WGBH Radio; The Emily Rooney Show

From WGBH in Boston this is the Emily Rooney show. It's Wednesday December 7 2011 I'm Emily Rooney. On today's show if you don't like change you're going to like irrelevance even less. That's the adapted motto of my new boss anyway Gary Knell NPR's new president and CEO joins us to discuss why he thinks Social media is the way forward and how he plans to break down a perception of liberal bias. Then Boston is known bristly unfriendly terrain for parking 90000 cars a year our total way and drivers in Massachusetts have fewer rights and less legal protection than in other states. We'll dig into all of that and hear from the self-proclaimed Big Ben. Dad will himself the owner of a local Coke company plus longtime Boston Globe photographer Bill Gregg pays homage to Boston's most inspirational women in his new book. He'll be here. But first the news from NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi Singh. Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai says

he will call out Baucus John's government for harboring extremist groups that he says killed 58 people in bombings yesterday. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports that another bomb killed 19 people today. A minibus full of civilians touched off a roadside bomb in the southern province of Helmand. Victims included women and children. Indiscriminate bombs planted by insurgent groups cause the majority of civilian casualties in the war here. A Kabul hospital President Karzai spoke to reporters while visiting survivors of yesterday's suicide attack. The bomber targeted Shiites outside a mosque raising fears that sectarian violence may add a new fissure to the Afghan conflict. The attacks come just after an international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn Germany. Pakistan boycotted the conference underscoring charges that Islamabad is obstructing a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan. Quil Lawrence NPR News Kabul. A New York prosecutor says he cannot bring a state case against former Syracuse University coach Bernie Fine for sexual abuse because the statute of limitations

has passed. But Onondaga County district attorney William Fitzpatrick says he believes in two of Fine's accusers Bobby Davis and Mike Lang would be judged to be credible. But for the obvious problem of the statute of limitations their allegations would have resulted in the arrest of Bernie Fine at least for the misdemeanor charge of sexual abuse in the third degree. The men say they were molested as boys by the long time assistant basketball coach Fine has denied the allegations. A central Pennsylvania college reportedly says it denied former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky a volunteer coaching position after a background check revealed a high school was investigating him for alleged sexual abuse. In a report first broadcast by H.P. TV Sandusky applied for the position at Junee Jouni at a college in 2010. Sandusky denies the sex abuse allegations. A neighbor was Mafia boss who eluded Italian authorities for 16 years is captured. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports Mikaela was found in an underground

bunker at home. Getty Iran one of the bloodiest clans of the Naples mafia the Camorra police found him hiding under 15 feet of reinforced concrete below his home north of Naples. He reportedly told his captors you have won the state has won. As head of the Cousin Lizzie clans I guess he had already been said it's in absentia to multiple life prison terms. The clan has been involved in drug trafficking illegal disposal of toxic waste and corruption in securing public works contracts. So I guess he has a rest followed by one day prosecutors requests to parliament to lift the immunity of Nikko Nichols and dino a former deputy finance minister and CVO Bellew's Coney's government. That's NPR's Sylvia Poggioli at last check Dow is up slightly. This is NPR News. Crews in San Francisco are cleaning up the debris left from the two months protesters spent camped out as part of a nationwide movement against economic injustice in what they call Wall Street excess. Overnight police dismantled tents and arrested dozens of people.

Officer Esparza says there were injuries. We do have two officers that were injured when protesters threw metal chairs at them striking them in their face. The protesters argue they were given little time to clear out and occupy a march. It was expected this afternoon in the nation's capital a credit reporting agency is forecasting a significant drop in mortgage delinquencies in the United States by the end of next year. NPR's David Mattingly reports that if the economy suffers no additional setbacks Trans Union expects mortgage delinquencies in the U.S. to drop to 5 percent by the end of next year. That compares to a peak of nearly 7 percent in the final months of 2009. Among the reasons for the decline says trans Union's Steve chalky unemployment seems to have stabilized and banks should be moving many pending foreclosures off their books. Five percent is still a very high number. So we're expecting to see the trend down kind of from these

very high levels that we've been experiencing. But. Back to normal chalky says Florida and Nevada two states hit hard by foreclosures are expected to have the highest rates of mortgage delinquencies in 2012. Dave Mattingly NPR News Washington. U.S. stocks losing ground with the Dow down slightly 12000 149 at last glance Nasdaq also down 10 points at twenty six forty eight. I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News. Support for NPR comes from the George Lucas Educational Foundation celebrating 20 years of being a source for what works in education. More at Edgewood topia dot org. It's live and it's local. Coming up next two hours of local talk the Emily Rooney show and the callee Crossley Show only on WGBH. Good afternoon you're listening to the Emily Rooney show. We're going to do something a little

unusual today. I'm going to be talking to the boss. And I mean the big boss the guy who runs NPR. Gary now is the new president and CEO. He recently took over the top job after a series of high profile blunders cost former CEO Vivian Schiller her job as you may recall under Schiller's watch. Commentator Juan Williams was unceremoniously fired after making some comments on Bochs news about fearing people in Muslim garb on airplanes. Then a lower level fundraiser was videotaped making derogatory comments about conservatives. Vivian Schiller resigned after a vote of no confidence from the board. Now Gary Knell has the reins and a poster in his office quotes U.S. Army General Eric Shinseki. And it reads. If you don't like change you're going to like irrelevance even less.

