Host Rachel Miselman takes a moment to talk about the idea of PR in the political world and how that relates to the dealings of Councilor Erin Murphy, along with other current happenings in the sphere of Greater Boston politics.
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Hello and welcome to Bostonian Wrap my name is Rachel Meiselman you are listening to me on WBCALP 102.9 FM Boston this is Boston's community radio station we're going to go to a quick disclaimer and then we're going to come back and jump right on in to tonight's show. The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and management of WBCA or the Boston Neighborhood Network. If you would like to express another opinion you can address your comments to Boston Neighborhood Network 302 5 Washington Street, Boston Massachusetts 02119. To arrange a time for your own commentary you can call WBCA at 617 708 3215 or email radio at bnnmedia.org. Hello welcome back to Bostonian Wrap again my name is Rachel Meiselman you are listening to me on WBCALP 102.9 FM Boston. So I was talking about new beginnings reinventing oneself and I talked at length about how it's not such a weird thing it's not such a odd thing here in the United States although although I think it used to be better received when I was younger I think now people have become very throughout the political spectrum just in general speaking broadly people have become very narrow-minded and vision isn't something that a lot of people value seem to value and kind of the idea of starting over and wearing a different hat or at least wearing a different hat not necessarily starting from scratch starting a new but wearing a different hat even that people just kind of look a scans. So I think that there have been changes not for the better but I still think that this is a country in which we support the idea to some extent especially in comparison to other countries like say France or I would even say I would say England a couple places that I have lived in but I want to talk a little bit more about how that goes over so I spoke generally last week and then I kind of brought it in narrowed it down to the realm of politics and I said that again there is still some appreciation albeit not as much as before in my opinion for starting fresh doing something different but when it comes to politics I think that people are suspicious people are suspicious and I think with good reason I think that the political arena the political realm it attracts it does attract some decent people and I do like to make the distinction between public servant politician I really I really do I think that that's critical but unfortunately what we mostly elect what we mostly have in office are politicians and politicians are very self-serving I think I shared this story a few years ago I was in an elevator and I was in a state state building and I struck up a conversation with a gentleman who was on the elevator with me there's a very brief brief conversation and I don't know if I could even say that I struck up a conversation but I made a remark and he responded and we had a few exchanges and with the time I was running for Congress for the southern congressional district seat and he said unsmilingly he was very serious he said politicians are crooks and I was a little bit taken aback I know I knew he wasn't directing an app me he was speaking more generally now again I remember being a little startled but I didn't completely disagree with them I didn't completely disagree with them but I wasn't there yet I wasn't there he did of course I shouldn't sit necessarily say of course but he did wish me luck but he was very sour on politicians well I gotta say four years later four years on I am very I would say that now I am there I am there I do think that a lot of politicians are corrupt I think that at the least many many politicians are self-serving again do we have some office holders that are true public servants of course of course and the difference between what they are doing and how they move is just so radical radically different from what we see coming from the politicians the public servants just start they have a list of deliverables politicians don't public servants they might have big name recognition but that's not what really identifies them it's not so much the name that identifies them it's how they interact with others and what they do for others and their commitment to the community which others can see in fact public servants don't have to tell you how much they're doing other people will tell you how much the public servants are doing when you're talking about politicians it's very much the opposite they're telling you how much they do and in this day and age I'll go one step further you have a number of politicians I would say you have some politicians and generally they are people who have no business being anywhere near public office they want to control they want to control what other people think of them isn't that isn't that something imagine running for office understanding at the very least that this is public service maybe winning the seat or let's say winning the seat and then proceeding to be inaccessible to those whom you serve and and not expecting others to question your decisions your activities and we see that all the time and some of the more shall I say this functional unprofessional political figures they'll want you to think otherwise they're not being accessible they're not being transparent they don't want to be held accountable but they'll want you to believe that they're everywhere and that they're very attentive to the needs and concerns of their constituents and that they're very well informed and that they're very committed to community and honestly these people have a right to their opinions they just don't have a right to mine or yours so politicians when it comes to showing us a different side it doesn't well for me with me it doesn't work but I'm going to say for some people it does unfortunately work but what I would say is that well unless the person is doing something that's markedly different this is just another gimmick so you have people for instance who hold public office and they decide to run for reelection and maybe they have suffered some bad publicity right so then there's this need to reinvent themselves or maybe someone is running for a different office and he or she wants to introduce you to who he or she is and I just for me I just I get tired I get tired of what I really see as others telling me and so many of my fellow voters just how stupid we are because that's