June 24, 2024 • 35 mins
Residents in Norfolk, MA have made their concerns clear about the state’s plan to house a couple hundred migrants at the old Bay State Correctional Center. Despite residents’ pushback, the state has informed the town that at least 400 migrants will arrive at the shelter by the end of this week. A community group, the Concerned Citizens of Norfolk are holding a rally this week in protest. We discussed what’s unfolding in Norfolk and heard from residents about their thoughts regarding this measure.
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(00:01):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray onw BAS Boston Radio for you hockey fans.
The Bruins tonight have traded linus Omarkto the Ottawa Senators for the twenty
fifth pick in Friday's draft. Alsoa center and a goaltender. Interesting.
(00:21):
Interesting, So the Bruins goaltending duoof swam In an Omark sounds like a
law firm there they are no more. Very interesting. He won the vesident
of trophy a year ago and he'straded simple as that now about I don't
(00:42):
know. A couple of weeks ago, we spoke with Jack Olivieri, who
is with us tonight. He isa longtime resident of Norfolk, Massachusetts.
Hey, Jack, welcome back toNightside. How are you, Thanks Dan,
I'm good, How are you verywell? You know, we were
talking about the placement of the creationI guess of a migrant shelter for about
(01:08):
four hundred or so women and childrenat a former state institution, penal institution
in Norfolk, and we talked aboutit, and there's been a lot of
concern in your community and it looksas if the state has delayed things,
(01:30):
but they also seem to be suggestingthey're going to go full steam ahead and
they're going to open this facility sometimeslater sometime later this week. What's the
latest. Well, the latest iswe were supposed to get four hundred and
fifty migrants in the middle of June. That was pushed back until the end
of June, and so they're sayingnow they're coming Thursday or Friday. So
(01:56):
we'll just have to wait and seebecause it could be delayed again or could
could come in on the end ofthe week. Also, they told us
that we're only getting four hundred andfive instead of four hundred and fifty.
They couldn't they couldn't squash four hundredand fifty in there. Well, I
know you've got a lot of concerns, not only in terms of your community
has what eleven thousand people if Ire call eleven thousand residents, Okay,
(02:17):
so when you talk about bringing infour or whatever one hundred people, that's
a that's a that's a significant overnightbump in the population, which means more
kids going to school and more runsby the town e mts. And I
mean it's there's there's a price tobe paid here by the residence of Norfolk.
(02:38):
And I guess that would you wouldyou say that most people in Norfolk
don't think this is a good idea. I would say that's true. I
represent the people who do not thinkit's a good idea, and I think
that's most of the population. You'reright, it's about a three half percent
(03:00):
pop in the population of the town. Overnight. It would be like Boston
getting twenty five thousand migrants overnight.Yeah, that's not going to happen,
unfortunately. I mean, you know, it's the smaller communities like Norfolk that
takes the brunt of this, thisburden, this obligation. Uh, something
(03:23):
should have been done at the stateHouse to have to have basically said,
hey, wait a second. Whenwe passed this law, this this this
law to make sure that homeless citizensand residents of Massachusetts always had an opportunity
for housing in nineteen eighty three,no one could have anticipated what's what's going
on in this country in the lastyou know, two or three years.
(03:45):
So give us a schedule. Iguess there's a selectmen's meeting tomorrow night.
Give us what's on the agenda forthe balance of the weekend. Then we're
going to open it up to phonecalls, Well, we have a couple
of things going on. We havea Selectmans meeting, as you said,
tomorrow night, which they're going toget the latest and greatest information that they
have. They've already given us somewhatof a preview. The state has basically
(04:06):
said water quality is fine despite theirbeing lead in it. They said there's
no asbestos. They hired and exterminatedto keep the rats out, which you
know, it's a good thing tohave an exterminer on site, so they
have that. And they also saidthat we're not going to get an environmental
(04:29):
study like we requested. And theyalso said they did testing for lead in
the paint and they took dust samples, but the results have not come back
yet. So it's kind of interesting. They're going to be moving people in
there without having the results of thelead testing and the paint, which means
there's kids and babies that are goingto be in there and they don't have
(04:49):
the final results of the lead.They just did a walk through or testing
in June fourteenth, what's that tendays ago. Yeah, they're looking at
it as a political problem, notas a as a problem. They just
want to get people in housing whereI'm not asking you what Niche and this
group of people are coming from.Obviously they probably are from several, uh
(05:13):
you know, countries. Where arethey currently being housed? If I could
ask, are they sleeping at thatairport, They're sleeping at Logan Airport.
They're sleeping in at Logan Airport rightnow. And they from what we can
understand, they have not been thekids have not been going to school,
which is in violation of the McKinneyVNTO, which says anybody who's homeless their
(05:34):
children have to be enrolled in schoolsand not in East Boston school So but
when they come here, they're expectedin the fall to go to Norfolk School.
So we're not sure what there's adouble standard there. But the other
thing I want to mention, we'rehaving a rally on on Wednesday at five
point thirty and the center town andwe're being joined by several other towns Walpole,
(05:56):
rent them, Plainville as well aswell as some folks that coming up
from the Cape. So we're havinga big rally in town and we're going
to have it in the center oftown five thirty pm and then we're going
to go in front of the prisonand with some signs and make some protests
down there. Well again, Ithink I think that the place that you
(06:18):
might win this is the court ofpublic opinion, and that if the administration
looked at other options. I gotto believe that there are other facilities in
a better location. I mean,I know where that prison is. I
spent I spend time there, andI spend time helping people get out of
that prison who were wrongfully convicted.Ironically, the point that I'm trying to
(06:43):
make is that there's no hospital nearby. I mean it really, it's a
very isolated area, intentionally isolated.At least the prison in conquered is close
to Emerson Hospital. I just think, have they thought this through? You
know, obviously the lead in thewater, the lead in lead paint,
(07:05):
the presence of rats in that facility. I mean, they should all mitigate
against using that facility at this point. They might come back to you a
year or two from now after theyclean it up, But to put people
in under those circumstances, it's notfear to the migrants, and it's not
fair to your community. It's alosing proposition no matter how you look at
(07:27):
it. Right, absolutely, andI don't think to answer your question,
I don't think they have bought thisthrough. Every time we ask them what
the plan is, they have noanswers. They don't have no answers to
how we're going to handle the children. We're maxed out on classroom space.
We have no sidewalks in town tospeak up. We have no street lights.
The closest town, the closest facilityfor buying something is two miles away.
(07:55):
The low closest hospital or urgent careis thirty minutes away. We have
one ambulance. So if that ambulanceis servicing the migrants, and some something
happens with somebody in in Norfolk,they have a heart attack or something,
God for bid, then hang inthere, hang in there. We'll get
to you when we can. Yeah. That's that's right, right, That's
(08:15):
that's the one. That's yeah.And those are the people in Norfolk who
have paid their real estate taxes lowthese many years to support police and fire
and EMTs. Jack, let's dothis. I'm going to give up the
phone number six one, seven,two, five four ten thirty, six
one, seven thirty. Those twolines are open full. The only one
that's opened is six one seven,two, five, four, ten thirty.
(08:39):
Uh, I told you three weeksago or two weeks ago when when
we had you on I guess nowit's getting close to three weeks ago.
I said, look, you know, if you need to have come back,
and you were kind enough to reachout to me over the weekend.
