Episode 174: Mayor May Not

3/24/21-- It's a momentous day in Boston as the city swore in its first non-white non-male mayor in Kim Janey. Stephanie Murray says it's "hard to overstate" just how historic the moment is, as Janey takes on the new role in a ceremony including Ayanna Pressley and Kimberly Budd who are Massachusetts history-makers as well.

Later, Stephanie and Steve are joined by outgoing mayor of Lynn, Tom McGee. McGee is one of eight Massachusetts mayors who won't be seeking re-election this year. The news comes as we enter the second year of the pandemic. McGee says the past three years have felt like 25. While he has no plans for the future, he's certain that stepping away from the mayor's office will not mean discontinuing his passion -- working to make change for the better of his community.

Full transcript below:

Stephanie Murray: [00:00:03] Welcome back to The Horse Race, your weekly look at politics, policy and elections in Massachusetts. I'm Stephanie Murray here with Steve Koczela, our co-host, John Smith is off this week. So, Steve, it is just you and me! [00:00:14][11.4]

Steve Koczela: [00:00:15] Just the two of us. [00:00:15][0.7]

Stephanie Murray: [00:00:16] How's your week going? I know some things have changed for you now that the state is starting to open up a little bit more. [00:00:21][5.1]

Steve Koczela: [00:00:22] Yeah, it's a really different time all of a sudden. I mean, and I think that's true for a lot of people. Our kids are now back in school full time. They kind of been off and on hybrid or remote throughout the year. And a lot of other parents are kind of in similar situations around the state. And that's kind of how it seems like that's having a bit of a cascading impact, too. You know, we're starting to see more traffic appear. As, you know, people who are at home pretty much throughout the day and with their kids doing remote schooling are now moving around a little bit more. So I'm going back to the office and that sort of thing. So it kind of feels like where, you know, the dimmer switch is starting to come back on. You know, it's not just going to be like we're going to throw the power again and all the lights come back on. But things are starting to turn back on a little bit. [00:01:04][42.1]

Stephanie Murray: [00:01:04] Yeah. And we should note that, you know, some schools are going back in person. The states approved waivers for other schools that want to delay it a little bit more. But, you know, it's interesting what people are going to decide to do when it comes to going back to the office, maybe sometimes or all the time. Have you perfected your work from home set up? I know it's been a year, but I mean, mine at least feels like a work in progress. I just rearranged my desk yesterday, actually. [00:01:26][22.0]

Steve Koczela: [00:01:27] I feel like I have, sort of, I mean, it did take a while, but now, you know, you've got all the podcast stuff you need. We've got, you know, all the like zoom lights and whatever things you need. And now it's going to be time to figure out what's next. I mean, there's a bunch of really interesting questions about that, too, that I'm starting to hear. Jim and Margery had a segment a couple of weeks back or a week back maybe where I think Jim, Jim kind of realized on the air that he might have to share his space if he's not going to come into the office all the time. Like if you're just going to come in a couple of days a week, someone else might be sitting at that same desk the days that you're not there. And you could kind of hear him like pumping the brakes a little bit just to be sure that they worked and still turn around and go in the other direction. So I think there's some questions like that that we were all thinking, oh, great, it'll be so nice. I'll just kind of go into the office two days a week, not realizing that that could mean a very different office that you're going into. [00:02:18][50.3]

Stephanie Murray: [00:02:19] That's such a great point. When I was-- I did like an internship a long time ago, but I was a part-time intern. And so I shared a desk with someone who I think was a night reporter at the newspaper. And I would always find, you know, random stuff on the desk that wasn't mine. [00:02:32][13.4]

