The West Roxbury Business and Professional Association (WRBPA) met bright and early last Wednesday and detailed the happenings of West Roxbury.

Firstly, West Roxbury Neighborhood Council member Steve Smith said the Parkway Rotary will be honoring Rose’s Bounty Volunteer Judy Jose-Roddy for her service to the community. Rotary President Ray Fitzgerald the organization will be hosting a dinner in her honor from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on May 1 at the Stratford Street Church.

“It’s basically going to be a fundraiser for the two groups,” he said. “The Parkway Rotary, we have not had one in a long time, and Rose’s Bounty. So we’re going to honor Judy, and we were supposed to honor her a number of years ago and then COVID-19 hit. So we’re going to make up for lost time.”

Fitzgerald said the Rotary will be donating a portion of the proceeds to one of Jose-Roddy’s favorite charities, the Free Wheelchair Mission.

“It’s a worldwide group that makes wheelchairs for people with disabilities and who cannot afford one,” he said.

Jose-Roddy said it only takes $96 to get a wheelchair and deliver it anywhere in the world with this charity.

“These are people who are currently crawling on the ground or are home-bound, and they get a wheelchair delivered to them,” she said.

Fitzgerald said there will also be a wine tasting.

More information can be found at https://www.westroxburyclub.org

State Sen. Michael Rush came by the meeting to detail his work at the Massachusetts Legislature. He said his most recent achievement is the ability to allow for remote testimony during legislative hearings, so residents don’t have to come all the way to the statehouse to make their voices heard.

During Rush’s speaking session, one resident asked about the current legal battle going on between State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, the state legislature and Attorney General Andrea Campbell (formerly District 4 City Councilor).

The legal battle is basically over who has jurisdiction and how far does DiZoglio’s authority extend – https://tinyurl.com/y4p734yu

One resident asked Rush about this, who pointed out that the state hires an outside firm every two years to audit the legislature’s financials.

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“Every two years we do an audit by an outside firm that is a financial audit, and so when the budget is allotted we’re one of a few states that does a yearly budget, and money is allocated to the Governor’s Office so we do an independent audit,” he said. “The state auditor has made this fairly political. I served with her in the senate, and she seems to be interested – we’ve asked the question, ‘What exactly do you want to audit? Do you want to audit our audit?’ We do an audit and there seems to be ambiguity in that. And there’s a constitutional issue.”

One resident pointed out that Massachusetts has some of the most restrictive public records laws in the country, which is one reason for the audit -- https://tinyurl.com/bdzdrbpb

Though he and Rush agreed a bill is going through the process that might help to change that.

Also at the meeting, West Roxbury Main Streets Executive Director Lindsay Chase detailed the upcoming May 16 Celebration for the 175th Anniversary of West Roxbury. She said it will be a big party at the Irish Social Club and everybody’s invited.

“We want it to be a big reunion type event, with heavy hors d’oeuvres, two bars, obviously at the Social Club and live music,” she said. “We expect a good turnout so we hope you all can come.”

Chase added that WRMS is looking for volunteers and sponsors for the event.

“Anyone who wants to help can,” she said. “We’re looking for sponsorships, we’re looking for help selling tickets, just getting the word out and letting people know. We’re going to do lawn signs and banners too. We’ll do one at the (Boston Police Department District E-5) Station, we’ll do one at the YMCA and one at Holy Name Circle, just to make sure people are aware of it.”

More information on the WRMS event can be found at https://www.wrms.org/west-roxbury-175

WRBPA President Jim Hennigan said the next meeting is set for April 8 at 8 a.m. at the Corrib, but mentioned the June meeting will be an evening meeting at the Corrib starting at 5 p.m. with beer and wine available.