Today, Boston Mayoral Candidate John Connolly announced he will vote against the 25% pay raise awarded to the BPD through arbitration. A few days ago, Martin Walsh criticized outgoing Mayor Thomas Menino for acting irresponsibly in his negotiations with police.
To read Connolly's stance click here.
John Connolly today announced his position on the arbitrator's award in the stalled police contract talks: Both sides should go back to the bargaining table, because cops deserve a contract, but the city can't afford to pay for the arbitrator's award:
We've quickly descended into Point/Counterpoint territory on this police arbitrator thing. Both candidates had their say yesterday, then this morning, Walsh blamed Menino.
This afternoon, Connolly fired back:
Our police officers have gone without a raise for years. The question now is whether the arbitrator’s decision strikes the right balance between achieving fiscal responsibility and compensating officers fairly.
The Globe reports an arbitrator sided with the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association on the issue of pay raises and benefits.
The city says the union was seeking about 21.5% increases in salary and benefits increases over six years; the arbitrator said its members deserve more than 25%. If the city council rejects the award, the two sides would go back to the bargaining table - which is what happened with firefighters in 2010.
Matthew in Boston created this unusual look at who won which wards on Tuesday. See it larger.
Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.
John Connolly today signaled his disgust with that smiling bald guy who ran all those pro-Walsh ads and others of his ilk; Walsh retorted Connolly's just a corporate lawyer.
Connolly this morning asked Walsh to sign Rob Consalvo's pledge against allowing any third-party expenditures on his behalf:
So let's dive right into the numbers from Tuesday: Massterlist provides a map showing which wards Connolly and Walsh won after filtering out the results from the other 10 candidates. Not surprisingly, Walsh was big in Dorchester, Connolly in West Roxbury - but check out how well Walsh did in comparison to Connolly in parts of Roslindale and Hyde Park.
The two campaigns issued a joint statement tonight that instead of the endless series of forums they went through leading up to the preliminary, they want to do just three televised debates:
After discussions between our campaigns, we agree that televised debates will provide an important forum for voters to gain the information they need to make an informed decision in November’s mayoral election. In addition, we believe that these debates would offer a broader platform for the many community groups wishing to have their substantive issues discussed during the campaign.
Final (if still unofficial) city and districtwide results. The city has yet to release ward-by-ward numbers, but NorthEndWaterfront.com tallied them for the North End, Beacon Hill and downtown.
The November elections will pit state Rep. Marty Walsh of Dorchester against City Councilor John Connolly of West Roxbury for the right to succeed Mayor Tom Menino.
City returns show Walsh won the preliminary with a small lead over Connolly.
In the at-large race, voters will get to choose between Pressley, Flaherty, Murphy, Wu, Keogh, Jeff Ross, George and Kelly.
In district races, McCarthy and Sanon will face off in District 5 (Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan); Zakim and Nichols in District 8 (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Mission Hill). In District 4, Yancey (who got fewer votes citywide than Althea Garrison), will face Williams. And in District 1, it's LaMattina vs. Gannon.
In Bay Windows, Sue O'Connell and Jeff Coakley endorsed Mike Ross:
A strong mayor needs empathy along with leadership. Ross has consistently and reliably been a leader on LGBT issues—most recently on the challenges facing our community's senior population. As mayor, his experience in both public and private life would positively inform his leadership of the city.
The Globe reports on a transportation forum, in which Marty Walsh said 30 m.p.h. is too fast for most Boston streets, John Barros blasted Walsh and Menino for not doing more to get more T funding and John Connolly and Felix Arroyo praised true dedicated bike lanes.
Connolly, Walsh and Charlotte Golar Richie are the leaders in a WBUR poll.
Mike Ross traveled to Uphams Corner this morning to criticize Marty Walsh's plan to let a developer bulldoze City Hall - and to push his plan to build 10,000 housing units along the renovated Fairmount Line.
Boston is hungry for new ideas, not just a recycled debate about moving City Hall. The next mayor needs to be focused on developing our neighborhoods, many of which haven't shared in Boston's boom.
The Connolly campaign might want to double-check photos before posting them (h/t Kevin Gilnack):
The Globe reports that with a little more than a week to go, nearly a third of voters still haven't settled on a mayoral candidate to fill in an oval for. Among candidates who actually say things at forums, John Connolly has a tiny lead.
The ever tightening race for Boston Mayor has taken a new twist as Former State Representative and Former Menino and Deval Patrick Lieutenant Charlotte Golar Richie has surged into 2nd place in a new Boston Globe Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire with a plus or minus 4.8% margin of error.
In a debate that at times devolved into an incomprehensible roar as moderators did little to try to keep order, 11 candidates offered their opinions on everything from a casino vote to education. David Wyatt also attended, but spoke only during the two times he was asked a direct question.
John Connolly said East Boston residents will be hit far harder by a potential casino than anybody else, so they should be the ones to vote.
Dan Conley, however, says all Bostonians should vote. "It will affect our character, our culture and it needs a citywide vote." Almost said he opposed the casino when he compared it to the proposal to move the Red Sox to the South Boston waterfront. "Can you imagine if that had happened?"
Bill Walczak opposed the casino, period, called it "a public health disaster."
Charlotte Golar Richie didn't say who she feels about the vote - although she said she would oppose ramming a casino down East Boston's throat if it voted against it and the rest of the city voted for it, but said she would take some casino revenue and use it for crime prevention.
Bill Walczak has bought ad time on NECN tonight for this commercial. Why NECN tonight? It'll be broadcasting the not-Joyce-Kulhawik debate at 8 p.m. Meanwhile, Dan Conley, who hasn't really said if he's for or against a Suffolk Downs casino, might go after other candidates on the issue of a citywide referendum on the question - he's in favor of one, rather than the East Boston-only vote that Mayor Menino is backing.
Mike Ross thinks we need more fiber in our diet:
First cyborg mayor? Bill Walczak tries on a pair of Google Glass.
The Dorchester Reporter alerts us that Nick Collins is going to endorse John Connolly, rather than, say, Marty Walsh, whom the Reporter notes stayed neutral in Collins's failed state-senate bid.
A Globe poll finds Connolly and Walsh virtually tied, with more than a third of voters still professing no clue whom to vote for.
Move over Brother Charles and Tito "No, not that one" Jackson - DJ Robby Rob is in the house:
Every election, campaign signs get torn down or defaced.
Doug Bennett, running for Suffolk County Sheriff - in the 2014 elections - has taken out a criminal complaint alleging one of his opponents, acting Sheriff Steven Tompkins, actively removed Bennett signs from stores in Egleston Square last week, by pulling out his badge and warning them they would get on Tompkins' bad side. He also says Tompkins called him a "punk ass bitch" at a City Council hearing last month.
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