Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and her husband have jumped on the pandemic-induced second home craze, paying nearly $1.8 million for a large house in Dartmouth.
According to assessing records, Polito and her husband Stephen Rodolakis paid $1.795 million for the 4,800-square-foot house located not far from the water on Ricketson’s Point.
A Polito spokesperson said the home in Dartmouth is a second home, and the lieutenant governor is not moving from her hometown in Shrewsbury.
A real estate listing describes the home as a five-bedroom, five-bath home with “casual elegance,” steps from a private white sandy beach. Photos show an expansive, elegant interior and a sprawling backyard with manicured gardens.
The house was initially listed for sale in May 2019, relisted in November 2019, and went under agreement in July 2020. It was previously owned by Rochester Town Planner Steven Starrett.
Polito’s purchase came as Massachusetts was in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Massachusetts residents have been seeking homes outside the city, either to vacation in or to live full time. Home prices have soared.
In October 2020, the month Polito closed on her home, there were 27.1 percent more sales than in October 2019, and the price of the median single family home was up by 17 percent, according to the Warren Group. In Dartmouth alone, there were 41 sales that October, a 24 percent hike year over year.
Polito and Rodolakis live in Shrewsbury, where they own a $1.5 million home along Lake Quinsigamond, near other members of their family.
Polito, a Republican, is widely considered to be gearing up for a run for governor, if Gov. Charlie Baker does not run again. Whether he will run again – or she will – remains one of the biggest questions in Massachusetts politics heading into the November 2022 election season.
Polito’s family owns a real estate development company, which Polito owns a part of and was the president of before she became lieutenant governor. Rodolakis is an attorney.
SHIRA SCHOENBERG
FROM COMMONWEALTH
With the House and Senate passing climate change legislation by solid veto-proof majorities, the Baker administration announces it is “very pleased” with the bill and signals it will be signed into law.
A coalition of community groups and elected officials turn up the heat on the state board of education to modify the admission policies of voc tech schools so they cater less to elite students and more to those who are disadvantaged.
Opinion: Mary S. Booth of the Partnership for Policy Integrity says Vic Gatto’s claim that science is on his side in the debate over a biomass plant in Springfield is just plain wrong.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Gov. Charlie Baker announces that he will ease the state’s travel restrictions, turning the quarantine and testing requirement from an order into an advisory. (Gloucester Daily Times)
The ACLU and some lawmakers are continuing to push for more restrictions on the use of facial recognition technology. (MassLive)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The chair of Boston’s Employment Commission is calling for the removal of the vice chair of the Boston Planning and Development Agency for referring to blacks as “colored people.” In its report, GBH refers to “colored people” as an outdated term that is considered close to a slur.
HEALTH/HEALTH CAR
A Worcester man is injured when he is attacked by a fellow patient at St. Vincent’s Hospital, and he blames a lack of staffing during the nurses’ strike. (Telegram & Gazette)
There are now 20 communities at high-risk for COVID-19 transmission, up from 14 last week, as steep declines in case numbers appear to be leveling off. There were 669 cases of COVID reported by schools last week, an increase from the prior week. (MassLive)
More than 4 in 10 health care workers nationally have not been vaccinated, according to a new poll, a troubling sign of resistance to immunization even in the medical community. (Washington Post)
US House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal tells state legislative leaders that he backs a $400 million bond bill to construct a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. (MassLive)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
The House passes two bills that would overhaul the nation’s immigration system. The bills, dealing with so-called DREAMERs and farm workers, face an uncertain future in the Senate. (NPR)
ELECTIONS
Business players in and around Boston are beginning to throw support to various candidates for Boston — and in some cases hedging their bets by donating to several of them. (Boston Globe)
The print issue of the Boston Herald dubs it “Maura’s mystery tour,” but the story makes clear that Attorney General Maura Healey’s whirlwind schedule of visits around the state yesterday, ostensibly to check on the vaccine rollout and other pandemic matters, looks like the doings of a 2022 candidate for governor.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Massachusetts lawmakers plan to push back the state deadline for filing taxes from April 15 to May 17 to conform with new federal rules. (Associated Press)
Despite the work-from-home trend set in motion by the pandemic, Google is adding to its office footprint in Kendall Square in Cambridge. (Boston Globe)
EDUCATION
Unhappy about furloughs, Salem State University faculty are starting a “work-to-rule” action, in which they will not do any work not specifically laid out in their contract, such as no work after 4:30 p.m. and no participation in extra committees. (Salem News)
The Enterprise looks at how a year of COVID has affected students in Brockton.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Gas companies seek to water down rules that would require a certified engineer to sign off on all their gas line work. The companies say the rules, put in place after the Merrimack Valley gas explosions, are costly and unnecessary. (Salem News)
MEDIA
Dan Kennedy, with the help of Matt Szafranski of Western Mass Politics & Insight, reports on a bill being considered by the Connecticut legislature that would allow Hartford Courant subscribers to sue the newspaper’s parent company, Tribune Publishing, if it takes on debt or pays dividends that are not “for the good of the company.” (Media Nation)