Spilka says Rosenberg case 'tragic'
Daily News Staff and State House News Service, MetroWest Daily News
Four months after Stan Rosenberg resigned from the Senate, and two months after she became his permanent replacement as Senate president, Karen Spilka said during an interview on Wednesday that she h…
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MetroWest Daily News
Four months after Stan Rosenberg resigned from the Senate, and two months after she became his permanent replacement as Senate president, Karen Spilka said during an interview on Wednesday that she has "periodically touched base" with the Amherst Democrat since he left Beacon Hill under a cloud.

Rosenberg resigned from the Senate in May following an Ethics Committee report that faulted him for failing to shield fellow senators and staff from his husband, Bryon Hefner, who stands accused of sexually harassing multiple men on Beacon Hill and intruding into Senate business.

During her appearance on WGBH's Boston Public Radio, Spilka told hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan that she has spoken with Rosenberg since he left Beacon Hill, but did not divulge what the two talk about.

"It's hard. It's hard," said Spilka, D-Ashland. "Stan was a person, is a person who devoted 30 years of his life to public service, to true public service, and believed in it and believed in making a positive difference in people's lives and I believe he did. He really worked hard on so many different things. What happened, I think, is tragic on so many different levels."

Rosenberg, who had named Spilka as Ways and Means Committee chair, has largely disappeared from the public eye since deciding, somewhat reluctantly, to end a more than 30-year career in the Legislature that saw him become the state's first openly gay, Jewish president of the Senate.

Hefner is still facing charges of sexual assault.

A call for cash

Becca Rausch, the Democratic challenger to Republican state Sen. Richard Ross, R-Wrentham, in the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex district, was scheduled to hold a house party fundraiser on Saturday at 26 Pemberton Road in Wayland.

Rausch, of Needham, reported spending $60,000 in her mid-August campaign finance report, with $13,000 still left in her account. Rausch is looking to replenish after defeating two Democratic rivals in the primary earlier this month.

Ross, who did not have a challenge within his own party, reported $4,800 in spending, with $20,500 remaining in his account.

The Norfolk, Bristol and middlesex district snakes through 12 communities, including parts of Attleborough, Franklin, Natick and Wellesley, and all of North Attleboro, Wrentham, Plainville, Norfolk, Millis, Sherborn, Wayland and Needham.

Ross has held the seat since May 2010, when he won a special election to succeed fellow Wrentham resident Scott Brown, who had been elected to the U.S. Senate in another special election.

What to do with Sawin?

As Natick and the Massachusetts Audubon Society continue to negotiate the future of the historic Sawin House, Natick voters will be asked to pony up $5,000.

The request, which appears on the warrant for the Oct. 16 Town Meeting, would pay expenses like land surveys as the two sides attempt to hammer out an agreement for the town to buy the house, which dates back to 1696.

Natick Town Administrator Melissa Malone met earlier this month with Mass Audubon representatives in the latest bargaining session.

The house is within the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary, a Mass Audubon property off Eliot Street in Natick. The town wants the house to stay where it is, according to selectmen Chairwoman Amy Mistrot. But Elissa Landre, sanctuary director of Broadmoor, told the Daily News that many options are on the table.

“Our preference is for the house not to be in this location, in the middle of the sanctuary,” Landre said. “The town would like it to remain where it is. Discussions are continuing.”

The Sawin House was included in a conservation gift to Mass Audubon about 50 years ago by Dr. Charles Stillman, according to Landre.

“(Sawin House) is in poor structural condition, and we have no use for it,” she said. “We would like to come to an agreement. It’s really up to the town.”

Cultural designation

The city of Framingham and several organizations near and around Centre Common are partnering to submit an application to the Massachusetts Cultural Council to designate a Cultural District at the common, according to a release on the city's website.

Have ideas? The group that's organizing the application is holding a public meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Edgell Memorial Library, 3 Oak St. All are invited. More information can be found at www.FraminghamMA.gov/CulturalDistrict. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP to Erika Oliver Jerram at (508) 532-5455 or eoj@FraminghamMA.gov.

The MCC’s Cultural District Program promotes neighborhoods that have a high density of cultural organizations within a 10-minute walk of one another. The program has recognized 45 districts in 40 communities across the state, including in Marlborough and Natick.

Annie Murphy, executive director of the Framingham History Center, said in a statement that such a designation would "celebrate the confluence of history and art in the heart of our community and foster greater collaboration among neighboring cultural groups, religious institutions, and businesses for the benefit of Framingham and the MetroWest region.”

Among the organizations that have helped with the organizing of the Cultural District are the Framingham History Center, Framingham State University, Danforth Art Museum, the First Baptist Church, First Parish Church and Plymouth Church, as well as representatives of city and state government.

Ex-Virginia gov to speak at Tufts

Former Virginia Gov. and Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe plans to visit Tufts University next week, with a speaking engagement scheduled for Oct. 9.

McAuliffe co-chaired President Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign for re-election and was chairman of the 2000 Democratic National Convention and Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. He chaired the Democratic National Committee from 2000 until 2005, and was governor of Virginia from 2014 until this year.

Tisch College Dean Alan Solomont, a former U.S. ambassador to Spain and Andorra, will moderate a discussion with McAuliffe, who plans to delve into "the upcoming midterm elections, public service and the state of American democracy."

Contributors to the Political Notebook this week include Deputy Director of Multimedia Dan O’Brien, multimedia journalist Henry Schwan and the State House News Service.