Council contenders split over drug tests for city firefighters
Several willing to take on union
Candidates running for four at-large seats on the Boston City Council are divided on whether the city should require firefighters to undergo random drug and alcohol testing and whether it should take on the powerful firefighters union.
Of the nine candidates vying for the at-large seats in the citywide election Tuesday, five said they would not approve funding for a union contract unless it included a provision allowing the city to conduct random testing.
Incumbents Felix Arroyo and Michael Flaherty said the firefighters' new contract, which has been in negotiation since the last one expired in July 2006, should contain mandatory testing.
"I would want a uniform policy for both police and fire that includes testing and all available resources to help provide treatment for people in these high-stress jobs," West Roxbury lawyer and candidate John Connolly said.
Incumbent Councilors Sam Yoon and Stephen J. Murphy disagree. Murphy said it isn't his job to question union contracts, and Yoon said he supports labor unions, which historically have opposed testing.
The issue surfaced recently when autopsy results indicated that two firefighters were impaired when they died fighting a restaurant fire in August, according to two government officials briefed on the results. Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed at the time to demand testing in the current round of contract negotiations, and convened another outside panel to look into substance abuse policies in the Fire Department.
Positions on drug testing were among the questions the Globe asked all the candidates in telephone interviews this week, and they had similar answers on many of the issues.
For example, six said crime or youth violence is the most pressing problem the city faces. Six said the council needs to exercise more power, hold the administration accountable more often, or focus more on having an impact on city governance.
More than any other, however, the drug-testing question divided candidates. The council is responsible for reviewing union contracts negotiated by the administration and approving funding for their implementation. In recent years, city watchdogs say, the council has become something of a rubber stamp, approving funding for every contract without review.
"They also should be having hearings to fully understand what's in the contracts, but they don't," said Samuel L. Tyler, president of the business-funded Boston Municipal Research Bureau.
An outside commission recommended several years ago that the city institute random drug and alcohol testing of firefighters, but the city has not implemented the recommendation in two union contracts since.
If the new contract does not include testing, Flaherty, Arroyo, and challengers Connolly, Martin J. Hogan, and David James Wyatt said they would not vote to fund it. Murphy, Yoon, and challengers Matthew Geary and William Estrada said they would.
The candidates also weighed in on Menino's job performance and what they would do if elected to improve city governance and hold him more accountable. The City Council is designed to be the legislative check on the executive power of the mayor, with the council's primary power being the right to reject the mayor's annual budget.
Geary, a college student from Dorchester, questioned the mayor's policies on development, and said he would use the council's power to vote down land deals and projects that he felt were not in the best interests of average city residents.
Flaherty said that if he is reelected, he would push Menino for more funding of antiviolence initiatives.
"I don't think the mayor realizes the gravity of the violence, crime, and substance abuse that is terrorizing our streets and neighborhoods," Flaherty said. "The homicide rates are not going down, the gangs are not going away, and, yet, we are still scrambling for a real response that restores peace to all neighborhoods."
Arroyo's stance is similar. He believes the mayor is "too cautious" and said he would push for him to fund more antiviolence initiatives.
"I think there is a way where we can be very responsible for the budget but at the same time do more for prevention and intervention," Arroyo said.
Wyatt, a former newspaper deliveryman from Roxbury, said he would question the mayor's allocation of police resources as well.
"It's possible that the areas of the inner city that are blighted by crime may not be served as quickly and as well as the other areas of the city," Wyatt said.
Yoon and Connolly said they believe Menino often stifles constructive dialogue in an effort to avoid conflict and criticism that may become public, something they hope will change.
"I wish the mayor would listen to the council more because I think it would lead to more ideas and policies that would help families stay and remain in the city," said Connolly, who said he would speak openly with the administration if elected.
"Disagreement and sometimes even conflict produces creative solutions and outcomes," Yoon said.
Estrada, a meat packer from East Boston, said he believes the mayor is improperly influenced by real estate developers and big companies, to the detriment of average citizens. Estrada said he would try to organize working-class residents in an effort to combat that influence.
In addition to the at-large councilors, three district councilors will be fighting to keep their seats Tuesday: City Council President Maureen Feeney of Dorchester, and councilors Charles Yancey of Mattapan and Chuck Turner of Roxbury. In Allston-Brighton, Mark Ciommo and Gregory J. Glennon are vying for the district seat being vacated at the end of this year by Councilor Jerry McDermott. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com. 