that's really what it comes down to that's when when we're being pander to when we're being sold these narratives it's the marketing the branding it's just all of it is just so very insulting I know one politician and if she knew that I was talking to one of her colleagues about pistachio ice cream the next time I I would see or if the next time if I were to see this this politician in the near future maybe not then that's so near future but the next time I were to see this politician this politician would find regardless of the topic being discussed would find a way of working pistachio ice cream into the conversation and I just again I suppose that it works for for some people but it just doesn't work for me and I just I get awfully insulted because it's just the same thing as saying saying to me well boy you're dumb you're stupid so you ought to buy this you know you ought to pick up when I'm putting down you ought to you ought to eat this all up and and I just I have no interest in doing that I just want someone who runs for office and at the very least knows what he or she's doing and and and that's and even that is becoming it's becoming increasingly rare and and we see we see the results when when we have one person who doesn't know what he or she's doing it's problematic it's highly problematic but when we have maybe two or three here and two and three there and someone and so forth it is just after a while things aren't going to get done they're just not and then when you have a situation where people don't know what they're doing but they feel entitled to certain positions where they're running for opposition in order to better position themselves for another one it's just it's a recipe for disaster and we see that with a Boston City Council honestly I talked to so many people I'm not going to put anybody on the spot and it I assure you it would be impossible to guess from what I'm saying who I'm talking about but I've talked to people that are just really disgusted by the Boston City Council because we just have some people now and I just I don't know either they're not getting anything done they don't know what they're doing why don't I be more specific I you know I think that Erin Murphy is is not a good addition to the Boston City Council it's a job and you have to be able to perform the responsibilities fulfill the duties of it if that's not feasible then resign I'm tired of all the drama I'm tired of hearing about buttons being pushed or seeing buttons being pushed Murphy can either do the job or she can't and I think at this point that she's had ample opportunity to show if she can or cannot and I don't really think that she can and so to bring it back to this idea about reinvention Erin Murphy's trying to reinvent herself so first after getting her backside absolutely kicked by Alison Cartwright and and and I want to say that it wasn't just the left that came out to vote for Alison because people on the right too they were moderates and conservatives who came out and voted for Alison and I said I've said this on previous shows because Alison can do the job she has been doing aspects of the job forming different parts of the job already there would be no learning curve she would just step right on in and be able to perform from day one everyone Murphy tried to to argue that you know she has this outstanding work ethic well I haven't seen it you can't argue I don't care who you are you can't argue that you have an outstanding work ethic if you don't have any deliverables if you don't have any deliverables if you don't have any achievements accomplishments then how then what are you doing how can you say you're hard worker okay hard working at what like what are you doing right I mean I I say for me there were some people who were nicer than I was but my whole attitude throughout that race for the Supreme Judicial Court clerk for the County of Suffolk and you're actually it's actually the whole of the common wealth that is being represented but it but you know that that's the title the Supreme Judicial Court the Supreme Judicial Court clerk for the County of Suffolk but you know throughout that race I was I was really I just I was just in shock most of the time that someone with Aaron's background would actually dare to even run for that seat it was just my goodness gracious it's one thing to have confidence in oneself but this this was something different it's there's just no possible way that this woman thought she could actually do the job and guess what a lot of voters agreed so I will reiterate if people think that it was just the political left that came out and voted against Murphy think again and also I was in Cartwright house she's a beautiful beautiful presentation she really truly does was saying that to someone the other day just just just such a lovely refined graceful presentation she's pleasant and that does count really does but since that race and since that dropping Murphy is now trying to reinvent herself so she's now using her middle name gene and that you know that made me laugh I remember when I ran for Congress I use my middle name but then you know a different points in my adult life I've used my middle name or I've just shared my middle name so it's just really kind of interesting for her for me to see her now use her middle name and you know she's just trying to maybe like present herself to others and a more intimate level you know well this is who I really am and you know just call me Erin Jean you know me she used the hashtag me I was looking at her her instagram profile she was mom and teacher advocate I you know what I don't care about these hashtags I don't care about them and I already know everything I need to know about her because I attend Boston City Council meetings and hearings and if I can't attend one I will sometimes slash often look watch you know the recording of it so I'm very familiar with what she's doing as I am with the other counselors and it's just all it's all marketing and branding and I think there's a real cynicism that has really kind of developed around politicians trying to reinvent themselves I think there's almost a hostility because I think that people continue to underestimate the side effects of the pandemic as shared before that you know at the beginning of the pandemic people kind of joke and laugh oh you check out Marty Walsh there you know he's got a haircut you know all nicely lined up there you know look at me and people would put up the memes of you know if someone was like you know this long unruly hair and you know others would react with