The Boston City Council today deferred action on a proposal by Councilor John Tobin that would block a rumored attempt to make fellow Councilor Rob Consalvo the next mayor.

The Boston City Council agreed today to look at ways of making it harder for the nosy to see how you're voting.

Councilor John Tobin (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain), said the current system, in which people vote at little triangular platforms that look like they belong in a bank, makes it too easy for people standing at the same cluster to see how somebody's voted. And then there's the walk to the scanner box, which offers further opportunity to figure out a person's ballot, he said.

Tobin said some cities use a system in which voters sit at a table and a privacy curtain surrounds them.

Tobin's resolution.

Councilor John Tobin (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain) plans a hearing on whether the city should stiffen the penalties on people who mark up or otherwise deface "historic landmarks, monuments and structures."

Tobin says one of the reasons to get even tougher on taggers and their ilk for these violations is because graffiti can be harder to remove in general from the brick, brownstone, limestone and marble often used in such landmarks and because "cleaning graffiti from historic properties can require more testing to find the right technique and products to complete the job, which can make the removal more expensive."

Via ParkwayBoston.com.

City Councilor John Tobin (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain), will ask the council tomorrow to look at making like the MBTA and ban texting while driving.

A ban would require approval of the state Legislature to go into effect.

Tobin, who has paid for "Slow Down, Boston" signs for his constituents' lawns, says that while texting is a wonderful thing - he admits to sending dozens of text messages a day - texters are a menace to themselves and others behind the wheel:

Texting while driving severely impedes a driver’s ability to operate a motor vehicle safely. Distracted drivers make the roads more dangerous for everyone. It's time for us to take the necessary steps to protect motorists and pedestrians while they are traveling in the city’s neighborhoods.

Check out the end of this Herald article which tells how Mayor Menino and his friends joked about the e-mail scandal at a Councilor Tobin event last night. Note: the mayor was skipping an East Boston event to attend this toast.

http://tiny.cc/b9l8m

The mayor turned down the East Boston event and instead attended a ritzy gala on Newbury Street, where he was given an achievement award. Later that night he went to a 40th birthday party fund-raiser for Councilor John Tobin at a West Roxbury Elks Club.

The Herald reports that City Councilor John Tobin (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain), wants to change the city charter to keep Tom Menino from getting re-elected, engineering the elevation of the current Hyde Park city councilor to city council president, then stepping down, making the councilor the next mayor, not that Menino has ever in a million years said he would ever do something like that, mind you.

You may recall this was how Menino first became mayor, although without the engineering part, when Ray Flynn headed off to the Vatican. Menino is close with the current Hyde Park councilor, Rob Consalvo.

To replace the current system, Tobin would make the city clerk (currently, former Councilor Rosario Salerno) interim mayor until a special election.

The Herald also reports that while some (presumably on a vacation day) city workers spent yesterday collecting signatures for Menino, off-duty firefighters were out in force doing the same for their best bud, Michael Flaherty.

Wicked Local West Roxbury reports that City Councilor John Tobin (West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain) is, with a partner, opening a comedy club at the Charles Playhouse.

The Dorchester Reporter reports councilors Sam Yoon and John Tobin hold an emergency hearing tomorrow afternoon on the fate of workers at pre-school and after-school programs at city community centers, who could lose funding for their jobs under Mayor Tom Menino's current budget plans.

Mike Ball chats up John Tobin at Tobin's "office hours" at JP Licks.

The West Roxbury/JP city councilor tells David Bernstein he's running for re-election, rather than going for Marian Walsh's seat or an at-large council seat.