Wu vs. Essaibi-George

Should Michelle Wu be elected mayor, residents of this city will surely be fed a steady diet of socialist ideas sold to them as a departure from Boston’s hazy reputation as a city of tribal neighborhoods acting primarily in their own interests. The first example of this is the relabeling of the T as a public service. Wu likes to present herself as an earnest, intelligent problem-solver, but the T has been mismanaged for decades and eliminating fares won’t make the system more reliable, which is foremost among the concerns of the ridership.

More than anything, the MBTA needs private-sector level managerial talent. From the outside, it looks less like an urban transportation system than an organization that exists primarily to produce pensions and benefits for the middle class. In June of this year, State Inspector General Glenn A. Cunha’s office concluded that the MBTA Police Association Retirement Plan for years operated with “no system” to track and end payments to retirees when they were no longer eligible to receive them. How does that happen?

To the socialist, budgets and deficits are meaningless. Taxes can always be raised to cover fiscal gaps. To the socialist, it’s a given that certain groups of people cannot help themselves. Therefore, government must step in to meet their needs. Accountability, common sense and personal responsibility are never considered. Likewise, making a service like the T free is another step down the road to the immutable expansion of government. It is irresponsible and unnecessary. Annissa Essaibi-George understands this. She should continue to hammer Wu on this point, especially in the context of the impending $25 billion maintenance/capital needs the T requires just to remain operational over the next decade.

— Sean F. Flaherty, Charlestown