In a basic case of Boston energy politics, Mayor Michelle Wu and her allies within the Legislature quietly flexed their muscle groups to cease Robert Kraft’s soccer stadium in Everett — simply as Robert’s son Josh brazenly explores a mayoral run.
Wu was largely disregarded of the method of attempting to clear the best way for the brand new New England Revolution stadium, which was a mistake by the Krafts and their allies.
Did Wu search revenge on the Kraft household, highly effective house owners of the New England Patriots, for attempting to problem her?
That’s the hypothesis on Beacon Hill after the Home — the place Wu has plenty of highly effective buddies like Aaron Michlewitz — blocked the stadium invoice within the last-minute whirl of legislative exercise earlier than the session ended. There’s an opportunity the matter shall be taken up once more, it was introduced late Friday.
The Kraft Group issued an announcement Friday blasting the Legislature for its inaction, saying they have been “deeply disappointed the House would not take up this legislation on its own, and that the Legislature was unable to act on major legislation at the end of this session.
“Our Commonwealth missed a vital opportunity to clean up a brownfields site for an environmental justice community, robbing the city of Everett and its community of its ability to remove a dilapidated and decommissioned power plant and remediate a site contaminated over decades and replace it with a public park, waterfront access, and a privately funded soccer stadium – which was just one piece of this very significant project.”
Gov. Maura Healey was largely supportive of the stadium invoice, however Wu was not.
Boston officers had raised issues concerning the impacts of site visitors on Charlestown and Sullivan Sq. on recreation days – issues that they are saying have been ignored by the Kraft household and stadium backers.
Kraft left her out of planning for a brand new soccer stadium in Boston, by no means as soon as bringing it up all through her time in elective workplace, based on metropolis officers.
Josh Kraft, who runs the household’s charitable ventures, lately commissioned a ballot to check his power in opposition to Wu. He has performed nothing to quell the hypothesis that he needs to problem her.
Robert Kraft is used to getting his means, so Wu’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering to kill the stadium will need to have been a shock.
And the timing was not nice for the Krafts to get one thing via the Home, the place Wu, who’s up for reelection subsequent 12 months, has many buddies.
Michlewitz and others have been clearly doing Wu’s bidding by blocking the stadium laws.
The failure of the stadium invoice was certainly one of Wu’s solely victories within the Legislature, which did not cross a number of of the mayor’s priorities, together with a house rule petition permitting her to boost business tax charges and including a whole lot of latest liquor licenses.
So it was clearly a blended bag for the mayor, who lately introduced she is pregnant along with her third baby.
However Wu confirmed she is not going to bow right down to Robert Kraft and Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria – or anybody else.
The maneuvering once more illustrates the altering energy construction in Boston, which was run by a sequence of business-friendly mayors like Marty Walsh and Tom Menino. Wu has infuriated Boston’s enterprise group by not together with them.