All right. I'm joined on the phone now by Gary Knell who is NPR's new president and CEO. Welcome Gary. Me good. So what kinds of changes are you going to make so that you don't become irrelevant. Well I think we've got to you know focus again I think when we get back to the basics. You know this is about it being goal then not necessarily trying to hit home runs all the time I think we've got to focus on our content and that is what we do great here. And the news and information that people rely on I think from NPR they have built a reputation over 40 years ago to remind people what that's all about. I think distribution is going to be critical. And I want to make sure that we are a real player. We being the public radio system not just NPR but my colleagues I w chibi H I know are really are way ahead of this curve but working with all the stations around the country I'm really to make sure we're on digital

platforms and people can access our news and information or their news and information coming out of WGBH in ways that are acceptable to them and easy for them especially with younger demographic who we've got to appeal to and I think that's part of the goal here and then the third piece really is funding and making sure that we have a sustainable future for radio content going forward just to the basic issue here Gary I mean are you concerned about the perception of the liberal bias. I mean. You want to shake that offer or can you embrace it. Why not. Well I think it's I think it's not really what NPR is about and is not. And this is not an organization or a news organization with a political agenda is not MSNBC and it's not Fox News. It isn't a Chand about providing news and information to the American public so people can

make up their own mind there's going to be stories which people like and there's going to be people with opinions that they don't like and that's OK. And I think that's what this organization was founded upon and that's what it is and that's what it should be going forward. Is it unfair though that you've been labeled largely as a liberal or I should you mean GBH to putting ourselves in there. Well I think so I think look I've been doing a lot a list of over the several months which is opportunity kind of came my way and I don't hear it. I really think if you listen to the bulk of programming over a period of time we have a lot of conservative voices actually. And we have done an amazing job covering the Republican candidates and giving them not gotcha interviews but actually allowing the issues to be discussed and that's really what public radio is about is to have a civil dialogue it seems to be about issues.

And we should be covering the frustrate not only the conventional electoral process and we'll have a great election unit going forward next year. But also you know the unconventional issues that are impacting our political system like the Tea Party or the Occupy movement and I think people need to understand what's behind those movements. And that's part of what public radio is all about as well. Gary as you know better than I the future business model is clearly under threat government funding of all of the programs around this including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. How can how will NPR public radio survive with less federal funding that's it's going to happen. Well look I think Emily is. The way I look at this is you gotta look at the entire public radio economy. It's a four legged stool OK. Public funding is a peace event it's an important piece of it is especially an important piece in more rural and less populated states that don't have as big a listenership base as Boston might have been. But it is critically important but the other pieces of corporate

underwriting sponsorship and foundation and philanthropic donations and the best public radio as well as listener support and major support from individuals who really believe in what he is doing or NPR is doing are critically important as well. And I think we've got to look at all of those different pieces be somewhat entrepreneurial. So I'm not going to look at these and sort of shy away and duck. This is about sort of taking on these challenges from a revenue point of view and being creative about it making a better case for public funding and will you know some of this is in our control some of this is not in our control we're not immune from cutbacks. I get that the people I think in public radio get back get that but I think we've got to make our case and do the best we possibly can. And as Ted Turner says you know the hope for the best but prepare for emergencies prepare you know you've got to be there just you've got to be prepared as an individual for any emergencies that may come up and we're we're

going to be there will. We'll make sure that happens. I'm sure you hear this all the time I know I do from listeners and viewers you know why do I have to take the government money isn't there another way you're in you're just speaking to that you know the this recent model and all that but is is there a way that you could march towards that eventually goal or do you think we're always going to be dependent in some respects on government funding. Well look I was taught a long time ago you know I worked at WMT many years ago when it started the news that our and it was you know with WGBH actually with the major producers the national program and I was really taught and I think I learned that the best I hope it terms of perception of bias of some kind or or again to meet it or whatever is having a diversity of funding sources. So you don't want to be totally dependent on public funding. You don't want to be totally dependent on corporate underwriting and even major gifts. So

I think it's important that we have a diversity of funders that give the viewers or the listeners of public television and radio an ability to have trust in the content which is the most important thing so that they they don't feel that it has a overt gender going forward that they can make up their own. Lines after listening to the reports that come come on the station every day. You're talking more about using social media. If you go to an online version of NPR I mean you'll have a direct relationship the audience would you even need member stations at that point. Yes. This is not an either or proposition. This is NPR has a role in providing national and global news content which is critically important to the people and around Boston and who listen and experience WGBH. But it's also critically important that shows like yours Emily put it into a local context

and cover issues. Is it the state capitol in Boston and also how this impacts the people of Massachusetts. NPR can't do that and shouldn't be doing that in Washington D.C. This is where we are different from cable. This is where we are different from other news organisations where you have local content and you can have that local dialogue which is really important. The people in Massachusetts can make up their own. And how they feel about the issue going forward so to me it's very much of a national local symbiotic relationship which we need to continue to grow and frankly look at as they have as the glass half full and not half empty. All right Gary Knell NPR's new president CEO. Come on up to Boston we like to meet you on my way. I know you've only been on the job three days but that's no excuse. I don't have a hunting. No we got to get up there. Thanks for coming. All right. We're going to give you a moment. Boston as you all know is notoriously

unfriendly terrain for parking. Ninety thousand cars a total way every year. Drivers in Massachusetts have very few rights will dig into all that and hear from the self-proclaimed big bad wolf himself the owner of a local company. You're listening to the Emily Rooney show Stay with us. This program is on WGBH thanks to you. And Massachusetts College of Art and Design continuing education registering for January classes drawing painting film photography sculpture graphic design fashion and more programs for youth and adults mass art dot edu. And the Australian sensation human nature singing the songs of Motown with special guest Smokey Robinson. The group performs music of The Four Tops Supremes the Jackson 5 and more tonight at 8 on WGBH too.

