And less face it, with Southie going condo and the oldtimers moving out, West
Roxbury is by and far number one in the field of politics – fielding
politicians and electing politicians. And, this is just an opinion, don’t be surprised if West
Roxbury (just like Southie in the past)
goes all out to support one of its own for Mayor – namely, none other than Maura
Hennigan.
And speaking of Maura
Hennigan and the race for mayor. Last Friday
morning, I got a call from her father Jim. I love this man. He is a living
history of our city and he lives and breathes politics. He shouldn’t be doing
these things, but he can’t help it. He can’t sit on the sidelines while his
daughter runs for Mayor. “Paul” he says to me. “The Bunker Hill Day Parade is
Sunday and Maura’s marching. I’ve got 5,000 copies of a Boston Herald story. Can
you deliver them for me to Charlestown on Saturday?” I didn’t want to, but
I couldn’t say no to this great political icon of a bygone era. “Jim”, I said.
“You are the only man I know who can stop the Boston City Paper in its tracks.”
So, instead of delivering the Boston City Paper to 6,000 homes in West Roxbury on Saturday as scheduled, we put it off until
Sunday. While supervising the men in Charlestown,
I observed a lot of triple signage on Charlestown properties. Menino, Connolly and Flaherty signs formed a triage on some
but not many buildings. It would seem
to me that one person was putting up three signs at once. Now what does that
mean? Also, John Connolly and Ed Flynn had political flyers being distributed to
some homes, but again not everywhere. I mean I was up and down just about every
single street as our men delivered the Hennigan flyer.
And we hit every home on every street we did and I would say about 95% of the
homes were hit. When it was all over, I said to myself that Maura has a hidden
power that not all the voters of Boston are aware of and that is her father’s
links to the past – to the history of our fair city. For, truth be told, when he
was a member of the 5 person Boston School Committee he fought to keep the issue
of de-facto school segregation out of the courts and instead to work with the
minority community to institute change beginning with the integration of
certain, selected schools in Dorchester. His vote was in the minority. The
committee voted 3 to 2 and the case went to court and school busing is still in
effect since the day it was instituted in 1974.
But, back to the
triage. Now, I’m also being told that Mayor Menino is supporting Patricia White for election to the
Boston School Committee. And the word is also that Menino’s a strong backer of Steve Murphy. So, does this mean
that the Menino team is Flaherty, Connolly, Murphy and
White? I can only pose the question, because how could I ever know? If this is
true, I suggest that Maura Hennigan and four other
candidates for the Boston City Council seat she is giving up should sign a
“Contract for Boston” like Newt Gingrich did with
the Republican Conservative Candidates across America
(Contract With America) and which led to a Republican
Controlled House of Representatives. In unity there is
strength.
Also, I was watching the Citizens Corner TV Show on Boston Cable
TV and host Mike Bare was questioning Patricia White. White kept saying that she
was running for an open seat on the Boston City Council citywide. An open seat? That’s not necessarily so. The election is for
the voters of Boston to elect four city-wide city councilors.
Flaherty, Murphy and Arroyo do not own those seats. Murphy and Arroyo are
potentially weak candidates. Arroyo is facing a strong challenge from an
Asian-American candidate from Dorchester who is
receiving a great reception wherever he goes. And Murphy disappointed many
supporters when he failed to be elected State Treasurer. In my opinion all seats
are open seats until they are filled by voters on election
day.
Nothing is impossible in politics. Every
election is different. Third-termitis is still a
potential threat to Menino’s political health. On the
other hand, Hennigan running for Mayor has opened up
new opportunities for young people to seek political office in Boston and that
is a very healthy situation for our society in general and our city in
particular. Too many young people feel it is impossible to defeat incumbents; to
raise money when they aren’t perceived as viable threats to win and as a result
we have had fewer and fewer political candidates in the Commonwealth at every
level. So thanks Maura for bringing new life to Boston politics.
