A fresh idea for the mayor
Even some of Mayor Thomas M. Menino's close associates were surprised when the newly reelected mayor used his victory speech Tuesday night to launch into a pledge to invigorate his fourth term with new faces and fresh ideas.
Neither, after all, has been much of a Menino hallmark, especially during his third term, when ideas have been hard to come by and when even his administration's signature strengths, such as public works and public safety, have seemed to be in decline.
Menino's comments echoed other sweeping statements about the need for innovation; he has just been unable to muster the will to do much about it.
Partly this is a reflection of the mayor's personality. Throughout his time in office, he has struggled with personnel decisions, then struggled to feel comfortable with the people he brought aboard. I chuckled during the last police commissioner search when some said the mayor knew all along whom he wanted to hire. You might have to know him to understand just how far out of character that would be.
None of this is to diminish Menino's accomplishments as mayor. He has been effective and occasionally inspired. He has sustained a phenomenal level of personal popularity for over a decade. He is all over the city, all the time, and has a visceral feel for his constituents' cares and concerns that few politicians can match.
That said, this began to feel like a tired administration some time ago. The Democratic National Convention gave it a sense of purpose, for a year or so. But Menino's administration has otherwise floundered for a full four years, and that's a long time to drift.
I'm far from the only person who feels that way. ''One message we got loud and clear in the campaign," one Menino confidante said Tuesday, ''is that people don't think enough is going on. They don't want us resting on our laurels."
Menino's entire mayoralty has been built on quality-of-life issues. In the 1990s he rode plunging crime rates and good fiscal health to the first unopposed reelection in the city's history.
Things are significantly less sunny now. In the past month alone, two elderly women have died in apparent robbery attacks: one on a street in South Boston, the other in a high-rise near Symphony Hall.
Nothing will erode people's feeling of well-being like anxiety over crime. The sense that this issue has escaped the grasp of the mayor and his administration is palpable.
If fatigue accounts for the seeming disengagement, it may be understandable. This city has had only three mayors in the past 37 years, which may be some kind of record. But stability can be overrated.
Menino once said he would serve for only two terms. Then he said he meant he would serve only two terms a century. Now he says he can't rule out another run in 2009.
If the downward trend of his second and third terms is any indication, a fifth term would be a calamity. I'm not saying he should become a lame duck immediately; that would simply spark a different kind of crisis. But 16 years (and change) is plenty. This should be it.
And it's time to rethink the whole notion of the open-ended mayoralty. There was once a natural life cycle to a mayor's time in office. No more. Over the past four decades, the notion of a permanent mayor has been enshrined, without, seemingly, anyone giving it a lot of thought.
Obviously, Menino alone is not responsible for this development. But he should be the last mayor to enjoy the corner office for years on end. There's a much more effective way to invigorate the city than hiring new aides, and that would be for the City Council to impose a two-term limit on the mayor's office and for Menino to sign it.
That could be his greatest legacy.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. he can be reached at walker@globe.com.
