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— Quincy Massachusetts News by Quincy Quarry News – News, Opinion and Commentary
A Garage Boston Christmas party cage dancer?
A Garage Boston online photo
In a move no one saw coming, a controversial Allston-based developer with interests in Quincy came out with a proposal to try to tap dance around long ongoing alcohol sales violations and shootings at his thus now long-shuttered restaurant and night club in Allston.
The developer, who also has a history of suffering sanctions given illegal straw campaign contributions made primarily to Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch and various other things problematic, unexpectedly announced at a Boston Licensing Board hearing on Tuesday that he planned to convert his long problematic party hardy nightclub into a “LGBT+ safe space” music venue run by someone else while at same time retaining his liquor license.
The under fire developer, left, and his longtime business partner, right, during happier times.
Conjoined LBC Boston images
Who knew?
Then again, such would explain why this long-time synagogue board of directors member’s marriage is rumored to be on the rocks.
More importantly as regards his liquor license, so what for the fact that his scheduled appearance before the licensing board was requested by him to present his plans to sell the liquor license given the myriad of problems with his operating a licensed premise that has been shuttered by the board for over a year and a half after a shooting occurred shortly after a previous suspension was lifted over double shooting incidence a few months earlier.
(“You’ve got to be kidding …”)
An iStock image
Needless to say, the licensing board was not amused with his unexpected as well as non-compliant with applicable rules and regulations proposal, especially as the hearing was basically supposed to be his last chance to perhaps be allowed to sell the pour license to a duly qualified and able third party operator or all but assuredly see the license terminated.
Also not amused were a number of those who claimed to be members of the LGBT+ community via their comments posted to the coverage on the Boston Licensing Board e-published by Quarry’s media brethren at Universal Hub, a Boston-based as well as Boston-based online news outlet.
For example: “(The) Dude is trying to use the LGBTQ community to rainbow wash his issues.”
For a bit of important background: given that Boston has a shortage of liquor licenses — unlike Quincy, a Boston pour liquor license currently runs upwards of a half million dollars or more on the resale market.
Tommy, I need a little favor
A ThePeoplesVoice.org graphic image
In turn, as well as needless to say, the developer is so endeavoring to do whatever he can to save his liquor license for obvious financial reasons.
Additionally, losing the license in this instance would all but assuredly permanently preclude him from approval to ever again hold another liquor license.
Other than perhaps in Quincy, that is.
After all, the developer and his longtime partner are going away by far the largest contributors to Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch’s campaign fund.
SAVE OUR CLUBS!!!
How much did the Developer gift to other candidates? Have you researched that info? Tom Koch one with a pretty strong mandate. He’s making Dela Chiesa look like an amateur. The cities never looked better. Longtime resident. Neil Murphy
Mr. Murphy,
Given the lack of clarity in your comment, I will endeavor to do my best to respond to your questions.
First up, over $60,000 in campaign fund “donations” have been dropped on certain Quincy city counselors by the developers noted in this Quincy Quarry story and their peeps. For at least one councillor, it would appear that this his top source of campaign donations.
Also note that this posse has “donated” $120,000 or more to Mayor Koch’s campaign fund over the years, $9,500 of which was donated last month when Koch’s campaign account was down to basically bupkis.
In turn, these developers have seen into eight figures in taxpayer-funded incentives and such; surely but coincidental, however.
Additionally, be sure to note that these developers were spanked by the MA Office of Campaign and Political Financial for making illegal straw campaign donations with Mayor Koch the primary recipient of same.
BTW, OCPF has also found Koch to be the most named recipient of illegal “straw” campaign fund donations and on the order of twice as often as the second most named recipient of same. Also note that in one case the fines and such imposed — $307,500 — were the second most ever imposed by OCPF.
Next, his recent reelection margin was not as strong a mandate as you might think once it is duly handicapped for the fact that he spent $1.2m — and still counting, roughly 9 times what his challenger spent as well as close to three times more than the next biggest spending mayoral candidate elsewhere excluding those in Boston.
Net/net, Koch spent roughly $120 per voted received — or should one say bought?
At the same time, I must grant you that Quincy looks pretty good these days, excluding the fact that many local streets are in sorry shape.
Then again, after Koch saw hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal debt issued to fund his often profligate spending to dress up certain favored parts of Quincy, some such improvement is only reasonable to expect even if more should have been seen for the money spent.
In turn, Koch’s free-spending ways have given rise to an 8.3% property tax increase for local homeowners come 2024, an increase roughly half again MORE than the average of adjacent and peer communities.
Further note that similar outsized residential property tax increases are coming over at least the next couple of years.
A key driver for the outsized tax increase is that Koch’s much ballyhooed Quincy Center redevelopment project looks to be running a likely handful of millions or thereabouts in the red this year instead of spinning off surplus tax revenue as he once touted.
Even worse, this project is looking likely to average running similarly to perhaps even more in the red annually until around 2050.
In any event, now for your question: are you familiar with the phrase “Give them bread and circuses?”