New hats in the ring

Anthony L. Dantona Sr. of East Boston is an emphatic man who walks with a cane, worries about UFOs, and is ''so upset about what is happening in this country" that, at age 78, he has decided to run for the district City Council seat being vacated by Paul J. Scapicchio.

He's equipped with pamphlets and about a dozen lawn signs left over from an unsuccessful bid for an at-large seat more than a decade ago.

''I'll have to do some adjusting," Dantona said of the fact that the campaign materials don't mention the office he now seeks.

After some reflection, he added: ''It may be too much trouble. I'll just let it stay as it is."

He'll have competition from candidates who include John Toby Knudsen, 34, a North End computer consultant who is descended from a signer of the Mayflower Compact and advocates a monthlong television embargo for city residents. (Point your TV toward the wall for a month and see if your life isn't better, he says in his online platform.)

He'll also face Christine Amisano, 54, of Charlestown, who calls herself ''a child of the '60s" and says she'll stop at nothing to reform city schools, except going to lots of night meetings. ''I am not into staying out five or six nights a week," she said. ''That won't be happening."

Scapicchio's departure for the private sector after eight years on the council has created an opening in the district for only the third time in 22 years, and a June 13 special election (which will be preceded by a May 16 preliminary election) has opened the gates on long pent-up political aspirants.

Six of nine candidates who took out papers have submitted the required 200 signatures to get on the May 16 preliminary election ballot, a veritable flood for a seat that has been more or less uncontested in recent years.

The neighborhoods that make up the 1st District -- East Boston, Charlestown, and the North End -- have produced some of Boston's most powerful political figures and some of its most eccentric. Senate President Robert E. Travaglini hails from East Boston, as did former state representative George DiLorenzo, who protested Logan Airport expansion by driving his car through a State Police barrier into a crowd of troopers.

House Speaker Salvatore F. Dimasi is from the North End, and so was former representative Joseph ''Jojo" Langone, who served six months in prison after assaulting a federal agent who had parked outside his family's North End funeral home without permission.

This year, the neighborhoods appear to be staying true to the record. An erstwhile candidate, Ben Joplin of the North End, ran against Scapicchio in 2003, though his name then was Ken Fowler. He said he would lead an uprising in the North End to secede from Boston and take the name Timmy. Joplin did not collect enough signatures to get on the ballot this time, however.

Several candidates in the special election race have more serious political experience.

An East Boston resident, Salvatore LaMattina, 46, director of operations for the Boston Transportation Department, formed a campaign committee six weeks ago and has a considerable army of volunteers, many veterans of Mayor Thomas M. Menino's campaigns. He has been in city government for almost 20 years, including stints as the mayor's liaison to East Boston and the North End.

LaMattina has been waiting a long time for the chance to run; he had considered running in 1993, when Diane Modica beat seven other candidates for the open seat, he said, but a daughter's health problem made him hold back. Since then, he has been active in Menino's campaigns.

His platform is now reminiscent of the mayor's, with an emphasis on issues like potholes and burned-out street lights, rather than sweeping visions.

''I'm going to be a hands-on city councilor, working the streets to address the issues in the neighborhoods," he said.

Another candidate with significant political chops is a Charlestown resident, Daniel J. Ryan, 37, who has worked for several years as an aide to US Representative Michael E. Capuano.

Ryan, who earned the nickname ''Ryno" as a tight end in a semipro football league, has handled East Boston constituent services for Capuano, often taking problems to City Hall. He said he is running for City Council because he wants to work more on local issues.

''This is a chance to . . . have more impact on day-to-day life," Ryan said.

LaMattina and Ryan have become early marks in an already fierce campaign. A Charlestown resident, Peter Borre, said he began his run for council purely to keep out LaMattina, whom he calls the mayor's ''hand-picked City Hall candidate."

''If you want a strong voice who has absolutely no ties to city government or to other politicans, consider voting for me," said Borre, 67, who cofounded the Council of Parishes to fight church closings. ''I think the city administration shows signs of fatigue after 12 years, an inability to listen, and a lack of vision."

Borre, who easily recites 17th-century church doctrine and says he is fluent in Italian and French, is counting on his connections with Catholics disenchanted by Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to help him win votes, though he says he does not want to be a one-issue, ''anti-archdiocese" candidate. ''I can speak as a citizen, as a Catholic, or both," he said.

One strategist said it will be an uphill battle for relative unknowns such as Amisano, Knudsen and Dantona. It's the kind of race in which endorsements and support from other politicians in the form of detailed voter lists and committed followers will tip the scales, political consultant Lawrence DiCara predicted. ''It's not a job for amateurs," he said, adding that he is not affiliated with any of the candidates.

Scapicchio, who is leaving his seat on April 30 to take a job with ML Strategies, the lobbying arm of the powerful law firm Mintz Levin, says he is not endorsing anyone in the race yet, preferring to watch the campaign unfold.

''It's really healthy that once in a while you have an open seat where people aren't intimidated and they can just get out there and give it a try," Scapicchio said. ''That's what democracy's all about."

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.