city council

Boston.com talks to Jim Hennigan and Matt O'Malley, one of whom will be elected on Nov. 16 to represent West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain on the city council. Both say they would vote to expel turner because of his corruption conviction last week. City Council President Mike Ross set the date so that whoever wins the election to replace John Tobin can join the expulsion discussion and vote.

A Boston Licensing Board hearing turned heated this morning when City Councilor Maureen Feeney accused the new owner of the Ka-Carlos building at 33 Hancock St. of lying to residents and city officials about his plans for the building.

The City Council won't wait until after Chuck Turner is sentenced on extortion and perjury charges to consider whether to strip him of his seat on the council.

In a letter to Turner today, Council President Mike Ross said he's called a hearing of the council after its regular meeting on Dec. 1 - a date chosen to let whoever wins the vacant District 6 (West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain) have a say. That district's next councilor will be selected in a special election on Nov. 16.

Turner will be sentenced in federal district court on Jan. 25. Yesterday, he announced he would not appeal the verdict but would instead seek to have his supporters convince the judge to give him only probation - and to appeal to Ross to delay any expulsion hearing until after his sentencing.

Chuck Turner, convicted last week of extortion and perjury, said today he won't appeal - but will fight any attempt by his fellow councilors to boot him out of office. In a statement on his Web site, he writes:

Candelaria Silva says she was a Chuck Turner supporter right up until he got on the stand and testified at his corruption trial last week. Now, she says, all she can do is come up with a modern tongue twister:

How many lies would a woodChuck tell if a woodChuck thought he could?

Lots!

But she has no love for Reluctant Witness Ron Wilburn, worries that "the other perpetrators of fraud in the licensing bureau are still hiding in plain view," concludes:

Perhaps we don't need any more politicians so enamored of their intelligence that they lack commonsense. How about some wise politicians? How about people who have common sense and sound characters?)

Hennigan vs. O'MalleyBut looks like Jim Hennigan will have a lot of work to do to win in the Nov. 16 final election: In a five-person field in the preliminary today, O'Malley got 53% of the vote.

O'Malley is making his third bid for a seat on the council (his first two were for an at-large seat). Hennigan is scion of a family that's been active in politics in both ends of the district forever (most recently, his sister Maura held the council seat before giving it up in an unsuccessful bid to unseat Mayor Menino).

The final election is Nov. 16.

He wouldn't turn on Wilkerson, Kevin Cullen writes.

Election tomorrow! Well, for city council in District 6 (West Roxbury, JP and pieces of Roslindale and Mission Hill), at any rate. Will turnout get into double digits?

The Globe says Patrick should stop blaming Baker for MBTA fare increases. But at least Patrick didn't sign documents saying the Big Dig would only cost $7.7 billion when he knew it would cost more than $11 billion. The Herald reports Patrick took donations from gambling lobbyists.

The Herald also shows the sort of gritty courage we expect from a scrappy tabloid: It dares to compare the fashion sense of the three men running for governor:

The JPVoice posts video interviews with the five people running for John Tobin's old seat in West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.

A preliminary election Oct. 19 will narrow the field down to two for a final election on Nov. 16 (Why the elections are separate from the state elections).

The East Boston Times reports a "frenzy in the neighborhood" over the possibility that Councilor Sal LaMattina would become city council president, which would make him mayor when Menino quits in the middle of his current term - just like what happened to Menino, except the mayor's expressed little interest in becoming ambassador to the Vatican.

Jamaica Plain Progressives have posted videos of the five candidates in the Oct. 19 preliminary to replace John Tobin in West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain (and parts of Mission Hill and Roslindale).

The Dorchester Reporter details who's on the prospective prosecution and defense witness lists for Councilor Turner's payoff trial, slated to begin Wednesday in US District Court in Boston. Why, Sam Yoon might have to fly back from Washington. One interesting possibility on the prosecutors' list: An executive from Martignetti Companies, a Norwood-based wine and liquor distributor.

