Joseph Curtatone is the Mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts, a densely settled community outside Boston which is home to Tufts University. It’s a vibrant city with lots of great culture and nightlife.
I would know. I lived in Somerville for eight years. Joe Curtatone has been in office since 2004. He is a young mayor and is very popular with city residents. In a way, Curtatone is in an enviable position for a Democrat politician. He is a progressive leader in a progressive community. If you’ve spent any time in the city, this story won’t surprise you.
Jim Koch is the founder and CEO of the Boston Beer Company, which makes Sam Adams beer. He reportedly thanked President Trump for the new tax cuts during a recent dinner in New Jersey. Upon learning this news, Mayor Curtatone announced that he is now boycotting the Sam Adams brand.
Aris Folley reports at The Hill:
Massachusetts mayor boycotts Sam Adams after cofounder thanked Trump for tax cutsJoseph Curtatone, the mayor of Somerville, Mass., said Sunday that he will never drink Sam Adams beer again after the cofounder of the Boston brewery thanked President Trump for a corporate tax cut.“I will never drink Sam Adam’s beer again!” the Democrat said on Twitter.
This is disappointing. Not just because I’ve met Mayor Curtatone and found him to be a nice man, not because a progressive politician is virtue-signaling his progressive constituents, but because it hurts working people in Boston.
The Boston Beer Company employs over a thousand people directly, but thousands more work in beer distribution, retail, and Boston area bars. Are Somerville liquor stores supposed to stop carrying Sam Adams now? How about Somerville bars? Will anyone be harassed for failing to do so?
Jim Koch is a businessman who’s looking out for his employees and stockholders. He was thanking Trump for helping all of them, not just himself. If his business does well, so do thousands of other people.
Spencer Buell of Boston Magazine puts Koch’s words into context:
Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone Says He’s Boycotting Sam AdamsSomerville Mayor Joe Curtatone is swearing off Sam Adams, a boycott he says comes after the maker of the iconic Boston lager met with President Trump last week.“I will never drink Sam Adams again!” Curtatone proclaimed on Twitter on Sunday, linking to a story in the Boston Business Journal that reported that Jim Koch, Boston Beer CEO, was among 13 corporate executives who dined with Trump at his New Jersey golf course, and that the beer magnate thanked him for cutting his company’s taxes. Koch, according to a White House transcript, said lower taxes would help Boston Beer beat competitors overseas. “I mean, Americans — I’m the largest American-owned brewery at 2 percent market share… and competing against people who were paying 20,” he reportedly said. “We were paying 38 percent taxes now we have a level playing field, and we’re going to kick their ass.”
I’ll tell you a true story which proves how seriously Koch takes his company and products.
In 1997, I went to a store in MA to buy a six-pack of Sam Adams when I noticed it was beyond its expiration date. I dug through the cooler looking for a fresh one and found them all to be past due.
Knowing that the Boston Beer Company has representatives who regularly inspect stores to make sure their product is being freshly stocked, I sent them a letter informing them of my find.
A few weeks later, I received a hand-signed thank you letter from Jim Koch, along with a Sam Adams baseball cap.
That’s a man who cares about the quality of his product.
Mayor Curtatone will score some points with the “resistance” for using this situation to bash Trump, but he hardly needs it. The people of Somerville already know where he stands politically.
Jim Koch and the thousands of people who depend on him to make their living deserve better.
Featured image via YouTube.
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