The two mayoral candidates joined a minority police organization today to criticize the lack of minority and women commanders in the Boston Police Department, but stopped short of saying they would not reappoint Commissioner Ed Davis.
Up until now, the candidates have mostly contented themselves with playing up their own platforms on issues. Casinos, however, change everything.
Mike Ross blasted Dan Conley for calling for a citywide referendum on the Suffolk Downs proposal and threatening to sue to stop an Everett casino if Suffolk Downs goes down in flames:
Mike Ross yesterday released a 20-page plan that starts with increased access to pre-school and other educational programs and would include a tax on gun and ammo sales in Boston to help fund more direct anti-violence programs.
The Ward 21 Democratic Committee (Allston/Brighton, Fenway) likes Mike Ross, calling him the innovation candidate.
Speaking of Allston/Brighton, John Connolly went on a bicycle tour of the neighborhoods, which have more bike collisions than any others, this morning. Connolly says as mayor, he'd add money to the city budget for dedicated "cycle tracks."
The Jamaica Plain Gazette interviews Charlotte Golar Richie about why she wants to be mayor.
First Ward Committee to Endorse in Mayoral Race
Boston, MA -- The Ward 21 Democratic Committee officially endorsed Councilor Mike Ross for Mayor on Thursday. The committee, made up of Democratic activists from parts of the Allston, Brighton, and Fenway neighborhoods, cited Ross’ innovative ideas as key to the endorsement.
“Councilor Ross stood out in a field of several qualified candidates as the one most able to use innovative ideas to create jobs, improve our schools, and modernize government,” said Lauren Mattison, the Committee Chair. “We’re excited to spend the rest of this campaign making phone calls, knocking on doors, and telling people why Mike Ross is the best candidate for Mayor.”
Nine of the 12 candidates for Mayor filled out the Committee’s questionnaire, which addressed topics such as education, housing, institutional expansion, open space, and transportation. Those candidates, including Charlotte Golar Richie, John Connolly, and Bill Walczak spoke to the community before the Committee vote on Thursday. In the end, Councilor Ross received more than enough votes to qualify for an endorsement.
The Herald reports on the first round of polling by itself and Suffolk University.
One sage pundit quoted as wondering when Deval Patrick will start knocking some heads together to try to get at least one of the "progressive" minority candidates into the final.
David Bernstein notes the poll skews white, with 64% of respondents saying that's what they were.
Among those in the second tier: Dan Conley, whose campaign announced it will start running a series of TV spots, including this one on guns:
The Dorchester Reporter alerts us that Felix Arroyo is buying spots on Univision and Telemundo.
Meanwhile, Mike Ross is concentrating on an Old Spice Guy-like series of 12-second Instagram video replies to questions posed to him via social media, as well as answers to questions you probably realize after the fact you would have loved to ask him, such as why Good Will Hunting is the greatest Boston movie ever:
*The following is the ballot order for the September 24, 2013 Preliminary Election for Boston Mayor:
1. Charles L Clemons Jr
2. Bill Walczak
3. Charles Calvin Yancey
4. Rob Consalvo
5. Charlotte Golar Richie
6. Michael P Ross
7. Martin J Walsh
8. John R Connolly
9. Felix G Arroyo
10. David James Wyatt
11. Daniel F Conley
With 86 days to go to the September 24, 2013 Preliminary Election, the following list is the Power Rankings of Boston Mayoral Candidates as July 1, 2013. Just to note, David Portnoy, John Laing, and Robert Cappucci who had been ranked previously did not make the ballot and thus have been eliminated:
1. John R Connolly, West Roxbury (Ward 20, Precinct 10)
2. Martin J Walsh, Savin Hill (Ward 13, Precinct 10)
3. Charlotte Golar Richie, Meeting House Hill (Ward 15, Precinct 3)
4. Daniel F Conley, West Roxbury (Ward 20, Precinct 20)
5. Rob Consalvo, Hyde Park (Ward 18, Precinct 18)
6. Felix G Arroyo, Jamaica Plain (Ward 19, Precinct 7)
7. Charles L Clemons Jr Dorchester (Ward 14, Precinct 4)
8. Michael P Ross, Mission Hill (Ward 10, Precinct 5)
9. Bill Walczak, Savin Hill(Ward 13, Precinct 10)
10. Charles Calvin Yancey, Mattapan (Ward 17, Precinct 3)
11. John F Barros, Uphams Corner(Ward 13, Precinct 5)
12. David James Wyatt, Roxbury (Ward 11, Precinct 2)
ANALYSIS of MAYORAL CANDIDATE RANKINGS
1. John R Connolly, West Roxbury (Ward 20, Precinct 10) (Previous Rank #2)
John Nucci contemplates the possibility that the "young, professional, tech-savvy non-native Bostonians" filling once somnolent downtown and waterfront streets could swing the election for their fellow young, professional, tech-savvy non-native Bostonian Mike Ross - if he can convince them to actually vote, that is, since it seems they are too busy being young and professional and tech-savvy to get involved in local politics.
