The second round of talks about Suffolk University’s growth plans was kicked off at the meeting Thursday evening of a newly constituted task force, with representatives from neighborhoods beyond Beacon Hill having a seat at the table.

Beacon Hillers dominated the first task force, which focused primarily on the university’s proposal to build a dormitory at 20 Somerset Street. But that task force came to an end in early January when Mayor Thomas Menino announced that he would not support a dormitory on Beacon Hill and sent Suffolk back to the planning stage.

Since then, Suffolk has filed an Institutional Master Plan Notification Form Renewal with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which proposes no new development on Beacon Hill. “The task force made it clear that it would support a dorm in the Ladder District or in Downtown Crossing,” said John Nucci. “This [new IMP] signals a clear move by us in this direction.”

So, while Beacon Hill still has five people on the newly constituted task force, so does Downtown Crossing. The North End and West End, two neighborhoods that could be impacted by Suffolk’s growth, are also represented.

Some, such as state Representative Marty Walz, were angered that Beacon Hill has fewer task force members. “The heart and soul of Suffolk University is still on Beacon Hill,” she said. “If they grow and expand, it will still have an impact here.”

Gerald Autler, BRA’s senior planner who continues to coordinate the task force as part of the Article 80 and Institutional Master Planning processes, acknowledged that Beacon Hill will remain the locus of the university but added that because the continuing dialogue will focus on the growth of facilities and residential buildings elsewhere, the public process would be more meaningful if the leadership structure did not favor any of the neighborhoods.

Representing Beacon Hill on the Suffolk Task Force are John Delano of the Beacon Hill Business Association, Bill Hayward of Temple Street, Billie Lawrence of the Upper Beacon Hill Civic Association, Robert Whitney of the Beacon Hill Civic Association and Beatrice Nessen of the Garden of Peace.

From the Downtown Crossing/Ladder District are Deanna Palmin of Tremont on the Common, Tim Obert of the Hyatt Hotel, resident Margaret Carr, Christine Dunn of Millenium/MDA and Mary Ann Ponti of the Downtown Crossing Association Board.

From the North End are Dan Passacantilli, Joyce Amoroso of the North End Neighborhood Council and Victor Brogna of the North End Waterfront Residents Association.

Representing the West End are Jane Forrestall of the West End Council, Louise Thomas of the West End Civic Association and Norman Herr of the West End Neighborhood Association.

Executive Director Robert O’Brien will represent the Downtown North Association.

Although torrential rains kept crews from working on Friday, John Lepore, project supervisor for Mass. Highway, which is responsible for Cambridge Street’s reconstruction, said Ocean State was “on the job all week,” at the corners of North Grove and Blossom Street. Ocean State is in charge of fabricating the controllers and the timers for the traffic signals. “They are assisting the electricians,” said Lepore. “They are getting them wired and ready to go.” Lepore said the lights could be working as early as Wednesday. He won’t know the exact time until after a Monday meeting with the Boston Transportation Department at which they will decide the best time to transition from the old signals to the new ones.

The bad news is that it has taken so long. It’s been almost a year since Stop & Shop signed a letter of intent with Hines/Raymond LLC to install a supermarket in Hines/Raymond’s proposed building in the Bulfinch Triangle near North Station. The supermarket is slated to serve Beacon Hill, the West End, the North End, Charlestown and the growing downtown neighborhood.

The good news is that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and Hines/Raymond finally came to terms, and the MTA sent the completed development agreement to Hines/Raymond LLC on January 22, said Rebecca Mattson, chief operating officer of the Raymond Property Company, at a meeting with supermarket advocates last Thursday night.

The agreement will enable the Hines/Raymond joint venture to go through a 90- to 120-day period of due diligence, in which it drills test holes and takes surveys to assure itself that the parcel of land, under which lie the MBTA’s Green and Orange lines as well as the buried Central Artery, presents no surprises.

“This is the most important process for the whole community,” said Louise Thomas of Martha Road, who, as a supermarket committee member, has in the past expressed impatience with the Turnpike Authority’s pace.

The land on which Hines/Raymond intends to build is about 60 percent owned by the Turnpike Authority and about 40 percent owned by the MBTA. The MBTA designated Hines/Raymond as the developer of its part of the parcel more than a year and a half ago.

If all goes well, the developers will begin Article 80 permitting, the public process the Boston Redevelopment Authority requires of projects of this size.

Stop and Shop’s plans call for a supermarket sales floor of about 30,000 square feet on the second floor. The former Stop and Shop at Charles River Plaza was about 25,000 square feet, according to Mattson. Shoppers would enter at the corner of Valenti Way and Beverly Street, a street that will be built when the developments on the parcels go up. Seventy-five parking spaces will be available for shoppers in cars.

Mattson said her development team did not yet know if it would proceed with residential condominiums above the supermarket, as they had planned. Because the office market in downtown Boston is now stronger than the residential market, they may build their nine- to 11-story, 433,000-square-foot project as offices. The project will extend from Canal Street east to North Washington Street and from New Chardon Street north to Valenti Way.

If all goes as planned from this point forward, Mattson expects the project will be completed in 2010.

Police Commissioner Edward Davis admits he hardly noticed the young children looking at the mortally wounded man lying in a pool of blood last week on a Boston street after being shot several times.

