And no, this isn't one of those cliched People with Way Too Much Money and Time couples that Vows typically writes about. Meet Bill Walczak and Meg Campbell: Bound by Their Boston Neighborhood.
Bill Walczak
At Holy Name School in West Roxbury this morning, a Walsh supporter in a bowler had a nice chat with Bill Walczak about how JFK ruined the American hat industry.
Another voter dressed in her Tuesday finest to cast her vote, then exited past Dan Conley, doing a little politicking a bit closer than 150 feet to the entrance to the polls, as is the tradition there:
![Woman in hat after voting at Holy Name.](http://www.universalhub.com/images/2013/hat.jpg)
What are you seeing at the polls?
The ever tightening race for Boston Mayor has taken a new twist as Former State Representative and Former Menino and Deval Patrick Lieutenant Charlotte Golar Richie has surged into 2nd place in a new Boston Globe Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire with a plus or minus 4.8% margin of error.
The Globe reports on a forum in Dorchster last night, in which Barros, former head of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, compared the law-enforcement response to the Amy Lord murder with the response to murders in Roxbury.
In a debate that at times devolved into an incomprehensible roar as moderators did little to try to keep order, 11 candidates offered their opinions on everything from a casino vote to education. David Wyatt also attended, but spoke only during the two times he was asked a direct question.
Casino vote
John Connolly said East Boston residents will be hit far harder by a potential casino than anybody else, so they should be the ones to vote.
Dan Conley, however, says all Bostonians should vote. "It will affect our character, our culture and it needs a citywide vote." Almost said he opposed the casino when he compared it to the proposal to move the Red Sox to the South Boston waterfront. "Can you imagine if that had happened?"
Bill Walczak opposed the casino, period, called it "a public health disaster."
Charlotte Golar Richie didn't say who she feels about the vote - although she said she would oppose ramming a casino down East Boston's throat if it voted against it and the rest of the city voted for it, but said she would take some casino revenue and use it for crime prevention.
Bill Walczak has bought ad time on NECN tonight for this commercial. Why NECN tonight? It'll be broadcasting the not-Joyce-Kulhawik debate at 8 p.m. Meanwhile, Dan Conley, who hasn't really said if he's for or against a Suffolk Downs casino, might go after other candidates on the issue of a citywide referendum on the question - he's in favor of one, rather than the East Boston-only vote that Mayor Menino is backing.
Mike Ross thinks we need more fiber in our diet:
First cyborg mayor? Bill Walczak tries on a pair of Google Glass.
The Dorchester Reporter alerts us that Nick Collins is going to endorse John Connolly, rather than, say, Marty Walsh, whom the Reporter notes stayed neutral in Collins's failed state-senate bid.
Connolly will be out in front of the Apple Store on Boylston Street today to convince voters he will install a genius bar in City Hall create the kind of customer-driven attitude in City Hall that Apple customers expect, specifically, by "making city services, licensing, and permitting easier and more user-friendly."
Marty Walsh says the city needs its own Ethics Commission to ensure officials and their families don't suckle at the public teat:
Mike Ross says he's with the striking fast-food workers:
This morning, I stood with striking fast food workers in support of their efforts to fight for higher wages. I want to make Boston the best city in America in which to do business, but I also want to make sure that all of those businesses pay a living wage and treat their employees fairly. Strong communities are filled with people who can provide for themselves and their families.
UPDATE: Herald says it's changed the time of its forum to "accommodate a scheduling conflict by some candidates," which is certainly an artful way to put it.
Marty Walsh, John Barros and Bill Walczak say that on the evening of Sept. 9, they'll be honoring their commitments and appearing at a mayoral forum sponsored by MassCreative, which was announced weeks ago, rather than the forum announced just yesterday by the Herald, Suffolk University and NECN.
Walsh, who has a top advisor who's pretty well known in local arts and entertainment circles, tweeted:
Bill Walczak, who says Suffolk Downs should be turned into an Innovation District instead of a casino, says Harvard should turn its vast tracts of land in Allston into an Innovation District:
I believe the residents of Allston would welcome an opportunity to work with Harvard on plans for an Allston Innovation District. The "enterprise research campus' formerly discussed with the community would provide a critically important complement to the nearby Harvard Innovation Lab and Startup Lab Boston.
David Bernstein interviews Thomas Dooley, running for the district seat Mike Ross is giving up:
I know all the city councilors, moreso the ones that were there a few years ago. They’re all cowards. They’ve allowed Mayor Menino to terrorize them for 20 years. They never stand up to him. They’re all concerned about keeping their jobs. I’m in a position, as a city councilor representing the most affluent part of Boston, I will say what needs to be said to the mayor of Boston.
Bonus for a certain UHub regular: He's the only candidate to publicly call for the deciphering of City Council stenographic records.
It's nothing but net for Rob Consalvo in his first TV ad:
Bill Walczak today called for the state to loosen civil-service rules to let BPD Commissioner Ed Davis elevate more minority and women officer to senior ranks (although the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, which wants Davis cashiered, says that's not good enough, because even with equal scores, Davis goes white).
Walczak says he wrote Gov. Deval Patrick seeking action, adds:
Bill Walczak this week became the first mayoral candidate to oppose the East Boston casino. He details why:
Bill Walczak traveled to Malibu Beach today to push an agenda for dealing with climate change by both preparing the city for a rising sea - increased protection of buffering marshes and other steps to protect local buildings and infrastructure - and decreasing the city's production of greenhouse gases.
Among his proposals: 24-hour T service and converting bus and commuter-rail lines to electric service to reduce diesel emissions.
*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)
Mayoral candidate Bill Walczak says we need Ed Davis to stay on - but ask him to develop a real-time alerting system to let residents know about crimes as they are happening in their neighborhoods. In a statement, he says:
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."
The Dorchester Reporter interviews John Barros and Bill Walczak (don't worry, they talked to Marty Walsh last month).
- Page 1
- ››
![Subscribe to Bill Walczak](https://www.universalhub.com/misc/feed.png)