Steve Koczela: [00:02:32] So, yeah, yeah. There's certainly some awkwardness that would come with that. But those are the kinds of things that I think now as we reopen, we'll have to think about one other one that that's that I've heard more people puzzling over is how do you do hybrid meetings where you've got maybe 10 people in a room and 10 people on Zoom? You know, like what is the how's the room actually laid out? How does everybody hear each other? How do you be sure that everybody's kind of got equal footing where they can break in or, you know, say something or be heard? You know, how do you do breakout rooms? How do you, like, keep track of whatever all the ideas are that are coming out? So some interesting kind of day to day stuff still have to figure out, I think. [00:03:10][37.7]

Stephanie Murray: [00:03:11] Lots to ponder in our post COVID future but something that we do know a little bit more concrete about the future in Boston is that the city has a new acting mayor. [00:03:19][8.1]

Steve Koczela: [00:03:20] That's right. We're here on a momentous day for Boston. Stephanie is going to be popping over just after we record to the swearing in of Kim Janey. So, Stephanie, what are some of the big significant moments happening today? [00:03:30][9.8]

Stephanie Murray: [00:03:31] You know, it's hard to overstate how significant this moment is for Boston. Kim Janey is the city's first black Bostonian to serve as mayor. She's the first woman mayor of Boston, something that's happened, you know, generations ago and a lot of other major U.S. cities. But a milestone that Boston has been slow to reach. So Janey will be sworn in today as acting mayor of the city. The change, it's so it's a ceremonial event because the change actually happened a couple of days ago, right. When Mayor Walsh sent in his resignation letter, Janey officially and kind of automatically became the acting mayor. So what happens today will be more of a ceremonial thing and it will have a lot of other kind of history making officials in Massachusetts participating. So, Kimberly Budd, the chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, will administer the oath of office. And Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley will be presiding over the ceremonies. She was the first, of course, woman of color elected to the Boston City Council, which wasn't all that long ago. [00:04:32][61.2]

Steve Koczela: [00:04:33] That's right. There certainly has been just a huge amount of change in terms of who is representing Boston and all sorts of offices. You know, you sort of think about in Congress now for mayor, for district attorney, all kinds of different change happening even in the city council itself. You know, a lot of press being the first woman of color ever elected to the city council. And now you can see just just how quickly things are changing here in Boston in that particular way. One question that's come up that's been discussed a little bit on social media is what? Her official title will actually be you've written about that also in Playbook, what is going on there and what's the significance of it? [00:05:08][35.2]

Stephanie Murray: [00:05:09] So the official title is Acting Mayor Kim Janey. But what City Hall is using is Mayor. You know, they've sent out some press releases. She sent out an email from her city hall address and signed it mayor of Boston. So there's this, you know, conversation about whether we should be calling her acting mayor, which is, you know, the technical title or to just use mayor. I actually got my hands on an internal email from City Hall that directed employees there not to use the acting mayor title and to call her Mayor Kim Janey. [00:05:39][30.2]

Stephanie Murray: [00:05:40] So it'll be interesting to see what the press decides to do. Adam Reilly had a great piece about this in news today about how Tom Menino, the late and longtime mayor of Boston, when he was acting mayor, it was kind of a similar thing where he didn't want to be called acting mayor. But what I think, you know, beyond the the technicalities in the words, what Janey is signaling when she wants to be called mayor and not acting mayor is that she intends to be an active mayor. She's not just going to be there at city hall as a placeholder while the next election starts to take shape and, you know, serve out the rest of Walsh's term. You know, she has some pretty big priorities that she'd like to get done with. Covid responds with racism in Boston and equity, economic recovery, all of these things. [00:06:28][47.6]

Steve Koczela: [00:06:28] It also has implications for the upcoming election. Of course, Tom Menino was the acting mayor and then was elected mayor and stayed mayor for decades. So there's certainly some some importance there as well. She wrote a very interesting op ed in the Globe where she discussed both her life and some of what she planned to get done as well. What was what were some of the things that you talked about and sort of signaled as areas that would be her priorities? [00:06:48][20.1]

