into his campaign, was paid at least $450,000 to write new zoning for Assembly.

The resulting map—allowing for a strip mall, which Curtatone had previously protested—was approved.

Of the involved parties, the properties’ commercial interests—chiefly Taurus New England and Gravestar, both of an alliance called Assembly Square Limited Partners—made out the best. With the allure of quick leases boosted by the retail-friendly zoning, the land became attractive to potential developers. That allowed the limited partnership, with former Curtatone campaign staffer Perez representing them at city hall, to flip Assembly at a $30 million profit.

Having bought the property for $64 million in 2005, the Maryland-based Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT) quickly built a Staples and a Christmas Tree Shop. Mystic View sued the city, and a Massachusetts land court later ruled that Palmer and Dodge’s zoning amendment was illegal. But by then, Federal Realty Investment Trust had bought the property and built a big-box strip mall. Playing defense, city hall issued a press release applauding the court’s ruling—even though it nullified Curtatone’s prescribed plans. Meanwhile, IKEA had also bought land at Assembly, and was planning to build there as well. So rather than stop development in its tracks, Mystic View, FRIT, and IKEA entered mediation to determine the future of Assembly Row. In the process, all sides secured concessions, resulting in a sort of stalemate. As part of the agreement, residents were promised designated office and R&D facilities, plus ample open green space along the Mystic. FRIT and IKEA also pitched in $15 million for the Orange Line station.

For better or worse, those talks led to the site’s current plan.

PARADISE LOST

Since buying into the area, Federal appears to have gained tremendous influence at city hall. In the past three years alone, the builders contributed $100,000 to the city for a new municipal hockey rink, while Curtatone has accepted $2,150 from company executives. FRIT’s relationship with the mayor has proven fruitful; in 2010, Curtatone helped secure a $25 million loan from the state to pay for new infrastructure in Assembly—despite a legal obligation carried over from the previous owner providing that FRIT complete such work themselves. Endorsing a plan that strapped city taxpayers with the burden—$25 million, plus interest, to be paid off over the next 30 years—Curtatone moved for the financing arrangement after FRIT, a publicly traded company worth billions, threatened to walk away from Somerville.

There’s also a showdown brewing over local jobs, as storefronts like Starbucks and Burger Dive are already up-and-running, and with a multiplex and other large buildings in the works. A city spokesperson tells the Dig that “the Mayor has taken every available legal and legislative route to cultivate an environment in Somerville that benefits local workers.” Still, his administration spoke in support of FRIT’s hiring practices to the Somerville Journal—even as residents picketed the project over the lack of local jobs in its development thus far.

Shortly after IKEA backed away from the parcel last year (the Swedish company maintains ownership, but will not develop a store there), FRIT announced intentions to build a single-story supermarket on the grounds—a proposal that would again require a new zoning initiative. After spending more than a decade fighting over best uses for Assembly, Mystic View members argue that the store should serve as the first floor of a larger building that includes revenue-driving office space. Activists say that FRIT’s proposal serves as a reminder about whose corner Curtatone stands in; in response, city spokesperson Denise Taylor tells the Dig that the “one-story grocery store proposal has not moved forward because we are confident this plan will improve, thanks to the very helpful public comments so far and our goal of finding more creative and innovative plans for this space.” Still, the agenda for a public meeting to discuss the project in July refers to the development as a “ground-floor supermarket.”

From Mystic View’s perspective, the supermarket issue rings familiar, with City Hall apparently petitioning for short-term solutions that benefit developers more than residents. Referring to the latest feud as “déjà vu,” task force member Wig Zamore says the episode harkens back to debates of decades past. “For a political establishment that [doesn't have] lot of mixed-use experience, it’s easier to just go with what the most powerful developer asks you to do,” he says.

“Meanwhile, we’re just falling further and further behind Cambridge and Boston.”