So I'm a man of my word, a person of my word, and
you're back, and let's let's seeif we can stir the pot a little
bit and and get you some support, if not from Norfolk, even from
(09:01):
other communities. I would hope thatanyone listening in Norfolk tonight is going to
be courageous enough to pick up thephone and give us a call. My
guest, Jack Olivery, he isone of the leaders of the fight against
a migrant shelter in Norfolk, Massachusetts. And we do have a little bit
of sound from the meeting that Ithink you guys had a meeting in early
(09:22):
early this month in June with someof the uh, the political leaders in
your in your community, and itgot pretty raucous. Rob if you'd be
so kind just to give folks asense of how much anger exists, in
frustration exists in Norfolk through no faultof their own. They were doing nothing.
(09:43):
They were just living there as citizens. Cut number thirty six will bump
out on that and we'll come backwith phone calls. Please please, and
you can be anywhere you want,sir, but not in your time.
Right enough enough enough, please,sir. Please sit down, sir,
(10:09):
sir, if you don't have tosit down, we were going to remove
by me upst me on your setpeople up here. People have come in
here and say, you know,I've lived here forty years and fifties.
(10:30):
I'm making here forty years too.I'm sir, sir, you have answered
chance. Please listen. I knowit's difficult, but listen for a second.
Please, I understand the answer.I understand you may not believe or
what said. This is what we'vebeen going through for the last two to
three weeks. Almost every question you'veasked me have asked. We do not
have all the answers, but wewill get nowhere. If we get in
(10:52):
this practicate, debate this kind ofan argument and watched ourselves, we will
get nothing done, nothing now,sir. Please you now back to Dan
ray Line from the Window World lightSide Studios on w b Z, the
news radio we are talking once againwith a guest who joined us some about
(11:16):
three weeks ago. His name isJack OLIVERI uh, he's from Norfolk.
You've lived in Norfolk? How manyyears? Jack? Forty years? So
we consider you a long term resident. I guess pretty nice town, right,
Yeah, it is a pretty nicetown, and it's gonna, I
assume change dramatically with this. Ifthis happens, I would think, so,
(11:41):
I don't see how it cannot.Yeah, okay, let's let's go
to phone calls. Let's see whatpeople have to think have to say.
We're going to go to Deb,who is first calling in from Norfolk.
Debu, you are next to nightSay, thanks for checking in. Go
right ahead with Jack Olivery. Deb, you're on the air ahead. Okay,
So we're a little bit of aslow start there with Deb. We'll
(12:03):
put Deb on hold and get herall squared away. Explain to her the
ten second delay, keep the radiodown. We're gonna go next to Paul
in Norfolk. Paul, you werenext on Nightside. Welcome. Well,
I hope we're not over to Rob. Okay? You what here go Paul?
(12:26):
Okay, thanks for the backup.Rob. Paul in Norfolk, go
ahead, Paul, Yeah, HiDan, thank you for having me on
and hello Jack, Hi Paul,so Dan, I was hoping to talk
to you briefly about something you mightbe interested in related to this shelter.
I have heard, as we allhave, that they would be doing some
(12:50):
fixing up of the old correctional facilityto get it ready to house its new
inhabitants. We were told that atthe town forum the clip of which you
played moment ago, and they hadno numbers at the time of what this
would all cost. So I decidedto do a Freedom of Information Act request
to the state, otherwise known asa foyer yep. And the ten days
(13:13):
that they had to respond kind ofcame and went, and this is business
days. And on day eleven theyreplied back to me, you know,
the bulk of what my foyer was, how much is all of this going
to cost? You know, you'reobviously you're doing things like you cited,
painting, You're bringing furniture and fixturesin there. You're maybe the most important
(13:33):
thing. That facility is covered likeyou wouldn't believe, in razor wire like
you might expect on a prison.Right they want to take all that down
to make it more appealing for itsinhabitants. You know, this is all
going to be quite costly, SoI thought, you know, it's our
taxes that are ultimately flowing to makethat happen. Foyer request, and it
(13:54):
was denied. Your Foyer request wasdenied. It was on what ground?
Well, if you really like toknow, they actually got a lawyer involved
to compose the reply, and Iecited. And by the way, you
paid, you paid for that thatstate lawyer to go ahead. I'm sure.
(14:16):
So there's two reasons cited because thedocuments that they would have to turn
over contain quote unquote recommendations on legaland policy matters in an ongoing deliberative process
end quote. All right, that'sreason number one. Your lawyers paid a
lot of money to come up withphrases like that with the average person has
(14:37):
no clue of what they mean,so that's a talent. I had to
look it up. I had tolook it up because I for the second
reason, then I'll tell you more. And so the second reason because they
are sufficiently related to the safety andsecurity of the Bay State Correctional Center,
which in my reasonable judgment, wouldjeopardize public safety if disclosed. So there's
(15:01):
two reasons for denial. That's insane. That's insane, but a you know,
again, when people assume power,they can pretty much do what they
want. And this is a statefacility which has fallen into disrepair. It
has not been functioning since twenty fifteen, so I kind of imagine that the
(15:24):
plumbing is really up to date,up to speed. And what are they
going to do? Put people incells, in prison cells. That's wonderful,
I mean, what a joke.And one more thing, Dan,
hopefully there may be a silver linein here, because you are granted the
ability to make an appeal if you'redenied. So for specifics, I made
(15:46):
this request to the Executive Office forAdministration and Finance, and your appeal process
goes through the Secretary of State.So once I received this, I composed
an appeal that's now starting a clockwith the Secretary of State. They have
they will tell you judgment you have. You have someone who in the Secretary
(16:07):
of State, Diana Dosauglia, heroffice actually does believe in transparency. Her
office does believe in opening the books, which of course is what well.
No, actually, my strike thatthe Secretary of State is not Diana Ugly,
that's Billy Galvin. My mistake,Well, that's gonna that's gonna die.
Because Galvin has been up there forthirty years. He's he knows how
(16:30):
to play the game. I washoping it went to Dianea'sauglia, the state
auditor. My mistake on that.I had a brain freeze there. I
did my best in the reply tomake a case against both of these arguments.
You know the way Calvin is asbig a as big a a block
(16:52):
as anybody up there, and he'sbeen up there for forty years in that
position, and uh it's he's youknow, he does nice campaign came rushoals
with tax payers money when he tellspeople should get out and vote because voting
is important, and that's about.That's about it. But I will be
stunned if he directs the Governor's officeto turn that material and information over to
you. Yeah, perhaps if theydo that, I'd like you to call
(17:15):
me back so we can give himcredit. If he doesn't do it,
like to call me. I likeyou to call me back so I can
tell you. You know, he'she's he's acting true to form. I
will indeed, and Dan if Icould. I mean, if it doesn't
go our way on this, Ithink our only other recourse is to,
you know, bring civil suit againstthe state, which you know, I
(17:37):
don't know if there's any lawyers listeningwho want to help. But who who
do you think appoints all the judgesin the states? Yeah, right,
go ahead, Jack, I knowyou tried to get in there a couple
of times. Yeah. I justwanted to say one thing, this is
not unusual. I asked, wegot information, very general information about letting
the water supply, and I askedforty samples. I said, I'd like
(18:00):
to get the detailed information of eachsample, what the value was for each
sample. And they told me.I talked to a person and they said,
don't don't even don't even bother.It's it's a security they're going to
give you. It's a security issuethat they can't give you the details.
