Neighborhood kids enjoyed decorating pumpkins donated by the Hampshire House last week at Hill House. David Beardsley, executive director of Hill House, and Daniel Bittner, West End, delivered a wagonful to Jennifer Hill at Blackstone’s of Beacon Hill, (center.)

Images courtesy of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority
#2: This image shows the preliminary design for the pedestrian bridge that will connect Science Park Station, the Museum of Science and the West End.

#3 The ramp design (at right) of the pedestrian bridge makes the trip from the West End to Science Park T Station 465 feet rather than the 275 it takes to cross at-grade.




Improve the pedestrian safety conditions at Leverett Circle now. That is the message neighbors sent to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority at a meeting last week.

The MTA was there to present preliminary plans for a new pedestrian bridge that it will build as part of its Big Dig obligations, but neighbors said that irregardless of bridge design, current at-grade crosswalks and lights need to be made safer.

“The reality of trying to cross there is that the lights are not working right,” said Whittier Place resident Jane Wilson. “They never work right.”

Wilson and others agreed that the lights have been poorly timed for months now. “Make it work at-grade now, then we can talk about a bridge,” said Wilson.

Michael Lewis of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, who was onhand to present the bridge plans, said this was the first he had heard of the problem and that he thought a site visit sometime in the next week would be the fastest way to address neighbors’ concerns.

“My first priority for that intersection is pedestrian safety,” said state Representative Marty Walz who called the meeting.

SIDEBAR:
Though the neighborhood is divided on whether or not the MTA should build the pedestrian bridge at all, most present at the meeting felt the design offered was a good one. Lewis also explained that construction of the bridge would not eliminate the at-grade pedestrian crossings. “The at-grade crossing will always be there,” said Lewis. “It wouldn’t be an either-or.”

Lewis said the goal in designing the bridge was to keep it as visually unobtrusive as possible. This means a thin deck with the bulk of the bridge’s support placed in the railings.

Because the bridge will be handicapped accessible, the design calls for a substantial ramp, which adds to the length of the trip. Crossing at-grade from the West End to the Museum of Science, for example, is 190 feet. Using the pedestrian bridge will triple that to 660 feet.

The Beacon Hill Times follows the progress, or lack thereof, on Cambridge Street through direct observation and interviews with the project’s supervisor John Lepore.

Progress during the week of October 22 - 26

Traffic signals: Best Electric is still here. They worked all week. You may find signals at the intersections on the upper part of the street actually working soon.

Street paving: No progress. Last week the problem was supposedly the Red Sox. No police detail could be found since they were all busy at Fenway Park, so the trailer could not be moved.

Street furniture: Bicycle racks and nine more trash barrels are slated for installation at some point.

Punch list: the contractor has one in hand and has started working on small items.

Councilor Mike Ross has proposed a bill of rights for passengers in Boston taxicabs. He is revisiting an issue he brought up in 2006 but shelved to focus on more pressing matters facing the city.

The bill, cosponsored by Councilors Stephen Murphy and Salvatore LaMattina, proposes the city post a list of passenger rights in every taxi. The list would include the right to a courteous driver familiar with the streets of Boston, the right to a silent ride (sans cell phone conversations and radio), the right to a cab that is in safe working order, and the right to a clean passenger area and trunk space, among other items. Similar legislation has passed in Los Angeles and New York City.

“A lot of this is probably written down somewhere, but it’s not displayed,” said Sita Smith, Ross’s chief of staff. “This way, more timid riders will know these are the rules. This will be an agreement between the driver and passenger before the ride.”

The issue is two-fold. After hearing competing concerns from cab drivers, Council President Maureen Feeney proposed a list of rights for drivers to go along with the passenger bill. Ross said he had always considered adding this as a second phase of his resolution and will now work with the council to look further into the issue.

“At first you scratch your head and say, ‘What does that mean?’” he said of the driver bill. “But then you realize there are issues. Cab drivers are entitled to a safe ride, as well, and should not feel their safety or property is in danger.” Additionally, he said, drivers should not need to fear belligerent riders and should feel comfortable enforcing a four-passenger rule.

“Rules and regulations don’t need to be everywhere, but they do need to be where they are useful,” Ross said. For example, he said, rules about speed limits on roads are helpful for drivers. “In this situation, they are useful. Taxi rides involve an exchange of money, opportunities for error, complaints, and potential conflicts.”

“This may not be the most pressing matter facing the city,” he said, “ but it’s important to downtown neighbors, and to tourists.”

Leonie Gordon, director of the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement (HILR), describes Beacon Hill resident Euclid “Ed” Peltier as “awfully charming, profoundly knowledgeable, and endlessly willing to help people learn more about the history of American theatre and cinema.”

Peltier, 85, has been a study group leader at the Institute since 1993 and was the recipient of a Distinguished Member Award this year in recognition of his outstanding service to the Institute.

In her award presentation speech, Gordon said that Peltier’s courses at the Institute “have always filled instantly.”

“There is a reason for this,” said Gordon. “Outside of a handful of theater and film critics, Ed Peltier probably knows more about the history of American musical film and theater than anyone of his generation.”

The honor at Harvard was fitting for a man who devoted much of his career to advancing the love of film and theatre to residents across the city.

