Arroyo's son seeks seat on council
He'd be city's 2d Latino after dad
Felix G. Arroyo, the 29-year-old son of former Boston City Councilor Felix D. Arroyo, has launched a campaign for an at-large City Council seat.
Arroyo is a former union organizer and City Council staff member making his first bid for public office. He would be the second Latino member in the council's history, the first being his father, who lost a reelection bid in 2007 after five years in office.
"I think it's important that the legislative body of the city of Boston be reflective of the folks who live in this city, but that goes beyond race," the younger Arroyo said.
Arroyo has taken his father's website, www.felixarroyo.com, and one of the first donations of his campaign, $500, came from his father last month, state campaign finance records show.
Arroyo says his father told him that running for office is "not a decision to be taken lightly."
Born in the South End, Arroyo was raised in Hyde Park and lives in Jamaica Plain with his wife, who teaches in the Boston public schools. He works as a field director on universal health care issues for the advocacy group Northeast Action.
Voters at some Boston-area polls were greeted Tuesday with fliers for Arroyo's nascent campaign.
"This whole election process we went through as a country inspired me that there's a real desire for folks to be active," Felix G. Arroyo said. "We felt like that's the type of campaign we'd like to run."
Giovanna Negretti, executive director of the statewide nonprofit ¿Oiste? which helps elect Latinos to political office, said that issues of concern to Latino residents of the city - including the dropout rate, gang activity, and immigration - have not been adequately discussed on the council. She said Felix G. Arroyo has previously served on the board of ¿Oiste? and has done training for the group. She said she knows of other Latino and black candidates considering running for City Council.
"We want to make sure the people in there are listening to those concerns and addressing them," Negretti said. "There are very few voices that do that, and the more voices we have the better."
There may be vacancies on the council next year, with two at-large councilors, Sam Yoon and Michael Flaherty, considering runs for mayor. The two others, John R. Connolly and Stephen J. Murphy, have said they plan to seek reelection.
John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com. 