Change from the top down
By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Columnist | November 12, 2008
What would you change about Boston?
I'd like stellar high schools, public housing where kids aren't afraid to play outside, business and academic leaders more invested in the city's workings, a fire department as good as its best men and women, less thinly spread police force, more public art, livelier streets, and edgier architecture.
People in every corner of the city have their wish lists. In thriving Roslindale Square, for example, Kimberly Fallon, who co-owns Fornax Bread Co., said she wants more attention for her high-achieving kid in her public school. A fireman who didn't want to be named wants guns off the streets. Natalie Eldridge of Jamaica Plain wants more integrated neighborhoods. Randall Rodericks, a barber, wants better services for addicts and the homeless.
Amen to all of that. But here's the thing: If there's anything we would alter about Boston, it's time to consider one really big change: replacing the mayor.
Since taking office in 1993, Tom Menino has done a lot for this city. The schools are much better. The streets are safer. The city is prettier. A lot of people like him - 72 percent of respondents in an April survey.
But 15 years is a really long time of not just unbroken rule, but of unchallenged rule. Despite the fact that the city isn't yet perfect, Menino hasn't had a serious race since the one that first got him elected.
Somewhere in those 15 years, residents stopped holding the mayor responsible for the city's problems. Our expectations have plummeted. Pretty good has become good enough.
In the interim, Boston's electoral muscles have atrophied. A whole generation of up-and-coming leaders who might have considered running for mayor has grown old waiting for Menino's grip to loosen. We have no political farm team to speak of.
The City Council, which used to breed Boston's leaders, has become a dead-end and a punch line: Councilors Michael Flaherty and Sam Yoon, both considering runs, have to overcome not only Menino's formidable machine, but the council's pathetic public image to become serious contenders.
Ralph Martin, a former Suffolk district attorney, and Boston Foundation president Paul Grogan might have missed their chances. In another city, a legislator like Linda Dorcena-Forry might be a real possibility for 2009. As would Charlotte Golar Richie, the mayor's former neighborhood development director, now a senior adviser to the governor.
Not here. Not unless Menino decides against running for an unprecedented fifth term.
It makes you wonder how many other promising candidates have decided to give up on runs even before they start, because the mayor has all of the donors, city workers, and favors locked down.
All of this is bad news for Bostonians with political ambitions, but it's even worse news for the rest of us. Anemic - or uncontested - elections deaden civic life. If we don't have a serious race for mayor this time, we're being robbed of an opportunity to talk about what works in Boston and what doesn't. Maybe Menino will convince us he is the best guy for the job after all.
But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be asked to defend his record, and to lay out a vision for the next four years. It doesn't mean we should forgo the opportunity to hear other people's ideas. It doesn't mean we should miss out on a chance to talk about the future of our city.
We just elected a president on a platform of change. Barack Obama won in part because he inspired voters, laying out a vision of what our future could be. Why should we expect anything less from our mayor?
Yvonne Abraham is a Globe columnist. Her e-mail address is
abraham@globe.com.
