Hey, there! Log in / Register
As Walsh cruises to expected victory, council looks to have five women of color come January
By adamg on Tue, 11/07/2017 - 8:35pm
Winners: Edwards (District 1), Janey (7) and Flynn (2).
Mayor Marty Walsh tonight easily won a second term, defeating City Councilor Tito Jackson.
In the council races, Lydia Edwards won in District 1 (East Boston, Charlestown, North End) and Kim Janey won in District 7 (Roxbury). With incumbents Andrea Campbell in District 4 (Dorchester) and Michelle Wu and Ayanna Pressley (at large) all easily winning re-election, the council will be the most diverse ever come Jan. 1.
In District 1, Edwards overcame a last-minute scare campaign among white voters in East Boston and a non-endorsement endorsement of Passacantilli by Walsh to easily surmount Passacantilli's 63% of the vote in his native North End (which was down from his 70% vote tally in the September preliminary, NorthEndWaterfront.com reports).
In District 2 (South Boston, South End, Chinatown, Downtown), Ed Flynn, son of former Mayor Ray Flynn, beat Mike Kelley.
In District 7 (Roxbury), Kim Janey, who came in first in a preliminary field of 13, defeated Rufus Faulk.
In District 8 (Fenway, Back Bay, Beacon Hill), incumbent Josh Zakim won easily over challenger Karen Mobilia.
In District 9 (Allston/Brighton), incumbent Mark Ciommo trounced challenger Brandon Bowser.
In the at-large race, incumbents Wu, Flaherty, Pressley and Essaibi-George won re-elected. What's interesting is that Althea Garrison is currently in fifth place, which means she would become a councilor should one of the winners leave office over the next two years (this is how Steve Murphy first got on the council). Pat Payaso, the clown, came in last.
The city elections department will is posting numbers here for the mayoral and city-council races.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Quick informal poll
Anyone else write in Doug Bennett for mayor or just me?
Do you have green paint all
Do you have green paint all over your hands now?
There once was a rep from Nantucket
Who kept his green paint in a bucket
(please complete this ...)
Sorry...
Can't place the name....
Lydia Edwards' mom and twin were up from NC
Double Dactyl
Of note... Double Dactyl https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_dactyl
Many people are known as Teflon candidates
Doug Bennett will always be known as the Plywood Candidate.
So sad...
... that Michael "Kill The Bike Lanes" Flaherty had so many votes.
Cannot believe he got so many
Cannot believe he got so many votes. Hoped he would go the way of Stephen Murphy.
I was hoping he'd come in 5th
I was hoping he'd come in 5th or 6th, he came in 2nd. His analysis in council meetings is imbued with paternalistic judgment I find overbearing and counter product.
I knew there was something I
I knew there was something I really disliked about him but I couldn't quite remember what it was, so thanks! He didn't get my vote, at any rate.
Maybe it because
Not everyone gives a shit about bike lanes for liberal transplants.
You know the city has REAL issues.
Extra cranky this morning?
Extra cranky this morning? After reading the election news from around the country, I can see why. Try not to give your ulcer too much of a workout.
Transportation is a huge issue in Boston
But people like Marty see protected bike lanes as a zero sum proposition not part of a solution for auto traffic.
Boston voters are dissatisfied with;
Jim Aloisi has written about the transportation habits of the new generation living in Boston. Many more don't own cars but rely of uber, cycling, the T, and rentals.
Walsh was convinced (it took grassroots pressure) to add protected bike lanes to Commonwealth Ave renovation near BU but he took them out of plans on Congress St, in Charlestown and wants them taken out of DCR plan for Morrissey Blvd.
Boston is not as old as Amsterdam--old is a synonym for narrow streets-- but the Dutch have been committed to provided safe cycling infrastructure since the 1970s and before. We could learn from them. About 90% of all trips taken by residents of Amsterdam that are 4 miles or less are taken by bicycle... because it's safe.
Morrissey
Walsh did NOT want to eliminate the protected bike lanes from DCR Morrissey plan. Walsh was concerned about removing a travel lane from each direction.
This is correct. Walsh wants
This is correct. Walsh wants three car lanes in each direction on Morrissey, a DCR-designed project.
I️ suppose that’s why now;
I️ suppose that’s why now; over a year after the initial DCR meetings, DCR engineers are attending neighborhood civic association meetings of affected n’hoods and soliciting input from residents.
