Democrats Endorse 3 Incumbents for At-Large Seats

Three of Boston’s incumbent candidates won the endorsement of the Ward 5 Democratic Committee following a City Council At-Large candidate forum Tuesday evening.

The state of Boston Public Schools, city cleanliness and environmental sustainability were the major themes of the night as three of the four incumbents and three challengers vied for one of the four City Council seats that will be up for grabs in November. 

Current City Councilors At-Large Felix Arroyo, John Connolly and Ayanna Pressley won the Ward 5 endorsement while fellow incumbent Stephen Murphy, who is currently serving as the City Council president, was six votes short of the 16 needed for an endorsement.

The event attracted a variety of public officials, media outlets and Ward 5 Democrats, who packed a meeting room in the Back Bay’s First Church of Boston as city councilor incumbents and their challengers went head-to-head in a forum moderated by Boston Phoenix reporter David Bernstein.  

Ward 5 consists of all or parts of Boston’s Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Bay Village and Fenway neighborhoods.

Pressley was unable to attend the forum. In a letter to Ward 5 members, Pressley apologized and explained she was at her mother’s bedside, whom she wrote is currently, “fighting for her life.”

Former City Councilor At-Large Michael Flaherty, as well as Hyde Park’s Will Dorcena and Jamaica Plain’s Sean Ryan did not receive enough votes for an endorsement.

Scott Brown Challenger

Mayor Setti Warren of Newton addressed the crowd before the forum began to discuss his campaign to challenge U.S. Senator Scott Brown for his seat in Congress during the state’s November election. 

Warren is a Democrat and Iraq war veteran who previously served in the Clinton administration and as the New England Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  He said Brown marketed himself as an independent voice but has primarily voted with a Republican agenda and has not worked to serve the interest and values of Commonwealth residents.

“A guy rides around in a pickup truck, wears a bar jacket and just looks like a guy who you ‘want to have a beer with’. We’ve seen this movie before, folks,” Warren said, describing how Brown’s likeability does not mean he is the best candidate to represent the Bay State.

Boston Public School System

The quality of the Boston public school system was repeatedly discussed throughout the forum. All of the candidates agreed that the poor quality and reputation of the city’s public schools – as well as the scarcity of locations – is largely responsible for driving young families out of the city. The school lottery system, which randomly selects children who will be placed in a handful of Boston’s well-regarded public schools, was particularly under attack.

“By definition, it means some children win and others lose,” said Connolly.

Ryan, who attended the city’s public schools for 14 years, has based much of his platform on school improvement.  The young challenger, who has taught in the public school system and is currently a member of the Boston Teacher’s Union, advocated doing away with the assignment system and investing in – and creating more - neighborhood schools in order provide equal educational opportunities for all of the city’s public school students,

“Right now, only people with no other options are left in the [Boston Public School] system,” he said.

Recycling and Trash

Arroyo, Connolly and Dorcena were all in support of installing recycling bins across the city as a way of decreasing trash build up and encouraging environmental sustainability.  Connolly, currently the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Environment and Health, said those improvements, along with other initiatives such as increasing the city’s hybrid vehicle fleet and passing the Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code, have the potential to make Boston the “greenest city in the world.”

The city’s notorious rodent problem was also mentioned, with most of the candidates saying they would support more frequent trash removal in some of Boston’s more dense neighborhoods, such as the North End.

Development

Murphy, Arroyo, Dorcena and Flaherty all cited institutional expansion and over development as one of the main issues detracting from livability in Ward 5.  Murphy said a slew of university expansion projects have the potential to turn family neighborhoods into student communities, while other candidates emphasized that while Ward 5 may be in the heart of Boston, that doesn’t mean it only consists of retail shops and business centers.

“We have to make sure developers know that people actually live in Ward 5,” Arroyo said.