Kevin wonders whether Menino's inaugural address will include this:
... I will appoint Councilor Hennigan to a new cabinet-level position called Director of I Told You So. Her responsibility will be to review every department in my administration and tell them, again, what they are doing wrong. ...
The Globe recently reported that City Councilor Michael Flaherty, who topped the at-large ballot last month and who might run for mayor in 2009, raised two-thirds of his money from outside Boston.
Interesting as far as it goes, but dagnabbit, why didn't they also tell us where Felix Arroyo's money came from? After all, he came in second on the ballot last month and he might run for mayor in 2009.
Yeah, yeah, nice that you got re-elected. Now that the coffers for your 2009 mayoral campaign are filling up, could you do your constituents a favor and buy an automated calling system that disconnects when somebody hangs up on it? Sooner or later, somebody will get a call from your automaton double thanking them for voting for you and they will hang up and then they'll have a heart attack and they'll try to dial 911 only they won't be able to because your voice is still on the phone babbling away and then they'll die. And that just wouldn't look good on the evening news.
Right here. Also check out the story about the School Committee member said he wouldn't take his seat if he won, what with an A&B charge hanging over his head, only he won and now he refuses to say if he really won't serve.
The Globe wraps up the results and quotes former City Councilor Larry DiCara that this mandate will let Menino restructure city government (as opposed to his previous mandates?).
Polls may show dissatisfaction with the state of the city, but you wouldn't know it from the results - Menino beat Hennigan 2-1 - overwhelming not only the hapless city councilor but people who either voted for her or cast blanks as a protest against the nascent Imperial Mayor.
On the city council, the big news is the election of Sam Yoon to an at-large seat. First Asian-American to hold such a seat. Felix Arroyo came in second to vote machine Michael Flaherty. For me, the big surprise was Steve Murphy's re-election. After his shellacking in the sheriff's race last year, he seemed to be on his way out. Shows you what I know - and how important the union vote still is in this town. At the district level, South Boston's Jimmy Kelly easily swamped the South End's Susan Passoni, as West Roxbury's John Tobin did to Jamaica Plain's Gibran Rivera (hmm, imagine if, somehow, JP and the South End were joined in a single district).
So what's it all mean?
John Connolly, or, at least, his sign, towers over other candidates at the Holy Name School in West Roxbury.
Around 8 this morning, the school, which houses a polling station with one of the highest turnouts in the city, was a beehive of activity. There were few voters, but plenty of politicians (and a Fox 25 news crew), all of them ignoring that quaint law requiring them to stand, oh, 75 or 150 feet away from the entrance to the polling place. Incumbent at-large Councilor Steve Murphy and wannabe at-large Councilor Matt O'Malley bracketed the stairs to the entrance (O'Malley even introduced himself to voters exiting the polls).
Murphy anxiously awaits the next voter:
What would an election-day hotspot be without a visit from Hizzoner?
Adrian Walker hauls out the newcomer cliche column and doesn't say anything new about people like Sam Yoon and Susan Passoni, just that they are new.
Adam explains why he'll be voting for Hennigan, Arroyo, Yoon, Connolly and O'Malley.
In a Globe interview, Tom Menino says he has some creative ideas for public housing:
Q: Can you suggest -- can you mention some of those new ideas?
A: No, why should I do it before the election?
John is outraged:
... That response is a kick in the teeth to anyone living in the city of Boston. It is insulting and arrogant. ...
The focus of the Globe story was that almost every city employee who has made a donation has made it to Menino. That would be 438 of 440 employees who "have been identified" on campaign records. But there are 16,000 city employees.
That would be Joe Ureneck, who, for whatever reasons, never even bothered to try to run in the September preliminary and so is running as a write-in candidate on Tuesday (which I know thanks to his citywide mailing). Check out his Web site to see how he manages to make Ed Flynn look like a flaming liberal (be sure to check out his essay on the Common Sense of Senator Santorum).
Bay Windows interviewed Ureneck a couple months back.
Tuesday's election could mean a city council more willing to consider things like an elected school committee and rent stabilization, the Globe suggests. Over my dead body, John fumes - at least, when it comes to rent stabilization.
The South End News endorsed Susan Passoni in the District 2 race; Menino for Mayor; and Felix Arroyo, Patricia White, Matt O'Malley and Michael Flaherty in the At-Large race. The newspaper does not have a Web site. Here's the editorial:
editorial
Boston City Council endorsements
This year’s crop of candidates for Boston City Council is the strongest we’ve seen in years. Voters are better off for it. When we go to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 8, we’ll have an opportunity to send new energy, ideas and passion to Boston’s much-maligned City Council.
One of the themes emerging from the At-Large race is that the Council is only as strong as its members make it. Although the Council’s powers technically reside just in its authority to approve the Mayor’s budget, the Council is a powerful bully pulpit from which to push policy ideas and endorse social movements.
Bay Windows endorsed Mayor Menino for reelection ("[I]t's hard to think of another big-city mayor who is more supportive of LGBT rights than Menino.") and Susan Passoni ("[I]t is long past the time that the South End, home to one of the city's highest concentrations of gay residents, was represented by someone who sees LGBT people as equally deserving of Constitutional rights as every other citizen.") for District 2 City Councilor.
In the At-Large race, the paper endorsed Matt O'Malley, Michael Flaherty, Patricia White and Felix Arroyo. Click
Greetings,
My name is Paul Rice, and I'm the managing editor for Spare Change News, an alternative newspaper in the Boston area serving the homeless community.
My purpose here is two-fold: first, to include our campaign coverage among the various posts here on how the media are portraying the city election -- the latest edition of SCN has in-depth coverage of the election that readers should find useful in determining how they will vote November 8th. We have profiles of various candidates, as well as answers to eight questions we submitted to the mayoral and at-large candidates that cover issues other publications ignore.
Less than resounding endorsement from the Phoenix, but better than nothing: basically, Menino's gotten soft and tired and Hennigan's at least as qualified as Menino was 12 years ago. Also getting the paper's nod: Sam Yoon, John Connolly, Patricia White and Felix Arroyo. As well as Susan Passoni in the South End/South Boston, John Tobin, sort of, in JP and West Roxbury and Jerry McDermott in Allston/Brighton.
A rare two-fer: Both the Globe and the Herald endorse Menino - but caution him against fourth-term backsliding.
Maura Hennigan rolls out new TV ads that portray Boston as completely unprepared for earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorists and the release of bioweapons.
Will Councilor Charles Yancey endorse Hennigan today?
The Globe makes its at-large endorsements: Connolly, Yoon, Arroyo and Flaherty.
Will progressives and minority voters bullet vote for Arroyo and Yoon (to help the former get more votes than Flaherty and the latter get on the council)? Will Maura Hennigan be able to pay off her second mortgage?
Meanwhile, the Globe makes endorsements in district council races - all incumbents except for Susan Passoni in the South End/South Boston.
Above right: Artist's rendition of Felix Arroyo, if Arroyo dressed up as a pirate for Halloween.
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