Bruce is all for it:
... [H]ey, anything that can improve the quality of life for the people of Boston and make their mayor look like a bigger buffoon than he already shows himself to be on a regular basis, is what I call a win-win situation. ...
The city of Boston now has its own podcast - Citycast.
The first show, hosted by an anonymous announcer (who sounds like he could be a broadcast-journalism major at a local college) focuses on the city's gun buyback program and includes not just the obligatory Menino soundclip but interviews with a police official, Boston residents voicing support for the program and two of the singers of that new hip-hop peace song.
Via PlasticBoy.
At mAss Backwards, Bruce calls Tom Menino on his gun epidemic comments, because, he says, gun violence has been dropping for years in the part of America outside of Rte. 128.
On mAss Backwards, Bruce is oh so pleased that Tom Menino is sending out Boston police for some major butt kicking:
... After having witnessed a 10-year high in the city's homicide rate last year, a sharp increase in the number of shootings on city streets this year, and a list of unsolved murders longer than Menino's "Whom To Blame Today For Boston's Gang Violence" list, it's refreshing to see Boston's finest allocating their limited resources toward cracking down on the real criminals terrorizing our fine city. ...
That's Massachusetts GOP News's assertion, part of its reaction to the news that black ministers hope to field an army of 1,000 volunteers to keep young people from becoming criminals. Menino, O'Toole solely to blame for skyrocketing violent-crime rates, the Republicans charge.
Ever alert two-newspaper guy Dan Kennedy notes that whether you think the prospects for expanded municipal wireless service in Boston are bright depends on whether you read the Globe or the Herald.
A campaign to build a wireless data network in Boston picked up momentum yesterday as Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he would mount an effort to spread wireless Internet access across the city. ...
The Globe is reporting today that Boston is setting up free WiFi throughout the city at a cost that could be as high as $20 Million. Is this a good use of public funds? Do you want the city being your ISP? Are they going to pull some folks off the parking ticket desk at city hall to field tech support calls?
Kevin notes that Maura Hennigan showed up at a press conference about that electrocuted dog in Charlestown and wonders if Tom Menino might try to keep her from getting elected as Suffolk County court clerk if she keeps criticizing City Hall:
John notes the dueling front-page headlines in today's papers:
Now, kids, without looking at the URLs, can you guess which paper ran which headline? Special bonus points if you can figure out which paper ran which of the photos below:
What would a newspaper post be without my own very special disclosure?
Kevin wonders whether Menino's inaugural address will include this:
... I will appoint Councilor Hennigan to a new cabinet-level position called Director of I Told You So. Her responsibility will be to review every department in my administration and tell them, again, what they are doing wrong. ...
Jay has a bright idea:
... Unfortunately, the T-shirts won't go away. They'll probably become underground cult status items amid all the attention. So maybe we should turn our attention to more serious ideas, like, oh, hiring more cops.
Domenico signs a petition asking Archbishop Sean O'Malley to either get Catholic Charities to disinvite Tom Menino from a banquet next week or fire its board. At issue: Menino's stances on abortion and gay marriage.
... While this is obviously a difficult request, we believe in our hearts that this is a necessary step that must be taken. The people of Boston have lost confidence in the spiritual leadership of Catholic Charities. ...
Brian McGrory is spitting fire today, with a column that excoriates Tom Menino for not doing enough about rising rates of violent crime.
Kevin wonders: If Mike Bloomberg can buy himself the mayor's office in New York and some rich guy in Philadelphia can announce he'll be spending $5 million of his own money to become mayor, what if some local rich guy ran for mayor of Boston?
... [A] wealthy and charismatic outsider could attract the attention and buzz that Hub mayoral challenger Maura Hennigan was never able to get. Who would be Boston's Bloomberg or Katz, or Schwarzenneger? ...
The Globe wraps up the results and quotes former City Councilor Larry DiCara that this mandate will let Menino restructure city government (as opposed to his previous mandates?).
Polls may show dissatisfaction with the state of the city, but you wouldn't know it from the results - Menino beat Hennigan 2-1 - overwhelming not only the hapless city councilor but people who either voted for her or cast blanks as a protest against the nascent Imperial Mayor.
On the city council, the big news is the election of Sam Yoon to an at-large seat. First Asian-American to hold such a seat. Felix Arroyo came in second to vote machine Michael Flaherty. For me, the big surprise was Steve Murphy's re-election. After his shellacking in the sheriff's race last year, he seemed to be on his way out. Shows you what I know - and how important the union vote still is in this town. At the district level, South Boston's Jimmy Kelly easily swamped the South End's Susan Passoni, as West Roxbury's John Tobin did to Jamaica Plain's Gibran Rivera (hmm, imagine if, somehow, JP and the South End were joined in a single district).
So what's it all mean?
John Connolly, or, at least, his sign, towers over other candidates at the Holy Name School in West Roxbury.
Around 8 this morning, the school, which houses a polling station with one of the highest turnouts in the city, was a beehive of activity. There were few voters, but plenty of politicians (and a Fox 25 news crew), all of them ignoring that quaint law requiring them to stand, oh, 75 or 150 feet away from the entrance to the polling place. Incumbent at-large Councilor Steve Murphy and wannabe at-large Councilor Matt O'Malley bracketed the stairs to the entrance (O'Malley even introduced himself to voters exiting the polls).
Murphy anxiously awaits the next voter:
What would an election-day hotspot be without a visit from Hizzoner?
In a Globe interview, Tom Menino says he has some creative ideas for public housing:
Q: Can you suggest -- can you mention some of those new ideas?
A: No, why should I do it before the election?
John is outraged:
... That response is a kick in the teeth to anyone living in the city of Boston. It is insulting and arrogant. ...
The focus of the Globe story was that almost every city employee who has made a donation has made it to Menino. That would be 438 of 440 employees who "have been identified" on campaign records. But there are 16,000 city employees.
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