“I wonder what that scene was like for them,” said Davis over lunch recently with members of The Beacon Hill Times editorial staff. “I wonder if anyone at home talked to them about what they saw.”

When he’s at a crime scene, Davis is all business. He’s busy surveying the scene and talking to detectives about evidence, so sometimes the young children in the crowd being desensitized by the violence around them go unnoticed.

But like every member of the Boston Police Department, he’s mortal, and the fact that the life of a young man was snuffed out in a gruesome act of street violence bothers Davis tremendously — as does the presence of the children in the crowd at many of Boston’s murder scenes.

“For the most part, all of Boston’s neighborhoods are good neighborhoods made up of working-class families. But in some cases they are held hostage by a small number of people,” said Davis.

In Davis, Mayor Thomas Menino has found the man he hopes can not only restore order on Boston’s deadly streets but also restore the concept of community policing in Boston neighborhoods.

Since taking over the post in October, Davis has vowed to take back Boston’s streets from criminals, street by street and block-by-block.

“If we deploy police officers in the right locations . . . locations that have seen a spike in violent crime, we can properly reduce the number of homicides and shootings and other crimes plaguing Boston’s streets,” said Davis.

Davis has launched several new initiatives, but the one that is getting the most praise is his expansion of the Boston Police recruiting efforts.

Davis recently announced a comprehensive police recruitment strategy designed to inspire the highest quality and most culturally diverse applicants to sign up for the state-administered civil service exam scheduled for May 19, 2007.

“The Boston Police Department is looking for the best and the brightest applicants, those with pride, integrity and a sense of commitment,” said Davis. “To support the department’s community policing philosophy, the BPD seeks to identify dedicated individuals who desire to give back and make a difference.”

The department is seeking to achieve its goals by executing a first-of-its-kind recruiting effort that will effectively target potential candidates from a multi-cultural applicant pool. The secondary goal of this campaign is to create an opportunity to reinforce the core values of the Boston Police Department with its constituency base and the community-at-large.

Davis said the effort underscores the city’s commitment to creating a department that is community-minded and culturally representative.

“Commissioner Davis and I are dedicated to ensuring that Boston is one of the safest and most livable cities in the nation,” said Menino. “To achieve that goal, the city recognizes the importance of consistently attracting a wide range of talented candidates who personify the rich diversity of Boston neighborhoods.”

During Davis’s 12-year tenure as head of the Lowell Police Department, that city saw a dramatic decrease in crime. In Lowell crime fell 60 percent, spurring significant economic development in the city’s business and corporate districts. In 1999, Lowell received an All-American City award from the National Civic League, featuring its community-policing model. In 2000, the Lowell Police Department received a Police as Problem Solvers award, one of five cities recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice.

credit: D. Harney



Moose, an English bulldog, and his owner Gina Usechek, both of Beacon Hill, enjoyed a recent stroll near the Hancock Tower.

No-show DPW employees

The Boston Globe’s recent report explained it all. The reason our city is so dirty and unkempt is that a significant number of Department of Public Works employees don’t bother to show up for a full day’s work.

You’d expect in a “world-class” city that wouldn’t happen. (“World-class” happens to be one of our favorite hated terms, implying that Boston boosters always question whether this little provincial capital in the far corner of a big country can actually hack the big time.)

We certainly won’t do so if our city workers can’t be bothered to work.

Most residents typically don’t meet the no-shows. Instead, neighbors meet the city officials who go to night meetings and respond quickly when a neighborhood association or a neighborhood newspaper calls them. These men and women work extremely hard.

Most Bostonians, whether they are in the public or private sectors, are putting in a 40-hour week, at least. City employees should be doing so too. We might then stop complaining about how dirty Boston is.

A swinging proposal

Boston’s downtown parks are lovely. They are quiet and peaceful and treasured by all of us who live downtown. When the Rose Kennedy Greenway opens we’ll have even more parks.

But these parks won’t be peaceful and quiet. The wide roadways on either side will be noisy. The green space between them is narrow. Except for the park next to the North End and a small space near Chinatown, the uses for most spaces in the Greenway are still not buttoned down. So we propose that we accept the noisy condition and enhance it — bringing active uses that energize the city.

We have a specific suggestion. The Boston Swing.

Let’s build a series of swings across one of the parcels. Lots of swings. High swings for adults. Low swings for kids. Dozens of swings. Swings in several rows. Swings to be used in both summer and winter. Swings in which you sail up so high that you can see all the harbor. Bucket swings for babies. Swings that mimic the rocking of the sailboats tied up at the marinas. Swings decorated by artists, but swingable. Maybe an trapeze area in which we can swing for a fee, like the one that exists along the Hudson River in downtown Manhattan. The city that swings together cooperates together.

The Boston Swing might go a long way toward making us that world-class city that Boston boosters so desire.

City Hall

We’re not going to get into the discussion now of whether City Hall should stay where it is, or whether it should be rebuilt or renovated.

We do have a suggestion for a temporary fix. Plant some Boston Ivy. It will give us some green in the summer, bronze in the fall and tracery in the winter. It will cover up the dirty concrete. It will give us time to decide what else we should do.