Stephanie Murray: [00:06:49] Yeah. You know, Janey has had an up close view of a different side of Boston than the mayors that have come before her. She wrote in The Boston Globe and talked to The New York Times about her experience as a kid being bus to school in the 1970s. And you can see that kind of in her priorities. Now, she says that systemic racism and inequality are top priorities as she gets started. And it'll be interesting to see how she does. You know, incumbency is probably the best indicator of how a mayoral race is going to go. In Boston, the city often rewards its incumbents. Just look at Menino or anyone who came before him or even Mayor Walsh. So she definitely has the leg up if she decides to run for a full term. The race is already pretty crowded. There are five candidates, five major candidates, I should say, running. But, you know, it seems like she really might. I was locked into a Zoom pre swearing-in celebration for the acting mayor last night, and one of her staffers was encouraging people to chip in if they could make sure that she was in a strong position financially, if she decided to to seek that full term. [00:07:57][67.9]

Steve Koczela: [00:07:57] There are also, of course, some legal details about what the what an acting mayor can do versus a mayor who is elected in a citywide election. Stephanie, what are some of the things that are different about what an acting mayor can do? [00:08:09][11.4]

Stephanie Murray: [00:08:10] So an acting mayor has a pretty broad mandate, but the power is definitely limited. It's kind of complicated. Basically, there are some things the acting mayor can't do, like some appointments. You know, this is really a Jenn Smith question, who's not on our pod this week. But for much more about, you know, how the charter works and what powers go to who, I'd really recommend you scroll back on your podcast app and check out our Boston City Charter episode from a few weeks ago. Lots about that in there. [00:08:37][27.5]

Steve Koczela: [00:08:38] That's right. And of course, that election will take place this fall. The preliminary is in September and then the final will be in November. Certainly something we'll be talking about in much more detail, hopefully checking in with some of the candidates as that approaches. But I know you have to get over to her swearing in, which starts in just a few minutes. So just before that, let's tell the listeners what we're doing here today. [00:08:59][20.9]

Stephanie Murray: [00:09:00] We've actually got another mayor, not an incoming mayor, but an outgoing mayor. We're talking to Mayor Tom McGhee of Lynn, who's one of the eight Massachusetts mayors who won't seek reelection this year. Are you ready, Steve? Let's go. [00:09:11][11.6]

Steve Koczela: [00:09:18] As we move into the second year of the pandemic, CommonWealth Magazine reports that nearly a fifth of all the state's mayors have said they are not planning to run for reelection. Some are leaving to take new jobs, while others have not announced their plans yet. We spoke with one of them today, Mayor Tom McGhie of Lynn. He's an institution unto himself as a former state rep, state senator, chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and now mayor of Lynn. He told us part of the reason he ran for mayor four years ago was because the city of Lynn was struggling financially. During his time as mayor, he tells us the city of Lynn balanced its budget, created a planning department for the first time in more than 20 years, and made infrastructure investments to reconstruct two major thoroughfares. Here's McGee reflecting on his first few days on the job. [00:10:03][44.7]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:10:05] Within five days, I walked into a 14 million dollar deficit. We had a major flooding from the largest, really largest flooding since the blizzard of '78 and low parts of the community that were flooded. It was like a river running down the streets impacting our neighborhoods; we had a major five alarm fire and so many people were out on the street. In another neighborhood, there was a gas leak that had to shut down and get people out of their homes with really extreme cold weather. That was the first five days of the job. [00:10:39][34.1]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:10:39] So it was really kind of an inkling of, I think, the challenges that you face. But when you look at what's gone on in the last three years with a lot of work, with a lot of people, the employees in the city, the my team, the department heads and staff, we really have addressed and in many ways put the building blocks in place for the city of Lynn and for the future for the next mayor to come in and build on that and move the city forward. Obviously in the past year, I can't believe it's a year-- March 16th was one year since working with the health department in the city, we declared a state of emergency in the city, which continues. We were in the red from the beginning until two weeks ago, where we finally eased our way into the yellow zone of covid communities hit hard, probably one of the top five hardest hit communities in the Commonwealth, with over 16,000 cases. And, you know, very sadly for our community, losing over 203 people to this deadly disease. So it's been a really a whirlwind of of a time. And actually, when when I think back, it seems like three years of what we've done here. I was on a call with the mayor, with some mayors, and one of them is texted back. You know, the three years have seem like 25 years. And I think we all feel that way so. [00:12:08][89.0]