Yeah, that's that's that's again,that's just claptrap. It's as simple as
(18:22):
that. It's absolutely clap trap,simple as that. Gentlemen, thank you
very much. You're gonna stick withus, Jack Paul. That was a
great call, Thank you so much. Well, we'll take a quick break
news at the bottom of the hour, and the only line that's open is
UH six. You like to getin. It's night side with Boston's news
(18:45):
radio. Let's get back to thephones. My guest Jack Olivery, he
is in the forefront of this effortin Norfolk, Massachusetts to say to the
state, thanks, but no thanks, and the state is very, you
know, very insistent on getting theirway of these circumstances without providing a lot
(19:06):
of information. Let me go toDeb in Norfolk. Deb, hope you
there this time. Go right ahead. Hi, Dan, I'm here.
Thanks for taking my call. Goright ahead. Deb. One of the
one of the things I wanted tomention is that, you know, our
frustration is more with our administration andthe federal government and not the migrants at
all. We have been stiff armedat every turn in terms of trying to
(19:32):
get information, trying to find outwhat this means for the town, trying
to find out what resources the stateis going to provide. They've given us
next to no information and have basicallytold us to sit down and be quiet
and just accept whatever they tell usthat they're going to do. And that's
(19:53):
been the biggest anger inducing thing inthis whole process. It's not necessarily directed
towards the migrants themselves. I mean, we as a group all agree if
I was a migrant, I headfor Massachusetts too, because of all the
perks and benefits that we provide,so that we're also a you know,
(20:18):
we're also a right to shelter state. We're the only state in the country
that has right to shelter loss.I'm told there are signs right or right
which direct migrants to go to Massachusettsas their first choice. You know,
if they have relatives in Los Angelesor Houston, Okay, they'll go through
where the relatives are. But theyare very happy, very happy, right,
(20:38):
yeah, right, And to thatpoint, I went back and I
looked through the history and according tothe Boston Globe, in twenty twenty one,
one thousand migrants twenty twenty two fortyfive hundred, twenty twenty three,
eleven thousand, five hundred, Sowe're basically tripling each year. So to
the larger point in the in thestate, we are tripling the amount of
(21:00):
migrants that we're bringing in each year, and it's going to affect every single
community in this state. And there'sabsolutely you know, no way we can
sustain this, and that does notinclude the agencies that are private, that
are faith based, that are smalllocal groups. So really the state doesn't
(21:22):
even know how many migrants are comingin well, by the way, So
I mean we are facing a tidlewave. We are facing a tidal wave
in terms of numbers and money,and it's overwhelming. Well, ironically,
a lot of the so called faithbased groups are in being enriched because they're
getting millions of dollars from the state. So what happens is if you're the
(21:47):
head of some faith based organization andyou're going to get fifty million dollars,
well, you love this micro crisisbecause it's pouring money into your bank account.
When you think about it, Alot of the businesses, the cab
company down in the Cape that gotthe six million dollars, no big contract.
(22:07):
Do you think they're worried about peoplein Norfolk having the school classrooms overcrowded?
I don't really think they're in thehotels all the hotels, yeah,
right, yeah, the hotel You'reright, you're right, And I mean
it's a divide and conquer strategy.Basically. Once again, some people benefit
a lot of people like Norfolk oron get the short end of the steak.
(22:30):
And even I was just reading Coloradonow is totally full up. They
can't take anymore, and so they'readvising people to go to Massachusetts. So
we are becoming a destination state,which is just you know, a disaster
in the making. And as muchas we are concerned and have great compassion,
(22:51):
it's it's a tidal wave of youknow, finance, financial burden,
and you know, the civic servicesthat we just simply cannot cannot sustain.
So, you know, we're justhoping that eventually the public pressure will get
to the point where the state finallyrealizes that they have they have to amend
(23:14):
this right to shelter law. Wethis is not sustainable. Well, I
think you have issued a clarion call. And people, even if they're in
other parts of the state and theydon't think they're affected by it, by
now, you know, they're thinkingabout the July barbecue and cookouts. You're
thinking about what type of a classroomis my kid going to be in the
public schools in Norfolk next September,when instead of having twenty three kids in
(23:37):
the class, there's thirty one kidsin the class. Yes, they will
be impacted eventually. If this doesn'tstop, they will be Okay, Deb,
I appreciate you call quick comment Jack, if you'd liked it, Deb,
Yeah, yeah, I'm just sayingI keep using the analogy, you
know, Maury Heally keeps saying,we have a cap of seventy five hundred
people in the state. I lookat the analogy like trying to eat a
(24:00):
bathtub without turning off the flossip.First, turn off the flauset. Oh,
you're never gonna empty that bathtub,right, Yeah, trying to empty
the bathtub with it with a thimble, right, and and it's never gonna
happen. But we we don't apparentlywe don't understand that concept. Well,
we don't want to understand the concept. I appreciate your calling very much.
(24:21):
Thank you, Sorry connecting, goodnight. Let me go. We're gonna
go to Paul in the tasket.Paul, you are calling in from another
community also starts with the letter andbut this one's in the antasket. What's
on your mind? Paul? Hey, Dan, I got a quick good
you know what I was I wasactually talking about is is uh the interpretation
of this law right? Isn't thisbut like people who are homeless, like
(24:44):
who are like American citizens, orthey have a green cattle and nope,
you know, and all of thisit should be, Paul, how it
should be. No, if youcan get here from anywhere in the world
and you are a pregnant woman oryou're a woman without with children, you
will get hotel room and just whateveryou might you know, feel like like
(25:07):
you need. Okay, Uh,they get three squares a day, they
get laundry service. It's it's anice life. You know, if you
come out of a really tough setof circumstances. You're in High Clover here
in Massachusetts. Well, I'm tellingyou what happens is there's something something like
that happens and and these people likethem, and it's like an invasion of
a town. You know, yougot seven thousand people living in the North
(25:30):
Park proa. Is that what thesupposing it is? And then you bring
in another thousand in Uh you likeat your liquidity and the uh the uh
the people that are there, likeyou said, there's gonna be thirty kids
in a class. Uh, theygot to pay for it. It's going
across the town in the long run. And then uh, people will uh
this, you know, then lawsget broken. Then when you need money
(25:51):
you do crazy things. Yep,there's no reason. A lot of the
micros they get debit cards. Theyshould be that, they should be very
clearly. It's it's it's a problem. And and you know, Jack,
I assume that you appreciate Paul fromNantaskan calling in on your side. Yeah,
I do. And and Paul,you're right, Uh, this should
(26:15):
be this law should be amended toprioritize, prioritize Massachusetts residents and homeless Massachusetts
residents and veterans first. And that'sit's just not right the way it is.
It's just upside down. And it'sit's that's what we're calling for.
It should be amended. The longterm solution is amended to to US residents,
(26:37):
Massachusetts residents, and veterans, homelessveterans. I'll tell you what.
That's why I went. If Iwent to another country, like if I
went to Italy or some Germany orsome and I want to walk in,
they're going to give you houses LBtoday You're not gonna get anything. I
don't care if you walk in toRussia will shoot you if you walking the
pole you know so. I mean, that's true. Paul made you made
(27:00):
some great points. Appreciate you takingthe time to call. Thank you very
much, Talk you soon. Allwe got more phone calls coming up.
