The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • B1

Metro THE BOSTON GLOBE FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019 BOSTONGLOBE.COM/METRO advice sought on spending $28m on repairs for Boston Common is vulnerable to a recession Cannabis company fined $250,000 by state Now rising from an ancient tomb: Bread The story is apocryphal, more allegory than history, but bears repeating in the wake of a federal jury con- victing two aides to Mayor Marty Walsh of something the federal government has deemed a crime. The electoral rise of James Michael Curley a century ago gave hope and voice to the mostly immigrant working class of Boston. At the same time, it created anxiety and deep suspicion among many Brahmins, descendants of the Puritans who settled Boston and lorded over it from their brownstones, looking down at the Irish, the Italians, and anybody else who spoke a foreign language or had a vowel at the beginning or end of their names. credentials as an aspiring politi- cian were established with the poor and marginalized communities when he got caught taking a civil service exam for a friend. Curley was sent to jail, which only increased his street cred with those who would become his political base.

On Beacon Hill, the grandees clutched their pearls and worried that Curley and the great unwashed who supported him would ruin the City on a Hill. After Curley was elected mayor, smelling salts were needed to revive the good ladies in the finer homes who wondered if this was what their ancestors fought the Revolutionary War for. In response to the rise of the Curley ma- chine, good government reformers, known derogatorily as Goo-Goos, put forward can- didates of unquestionable breeding and in- tegrity to save the city from gallery of rogues and thieves. As the story goes, the sister of one of the reform candidates was canvassing for votes in South Boston and knocked on the door of a three-decker in the Lower End. The lady of the house opened the door and stood there, holding a bucket and mop, taking a break from scrubbing the hallway to talk to some well-heeled stranger.

The nice lady from Beacon Hill told the Southie housewife that her brother was running for office and that he was an hon- est man who would do his utmost to stop the graft and corruption that the Curley machine had allowed to infest the city. After the nice lady from Beacon Hill fin- ished her earnest pitch, the Southie house- wife put her mop and bucket down, folded her arms, and leaned against the door frame. me ask you a the Southie housewife began. I vote for your brother, and he gets elected, will he give you a job on the The sister was aghast. she stammered.

in a million years. My brother is opposed to nepotism in all The Southie housewife had her answer. She picked up her mop and bucket and used her foot to close the door, but not be- fore saying, would I vote for someone who even take care of his own A jury accepted the argument by federal prosecutors that Tim Sullivan and Ken Brissette engaged in a form of public cor- ruption and extortion when they pressured the Boston Calling concert promoters to hire union workers. I sit through the trial or hear the evidence, but I remain skeptical of crimi- nalizing what Sullivan and Brissette did. They represented an administration openly committed to promoting union work and living wages in a city where the cost of housing makes it virtually impossible for ordinary working people to remain, let alone survive or thrive.

They pressured a company that wanted to increase its profits by doing everything on the cheap, forcing it to hire union work- ers at a living wage. Good for them. If a crime, working people might as well move out of the city. As for modern Goo-Goos who think Marty Walsh is suddenly vulnerable, re- member how many people helped as a union rep and politician, and remember, too, the story about the nice lady from Bea- con Hill and the Southie housewife. Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist.

He can be reached at Follow him on Twitter How it works at City Hall Kevin Cullen Business PAGES B6-9 For breakingnews, go to www.bostonglobe.com/business By Joshua Miller GLOBE STAFF The Massachusetts Republican Party and the political committee of GOP Governor Charlie Baker are feuding over access to lucra- tive donor databases, an embar- rassing intraparty clash that has left both sides locked out of the data by the software giant Sales- force.com. In a scorching letter sent to the company last week, a MassGOP lawyer said the San Francisco company had ly blocked the party from its data- bases since July 15 and ly allowed access by unauthorized third an apparent refer- ence to political team. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Globe, said the lockout had affected fund-raising and demanded that Salesforce re- store the access to its data- bases. It threatened legal action if Salesforce failed to a rea- sonable settlement within 30 days. The dispute is the latest indica- tion of a rift between MassGOP and Baker, a moderate Republican whose support for abortion rights, transgender protections, and will- ingness to raise taxes and fees has frequently put him at odds with the right wing of the party.