In the next installment, the Dig will show some of the ways Curtatone’s development agenda has manifested throughout Somerville: an ethically challenged zoning board, uncertified building commissioners, and residents learning to fight back.

cry baby Sal rants

Former Somerville State Senator Sal Albano responds to Dukakis Endorsement of Capuanorenaissance-man | Mon, Dec 7, 2009 7:43 AM EST All politics is local, as Tip pointed out. And local politics always has interesting history. Former State Senator Sal Albano has sent an e-mail to the “Dukakis Family” e-mail list responding to his surprise at Mike Dukakis’ endorsement of Congressman Capuano. The central paragraph for me was: Like all of you, when it came to Michael Dukakis, I was a true believer, from the beginning — a key Somerville Dukakis organizer and loyal supporter. I know who the Somerville people are who worked on every Dukakis campaign. I assure you, Michael Capuano was not one of them. Michael Capuano never supported Michael Dukakis. -Sal Albano The full text of the e-mail that hit yesterday is below the fold. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- —–Original Message—– From: gas7474 [mailto:gas7474@comcast.net] Sent: Sun 12/6/2009 2:39 PM To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; Subject: Will the Real Mike Capuano Please Stand Up Dear Dukakis “Family”, Like all of you, I have always been among Michael Dukakis’ biggest supporters. Accordingly, I was also among the recipients of his recent e-mail message in which he endorsed Michael Capuano’s candidacy for United States Senator. I can’t tell you how surprised and disappointed I am by Michael’s decision to do this. I realize this race has unavoidably divided liberal Democrats. On the face of it, the differences between the four candidates appear to be few. As you may have read in the Boston Globe, I am supporting Martha Coakley. Undoubtedly many of you are supporting her as well. It wouldn’t surprise me if others are supporting Alan Khazei, who, though few give him any chance of winning, seems to have solid progressive values. But Mike Capuano? I cannot fathom how any loyal Dukakis supporter (let alone, the former governor himself) who remembers who Michael Capuano really is could possibly mistake him for a liberal democrat. I’ll admit that more recently, as a Congressman, he appears to be liberal and has the voting record to prove it. But, as someone who served on the Somerville Board of Alderman with Mike, was State Senator during his tenure as Mayor of Somerville, with all due respect to our former Governor, I have to disagree with his characterization of Michael Capuano’s political career BEFORE he became Congressman Capuano. The fact is, despite his more recent transformation, Somerville Alderman or Mayor Mike Capuano wouldn’t have been caught dead in a room full of Dukakis supporters. Like all of you, when it came to Michael Dukakis, I was a true believer, from the beginning — a key Somerville Dukakis organizer and loyal supporter. I know who the Somerville people are who worked on every Dukakis campaign. I assure you, Michael Capuano was not one of them. Michael Capuano never supported Michael Dukakis. On the contrary, not only did he often rail against Dukakis and liberals, he used my well known association with Michael Dukakis to attack me in a Democratic State Committee race saying, “Albano is too liberal to represent this district. He’s a Dukakis liberal”. It’s worth mentioning that in that same race he also circulated an endorsement letter from “Mass Citizens for Life”, though he now claims to be pro-choice. Dukakis characterized Capuano as having been “one of the best Mayor’s in the Commonwealth”. Again, Governor, with all due respect, there are legions of progressive Somervillians (who were in the minority at that time) who worked tirelessly to defeat him each time he ran, who would strongly disagree with that assessment. Dukakis said he first met Mike Capuano, when Capuano was a young staffer at the State House. What he failed to mention was Capuano worked in the office of the corrupt, though powerful House Majority Whip, Vincent Piro, who was caught on tape taking a bribe from an FBI agent and later indicted. Many of you courageously supported me in successful campaigns for State Senator against Mr. Piro in 1984 and 1986, and again, when I faced a stiff republican challenger in 1990. Michael Capuano was not so courageous. He did not support me in either of my campaigns against Piro, and in 1990, as Mayor of Somerville, he put the muscle of his entire organization behind my republican opponent. Michael’s blatant support of a Republican nominee in a state senate race is all the more egregious a betrayal of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, since as you may recall, the 1990 campaign season ended up being a watershed election in which many Democrats were defeated and the Republican Party captured many legislative seats and the Governor’s office. The first time Michael Capuano ran for Congress he was not the progressive candidate of choice in the race. In fact, he benefitted from the fact that two of his opponents had to share that honor and divided the liberal vote. That, and a crowded field enabled Capuano to win a congressional seat in a predominantly liberal district without getting many liberal votes, and by consolidating the moderate and conservative votes. Since that time he has behaved as required given the district he represents, effectively broadening his base by moving to the left. His votes against the Patriot Act and against the Iraq War, for example, were not so much courageous as expedient for anyone representing the 8th District. It’s just smart politics. But is it real? While I applaud and agree with those votes, given everything I know about the man’s entire political career, I can’t help but doubt Michael Capuano’s new found liberalism. I’m concerned that as US Senator he will no longer be accountable only to the liberal voters of the 8th district, but instead to a much broader, more moderate constituency. Can he be counted upon to vote the way he has as US Representative if he becomes a United States Senator? What if he’s not really a liberal, but just plays one in the Eighth District? Can we afford to take that chance in a race for a seat this important and this potentially permanent? Can someone who quite possibly transformed himself into a liberal for the sake of political expediency really be, as he so emphatically claims, the rightful heir to Senator Kennedy’s legacy of unshakable liberalism. I don’t think so. Sincerely yours, Sal Albano “

