April 22, 2010

SBOL Editorial

South Boston Online wants it known, right up front, that this editorial is about the kids of South Boston.  Just the kids.  In particular, it’s about the kids who use “The Walsh”.

“The Walsh” is a facility that’s part of the Boston Centers for Youth & Families (the BCY&F), as are the other Community Centers around the City of Boston.  This facility, which is in back of the Feeney Courthouse, is formally known as the McDonough Gym - James “Stretch” Walsh Community Center.  Since almost everyone refers to it as “The Walsh”, that’s what South Boston Online will call it in this editorial.

Last week, the City of Boston decided to eliminate the staffs from eight out of 46 of its Community Centers.  These cuts were part of Mayor Menino’s proposed FY2011 budget (from July, 2010, until June, 2011), meaning they would take effect on June 30.  The staff at The Walsh was one of the eight slated to be eliminated on that date – a scant ten weeks from now.

The reaction among South Boston residents was immediate and angry.  Most of us, for good reasons, interpreted the staff layoffs to mean that The Walsh would be closed altogether.  The BCY&F quickly tried to assure the people of South Boston that this was not the case. 

On Sunday, April 18, Sandy Holden from their office issued a press release.  The second sentence of the press release stated, “While we (the BCY&F) are not closing any Community Centers, we are transitioning the operations … to management by our community partners.”  This press release claimed that such a transition could potentially “continue and expand the programs and activities at The Walsh …”

Also on Sunday, a two-hour-long standout took place on Pill Hill, East Broadway, in front of the entrances to The Walsh.  This was put together by the organizational abilities and Facebook talents of young Eddie McGuire.  It was mostly peopled by youth who use The Walsh.  Among their comments while on the line:  “It’s our second home.  We have nowhere else to go.” (Matt Beggan), “Same thing as Matt said.” (Devin LaMonica), “It’s where I grew up.” (Colin Yanovitch), “It keeps us off the streets – it has to stay open.” (Steve McKenna).

Comments from the adults at the stand-out were far more pungent.  Community activists like Scott Lombard and Bob Ferrara muttered, “This is the work of faceless bureaucrats at City Hall.  There was no input from the community about these so-called partnerships.  Closing The Walsh is a case study in how not to do something.”  Referring to the fact that a new roof for The Walsh is still in the City’s capital budget, the question was asked, “Who’s in charge of Boston.  The inmates are running the asylum.”

On April 19, Patriot’s Day, BCY&F Executive Director Daphne Griffin told South Boston Online that agencies and groups in South Boston have agreed to be “conveners”, which means they’ll get together to find ways to keep The Walsh open, using resources and volunteer help from within our community.  She pointed out that South Boston has four Community Centers inside a one square mile area, compared to one or two per square mile elsewhere in Boston.  She closed the conversation by assuring Online that no existing Walsh programs would be curtailed.

As we said earlier, “this one is about the kids”, so we’re going to weigh in with our own reactions.  South Boston Online is extremely skeptical about the ability of any agency or group of agencies to keep The Walsh open on a full-time basis.  Our agencies in South Boston have experienced major funding cutbacks and have had to reduce their own staffs.  Unless we have missed something, for them to keep anything but a skeleton operation at The Walsh is impossible.  And who will pay for the non-personnel expenses at The Walsh?  No South Boston program or agency has any extra money.

We talked with some agency and program personnel, but few were available on such short notice.  In fact, many were running the Marathon yesterday to raise extra funds for their agencies.  It’s true these agencies will “convene” in May to discuss The Walsh, but in the ten weeks left before June 30, they can’t accomplish very much.  If anything.

And what about the staff at The Walsh – John Lydon, Rich Burton, mike Joyce, and Christine Higgins (who just started)?  “They do more than anyone knows”, is a very common quote around here.

No, the City must keep The Walsh open, and its staff on board.  South Boston, even with its well known volunteerism, can’t do this by itself.  Boston’s budget can be cut elsewhere and the money can be found, even after that extravagant, $72 million award the arbitrators just made to the firefighters.  Read us next week, if you’d like some ideas that will work.  There’ll be yelling and screaming about “balancing the budget on the backs of city workers”, of course.  But in our opinion, that’s far better than “balancing the budget on the backs of our children.”

Please Send Us Your thoughts and Ideas.