I will probably vote for Sam Yoon although I think Mike Flaherty will prevail in the primary. I think Mike will make a good, if boring, mayor, and will definitely vote for him in November over the Mayor, whose time has come and gone. Mike can be considered a hack, given that he comes from a political family and also because a lot of his support comes from the old Boston, like the firefighters, etc., who have their own agendas, but I think Mike is smart and sincere, two things I feel are very important in an elected leader.
I don't feel that children are getting any better an education than when the Mayor first came on board. His fault? Not necessarily, but he hasn't helped. Crime has gone down, which is a result of a good economy, hard work on the part of the police department, and ... luck?
But, the Mayor is not a visionary and for that I don't want to give him any more chances. Neither is Mike, nor is Sam, probably, but I don't want to reward the Mayor for being mediocre, any longer.
The gay community loved the Mayor; he was a very good friend to us. Having said that, it's just not that important, anymore. Every politician is a friend to our community. Mike has been a strong supporter, as well. And, from what I hear on the street, Mike is going to do quite well with members of "my" community. Good.
It's not necessarily a bad thing that Boston has as strong mayor / weak city council set-up, but it's a shame that, with the power the Mayor had, he didn't do more to bring our city forward.
Visionaries aren't always necessary, but I prefer them. We have no visionaries on the ballot, so I'll have to settle for "better" over "good".