Only one line has opened. Sixone, seven, nine thirty. Our
intention, Our intention is to switchtopics at ten o'clock. However, however,
I will make an exception if theinterest in this subject persists. Jack
(27:25):
will do what we did last time. We'll stick with it, maybe for
half an hour or whatever. Fairenough, Okay, We'll give everybody an
opportunity to weigh in. Let's getback on Nightside right after this very quick
break. Now back to Dan Raylive from the Window World night Side Studios
on WBZ News Radio. We're talkingabout a migrant shelter in Norfolk. A
(27:47):
lot of folks in the town ofNorfolk are not happy about it, but
the state seems intent on opening upa prison that had been closed for nearly
ten years, the Base State CorrectionalFacility, also known the Retirement Home for
Lifers. Not the most elegant placein the world, that's for sure.
Patricia in Boston, Patricia, Nexton Nightside, Welcome Dan, Yes s
(28:10):
Patricia, how are you Hi.You and I talked a few months ago
because we were going to get acouple of hundred migrants in our town.
And I'd prefer not to mention itright now, no pro but because I
wanted to tell them what we didand we're not show up. Did did
the migrants show up? Or ordid you? No? No, no,
we we we won. The cityis not going to say that we
(28:32):
did, but we did because wedidn't get them, but we did everything.
We didn't have a messy city councilmeeting, and people went up and
a lot of people were not spokeat city council, but there was a
lot of social media talk. Peoplewere furious it was going to be in
an empty commercial building literally across thestreet from a residential area, and people
(28:53):
were prepared to do whatever they feltthey needed to protect their families. So
I want to say that one ofthe things discussed on social media was an
example of something that happened in Californiatwo or three years ago, and I
just want to say it. Idon't want to suggest that they do it
of just letting you know that ithappened in California and we had discussed it
(29:15):
on social media. Here, andmaybe it caused the town and the governor
not to do it. I don'tknow, but it would be easy probably
to find out we're in California.I just don't remember. Anyway, a
couple of hundred were coming in buses, and the governor was sending them in,
and the people said, we don'twant them, there's no place for
(29:36):
them. The crime rate goes upthe whole bit. And they actually stood,
hundreds of them stood in the roadwhich was the way into town.
And after a standoff of hours andhours, the buses were sent back because
they didn't want to have to arrestpeople. They didn't want to bring national
attention to it anymore than it didthey I mean, just throwing it out
(30:02):
there. Okay, I'm not surethat that necessarily that's what Norfolk would want
to do, but well, I'mnot suggesting that they do what. I'm
just telling you what happened in California. So little civil disobedience, I guess.
Yeah, well it happens with theclimate and you know the climate change
(30:22):
people all the time on the highways. Yeah, they blocked traffic for hours.
No, I get that. I'mnot a big fan of doing that
because to be really honest with you. You can have folks who are trying
to get to you know, visitan elderly parent, or or get to
a hospital for a correct I absolutelydo disagree with that. Yeah, So
anyway, Okay, well, interestingsuggestion. Thank you, Patrician, appreciate
(30:45):
you call. Have a great night. Okay, gotta keep rolling here.
We get a lot of well,go ahead, Jack one. A couple
couple more quick points. Number one. Maybe a lot of your listeners don't
realize that the right to Shelter law, as you mentioned, allows pregnant women
and families to be sheltered. Afamily is an adult with a child.
(31:07):
The child is defined as anyone upto the year at the age of twenty
one. Gotcha, that's considered achild. So I consider a child.
But that's right, I get yourpoint. That's what you're that's what you're
dealing with, right, And wehave no way of knowing whether the the
(31:29):
parent and the child go together.Yeah, there's there's all sorts of issues.
Let me go to Kathleen in Norfolk. Kathleen's been waiting a while,
want to get in get her inhere before the ten o'clock newscast Kathleen,
you were on with Jack Olivery.I guess, and I just want to
say how much we appreciate Jack,And can I say how much I would
appreciate you getting off the speakerphone.I'm not okay, hold on, they
(31:53):
didn't take that was on the speakerphone. Well why did you try then?
To do what you you can do? Go ahead, give it your best
shot. I know that that probablyRob told you not to be on the
speak of the go ahead. Yeah, no, I'm not. I don't
Well how about this, how aboutspeaking into the into the mouthpiece on the
(32:15):
telephone. Okay, that's what I'mdoing, but it's not coming out right.
It sounds a little better, Butgo ahead. We'll waste that a
lot of your time and it's notfair. Yeah, I'm so sorry.
I just I just my thing.I feel like the town leaders you speak
about, you know, ranking inthe money, and I feel like they're
looking to see what they can getfrom the state. Why would you say,
(32:38):
why would you say that? It'sit's that's what it's talked about they're
talking about. Okay, So whatyou're saying is that they're looking for money
from the state that would go tothe town not. I just want to
make sure no one misinterprets you're notYou're not suggesting that the town leaders ago
(33:00):
are looking to benefit personally. Yeah, no, no, no, not
no. Okay, let's see ifif Jack Jack for the schools and like
for the ambulance and so forth,Well, let me see it, Jack.
Let's let's see if Jackie agrees withyou. He knows more and much
more about it than I do.Jack. Are you on the same wavelength
(33:21):
as Kathleen? I think that atthe beginning the philosophy, the strategy,
if you will, was to makea deal with the state and get as
much out of him as we could. Uh. And as the negotiations have
gone along, and as I've saidbefore, the state is not going to
give no fuck any special treatment becauseif they do and another town founds out
(33:45):
it finds out about it, they'regoing to ask why is Norfolk special?
We want the same deal. Aslong as the state refuses to comply with
freedom of information acts, they'll neverfind out. Right. Well, that's
a that's another point. But wordgets around, and I know, I
know, I agree, I was. I was saying that fantastically because everything
(34:06):
should be above board. Everything shouldbe on the table. That's the way
tradesparency the government is supposed to work. Remember, right, Democracy dies in
darkness, and there seems to bea lot of darkness associated with this issue.
That's what's That's what the headline ofthe motto now of the Washington Post
is. So there seems to bea lot of democracy. The money it's
(34:27):
going to run out, and then, right, absolutely, what do we
do that these people? He andAthcox is going to be responsible for them
and and all the other services thatare being provided to them. The state's
going to run out of money eventually, and everyone in Massachusetts will be paying
for it. Yep. Well again, but there's no move of the legislature
(34:49):
to amend the right to shelter law, which we're signed by Governor Decacus in
nineteen eighty three. Could never haveanticipated the circumstances in the situation that we're
currently dealing with. Yep, right, thank you, Thank you, Kathleen.
You did sound better at the endof the call than you did initially,
and we I only do that.I don't know what happened, but
thank you well again. Speaking intothat mouthpiece on the phone. A lot
(35:14):
of people will hold the phone kindof like this, and you're really not
talking to the mouthpiece. If you'retalking to the mouthpiece, it's amazing how
much clearer the words will sound.Thanks Kathleen, appreciate the call. Okay,
go take quick break, Jack.Let's let's hang into the next hour
for a little while. I gotBill in Norfolk, Stacey and need him,
Debbian Norfolk, Gene and Effett.We'll get to all of them,
and one more line would be availableat only one available six one, seven,
(35:37):
two, five, four, tenthirty. We are done with this
hour. We'll be back. We'llcontinue this conversation right after the ten o'clock
news on WBZ NIGHTSI with Dan Rayand of course Rob Brooks right after this
It's Night Side with Dan Ray onw BAS Boston Radio for you hockey fans.