Stephanie Murray: [00:12:09] Well, that just you know, it got me thinking, why leave office now? Is part of it covid fatigue? Do you feel like your job is done or are you looking at doing something else? Why? Why are you leaving office as mayor now? [00:12:22][12.8]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:12:22] So looking and talking with my family. You know, I've been in elective office for 27 years and it's been, you know, 14 campaigns or 15. The campaign would have been this year. I was six months married when I decided to run for state rep in 1994, and having some broad discussions with my family and looking at what we had done and put in place for the city and the work I've done over the years to make, you know, committed to making the city a better place, made a decision that it was time at this point to step back. You know, it was the right decision, I think, to make at this point for-- so my family and I don't have any plans at this point. I have nine months left to continue to do the work that I was elected to do four years ago. And I plan on, you know, finishing a lot of the work we've done. We're ready to present a housing production plan that we've worked on for the last year and a half to the city council and get that approved addressing some of the affordable housing in the community. [00:13:22][59.8]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:13:22] So I think it was a number of things, the time I've committed to public service for the community, the work I've done, the pieces we put in place for the next mayor. And I think taking a look at what works for my family and anybody that knows me and the career I've had as my family has always been my number one priority while I've really committed to doing the jobs that I've been elected to do. And during this whole pandemic and the impact that George Floyd's murder and you know, the racial injustice that we're trying to address and making progress on that, we need to continue to work as a community. We need to continue to work together. And many of us together can make the changes that allow us to make the city continue to be a better place and a place we want to raise our families and be proud of. [00:14:08][45.9]

Steve Koczela: [00:14:09] So can we assume then that there's no plans for any any future campaigns? This isn't kind of looking looking ahead to another office? [00:14:14][5.7]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:14:15] I have no plans for another office, but I would never rule anything out in terms of what my future holds. But I honestly, I don't have any plans at this point of what what January brings and what the future holds. And, you know, I'll look, you know, this isn't-- I'm not stepping away from being involved in public service. You know, I'll I'll share something with you that kind of struck me. I don't know Steve if you know, this, but I was elected to the Democratic State Committee when I was 20, 45 years ago. And I was on a call on Sunday with Betty Taymor, who I served with in 1976 when I was first elected. And there was so many different people on that call and talking about her commitment at 100 years old, what she had done her whole life and continues to do and is actually, the call was raising money for several of her fellowships over at UMass Boston, and some of the things she's done to ensure that women-- and her whole life's goal has been having women involved in politics and being able to be leaders in politics. So at 65, I'm not ready to step away and not be committed to trying to make a difference and whatever that would be moving forward. But in terms of this time and place, it was it was time to take a step back and then see what the future brings. [00:15:36][80.8]

