Kosta Demos Wants Charter Reform to Make Boston City Council and Mayor Equal

Kosta Demos is one of five candidates running for the vacant Boston City Council District 6 seat. Former City Councilor John Tobin stepped down in August. There will be a special preliminary election on Oct. 19 to get down to candidates. The special election to select the District 6 councilor will be on Nov. 16. District 6 includes West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.

What is the number one issue facing the city of Boston?

I refuse to engage in false reductionism – there is no single problem in Boston that supersedes all others. I prefer to list a few that I feel are inter-related. 1) Lack of transparency and accountability: The city's operations are overly centralized under the control of the mayor's office which functions largely without oversight and accountability. The council and the mayor's office should be co-equal branches of government. Charter and electoral reform are overdue.

2) Fiscal vulnerability: While the city's bond rating remains strong (and I grant the Mayor due credit on this), the state legislature maintains a stranglehold on the city's finances. We need expanded home rule in order to explore and exploit new funding streams.  The current reliance on the property tax is untenable and regressive.

3) Crisis of confidence at BPS: Our school system is over-stressed and under-funded. And the rejection of the BPS by middle and upper middle class families has created a new crisis of ethnic and racial division. I think we may need a "start from zero" approach under the leadership of a School Committee and Superintendent appointed subject to peer review and insulated from mayoral whims and vendettas… and that's just my top three.

What is the number one issue facing West Roxbury?

Again, I refuse to be confined to just one: 1) Education: See above and add the urgent desire for walk-to schools. 2) Housing/property stabilization: Walking the district, I've been startled and moved by how many people have related similar tales of woe concerning over-reaching mortgages and equity loans, about diminished or evaporated employment and the struggle to maintain payments on houses and condos. The symptoms of the recent market collapse may not be as readily visible in West Roxbury as in other parts of the city, but they are real and painful nonetheless. There are many families in the district walking the razor's edge to hold onto their homes. 3) Transportation and planning: West Roxbury needs a wider array of transit options to help free people from automobile dependence (for more, see my notes on the T below). On the planning front, I believe that more mixed use development along Centre and Spring street would do a lot to enliven the neighborhood, both commercially and socially. I also think that the proposal to widen the sidewalks along the commercial strip is a good idea.

What experiences in your private or work life have prepared you to serve on the council?

As someone with a strong background in the arts, I think I'd bring a better than average capacity for creative problem solving to the job. And my time spent on various boards and committees has enhanced my listening skills. Public advocacy has definitely given me a working familiarity with many of the issues facing the council.

Would you hold regular office hours with district residents?

Yes.

Which current member of the council do you think your votes would most resemble? 

Probably Arroyo.

How would you have voted on the Boston Fire Department contract?

No.

Which city program or agency is most in need of protection from cuts?

The schools.

Is there waste in the city budget? If so, where?

Yes, of course. The most visible drain is the proliferation of redundant posts filled by political appointment. But of far greater concern are the myriad operational oversights – small instances of neglect or carelessness - that accumulate when no one's looking. A good example, say, would be the D.P.W. pole yard down the street from me that has had its sodium floodlights on 24/7 for at least 15 years. This sort of stuff really adds up. I think a top to bottom administrative audit would do this town a world of good. I am also dismayed by the millions of dollars the city spends defending itself in court. When the administration screws up, they should take a deep breath, settle, then move on.

What do you think of Mayor Menino's administration?

Let's just say I'm unenthusiastic.

How will you work with him on district issues?

The same way I would with anyone else: politely, respectfully, but firmly.

Did you vote for Menino or Michael Flaherty in the election last Fall?

I worked on the Yoon campaign and subsequently backed Flaherty.

What should be done to improve the Boston Public School system? 

Rebuild Court Street from the ground up. Really. 

Did you support the state's recent education reform package?

Not happily. I liked some elements – the "innovation schools", for instance - but the continuing overemphasis on ratcheting up standardized test scores is taking a terrible toll on our kids, both intellectually and culturally.

Does the MBTA serve Boston and District 6 well? What public transportation changes would you work to achieve?

I am a regular rider on the Orange Line and am generally quite satisfied. However, I think that Roslindale and West Roxbury are badly underserved by the T. While travel into the center of the city is relatively easy by hopping on the system at Forest Hills or taking the Commuter Rail into Dewey Square downtown, bus service to nearby and contiguous communities is execrably unreliable. Bad service forces more people into cars to drive to relatively close destinations, which makes traffic worse, which in turn makes it more difficult to run the buses on a reliable schedule. It's a vicious circle. This is why I am a strong supporter of the MAPC's "urban ring" transit extension plan, and why I also support the restoration of light rail service to several key metropolitan corridors.

Is there an "epidemic" of violent crime in Boston? How would you address public safety city-wide and in District 6?

Boston has recently experienced an up-tick in property crimes and so-called "crimes of opportunity" that is historically consistent with other periods of sharp economic contraction. To a certain extent this is predictable, and I think that the BPD has responded with appropriate vigilance. What I'm most disturbed by is the dramatic surge in deadly gun violence citywide, mostly committed by youthful offenders. We know that outreach and intervention to adolescents at risk can be really effective as a deterrent to this kind of violence. But such intensive, one-on-one street work is expensive, as is the institutional support it requires. And access to cheap guns is a national problem that has been worsened by recent Supreme Court rulings in support of unfettered access to firearms.

Does the Boston Redevelopment Authority work well for the city?

No.

Should it be reformed? 

Yes.