the laughing emoji and I think over time and this isn't a pot shot at Marty Walsh but it's just to say that people notice because I remember conversations hey you know everything seems to be all lined up he's looking pretty sharp there I wouldn't mind going to the hairdress the the barbershop rather myself again I think people were a little bit more good-natured about the restrictions initially and I mean certainly I think that people expected no one was expecting our elected officials you know Marty you know then mayor or anyone else for that matter to run around looking uncapped with unruly hair and looking kind of scruffy so certainly that's not what we wanted but I mean people kind of joke just because they couldn't go out we couldn't go out right we were asked to stay home and go out only if we if we absolutely had to but I think over time I think that there were some politicians and not just embossed in Massachusetts but just in general and what they asked their constituents to do wasn't what they were actually doing what they expected of their constituents those expectations they didn't abide by them themselves and I think and I've said this a number of times people many people were already they were already on the edge there were so many people already like wanted to maybe three paychecks for being from being in serious trouble maybe losing their homes you know whether they were renting or are they homeowners I mean people have been on the edge for a long time people have been asked to do more with less for quite some time I think that the pandemic served really as as a wake-up call for a lot of people and I think a lot of people kind of sat back and said well what do I want out of life what expectations should I have what do I want for myself and so another a number of people rather a number of people have chosen since that time to maybe do DoorDash because they can work for two or three days maybe four days and depending depending on who their client tell is and make a lot of money and that accommodates them that allows them to live better with more than when they were working Monday through Friday nine to five or one to eight you know twelve to eight people said look I'm making more money I'm working fewer hours I have more time to myself I can do different things for myself and and I guess that I guess I know that that wasn't to everyone's liking because then all of a sudden there were all these headlines about how people don't want to work and then it was like well people are lazy no people are not lazy and this may surprise some people that I'm saying this given my political proclivities but people want to be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor and they have every right to be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor people shouldn't have to work and and just that's their life that's the whole rhythm of their life going from one job to the next or going to one job and then coming home and maybe unwinding air quotes there and then just starting up you know the same old same old the very next day a few hours later people have the right to enjoy their lives and it's not about being lazy but people decided that they wanted to start valuing themselves and so not only did they start asking critical questions about what they wanted for themselves and how they were going to be able to obtain it but people also started looking at their elected officials I think truly differently and I think that there's long been cynicism but I think that it greatly expanded I think it became quite prevalent actually and so people now are asking more probing questions they want to know more what exactly are you doing we have state auditor Diana de Zoglio so for people who are less familiar who might be listening who are less familiar with Massachusetts politics it's one of our constitutional offices we of course have the Massachusetts the governor the lieutenant governor we have the treasurer we have the attorney general and we have the auditor and I have to say we've had some really good auditors we have Suzanne Bump she was she was in there for for a while and I'm not trying to disparage Miss Bump throw her any kind of shade I I was supportive of someone else at the time I was very supportive of a gentleman and I mean that literally and figuratively and unfortunately he's no longer with us he passed away but he was a wonderful person he was a Republican come all Jane and he was just so wonderful and I think that one of the greatest political honors I'll ever have will be the memory of the opportunity to have worked the convention floor the state convention floor for come all Jane when he ran for auditor he ran when Suzanne was running to be the Democratic nominee and of course Carmel was running to be the Republican nominee and I just I think about Diana and I actually very much like Diana and I've long liked Diana and is ugly oh it really has nothing to do with what she's trying to do and for those who are not only not so familiar with Massachusetts politics office holders but also a different political developments in Massachusetts I'm about to share something share what Diana DiGluio is trying to do I have long like Diana I think she has a big personality but I don't think that she's someone that needs the attention I think she really wants to do the job I think that every office that she is held that's far it's it's she's wanted to be there and so when I'm thinking about someone like DiGluio I don't mind if people eventually want to do something else as long as they're qualified and as long as they perform the responsibilities of the job that they have before they seek another position I'm okay with that but if you're not taking care of your business and then you run for something else yeah I have a problem with that so I'll kind of touch upon that and tie up that end a little bit in a little bit but Diana is doing something I think is very interesting so she wants to open up the book some Beacon Hill she wants to audit the Massachusetts legislature and I'm going to tell people who are not particularly well acquainted with Massachusetts politics Diana has actually attracted support from a number of people from different walks of life from different parts of the political spectrum and I think that that speaks to the point I'm trying to make people want to know more they want to know what you're doing if you are our office holder if you hold public office people want to know what you're doing voters want to know what you're doing unfortunately the number of voters going to the polls hasn't risen one