Politics

Boston Metro reports the School Committee voted unanimously tonight to make free condoms available to all BPS high-school students "as long as they sit through a few minutes of counseling about safe sex."

Students at 19 high schools with on-site health centers were already able to obtain condoms; the vote extends distribution to the rest of the city's 32 public high schools.

A forum on Thursday will give the dozen people running for mayor another shot at explaining their plans for education in Boston.

The forum starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Rabb Lecture Hall at the BPL main branch in Copley Square. Sponsors are EdVestors, Teach Plus, MassINC, the Boston Foundation and Massachusetts 2020.

David Bernstein interviews the East Boston teacher and small businesswoman running for an at-large seat on the City Council this year.

Apparently, the state's decision to replace the collapsing Casey Overpass with surface roads was racist. Who knew? Oh, JP.

A detailed Craigslist posting from one of our gazillion city-council candidates seeks volunteers for a variety of campaign positions without saying who the candidate is or what positions he or she has on any issues. Well, except for fun. The candidate is big on fun:

One resident of Dorchester—in fact, a contributor of sorts to UHub—has announced his candidacy.

Who else is running?

Googiebaba had planned to try to interview everybody running for mayor this year, but after watching the debate on education the other day, she decided to vote for City Councilor Rob Consalvo because he's one of three candidate opposed to lifting the cap on charter-school seats and the one she thinks has the best shot of winning.

It has become clear to me in the last few weeks that corporate education reformers have Boston in their crosshairs. They are locked and loaded and ready to orchestrate a take over of the Boston Public School System. ...

I wanted someone who would resist handing the keys to BPS over to Walmart AND I wanted someone who could win. I am eager to join a campaign and show the corporate education reformers that you can’t just waltzed into Boston and take over our schools.

Our own Don Warner Saklad provides the list.

Among the qualifiers: Charles Yancey, who is pulling a Paul Ryan by also qualifying to run for re-election as a city councilor, you know, just in case. The other city councilors running for mayor are all in just for mayor.

David Bernstein tweets David Portnoy didn't get enough valid signatures to get on the ballot for mayor this year. Sounds like Portnoy could have a complaint against the company he hired to collect signatures for him.

Mayor Menino today appointed Hardin Coleman, dean of the Boston University School of Education, to the School Committee to fill the term left vacant when John Barros resigned to run for mayor.

Coleman chaired the committee that came up with a plan to change the way elementary- and middle-school students are assigned to schools.

Coleman's term expires in January. In a statement, the mayor said:

Dean Coleman brings a unique blend of expertise and experience to the Boston School Committee — his leadership at one of our city’s finest higher education institutions; his extensive work with educators, counselors, and other partners; and a distinct perspective of Boston's schools and families through his recent work to improve our system's school choice process.

The Washington Examiner reports E.W. Jackson, now running for lieutenant governor in Virginia, ran up back taxes in Massachusetts from his days running WLVG, a Cambridge gospel station at 740 AM. He eventually declared bankruptcy.

At the time, Jackson was also pastor of a church that eventually became the New Cornerstone Exodus Church in Mattapan. In 1988, WGBH reported Jackson got standing applause at a community meeting in South Boston when he spoke against city efforts to desegregate BHA housing projects, and noted his opposition to mandatory seat-belt use.

At about 1:45PM on June 13, 2013, President Barack Obama and his motorcade sped from Roxbury Community College where he rallied 12,000 supporters on behalf of U.S. Representative Ed Markey who is running for United States Senator to replace John Kerry in the June 25th Special Election. This footage was taken near Boston Medical Center at the Massachusetts Avenue/Southampton Street/Melnea Cass Blvd/Mass Ave Connector Intersection heading towards Interstate 93North to go to Logan Airport.

The Jamaica Plain Gazette interviews Luis Valerio of West Roxbury, who is running against incumbent Councilor Matt O'Malley (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain) not out of any animus toward O'Malley but because he couldn't get his kids into any of the public schools in West Roxbury. In addition to renting out English to local universities, he would build an indoor sports center at Millennium Park.

If elected, Valerio would be active in the politics of two countries. The Gazette reports: "He has served as the secretary general for the Dominican Revolutionary Party in New England."

The Herald tells us how much the people running for mayor make, or, at least, the people it was able to get tax records from.

The Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus last week endorsed Charlotte Golar Richie for mayor.

