Governor Charlie Baker’s Fiscal Year 2016, $38.1 billion budget has been passed and Winthrop residents have to be quite pleased with the many priorities in the town that were addressed — and answered — in the new budget.
Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo, as he has so often in the past, “brought home the bacon” and his work on behalf of his constituents in Winthrop is deserving of much commendation. The $3 million that Bob secured for the dredging of Lewis Lake that affects the Winthrop Golf Course and nearby Miller Field was a major accomplishment and will allow the town to move forward on these crucial projects. The Lewis Lake and Miller Field projects had to be resolved jointly and this is likely the first step toward the reconstruction of Miller Field — which would be too good to be true if it all comes together — when you couple it with the brand-new, $80 million middle/high school that is being built across the street from the field.
But that’s not all that the Speaker delivered in this year’s budget. Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty welcomed the $250,000 child safety grant that will allow the chief and the Winthrop Police Department to provided the highest level of technological services available to keep our children safe — along with another appropriation to promote safe school environments.
The Speaker also was able to bring a $25,000 allocation for the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce that will help that organization grow and conduct programs that will help boost the business community.
Town Council President Peter Gill echoed the sentiments of the Council when he thanked Speaker DeLeo and Sen. Anthony Petruccelli for their outstanding representation of the town on Beacon Hill. The fact that the Speaker took the time out from his busy schedule to appear at Tuesday’s Council meeting only reaffirmed what we have known for a long time: That Bob DeLeo is all about Winthrop and we’re fortunate to have him in a position of immense power at the helm of the 160-member Massachusetts House of Representatives.
We’re sure that, knowing Bob’s love of sports, he enjoys the “Big Three” moniker that the press has given to the Speaker, Governor Charlie Baker, and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, the three most visible and powerful leaders in our state government. But which of the three is Larry Bird?