Creedon makes payments

FORMER SOMERVILLE ALDERMAN TELLS COURT OF EXTORTION; SCHEME FOR VOTES [THIRD Edition] Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Boston, Mass. Author: M.E. Malone, Globe Staff Date: Aug 13, 1986 Start Page: 53 Section: METRO Text Word Count: 514 Document Text Three current and two former aldermen in Somerville were given money in exchange for a favorable vote in connection with the Assembly Square Mall project, a former alderman testified yesterday in US District Court. According to Timothy J. Creedon, who was sentenced to a year in prison for his role in a scheme to extort money from a developer seeking liquor licenses, aldermen Vincent Ciampa, Joseph Macaluso and Michael McKenna accepted money from him in exchange for their votes approving a home rule petition in February 1983. Former aldermen Frank Bakey and Alan Kenney were also paid for their votes, Creedon testified. Creedon was the third prosecution witness to testify at the trial of McKenna and his father-in-law, former city assessor Robert Campo, who are charged with trying to extort money from East Bay Development Corp., the builder of the Assembly Square Mall in Somerville. Creedon testified that he told John J. Callahan, an undercover FBI agent posing as developer Jack Collins, that he would need $13,500 to secure enough votes to guarantee approval of a home rule petition authorizing two new liquor licenses for the mall -- $1,500 for each of eight aldermen and $1,500 forhimself. The petition was approved by a vote of 11-0. Instead, Creedon said he pocketed most of the payoff, giving only $500 to each of five other aldermen, including McKenna. When McKenna learned that Creedon had collected $1,500 per man from East Bay, he became irate, Creedon said. During a meeting at McKenna's house, Creedon testified that he told the young alderman, "I told him, 'My neck is out there.'. . . I told him the deal was $500 and that's it. . ." At a meeting several weeks later in Creedon's car outside a local junior high school, McKenna accepted an envelope with $500 in cash, Creedon testified. Alderman Joseph Macaluso said he was approached by Creedon several weeks before the board was to vote on the proposed home rule petition. "He said to me, 'Can I still count on you for support of the licenses at Assembly Square? . . . There's going to be money in it for you,' " Macaluso testified yesterday. Macaluso said he agreed to vote for the licenses because they were in Creedon's ward, but said he would not accept money for his vote. He testified that shortly after the vote, he refused an envelope from Creedon. Several months later, he said, he asked Creedon to sell some tickets for a campaign fundraiser. According to Macaluso, Creedon gave him $350, saying that $200 had come from Jack Collins and $150 had come from Creedon. Macaluso reported the contributions on his campaign disclosure forms filed at City Hall. During cross-examination, McKenna's attorney, Vincent Brognalia, painted Creedon as a liar. In addition to demanding more money than he planned to distribute from Callahan, Creedon admitted that he lied to Callahan at a meeting in February 1983, when he told the agent that he had already given McKenna a downpayment for his vote. McKenna wasn't given the money until several days later, Creedon testified. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) According to Timothy J. Creedon, who was sentenced to a year in prison for his role in a scheme to extort money from a developer seeking liquor licenses, aldermen Vincent Ciampa, [Alderman Joseph Macaluso] and Michael McKenna accepted money from him in exchange for their votes approving a home rule petition in February 1983. Former aldermen Frank Bakey and Alan Kenney were also paid for their votes, Creedon testified. Instead, Creedon said he pocketed most of the payoff, giving only $500 to each of five other aldermen, including McKenna. When McKenna learned that Creedon had collected $1,500 per man from East Bay, he became irate, Creedon said. Several months later, he said, he asked Creedon to sell some tickets for a campaign fundraiser. According to Macaluso, Creedon gave him $350, saying that $200 had come from [Jack Collins] and $150 had come from Creedon. Macaluso reported the contributions on his campaign disclosure forms filed at City Hall.

CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAIN BLOT SOMERVILLE IMAGE

CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAIN BLOT SOMERVILLE IMAGE Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Boston, Mass. Author: Paul Hirshson Globe Staff Date: Jun 21, 1984 Start Page: 1 Text Word Count: 611 Document Text Only 11 years ago, Somerville was honored as an All-American City. It was climbing out from under a cloud of corruption which had seen three of its former mayors and other city officials indicted and was moving forward under a reform-minded mayor. Before the end of the decade, the city would take the bold step of converting an old, disused auto plant and warehouse into one of the region's most successful malls, Assembly Square. It seemed to many that Somerville - an older, industrial city of 78,000 bordering Boston, suffering from the old-city ills of overcrowding, corruption and poor schools - was at last pulling itself up, shining up its image. But today, two men long associated with Somerville politics stand charged with soliciting bribes in connection with obtaining a liquor license for a restaurant at the new mall. Eugene C. Brune, who is serving his third term as mayor, expressed the frustration of many yesterday. "This whole investigation has been a disappointment to me. We've been trying since the day I took office to change the image of the city." He cited such projects as increased street cleaning, a tree- planting program, major urban renewal projects in Davis and Union squares and a new wing on the high school. "We had a plan to change the city around, change the image. We were doing a great job until one day last November, an FBI agent walked into my office" to tell him about the investigation. "It took me three years to change the image of this city, and it took three seconds on television to change it back the way it was," Brune said. It was in 1971 that a Globe Spotlight Team series indicated that a number of officials were involved in questionable bidding practices, assessing property inequitably and engaging in conflict of interest. After publication of the series, 19 persons were indicted, including the three former mayors, other city officials and private contractors. Although none of those indicted was convicted, the headlines generated by the chargesput a seemingly indelible stain on the city's image. S. Lester Ralph, who served as mayor from 1970-77, was generally viewed as a reformer from outside the established old order, trying to help the city recover and restore trust to its public officials. In an interview yesterday, he said that the effort was frustrating and left him "drained and burned out." "It was continual warfare," he said, between his administration and the old guard. "There were a lot of families and cliques, such as the McKenna clan, the Piro clan and the Howe clan." "They've got their tentacles in all levels of government. They can affect you, no matter what you try to do. It was very difficult trying to govern." Describing the level of confrontation that prevailed, he said: "They were vicious to me." (The McKennas include Denis, who is a state senator, and Michael, who is an alderman. Marie Howe is a state representative, as is Vincent Piro, Democratic majority whip. Piro and Timothy Creedon, a former alderman, are under federal indictment on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion.) Both Brune and Ralph seemed saddened and disheartened by the apparent re- spotting of the city's image. But Brune said he was relieved, to some extent, that at last all the gossip and rumor have at least taken some official form. "I'm relieved because since November, it's been almost a daily routine, What's happening in Somerville?' "Now that it's coming to a head, the people will know who's indicted and the trials will take place," said Brune. "Then we can go back to the job of putting our image back together again." Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) After publication of the series, 19 persons were indicted, including the three former mayors, other city officials and private contractors. Although none of those indicted was convicted, the headlines generated by the chargesput a seemingly indelible stain on the city's image. (The McKennas include Denis, who is a state senator, and Michael, who is an alderman. Marie Howe is a state representative, as is Vincent Piro, Democratic majority whip. Piro and Timothy Creedon, a former alderman, are under federal indictment on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion.) Both [Eugene C. Brune] and [S. Lester Ralph] seemed saddened and disheartened by the apparent re- spotting of the city's image. But Brune said he was relieved, to some extent, that at last all the gossip and rumor have at least taken some official form. "I'm relieved because since November, it's been almost a daily routine, What's happening in Somerville?'