The Bruins tonight have traded linus Omarkto the Ottawa Senators for the twenty
fifth pick in Friday's draft. Alsoa center and a goaltender. Interesting.
(00:21):
Interesting, So the Bruins goaltending duoof swam In an Omark sounds like a
law firm there they are no more. Very interesting. He won the vesident
of trophy a year ago and he'straded simple as that now about I don't
(00:42):
know. A couple of weeks ago, we spoke with Jack Olivieri, who
is with us tonight. He isa longtime resident of Norfolk, Massachusetts.
Hey, Jack, welcome back toNightside. How are you, Thanks Dan,
I'm good, How are you verywell? You know, we were
talking about the placement of the creationI guess of a migrant shelter for about
(01:08):
four hundred or so women and childrenat a former state institution, penal institution
in Norfolk, and we talked aboutit, and there's been a lot of
concern in your community and it looksas if the state has delayed things,
(01:30):
but they also seem to be suggestingthey're going to go full steam ahead and
they're going to open this facility sometimeslater sometime later this week. What's the
latest. Well, the latest iswe were supposed to get four hundred and
fifty migrants in the middle of June. That was pushed back until the end
of June, and so they're sayingnow they're coming Thursday or Friday. So
(01:56):
we'll just have to wait and seebecause it could be delayed again or could
could come in on the end ofthe week. Also, they told us
that we're only getting four hundred andfive instead of four hundred and fifty.
They couldn't they couldn't squash four hundredand fifty in there. Well, I
know you've got a lot of concerns, not only in terms of your community
has what eleven thousand people if Ire call eleven thousand residents, Okay,
(02:17):
so when you talk about bringing infour or whatever one hundred people, that's
a that's a that's a significant overnightbump in the population, which means more
kids going to school and more runsby the town e mts. And I
mean it's there's there's a price tobe paid here by the residence of Norfolk.
(02:38):
And I guess that would you wouldyou say that most people in Norfolk
don't think this is a good idea. I would say that's true. I
represent the people who do not thinkit's a good idea, and I think
that's most of the population. You'reright, it's about a three half percent
(03:00):
pop in the population of the town. Overnight. It would be like Boston
getting twenty five thousand migrants overnight.Yeah, that's not going to happen,
unfortunately. I mean, you know, it's the smaller communities like Norfolk that
takes the brunt of this, thisburden, this obligation. Uh, something
(03:23):
should have been done at the stateHouse to have to have basically said,
hey, wait a second. Whenwe passed this law, this this this
law to make sure that homeless citizensand residents of Massachusetts always had an opportunity
for housing in nineteen eighty three,no one could have anticipated what's what's going
on in this country in the lastyou know, two or three years.
(03:45):
So give us a schedule. Iguess there's a selectmen's meeting tomorrow night.
Give us what's on the agenda forthe balance of the weekend. Then we're
going to open it up to phonecalls, Well, we have a couple
of things going on. We havea Selectmans meeting, as you said,
tomorrow night, which they're going toget the latest and greatest information that they
have. They've already given us somewhatof a preview. The state has basically
(04:06):
said water quality is fine despite theirbeing lead in it. They said there's
no asbestos. They hired and exterminatedto keep the rats out, which you
know, it's a good thing tohave an exterminer on site, so they
have that. And they also saidthat we're not going to get an environmental
(04:29):
study like we requested. And theyalso said they did testing for lead in
the paint and they took dust samples, but the results have not come back
yet. So it's kind of interesting. They're going to be moving people in
there without having the results of thelead testing and the paint, which means
there's kids and babies that are goingto be in there and they don't have
(04:49):
the final results of the lead.They just did a walk through or testing
in June fourteenth, what's that tendays ago. Yeah, they're looking at
it as a political problem, notas a as a problem. They just
want to get people in housing whereI'm not asking you what Niche and this
group of people are coming from.Obviously they probably are from several, uh
(05:13):
you know, countries. Where arethey currently being housed? If I could
ask, are they sleeping at thatairport, They're sleeping at Logan Airport.
They're sleeping in at Logan Airport rightnow. And they from what we can
understand, they have not been thekids have not been going to school,
which is in violation of the McKinneyVNTO, which says anybody who's homeless their
(05:34):
children have to be enrolled in schoolsand not in East Boston school So but
when they come here, they're expectedin the fall to go to Norfolk School.
So we're not sure what there's adouble standard there. But the other
thing I want to mention, we'rehaving a rally on on Wednesday at five
point thirty and the center town andwe're being joined by several other towns Walpole,
(05:56):
rent them, Plainville as well aswell as some folks that coming up
from the Cape. So we're havinga big rally in town and we're going
to have it in the center oftown five thirty pm and then we're going
to go in front of the prisonand with some signs and make some protests
down there. Well again, Ithink I think that the place that you
(06:18):
might win this is the court ofpublic opinion, and that if the administration
looked at other options. I gotto believe that there are other facilities in
a better location. I mean,I know where that prison is. I
spent I spend time there, andI spend time helping people get out of
that prison who were wrongfully convicted.Ironically, the point that I'm trying to
(06:43):
make is that there's no hospital nearby. I mean it really, it's a
very isolated area, intentionally isolated.At least the prison in conquered is close
to Emerson Hospital. I just think, have they thought this through? You
know, obviously the lead in thewater, the lead in lead paint,
(07:05):
the presence of rats in that facility. I mean, they should all mitigate
against using that facility at this point. They might come back to you a
year or two from now after theyclean it up, But to put people
in under those circumstances, it's notfear to the migrants, and it's not
fair to your community. It's alosing proposition no matter how you look at
(07:27):
it. Right, absolutely, andI don't think to answer your question,
I don't think they have bought thisthrough. Every time we ask them what
the plan is, they have noanswers. They don't have no answers to
how we're going to handle the children. We're maxed out on classroom space.
We have no sidewalks in town tospeak up. We have no street lights.
The closest town, the closest facilityfor buying something is two miles away.
(07:55):
The low closest hospital or urgent careis thirty minutes away. We have
one ambulance. So if that ambulanceis servicing the migrants, and some something
happens with somebody in in Norfolk,they have a heart attack or something,
God for bid, then hang inthere, hang in there. We'll get
to you when we can. Yeah. That's that's right, right, That's
(08:15):
that's the one. That's yeah.And those are the people in Norfolk who
have paid their real estate taxes lowthese many years to support police and fire
and EMTs. Jack, let's dothis. I'm going to give up the
phone number six one, seven,two, five four ten thirty, six
one, seven thirty. Those twolines are open full. The only one
that's opened is six one seven,two, five, four, ten thirty.
(08:39):
Uh, I told you three weeksago or two weeks ago when when
we had you on I guess nowit's getting close to three weeks ago.
I said, look, you know, if you need to have come back,
and you were kind enough to reachout to me over the weekend.