Peltier first built up a following of film and theater enthusiasts as the founder of the audio-visual services department at the Boston Public Library. He started the department in 1952 and served as its supervisor for 39 years prior to his retirement.

“As a farewell present, the library staff gave me a couple of thousand dollars to go to the Cannes Film Festival,” said Peltier with a smile.

Peltier grew up in Worcester and served as a cryptologist in the U.S. Navy. Under the GI Bill, he attended Boston University, receiving a degree in Communication Arts with a major in Motion Pictures in 1950. Upon his graduation, he traveled to New York City to pursue a career in television.

He soon had to return to Boston because of an illness in the family. “Boston University told me they had a job opening for me at the Boston Public Library,” said Peltier. “I didn’t want to be a librarian, but they were opening the first audio-visual department in the city.”

Peltier decided to accept the position “and stay for a year.”

“I was there for 39 years. I retired in 1991,” he said. “At the time, we circulated 16mm films and recordings, but only to groups and organizations, not to individuals.”

Peltier, who also holds a Master’s of Library Science from the University of Rhode Island, became a widely respected authority on film and theater in the Boston community during his tenure at the BPL. “Ed Peltier has become one of Boston’s most important protectors of film art,” Boston Globe film critic Michael Blowen said in a May 7, 1990 story about Peltier that appeared in the City Record, a newssheet published under the direction of then-Mayor Raymond L. Flynn.

Peltier has flourished at the HILR, where he has led courses for retirees in such subjects as documentary film, musical film, musical theater, jazz, and African American performance.

Peltier said he was humbled to receive one of the Institute’s distinguished service awards.

“I was very surprised to be one of the award recipients,” said Peltier, who was honored at a luncheon that was attended by 300 guests. “The people at the Institute are great and I enjoyed being a part of such a wonderful offering for retirees.”

Making it an even more memorable honor for Peltier was the fact that his daughter, Melissa Jo Peltier, an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer, traveled from California for the luncheon. Ms. Peltier’s husband, John Gray, is creator and director of the CBS-TV television show, The Ghost Whisperer.

Peltier said his love of film goes all the way back to his childhood. “As a child, I was given a toy 35mm film projector,” recalled Peltier. “The projector had little 5-10 minute reels and I was fascinated by it. I used to have movie shows in my cellar and have all the kids in the neighborhood come and view them.”

Eighty years later Peltier is a film and theater buff, passing on to others his knowledge of the arts.

Editorial

City Council Committees

What kind of information do you need to cast an informed vote for the best candidates for city council? Meeting them and listening to what they have to say is one method. The candidates for the four at-large seats revealed some of their strengths and weaknesses last week at the forum sponsored by nine downtown neighborhood associations.

Another important piece of information could be a description of how they promote their agendas. Councilors have little actual power beyond approving the budget. They cannot even add items to the budget.

But in the budget approval process and with the negotiation it requires, they can promote pet projects and get them better funded. They can work with the Mayor and with their state rep and state senator to accomplish goals.

And, as a committee chair, they can hold hearings to highlight problems, find out the facts and craft strategies for accomplishing their agendas.

But hearings are deceptive. No one is going to fault the chair of intergovernmental relations for holding no hearings. But Ways and Means, Public Safety and Education are another matter. And so are committees that could be effective in promoting a particular chairperson’s goals.

Interestingly, attendance is not taken at hearings. To know who was there, one has to either go to the hearings in person or watch them on videos online, a time-consuming task. So we have gathered attendance information only on the most important one — Ways and Means — since the budget is the most obvious vehicle through which to accomplish a goal.

In 2007, Chair Jerry McDermott held 35 hearings to review the budget and modify it though negotiation. Attendance at those hearings was, in order of frequency of attendance: McDermott, 34; Murphy, 21; Feeney, 21; Consalvo, 19; Yoon, 19; Yancy, 18; LaMattina, 16; Flaherty, 14; Ross, 14; Turner, 13; Arroyo, 7; Tobin, 5; Linehan, 5.

One wonders what the three whose attendance is in the single digits were thinking when they chose not to acquire the very basic information presented at hearings.

There are 21 other committees. We offer no counts of attendance. But here they are, with the number of hearings they have held and the chairperson of that committee.

Arts, Film, Humanities & Tourism 2 hearings Tobin
Aviation & Transportation 4 hearings LaMattina
City & Neighborhood Services 4 hearings LaMattina
Economic Development & Planning 8 hearings Linehan
Education 12 meetings Turner
Environment and Health 2 hearings Arroyo
Financial Services & Community Investment 1 hearing Linehan
Government Operations 12 hearings Consalvo
Housing 5 hearings Yoon
Human Rights none Turner
Human Services 1 hearing Yoon
Institutional Relations none Ross
Intergovernmental Relations none Tobin
Labor & Workforce Development 2 hearings Flaherty
Post Audit & Oversight 1 hearing Yancey
Public Safety 11 hearings Murphy
Public Utilities & Cable Communications none Flaherty
Rules & Administration none Feeney
Whole none Feeney
Youth Affairs 1 hearing Arroyo
Youth Violent Crime Prevention 2 meetings Ross

The number of hearings may or may not be relevant. But they provide a quantifiable beginning for you to ask questions of the candidates you meet this week as they campaign.