Playing the game
Healey’s punt on no-cash policy at Fenway Park ignores the law
Politics is a business of doing favors, even if it sometimes means skirting the laws you are supposed to enforce.
It is risky, but potentially rewarding, especially when the favor is returned.
A perfect example is the solid that Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat candidate for governor, delivered last week to John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Globe.
Be nice to Henry and the Boston Globe, which Henry’s wife Linda runs, and the paper will return the favor, not only with friendly coverage, but perhaps with an endorsement as well.
The issue before Healey was whether it was lawful for the Red Sox to discriminate against fans at Fenway Park by requiring them to pay for merchandise, food and drink with credit cards and not cash.
The policy was questioned after the Red Sox announced its cashless policy before the opening game earlier this month. It added that fans without credit cards will have to load onto a Mastercard at a Cash-2-Card kiosk at the park.
So when you send your kids off for a hot dog or popcorn, you must make sure that they have your credit card or have bought one at the ballpark. Cash is no longer king. Plastic rules, at least at Fenway.
Healey, who is leading state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz in the race for the Democrat nomination for governor, was asked about the cashless policy during an appearance on WGBH radio on April 25.
She said her office was looking into the matter. “I know it’s a problem because not everybody has moved to plastic,” she said.
She said, “Now Fenway’s got a system that they’re putting cash on cards, but the question is whether that really is equitable and fair to people. So, it’s something that my office is currently looking at and engaging them on because we want to make sure that people have an ability to use cash at the park.”
In one of the speediest attorney general reviews in history, Healey the next day gave the Red Sox the green light to require the plastic only on purchases.
She said she made her decision after talking with unnamed Red Sox officials. She did not mention whether the subject of equity or discrimination came up.
“I don’t think this is a big deal,” she told the Globe on Tuesday.
“As long as there are systems that allow for the use of cash through these cards, that’s going to — we think — work out.”
Despite Healey sucking up to the Red Sox — and the Boston Globe — the statute on the matter is quite clear. It is illegal to prohibit cash payments.
It is Section 10A of the General Laws passed and signed into law in 1978.
It reads: “No retail establishment offering goods and services for sale shall discriminate against a cash buyer by requiring the use of credit by a buyer in order to purchase such goods and services. All such retail establishments must accept legal tender when offered as payment by the buyer.”
This may not be a big deal to Healey. But it is an indication of what she is willing to do to win favor with John Henry and the Globe. It is also a sign that Henry and the Red Sox do not believe that the law applies to them.
But the major point is that Healey, the state’s chief law enforcement officer, is willing to politicize the office and skirt the law to do a favor for people who can help in her campaign for governor.
It’s called quid pro quo. Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
What does Chang-Diaz think about this? What do GOP gubernatorial candidates Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty have to say?
What do the three Democrats and the lone Republican running to succeed Healey as attorney general think?
What do you think?