Stephanie Murray: [00:15:37] So we'll stay tuned on your future. But, you know, since you've got just such a rich history as being an elected official in Massachusetts, I want to talk about the past a little bit. You are a state representative, a state senator, chair of the state Democratic Party. I mean, could you just tell us kind of how you've seen the political and policy landscape shift in Massachusetts over the last several decades? And kind of, you know, what the biggest change has been? [00:16:01][24.4]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:16:02] I think both probably as much, you know, maybe not as much on the local level, but it's there at the state and federal level is the you know, the the inability to have strongly held positions and be able to disagree. I mean, I had a lot of strong and intense discussions with my colleagues in the legislature who are Republicans and I mean, being in a strong and lifelong Democrat. But at the end of the day, you understood that their positions was something that they held a strong belief in and that my positions were something that I felt strongly about and that, you know, it wasn't about being a it wasn't personal. It was it was policy. It was things you believed in. But then you respected the positions that other people took while you passionately and strongly advocated for the things that you felt would make, you know, everyone's lives better and to see the the inability or the divisiveness that has come into politics over the last several decades. [00:17:06][64.0]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:17:07] But this probably the last decade and a half has really been exacerbated from the national level all down to the local level is is probably the biggest change. And I think all of us are hurt by that inability to have strongly held beliefs, but an ability to listen and and work to move a positive agenda forward, recognizing that there's differences of opinion. But, you know, we're all you know, I think the president said this. We're all Americans. We're all in this together. I say it a lot as Marilyn. We have a very diverse and large community. We have a lot of challenges. But we we made a decision to come here to move, to learn whether it was a lifelong like me or someone came here two months ago. We decided we wanted to be in this community and want to work together to make this community better. That doesn't mean we agree on everything, but it means that we should respect each other's ability to have differences of opinion and find solutions together to the problems that are that we all face. [00:18:07][60.1]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:18:08] So it's it's disheartening and I think, you know, dangerous to see the real divisiveness that continues to percolate in this country in a way that is not good for any of us, no matter what. You have, your political beliefs. We we've lost that ability to to bridge those that divisiveness. And it really hurts us, in my opinion. [00:18:31][23.4]

Steve Koczela: [00:18:33] So looking at one of the areas where it seems like we've been talking about the same issues for a long time and I haven't really necessarily found the solutions that we've all been seeking. You were the chair of the Transportation Committee, of course, in the Senate for a period of time. And that is an area where it just feels like the questions that we're asking ourselves now are the same ones that we were asking then, you know, how do we pay for it? How do we get out of this this situation that Boston's in with, you know, some of the worst traffic in the country? How do we reverse the trend of the T, you know, kind of falling into increased disrepair? What should we be doing differently? How does the Commonwealth kind of get out of this this cycle of repetition where it seems like we're talking about the same things over and over again? [00:19:16][43.6]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:19:17] I think we have to focus on on what the results would be of the investment that we want to make and we need to work on a vision. I mean, you know, we've talked about this. I've talked about it. But, you know, there's an amazing opportunity here. If we're willing to take, you know, the tough political make the tough political decisions to find the sources, to create a better vision, a better system that will create opportunity for everyone. [00:19:41][23.3]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:19:41] I think the thing that struck me, you know, and this is where we should focus more clearly, I think the the Better City report that talked about, I don't know, 2.2 billion at the time of the MBTA investment that led to 13 billion dollars in economic-- you know, that leads to the kind of dollars, 13 plus billion dollars are directly related to the ability to have the T running in our region. I mean, those are real dollars. And so the investment in the NBA and a robust and 21st century transit system creates the kind of economy and kind of quality of life that builds the builds off of that. Every dollar you spend on transportation, you get between two and three dollars back in private investment and job creation. So, you know, we need to, I think, push past this. What should it be? How do we get there and understand that we should we need to find common ground to get the resources into the system, but that when planning for a better today and a better tomorrow, you know, I'm really optimistic about the the regional rail proposal, which would really be creating rapid transit on the regional rail line for for so many reasons. [00:20:47][65.6]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:20:47] And it ties into all of the challenges we face, creating affordable housing, creating, you know, building the units that are the 150, 200,000 units in the region that we don't have having access through, you know, beyond greater Boston up to, you know, east west rail and south coast rail. Those are doable and appropriate proposals that that need to you know, that we need to find a way to get to. And so if we continue to talk about this and talk about it, we're going to we're going to grind to gridlock and we're going to see our economy really negatively impacted across the board. And I was talking to a new member of the Transportation Committee the other day. I said, look back to the 2007 Transportation Finance Commission report that talked about a 22 billion dollar investment that needed to be made. We made most, if not all, of those reforms, which was going to save two billion, two and a half billion over 15 years, 10 or 15 years. The rest of that was revenue that we needed to then reinvest into that system to make it work. And we're still far, far away from making that happen in terms of the dollars needed. But I think we need to focus on the vision, focus on the reality of what that investment means and how it's going to make all of our life better in terms of access, quality of life, of housing that's accessible and the creation of jobs that even in a changed landscape after this pandemic, the reality is we're going to we're going to need a robust and 21st century transit system. [00:22:19][92.3]