Maybe it's about process,
Maybe it's about process, maybe it's about Marty being a car guy.
There was never a plan to
There was never a plan to attend civic association meetings. Sounds like Charlie got wind of the plan and asked for some revisions.
Transplants?
My husband's family is Dorchester several generations down.
You might want to pull that stick out of your ass and wake up to the reality that we cannot continue to rely on driving cars everywhere for everything all the time. It is killing us personally, locally and globally.
You, on the other hand
Are from Greenbow, ALABAMA.
families
Families are always rising and falling in America. I'm glad SwirlyGrrl is raising her's here. You too Will, I'm glad you call Boston home. Do I recall correctly, you lived in VT before you made Boston your home?
When did Swirl move to Boston
When did Swirl move to Boston?
Ask her.
Ask her.
It doesn't matter
Transportation is built with state funds. Complete streets is from state funds. We all pay state taxes, including people who spend most of their waking hours in Boston.
Deal with it or pay for it yourself, put your absurd overpasses over everything, bankrupt your city and put your little gates up. Oh, and enjoy living in Detroit when you do, because Detroit is what you get when you play silly little parochial games and your economy dies because nobody wants to have any businesses to subsidize you.
What does this nonsense have
What does this nonsense have to do with Boston and the new city councilors?
Welcome to the Internet
It all started with someone being amazed that Flaherty was re-elected, given his opposition to bike lanes. Just mention that 4 letter word that starts with "b" and off they go.
And where are you from again?
Which teeming metropolis in Vermont taught you the necessary skills to survive in a tough town like this one?
Flaherty's brutal. Absolutely
Flaherty's brutal. Absolutely no constituent services or contact. He has got to go next time. Maybe Tito will run at-large and bump him.
Also he gave himself a raise
Come on, everybody, don't be shy about bullying your peers who didn't vote. God gave you a brain. Use your intellectual superiority to scold others.
Buses not bikes
I didn't vote for Flaherty, but wish the city would stop adding bike lanes when bus lanes would be of so much more benefit. It makes no sense to put them along some of most heavily used roads, it is not safe for cyclists and makes it harder for buses to maneuver. Put the bike lanes on side streets as much as possible. Bikes are just not practical for most people.
One little nit to pick
Yes, the councillors from Districts 1, 4, and 7 are all African American, but your count of the At-Large seats is a little off. The 2 women from Chicago both fit the accepted profile of "of color, " I suppose, but the other woman elected has a father who was born in Tunisia and has a very Arabic maiden name. That puts makes her as "of color" as the 44th President.
In short, I count 6.
Yeah, I thought about her
But does she identify as a woman of color?
In any case, come Jan. 1, there will be six woman on the council - quite a change from just a few years ago when there was just one (Maureen Feeney).
Put it to bed
I think it's time to put the "of color" term to rest, tbh.
Then don't use it
This may help you the next time you're tempted to tell other people what they should put "to rest".
i wan't to hear the reasons
i wan't to hear the reasons why the expression 'people of color' should be retired and also an opinion about whether we should also retire the expression 'white' for Caucasians?
Can we hear this ...
From a person to whom it refers?
Six
The Globe and other sources are going with six women of color.
W-- what?
W-- what?
The 44th President is quite definitely "of color." I'm not sure which direction you're arguing from -- that he's "Kenyan" or that he's "half white"? Either way is bonkers. He is an American by birth and every day since his birth, fellow Americans have looked at him and seen a black boy/man. That has an impact on his personal history and his sense of identity. Random strangers who know nothing about him or his parentage would look at him and see a black man. So yes, he is "of color." How is this controversial to you?
You're confused
Waquiot's comments were a bit convoluted, and I understand why you are confused, because I had to read them through a couple of times myself to see where they were headed. But Waquiot is arguing that 44 was a POC and so is Annissa Essaibi George, whom Adam left out of the women-of-color group.
Thanks
Sorry for the confusion. That was exactly what I was trying to point out. Two people whose fathers were born in Africa.
how does she identify?
I think the answer to this question is normally resolved by the person in question. They decide how they identify. Annissa's parents are/were Greek and Tunisian II,RC. Does she identify as a person of color?
