Who Wants To Be... MAYOR!

Exactly correct. The BRA is to Boston's mayor as war powers are to the U.S. president. You might campaign against them, sure, but once you get into office and see exactly how much power you wield, your campaign bluster has a way of dying down to a dull breeze pretty quickly. Plus you're probably certain that you'll be the guy to wield that power "the right way," especially if you feel like your predecessors ran amok with it.
 
I would write in my cat Buddy. There's a Mayor cat in Alaska who's been doing a pretty good job from what I read.
 
"Buddy" is an honored name among New England big city mayors.
 
I'll fully admit: I'm not prepared to enter the "Name every new inanimate object built in the city after Tom Menino" era we're about to embark on.
 
Looks like it will be a close race. How close will it have to be for the loser to ask for a recount?
 
What a shame. More of the same crap for Boston. God forbid we actually get someone that lives in the city and cares about the downtown life. </bitterrosssupporter>
 
^ Until most of the voters live in the downtown/back bay area, that won't happen. As it stands I feel like at least we know what we'd be getting with Walsh. Connolly seemed too oily for my liking.
 
I hope Walsh turns out better than Menino by implementing meaningful city planning and encouraging the type of amenities which make Boston attractive to young adults.

Both were pro development, but Walsh is a hard core union man which makes me a bit uneasy regarding the direction of development in the city. We need quality development as much as quantity, but the unions just want quantity. Connolly seemed to at least articulate a preference for transit based development as well as separating planning functions from economic development. From what I've read, Walsh wants to get rid of the BRA but then more or less create a new economic development agency where planning reports to the economic development head.

Then there is the issue of loosening the noose on all things "fun" for adults in the city. Again Connolly was open to loosening happy hour regulations and supports increasing the availability of liquor licenses which would decrease the cost to open new venues. I think Walsh may be more open to change than Menino, but it seems, relative to Connolly, he did not emphasize or recognize the relationship between improving urban amenities and economic development.
 
Connolly also came across slippery as a snake, pandering to anyone who he thought he needed to. The NIMBY/parochial types for some reason LOVED him, which makes me uneasy. I just don't have a reason to believe what he says.

Walsh is a union hack, but at least a union hack is predictable.

All bets are off as far as campaign rhetoric once they get into office. You can count on those BRA reforms getting watered down into non-existence as they realize that they don't want to give up power that their office has. Neither of these candidates were going to change the status quo in an obvious or meaningful way. They're both pretty establishment. Connolly was of the technocrat/reform wing of the Democratic Party and Walsh is of the old school labor wing.

I wasn't hugely invested in either of them (and I live in Somerville anyway), but as much as I wanted to like Connolly over Walsh, I never got to trusting him.
 
Walsh is probably the mayor Boston needs right now, but I thought Connolly was a better, more well-rounded candidate.

I expect Walsh will be extremely pro-development. We need a lot of new housing stock in the city; hopefully he can fix that problem.

Also if he actually comes through on his plan to demolish city hall then it'll be worth it.
 
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the Boston mayorality had a better day today than Toronto's did.
 
Well...at least our guy is better than the one elected in NYC! In the name of the Gods, the guy is rumored to be a marxist! I hope he pushes companies out of NYC and they move here to Boston!
 
commuter guy said:
I hope Walsh turns out better than Menino by implementing meaningful city planning and encouraging the type of amenities which make Boston attractive to young adults.
Click to expand...

It's going to take a lot more than 'amenities' for Boston to attract and retain top talent in the fields of technology, healthcare, pharmaceutical research, finance and law.
 
kmp1284 said:
It's going to take a lot more than 'amenities' for Boston to attract and retain top talent in the fields of technology, healthcare, pharmaceutical research, finance and law.
Click to expand...

Are we losing all of those things?
 
Shall we start a betting pool for when the statue of Menino will happen?
 
I wonder if Meninomania will fade pretty quickly. The politicos might be preoccupied with hooking up with the new administration, and too busy to fete a patron who has no more patronage to give.
 
Having the base of power reside in Dorchester is a good solid step up from West Roxbury/Readville.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top