And finally, don’t figure that the
incumbent Mayor is going to get all votes of the city workers. Maura Hennigan has been around a long time. She knows these city
workers and they know her too. She’s doing the right thing too by seeking
donations of less than $50 which are not required to be publicly listed. If four
people from every city worker family were to give $50 each that would be $200 a
family. There are over 20,000 city workers. That’s a potential million dollar
donation if only 5,000 families were to give $200. Besides, I don’t see Maura
Hennigan going into City Hall as Mayor and firing city
workers. Yes, she’s going to kick out the big shot Menino loyalists but not the little guys. She’s not a
heartless human being. And besides, patronage is not what the Hennigan family has ever been about. They are their own clan
of politicians. They have always been an independent lot and never beholden to
power politicians. And yet, they have helped many politicians who sought their
support. That’s why you can’t underestimate Maura’s popularity in places where
the people actually turn out to vote – such as West
Roxbury in particular and areas like it throughout the city. When I
say every election is different, just look at this one. There will be no Mayoral
preliminary runoff election in September. All city elections are runoffs. They
are not primary elections where Democrats vote Democrat and Republicans vote
Republican and the Un-enrolled get to pick the party of their choice for that
day. In the September Municipal election the top two finishers, regardless of
party affiliation face off in the final election in November. Maura predicted
this to me a long time ago. I believed her then and the facts have proven her
correct. This hurts the Mayor because if he were to have a strong showing in the
September election, it might have hurt his opponent’s chances in November. But
there will be no election for Mayor in September. There will be no early poll of
the sentiment of the voters towards their incumbent leader. Thus, the media will
not be able to doom her candidacy because of a strong showing by the incumbent.
Yes, it is still a challenge for Hennigan, but slowly,
methodically she is going about the business of being elected the Mayor of
Boston. The press likes her. Since the day of her announcement there has never
been a shread of media negativity towards her
candidacy. Even the media people know and like this woman. They need her to make
good stories. They need that second opinion and hers is the only viable second
opinion because she’s the only opponent.
She set up the hotline for residents to
call in about holes in the streets and sidewalks after she fell and injured her
leg while walking in a parade in Mattapan in 2004. “I’ve never received such
positive press coverage for anything I’ve done in my 21 years in politics as I
did with the hotline,” she told me recently.
I’m glad there’s no parade anywhere this
weekend. I’ve got a more important job to do and that is to get the City Paper
to another 6,000 homes in West Roxbury this
weekend to help spread the news about the annual West Roxbury Days Celebration.
Time is running out. The event is June 22 to 25 and I can’t sacrifice my own
paper for another Jim Hennigan Flyer delivery. But
then, how can I say “NO” to a man who was a State Representative, a State
Senator and a Boston School Committeeman who ran for Mayor and lost and ran for
State Office and who was born on St. Patrick’s Day.
On thing’s for sure
however. When it was over that day in Charlestown, the men appreciated
the extra day’s pay and they felt
proud that in their own little way their labor with the Boston City Paper
had put them smack dab and squarely in the political process. I was proud too.
It made me more fully realize and appreciate the true power of this little
newspaper. After all, who else in this city can put a team together overnight
and deliver to 5,000 homes in Charlestown the next morning. I don’t think
that even
Mayor Menino or Congressman Steve Lynch could do it.
They’d have to plan it weeks in advance. Mayor Kevin White, I believe could have
done it in his day. He had a leader on every street in Boston. Those days are
gone. Today, signatures are obtained by paid volunteers who receive a $1 for
every signature – mostly for petitions to the state government. Handouts are
mailed, if a candidate can afford it. And the spinmasters direct all the money raised by the candidates to
TV commercials. All they want from us lowly weeklies is free news – or what they
call free media. Jim Hennigan is old school, and so am I. People to people and people helping people. It’s still what
matters the most.
Jim! Thanks for the
call.
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