Old Guard no more

IN SOMERVILLE, THE OLD GUARD RULES NO MORE [THIRD Edition] Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Boston, Mass. Author: Chris Chinlund, Globe Staff Date: Mar 24, 1985 Start Page: 1 Section: METRO Text Word Count: 1443 Document Text Larry Bretta is in jail. Denis McKenna retired. Vinnie Piro, although cleared of attempted extortion last Wednesday, is out of office. All are part of a Somerville old guard that rules no longer. After years of dominance, the city's traditional political establishment is on the wane. Some say the balance tipped in favor of a more progressive new guard last year. Some say the year before. Others say the transition is just now taking hold. "Mayor Brune and the new guard have taken over, and they have begun to entrench themselves," says Billy Joyce, a former alderman and part of the city's old establishment. "There are very few old guard on the ward and city committees. The old guard is slowly fading into the dust." Joyce is secure in his job as city messenger; his appointment runs until he is 70. Sen. Denis McKenna, as much a representative of Somerville's old guard as any, retired this year from 30 years in politics. "I was the type of politican able to do many favors for people, but things changed in the last eight or 10 years and you can't do things like you used to," he says. It's hard now to secure summer jobs for young people, he says, hard to arrange public housing for elderly people. "You can't do the bread and butter favors like you used to." In Somerville - a densely populated working-class city known for its 10hills and almost as many political factions - the terms old guard and new guard are common lingo. They refer more to political persuasion than tenure. Old guarders are seen as conservative Democrats, many from the politicalfamilies that have dominated for decades. The new guard is more progressive, reformist, less likely to have relatives in office and friendly with the Dukakis administration. Like most labels, these are not perfect, and in recent years the lines have blurred to some extent. But people here know what old guard and new guard mean. "I like to think of it as the more traditional Somerville politicians versus the progressives," says Alderman Cathleen O'Dea, who says she relates to both sides. "It's certainly become increasingly more difficult for traditional Somerville politicians to get elected." The change began in 1980 when Eugene Brune arrived in the mayor's office after beating incumbent Thomas August. That election showed Somerville politics - never genteel - at their most rambunctious. When the Somerville Journal called for August's defeat, for example, the edition mysteriously disappeared from the newsstands in the early morning hours. But it took a few years for Brune to establish his style of government, and to muster support on the Board of Aldermen. It was not until last year that the city's State House delegation was reconstituted. Rep. Marie E. Howe, a veteran conservative Democrat, remains but McKenna, also a conservative Democrat, retired and state Rep. Vincent J. Piro was defeated in his Senate bid. Their replacements were epitomes of the new political camp, Aldermen Salvatore R. Albano and Joseph Mackey, both of a progressive bent. "It's tough to fight the Vinnie Piros, the Marie Howes and the Larry Brettas (former mayor and political force)," says Albano. "They have the resources and the ability to raise money, but this year was the climax of what we have been working for for many years." Adds Mayor Brune, "I'm going into my fourth term, and there is no opposition from the old guard." The change in climate is expected to make it harder, although not impossible, for Piro to win office again in his city. Talk on the street is that he may run for alderman in Ward 4. But even some of his supporters are doubtful of his election chances. Asked if Piro could win election again in the city, Alderman Michael McKenna replies slowly, "I don't think so." His father, Denis McKenna, responds to the same question with a noncommittal "I don't know." Others say Piro still can pull the votes. S. Lester Ralph - the city's first reform mayor who, unlike Brune, was battling the old guard at every turn in the 1970s - remembers the lessons of the past. Never, he says, underestimate the opposition. "There's no question the old situation could return," he warns. "It's almost like the law of gravity." People of all persuasions seem to agree that the seeds of change began with community organization in the late 1960s, and that the Ralph administration laid much of the groundwork. Ralph endured hostile times. He remembers being spit at by an official from the opposing camp as he walked out of City Hall. He remembers how difficult it was even to get postage stamps from the auditor, another political foe. People who know Somerville best give many reasons for the decline of the old guard. A few ran afoul of the law. Bretta, the former mayor and General Services Administration official, is now serving four years for extortion. Alderman Timothy Creedon, a friend of Piro, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail for conspiring to extort money