Presented by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston
Spring 2011

Collective Bargains:
Rebuilding and Repairing Public Sector Labor Relations in Difficult Times

Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.
Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street

Thomas A. Kochan, George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management; Professor of Engineering Systems; and Co-director, Institute for Work and Employment Research at MIT Sloan School of Management

Commentary by

Jeffrey Mullen, Secretary and CEO, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
State Representative Martin J. Walsh, President, Boston Building Trades Council

Do heated disputes on such issues as drug testing for Boston’s firefighters, reducing the cost of providing health insurance for public employees, and changing the ways that teachers are paid suggest that we need to rethink, revisit, and revise the basic structure of public-sector labor relations? If so, how might public-sector unions, key officials, and civic leaders work together to find equitable and politically acceptable ways to make those changes? Drawing on his research and activities (which included helping resolve the disputes about the Boston firefighters contract and mediating the integration various workforces and unions at MassDOT), Professor Kochan will offer his thoughts on how to update policies and organizational practices in the public sector to bring them into closer alignment with changes in the nature of work, the workforce, and the economy that already have reshaped private-sector employment and unions.

This event is co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.

Managing Through Crisis:
Public Transit in New York

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 4:00 p.m.
Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street

Jay Walder, Chairman and CEO, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and Harvard Kennedy School MPP ’83

Confronted with significant budget problems not long after he became head of the MTA in late 2009, Jay Walder has overseen the most aggressive cost-cutting initiative in the history of the organization, with cumulative savings expected to reach nearly $4 billion by 2014. At the same time, he has pursued long-overdue service improvements and maintained focus on critical capital investments. Despite these efforts, the MTA’s long-term operating and capital budgets remain fragile with significant out-year deficits. Achieving fiscal stability for New York’s vital transit system – without dramatic increases in government aid – may require fundamental changes in the agency’s cost structure. Issues to be addressed include spiraling pension and health care costs, as well as the need to tie wage increases to productivity gains. How this issue is resolved not only will have significant implications for the nation’s other transit agencies but also for other parts of the public sector as well.

This event is co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, the Mossavar-Rahmini Center for Business and Government, and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.

Staying on Track:
Running – and Hopefully Improving – Public Transit in Tough Fiscal Times

Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.
Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street

Richard A. Davey, General Manager, MBTA and Rail and Transit Administrator, Massachusetts Department of Transportation

Since his appointment as General Manager of the MBTA in March 2010, Richard Davey has had to address a variety of problems, including (but not limited to) a structural budget deficit, underfunding for important safety-related projects, challenging weather, contentious labor relations, and pressures to expand and improve service. How has the T addressed these issues and what will it take to sustain those efforts?

This event is co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.

Public Services Through Careers in Real Estate

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.
Bell Hall, 5th floor, Belfer Building, Corner of JFK and Eliot Streets

Joseph Flatley, President and CEO, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, MCRP ’73
Evelyn Friedman, Director, Department of Neighborhood Development and Chief of Housing, City of Boston
Chrystal Kornegay, President and CEO, Urban Edge, HKS Achieving Excellence in Community Development Executive Education Program, ’12, Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Member
Others TBA

Moderated by Ed Marchant, Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Graduate School of Design

How can individuals working in the non-profit, for-profit, and public sectors use the development and management of financially viable real estate projects to advance the public good?

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of Career Advancement, the Real Estate Professional Interest Council, the Joint Center for Housing Studies, the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. This event is part of City Week: Helping Urban Areas Thrive, a week-long series of urban-oriented events and activities from March 23- 30 that will bring together students, practitioners, and scholars. More information about City Week is available at http://www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/oca/students-alumni/connect/highlighted-oca-events-and-oca-calendar.

Innovations in City Budgeting:
Opportunities and Challenges in Difficult Times

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.
Starr Auditorium, Belfer Building, Corner of JFK and Eliot Streets

Lisa Calise, CFO, Perkins School for the Blind, former Director of Administration and Finance for the City of Boston
Anthony Williams, Bloomberg Lecturer in Public Management, Harvard Kennedy School and former Mayor of Washington, DC, MPP ’87 and JD ’87 at Harvard Law School
Others TBA

Moderated by Linda Bilmes, Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Can key officials in our cities find innovative ways to provide key services in this era of enormous fiscal stress?

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of Career Advancement, the Urban Policy Professional Interest Council, Taubman Center for State and Local Government, and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. This event is part of City Week: Helping Urban Areas Thrive, a week-long series of urban-oriented events and activities from March 23- 30 that will bring together students, practitioners, and scholars. More information about City Week is available at http://www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/oca/students-alumni/connect/highlighted-oca-events-and-oca-calendar.

The Fiscal Crisis of State and Local Government Pension System

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.
Allison Dining Room, 5th floor, Taubman Building, 15 Eliot Street

Joshua Rauh, Associate Professor of Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Commentary by Jay Gonzalez, Secretary of Administration and Finance, Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance and others to be announced.

Fiscally strapped state and local governments have more than $3.5 trillion in unfunded pension liabilities, according to analyses presented in a series of papers by Rauh and Robert Novy-Marx. This figure is higher than what those entities have reported, they argue, because states and localities use flawed accounting procedures that misrepresent the value of pension liabilities by discounting at expected returns on assets. Many pension plans — including those run by the states of Louisiana, Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut and local pension plans in such cities as Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Jacksonville and St. Paul — do not have assets in place to pay for already-promised benefits beyond 2020. Unless public pension systems are changed in fundamental ways, these looming problems could require substantial increases in taxes or large-scale cuts in public services.

This event is co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, the Mossavar-Rahmini Center for Business and Government, and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.