An Ugly Old Icon

Last night Michael Flaherty of Boston City Council held a public hearing where, for the first time, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) was forced to hear public opinion. The deaf ears of Director John Palmieri and Director of planning Kairos Shen, on some level, finally heard the public. They realized the needs of the people should have been taken into consideration before planning the move of City Hall.

The BRA was tasked with studying the benefits and costs of moving Boston City Hall from it's current location to the South Boston waterfront in December 2006. Although Director Palmieri admits that he does not know how much has been spent studying the move, $800,000 has been set aside this year to study it further.

Overwhelmingly the public showed up last night, during early evening work hours and into the night, to speak against it. The BRA directors, arguing they were only in the preliminary phases of planning the move, might have realized it shouldn't be moved.

Though, Mayor Menino is the one truly responsible for the communication breakdown. Years ago the mayor unilaterally commissioned a study on moving City Hall. The tasking was executively decided without public consent or warning. Instead, the eight priorities Menino promised for his fourth term administration included: closing the achievement gap, reducing violent crime, increasing workforce housing, ensuring excellent customer service, creating new jobs, narrowing health disparities, increasing diversity in government, and growing revenue. It did not included the relocation of City Hall, while the BRA undertook the project as directed.

Councilman Flaherty was concerned during the hearing that the lack of public involvement during the BRA's initial study enabled the unwarranted and wasteful use of resources. The BRA never surveyed the constituency regarding their needs from City Hall including the importance of it's location. Then Director Shen admitted that no consideration was made in relocating City Hall to area's other than the South Boston Waterfront.

These planning errors were illuminated during the hearing, thanks to members of the Boston City Council. The authority was advised that public involvement needs to be required in the planning processes, and was reminded that ownership of the City Hall building is held by the public.

The people who showed up to this hearing took time out of their busy schedules to participate in the democratic process and deserve thanks too. This time it made a difference.