So I'm a man of my word, a person of my word, and
you're back, and let's let's seeif we can stir the pot a little
bit and and get you some support, if not from Norfolk, even from
(09:01):
other communities. I would hope thatanyone listening in Norfolk tonight is going to
be courageous enough to pick up thephone and give us a call. My
guest, Jack Olivery, he isone of the leaders of the fight against
a migrant shelter in Norfolk, Massachusetts. And we do have a little bit
of sound from the meeting that Ithink you guys had a meeting in early
(09:22):
early this month in June with someof the uh, the political leaders in
your in your community, and itgot pretty raucous. Rob if you'd be
so kind just to give folks asense of how much anger exists, in
frustration exists in Norfolk through no faultof their own. They were doing nothing.
(09:43):
They were just living there as citizens. Cut number thirty six will bump
out on that and we'll come backwith phone calls. Please please, and
you can be anywhere you want,sir, but not in your time.
Right enough enough enough, please,sir. Please sit down, sir,
(10:09):
sir, if you don't have tosit down, we were going to remove
by me upst me on your setpeople up here. People have come in
here and say, you know,I've lived here forty years and fifties.
(10:30):
I'm making here forty years too.I'm sir, sir, you have answered
chance. Please listen. I knowit's difficult, but listen for a second.
Please, I understand the answer.I understand you may not believe or
what said. This is what we'vebeen going through for the last two to
three weeks. Almost every question you'veasked me have asked. We do not
have all the answers, but wewill get nowhere. If we get in
(10:52):
this practicate, debate this kind ofan argument and watched ourselves, we will
get nothing done, nothing now,sir. Please you now back to Dan
ray Line from the Window World lightSide Studios on w b Z, the
news radio we are talking once againwith a guest who joined us some about
(11:16):
three weeks ago. His name isJack OLIVERI uh, he's from Norfolk.
You've lived in Norfolk? How manyyears? Jack? Forty years? So
we consider you a long term resident. I guess pretty nice town, right,
Yeah, it is a pretty nicetown, and it's gonna, I
assume change dramatically with this. Ifthis happens, I would think, so,
(11:41):
I don't see how it cannot.Yeah, okay, let's let's go
to phone calls. Let's see whatpeople have to think have to say.
We're going to go to Deb,who is first calling in from Norfolk.
Debu, you are next to nightSay, thanks for checking in. Go
right ahead with Jack Olivery. Deb, you're on the air ahead. Okay,
So we're a little bit of aslow start there with Deb. We'll
(12:03):
put Deb on hold and get herall squared away. Explain to her the
ten second delay, keep the radiodown. We're gonna go next to Paul
in Norfolk. Paul, you werenext on Nightside. Welcome. Well,
I hope we're not over to Rob. Okay? You what here go Paul?
(12:26):
Okay, thanks for the backup.Rob. Paul in Norfolk, go
ahead, Paul, Yeah, HiDan, thank you for having me on
and hello Jack, Hi Paul,so Dan, I was hoping to talk
to you briefly about something you mightbe interested in related to this shelter.
I have heard, as we allhave, that they would be doing some
(12:50):
fixing up of the old correctional facilityto get it ready to house its new
inhabitants. We were told that atthe town forum the clip of which you
played moment ago, and they hadno numbers at the time of what this
would all cost. So I decidedto do a Freedom of Information Act request
to the state, otherwise known asa foyer yep. And the ten days
(13:13):
that they had to respond kind ofcame and went, and this is business
days. And on day eleven theyreplied back to me, you know,
the bulk of what my foyer was, how much is all of this going
to cost? You know, you'reobviously you're doing things like you cited,
painting, You're bringing furniture and fixturesin there. You're maybe the most important
(13:33):
thing. That facility is covered likeyou wouldn't believe, in razor wire like
you might expect on a prison.Right they want to take all that down
to make it more appealing for itsinhabitants. You know, this is all
going to be quite costly, SoI thought, you know, it's our
taxes that are ultimately flowing to makethat happen. Foyer request, and it
(13:54):
was denied. Your Foyer request wasdenied. It was on what ground?
Well, if you really like toknow, they actually got a lawyer involved
to compose the reply, and Iecited. And by the way, you
paid, you paid for that thatstate lawyer to go ahead. I'm sure.
(14:16):
So there's two reasons cited because thedocuments that they would have to turn
over contain quote unquote recommendations on legaland policy matters in an ongoing deliberative process
end quote. All right, that'sreason number one. Your lawyers paid a
lot of money to come up withphrases like that with the average person has
(14:37):
no clue of what they mean,so that's a talent. I had to
look it up. I had tolook it up because I for the second
reason, then I'll tell you more. And so the second reason because they
are sufficiently related to the safety andsecurity of the Bay State Correctional Center,
which in my reasonable judgment, wouldjeopardize public safety if disclosed. So there's
(15:01):
two reasons for denial. That's insane. That's insane, but a you know,
again, when people assume power,they can pretty much do what they
want. And this is a statefacility which has fallen into disrepair. It
has not been functioning since twenty fifteen, so I kind of imagine that the
(15:24):
plumbing is really up to date,up to speed. And what are they
going to do? Put people incells, in prison cells. That's wonderful,
I mean, what a joke.And one more thing, Dan,
hopefully there may be a silver linein here, because you are granted the
ability to make an appeal if you'redenied. So for specifics, I made
(15:46):
this request to the Executive Office forAdministration and Finance, and your appeal process
goes through the Secretary of State.So once I received this, I composed
an appeal that's now starting a clockwith the Secretary of State. They have
they will tell you judgment you have. You have someone who in the Secretary
(16:07):
of State, Diana Dosauglia, heroffice actually does believe in transparency. Her
office does believe in opening the books, which of course is what well.
No, actually, my strike thatthe Secretary of State is not Diana Ugly,
that's Billy Galvin. My mistake,Well, that's gonna that's gonna die.
Because Galvin has been up there forthirty years. He's he knows how
(16:30):
to play the game. I washoping it went to Dianea'sauglia, the state
auditor. My mistake on that.I had a brain freeze there. I
did my best in the reply tomake a case against both of these arguments.
You know the way Calvin is asbig a as big a a block
(16:52):
as anybody up there, and he'sbeen up there for forty years in that
position, and uh it's he's youknow, he does nice campaign came rushoals
with tax payers money when he tellspeople should get out and vote because voting
is important, and that's about.That's about it. But I will be
stunned if he directs the Governor's officeto turn that material and information over to
you. Yeah, perhaps if theydo that, I'd like you to call
(17:15):
me back so we can give himcredit. If he doesn't do it,
like to call me. I likeyou to call me back so I can
tell you. You know, he'she's he's acting true to form. I
will indeed, and Dan if Icould. I mean, if it doesn't
go our way on this, Ithink our only other recourse is to,
you know, bring civil suit againstthe state, which you know, I
(17:37):
don't know if there's any lawyers listeningwho want to help. But who who
do you think appoints all the judgesin the states? Yeah, right,
go ahead, Jack, I knowyou tried to get in there a couple
of times. Yeah. I justwanted to say one thing, this is
not unusual. I asked, wegot information, very general information about letting
the water supply, and I askedforty samples. I said, I'd like
(18:00):
to get the detailed information of eachsample, what the value was for each
sample. And they told me.I talked to a person and they said,
don't don't even don't even bother.It's it's a security they're going to
give you. It's a security issuethat they can't give you the details.
