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Boston 101 Lecture Series
Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 Youth Violence in Boston: The Real Deal David Hemenway, Professor of Health Policy and Director, Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center, Harvard School of Public Health Youth violence is a growing problem in Boston. How bad is it? What can be done about it? David Hemenway, Professor of Health Policy and Director of the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center, gave a presentation on the results of his latest efforts to measure and prevent youth violence in Boston, including the findings of his Report of the 2004 Boston Youth Survey. Rev. Jeffrey Brown, a co-founder of the Ten Point Coalition, offered a brief response, reflecting on his own experiences working on youth issues in Boston. Racial Profiling, Globally and Locally Christopher Stone, Guggenheim Professor of the Practice of Criminal Justice and Director, Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, Kennedy School of Government Christopher Stone and Kim Williams discussed the use of and controversy about racial profiling at the borders and on the streets. Springfield Police Commissioner Edward Flynn offered a brief response on racial profiling, reflecting on his experiences in both his current job and as Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety. The Elephants in the Room: Paying for Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits Elizabeth Keating, Goldston Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School and Senior Research Fellow Harvard’s Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations New reporting requirements show the state and its cities and towns will need billions of dollars to pay pensions, health insurance, and other post-employment benefits for retired public employees. How big is the gap? What can the state and localities do about it? Elizabeth Keating and Eric Berman discussed their findings of the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research working paper, "The Elephant in the Room: Unfunded Public Employee Health Care Benefits and GASB 45." Sandy Pooler and James Stergios, offered brief responses. Powerpoint presentation on GASB-45 All our Fall 2006 events are available on videotape. Please contact Polly O'Brien for viewing options. Lessons from the Big Dig David Luberoff, Executive Director, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston and co-author with Alan Altshuler of Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment Expert practitioners familiar with the Big Dig talk about the lessons they learned from the project and how they've tried to apply them on other projects. Panelists include Douglas MacDonald, Secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation and former Executive Director of the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority; Kenneth Mead, Special Counsel at Baker Botts and former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation; Andrew Natsios, faculty member of the Walsh School of Foreign Policy at Georgetown University and former CEO of the Big Dig; and James Rooney, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Convention Center. The discussion will be moderated by Robert Keough, editor of CommonWealth Magazine. Power and Interest Groups in City Politics: Findings from the Bay State Cities Project Jeffrey Berry, John Richard Skuse, Class of 1941, Professor of Political Science, Tufts University Jeffrey Berry, John Richard Skuse Professor of Political Science at Tufts University and Kent Protney, Professor of Political Science at Tufts University discussed their latest research which uses interviews with more than 50 officials and activists in Boston and seven other communities in the region to learn the extent, nature, and impact of citizen involvement in local government. Paul Scapicchio offered a brief response. Powerpoint presentation given on interest groups Spring 2007 Series Crime and Punishment: Kathleen M. Dennehy, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Correction While prisons are often viewed as little more than the "end of the line" for criminal offenders, about 97 percent of inmates in Massachusetts are eventually released to our communities. Moreover, many walk directly out of maximum-security facilities onto the street where they do not have any ongoing monitoring or supervision. As a result, nearly one out of every two of those released will be convicted of a new crime within just three years. Over the past few years, key state officials and a blue-ribbon commission appointed by the former governor took some steps to ensure that inmates come out of prison less dangerous than when they went in. Such efforts, however, were often stymied by budget constraints and labor contracts. What has been done and, more importantly, what can be learned from past successes and failures, and what's needed to achieve greater improvements in the next few years? Powerpoint Presentation given by Christopher Stone from Crime and Punishment: The Future of Incarceration in Massachusetts and the Nation Co-sponsored by the Kennedy School ’s Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management This event is available on video tape. Please contact Polly O'Brien for viewing options. Redesigning Local Aid in Massachusetts Katharine Bradbury, Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Co-authors "Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity Among Massachusetts Cities and Towns," a paper published by the New England Public Policy Center and the Boston Federal Reserve Bank Research Department. Commentary by Mayor Scott Lang, New Bedford How should local aid be distributed in Massachusetts? In a recent paper, Bradbury and Zhao developed new measures of local costs and localities' ability to raise money from the property tax. These measures not only suggest there are substantial fiscal disparities among the state's cities and towns, but they also might provide the basis for redesigning the systems used to decide how much local aid is given to each city and town. Powerpoint Presentation given by Katharine Bradbury and Bo Zhao Their paper "Measuring Disparities in Non-School Costs and Revenue Capacity Among Massachusetts Cities and Towns," can be downloaded here. This event is available on video tape. Please contact Polly O'Brien for viewing options. Who Bears the Burden of Crime? Rafael di Tella, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School When crime increases, are the rich or the poor more likely to be the victims of crime? How about blacks, whites, or Hispanics? Do these patterns vary for different crimes such as home robberies and street robberies? Do they change over time as, for example, more affluent people take steps to better protect themselves or their property? Finally, are public impressions about the victims of crime consistent with the data on who actually are the victims of crime? Co-sponsored by the Kennedy School’s Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management