OP-ED; Bubblers run dry but never excuses

Thomas M. KEANE, Jr.
850 words
17 May 2002
Boston Herald
All Editions
029
English
(Copyright 2002)

Boston may point to its budgetary woes as an explanation for deteriorating city services, but I don't buy it. It's not a money issue; it's an attitude issue.

Last Friday evening I sat in the stands of the ball fields at the Boston Common, watching my daughters play softball. Some kids, thirsty from their exertions, complained that the nearby water bubblers weren't working. I agreed to help. With a few empty water bottles in hand and my trusty dog by my side, I set off on my quest.

Another parent told me that the nearest water bubbler was in the Public Garden, so I crossed Charles Street. Things looked promising. The lagoon was filled, fountains with nymphs and half-naked angels were spouting away, and in the distance I spotted a black steel structure that appeared to have spigots. Sure enough, it was a water bubbler. I pressed the buttons on its face and got nothing. Repeated pressings done with grimaces and under-the-breath curses yielded the same result.

So it was back to the Common and over to its north side, by the Frog Pond. The pond was filled and the water looked clean. Again, I was hopeful. Although the food stand was closed, coiled up at one end I spotted a green garden hose. Just the trick, I thought, when I was interrupted.

"Can I help you?" asked a man dressed in what appeared to be a uniform with Frog Pond insignia.

Turns out what he really meant was, "Stop what you're doing and leave."

Sure enough, I was not allowed to use the hose. I asked about possible water bubblers and he told me he knew of none. I asked if he would report the broken bubbler - in the hope that other users of the park might not face my predicament - and was told he would not.

"I don't work for the Parks Department," he told me. "I work for Tom Kershaw."

Thomas Kershaw, by the way, owns a Beacon Street building called the Hampshire House, which in turn houses a bar named the Bull & Finch. That bar became the exterior setting for the popular television show "Cheers." It rapidly became Boston's No. 1 tourist attraction and soon made Kershaw fabulously wealthy.

Still, the Frog Pond is a fair distance from the bar. It turns out, however, that the Frog Pond is managed by something called the Frog Pond Foundation, which Kershaw heads.

Several years ago, after renovating the area and turning it into a skating rink, the city handed off control to that nonprofit foundation.

Tens of thousands of skaters visit each year, paying admission fees, renting skates and buying food and drink. It seems like a good business - so good, in fact, that the foundation now has employees hanging around in May, well after skating season has ended, whose apparent function is to tell me I can't get a drink of water.

And who oversees the foundation? Seemingly no one. The City Council never reviews its finances at its annual budget hearings. The independent Boston Municipal Research Bureau doesn't look at it, nor does the watchdog Boston Finance Commission. When I call up the foundation, in fact, I'm told its finances are not for public consumption.

But at the time, those concerns weren't uppermost in my mind. I wanted water, and so my journey continued.

I encountered a park ranger by the information center on the southeastern side of the Common. He didn't know of any working bubblers. I eyed the public restrooms, figuring there was probably a sink inside. Nope. They're closed. I then made a plea to get the bubblers fixed.

"You'll have to tell the city," he said.

"Don't you work for the city?" I asked.

"Yep," he said. Then he uttered the fateful words that strike terror into any citizen's heart: "But it's not my job."

He then told me I could, if I wanted, call the mayor's hotline. Later that evening I did call and the woman with whom I spoke heard me out and promised me a call back.

I'm still waiting.

Don King, a good guy who cares about the city and is chief of staff at the Parks Department, was crestfallen when I told him my story. He even promised to try to send me the Frog Pond Foundation's financial statements. He says this isn't the way things should work.

He's right. It isn't. But my story is far from unique. Far too often, things do work this way. Responsibility is shunted aside, citizens are treated as annoyances to be avoided rather than customers to be pleased, and little fiefdoms seem to operate with no concern for anyone else.

And most maddening, a week later, the water bubblers still aren't working.

Tom Keane can be reached at tom@tomkeane.com. Have a similar story? Let himme know.

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