July 25, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

The last time we had written about the bilingual ballot question was when the Boston City Council passed a home rule petition back on May 14, 2008. We will summarize what the issue is and what is happening now.

The Chinese Progressive Association had filed a complaint in 2003 with the Department of Justice (DOJ) that some voters in Chinatown had their rights violated while inside the polling booths. (The Blogger had heard stories that ballots were altered by poll booth workers, taking advantage of the limited-English skills of some voters, or the elderly being coerced to vote for a certain candidate.) The City of Boston and the DOJ reached a compromise to include Chinese, Vietnamese and Spanish ballots available to voters if requested at the polling booth. The agreement was to end in 2008.

In 2007, Secretary of State Galvin opposed continuing bilingual ballots. Galvin claimed that the translations were inaccurate and would increase  costs to the state. The Chinatown community petitioned the City of Boston, the City Council and Mayor Menino to request a home-rule petition from the state. The home-rule petition would allow for bilingual ballots to exist in the City of Boston, but not statewide. The City Council passed the bill unanimously and was signed by Mayor Menino.The bill is currently stalled in the State House of Representatives in the Rules Committee. Time is important as more delays will mean there will be no bilingual ballots for this election year. The past 2 weeks, some Chinatown residents and activists have been waiting outside Chinatown Rep. and House Speaker Sal DiMasi’s office in the State House as well as holding all-day vigils outsides to get the bill moving. While Speaker DiMasi has expressed support, Secretary of State Galvin has also gathered his supporters against the bill.

State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who represents Chinatown and has been an advocate for the community is seeking to broker a compromise. A possible scenario may involve having bilingual sample ballots available, but the sample ballots cannot be used to vote and can only be used as a reference.

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July 25, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

Have to give credit where credit is due. Found this article through John Keith’s Real Estate blog. He posted a link to an article published by the Banker and Tradesman on the Rex Sox interest in purchasing Boston Arts Academy building in Fenway. Now some of the dominoes are starting to fall in place. The Chinatown Blogger suspected there was more to the story than the Boston Redevelopment Authority saying that moving the Arts Academy to Parcel 12 made sense because the site was in the Theater District.

The Red Sox gets the building on Ipswich Street. The City and the BRA gets paid $13.2 million. The school gets a new building and will be nearby Emerson College, one of six colleges that helped found the academy. The community gets a library. Janet Marie, Boston Red Sox staff architect said, “We are watching this with great interest, but the last thing we want to do is appear as though we are pushing the school out.” Is this a win-win situation?

The the entire text of the Banker & Tradesman article has been pasted here:

“Sox Have Eyes On Another Fenway Parcel
By Thomas Grillo
Banker & Tradesman Reporter

A plan to move a Boston performing arts high school from the Fenway to the Theatre District could give the Red Sox a chance to expand their real estate holdings around Fenway Park.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino wants to build a new Boston Arts Academy on a city-owned parking lot wedged between the Doubletree Hotel and the Tufts Medical Center at Tremont and Washington streets. If approved, the city would sell the high school now located at 176 Ipswich St., behind Fenway Park, and put the proceeds toward the new $100 million school. The 157,146-square-foot Fenway building is assessed at $13.2 million.

“We don’t have anything official to say about it,” said Janet Marie Smith, the Boston Red Sox staff architect. “We are watching this with great interest, but the last thing we want to do is appear as though we are pushing the school out.”

The Red Sox have been buying property around the park since a consortium headed by John Henry bought the team in 2002 for $660 million. Under the name of New England Sports Ventures, the team has purchased the former Sophia’s Latin Bar and Restaurant at 1270 Boylston St., a warehouse at 160-170 Ipswich St., the Town Taxi garages at 154-156 Ipswich St., WBCN’s former headquarters at 1265 Boylston St. and McDonald’s at 1282 Boylston St.

In addition, Michael Dee, the team’s chief operating officer, told Banker & Tradesman last fall that the ball club intends to purchase the parking garage behind the park at 49-67 Lansdowne St.

William Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association, said the Sox would be the likely buyer of any real estate on Ipswich Street. “My guess is that the Sox would create office space which would allow them to move people out of Fenway Park to make way for more ballpark-related uses at Fenway,” he said.

Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 (Archive on Thursday, August 28, 2008)”

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