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August 07, 2006
Ending a Tired Tradition in Massachusetts
By Anil AdyanthayaThe Boston Herald recently reported that there was a move afoot to rename the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center after Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. When questioned about this possible honor, Menino, who played a significant role in getting the convention center built and has been one of its staunchest supporters, dismissed the report and stated that he favored selling naming rights to the convention center in order to raise additional revenue for the city.
While it was good to see Menino place a higher priority on the city coffers than on his own legacy, a corporate trademark is not the best option for renaming the convention center. Instead, the convention center should be renamed the Milena Del Valle Center in honor of the woman killed last month following the ceiling collapse in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel that is part of the Central Artery Tunnel Project, more commonly known as the Big Dig. This new name would honor an innocent victim of governmental dereliction and make it less likely that similar malfeasance will happen again.
The naming of publicly funded projects after politicians or their relatives has become a tiresome tradition here in Massachusetts (the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge and the Ted Williams Tunnel being notable exceptions.) Such self-aggrandizement by the Commonwealth's political class, however, is especially noxious given the events of the past few weeks.
In the case of the Big Dig, Massachusetts government failed in its most important and basic function - to protect. And it failed because state officials placed a higher value on self-interest than on public interest. As Governor Mitt Romney noted in a 2004 television interview, ""the Turnpike Authority [the state entity that oversees the Big Dig] is overwhelmed with patronage. I believe it has excessive employment, excessive compensation in some places, that it's a haven for political friends and hacks." The effect of this political environment on the Big Dig was to create a project that was over budget and under quality. A Wall Street Journal column noted recently that the $14.6 billion project was nearly 500% over budget. And the collapse that killed Del Valle was not an isolated failure, as subsequent inspections revealed hundreds of unreliable sections in the Big Dig tunnels.
Naming the convention center after Del Valle is not only appropriate but necessary. Because of how it happened, Del Valle's death reverberated well beyond her circle of family and friends. She could have been any one of us, any one of our loved ones. Therefore, the response to this tragedy needs to be greater than just to fix what was broken. Because, in a few months, life in Boston will return to normal; the tunnels will be repaired and motorists will travel through them as before. Eventually people may even forget Del Valle's name and the circumstances that led to her needless demise. That it why repairing the tunnels is not enough. The real cause of Del Valle's death was the culture of patronage and corruption that permeates Massachusetts state government. Therefore, it is vitally important - quite literally of life or death importance - that Milena Del Valle never be forgotten and that the political status quo in this state never returns.
Accordingly, naming one of Boston's most important structures after a private citizen is not only a fitting tribute to this poor woman and her family, but a very public reminder that the proper focus of government is the people, not the politicians. Placing Del Valle's name on the convention center also will serve as a loud rebuke of the system that failed her and that has failed all Massachusetts residents for too long. Visitors from around the world will come to the Milena Del Valle Center and learn the origin of its name. The memorialization of this horrible tragedy will be a constant reminder to government officials of the consequences of shirking their responsibility to protect.
But naming the convention center after Del Valle is foremost a positive statement - a promise from Massachusetts government to the people that the old way of doing business is over and that a new day in Massachusetts government has begun. Such a promise, if kept, is worth more than any funds generated from the sale of naming rights.
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