Mayoral candidate proud of union nod

CONTRARY TO your May 20 Short Fuse editorial "Politics: Endorsement or kiss of death," I am not "beholden" to Boston Firefighters Local 718 or any union that has endorsed me in my candidacy for mayor of Boston. The only promise I have made is to treat union members with professional respect and guarantee honest and fair interactions and negotiations. The fact is, the firefighters union supports drug and alcohol testing as an important safety measure of the job. The delay on testing that you cite is due, not to a disagreement from the firefighters, but to the current mayor's inability to establish and implement this policy. If I am elected mayor, there will be mandatory drug and alcohol testing for all members of Local 718, a fact known to the firefighters prior to their endorsement. Local 718 and I won't always agree, but I will make the tough decisions that bring forth reform, decisions that the current administration has failed to make even after it was given a road map by the O'Toole Commission report almost a decade ago.