On the next FRESH AIR ways to make recipes easier and quicker for example substituting vodka for some of the water and the recipe for pie crust we talk with Christopher Kimball founder of Cook's Illustrated magazine which is famous for its Test Kitchen and Bridget Campbell the onscreen test cook for America's Test Kitchen. There's a new Cook's Illustrated Cookbook. Join us this afternoon at to hear an eighty nine point seven WGBH. Hi I'm Brian O'Donovan host of the Celtic so around this time every year I travel to stages across New England to ring in the season with a Christmas Celtic so during a live show that features some of Celtic music's finest singers dancers and musicians. And while we love to say the more the merrier performances are nearly sold out. Make sure you reserve your seats for one of our remaining pasta. The pharmacist at the cutter majestic sea at her December 16th to the 18th. The tickets are available at WGBH dot org slash Celtic innovation. It has a huge impact on the business and life here in the hub. I'm Karen Miller join me

each week for innovation have. The big ideas happening in Boston. Saturday mornings at 7:00 and Sunday nights at. 10:00 here on WGBH radio. You're listening to the Emily Rooney show unless you're prepared to shell out some big bucks. It's almost comically difficult to find parking in Boston to that end. More than 90000 cars are towed away each year largely by privately owned companies that face almost no government oversight and they charge about 130 dollars a tow. Some say Serves you right if you roll the dice and park where you shouldn't but others including these respondents to a story in this past Sunday's Boston Globe use more fiery language about the towers they say pure evil bullies a total shakedown. What happened to that constitutional law that prohibits search or seizure without due process. Well we're going to get into all of that in a few minutes and we'll hear from the owner of a local tow company and his front desk manager about what they see and hear but first I'm going to welcome

Boston Globe reporters Andrew Ryan and met Carol who co-wrote and researches Sunday's front page Globe story perils of parking a city on the hook. Andrew Annette welcome. Thank you very much. So everybody went right to this story we were all talking about it on on Monday morning who hasn't who doesn't have a card telling horror story I live in the city and I'm very observant about where by the way no one gets towed for parking in residential park. It just doesn't happen. Maybe there's no money and we can ask Robert about that but you can park with impunity on Marlboro street without a residency sticker. All right. Getting that off my chest. But but you focused largely on these real cash cows parking lots and that kind of thing that where you claim people like Robert the companies they stock they hide in corners and then they pounce on people after they park there and go to a local restaurant and don't use the local shops as they're supposed to. That was the focus of your. So I mean when we talk about kind of how the where the story came from which was it was a data

driven story so what we did was we essentially through the Freedom of Information Act got a database that showed kind of where towing was happening in the city and so Matt is our database reporter and so he helped us kind of crime tell them exactly and so what we did what we noticed right away was that there was one particular parking lot where it was just off the charts and it was so much more than anywhere else and that was this parking lot in Allston at 177 Brighton Avenue which is right down the street from here. You need the right aid in a Dunkin Donuts there. Correct and it's usually the parking lot is empty correct. Yeah there's I mean it's about half full. The strip mall there and so we kind of went from there and tried to figure out why and to do that you know we looked at you know we chased paper where we could find it so we looked at what kind of government agencies oversaw towing. You know we you know we noticed that a lot of the towing was happening on Saturday nights a lot of the towing was happening you know at 11 o'clock midnight. There's obviously a lot of bars and restaurants in that area. So Matt another reporter just

went to kind of watch and see what they could see. Saturday night and so that's really kind of where this came from just that there was this one. Yeah. So Matt what did you see when you staked out that Law Center. So we saw three or four cars get towed in the parking lot is pretty empty because it is open at that time and we got there at 6 o'clock at night and it was not much activity it is a Dunkin Donuts in the Rite Aid. And so Robert's tow trucks would come by sometimes they were cruising they come by and they'd run into Dunkin Donuts and write it and say there's anyone on that red mustang out there. And then if the when did they come out and tow it or sometimes they beep there's a little side driveway to the side to stores and be parked there waiting for people to leave their cars. What else did you find when you do this because Aren't some of the tow companies like like like this residential parking in the street cleaning and all that. The Teletubbies are hard by the cities in some cases. If let's say a street cleaning they know

they are required to take the cars away. Yeah in a lot of cases I mean the city does very little towing I think we figured it was about 13 percent or something along those lines and that includes street cleaning. Correct so if the city does no towing for street cleaning it's all done by private contractors and so the way it works but I see the street cleaners waiting for the tow cars correctable to come so street cleaning is done through public works and so they will have public works will be on the scene but then they will also be there with and they don't call the tow trucks. They I believe that they do. If there are I think there are 9 tours under contract through that's what I mean. OK so it's right and for street cleaning the towers actually pay the city $35 per car right. So there's a little bit of kind about a split in that sense but it's not another Roberts at one point did do street cleaning but does no longer. But so that's I mean there's kind of I think there's a like a rotation or like a geographic area and Robert can probably speak about that I want to bring in Robert and Jackie into this so. Did you take issue with the story in them that says he witnessed tow trucks

Roberts tow trucks cruising around the area kind of waiting for people to illegally leave a car there and then you pounce on him and take him away. We we do check the lot. A lot of the times that we told from the law will will get a call to tow a car. Afterall those as in you and I spoke about we go into a lot many cars on the left and they would just automatically take out. We don't a lot of times drivers might be well you know they had mentioned the story behind the lot a lot of times three or four trucks you know you can't even see the front of the lot from where they are but they'll one go buy coffee for everybody or you know this type of thing and that happens later to people listening to this are going to say Robert this is totally predatory I mean I can you do this is like some have these people are poor schlubs going to some Chinese restaurant you know they don't have on and 30 bucks to give to you or the city or whatever it is.