This event is available on video tape. Please contact Polly O'Brien for viewing options. Tough Choices or Tough Times? Thomas Payzant, former superintendent, Boston Public Schools, member of The New Commission on Skills of the American Workforce, and senior lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education Commentary by Thomas Kane, Professor of Education and Economics, Harvard Graduate School of Education What will it take for the U.S. to compete in the global economy? According to a December 2006 report by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce—a bi-partisan group whose members included former Cabinet secretaries, governors, educators, and business, civic and labor leaders— nothing less than a total overhaul of U.S. education by 2021. The commission, for example, called for revamping the high school-college transition, reallocating funds to high priority strategies for improving system performance, establishing pre-K for all, and redesigning how schools are funded and managed. Co-sponsored by the the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance, and the Graduate School of Education’s Project for Policy Innovation in Education. Powerpoint presentation given by Thomas Payzant This event is available on video tape. Please contact Polly O'Brien for viewing options. Critical Conditions: Can Local Governments Afford Soaring Health-Care Costs? Samuel R. Tyler, president, Boston Municipal Research Bureau Commentary by Linda Kaboolian, Lecturer in Public Policy and faculty chair of the Program on Labor-Management Relations, Kennedy School of Government and Representative Rachel Kaprielian, Massachusetts House of Representatives and Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government Continued increases in health insurance costs are creating a major crisis for Boston and the state's other cities and towns. In Boston, for example, health insurance expenses have increased by 92% in six years, which means that there are fewer resources for other important services. Moreover, current state laws make it very difficult for cities and towns to control health care costs. A first step would be to provide cities and towns with the same health insurance system that has been available to state employees since 1955. Such a change, however, faces an uphill battle because it is strongly opposed by many public-sector workers and the unions that represent them. Powerpoint Presentation given by Samuel Tyler from Critical Conditions: Can Local Governments Afford Soaring Health Care Costs? This event is available on video tape. Please contact Polly O'Brien for viewing options. Challenges of City Leadership: Municipal Governance and Leadership in an Age of Limited Resources James J. Fiorentini, Mayor, City of Haverhill, MA Mayor Fiorentini shared his experience as mayor of Haverhill, Massachusetts, and his drive towards redevelopment of the City's downtown. He was recently elected President of the Mass/RI Chapter of the National Brownfield Association. This event was co-sponsored by the Center for Public Leadership and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.
Preparing for Mass Casualty Emergencies Richard Serino, Chief of Department, Boston Emergency Medical Services Many severe disasters have the potential for causing large numbers of deaths and injuries—thousands, tens of thousands, and conceivably more. How well is the Boston region prepared for such events? What opportunities and obstacles exist in developing plans, securing cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries and levels of government, involving health institutions and other parts of the private sector, and making sure that plans are truly operational and personnel are ready? Chief Serino began his career at Boston EMS in 1973 as an EMT, became Deputy Superintendent in 1988, Superintendent-in-Chief in 1996, and was appointed Chief of Department in 2000. He has served for over ten years as Incident Commander to the Boston Marathon, the annual July Fourth celebration on the Esplanade, and Boston’s First Night Celebration, each with 500,000–2 million people, as well as the Tall Ships visit to Boston, with over 7.5 million visitors. He also serves as the lead for Boston's Metropolitan Medical Response System. In 1996, he received the Henry L. Shattuck Public Service Award, the City of Boston's highest public service award. Co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Program on Emergency Preparedness Disaster Response - The Federal Role Rear Admiral Timothy S. Sullivan, Commander, First Coast Guard District In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, how is the federal government revamping its role in disaster support of states and localities? What part does the Coast Guard, an integral component of the Department of Homeland Security, play in those plans? What should the Defense Department’s role be in domestic disaster response? And how does the role of the principal federal official at a disaster site fit together with those of state and local authorities? Rear Admiral Sullivan, based in Boston, oversees all Coast Guard operations for an eight- state region along 2000 miles of Atlantic coastline from Canada to northern New Jersey. He was previously military adviser to the Secretary of Homeland Security, serving as the primary coordinator between the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense. He was operational adviser to the Secretary of DHS during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Boston Bound: A Comparison of Boston's Legal Powers with Those of Six Other Major American Cities Welcoming Remarks by Mary Jo Meisner, Vice President for Communications, Community Relations and Public Affairs, The Boston Foundation Summary of Findings by Gerald E. Frug, Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and Remarks by The Honorable Timothy P. Murray, Lieutenant Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Moderator Panelists A public forum co-sponsored by The Boston Foundation and The Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.
Expanding the Talent Pool: A panel discussion featuring: U.S. Representative Barney Frank, former chief of staff for Boston Mayor Kevin H. White Moderated by Peter Meade, Executive Vice President, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, who served as Mayor White's Public Safety Coordinator and as Parks and Recreation Commissioner Many of Boston's most effective and influential civic leaders got their start working for Kevin White, who was elected to the first of four terms as mayor of Boston 40 years ago. Moreover, many of White's key aides had backgrounds quite different than their predecessors in City Hall. What lessons does White's tenure offer to current leaders who, like White, hope to convince talented young people to not only pursue public service but also to spend at least some of their careers working for state and local governments, not only in Boston but in other locales as well?
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