Localism at its best
Ooh, 'women from Chicago' - is that meant to be disparaging or something? Is it still a mark against someone to not be born in the city? Is Charlie Baker a suspect governor because he was born elsewhere? If an actual world class city like NYC can elect some from Medford twice I'd like to think Boston can vote for candidates based on where they live now and in the case of Councillor Wu, where they are raising their family. This is so far from carpetbagging and yet people like you think it's relevant. Bizarre.
I know, I know
I needed a commonality to refer to Wu and Pressley so that the reference to George would work without mentioning any of them by name. Heck, I voted for one of the Chicago gals (which has become a habit over the past 3 elections) and have even pondered that it is finally time to move the other one from the place I put her as a political successor to Connolly and Murphy (in that they were always looking for another position and using their current position for that purpose rather than concentrating on doing the job we elected them to do.)
As far as myopic viewing goes, look to the comment above. Obama was certainly African American, except in the eyes of certain Clinton supporters back in 2007-8 who said that no, he was more African than African American so he didn't understand the plight of those Black folk whose African ancestors came to America before 1865.
Provincialism
Provincialism is a tool of oppression premised on authenticity but also white supremacy.
Nope
Provincialism, or Parochialism in the narrower sense, is a reactionary tool to support the status quo.
Just track down some of Tory Bullock's video's, linked to from this very website, where he talks about gentrification. I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to bet my paycheck that he has a strong dislike of white supremacy. He also wants Dudley Square to be safe from encroachment from outsiders. You know, the people who aren't from here and are now affecting the people who are from here.
Not because he was born elsewhere
No, for other reasons
:-)
Jackson conceded early
The BU News Service reports.
Suya joint
Great food, unless you have a peanut allergy.
Tito, we hardly knew ya, but I voted for him as he was the only one that publicly claimed he would cut the school budget.
More proof that anyone opposed to the status quo in this town will get stomped.
Trade and city unions run this place until others start showing up at the polls.
...forever and ever, Amen.
Stevil:
"More proof that anyone opposed to the status quo in this town will get stomped.
Trade and city unions run this place until others start showing up at the polls."
For as long as the above is true, I don't want to hear "world-class city" again. Too many small minds in that big egg crate known as City Hall.
It's all a shame.
100%Correct
True, although I don't want to her it again regardless.
trade union voice in our politics
I don't mind that trade unions have a voice in our politics and I'm glad they have a voice in the workplace. That is not what is wrong with our politics. The aspects I don't like about union politics exist outside the unions and are not unique to the unions.
A coalition that includes unions and religious groups are the ones backing the most progressive statewide policy made necessary by a shift in our economy from good jobs with benefits (like the job I took in Boston out of college) to part-time jobs. Most of the new jobs created since 2005 are part-time without benefits.
There are very few places
There are very few places where public-sector unions don't have large sway over gov't and public policy.
Elitist awareness is lacking
in some.
Cut the school budget?
Tito promised to fully find schools. I'm pretty sure he is in favor of putting more money in our schools, as am I. Maybe he said he would cut the budget of the BPS offices, but I'm quite sure he would add more money to our school and that the overall BPS budget would increase if he were mayor.
Nope
His released budget said he'd spend what the city already projected for next fiscal year and then take the $50 million or so earmarked for BPS collective bargaining and split it between BPS and other priorities, in effect cutting planned spending by 20-30 million.
Gow do you know a pol is full of $%!+?
...
Nope
His released budget said he'd spend what the city already projected for next fiscal year and then take the $50 million or so earmarked for BPS collective bargaining and split it between BPS and other priorities, in effect cutting planned spending by 20-30 million.
Gow do you know a pol is full of $%!+?
...
Turnout
Turnout was less than 28%.
If we wanted different or better government we could have it as soon as the next election.
Obviously, we don't want it, nor do we deserve it.
David Bernstein wrote this September 27
WGBH:
Did he write that from his
Did he write that from his Virginia manse? I think since Bernstein moved he should keep his nose out of our politics.
Gotta keep up
He lives in Albuquerque now.
What's impressive about that
What's impressive about that piece is that he called this election in September.
I thought he did Tito a disservice in a later article when he called Walsh the winner and told him what he should try to accomplish in a second term.
The media narrative in this race was that, based on polling, Tito couldn't win. That's what they said about Trump. Journalists are way too focused on horse race than on why politics matter.
Disqualifying Bernstein's analysis because he moved is ignorant. He followed politics in this city for a few decades and he has a record of getting the story right, in advance. It's one thing to say he doesn't live here he doesn't understand our politics (which is false in this case,) it's another to say he doesn't live here he shouldn't have an opinion or a platform to share it.