At a forum sponsored by several local educational groups today, candidates for mayor agreed that Boston public schools need a longer school day and need to be freed from the shackles of an oppressive central administration at Court Street.
Bill Walczak said innovation and great teaching come from "autonomous" schools without the heavy boot of downtown pressing them down. John Connolly said Court Street "just seems to lose a billion dollars a year. ... They don't do much well."
Mike Ross plans to officially, really, no, this time he means it, kick off his campaign for mayor tomorrow by staying up for 25 hours.
"I will be bringing my campaign to the leaders and neighbors of communities across Boston to focus on the issues that mater to them and learn from their own work to help me bring the best ideas and solutions to City Hall," Ross says in a statement. And, indeed, his daylight schedule is filled with grip-and-grin meetings with advocacy groups, his supporters, Bruins fans and the like. But we're no New York, so what's Ross going to do when the DPW officially rolls up our sidewalks?
The City Council on Wednesday considers a request by Councilor and mayoral candidate Mike Ross for a hearing to grill NStar officials about the Sunday blackout, which he said came "despite assurances of safety upgrades and additional installation of materials to prevent future outages" following last year's transformer explosion and outage.
Ross represents the Back Bay and Fenway, which have been particularly hard hit by the blackouts.
Both Touch 106.1FM Radio King Charles Clemons and former Boston City Council President Mike Ross qualified for the September 24, 2013 Preliminary Election with an impressive 3000 plus signatures to make the ballot for Boston Mayor according to Boston Elections Commissioner Sabino Piemonte.
Clemons and Ross join Arroyo, Barros, Conley, Connolly, Consalvo, Richie, Walsh, Walzciak, Wyatt, and Yancey.
The Mayoral Contest has twelve strong candidates while the Councilor At-Large Race has 18 candidates who have qualified.
At an education debate at the Brooke charter school in Roslindale tonight, most candidates supported lifting or increasing the current cap on charter-school seats in Boston.
John Barros, Charlotte Golar Richie, Mike Ross, John Connolly, Bill Walczak and Dan Conley all said they favor increasing the number of charter seats in Boston.
Felix Arroyo, Charles Yancey and Rob Consalvo all opposed it.
David Bernstein explains why, doesn't say if the staffer at least had a sleeping bag.
Reuben Kantor, who worked for Ross when Ross served as city council president, sent out e-mail today announcing he'll be working as Bill Walczak's campaign manager:
This past week was a big week in politics here in Boston.
1. Steve Lynch will not run for Mayor.
Leading up to this past week, many speculated that 8th Congressional District U.S. Representative Stephen Lynch was using the U.S. Senate race to raise his profile so he could run for Boston Mayor. Lynch's chances were ruined by losing his hometown of Boston by a margin of 31,000 plus votes to Lynch's 28,000 plus votes.
Essentially, Markey "Al Gored" Stephen Lynch. To understand this, Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee to George W. Bush in 2000 and that was the real reason why Gore lost the presidency not because of Florida. For Lynch to have won the U.S. Senate Democratic Primary, he needed to run up the vote against Markey in Boston and this just did not happen.
2. Dewey beats Truman.
The 1st Suffolk Senate race was an unbelievable contest. My parish, St. Ann's, falls right inside this state Senate district. Three great candidates fought tooth and nail to replace Jack Hart who left his seat for a high paying job at a law firm.
If Ayanna Pressley runs for Mayor as reports are now suggesting that she may, she will undoubtably be the next Mayor.
It's a no brainer. Number one, the race is wide open for a major female candidate to run and win. There are ten men who running. Many people do vote based on gender. For instance, in the race to replace Jack Hart in the State Senate, many pundits believe that some of Nick Collin's votes will be siphered away by fellow Southie native Maureen Dahill which will allow Linda Dorcena Fory to be able to walk into office. However, I believe with two women running against Collins, the only male in the Democratic primary, many women will split their vote, while many men will vote for Collins. I'm not saying it is right, but it is a reality that gender politics is a determining factor for how many people vote in elections.
City Councilor Mike Ross, who almost fled to Newton, today jumped into the race for mayor of Boston:
This week, our Red Sox returned for their home opener, providing Bostonians with a surge of hope, optimism and renewal. Every year on Opening Day, I think back to 13 years ago, during my earliest days as a city councilor, when a small group of us stood together against powerful forces to save Fenway Park. All of Boston won that fight and look at the neighborhood today.
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