Yeah, that's that's that's again,that's just claptrap. It's as simple as
(18:22):
that. It's absolutely clap trap,simple as that. Gentlemen, thank you
very much. You're gonna stick withus, Jack Paul. That was a
great call, Thank you so much. Well, we'll take a quick break
news at the bottom of the hour, and the only line that's open is
UH six. You like to getin. It's night side with Boston's news
(18:45):
radio. Let's get back to thephones. My guest Jack Olivery, he
is in the forefront of this effortin Norfolk, Massachusetts to say to the
state, thanks, but no thanks, and the state is very, you
know, very insistent on getting theirway of these circumstances without providing a lot
(19:06):
of information. Let me go toDeb in Norfolk. Deb, hope you
there this time. Go right ahead. Hi, Dan, I'm here.
Thanks for taking my call. Goright ahead. Deb. One of the
one of the things I wanted tomention is that, you know, our
frustration is more with our administration andthe federal government and not the migrants at
all. We have been stiff armedat every turn in terms of trying to
(19:32):
get information, trying to find outwhat this means for the town, trying
to find out what resources the stateis going to provide. They've given us
next to no information and have basicallytold us to sit down and be quiet
and just accept whatever they tell usthat they're going to do. And that's
(19:53):
been the biggest anger inducing thing inthis whole process. It's not necessarily directed
towards the migrants themselves. I mean, we as a group all agree if
I was a migrant, I headfor Massachusetts too, because of all the
perks and benefits that we provide,so that we're also a you know,
(20:18):
we're also a right to shelter state. We're the only state in the country
that has right to shelter loss.I'm told there are signs right or right
which direct migrants to go to Massachusettsas their first choice. You know,
if they have relatives in Los Angelesor Houston, Okay, they'll go through
where the relatives are. But theyare very happy, very happy, right,
(20:38):
yeah, right, And to thatpoint, I went back and I
looked through the history and according tothe Boston Globe, in twenty twenty one,
one thousand migrants twenty twenty two fortyfive hundred, twenty twenty three,
eleven thousand, five hundred, Sowe're basically tripling each year. So to
the larger point in the in thestate, we are tripling the amount of
(21:00):
migrants that we're bringing in each year, and it's going to affect every single
community in this state. And there'sabsolutely you know, no way we can
sustain this, and that does notinclude the agencies that are private, that
are faith based, that are smalllocal groups. So really the state doesn't
(21:22):
even know how many migrants are comingin well, by the way, So
I mean we are facing a tidlewave. We are facing a tidal wave
in terms of numbers and money,and it's overwhelming. Well, ironically,
a lot of the so called faithbased groups are in being enriched because they're
getting millions of dollars from the state. So what happens is if you're the
(21:47):
head of some faith based organization andyou're going to get fifty million dollars,
well, you love this micro crisisbecause it's pouring money into your bank account.
When you think about it, Alot of the businesses, the cab
company down in the Cape that gotthe six million dollars, no big contract.
(22:07):
Do you think they're worried about peoplein Norfolk having the school classrooms overcrowded?
I don't really think they're in thehotels all the hotels, yeah,
right, yeah, the hotel You'reright, you're right, And I mean
it's a divide and conquer strategy.Basically. Once again, some people benefit
a lot of people like Norfolk oron get the short end of the steak.
(22:30):
And even I was just reading Coloradonow is totally full up. They
can't take anymore, and so they'readvising people to go to Massachusetts. So
we are becoming a destination state,which is just you know, a disaster
in the making. And as muchas we are concerned and have great compassion,
(22:51):
it's it's a tidal wave of youknow, finance, financial burden,
and you know, the civic servicesthat we just simply cannot cannot sustain.
So, you know, we're justhoping that eventually the public pressure will get
to the point where the state finallyrealizes that they have they have to amend
(23:14):
this right to shelter law. Wethis is not sustainable. Well, I
think you have issued a clarion call. And people, even if they're in
other parts of the state and theydon't think they're affected by it, by
now, you know, they're thinkingabout the July barbecue and cookouts. You're
thinking about what type of a classroomis my kid going to be in the
public schools in Norfolk next September,when instead of having twenty three kids in
(23:37):
the class, there's thirty one kidsin the class. Yes, they will
be impacted eventually. If this doesn'tstop, they will be Okay, Deb,
I appreciate you call quick comment Jack, if you'd liked it, Deb,
Yeah, yeah, I'm just sayingI keep using the analogy, you
know, Maury Heally keeps saying,we have a cap of seventy five hundred
people in the state. I lookat the analogy like trying to eat a
(24:00):
bathtub without turning off the flossip.First, turn off the flauset. Oh,
you're never gonna empty that bathtub,right, Yeah, trying to empty
the bathtub with it with a thimble, right, and and it's never gonna
happen. But we we don't apparentlywe don't understand that concept. Well,
we don't want to understand the concept. I appreciate your calling very much.
(24:21):
Thank you, Sorry connecting, goodnight. Let me go. We're gonna
go to Paul in the tasket.Paul, you are calling in from another
community also starts with the letter andbut this one's in the antasket. What's
on your mind? Paul? Hey, Dan, I got a quick good
you know what I was I wasactually talking about is is uh the interpretation
of this law right? Isn't thisbut like people who are homeless, like
(24:44):
who are like American citizens, orthey have a green cattle and nope,
you know, and all of thisit should be, Paul, how it
should be. No, if youcan get here from anywhere in the world
and you are a pregnant woman oryou're a woman without with children, you
will get hotel room and just whateveryou might you know, feel like like
(25:07):
you need. Okay, Uh,they get three squares a day, they
get laundry service. It's it's anice life. You know, if you
come out of a really tough setof circumstances. You're in High Clover here
in Massachusetts. Well, I'm tellingyou what happens is there's something something like
that happens and and these people likethem, and it's like an invasion of
a town. You know, yougot seven thousand people living in the North
(25:30):
Park proa. Is that what thesupposing it is? And then you bring
in another thousand in Uh you likeat your liquidity and the uh the uh
the people that are there, likeyou said, there's gonna be thirty kids
in a class. Uh, theygot to pay for it. It's going
across the town in the long run. And then uh, people will uh
this, you know, then lawsget broken. Then when you need money
(25:51):
you do crazy things. Yep,there's no reason. A lot of the
micros they get debit cards. Theyshould be that, they should be very
clearly. It's it's it's a problem. And and you know, Jack,
I assume that you appreciate Paul fromNantaskan calling in on your side. Yeah,
I do. And and Paul,you're right, Uh, this should
(26:15):
be this law should be amended toprioritize, prioritize Massachusetts residents and homeless Massachusetts
residents and veterans first. And that'sit's just not right the way it is.
It's just upside down. And it'sit's that's what we're calling for.
It should be amended. The longterm solution is amended to to US residents,
(26:37):
Massachusetts residents, and veterans, homelessveterans. I'll tell you what.
That's why I went. If Iwent to another country, like if I
went to Italy or some Germany orsome and I want to walk in,
they're going to give you houses LBtoday You're not gonna get anything. I
don't care if you walk in toRussia will shoot you if you walking the
pole you know so. I mean, that's true. Paul made you made
(27:00):
some great points. Appreciate you takingthe time to call. Thank you very
much, Talk you soon. Allwe got more phone calls coming up.
