The Herald reports that Jorge Mendoza-Iturralde, one of the North End restaurant owners with beef over dining on patios on public sidewalks plans to run for mayor against Michelle Wu next year.
Mendoza-Iturralde was one of the plaintiffs in the original suit over the issue, in which he and the others accused Wu of hating white Italian men as her only reason for charging North End restaurant owners a fee to be able to set up patios on sidewalks and at the curb in the wake of the pandemic, rather than because of unique trash and parking issues in the crowded neighborhood.
In January, he joined with a larger group of North End restaurant owners in a revived suit after the city banned all such patios on public property in the North End, this time claiming Wu just hates Italians.
Mendoza-Iturralde was also a plaintiff in a lawsuit over the city's brief masking requirement for indoor spaces, which a federal judge dismissed.
Mendoza-Iturralde joins a short list of possible opponents for Wu that includes Josh Kraft, who until recently lived in Brookline, but who is now registered to vote in the North End.
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Comments
Deal
By Residente
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 2:01pm
Terms
1. The bet is in effect for every election that she runs in including in 2025 and the loser will pay the day after the election.
2. 2025 - I owe you $500 or you owe me $250 on November 5th 2025
3. 2029 - same rules - paid the day after the election.
4. We can revisit for 2033 if you don't want to be out $750.
5. Come find me on U-Hub.
That’s not what your original bet was though
By robo
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 2:47pm
One bet, not one bet per election year. Deal, or are you worried you’ll lose?
Ok
By Residente
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 4:58pm
So I win when she decides not to run for mayor or if her time as mayor ever ends by not losing an election.
You win if she ever loses while running for mayor. Can we attach the prize money to the inflation index? $250 won't be worth as much in 10 - 20 years?
No
By robo
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 6:22pm
Again, you said:
If she decides not to run that’s a push. She didn’t win or lose so no one wins the bet.
Additionally, the bet was for $500, not $250.
Deal?
I will humor you one last time
By Residente
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 8:25pm
That's not a push, that's the only way you can lose and it's exactly what I meant when I typed the sentences that you keep quoting. You copied and pasted them so much, I'm surprised you still don't understand what they mean.
It seems like you agree with me about Wu since you won't take the bet, but the offer still stands. Take it or leave it.
You proposed the bet
By robo
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 8:32pm
And are now moving the goal posts, not me. It was a bad bet for you so I’m happy you’re finally seeing it.
reading is hard
By berkleealum
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 9:20am
thanks for the laughs
Context is harder
By Residente
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 9:55am
Apparently I don't know how to write a bet correctly, but I do believe that if someone is truly confident about something they should put some money on it. Otherwise they're just talking. The original bet I was proposing was - you put down $500 and you win $1000 if Wu ever loses an election for Mayor of Boston. The payout is 2 to 1. If she decides to stop running for Mayor or leaves her office during mid term then I keep the $500. Robo knows that's what I meant, but he was having fun with language and is obviously a more experienced bettor than me. Either way no one took me up on the bet because they know in their hearts that she won't lose.
i was laughing at robo
By berkleealum
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 11:08am
not with him. what you said is quite clear.
the fuck are you talking about?
By epeemike81
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 3:54pm
"she will always win for mayor until she stops running" is satisfied if she decides not to run. That is decidedly NOT a push.
Robo - apparently you don't understand negotiation
By Daan
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 6:19pm
The offer of a bet is open to negotiation until it is signed. But that is the problem with restaurant owners of the North End, especially the fellow who owns several North End restaurants AND does not live in the North End.
They refuse to acknowledge that the world does to revolved around them but that they have to negotiate with the people elected to represent all of Boston, not just their petty egos.
Why
By robo
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 6:24pm
Do you think I keep saying ‘deal’? I’m holding residente to their original terms. Then you go off on a tangent, lol.
Would not read again and want my 5 seconds back.
2-1 odds approximately means
By anon
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 2:54pm
2-1 odds approximately means Wu loses every 3rd election. Those aren't great odds.
For reference, betting odds for Trump winning 2016 were only around 20% at the start of 2016, which is when Trump was crushing the Republican debates, and Clinton carrying the election seemed inevitable.
I don't bet much
By Residente
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 9:50am
Apparently I don't know how to write a bet correctly, but I do believe that if someone is truly confident about something they should put some money on it. Otherwise they're just talking. The original bet I was proposing was - you put down $500 and you win $1000 if Wu ever loses an election for Mayor of Boston. The payout is 2 to 1. If she decides to stop running for Mayor or leaves her office during mid term then I keep the $500. Robo knows that's what I meant, but he was having fun with language and is obviously a more experienced bettor than me. Either way no one took me up on the bet because they know in their hearts that she won't lose.
You keep saying I know what you meant
By robo
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 10:28am
Clearly, I did not.
I really hope you’re not in any form of engineering.
That's the Boston/Massachusetts mentality at work...
By Don't Panic
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 11:56pm
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why do you think we had a Republican Governor for so long? All you have to do to keep your job as a Massachusetts politician is do a few good things, stay out of trouble and you'll be re-elected.
The one exception to this rule was James Michael Curley who had awesome spin doctors; "he did it for a friend." was one of his campaign slogans when he was an Alderman and helped a couple of guys get into Federal Civil Service illegally. He went on to become one of Boston's longest serving Mayors.
You must be paying attention, then
By Ari O
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 2:31pm
Because the city has gone to shit since Wu took over.
Has she solved Mass and Cass? No, but she hasn't taken the "progressive" let-people-shoot-up-in-a-tent-city stance either. She's threaded the needle pretty well.