Stephanie Murray: [00:22:20] Is it possible to do that? I mean, at the beginning of a pandemic, I feel like some of the conversation was since everything's stopped, everything's on pause, we've kind of got an opportunity to reimagine things and do things differently. When we come back, you know what we've seen so far as traffic already creeping in, the education disparities for kids got worse, not better with remote learning. And a lot of ways, is it, you know, possible to do these things that you're talking about kind of reimagine transportation or is the state missing the boat? And if that's the case, does something need to change with the legislature or the congressional delegation? Like, how do we get there? Because it feels like we're kind of to me at least, where we're sort of slipping back into the things the way things were. [00:23:05][44.8]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:23:06] It's I think it has to happen. I mean, I'll just give you an example. In Lynn, I know Plymouth was impacted by the proposed cuts with some of the transit oriented development they're doing there. We've got 251 units that are just now right across the street from the MBTA station built in the last year and a half that are just filling up now across the street, 150 yards away. 330 units on the water apartments. You know, another development planned a block away for 330 units right at the train station. 120 units are being the actually the buildings going up now. So you're adding and alone with a limited parking, which means limited access to cars, you know, you know, between 1,500 and 2,000 units that are going to be super dependent on getting around with with with transit busses, transit and, you know, commuter rail system that works for us. That's happening in many communities. Boston is building out so many different units. You need to be able to get around and you need to be able to do it in a way that makes sense. So if we don't do it, we're you know, we've said this all along, the cost of doing nothing. Is is going to be beyond the crisis, and so we need to you know, we what happened here has been it's really been a last year. [00:24:25][79.0]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:24:25] We've been all of us have been super focused on trying to get through this pandemic. I think we need to refocus on on what was going on before the pandemic and understand that many of the things that are happening and many of the decisions we made, including some of the proposals in the latest transportation, one with which which which says if you need to start creating transit oriented development, if you want to get some of the other dollars, complete streets and mass works projects, you need to start to take advantage of those locations to make sure the housing is there for the people that need it. But also, you need a system that's going to allow people to get around to live their lives so we can ignore that. We can say we can't do it. And, you know, I guess I'm more of an optimist. I believe we can do it. But I think we have to continue to strongly make the case of what it means, what these investments mean. It doesn't mean that we're we're paying a little bit more in the gas tax. So maybe we put a little bit more tolling up, you know, a fairer tolling system or whatever. That piece of the the the revenue is we need to to get to where we need to be. There has to be the recognition that in the short and longer term, that the opportunities that those investments create benefit all of us. And I believe that strongly. And if we don't get our hands around that in a way that allows us to move forward, then we're going to see what we will see. The kind of impact this pandemic had in terms of jobs and struggles for families and rent and all of the mortgages, we will see that in a in a stronger way moving forward. [00:25:54][89.4]

