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Arroyo picks up endorsements from two elected officials in nascent race to replace McCarthy in District 5

State Rep. Russell Holmes and Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins aren't waiting to see who might run to replace Tim McCarthy as the city councilor from Hyde Park, Mattapan and Roslindale - both have endorsed Ricardo Arroyo for the seat.

Arroyo, the son of former at-large Councilor Felix Arroyo and the brother of former at-large Councilor Felix Arroyo, is making his first bid for elected office in the fall elections.

McCarthy recently announced his retirement from the seat.

Tompkins, a Hyde Park resident, said Arroyo would be a champion of programs that would help people stay out of his jails and become productive members of society.

In order to achieve this goal, we need people in leadership who understand that government works best when it works for all of us. We need someone with a history of working with, and listening to, populations that often go unnoticed and under-served. We need someone who is dedicated to the advocacy of public policy that helps to ensure that those most in need get the services that they require. Ricardo is that person.

In addition to Arroyo, Yves Mary Jean of Roslindale has also announced his bid, but the field could grow for the open seat.

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Comments

This is tribalism. Many didn’t like it when the Irish and Italians did it. What’s different?

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If yes, then don't vote for him.

If no, then why do you care?

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Boston politics can be worthy of concern of folks throughout neighboring cities, towns and beyond. Stakeholders include visitors, volunteers, caretakers, employers, employees, students, families, friends, Campaign Donors, etc.

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I don't live in the district and I care. All councilors, whether district or at-large, have the same vote and they all vote on matters which affect the entire city. The Arroyos are a hack family and like all hack families, they have their loyal followers. I hope this announcement doesn't discourage people with new approaches and new ideas from coming forward.

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I live in District Five so I do get to vote for someone in for this seat.

But your, "If no, then why do you care?" is off the mark.

At every level of elected representative in our country, we see reasons why individuals elected to represent areas where we don't vote matter.

It doesn't seem possible that you can look at extremely conservative Republicans elected to Congress and say that it doesn't matter to us that people elected them because we don't live in the districts voting for these representatives. Of course it does. The choice of people in those districts to vote extremists into offices in which they affect the well-being of everyone in the country should deeply concern all of us, residents of the districts or not.

In Boston, the individuals elected to district city council seats have a similar effect in the city as do representatives at the federal level. When the people elected in any city council district are poor choices, it's not just the district they represent that's affected - city government suffers.

And it has always been the case that the people elected to city council seats, by their competence or incompetence and integrity or lack of integrity, affect not just the people who get to vote for them, but everyone who lives, works or visits the city.

I'm not taking sides on which candidate deserves support in the District Five race, but I am taking sides with the idea that we shouldn't care about the quality and competence of people we don't get to vote for but who will affect our lives by their discharge of the duties of their elected offices.

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Anon commenters who fly in to be smarmy, "Do we need another Arroyo" deserve a smart reply, in my opinion. Those types of comments do nothing to add to any conversation.

The response to the response to the original comment took a lot longer to write and flushed out some important talking points.

Imagine we all did that. (And, imagine we all took credit for what we wrote ..)

My first response to this announcement was the same, "Who needs him," "I hate this shit", and "you get the government you deserve" but I didn't write it.

My second response was, "Well, this guy looks to have done some work in his community, plus he's getting some early endorsements. I begrudgingly will have to wait to see how this develops."

Except I probably still think my first response, in my head.

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As for your national example, you can gripe about conservative Republican members of Congress, but in Alabama and Wyoming they decry the liberal members we keep on electing. At the end of the day, Alabama, Wyoming, and Massachusetts elects who they want to have represent them, and that’s the way it should be.

Being a District 5 voter, I could not care less who people outside of the district want me to vote for. I’ll figure out who I think would be the best person and vote accordingly. And you can vote for a candidate in your district. That’s how it works. That’s why we have districts.

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Did you care if Roy Moore got elected to the Senate?

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I lived in the district for 15 years, so yes, I do care. I have also hosted an event attended by Tim McCarthy. I still have an interest in Hyde Park and Roslindale and fond memories, even though I'm in Quincy now.

Telling people they shouldn't care if they don't live there isn't exactly the best way to get people to follow your blog BTW.

Also by that logic, the media shouldn't care about Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, because most of their reader "don't live in the district". But that's not true. We all know they do care.

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If you live in the city of Boston then you should care even if you dont live in the subject district because some laws, policies, practices, and spending of the city of Boston are city wide and all city councilors whether at large or district vote on them.

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God for bid some minorities establish a Political lineage that the Irish and Italian were able to leverage into middle-class jobs and services for their populations.God forbid minorities gain power in the city of Boston.

White people talk about pull yourself up by the bootstraps like the Irish did and then when we turn around and try to do it they have a problem with it. LOL the field racism in this city is out of this world

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Any of the thousands of other qualified minority residents of the district have a chance to bring their own perspectives to public office. I think history has shown us that political lineages don't tend to lead to good governance.

Pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps isn't about installing hacks into political office -- it's about starting businesses, learning skills to get better jobs, making sure your kids get the education they need to succeed, and building communities which can help their members.

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Would any Roslindale, Readville, Mattapan, Hyde Park environs contributor here be worthy of Candidacy for Boston City Council District 5 ?

Or previous Candidate Jean-Claude Sanon https://ballotpedia.org/Jean-Claude_Sanon

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I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.

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“I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member".

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"Arroyo, the son of former at-large Councilor Felix Arroyo and the brother of former at-large Councilor Felix Arroyo, is making his first bid for elected office in the fall elections."

Is their family Thanksgiving dinner served at the public trough?

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2018 saw a changing of the guard in many places. Unfortunately for this seat the Arroyos don't represent change but a family of entrenched political hacks. Let's hope more candidates throw their hat in the ring.

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Lackluster field of candidates so far for this one. Surprising.

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Why would an actually qualified Candidate want to be a Member of Boston City Council, a City Council with out of date practices that ingratiate a Councilor?

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"Arroyo, the son of former at-large Councilor Felix Arroyo and the brother of former at-large Councilor Felix Arroyo, is making his first bid for elected office in the fall elections."

I realize you can't pick your family but weren't both his father Felix and brother Felix targets of harassment suits with Felix Jr. achieving the near impossible "fired by Mayor Marty Walsh?" Walsh didn't even fire his two City Hall thugs accused of intimidating a young, female, minority chef and her non-union film crew. If government employees, never mind top officials, are forced out of office usually the "disgraced" pre-fix applies. Not here.

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His campaign press releases presented him as an outsider, fighting against a tribal establishment. That storyline was upended by the incumbent's decision to not seek reelection. Maybe now he can campaign on his credentials, rather than resentments. ARROYO = IANNELLA in Boston terms, and it is his biggest strength. Just doesn't fit the latest "New Boston Version 19.7" that he had been peddling.

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