DiMasi rips $10m grant for project
Speaker, Patrick at odds over Columbus Center
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi called on Governor Deval Patrick yesterday to rescind the administration's award of $10 million to the controversial Columbus Center project in Boston, calling the grant corporate welfare in a letter that reflects renewed tension between the two Democratic leaders.
In the letter, DiMasi and two other legislators who represent the neighborhoods around the massive proposed development called the administration's decision to give tax dollars to the increasingly expensive project a perfect example of why the Legislature has set aside funds for specific projects, rather than giving the governor discretion on spending.
"The $10 million comes from a fund the Legislature established last year to provide grants to stimulate the creation of badly needed manufacturing jobs," wrote DiMasi and Representatives Byron Rushing and Marty Walz. "We intended for the money to underwrite targeted investments by companies and governmental agencies to help the state's economy expand. We did not set the money aside to help a private developer build million- dollar condos."
The lawmakers contend that the developers of the project, which will connect the Back Bay and South End over the Massachusetts Turnpike, had repeatedly promised that they would not seek public funds to build the condo, hotel, and retail center, an assertion that the developers deny. The Legislature has rejected previous efforts to earmark money for the center, but set up a general economic stimulus pool that the administration recently tapped to award the Columbus Center grant and several others.
A Patrick spokesman defended the grant and pointed out that state lawmakers have supported similar expenditures in the past.
"This investment in the public infrastructure is in line with a number of economic development projects approved by the Legislature in the past," said spokesman Kyle Sullivan. "This is about creating jobs and investing in our communities."
Last year, for instance, the Legislature approved $55 million in infrastructure improvements around Fenway Park that will benefit the Red Sox and other businesses and $16 million in ramps for a new YMCA project on the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
DiMasi also has been vehement in his opposition to Patrick's proposal to close so-called corporate tax loopholes, which the administration had characterized as $500 million in public giveaways.
Housing and Economic Development Secretary Daniel O'Connell, whose agency awarded the grant, said it is "a critical step toward groundbreaking for this long-delayed project that will reconnect two important neighborhoods in Boston and bring substantial construction and permanent jobs to the area."
Alan Eisner, spokesman for the Columbus Center developers, Arthur Winn and Roger Cassin, said yesterday that the $800 million project cannot be built without public funds.
"Over the history of the project, three state agencies and the Boston Redevelopment Authority have reviewed the project's economics and independently reached the same conclusion: Significant public support is necessary for the project even to be feasible. And the developers' position is very clear: Without these funds the project is dead."
The cost of the project has soared from $300 million to $800 million in six years, and it has been awarded an estimated $56 million in public assistance, including city and state tax credits. Most of the money will come in the form of low-interest loans, Eisner said. It will receive $12 million in outright grants, $10 million from the state and a $2 million housing grant from the federal government. The developers initially requested $20 million and are still hoping to receive the balance.
According to Eisner, the project, which has the support of Mayor Thomas M. Menino, will include about $50 million in public benefits, including three parks, a ground-water system, and significant numbers of affordable housing units. The 1.3 million-square-foot retail and residential development will rise above the Massachusetts Turnpike between Arlington and Clarendon streets.
The state grant will be used to build a deck and tunnel over the Turnpike.
The letter was DiMasi's first public comment on the grant, but not his first clash with the new governor.
Earlier this year, DiMasi called Patrick's corporate tax proposal dead on arrival, and some of his top lieutenants organized a campaign to block Patrick's dismissal of the popular commissioner of the Department of Mental Retardation.
DiMasi also took a shot at Patrick for his choice of a Cadillac DeVille as his official car and his purchase of expensive draperies, saying that legislators knew not to do such things.
But he has also stood with the governor on some key matters such as the ballot question to ban same-sex marriage. Both he and Senate President Therese Murray worked with Patrick to sway vacillating lawmakers to oppose the measure, which was defeated last month. After a shaky start, the two leaders appeared to have established more rapport in recent months.
DiMasi's efforts to stop the Columbus Center grant appear to have the backing of his leadership team, which was briefed on the letter yesterday.
Patrick probably should reverse the decision, said Represenative Daniel Bosley, House chairman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. Bosley, who nearly went to work for the administration, helped craft the economic stimulus package that provided the funds for the grant.
In that package, the Legislature set aside $100 million to fund infrastructure necessary for businesses to relocate and expand in Massachusetts.
Bosley said that money was intended to encourage large manufacturing companies to locate in Massachusetts.
"Regardless of whether one likes the project or not," Bosley said, "it flies in the face of what the money was intended for. I hope we are able to take a deep breath and pull funding back on some of these projects and take another look at them in light of the original intent of the money."
DiMasi spokesman David Guarino said DiMasi's opposition to the grant and to the proposed revision of the corporate tax code are "entirely consistent."
"He believes we shouldn't add to the tax burden of businesses at a time when we are trying to encourage job growth and that we shouldn't squander our important grant funds like this, but rather give them only to businesses that are truly worthy," Guarino said. 