JACKSON Yeah. Well I understand that they don't have a hundred thirty dollars extra to you know throw away but there are signs posted in that location that clearly say that parking is for the plaza shoppers only. And if you leave this lot you will be towed. The owners of that property do not want the surrounding businesses use their property as a park or want to patronize other businesses. Nor do the store owners themselves. In fact in Andrew's article he mentions a salon owner across the street from 177 Brighton Ave. who I think she described as owner. Yes she's a salon owner across the street she wanted to make a statement I think she said drivers will like dogs with the wait for a Bona yapping like that and this is salon located at 177 Brighton Avenue. He pays money to have a place in that lot as well as parking for his customers. So he's watching people parked in his parking lot that he's paying for and walk across the street to patronize another salon. I don't think that's fair to the property owners at all I don't think it should be the property owner's right it or Dunkin Donuts do they get anything. Did you split any of the towing fees with them not

we do not every president's job is to raid that set and regulated and it's repeatedly been said that we're not being governed which means you're sort of like they're vigilantes but they don't seem that they have. They don't get anything out of it. They don't all they get is an empty parking lot that's available to their own customers which I generate that is in fact set by the Department of Public Utilities and it's been repeatedly said that we're not being governed closely governed. There's twenty two complaints that were made against Robert Stilling in 36 months. We tow it. But what was the nature of the complaint. Well customer service so they don't feel that it was right they were really there for a minute everybody is only there for a minute. They have the A for a hundred different reasons that have nothing to do with patronizing any place in that particular Plaza. And so they are being told for trespassing and they don't like it so they've made complaints. Now in your figures there was maybe 25000 26000 toes done by Robinson. The figure is actually far greater than that. That only includes Boston itself we saw in

Brooklyn New Cambridge. In fact we have a tolling service for WGBH we total vehicles people get towed out of the garage here that's where while That's correct. I think my producers I'm looking at the other room that towed out of our own garage for parking on the wrong floor. Let's hear it. Go ahead Well I was just thinking about where I parked in the garage. I'm not having dinner. I would like to just mention about the salon I mean and I understand that there is a salon at 177 but when we looked at the hours that vehicles were being towed it's after the salon is closed. I mean the bulk of the toes happened in the 11 o'clock hour. And then the 10 o'clock hour and I believe the salon closes at 8:00 and I mean right in Dunkin Donuts both told us that they're not asking vehicles to be towed. The minute that the management company for the property said they had no idea the frequency of ATOS from this lot we were able to get the actual physical owners of the property did not return our calls. So when you say that the owners are asking who may actually step because

perhaps the owner themselves of the parking lot didn't respond. But a spokes person did in fact respond and I'm being told by him that he spoke with you for over an hour about what we do there and that wasn't mentioned in your article for. That's correct yeah. That's correct that's the owners of the property right. Robert did you do your drivers get a commission or incentive based on the number of cars they tow. Yes. Some are on commission so it's not really. So it's really the incentive is to hang around a place like that rather than go you know downtown or someplace where people are really parked in. You know they they inconvenience people they park in alleyways they park in handicapped parking they do but that's a hassle. We know we do all that if we do all that as well and really we toll everywhere. Thousands of contracts we toll all over throughout the city. But it's always it's always a contract it's not random you know just right around say oh you're the guy in handicap you know going to get him and just to address one thing that Indra was saying that we do a lot of the towing after the stores

are closed. If you could just put yourself in the position of the owners of that property and think to yourself that you're going to be the parking lot for all the bars in Brighton and Allston and everybody that comes back from the bars are going to come back to your parking lot that are drunk that are maybe acting out in ways that they wouldn't normally act out every day. Maybe they drive the car into a building maybe they break it throw a rock at you Billy maybe they fight in a parking lot. Many many things can happen there's a lot a liability if you don't really care about that. That shot by the probably wanted to do. Well I mean listen to is a very bad law or let me enter Ryan say that they didn't prepare as happens they didn't say anything. I mean Jackie had brought up the you know about the property the property manager had said that you know I mean the person I talked to said he you know had been on the account for about 18 months and had no idea that there was that much time from that lot. OK but. The amount of tone we're done and we're doing at that location I feel is basically irrelevant. I mean these

vehicles are there they are not patrons of the plaza. They are ignoring signage that's clearly posted throughout. It's a 63 car parking lot that's got no less than 10 signs on it that clearly says if you leave this lot you will be towed. We had controversies arguing with that but we're contracted by the property management to tow any and all vehicles 24 hours a day that in that parking lot that are not patronizing the plaza. The reason why after 11:00 or 12:00 o'clock we know they're not prepared and as unpleasant as most things are closed except for the Dunkin Donuts drivers go into the Dunkin Donuts they speak to all the patrons. They even checked the rest rooms to make sure that nobody is in there using the restroom and they has been a change. Why would they care if it's illegal for me to be there and there would be a paycheck and there has been times when people have called us they don't speak English. They didn't hear the driver. Whatever the reason might be that they have vehicles have been towed and they were in fact patrons. So then the Dunkin Donuts or the right data wherever that might be will call us on the phone and say you actually did tell a patron at that point. We'll bring the