That includes MassGOP chairman Jim Lyons, a supporter of President Trump and a staunch social and fiscal conservative who was elect- ed to the post in January. Evan Lips, a MassGOP spokes- man, confirmed the letter to Sales- force was authentic. Lyons offered an analogy with an organization he called Non- Profit X. rely on donors who have historically given to an organiza- tion. Say a change at the top of the organization and new management walks in the front door and all of the donors and all GOP, Page B3 GOP, Baker team in dispute Each seeks access to donor databases held by Salesforce PHOTOS BY DAVID STAFF A PATRIOTIC POLISHING Conservators including, from left, Kate Breitenstein, Meagan Timmins, Naomi Hassebrook, and Margaret Breuker cleaned Minute statue next to the North Bridge over the Concord River.

The work is part of a National Park Service restoration. By Aidan Ryan GLOBE CORRESPONDENT New Hampshire is hundreds of miles away from El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, where two mass shootings last weekend killed dozens. similarly far from Washington, D.C., where gun con- trol advocates have called on lawmak- ers to take action to prevent such trage- dies. But Chris Sununu, the GOP governor, will have to weigh in on local gun control measures following the twin massacres after the Democratic- led Legislature sent him three bills to tighten firearm restrictions in New Hampshire, a state with a long tradi- tion of gun ownership. The bills delivered to desk Wednesday would require background checks for commercial arms sales, create a mandatory waiting period between the purchase and deliv- ery of a gun, and ban guns on public school property.

Sununu has five days, not including Sunday, to sign or veto the bills, or they can become law with- out his signature. With the motto Free or New Hampshire has long been a friend- ly state for gun owners and Sununu, a Republican, has held that up. After he took office in 2017, the first piece of SUNUNU, Page B4 Gun control bills pose test for New governor question is whether Sununu is going to feel enough political ANDY SMITH, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center Three gun control bills are on Governor Chris desk. By Dan Adams GLOBE STAFF Lately, Christine Araujo, chair- woman of the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal, has been con- templating the meaning of exis- tence not so much in the philo- sophical sense, but as it pertains to marijuana businesses. because, under a city rule meant to prevent clusters of pot stores, each new cannabis es- tablishment must be located at least a half-mile away from an one.

And last week, a long-simmering dispute over when, exactly, a business comes into existence boiled over into an unheard-of public confrontation between board and the City Council, which is refusing to confirm seven appointees by May- or Martin J. Walsh to the ZBA un- til they declare their stances on the marijuana buffer rule. Now, Araujo is warning that a short-handed ZBA whose 10- person roster includes two inac- tive, retired members and five MARIJUANA, Page B3 City officials disagree on marijuana store rule By Sarah Wu GLOBE CORRESPONDENT VERETT Maria A. Orellana Perlera met her best friend, Hum- berto Castaneda, in 2001 when she was dropping her husband off at Suffolk Downs for work. She was thirsty, and Castaneda a horse groomer at the racetrack gave her water.

had a big Orellana Perl- era told the Globe in Spanish Wednes- day through an interpreter. though he have anything, he would still try to The two Salvadorans shared a birth year of 1959, but Castaneda would never turn 60. On July 25, one month shy of his birthday, Castaneda died in an alleged hit-and-run crash in Charle- stown, killed by a man who should not have been driving, police say. Allen L. Williams, 65, was arrested by Boston police Monday for allegedly striking Castaneda with his white Ford F-150 pickup truck and leaving the scene of a fatal crash, as well as driving after a license suspension.

The Everett man pleaded not guilty and was released on $1,500 cash bail, according to court records. His attor- ney, Michael A. Cioffi, declined to com- ment following the arraignment. At the time of the crash, Williams was wanted by the authorities for fail- CASTANEDA, Page B4 US, HEWAS A Man killed in alleged hit-run had no worldly goods, just the love of friends Humberto Castaneda, an immigrant from El Salvador, was found dead on a street in Charlestown..