Sean Ryan: Boldly leading Boston into the 1950s! We haven't had such a tuneful city-council campaign since Tito Jackson ran for the council last year.

Wicked Local West Roxbury reports on a debate among candidates for the District 6 (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and parts of Roslindale and Mission Hill) city-council seat.

West Roxbury Patch covered a candidates' night in Jamaica Plain last night for the District 6 seat.

City Councilor John Connolly's hearing on teacher contract talks begins at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday (yes, 12:30 p.m.) in the council's fifth-floor chambers in City Hall. There are already people scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. and beyond, so it looks like it'll be going on for awhile.

City Councilor Ayanna Pressley tells Adrian Walker about the guy who offered her some work at Back Bay station a few weeks ago - and that she worries about the women who don't turn him down:

"You look good and I like your walk," he told her. "You should consider working for me."

The Jamaica Plain Progressives will host the five candidates running to replace John Tobin on Sept. 28, starting at 6 p.m. at the Nate Smith House, 155 Lamartine St. (near the Stony Brook T stop). This isn't a debate - the candidiates will speak one at a time, for half an hour each.

Last night, Brandon Abbs, head of People of Boston, sent supporters an e-mail update on efforts to keep four Boston Public Library branchesopen and forestall other cuts in the BPL system and accused at-large City Councilor Ayanna Pressley of "all but abandoning" her support. Today, Pressley responded to the "insulting" message.

I'm posting both as replies to this post (Pressley posted her reply on her Facebook page, which requires a Facebook login).

The Jamaica Plain Gazette lists the six people running for John Tobin's city-council seat - only two of them from West Roxbury (probably because everybody else in the neighborhood is running for state rep or state senator).

But not because there are fewer foreclosures. In fact, City Councilor Rob Consalvo said today, foreclosures are up 5% over last year. Consalvo (Hyde Park, Roslindale) has proposed letting the city force banks and mortgage companies to use indoor framing and locks to secure their foreclosed houses.

The Globe reports on a hearing at City Hall - at which the survivors of local murders told their stories.

The City Council will vote tomorrow on setting Nov. 16 as the special election to replace outgoing Councilor John Tobin, after city and state elections officials said attempting to hold the election as the same day as the already scheduled state elections would cause the planet to implode or something.

City Council President Mike Ross filed the request for dates today. Because of differing city and state elections rules (for example, related to who is eligible to vote), holding the special election on the same day would have meant separate ballots, separate check-ins and separate vote-tallying boxes, and could have meant people in wheelchairs might not be able to maneuver around all the extra stuff in some already cramped precincts.

In addition to the separate final election, the city will also hold a runoff preliminary on Oct. 19 in Tobin's District 6 if needed.

Tobin is resigning to become "the city councilor from Northeastern."

After some renovations, natch. City Council President Mike Ross reports the legislature took some time today from figuring out whether to allow a casino at Suffolk Downs to approve a home-rule petition to let the city parks department rent out the "Pink Palace" men's room on the Common and the "Duck House" shelter in the Back Bay Fens to restaurant operators.

"“We have seen restaurants transform neighborhoods from the South End to Dorchester, and I believe bringing a quality restaurant or business to the Boston Common and Fens will play a major role in revitalizing those parks," Ross said.

The measure still needs the approval of Gov. Patrick.

City and state election officials recommended today that the election to replace outgoing City Councilor John Tobin be held on a dates other than the already scheduled general election.

City officials are looking at holding a preliminary election if needed on Oct. 19 and a final election on Nov. 16 to replace John Tobin, who is leaving his District 6 seat to become a vice president at Northeastern. Whoever replaces him will serve out the remainder of his two-year term, which began in January. The general election is Nov. 2 (the primaries are Sept. 14, which is too far away from Nov. 2 under city law). The final decision on a date is up to the City Council; it will vote Aug. 4.