How about crime. Crime was going to shoot up under "progressive" mayors like San Francisco or Seattle or [insert name of city here to scare people]. So far this year murders are down 83% from the same period last year, shootings are down about 50% to about one shooting incident per week. Wu has distanced herself from the ACAB-defund-the-police elements of The Left, and seems to be threading that needle well, too.
Then there's the politics. Basically everyone she supported in the last election won; a couple of councilors who were thorns in her side were defeated and she supported their opponents (well, Kendra Lara basically defeated herself in the primary, but Wu supported the eventual winner in the general). There are no indications from that election that there is some groundswell of anti-progressive sentiment which would bring her vote share down. Plus there really aren't any rising stars on the City Council; this ain't 2016 when the NYT ran a national "14 young dems" piece and two were members of the Boston City Council (Ayanna and Michelle).
So who is going to run against her? Two white guys of various different stripes? One of whom is a business owner who may or may not live in Boston, one of whom is nepo baby who has certainly done well by the community but who definitely does not live in Boston? Wu has an absolute turnout machine and that's not something you can build by throwing some money at the problem and shaking a few hands. Annissa was sort of the de facto conservative white candidate in the race, Andrea and Kim split the Black vote, and she wound up getting trounced. (A Wu-Andrea race would have been a lot closer, I bet.) She'd probably be the kind of candidate who would do well against Wu, but I don't think she's about to give up her day job.
So, yeah, if you want I'd probably give the same odds. Michelle is a good politician. I'd probably give you even odds between "Wu loses a mayor race" and "Wu wins a Senate or Gov race" too. (Her second term would end in 2029, and she could choose between a probably-retiring Maura Healey and a probably-retiring Elizabeth Warren.)
We’ll see what happens
By robo
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 7:04pm
When residential property taxes increase and continue to do so to cover the commercial tax hole.
You know what will happen
By Residente
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 10:27am
She will keep winning.
Want to bet on it?!
By robo
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 10:29am
Sorry, I had to.
LOL
By cybah
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 10:49am
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Yes I came back just to say that. LOLOLOLOLOL
Welcom back cybah
By mg
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:00am
.
She will continue to succeed.
By Wizard King
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 1:41pm
She will continue to succeed.
Good for him for throwing his hat in the ring
By Plen-T-Pak
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:03am
I'm sure it's as easy as he thinks it is, and maybe by the end of the movie he'll find true love at last, then realize that was what he was looking for all along.
I am so confused by these
By anon
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:38am
I am so confused by these North End restaurant owners. They seem to be living in some sort of bubble.
That said, I don't think it'd be a bad idea to eliminate parking on one or both sides of Hanover Street, widen the sidewalks, replace the concrete sidewalk with brick, and allow the restaurants to set up patio dining. Boston can set up a Business Improvement District to pay for it all.
He's going to find it rough to get votes
By Kaz
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:49am
On the one hand, he wants to court the "fuck Wu" vote...on the other hand, his name is "Jorge Mendoza" and those same people will want to deport him to Mexico sooner than vote for him.
Not Mexico, though he clearly is a native Spanish
By MC Slim JB
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 1:37pm
speaker and not at all one of the Italian-Americans he claims to speak for. Given the Basque-origin family name (his full surname is Mendoza-Iturralde,) I'd guess he immigrated to the US from Argentina.
I'm aware of this...
By Kaz
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 3:01pm
...but the people I'm talking about are not.
Which Florida city is he
By anon
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:50am
Which Florida city is he running for mayor?
Busy week for him
By Kaz
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 12:52pm
He's got a wedding coming up on Thursday next week to get ready for...and he's announcing his campaign now? Sheesh, talk about compounding your problems.
In the meantime, I wish the happy couple well. It seems like only 15 years ago when his soon-to-be wife was fresh out of college at 22 and joined the staff at Monica's where they met. He was 41 but took her under his wing and now look at them go...bride and groom.
By the way, do you think he knows he can't live in South Yarmouth and be mayor? Or do you think he lives at 4 Stillman Pl where he owns but doesn't claim the residential exemption? Or does the fact that every unit in 4 Stillman Pl appears to be rented (as far as I can tell) strongly suggest that Jorge isn't a resident of the city after all?
Either he doesn't live in Boston or he's too stupid to claim residency...either way not a strong start for his campaign to get my vote...
What can he offer? All
By Rwgfy
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 1:00pm
What can he offer? All conceivable tzars and offices have been created already.
Why?
By Angel
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 1:55pm
Why run for Mayor of Boston when he can lead a secession effort? Clearly, lack of outdoor dining in the North End is the civil rights issue of our time! I can't wait to see his outreach to Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan.
Seriously...the knives have been out for Mayor Wu since election night. There's racism here, but it's not coming from the Mayor.
I wholeheartedly support
By erik g
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 2:07pm
this chucklehead's plan to burn through a bunch of his own money tilting at windmills, and then pull 3% of the vote in the general election.
Vote the straight ticket
By Hardy Har Har
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 5:06pm
Donnie 'Punchy' Palmer, 8th CD
Catherine Vitale, councilor-at-very large
Shawn Nelson, councilor-at-large
WU has a solid base
By sully W
Wed, 05/29/2024 - 6:24pm
WU has a solid base throughout all the Boston neighborhoods LGBTQ crowd , the Elderly, the Hispanics love her , and all the political power makers in City will continue to back her.
The thing I find most
By Bob Leponge
Thu, 05/30/2024 - 10:35am
The thing I find most hilarious about the whole "Wu hates the North End" trope, is that, by placing some limits on privatization of public sidewalk space, she gave the North End something that the North End, by which I mean the people who actually live there) had been asking for. That the decision annoyed some of the out-of-town business owners who operate restaurants there, is a different matter entirely.
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