Experience. When one considers the upcoming mayoral election, he or she undoubtedly seeks a candidate with unique experience applicable to the position. Groundbreaking: surely an ideal mayoral candidate is one unafraid to break down barriers and work toward change. And, in a male-dominated race, Charlotte Golar Richie shines like a beacon representative of these influential qualities (oh, and much, much more).

Mike Ross plans to officially, really, no, this time he means it, kick off his campaign for mayor tomorrow by staying up for 25 hours.

"I will be bringing my campaign to the leaders and neighbors of communities across Boston to focus on the issues that mater to them and learn from their own work to help me bring the best ideas and solutions to City Hall," Ross says in a statement. And, indeed, his daylight schedule is filled with grip-and-grin meetings with advocacy groups, his supporters, Bruins fans and the like. But we're no New York, so what's Ross going to do when the DPW officially rolls up our sidewalks?

To lighten up the political discussion here in Boston, with the most popular athlete in the world coming to understudy Tom Brady as the future Quarterback of our New England Patriots, I ask all those who participate on UniversalHub.com to give their answer on whether they believe that Tim Tebow is the second coming of Steve Young? Please answer any way you like.

According to members of the Boston Elections Department that asked to remain nameless out of fear of losing their job said that it is unlikely both Robert Cappucci and John Laing will make the ballot.

It is believed that it will be close for David Portnoy, internet entrepreneur and followed by 100,000 people via twitter. There is concern that because he has the financial resources, Portnoy will challenge the Boston Elections Department if he does not qualify. Portnoy spent nearly $17K to collect 5000 raw signatures with the hope that 3000 would qualify as legitimate signatures.

As of today, twelve candidates for Mayor have qualified for the ballot with 3000 certified signatures of Boston voters.

They are in reverse alphabetical order: Yancey, Wyatt, Walzciak, Walsh, Ross, Richie, Consalvo, Connolly, Conley, Clemons, Barros, and Arroyo.

The former governor was 65.

Both Touch 106.1FM Radio King Charles Clemons and former Boston City Council President Mike Ross qualified for the September 24, 2013 Preliminary Election with an impressive 3000 plus signatures to make the ballot for Boston Mayor according to Boston Elections Commissioner Sabino Piemonte.

Clemons and Ross join Arroyo, Barros, Conley, Connolly, Consalvo, Richie, Walsh, Walzciak, Wyatt, and Yancey.

The Mayoral Contest has twelve strong candidates while the Councilor At-Large Race has 18 candidates who have qualified.

The Dorchester Reporter interviews John Barros and Bill Walczak (don't worry, they talked to Marty Walsh last month).

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports a Suffolk Superior Court judge has dismissed the council's lawsuit against a proposed development on South Huntington Avenue because it's not a branch of city government and so has no standing to sue.

The council is considering whether to appeal. On the bright side, the ruling could mean the council, elected by JP residents, can go back to excluding the public from its meetings, since only government entities are subject to the Open Meeting Law.

At an education debate at the Brooke charter school in Roslindale tonight, most candidates supported lifting or increasing the current cap on charter-school seats in Boston.

Watch the entire forum.

John Barros, Charlotte Golar Richie, Mike Ross, John Connolly, Bill Walczak and Dan Conley all said they favor increasing the number of charter seats in Boston.

Felix Arroyo, Charles Yancey and Rob Consalvo all opposed it.

It's official. Set a place at the debate table for David James Wyatt of Roxbury who has made the ballot by qualifying an impressive 3000 plus signatures to make the ballot for Boston Mayor in the September 24, 2013 Preliminary Election according to Boston Elections Commissioner Sabino Piemonte.

Wyatt joins Arroyo, Barros, Conley, Connolly, Consalvo, Richie, Walsh, Walzciak, and Yancey.

I'm glad @fox25news reads their mail on-air. Good to know their viewers are even dumber than their talking apes. #mapoli #bospoli

— Chris Faraone (@Fara1) June 5, 2013

I'm going to guess Chris Faraone is, at least in part, talking about Doug VB Goudie, a former producer for Howie Carr. Doug is now a commentator, interviewer and advocate for conservative ideas on the Fox 25 Morning News on WFXT.

Carr gave Doug the nickname "Virgin Boy" or "V.B." His on-air co-workers refer to him as VB most of the time. Do they know it stands for Virgin Boy? Is Fox 25 trying to be as dumbed down and vulgar as possible? I ask because I didn't think there was an audience for dumbed-down in Boston.