Walsh hints at deception if LA gets Olympic bid

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said if Los Angeles ends up getting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games bid originally slated for Boston it means “somebody didn’t tell me the truth.”

In an interview today on Boston Herald Radio, Walsh said he is interested to see whether the United States Olympic Committee heads west after ending its pitch to put the games in the Hub.

“I was given a commitment that L.A. was not in the mix, I was given that commitment several times by the chairman of the USOC,” Walsh said. “I’m interested to see what happens.”

Walsh referenced a Boston Herald report on Sunday that quoted Anita L. DeFrantz, a member of both the USOC and the International Olympic Committee, as saying L.A. is “perpetually ready” to host the Olympics.

“It can host with only two years’ notice,” DeFrantz said, adding that much of the infrastructure needed for the Olympics is already in place for the two-time host city. Los Angeles is also the host for this year’s Special Olympics, which are happening this week.

But Walsh said that news comes as a surprise to him.

“I was specifically told that L.A. is not going to be part of this,” he said.

Evan Falchuk, who opposed the Boston bid and was spearheading a ballot question to bar use of taxpayer funds, told Herald Radio the mayor should have expected some deception from the USOC.

“Marty Walsh had so many misrepresentations either made to him, or that he did not question throughout the process that it’s interesting he would be frustrated that they were suddenly not telling the truth about some other city,” he said. “They were telling us lies about our city and our state for months and we needed political leaders to stand up and say no, but we didn’t with very few exceptions.”

The mayor also expressed frustration at a report in which a USOC board member questioned whether he was fully behind the bid.

“If they are questioning my commitment, then they haven’t been following the Olympic bid,” he said, “because I think I was one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Olympics from day one.”

Via: Boston Herald

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Massachusetts: Charlie Baker, Marty Walsh field unique requests

U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano has never been afraid to blast political enemies or even those in his own party like Hillary Clinton, waxing that her rollout offered more of a fizzle than a bang.

Turns out the former Somerville mayor’s had a lot of practice sparking explosions.

Capuano said he got a federal license back in 1973 to light fireworks, and worked behind the scenes on municipal fireworks shows throughout the state.

“I thought I could make a killing during the bicentennial. I was wrong,” the Democratic congressman joked during an in-studio visit with Boston Herald Radio.

Capuano didn’t spend a lot of time working the fireworks circuit, but said he gleaned one big takeaway.

“Everyone who worked there, they all had a little something missing,” he said.

Charlie’s chopper

Gov. Charlie Baker threw out his notes at a ceremony honoring the arrival of “The Wall That Heals” last week and instead regaled a veteran-heavy crowd with a slew of stories, including one during which he struggled to contain his emotions.

This one, however, got the most laughs:

Recalling a meeting with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society — which is holding its annual convention in Boston in September — Baker described himself as breezing into his “15th meeting” that day, quickly shaking hands amid introductions and pledging to do whatever he could to help.

One elderly gentleman had a request, Baker said: He wanted to go for a helicopter ride — a notion Baker laughed off. When it came time for a group photo, the same man sidled up next to him, and repeated his request. Baker told him he’d take “note of that” with an eye roll.

“Then he looks up at me like this,” Baker said, leaning back and turning his eyes toward the sky, “and he goes, ‘You know? You’re a pretty big guy.’ ... I used to fly with a guy who’s about your size. We used to call him Too Tall.’

“And so I looked at him and said, ‘You know, there’s a guy named Too Tall. His name’s Ed Freeman.” Freeman, Baker described, was a Medal of Honor recipient who bravely flew a helicopter in and out of a Vietnam War battle zone to bring supplies to soldiers and carry the wounded to safety.

“He probably saved dozens of lives,” Baker said. “I said (to the elderly man), ‘His flying buddy in that battle was a guy named Bruce Crandall.’

“This guy looks at me and says, ‘Yeah, me! Bruce Crandall! That’s what I said when I came in!’ ”

Baker, breaking into a wide smile, told Crandall — also a Medal of Honor recipient — that he was honored to meet “a real American hero.”

“So,” Baker said, “he looked at me and said, ‘So do I get my helicopter ride?’ ”

Pitching Marty

Since he took office in January 2014, Mayor Martin J. Walsh has gotten dozens of direct messages on Twitter. The majority are constituents offering complaints or compliments. More than a half-dozen address him simply as “Marty” or even “Martin.”

One, however, was an outright solicitation from a man who said he owns his own “pavement marking company.”

“... just wondering if you could help me maybe get a few contracts?” the DM reads.

Walsh didn’t respond, according to documents Herald reporter Jordan Graham obtained through a public records request. In fact, Walsh’s account had no outgoing DMs, according to his office.

Hillary Chabot and Jordan Graham contributed to this report. State House reporter Matt Stout can be reached at matthew.stout@bostonherald.com.

Via: Boston Herald

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Vice President Biden congratulates the wrong Marty Walsh

Just minutes after the election returns arrived in Boston Tuesday night, Martin Walsh’s cellphone rang. It was the vice president of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, offering his congratulations.

“You son of a gun, Marty!” he thundered. “You did it!”

The only problem was, it was the wrong Marty Walsh.

Biden had called the cellphone of Marty Walsh, a former aide to US Senator Edward M. Kennedy who is now the president of Gateway Public Solutions, a government relations firm in Boston.

At the time, this Marty Walsh said, he was sitting on the couch with his wife at their home in Natick, watching the election results on television. Meanwhile, the other Marty Walsh, the one who had just been elected mayor of Boston, was at the Park Plaza Hotel, celebrating his victory.

The less-famous Marty Walsh said he thanked Biden for his kind words, but told him that he reached the wrong Marty. He offered to help the vice president track down the right one, the one who had just been elected mayor.

Marty Walsh said he also got jubilant voicemail messages from R.T. Rybak, the mayor of Minneapolis and vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and from US Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the chairwoman of the committee.

Walsh said his wife was amused to see national power players showering her husband with praise. “She was laughing,” he said.

Via: Boston Globe

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