Lt. Gov. Tim Murray found himself among friends Wednesday during a visit to the North Shore Community College campus in downtown Lynn. Of course, it helps if you bring a check for $144,855 — which is the amount of a grant awarded the school by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to support its advanced manufacturing programs.
NSCC President Wayne Burton was effusive in his praise for Murray, pointing out his dedication to family and his efforts to help the state's poorer urban communities.
"Any day he (the lieutenant governor) comes to Lynn, we know it's going to be a good day for us," state Rep. Steven Walsh exclaimed.
Little wonder Murray in his remarks made scant mention of the Patrick administration's proposal to centralize the administration of the community colleges — something to which Burton and his fellow presidents are very much opposed.
All in all, a good day for Murray, who has been struggling with questions raised about an early morning crash involving a state vehicle last year and his relationship with disgraced former Chelsea Housing Authority director Mike McLaughlin.
The only awkward moment came as the various pols in attendance were making light conversation prior to the start of the program. Murray suggested it might be interesting for everyone to trade jobs for a week, to which Walsh laughingly replied he would have no interest in filling the lieutenant governor's shoes at this point.
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No news here: "Massachusetts AFL-CIO announces endorsement of John Tierney for re-election in 6th Congressional District."
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Will Peabody's city council follow the lead of Beverly or Brockton?
The Beverly council's approval of the state municipal health reform bill gave Mayor Bill Scanlon the leverage he needed to wrest significant concessions from city unions and save taxpayers more than $1 million a year. The latter, under pressure from city employees, rejected the legislation, trusting that direct negotiations could yield similar results.
It didn't happen in Gloucester, where the administration settled for no increase in health care costs. A consultant has estimated Peabody could save $4 million by moving employees to the state's Group Insurance Commission plan. It will be interesting to see whether savings come anywhere near that should the council back down by failing to adopt the bill before the March 1 deadline.
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The recent appointment of local favorite Stephen Spencer as comptroller in Lynn elicited a rather frank admission from Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who told the Item: "If you look the ascension of many of the people now in power in the city, if you draw the family tree and connect the relationships, you'll see we have always had an incestuous public sector."
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Count House Republicans among those who were not impressed with the deal brokered by Gov. Deval Patrick, which makes the state's approval of the NStar-Northeast Utility merger contingent on a commitment to purchase more than a quarter of the electricity produced by Cape Wind.
"Once again, we find the Patrick administration making costly decisions with their hearts and not their heads. In this instance, they have taken the turn down the road of legalized extortion," House Minority Leader Bradley Jones, R-North Reading, declared. While the deal also includes a four-year rate freeze and rebates, Jones predicted that, over the long term, the result will be a net increase in electricity costs.
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Why is this man smiling? A CNN poll this week found President Obama's approval rating back at 50 percent for the first time in eight months, and the number of people saying the country is heading in the right direction at 40 percent, up from 25 percent in November.
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