from a developer. Piro's political career also suffered because of his two trials on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion. Albano used the "corruption factor" to engineer his defeat of Piro in the Senate race. One of Albano's leaflets quoted from FBI tapes of Piro allegedly arranging a payoff, planning to "grease a few guys." Other people associated with Somerville's old guard moved to the suburbs, as the city's population dropped 12.8 percent in the 1970s. Says a former activist who later headed the Metropolitan Area Planning Council: "There's been a fairly substantial population loss in Somerville . . . and a lot of the people who moved out were the old guard." They were people, she said, who had always wanted to trade Somerville's crowded triple-deckers for a suburban lawn and two-car garage. When they had the chance, they left. Many people who have moved into Somerville, on the other hand, have had new expectations of their government. They are often professionals who can afford the $150,000 homes around Davis Square, and they are often more liberal. Demographic surveys show 50 percent have at least a college education, compared to 16 percent citywide. But according to Brune, the newcomers don't have the numbers to be responsible for the ousting from office of the old establishment. James Bretta, a former priest who now runs an elderly services program and who has been active in city affairs for many years, says, "I don't think at this point the yuppie thing is consequential. The backbone of Somerville politics are the people who have been here for a while: the second- and third- generation Irish and Italians." The difference, they maintain, is simply that the Somerville electorate, old and new, now demands more of its officials. Perhaps the most important reason for Brune's success - he's widely considered a popular mayor - is the willingness of once- contentious aldermen to adopt his initiatives. Michael McKenna is one of them. "I have been able to change in the way the city has, although a lot of times in the past I have seen the new guard as a threat," says the alderman. "The population of the city has changed, and a lot of the old-guard politicians didn't grow with the population." And the effect of two federal probes - one in the 1970s and the second under way - has been to expose to residents some undesirable aspects of their elected officials. Those probes, say some, have helped convince voters that a change was needed. The current federal probe continues to cause nervousness in some city circles, especially among a few aldermen who privately fear they might be named in later indictments. The nature of possible indictments is unknown. Concern was lessened, but not erased, by Piro's acquittal. Sources say at least five current or former Somerville city officials may be named. Meanwhile, Brune - with the help of Albano and Mackey - is carrying out the recommendations of a third investigation, one done last year by the state Revenue Department. Auditors found the city's elected assessors had engaged in illegal assessing practices, giving breaks to a few at the expense of many. The issue reflects the city's new order. Three years ago, when Brune asked the Legislature for the power to remove the assessors, the effort was killed in the Senate by McKenna. This year, with Albano in McKenna's old seat, the measure is expected to sail through. The current assessors are expected to be ousted from office by mid-year. "The new guard," says one activist, "is now the establishment." Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) It took a few years for [Eugene Brune] to establish his style of government, and to muster support on the Board of Aldermen. It was not until last year that the city's State House delegation was reconstituted. Rep. Marie E. Howe, a veteran conservative Democrat, remains but McKenna, also a conservative Democrat, retired and state Rep. Vincent J. Piro was defeated in his Senate bid. Their replacements were epitomes of the new political camp, Aldermen Salvatore R. Albano and Joseph Mackey, both of a progressive bent. A few ran afoul of the law. Bretta, the former mayor and General Services Administration official, is now serving four years for extortion. Alderman Timothy Creedon, a friend of Piro, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail for conspiring to extort money from a developer. [Vinnie Piros] political career also suffered because of his two trials on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion. Albano used the "corruption factor" to engineer his defeat of Piro in the Senate race. One of Albano's leaflets quoted from FBI tapes of Piro allegedly arranging a payoff, planning to "grease a few guys." according to Brune, the newcomers don't have the numbers to be responsible for the ousting from office of the old establishment. James Bretta, a former priest who now runs an elderly services program and who has been active in city affairs for many years, says, "I don't think at this point the yuppie thing is consequential. The backbone of Somerville politics are the people who have been here for a while: the second- and third- generation Irish and Italians."