vehicle back to them or we'll bring the owner of the vehicle to the vehicle with our apologies and take you vehicle if the people that we're challenging. So parked up for the towing of the people that are actually trespassing on clearly posted private property already targeted Jackie can't even from Robert stowing and Robert complement also of Robert's towing in from the Boston Globe Andrew Ryan Annette Carroll who wrote the story over the weekend about excessive towing in certain areas of the city especially the little parking lot run in a strip mall in Allston you guys get a lot of comment on this on your website and it was really all over the all over the board. You know the lot of it was in support of the companies I mean Smush wrote I don't understand why people are complaining about getting towed when they have park signs telling them they're not supposed to. That's the point you just made. Jack I mean people were saying all kinds of things parked illegally on the street that is not Atos own parking tickets range from 25 to 40 dollars and depending on how you need that the point is that I think what you guys are getting and you don't want to

put words in your mouth but that girl in Iran is that it feels predatory to focus on just one area. Over and over again rather than. Rather than have a business is really more apt to solve a problem there is no problem parking in an empty lot. There are problems all over the city with illegally parked cars. Yeah I think part of it is coincidental because the this law just happens to be very close to their lot so if the drivers drive a dump right now they just take a swing through and if they see something they grab it. But what I think upset a lot of people was that the drivers would park in the little that little back road to the back of the be sitting there and you know we saw when they were just waiting and then you know someone park it out go to a restaurant then they go over the make you know the check the right inductees make sure they weren't there and then the top so people felt like they were kind of. That is your way by the way Robert. The tow driver has to call in to the local police department like Allston or one of the in they they run the plates to

make sure that the car isn't stolen and then that police department then has a record and you tell them where you're taking the car I guess. How do people find their car. They they there's something called the Boston towline. We call in a vehicle to the Boston to lunch will do in fact know where who who and where the car went to and then the people call in except you know in that particular location though every sign actually says Robert stop if your vehicle is missing you're it's at Robert's towing and it has a phone number so you got an exclusive on that lot. We do we do. And at the same times you know after 11 you were describing there other lots that were highlighted in the article. CBS twelve sixty six Commonwealth. I mean we only have so many drivers this probably five of them out there on a Saturday evening and the vehicles to be until and from like you mentioned the Whole Foods in Brookline Boston which Going from all of those by contract. There's only maybe five guys out there. So they're actually around. The area not just one particular lot. They're going to we

have the vehicles. Frankly speaking I parked. I don't think you're too out of a food parking lot I mean somebody goes in there and buys some groceries and then runs across the street and does another errand. Does that qualify for the unassailable parking actually that it doesn't because you know this is well after the stores closed and so they park their vehicles and some places do in fact off a parking to customers that are after I was but they give them passes for the vehicles I don't know you know how that works with them that's if we go into the lot and the vehicle has a pass it's been issued by the property owner of the store or whatever that has authorization over that vehicle is left alone. But if there's a vehicle that they're not in in any of the businesses that flank the lot they're trespass which is a driver get well kind of incentive going the commission does rather not discuss that because it's personal to the driver. You know I don't want to discuss their pay now. Well we're going to get what did you find out. No no no I mean I I asked think that's personally you know I mean I don't want to tell somebody else is paying you know

what they make or you know oh well I'll tell you mine. Now I'm just curious. But you know what I tell a driver can make her vehicle. I mean you know you know me Jack you know it's personal. I agree it's personal when I make an hour. I wouldn't want to discuss on the radio nor would I discuss somebody else's baby. Well but how does it work so you say they just give you a total number the thing we know what they tell and they're paid accordingly. In fact you know a lot of vehicles are dropped on location. They don't come back to the toll that that means a person arrives on scene while the vehicle is in tow and they're often what we call a drop fee that's $50. It's but but we're not I'm sorry. It's a $50 it's $45 plus expenses plus fees so there's mileage there's fuel such as these all these ridiculous but it was rounded off to $50. And so but we're not required to do that. By law we can in fact complete ditto and tell you a vehicle is being towed to and then the vehicle go to Robert's towing and you'll pay a minimum of one hundred thirty one dollars as set by the mass Department of Public Utilities. And while I'm saying

that I just like to address the Department of Public Utilities just for a moment because it's key it's repeatedly being said that we're not being governed we're not being watched. The 22 complaints that were lodged against Roberts towing in the 36 months each and every one of them was responded to including the story of the wheeze that is prominently featured in your article. Dash it to tell it that story was there this is a family to gone to a restaurant. Yeah they came back they saw their car being hooked up. The woman jumped into the passenger side of the car and around and then the company started to tow it away with her in the car actually that is incorrect. In fact I responded to that I only wish that you had placed my response to that as my driver was towing the vehicle away. Then Mrs. we jumped into the vehicle. He stopped immediately and he called for the police the police came to resolve the issue. She was instructed to exit the vehicle or pay for the drop fee. At that point my daughter was well within his rights to say I don't want to offer her the

dropsy. I would like to tow the vehicle to the yacht. And then she would generate more revenue. What about that Robert I mean if somebody comes along and their car is being hooked up I mean do you just haul it away. We don't want to do that. That's why we charge a drop fee and just getting back which is a euphemism for getting back on hook your car if you give me 50 bucks like getting back to the We's. Well well the driver was driving off. Mister we actually hope when the tow truck doors who's driving which could have been quite dangerous in misses we jumped into the car that he was tolling. That's a true story. I believe you know I have no I would have done the same. Think of the other the other part of it is there's anybody in not this sounds very self-serving but it's very very sincerely true. Does anybody talk about the cause of people to come out and their hardship cases and we do put them down a free. Does anybody talk about the number of cars a year. Which is it mentionable that we let go a lot of Jackie can speak about that for free. I mean it when they prove how much how many can't

