Get moving, from D.C. to Mass & Cass

I don’t know about you but I am beyond sick and tired of what I am starting to feel is a lack of real focus on those who need help coming out of a pandemic.

There is no question our nation and our cities need to build back better. For some, this may be too Biden-esque for your sensibilities, but how about we commit to reimagining and executing new and different ways to tackle issues that have long been problematic and often back-burnered.

I am more than discouraged that Democrats, even with a slight majority and a president in the White House, are functioning in the same way as they have complained Republicans have done to them to stymie progress.

Message to moderate U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, enough with the showmanship. Our nation and our people are hurting. Do your job. Engage to get the two bills passed and the debt ceiling raised. Folks need to get back to work and need the resources depleted during a pandemic to care for their families.

And the so-called progressives are not coming across as champions standing their ground in all of this. It’s all starting to look like we may stand to lose everything.

This is starting to be a mighty good look for the Republicans with midterms just around the corner.

Here in Boston, we are in the final days of what’s been called a historic mayor’s race. Here are a few things that we need to do better.

First, we need to take bolder steps to improve our schools. Kudos to federal Judge William Young, who backed bringing more diversity to Boston Latin School. I’d like to hear candidates for mayor, Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George respond to how they feel about that decision and why.

We also need to fix Madison Park High School and hire more teachers of color. We need more than a plan. We need the will to get it done. Let’s start with voting for an elected school committee on the November ballot

As for the Boston Planning & Development Agency, it needs some parameters. Many times they operate as their own fiefdom. I think engaging in a selfevaluation would be a helpful exercise for the incoming mayor.

And we need to implement police reform. I think everyone would agree that a great deal of the spotlight has been on our police. I think they have done a good job in the midst of a pandemic stopping and solving crime, but not so well policing themselves — or diversifying their ranks.

Mass and Cass needs a real fix. You can smell the stench of human neglect. Not much has been done but to complain that it is a “regional” problem. Yes, true but it is also very much a local problem. We say we need to help for the sake of the human condition but in the end, it’s always NIMBY (Not in my backyard). In the meantime, nothing’s moving. Not the bridge. Not the ferry to Long Island. A pushback on housing. A do-nothing commission. Meanwhile, things on the street have gone from bad to worse.

No one wants to hear “we have more work to do.” Like many of you, I want it done now and I want to hear how exactly our elected and other leaders plan to get it done. That’s the only way we can judge that you say what you mean and mean what you say.