Bretta and Callahan part 1

Following are excerpts from transcripts of FBI tape recordings filed in court yesterday in the Bretta case: The first $6000 payoff to Bretta was made by undercover FBI agent John J. Callahan in March of 1982. Callahan: I got the bucks here. Bretta: Make sure you don't mention that we've seen each other. Callahan: Oh no, no, no. This is between you and I. Callahan: It's for services renderded and I appreciate it. I don't know whether you want to count it or not, Larry. But when this time comes around next year, you give me a holler. The second payment was made in May 1983, and at a restaurant meeting Callahan and Bretta discussed how the money should be delivered. Callahan: Your package is in the trunk (of Callahan's Lincoln). If you just want to drive by, I can put it right in your hands. I don't want to bring it in here. Bretta: No, no, no, no. Callahan: I don't want to do it in a restaurant, Larry. Bretta: I tend to agree with you. Callahan: I'll drive up the alley there. Just drive by me and I'll pop the trunk and hand you your package. Bretta: OK. In another conversation, April 29, 1982, Bretta, according to the transcripts, discussed a $10,000 payment the prosecution claims he wanted forhelping locate a Jordan Marsh store at the Assembly Square mall. Callahan: When Jordan Marsh came in here. . . . Bretta: Yup. Callahan: You used your influences, whatever. Bretta: Whatever. Callahan: Whatever you call it. OK, and for that amount of dollars through your connections with Jordan Marsh, who's a fellow who is a vice president there . . . Bretta: Well, Dick Duca, I guess was the guy that finally . . . Callahan: OK, whatever... Anyway, X amount of dollars was owed to you. Bretta: Yeah. Callahan: All I know is that is $10,000 somewhere coming to you. Bretta: Correct. Callahan: Maybe the figure is wrong and maybe it's right. Bretta: No, that is correct, Actually it is owed to Dick, but that's OKbecause we get (unintelligible). In the FBI reports filed with the court there were several references, none of them incriminating, to House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., who helped Bretta land his GSA job. Raymond Coots, the late president of East Bay Development Corp., which built Assembly Square Mall in Somerville, is quoted by a report as saying Bretta told him, "Somerville is O'Neill's territory, and Bretta thought he could possilbly help (in obtaining a federal UDAG grant for the area surrouding the mall.) Coots stated that he does not know if O'Neill helped or not." Coots said, according to the report, he had seen Bretta and O'Neill together at social events such as the annual Tip O'Neill Clambake held by the Somerville Chamber of Commerce. On a Sept. 24, 1982, tape Callahan asked Bretta about the possibility of meeting O'Neill. Callahan: Will I have an opportunity to talk with, ah . . . . Bretta: Of course. Callahan: Tip. Bretta: Sure, sure. There is only going to be about 20 guys. Callahan: Will I be able to bring up that UDAG thing (unintelligible) and that Somerville thing, and ask him about that? Bretta: Sure, positive, yah, yah, no problem, with that. OK. Callahan: Good, good. Bretta: It might be well if you and I just took a plane trip down. Callahan: Yah. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) The first $6000 payoff to [BRETTA] was made by undercover FBI agent John J. Callahan in March of 1982. Raymond Coots, the late president of East Bay Development Corp., which built Assembly Square Mall in Somerville, is quoted by a report as saying Bretta told him, "Somerville is [O'Neill Jr.]'s territory, and Bretta thought he could possilbly help (in obtaining a federal UDAG grant for the area surrouding the mall.) Coots stated that he does not know if O'Neill helped or not." On a Sept. 24, 1982, tape Callahan asked Bretta about the possibility of meeting O'Neill. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