even count yet how many discounts we give how much our computer would show. Unbelievable I mean I wondered. Probably a hundred times that you want to get your yeah right and I don't want to go back go back to the weeds for a second and because I think this kind of got to the point of what we found is that basically I know that there are two sides to every story and then we had one side to the story and you guys had the other side. But what we found is that there's no referee in the middle that it's basically there is no one looking to say all right this is over the line or it's not. That it's basically you know there's no one to say that this was an improper tow because it's private property there's no way to say it was proper that what the department public utilities told the we as was our jurisdiction only involves fees so we really know whether or not this was overly aggressive or whether or not you know that they did something that they shouldn't have. That's really not what we have authority over all we have authority over is the charge is how much the price that they're charging so there's no one to say. And that's I guess when we talk about no regulation that when a car is told for street cleaning their city

officials on the scene. When a car is you know I mean there are meter maids who write tickets or you know traffic enforcement officers to write tickets. But in the cases like 177 there's nobody else there it's basically I mean the truck drivers the judge and jury. So. Well actually in the case of the ways the tow truck driver called the dispatcher who then contacted the Boston Police Department and they came down and they were the referees between the wheels and the driver. Both we and our driver offered the opportunity to tell their side of the story. And then the police at that point said it was what was the we said a story they don't have a side of the story there their car was illegally parked and it was being towed away. Yet they were prominently featured and I saw that. I mean now. But it was it was in a I took it is exe as an example everybody who read that story knew that they had done something illegal. I mean that that was but that was understood but we weren't offered the opportunity to respond to that specific story. We did have a response if you went to the Department of Public utilities which which is where I assume you got that complaint from because I have a copy of it verbatim. That was for

forwarded to me by the DP you and I have a response to that. That was a Do Not Call them for you know we know we don't we certainly did what we talked about I mean we talked about the ways we talked about every complaint that was mentioned we talked about every number that was in the story. OK but did you in fact then publish my written response to the story and then you know it is their story and then there was mine both in writing. You didn't publish my response to it. We did not publish your letter we we did quote Mr we saying that Roberts had a different side of the story. Exactly a far different side of the story but if you have I believe that if you had in fact published a side of the story then people would have then at that point had a well balanced idea of what happened not just the we said this happened and Roberts has a different side of the story. We have a very different just just on one more issue about a cartoon because oftentimes the towers need to break into the car they're going to use those things that sometimes you know they're right then they then take off

breaking parking brakes on so that they can cause damage. How do you resolve that right. Well if we don't break into the car we will cause damage. So by breaking into the car a lot of times we can override the transmission to roll the car out. We can take an emergency brake off instead of you always need to brake and you have to not always know if we have a front wheel drive car that the brake the emergency brake always goes to the back. So if we have a front wheel drive car perfect situation of the breakdown you can lift it up from the front and told away if it's pulled in full would you lift it up from the back and you want to override the transmission to roll it out to tow it. So it's but the braking into it is to deter from damaging the car. If we break in to quite a few vehicles and you know it's important and I want to just if you don't mind I want to go back to the deep you what Indra was speaking of and I believe what he was saying but as far as I'm regulating just the the the price of the top. I mean you know what. Not going to deep you know but they come down on us very aggressively for complaints as far as. Do you agree Jack came up just

as soon as it's even yesterday we had one to be honest with you that dated back eight months ago at this location. Can I actually. We received a complaint yesterday that was written to the DP yesterday forwarded to us and I responded to it yesterday. This vehicle was towed in March of 2011 but was prompted this complaint was prompted by everyone that's right by your newspaper article. Well so not which is fine you know. My point being that they received the complaint yesterday morning I received it yesterday morning and they had a response by the end of the day yesterday. So it's not as though it's just left by the wayside and we just you know operating Willy No we weren't. Did they weren't you know everybody. I mean I read every single complaint every single response and what you says almost in every single letter is we have very little authority. All we have jurisdiction over is how much they charge. That's what they say they say that both in interviews. I mean so there isn't. They're not I mean they weren't even enforcing some of their own rules

about what they charge in terms of requiring certain things that you guys are supposed to put on receipts in terms of fuel surcharges and mileage and all that stuff. Actually I was like you know what I'm going to and they do include everything that a person is charged for including fuel surcharges and mileage. You got you guys can continue this debate off. And then Robert Kaplan and Andrew Ryan and Matt Carroll of Boston Globe thanks so much for coming here. Thanks thank you appreciate you for towing. You know I don't I don't envy you. It's like being a meter maid. All right. What's your take on the Globes perils of parking story were you surprised to learn that private tow companies have very little government oversight. Join the discussion or send us your story. Find us on Facebook or send us a tweet at Emily Rooney show. All right thank you. We'll be right back. With. Bill Bradley. My prospects are good. She said. Maybe it's just that.

