‘Java with Jimmy’ now an Uber cheerleader

Jimmy Hills, host of the online show “Java with Jimmy,” sits somewhere between a journalist and a talk show host. His episodes feature friendly interviews with some of the biggest names in Massachusetts politics – including Gov. Maura Healey, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

Now add a new role: mouthpiece for a Big Tech-backed ballot campaign. 

Hills, who also hosts occasional segments with GBH News, is helming a new podcast being put out by Flexibility & Benefits for Massachusetts Drivers. The group, backed by tech companies including Uber, Lyft, and Doordash, is pushing a ballot campaign to classify ride-share drivers as independent contractors rather than employees under state law. It’s poised to be one of the most controversial, and expensive, of the cycle. 

The podcast, dubbed “My Miles My Story,” features “rideshare and delivery drivers across the state who rely on their flexibility and independence to earn income on their own terms,” according to a press release announcing it. The ballot coalition argues that independent contractor status is necessary to preserve drivers’ flexible schedules, while opponents say the effort is an attempt to bypass employee protections guaranteed under state law. 

No word on the terms of Hills’s new gig. But his evolution from softball-tossing internet host to ringer for the rideshare industry is already generating blowback. “Really disappointing to see you working against #DriversDemandJustice and the other labor coalitions trying to stop the exploitation of drivers,” wrote Chelsea School Committee member Sarah Neville on X. 

Point person Peisch

The long roster of leadership posts in the Legislature come with extra pay and prestige, but just what the responsibilities are isn’t exactly clear. 

In the House, apart from committee chairs with clear legislative subject areas under their dominion, there are no fewer than nine such leadership positions under Speaker Ron Mariano – including two second assistant majority leaders and four “division chairs,” positions some have derisively likened to “hall monitors.” 

These ministers without portfolios can basically be tasked with whatever the speaker asks of them. This week, it was clear that one of them, Rep. Alice Peisch, has become a go-to person for Mariano. 

On Monday, the Wellesley rep, who serves as assistant majority leader, co-chaired the first hearing of a special legislative committee taking testimony on the long list of ballot questions that could head before voters in November. Breaking with the custom of having the relevant subject-area committees convene hearings on ballot questions, Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka decided to form a committee to consider all the questions, with Peisch and Sen. Cindy Friedman of Arlington co-chairing it.

Meanwhile, since last summer Peisch has been the point person for the House on the state shelter crisis, handling communications with the Healey administration over the issue. That put her in the thick of things on Wednesday as the House passed legislation that would limit stays in shelters, which are bursting at the seams and straining state coffers. 

Peisch co-chaired the Legislature’s Education Committee for more than a decade before being tapped by Mariano for the new post a year ago. “As assistant majority leader, one’s priorities are subject to whatever the pressing issues of the day might be,” she said of her busy week. 

Answering the people’s call

Speaking of job responsibilities, it’s a safe bet that few people could enumerate those that fall to the clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County – or even know of the job’s existence for that matter. 

Nonetheless, Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy said there has been a groundswell of calls throughout Suffolk County for her to seek the post. Hearing the people’s cries, Murphy said she’ll run for the job – which would nearly double her salary to almost $190,000. 

“With the strong urging of friends and supporters across the county, I am enthusiastically seeking the SJC clerkship,” Murphy said in an announcement released Tuesday, according to the Boston Herald.

Longtime clerk Maura Doyle said last month that she will not seek reelection to the post this fall. Doyle is a lawyer with a deep knowledge of the SJC’s workings. The clerk serves in an administrative role, overseeing cases handled by single justices of SJC and other matters. 

Murphy has no legal background, but is counting on name recognition and political ties she’s formed in her council campaigns as she vies for an obscure down-ballot position that many voters will have given no thought to when they head to the polls. Allison Cartwright, a lawyer at the Committee for Public Counsel Services, has said she’s weighing a run for the job. 

Cain for Senate? 

A month before he became Quincy’s first Black, gay City Council president in January, Ian Cain spoke to CommonWealth Beacon about his rise through local politics. An unenrolled voter at the time, he dismissed Democrats’ focus on identity politics and made noise about leaning towards the Republican Party.

The Boston Globe reported on Thursday that not only is Cain now registered as a Republican, but he’s also in the mix as a potential challenger to US Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Back in December, Cain indicated to CommonWealth Beacon that he was interested in a higher executive office rather than legislative. But, he added, “I’m never going to say I’m not interested in a role.”