thing at a time but at the least we have people I think asking more probing questions than they ever have before and so this idea of shining a light so to speak on the operations of the Massachusetts legislature there are a lot of people who are very open if not outright supportive of the idea of that of that happening and so there are people on Beacon Hill that are also members of the legislature who support Diana in this but then they're also of course a number of people many people many elected officials that do not so we're going to see what happens it's going to be a ballot question and there were a number of signatures that needed to be collected and then certified in order for it to be on the ballot as a ballot question and it it it more than clear the threshold Diana's been doing a great job but again I bring this up because I think more than ever people they don't want to hear about the persona they want to hear about the deliverables they want to know what they are they're not interested in those hashtags because if the hashtags are attached to like a pedestrian garden variety post people have become wary of that can you articulate the issue how about this do you even know what the issue or the issues are then can you articulate them and then what is the solution so you know we get back to to Aaron Murphy who like I said got her back side-handed tour and deservedly so and in the race for SJC clerk for the County of Suffolk and so then she had to spin it well I only sought this office because I wasn't able to get anything accomplished on the council because I can't or I haven't always been able to work with some colleagues and the woo administration stop because there's just no way that she's gonna try to argue that she thought she could serve the public and this capacity better when she didn't even have the basic qualifications for the job so please please we didn't fall off the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down okay so first there was her excuse and then like I said there's a slight hole like oh now you can just call me Aaron Jean no I'm gonna call you Council of Murphy and I want to see your deliverables like what have you done for me lately I'm just I'm tired of like her not doing anything I'm tired of the drama and what I said very recently to someone several someones actually if I want drama I'm going to subscribe to Hulu or Netflix I don't want to see drama with my elected officials I'm just simply don't so what I'm gonna do now I'm not like that's a big note I'm going to go to a break and when I come back it's gonna be a pivot but it's only gonna be a baby pivot alright it's gonna be kind of sort of an extension of what I'm talking about but let's do that break substance use disorder and 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listening to me on WBCA LP 102.9 FM Boston so I shared my deep deep cynicism over politicians trying to reinvent themselves and it's not just counselor Boston City counselor Murphy there are others that try to do it at different points in her case again it was after seeking another office and it really wasn't a good look all around especially as she had just been sworn in like like literally like two or three months after she had been sworn in for her second term on the Boston City Council so every inch junior politician and she's already ready to to move on to what she clearly thought were greener pastors but yeah the whole idea of reinvention for politicians no no no no it's it's it's just not it's not something that's really gonna go over well not in this day and age not in this climate and kind of an extension of some of what I was talking about people are paying attention more now I would love people to not only pay attention more but to get out to the polls but as I was saying baby steps one thing at a time people are paying attention to not only what the politicians are doing but what they're saying and where they're doing and saying it so let me give you an example my Anna Presley now obviously I've been critical of Iana heck I was running to be the Republican nominee you know to take her on in November in 2020 I I look I want people to know it's it's not like I see Iana and it's a handbags at dawn I've known Iana for a very long time and I do think it's important for me to repeat this I don't bear her ill will I don't and and is angry as I might get over a frustrated or dismayed over because we disagree we we very clearly disagree on a number of issues but no matter how upset I get I'm not going to cross certain lines and certainly I'm not going to go personal I'm just not going to do that I don't well first of all that's not who I am and second of all I don't think that that does justice to it could never do justice to anything I'm trying to say or do so that's that so when I I mean I when I see Iana it's always cordial I saw her I saw her at the Caribbean parade so that was very recently in Boston it's a great time and I actually marched with Tanya Fernandez Anderson she put out the call like hey you want to march with us I was like yeah I'm are yeah you know I'm down so I showed up and I'm like look yeah I'll put out the call so I'm here so really it was it was a very nice time and you know I love love being in Roxbury you know I've roots in Roxbury my grandmother may she rest in peace was a Roxbury girl an alumna of Roxbury Memorial High School I lived in Roxbury great it's a great place it's a great great great great great great neighborhood and the parade actually goes into Dorchester and a part of Dorchester that the Maiselman family knows very very well right so more roots there so it's definitely it's it's it's a very fun time and I greatly enjoy it so had a good time and I saw Iana there and you know we greeted each other you know we greeted each other I don't think she had seen me since I got my haircut and she was like oh I love your hair and I was like thank you you know so it's not it's not like this hostility it's not this we're not going to agree we often don't agree and as I said that there have been things that she has send on that I vehemently opposed but I'm not gonna cross certain lines right so I really I needed to say all that I needed to preface what I'm about to say with that I haven't said all that what I'm going to say is that I would like Iana to be present and I'm not the only one I will but I you know I can only speak for myself ultimately unless someone expressly gives me permission to speak for him or her right but Iana needs to be more present in in the seventh Congressional District I feel like there are a lot