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I will die on the soil of his occupiers who lost all the wealth that it's. All right and the resilience of one congresswoman from Arizona Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head. The story of Giffords recovery is told in a new book titled Gabby you. Have to plow hope and make a tax deductible skip to support what's next. Call it 8 8 9 7 9 4 2 4. Great question. That's a great question and that's a great question. It's a great question. Rick great question on FRESH AIR. You'll hear unexpected questions and unexpected answers this afternoon at 2:00. You're on eighty nine point seven. You're listening to the Emily Rooney show you know I will admit it. You are one of those people who scurries to Boston dot coms party pictures site flipping through the pictures looking for people you know or checking out the outfits. The man behind the lens of those photos

is of course a long time Globe photographer and now freelancer Bill Brett and bill that has now teamed up with his daughter. Carrie brought herself an accomplished photographer for the improper Bostonian. Their new photo book is Boston inspirational women a virtual who's who of some one hundred and twenty five prominent female Bostonians. From the cover shot of the gorgeous Ariana Brown to Vicki Kennedy Halle Crossley Barbara Lynch Tony a mesmeric they are all there. Bill Brett is here along with writer Carol Becky. Welcome Bill good afternoon. Thank you for having us this afternoon. You know every time I pick this up I start looking at different photographs and I want to put that there's a little thing there that you can you know this is OK. And I came to the same question was How did you decide which people to. Well I like Kerry and I sat down for number of lunches debates and coffee and chatting

to come up with a list and I finally said to her Why don't you come up with a list and I'll come up. You must have had some crossover on that. We did we switched off a few and they had some heated debates as well to debates and she felt that was important to get a lot of younger faces. Yeah and the word inspirational Sometimes you have to get a little older to get to be inspirational that's the thing. So that's where I came from that's because it takes time to do you know what these people have accomplished over night. But it was nice to see some younger people. There was there was because they need the inspirational you know young kids they need they need that. So Carol you've been teamed up with Bill for a while now you've worked with him on all all of us but this is our fourth book together. Yeah it is. And just so that folks know this is really although this one's different because Kerry joined and it's clear who shot which it is clearly. Bill Bill's portraits which I'll say this bill's portraits and Kerry's portraits although you can see sort of the same wire maybe the same sensibility. Bill's portraits are all shot environmentally. Yeah you know he took a

picture not the page. They're not there and Kerry's are studio shots so people took on maybe even in some cases more of a glamour than maybe your people are used to seeing them but no one in this book had a solo portrait in the previous books. So that helped us narrow it down or otherwise you could go back. So the women were already at we were looking for some new faces to the city even though they might have long resumes say like Dr. Elizabeth Nabl CEO in the paper today. Yeah over at the Brigham she was the first woman to become president of the Harvard run. So let me see no one who had a sing like a solo portrait in a previous book so say people ask us why Dr. Susan Hockfield That is until she's already had she had she was in the second book. Oh that's and that will explain what I mean. You know with the I the present I was with my dad right in the book right or so I have my own page this time around I think you work up to it right you work out. Do you have your own pay. It's really it was a it was a actually it was very enjoyable to do

and it was a gift for me to give to my daughter as a parent. I'm a very lucky guy to be able to do this. Really she's a great great gal she is you know I mean I have all the children to her I know that she's the only one that followed my footsteps and my legacy. I think she'll continue it couldn't be a better person. Now you took the photograph of Myra Kraft I believe I did. Tell tell that story about what Bob said after she died after she died. He stopped me at the American Ireland Fund and he was very emotional and he said to me Bill I want to thank you for what you did for my wife because this way she'll always be remembered by everybody and I told him I was more than happy to do it because she deserved every bit I mean we were going to take around and she said no no. And all the people that I photographed everybody stayed. I mean I didn't think would be fair to anybody that you go and photograph them and they're waiting waiting when they pick up the book and in the book I would do that to anybody.

In fact the first photo you took for the book was Mary Jo the Linus mother over at the you know Easter house and she passed not long after she was my first subject you know said to me as the book was just about completed he said that it's like the book I said absolutely he was so happy. She held court at that at that desk there for what I thought along already is freedom trail so I thought it was important because when these people will always be remembered in a book. I mean I know a number of photographers who have left but retired from the profession and all their work is in boxes. I didn't want to go that route. Well these books are so beautiful too and they're beautifully written Carol. Thank you Will so yes so how do you go about that do you mean. You know most of these people but do but I don't know all the stories you know. We did it and if there's one hundred twenty five photos there's probably one hundred twenty five ways we got to people you know I try to always there are those faces and names that people

are familiar with but also we push them to ask for new stories I will tell you it's harder to get women to tell you their accomplishments than it was in any of the previous books to get men to tell you that placement wasn't why it was really very difficult and then you would take a look at some people who I knew them by name but certainly didn't have an idea of the extent of their accomplishments I think of Judge Mary Muse who I had been in her courtroom as a reporter. And here she is a mother of 11 all of her children have advanced degrees as lawyers and doctors lawyers and doctors once a judge and himself and she had been a wave. She was a graduate of Boston College Law School. You know when you get to know these people in a in a completely different way. So she's in the 90s. You know to find somebody like that is just so we should tell people too that not everybody is a well-known prominent I mean one of the photographs that really jumps out at me and I think maybe Kerry took this one is Monica George yes I want to just just just talk about that money judge that particular she delivered a baby for five years I

guess I was seven OK. So it's that four years ago and after she deliver the baby the baby was very healthy. But she turned. She contracted this disease not great touching fasciitis doesn't actually do what she sees and she had to just survive she had to lose her arms and legs just unbelievable but that photograph was taken before she was having her operation at the Mastro I think was at least 30 operations this woman has had and she's smiling she's so happy because she was just she's alive she's alive and that's what she said. And Oprah just built her a home. No. Oh yeah. Oprah found out about it in the story that was in the Boston Globe about Monica and she just moved into a home I think the last two months. Another story I find I mean obviously that one stands alone and I think it might be the only time I actually use the word inspirational in the book because she stands above all others. But somebody like Shannon Cook who people drive by how many and she's on the back of the cover as well as being in the book. But here she Yeah

multiple generation and ironworker tops off a building and something people might not know about Bill Brett is he's afraid of heights. So you know Bret had to go out there and you took that one. Yeah it was on the twenty It just finished your story though who was she. She's the first woman in Boston to top off a high rise tower and talk to top out is to put that last beam in place so that they can now fill it in and so she was up there with that craze started from the first floor all the way up. So when you start a job like that they let the whoever you know the aisle they draw straws. But one or two of these people will end up in the corner and do the last beam and that's very winnability that American flag just happened to be there. Yeah it was a set up. They put that up although they put that up there all the time. That's very symbolic of all those high rises. They always have like up there really. So it was blowing pretty good. So it's pretty windy. Yeah that's a bit of a beautiful photograph.