A third-grader could've
A third-grader could've called this election in September. Heck, they could've called it last year. Especially the council races. There were few formidable at-large threats to the incumbents. Calling Bernstein some sage because he's following a race from afar is a bit of a stretch. I find most of his criticisms/complaints to be completely out of touch. He's still getting published simply because of various local publications' laziness in finding new viewpoints. He adds nothing to the city's conversation. And since he's not in the city, he's even further removed from the day to day. I mean blasting the local papers for not covering the race is ignoring the fact that they have very limited resources to deploy these days, especially with a subscriber base that's scattered across Greater Boston. I'd likely not pay to much attention to a race that gets less than 25% turnout and is mostly for political junkies.
Boy did he anger some people with his 2500 mile observation.
He seemed to nuke some craniums with his stating of the obvious.
If journalists start to agree that polling indicates the race is
If journalists start to agree that polling indicates the race is over, the race is over. If journalists cover the race on issues not polling, it continues to be a debate of the issues.
In my view, journalists did the former consistent with Bernstein's prediction, which is how the prophecy became self-fulfilling.
Obviously you haven't followed the Methuselah of Hipsters
David Bernstein. His now angry old man writings started years ago as an angry young man telling local machine pols to get off of his lawn. His observation that Tito Jackson was a weak candidate was not a self fulfilling prophecy but a reasonable assessment of Boston Politics. He won't need viagra for four years in eager anticipation that one of these new female minority city councilors to knock off the white Irish catholic Boston pol.
who me?
I've been reading him since his last few years at The Phoenix and honestly I don't think Viagra has anything to do with it.
Lazy journalism
Merely describing a person's ethnicity or sex ("she's the first African American female to hold __ position") is just lazy. It doesn't tell us anything about the person's policies, their opinions, their honesty, their tenacity, or anything else. This article doesn't really say anything about what these "women of color" as people or as politicians. I think that's incredibly reductionist. (Eg, Condoleezza Rice was the first female African-American Secretary of State...)
It's great to have people of different backgrounds representing the city, but let's talk about more than just their race or sex.
well said lunchbox...
after all - the goal IS to move beyond classifications of gender and race right?
When the lead for an election recap is all about "diversity" - safe to say we are not ready (or willing) to move beyond it.
I agree identity is only one
I agree identity is only one part of politics but it is one part. We'll have voting data on gender and race soon to see the relationship between identity and voting patterns and to hat degree in which parts of the city.
While I'm tremendously
While I'm tremendously disappointed by Hizzonah Mahty One-Term apparently skating into Mayor-For-Life status, I'm delighted and frankly shocked that Lydia Edwards beat his pension-seeking creature Passacantilli.
For the first time in a year, it feels like there's non-zero progress in the right direction. Maybe a few of us aren't quite as dumb as we look.
And good friggin' riddance to Sal. If all you want to do with your career is shake babies and kiss hands, go be a greeter at Wal-Mart. You're not even willing to educate yourself on the history of school segregation to the point where you know the difference between Brown v Board and forced busing 30 years later? Get bent. The city had more than an entire generation to come up with something better than busing and it refused. No crying about that outcome.
Shake Babies?
?
City Council Records Management practices...
a) Records Management practices need improving at Boston City Council...
b) Data Visualization can be better for Redistricting and c) other data sets like Roll Call Votes in Public Meetings of Boston City Council need a Table/Chart by Topic/by Councilor/by other interesting parameters.
d) Redistricting maps can be better by showing more clearly, delineating Names of Bordering Streets of Districts.
e) The more accurate City Stenographer Stenographic Record can be released online for all folks. The more accurate City Stenographer Stenographic Record of City Council Public Meetings is more accurate than video Captions for hard of hearing folks!
Please submit these suggestion in writing and
mail them to City Hall.
"send in the clowns
"send in the clowns
there's got to be clowns...
don't bother....they're hereeee"
SIX women of color
Why do people constantly leave out Annissa ESSAIBI-George? Her father was from Tunisia.
Other woman victors, good to see
Framingham's first mayor is a woman, and Newton elected a woman.
Good to see.
And something people seemed to have missed
Framingham's first mayor is Black (or African American, or "of color." Whatever makes you feel the most comfortable.)
That this has not been pointed out is progress.