of really major crises that could benefit from her spotlight I think that there are a number of issues where she could work better or just simply work with her colleagues on state and municipal level to really get things done I feel like she's removed you know I've said that when she's on when she was on the Boston City Council because you know Iana's been I've been her constituent for a very long time now she was on the Boston City Council for ten years and you know now she's running for what her her what do we what are we going so 18 20 22 24 she's running for the term okay so she she you know I've been her constituent for a very long time but one of my like apart from the differences and opinion on different subjects and and and the differences in priorities I I don't like how Iana focused a lot on national issues when she was on the City Council I mean I I certainly get that there are issues that play out on the national stage or even the international stage and I get that there are opportunities and maybe instances where a Boston City Councilor should weigh in it's appropriate it might even be expected depending on the issue but I feel like her focus was on the national stage so that didn't sit well with me then she got elected to Congress okay so she still needs to focus on local issues even though she's in DC because again there's certain issues and you know given her office her the purview of her office there are certain issues that she needs to work on with people on state level and municipal level and I don't see her doing enough of that I see her doing photo ops with different people but I don't see her necessarily doing work I see her making appearances I see her making speeches I don't see her making changes for the better and I also think that she talks about national issues but a lot of times they're not relative to Massachusetts so I need her to focus on her job people paying attention right because between the pandemic which I talked about in the last segment of the show coupled with the inflation woof woof it's just it's insane I bought a couple of items no I think I bought like four or five items at Walgreens and I was like oh that'll be $50 I said oh excuse me I literally counted one two three four five like you know maybe the cashier had inadvertently rung up another two or three items there's like no no it's four or five items it was like it was four items four five items and it was just woof things were gotten so so so expensive so I think especially coming out of the pandemic this is just not that there's any good time for inflation to to deal with inflation to live with inflation but I think that as I said people going into the pandemic so so many people were two or three paychecks away from just being in a really tough situation then you have the pandemic that just devastated so many of us and then coming out it's like people are just finding their sea legs and then it's just one you know these these crazy prices it's just wow so yes I am doing like focus on Massachusetts please focus on some of the congressional district please then we have Attorney General Andrea Campbell so she was my she was my district counselor because she you know her first elected office her only prior elected office office that she held was on the Boston City Council and so now she's the Attorney General and she's you know answerable to all of us then to you know to everyone throughout the Commonwealth and I you know I get her emails and I you know take the time to read them and I don't I don't think Andrea is is is a bad person I think she is intelligent I think she can be funny I really really I really really do respect her education I think that she's a very accomplished woman I think she can be very charming and let's get back to funny I think she I think she's got a really good sense of you know she's funny and she's she's accessible and so far as she's very relatable I like her and I don't mean to sound shallow or superficial but she has you know she's she's attractive right so she has a lot of things going for her even if I don't always agree with her there are times when I very strongly disagree with her but I like her but you know I'm looking at some her emails and I see that she's you know campaigning here and campaigning there and I just feel like there's such a need right now in Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren does it we have our a lot of our politicians at South Molten one of our one of our congressional one of our members of Congress in another part of the state Seth Molten he's you know he has a pack he's supporting Colin Allred over in Texas who's running against US Senator Ted Cruz again I don't like how all these different elected officials are focusing on other states and issues that don't pertain squarely to Massachusetts because I feel like they're just so many things and I can't stress this enough that just aren't getting done and I think that right now people are feeling especially frustrated because on top of everything else we have the migrant population and we have people with different statuses within this population but what regardless of the status what people are seeing with this population or what people are or perceiving is that this is a population that is being treated better than people who are from here or who became American citizens of permanent residence so I think that you know you know people who've long put down they put down roots a long time ago permanent residence you know they've long been here naturalized citizens they've long been here you know I put them you know in with with people who are from here because it's it's about people who who've contributed to the community and I'm not saying that you know members of the migrant community cannot do that but people are hurting right now and I just I think that a lot of our elected officials respectfully would do well to remember that I think they would do very well to understand that we're compassionate we're tolerant I think most of us are but there's a limit and on that note I want to say thank you so much for listening we'll pick this up next week in the meantime take care of yourselves and thank you so much for listening the preceding commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and management of WBCA or the Boston Neighborhood Network if you would like to express another opinion you can address your comments to Boston Neighborhood Network 3025 Washington Street Boston Massachusetts 02119 to arrange a time for your own commentary you can call WBCA at 617-708-3215 or email radio at bnnmedia.org