Menino laments loss of key ally

Toward the end of his speech about the Senate's accomplishments yesterday, Robert E. Travaglini singled out one politician for especially heartfelt thanks.

Looking across a Senate chamber packed with current and former lawmakers, state officials, and the governor, the outgoing Senate president pointed at Mayor Thomas M. Menino and recalled how he came to his aid after he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2001.

"When my wife was confused and concerned and very upset, one man made some phone calls and put my wife at ease," Travaglini said, his voice rising with emotion. "And I have been his friend for years, but I became more of his friend when he went out of his way to make sure that I was going to be OK and my wife was comforted."

Menino and Travaglini -- Tommy and Bobby, to each other -- have been friends since both were elected to the City Council in 1983 and landed offices next to each other at City Hall. Over the years, they grew closer, dining together in Italian restaurants across the city and talking by phone five or six times a week.

Now, as Travaglini resigns and Senator Therese Murray takes over, Menino is losing one of his closest allies in the State House, where relationships often dictate politics and where Menino has sometimes struggled to find supporters. While Menino says he is friendly with Murray, their relationship is far more distant from the one he shared with Travaglini.

"We're going to miss him as our ally," Menino said yesterday, after listening to Travaglini's resignation speech. "When other people said no, he said yes."

David A. Passafaro, Menino's former chief of staff, said the mayor will find other supporters in the Senate, but none like Travaglini.

"The mayor knows all of them, on both sides of the aisle, but they don't go back 25 years; that's the difference," Passafaro said.

Like many Boston mayors, Menino has fought to be heard at the State House, which has traditionally guarded its power over cities and towns. Menino has failed to push through some of his top priorities: repeal of a local property tax exemption for telecommunications companies and passage of a law that would allow cities and towns to raise local meals taxes.

Menino now faces the additional burden of having to forge a new link to the Senate's leadership.

When they served together in City Hall, Travaglini and Menino talked 10 times a day, Passaforo said, each time one walked passed the other's office. It was a connection Menino relied on.

"Over the years, when Senator Trav went over to the State House, the talking was more by phone, 'You're never going to believe this happened,' and 'What do you think about that?' and that kind of stuff," Passafaro said. "It's been a long time that they've talked those five, six times a week about issues and stuff in the city."

Said Brian P. Lees, the former Senate Republican leader: "He and Trav, the reason they got along so well is they're hands-on, not like Mitt Romney, who didn't deem it proper because he wasn't interested in that."

Menino said he is eager to work with Murray, whom he called a "Dot girl," originally from Dorchester, and "a woman who cares, who cares about the people in our society who are the most vulnerable."

But he said that he no one could replace Travaglini, whom he called a close friend.

"I've watched him grow over the years, from a guy who did basic services to a guy who understood the issues that affected working people in Massachusetts," Menino said. "Nobody gave as much to the people who needed the help the most as Bobby Travaglini."