Hennigan attacks, Menino parries in lunchtime encounter

Mayoral candidate Maura A. Hennigan, opening a new line of attack in an increasingly contentious campaign, accused Thomas M. Menino yesterday of sabotaging development on the stalled South Boston Waterfront because of his longtime dislike of landowner Frank McCourt.

At an unusual lunch between the candidates hosted by the Globe at the venerable Locke-Ober restaurant, Hennigan also accused Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole of negligence in last year's fatal police shooting outside Fenway Park. Several officers were suspended or demoted and one retired, after Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove was killed. O'Toole faced no disciplinary action and was praised by the victim's family for her performance.

O'Toole ''herself said that she had not reviewed the plan," Hennigan said. ''I believe that's negligence on her part, as well as on the mayor's part."

Asked if she would have taken action against O'Toole, Hennigan responded, ''If it was determined, after all parties involved, that she had not done what she should have, yes, I would have."

Countered Menino: ''She did everything she could. I wasn't on scene. I was in contact with the commissioner on that night. There were people that gave orders to do things that they shouldn't have done. They were disciplined. All of them."

In the throes of a campaign in which Menino has taken pains to avoid debates, the councilor at large and mayor accepted an invitation from the Globe to meet for an hour over lobster bisque and broiled scrod, without aides and advisers. The lunch marked the last scheduled encounter of the mayoral campaign and was the only one in which the candidates agreed to take questions from each other.

Hennigan arrived first, 10 minutes before the appointed hour, and was led by maitre d' Tony Accardi up the narrow stairs of the Downtown Crossing restaurant to a private third-floor dining room set for three. Menino arrived five minutes later, and the candidates exchanged brief pleasantries.

The mayor peeled off his jacket and took his seat next to Hennigan. When lunch arrived, he ate about half his fish, tore off a slice of flatbread from a communal plate, and later picked at his sliced carrots with his fingers. Throughout the encounter, he scanned a notecard, often contorted himself in his chair, and occasionally sighed. His voice at times took on a tone of labored impatience.

Hennigan sat ramrod straight, never touched her scrod, and only took a few spoonfuls of bisque toward the end of the hour. In an unwavering tone, she remained relentless in her attack, even taking an amorphous question -- what's your favorite place in Boston? -- and turning it into an indictment of the mayor.

It's Jamaica Pond, she said, adding that the pathways are crumbling and the waterside grass was cut only twice this year.

Asked if she should offer an apology for inaccurately accusing Menino of preparing for a trip to St. Louis last year on the night of the Snelgrove death, a trip Menino never took, Hennigan offered muted penance, but quickly added, ''What I do not apologize for is asking him to be accountable for the actions of his police force, for their lack of training."

Some of her most serious accusations involved Menino's role in the stalled development of three crucial parcels on the South Boston Waterfront: Fan Pier, Pier 4, and the adjacent, mostly inland property owned by McCourt.

Hennigan said she once asked executives at Spaulding & Slye Colliers, a local real estate development firm and a former partner on the Fan Pier project, why they never carried forth on the oft-discussed possibility of joining forces with McCourt to develop both their properties.

''What they said to me is, 'We do what the mayor asks us to do,' " Hennigan said. ''If we had had a collaboration, if the mayor had sat down with Frank McCourt, if the mayor had given him a fair shake, we would have a beautiful development going on today, which would have provided additional tax revenue, which would have provided many jobs, and which would be up and operating now, instead of just a series of parking lots."

Menino, who regards the waterfront as part of his legacy, angrily denied the charge, pointedly recounting a 90-minute meeting he had with McCourt representatives to try to explore a collaborative waterfront deal. ''I said: 'Bring all three together because you have all that land there. What a great development you could have.' That was initiative that I had."

The one-on-one luncheon session was at times jocular, specifically when Menino said he voted for Hennigan when she sought reelection two years ago. He said it with a smile, his assertion impossible to prove or disprove.

Hennigan turned toward Menino with a look of disbelief and said, ''That's nice to hear."

Mostly, though, the two looked at each other rarely and begrudgingly, though they sat but a few feet apart. Hennigan repeatedly prodded and sometimes scolded, blaming Menino for lackluster schools, rising crime rates, poor property assessments, and even accusing him of concealing the city's financial ledgers.

Menino fell back on a consistent mantra: That things weren't yet where he wanted them to be, but they were better -- in some cases, vastly -- than when he began. Crime rates were down from when he arrived in the mayor's suite 12 years ago, and student test scores were up. He repeatedly stressed the city's strong bond ratings, and pressed Hennigan on how she planned to fund her myriad proposals. He said he sought a fourth term to finish development on the waterfront, oversee better healthcare for members of minority groups, and continue reforms in the city schools.

''I take full blame for anything that happens in the city," Menino said in a discussion of crime. ''But we also have to have a sense of civility in our neighborhoods, the sense of responsibility between the community, the police and everyone else out there."

On funding her various proposals -- adding upward of 400 additional police officers, for example -- Hennigan remained vague, saying only that she would tighten and improve property assessments on such parcels as Fan Pier.

The two could not even agree on the city's surplus. Hennigan asserted that it is more than $200 million and should, in part, be spent on programs. Menino produced a letter from the state Department of Revenue saying it stands at $56 million.

The only point of agreement between the two appeared to be around the choice of a school superintendent to replace the retiring Thomas W. Payzant. Both said it would be the most important decision the mayor will make.

Menino lavished praise on Payzant, though he hinted that he would like the next superintendent to be more mindful of public and community relations.

Concluding the lunch, Hennigan was asked about her reputation as being loose with facts. First, she said, ''my facts are usually very strong." Then she added: ''None of us are infallible, and everyone does make mistakes. But when you make it, you admit it, and you move forward."

Menino, in turn, was asked about his longstanding image of being thin-skinned. With his face flushing slightly, he dismissed it, saying, ''I don't believe I'm thin-skinned. But it's one of the things I try to avoid is trying to be reacting as quickly as I did in the past."

Then, with the questions over, the visibly relieved mayor reached his hand toward Hennigan. As they shook, he called her ''Pal."