Menino blasts Romney on DPH move

Mayor Thomas M. Menino blamed Governor Mitt Romney yesterday for the state's decision not to relocate Department of Public Health employees to the Ferdinand building in Dudley Square.

Menino said the decision to look beyond Roxbury came from Romney. ''It's coming down from the governor saying: 'Here is what we're going to do. We don't care what you think,' " Menino said.

''Where is the sensitivity to how you build strong cities?" Menino demanded during a news conference in Dudley Square.

''I am just saying to this administration, get your act together folks."

According to the mayor, three previous governors have promised to move the Department of Public Health to the Dudley Square location. Two weeks ago, however, the Executive Office for Administration and Finance issued a request for proposals on a 100,000-square-foot site to house the agency, a step widely interpreted as an effort to move the health department to another location. Community leaders in Roxbury had hoped that the influx of the agency's more than 1,000 employees would invigorate the area.

Charles Chieppo, the governor's policy director for Administration and Finance, insisted that the state has invested in Dudley Square. As of late September 2003, he said, the Department of Housing alone invested nearly $72 million in 13 projects there.

Furthermore, Dudley Square has not been ruled out as a possible site, Chieppo said. The Ferdinand building and its 185,000 square feet of space is too large for the health department since budget cuts and the reorganization of the agency changed the state's needs, he said.

Menino suggested that the state passed up a chance to save money. The Ferdinand building was offered at $29 per square foot, while the state pays $50 per square foot for the health department's current Washington Street location, according to the mayor.

Chieppo said that the original agreement to move the agency expired in 2003 and that attempts to renegotiate failed in part because the city demanded the state sign a 30-year lease, despite a law that permits the state to lease property for up to 10 years. The city's offer of $29 per square foot is misleading because the price would increase by 10 percent every three years, he added.

At the press conference, Menino also announced that the city will receive $36 million in tax credits for development projects throughout Boston.