She's a third generation when she said to me her grandfather as an AI worker follows and I work her and her sisters and I work are her brothers and I work her and her husband work and she has two kids and she told me being pregnant. I mean having to deal with all those other issues not a problem the only thing she hates is the really cold winters along the Charles River. So we don't know whether or not it's not anything else. So I should mention that a couple other issues in here. Yeah. Drain Yeah. Who's in charge of national programming here. American experience frontline masterpiece Nova and she is the sister to me in the camera. There's a lot of people know oh I knew that I worked with Paula Carol over Channel 5 who was then at WB You are now I just see her around the neighborhood right. Yeah that's that's a great photograph a lot of people in town said to me I should maybe have a sister. It's amazing what I put them together. They look alike they look alike you know. All right tell me the story behind Carolyn pick me and you can tell me this story. Well Carolyn picked me and I think people recognize all the movies that she certainly worked on

but a lot of people don't realize that here she got her start you know in Boston's West End. I mean how often do we get to write that anywhere. As a person she grew up there and you know with her family's from. But you know she was an actress on the stage performed in the Boston Public Schools had performed with Al Pacino I mean just these amazing roster people but started before we had heard of Hollywood East or anything like that and you know by all accounts gave Matt and Ben the famous Damon and Affleck their star like by helping to cast this unknown movie and has worked on so many other movies over the years and that's why we are able to now look at having a full industry. We also have some other people in there like daughter Freo who's a daughter of your own you know her from Channel 5 exactly a pushy star taken by she will do that we're going to say get a fighter out there and she's working another one right now I think one of Casey's Shermans books. Yes I think that's true. Yes she is.

So quite a lady and she's very very self made. She wanted to be in the film industry and she said you know I'm going to do what she did good sense to work with the guys on that scale production so she DID YOU KNOW WHERE I think they were. If this is addressed to me I say something like. Exactly. There's a beautiful picture in here of CC Luchino. She knows. So adorable in the wellness ball cap. Larry ball you know on the Red Sox and she looks like a model in that picture. Yeah and she's a sweetie. She's a terrific woman. I didn't take that photograph Carrie. Yeah I know I'm going to die. But you think about you taking those little frown lines very much but somebody like Stacy like you know you look at how easy it would be for her you know to come to Boston and just sort of coast along and you know she's raise so much money. She's for charity so much money involved a lot a lot of charities you know whatever whenever I'm at one of those events she's just they're sort of there. Do you decide which of those events you go to anyway. Well you guys get lobbied by every single I do Minor League and

Major League. My thing you know the party is first of all what Knight that works. I mean I don't want to do it every night but I do it mostly you know what I mean you know whatever. It seems to be every night but some of the some are better than the. Yeah I know you know many times they'll tell me that he or she is going to be there and I'm very interested in that. I mean the party that you and I saw each other at the Kennedy Library. Someone told me that Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren were going to be on that skit to get together that wasn't true now I said but I wait at the last minute. I think it's just a case I mean they did the video for Washington. Scott Brown and but I mean that would be a good picture. Yeah the two of them got together rumors like that get going all the time. No I don't but I mean I had to stay I got there at 6:30 a.m. It's night time so it was I can't leave. But I'm glad I didn't because I was a great party. That was you know the mass and it was one of the best functions like that fundraiser I ever ever attended in Boston. Well Done It was fun it was. I have to say that was I put that on top of my list. Yeah it was really good.

All right well this is a great holiday gift you know going out yes and also it is being stopped for perhaps. We hope so. Grab I hope it's beautiful though and my gosh the photograph on the front of Arianna Brown Scott Brown's daughter I mean it's you want to just leave it on your table you don't want to open the book. Well we're just the whole idea is to get you to open the book. I can see why you like it. On the front office you know I know I won't take any offense on that I didn't get on the front. All right Bill Brett thanks so much for coming in. Thank you. All right and we're going to be back tomorrow at noon with our things to do. J squared Jan. Sarah Goni injured won't have a complete list of holiday happenings. Stay with us now for the Kelly Crossley Show coming up next. And tune into Greater Boston tonight at 7:00 we'll have an analysis of the Elizabeth Warren's debate performance last night. Emily Rooney shows a production of WGBH radio on the web at WGBH dot org. Boston Public Radio I'm Emily Rooney. Have a great afternoon. This program is on WGBH thanks to you. And white flower farm offering a

broad selection of potted Amaryllis and dozens of other live plant gifts shipped direct to your friends and loved ones located in Litchfield Connecticut since 1950. More information at white flower farm dot com. And Massachusetts College of Art and Design continuing education registering for January classes drawing painting film photography sculpture graphic design fashion and more programs for youth and adults mass art dot edu. Innovation. It has a huge impact on business and life here in the hub. I'm Karen Miller join me each week for innovation how. The big ideas happening in Boston. Saturday mornings at 7:00 and Sunday nights at 10:00 here on WGBH radio. Public radio from Boston for New England this is eighty nine point seven. WGBH Boston. Online at WGBH dot org. Boston Public Radio.