Steve Koczela: [00:25:55] You were representative for seven years and a state senator for 15 years. Now you've been a mayor for four. What lesson-- what were the biggest lessons that you'd pass along to people if they're thinking about running for the legislature right now or people who are just joining the legislature right now in terms of how to operate effectively and what kinds of attitudes they should bring? What kinds of goals they should bring to the job and that sort of thing? [00:26:17][22.7]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:26:20] I think, be open to learning as much as you can about the issues of importance of the day, and sometimes you get in and you get kind of boxed into maybe a committee you're on, but there's an opportunity to really understand the depth of what government can do when the reality of how you can make it happen and and be as accessible and as available to the people you represent as possible. You know, I like to be in person being with people. I mean, that is so important. That's been missing in this year. [00:26:49][29.5]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:26:49] But Zoom actually is a tool once we start to move forward, that also allows people to get connected in a way that we weren't before. So take the take the good lessons we've learned and just be accessible and available to the people you represent, understand their concerns on both sides of the issue, and then learn as much as you can about the important issues that you care about and as well that the people in your community care about. So you can be a leader in moving the appropriate agenda forward that works for everyone. [00:27:19][29.4]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:27:19] So it's-- I said this to my staff from the beginning. You'll learn more here than you'll learn in any other profession, because we we deal with so many different issues, take advantage of that, you know, take advantage of the kind of opportunity you have to learn about so many different issues and that reflect on how it impacts everybody that you represent. There's so many different pieces of the puzzle and you can really gain an understanding, a broad range of understanding in these jobs in elective office if you're willing to put in the time and effort to understand those issues and then work closely with your constituents so you understand what the needs are and what their concerns are as you as you as you work hard every day to to to make a difference in the community you represent. [00:28:05][45.4]

Stephanie Murray: [00:28:05] Well, I think that's a great place to leave our conversation. So Mayor Tom McGee of Lenn, the outgoing mayor, thank you so much for joining us on the horse race today. [00:28:14][8.2]

Mayor Tom McGee: [00:28:15] Thank you for having me. It was a great discussion. [00:28:16][1.1]

Steve Koczela: [00:28:19] And that brings us to our favorite segment and based on millions of customer reviews, your favorite part of The Horse Race as well, and that is trivia. So last week we asked you a question both on the pot and on Twitter. How do you pronounce the hashtag for the Massachusetts legislature? There was a lot of back and forth, strong disagreement. Things were thrown on the podcast. So we took to Twitter and asked you all the same question. Stephanie, what were the results? [00:28:42][23.4]

Stephanie Murray: [00:28:43] So in our poll, our very scientific and official poll on how to pronounce the hashtag amay leg for the Massachusetts legislature, "M.A Ledge "was the clear winner with 52 percent of the vote. We had 369 voters coming in. Second place was "maledge" with a quarter of the vote and then "mah-leg" came in at 18 percent. And unfortunately for me, "my leg" in the style of that guy on SpongeBob who always says that only got five percent of the vote, I you know, maybe we could do some sort of recall or referendum in the future because I still think I'm right, Steve. [00:29:22][38.8]

Steve Koczela: [00:29:22] Well, I could just apply some magic survey weights and just update all the people that said my leg and then you would be the winner. But for now, I think the winner is a ledge. So we have contacted all the pertinent authorities when it comes to the Massachusetts political style guide production universe and told them that airmailed is how this hashtag will be pronounced heretofore. And that brings us to the question for next week. So for next week, we don't have a trivia question, but we wanted to ask a little bit about how people are feeling about returning to the office, to your place of work, whatever that may be. Lots of things just in the last few weeks have started to open up again or unlock and move around. In some ways, lots of kids are back in school, which means the parents that have been at home with them for this whole year in some cases are able to go back to the office at different times. So what do you want? Do you want to be back in your office or in your place of work five days a week, a few days a week? Not at all. And most importantly, if you're only planning to come back some of the time, how would you feel about sharing your space? That's another question that I think a lot of people haven't really confronted, is that if you only go back two days a week, your employer is probably not going to keep your desk just sitting there for the rest of the time. [00:30:31][69.0]

Stephanie Murray: [00:30:32] So please do tell us how you feel. We're very interested, but that is all the time we have left for this week. I'm Stephanie Murray here with Steve Koczela. Our producers is Libby Gormley. Make sure to leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. If you're listening, feel free to take a screenshot and post it on your Twitter or on your Instagram story. It helps people find us. Sign up for the Politico Massachusets Playbook if you're not already subscribed and call the macing polling group if you need polls done. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week. [00:30:32][0.0]

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