Oped: Transparency

The new MBTA Retirement Fund Actuarial Valuation Report shows the fund is only about 51 percent funded. In 2006, it was 94 percent funded. A “death spiral” generally accelerates when retirement system funding dips below 50 percent.

The problem isn’t with the concept of bike lanes but, rather, the lack of public conversation or transparency. Municipal governments are changing the infrastructure and character of entire neighborhoods and small commercial centers with little input from those most affected.

Michelle Wu’s plan to clear tents from the Mass. and Cass homeless camping site by January 12 is long overdue. If only it had been done earlier, the move could have averted a humanitarian crisis.

Massachusetts is in the midst of wrongdoing on an unprecedented scale. Thousands of convictions had to be vacated because of the corruption of state drug laboratory chemists. Thousands more convictions were vacated because of the combined misconduct of the chemists and prosecutors. And still more will be vacated because of the Commonwealth’s repeated and deliberate failures to investigate the extent to which its evidence was compromised.

At the outset of the pandemic, limited knowledge and the need to mitigate risk understandably led to political overreach. At this point in the disaster response, though, we are far better at distinguishing fact from fiction and policies that have worked from those that have not.

This op-ed originally appeared in WGBH News. In much of the country, a substantial number of Covid-19 deaths have occurred in nursing homes. Too many states were caught unaware that crowding, poor infection control, insufficient isolation facilities, and lack of proper training...

When doing the people’s will is secondary to legislators’ self-interest, how strong is our democracy? The state Legislature is on the verge of overriding the Governor’s veto of legislation that includes sizable pay raises for state and legislative leaders. Their actions on this front will answer the democracy question. Since legislators can’t raise their base pay, the hikes are limited to leadership positions...

By Mary Z. Connaughton and Charles Chieppo Guest Columnists Originally published in The Berkshire Eagle, the Milford Daily News, New Bedford Standard-Times, and The Lowell Sun. It would be easy just to shake your head and turn the page upon learning that the MBTA...

By Mary Z. Connaughton and John Sivolella Guest Columnists This article originally appeard in the Milford Daily News. Read it in its entirety. Posted Apr. 19, 2015 at 7:13 AM There is a lot of justifiable talk about the need for government...

By J. Patrick Brown and Mary Connaughton. This op-ed originally appeared in the Boston Herald on Oct. 30, 2014. As election day fast approaches, the fever pitch of coverage is a not-so-gentle reminder that it is our civic duty to learn as much...