Dear Jean Mayer

DAVID WARSH Dear Jean Mayer: It's tough sledding on your veterinary school in Worcester, I know. But it is something else that is on my mind. I think you should consider changing Tufts University's address to Somerville. As you know, half the campus is in Somerville, half in Medford; the town line runs right through your house. The time was when Medford was a better address. Times change. Now let me quickly state that I've lived in Somerville for a dozen years. My knowledge is the local knowledge of an outsider, not deep, concentrated mostly around Davis Square: Sessa's Grocery, St. Clement's Parish, Rev. Ken Turner's remarkable evangelical, multicultural Church of the Nazarene. I know my neighbors. I know where to vote. What I don't know about Ward 1 would fill books. What I do know is something about is economic development. Something happened in the middle of the 1970s. Somerville began to be considered in the same breath as Cambridge as a place to put a restaurant, a studio, an apartment. This was the era in which Steve's Ice Cream and Bertucci's were founded in Somerville, side by side. About the same time, the long decline that had afflicted the once-proud city in the years after World War II slowed, then stopped. Mayor Lester Ralph's career as a reformer petered out; Tom August took over for a couple years and rent control was repealed, a crucial moment. The Davis Square Task Force insisted on a stop on the the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Red Line extension. And then in 1979 Somerville elected Gene Brune. Brune was a hell of a leader, the only five-term mayor the city ever had. He rebuilt the high school and police station, re-did all the city parks, eliminated the crooked Board of Assessment, went out of his way to attract artists to the city's lofts. The decision to ban biotech was a bad one; the Woodbridge Hotel burned down; he didn't do either one. More to the point, he restored a certain confidence to the city, and the reform spirit born of the Massachusetts Miracle did the rest. Characters like police captain Gerald Clemente and former Mayor Larry Bretta went to jail; state Sen. Dennis McKenna and Rep. Marie Howe went down to defeat. (CORRECTION: Because of a reporting error, the status of former state Sen. Denis McKenna of Somerville was incorrectly described in David Warsh's column in yesterday's Business Extra. He did not run for re-election.) On the day Vinnie Piro was defeated by Sal Albano -- with the margin coming from Somerville -- a neighbors exclaimed, "I feel as though I live in Wellesley!" This was the period during which Herald columnist Howie Carr moved into town, then out again, after his house was rhetorically burgled -- a poignant reminder that Somerville still can play by some very tough rules. You can't get Howie to say a good word about Somerville even now. Indeed, for many people, time somehow froze in 1971: Somerville is the Winter Hill Mob and The Boston Globe Spotlight Team poring over sweetheart contracts. The Sunsetters glee club would go about town on summer evenings singing "Who do you think you ah, Howie Cah?" It was touching, but not much of a defense. The beauty of this evolution is that it was decidely not gentrification. Somerville simply reclaimed its own destiny. Brune worked well with outsiders. After five terms he departed for the more secure position of Middlesex Register of Deeds. Then Michael Capuano beat John Buonomo by a hair. Capuano is a bright guy, like Brune only more so: younger, something more of an edge, the perfect postmodern Somervillian. A Dartmouth graduate who went to Boston College Law School, Capuano made a living as a lobbyist and sends his kids to a private school. But his roots go deep in Somerville. So the real test of the Somerville reform tradition comes next week when he faces reelection. His opponent is a 28-year-old lawyer named Mary Curtatone, with little experience beyond her family business. There is a lot of anger around -- not the least of it from Gene Brune, who has never forgiven Capuano for his curt personal style. But Capuano is good on finance, on women, on the environment. Most important, he's good on meaning fairness -- not a trivial consideration now that Somerville's minority population -- Haitians, Brazilians, Central Americans -- is approaching 15,000 people, or something like 20 percent. To sum up, Somerville could have been Chelsea; instead it's a discount Cambridge, with all the Byzantine politics that this implies. Medford is a lovely city, but it's been a long time since that over-the-river-and-through-the-woods stuff. I know the post office is in Medford. But now Somerville is a better address. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) More to the point, he restored a certain confidence to the city, and the reform spirit born of the Massachusetts Miracle did the rest. Characters like police captain Gerald Clemente and former Mayor Larry Bretta went to jail; state Sen. Dennis McKenna and Rep. Marie Howe went down to defeat. (CORRECTION: Because of a reporting error, the status of former state Sen. Denis McKenna of Somerville was incorrectly described in [DAVID WARSH]'s column in yesterday's Business Extra. He did not run for re-election.) On the day Vinnie Piro was defeated by Sal Albano -- with the margin coming from Somerville -- a neighbors exclaimed, "I feel as though I live in Wellesley!" This was the period during which Herald columnist Howie Carr moved into town, then out again, after his house was rhetorically burgled -- a poignant reminder that Somerville still can play by some very tough rules. You can't get Howie to say a good word about Somerville even now. Indeed, for many people, time somehow froze in 1971: Somerville is the Winter Hill Mob and The Boston Globe Spotlight Team poring over sweetheart contracts. The Sunsetters glee club would go about town on summer evenings singing "Who do you think you ah, Howie Cah?" It was touching, but not much of a defense. To sum up, Somerville could have been Chelsea; instead it's a discount Cambridge, with all the Byzantine politics that this implies. Medford is a lovely city, but it's been a long time since that over-the-river-and-through-the-woods stuff. I know the post office is in Medford. But now Somerville is a better address.