Mayor Wu addresses critics with her fight for the postponement of the property tax

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One of these giant Joro spiders has officially arrived in town. Keep in mind that they're pretty harmless to humans, but that doesn't stop the colorful jumping spider from causing quite a stir. (More photos here.)

Now for the news:

From City Hall to Beacon Hill: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hasn't given up hope on her property tax shift proposal. According to Politico, Wu is scheduled to meet privately with Massachusetts state senators today to discuss the proposal, even as business leaders continue to push the Senate to oppose it. Wu's proposal – which would temporarily shift a larger share of the city's property tax burden from homeowners to businesses – passed the House this summer. But the Senate never took it up, leading to some rare public squabbling between the mayor and Senate leaders.

• Today's meeting also comes after Wu defended the plan directly to its most vocal critics during a Q&A session with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce yesterday. “Of course, you all know every day that a sudden increase in housing costs for our residents would be incredibly disruptive to your workforce and your customer base,” Wu said.
• Remind me again what this is about? State law limits how much cities can adjust their residential and commercial property tax rates. As a result, a drop in the property value of many Boston office buildings due to remote work could force the city to raise property taxes for homeowners in 2025 (by as much as 33%), Wu says. So she's asking the state House to approve some flexibility in raising tax rates for businesses to prevent more drastic increases for residents.
• What's the alternative? The city could cut its budget or dip into its reserves to mitigate the tax increase, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups argue. But Wu says the magnitude of the necessary budget cuts would seriously affect city services and that reserves should be set aside for recessions or depressions. “This is an allocation problem, not a revenue problem,” she said yesterday. (Wu goes into more detail on the topic in this Substack post.)
• In other news: Wu told WBUR Morning edition She is “torn” on the ballot question to remove the MCAS graduation requirement. Watch highlights from the interview here.

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill: Steward Health Care CEO Ralph De la Torre may face criminal charges. In a unanimous vote, the full U.S. Senate voted yesterday to send criminal contempt charges to the Justice Department over De la Torre's refusal to testify before a Senate committee about the company's bankruptcy earlier this month. If found guilty, De la Torre could face prison time.

• It is not every day that the Senate asks prosecutors to bring criminal contempt charges. “The Senate has not brought criminal contempt charges in 50 years,” Senator Ed Markey said yesterday. “This is a rare step given the unusual level of callousness, cruelty and cowardice displayed by Dr. de la Torre.”

On the way: State officials say they are working to install bike lanes on a difficult stretch of Memorial Drive in Cambridge after a cyclist was struck and killed there on Monday by a motorist who lost control of his vehicle.

• The plan calls for widening the narrow sidewalk to the BU Bridge roundabout to create a 12-foot-wide, elevated multi-use path, according to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees the road.

Chin up: The 24-day closure of the Red Line's Braintree branch will finally end at the end of this weekend. But first, the MBTA is extending the closure to the Ashmont branch, which will last just one day this Saturday. Free shuttles will run between Ashmont and JFK/UMass.

• Why? According to T, this will allow workers to use nearby construction equipment to perform track work and eliminate a slow zone on the Ashmont Branch.

On the executive floor: Stop & Shop will soon have a new president. The Quincy-based supermarket is promoting its chief commercial officer, Roger Wheeler, who is set to replace President Gordon Reid next week.

PS— This week’s episode of The common along with Boston Globe reporter Diti Kohli takes a closer look at Stop & Shop's new business strategy and what it says about the current state of the local grocery industry.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.