City Council endorsements
TURNOVER IS healthy for the Boston City Council, a 13-member body with limited statutory power but enough clout to address inequities in city services and enough visibility to keep the mayor accountable. When a challenger with impressive energy and experience comes along, voters should take special notice. One such candidate is John Connolly of West Roxbury, a 34-year-old attorney and former teacher with citywide appeal. The Globe endorses his bid on Nov. 6 for one of four at-large council seats. We make no recommmendations for the other at-large seats.
Connolly, who ran unsuccessfully in 2005, is seeing the cumulative effects of crime in many neighborhoods where despair over gun violence is "chipping away at the soul of the city." Connolly understands and articulates the interplay of public safety, good schools, and stable neighborhoods. Much of that knowledge stems from his experience teaching poor students on the Lower East Side of New York City, where tough course work, extended day programs, strong after-school activities, and mandatory weekend and summer programs helped to transform young lives. That kind of know-how is needed on the council if Boston is ever to meet statewide academic standards that require children from disadvantaged families to perform at the levels of wealthy students in elite schools.
Connolly believes improvements in education and safety can be made without large increases in property taxes by compelling tax-exempt colleges and nonprofit groups to invest more time and money in their host city. He promises to be "a voice for people who want to build a life in this city." Bostonians would do well to listen and put him to work.
The Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston is experiencing the exodus of middle class families at disturbing rates, including the family of incumbent district Councilor Jerry McDermott. Voters now have a chance to stabilize their neighborhoods by electing Mark Ciommo, 50, to the open seat. Ciommo's roots are deep in the neighborhood and his civic accomplishments are long. He has served in executive roles at both the Jackson Mann Community Center and the Veronica B. Smith Multi-Service Senior Center, two institutions that provide a sense of order in the district. The Globe endorses his candidacy.
The expansion plans of Harvard University in Allston and Boston College in Brighton rile many residents. But a steady chorus of criticism rarely accomplishes much. Ciommo won't be pushed around, but he knows when it is time to draw the line and when it is time to negotiate with Harvard for community benefits and traffic mitigation. Even in Brighton, where Ciommo opposes the construction of a new BC dorm on land formerly owned by the Archdiocese of Boston, he suggests an alternative site. That's better than digging himself and the neighborhood into a hole.