Only one line has opened. Sixone, seven, nine thirty. Our
intention, Our intention is to switchtopics at ten o'clock. However, however,
I will make an exception if theinterest in this subject persists. Jack
(27:25):
will do what we did last time. We'll stick with it, maybe for
half an hour or whatever. Fairenough, Okay, We'll give everybody an
opportunity to weigh in. Let's getback on Nightside right after this very quick
break. Now back to Dan Raylive from the Window World night Side Studios
on WBZ News Radio. We're talkingabout a migrant shelter in Norfolk. A
(27:47):
lot of folks in the town ofNorfolk are not happy about it, but
the state seems intent on opening upa prison that had been closed for nearly
ten years, the Base State CorrectionalFacility, also known the Retirement Home for
Lifers. Not the most elegant placein the world, that's for sure.
Patricia in Boston, Patricia, Nexton Nightside, Welcome Dan, Yes s
(28:10):
Patricia, how are you Hi.You and I talked a few months ago
because we were going to get acouple of hundred migrants in our town.
And I'd prefer not to mention itright now, no pro but because I
wanted to tell them what we didand we're not show up. Did did
the migrants show up? Or ordid you? No? No, no,
we we we won. The cityis not going to say that we
(28:32):
did, but we did because wedidn't get them, but we did everything.
We didn't have a messy city councilmeeting, and people went up and
a lot of people were not spokeat city council, but there was a
lot of social media talk. Peoplewere furious it was going to be in
an empty commercial building literally across thestreet from a residential area, and people
(28:53):
were prepared to do whatever they feltthey needed to protect their families. So
I want to say that one ofthe things discussed on social media was an
example of something that happened in Californiatwo or three years ago, and I
just want to say it. Idon't want to suggest that they do it
of just letting you know that ithappened in California and we had discussed it
(29:15):
on social media. Here, andmaybe it caused the town and the governor
not to do it. I don'tknow, but it would be easy probably
to find out we're in California.I just don't remember. Anyway, a
couple of hundred were coming in buses, and the governor was sending them in,
and the people said, we don'twant them, there's no place for
(29:36):
them. The crime rate goes upthe whole bit. And they actually stood,
hundreds of them stood in the roadwhich was the way into town.
And after a standoff of hours andhours, the buses were sent back because
they didn't want to have to arrestpeople. They didn't want to bring national
attention to it anymore than it didthey I mean, just throwing it out
(30:02):
there. Okay, I'm not surethat that necessarily that's what Norfolk would want
to do, but well, I'mnot suggesting that they do what. I'm
just telling you what happened in California. So little civil disobedience, I guess.
Yeah, well it happens with theclimate and you know the climate change
(30:22):
people all the time on the highways. Yeah, they blocked traffic for hours.
No, I get that. I'mnot a big fan of doing that
because to be really honest with you. You can have folks who are trying
to get to you know, visitan elderly parent, or or get to
a hospital for a correct I absolutelydo disagree with that. Yeah, So
anyway, Okay, well, interestingsuggestion. Thank you, Patrician, appreciate
(30:45):
you call. Have a great night. Okay, gotta keep rolling here.
We get a lot of well,go ahead, Jack one. A couple
couple more quick points. Number one. Maybe a lot of your listeners don't
realize that the right to Shelter law, as you mentioned, allows pregnant women
and families to be sheltered. Afamily is an adult with a child.
(31:07):
The child is defined as anyone upto the year at the age of twenty
one. Gotcha, that's considered achild. So I consider a child.
But that's right, I get yourpoint. That's what you're that's what you're
dealing with, right, And wehave no way of knowing whether the the
(31:29):
parent and the child go together.Yeah, there's there's all sorts of issues.
Let me go to Kathleen in Norfolk. Kathleen's been waiting a while,
want to get in get her inhere before the ten o'clock newscast Kathleen,
you were on with Jack Olivery.I guess, and I just want to
say how much we appreciate Jack,And can I say how much I would
appreciate you getting off the speakerphone.I'm not okay, hold on, they
(31:53):
didn't take that was on the speakerphone. Well why did you try then?
To do what you you can do? Go ahead, give it your best
shot. I know that that probablyRob told you not to be on the
speak of the go ahead. Yeah, no, I'm not. I don't
Well how about this, how aboutspeaking into the into the mouthpiece on the
(32:15):
telephone. Okay, that's what I'mdoing, but it's not coming out right.
It sounds a little better, Butgo ahead. We'll waste that a
lot of your time and it's notfair. Yeah, I'm so sorry.
I just I just my thing.I feel like the town leaders you speak
about, you know, ranking inthe money, and I feel like they're
looking to see what they can getfrom the state. Why would you say,
(32:38):
why would you say that? It'sit's that's what it's talked about they're
talking about. Okay, So whatyou're saying is that they're looking for money
from the state that would go tothe town not. I just want to
make sure no one misinterprets you're notYou're not suggesting that the town leaders ago
(33:00):
are looking to benefit personally. Yeah, no, no, no, not
no. Okay, let's see ifif Jack Jack for the schools and like
for the ambulance and so forth,Well, let me see it, Jack.
Let's let's see if Jackie agrees withyou. He knows more and much
more about it than I do.Jack. Are you on the same wavelength
(33:21):
as Kathleen? I think that atthe beginning the philosophy, the strategy,
if you will, was to makea deal with the state and get as
much out of him as we could. Uh. And as the negotiations have
gone along, and as I've saidbefore, the state is not going to
give no fuck any special treatment becauseif they do and another town founds out
(33:45):
it finds out about it, they'regoing to ask why is Norfolk special?
We want the same deal. Aslong as the state refuses to comply with
freedom of information acts, they'll neverfind out. Right. Well, that's
a that's another point. But wordgets around, and I know, I
know, I agree, I was. I was saying that fantastically because everything
(34:06):
should be above board. Everything shouldbe on the table. That's the way
tradesparency the government is supposed to work. Remember, right, Democracy dies in
darkness, and there seems to bea lot of darkness associated with this issue.
That's what's That's what the headline ofthe motto now of the Washington Post
is. So there seems to bea lot of democracy. The money it's
(34:27):
going to run out, and then, right, absolutely, what do we
do that these people? He andAthcox is going to be responsible for them
and and all the other services thatare being provided to them. The state's
going to run out of money eventually, and everyone in Massachusetts will be paying
for it. Yep. Well again, but there's no move of the legislature
(34:49):
to amend the right to shelter law, which we're signed by Governor Decacus in
nineteen eighty three. Could never haveanticipated the circumstances in the situation that we're
currently dealing with. Yep, right, thank you, Thank you, Kathleen.
You did sound better at the endof the call than you did initially,
and we I only do that.I don't know what happened, but
thank you well again. Speaking intothat mouthpiece on the phone. A lot
(35:14):
of people will hold the phone kindof like this, and you're really not
talking to the mouthpiece. If you'retalking to the mouthpiece, it's amazing how
much clearer the words will sound.Thanks Kathleen, appreciate the call. Okay,
go take quick break, Jack.Let's let's hang into the next hour
for a little while. I gotBill in Norfolk, Stacey and need him,
Debbian Norfolk, Gene and Effett.We'll get to all of them,
and one more line would be availableat only one available six one, seven,
(35:37):
two, five, four, tenthirty. We are done with this
hour. We'll be back. We'llcontinue this conversation right after the ten o'clock
news on WBZ NIGHTSI with Dan Rayand of course Rob Brooks right after this
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