Leftward ho!

Can Frank Jones's backing land a progressive on the Boston City Council? Plus, a gay group says toss the incumbents; and a political hoax turns criminal in West Roxbury.

by Ben Geman

With a city council ruled by reactionary South Boston councilor Jimmy Kelly, progressive city politics in Boston can feel like a small pond. But one of the biggest fish in that pond has just pulled a new one into the swim.

Frank Jones, the African-American attorney and civil-rights activist who was viewed by progressive voters as a savior-in-waiting when he ran for at-large councilor in 1995 and 1997, has endorsed 24-year-old Greg Timilty for an at-large seat in this fall's election.

Jones, whose own campaigns were strong but ill-fated, announced earlier this year that he wouldn't be taking another shot at a seat (see "Progressive Vacuum," News, March 11). His endorsement of Timilty could draw his old supporters to the polls behind the young candidate, who is no stranger to the world of politics: he is the scion of a local political dynasty, and his father is a former city councilor and state senator who ran several times against Mayor Kevin White.

"The city council needs a voice that's more humanist than we have now," says Jones. "We need people on the city council who are willing to try and bring people together and are not afraid of being called liberal and are not afraid to be called naive."

Jones believes that, of all the candidates, Timilty will best address the city's housing crisis and, more abstractly, encourage a spirit of inclusion in Boston. Other progressive stalwarts seem to agree -- Timilty already has long-time community organizer Pat Cusick in his corner, for example.

Timilty's not the only candidate trying to slide in from the left this year. Fellow youngster Mike Flaherty, 30, is too. An attorney and the son of former South Boston state rep Michael Flaherty, he finished fifth in the at-large preliminary four years ago before fading badly in the final. He boasts some solid left-of-center -- or at least left-of-the-incumbents -- support. Long-time progressive insider and Democratic activist Mimi Turchinetz is helping his campaign, and Flaherty has won endorsements from several ward Democratic committees and unions. Like Timilty, he's also been endorsed by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Political Alliance of Massachusetts.

That's a marked contrast from three of the current at-large councilors, who in theory are elected to represent the interests of the entire city, but who generally toe the conservative line dictated by council president Jimmy Kelly. Stephen Murphy, for instance, didn't even return the gay organization's survey; nor did Mickey Roache. At-large veteran Dapper O'Neil, meanwhile, utters the word "liberal" with venom.

Much of the council's work isn't left or right; the need to fix a pothole or keep the pigeon population under control is politically pretty neutral. But councilors do play a pivotal role in uniting -- or dividing -- Boston's neighborhoods. And with Kelly as the council's leader, it's important that citywide councilors use their bully pulpits to counter the backward racial politics he represents.

That's not to say that all Kelly backers are Pat Buchananites. At-large councilor Peggy Davis-Mullen has moved left in recent years, successfully courting the support of the gay and lesbian community. But, Jones points out, "In the final analysis she supports Jimmy Kelly on every issue right down the line."

Actually, that's not completely true; she and Kelly parted company on domestic-partnership legislation. But Jones's barb raises an interesting question: would Timilty or Flaherty seek to unlock Kelly's stranglehold on the council presidency?

Timilty won't say. "I don't know who the candidates [for council president] are going to be," he says, later adding that "I don't have an opinion on Jimmy Kelly. I really don't."

Flaherty is less ambiguous -- he openly supports Kelly for president. But he still has some claims to genuine progressivism. He's in favor of creating a civilian review board for the Boston Police Department, for example, whereas Timilty avoids weighing in on that question.

But before they can vote on the council presidency, Timilty and Flaherty will have to win -- and that means beating one of the four incumbent at-large councilors. O'Neil and Murphy look the most vulnerable, but it's always tough to bet against an all-incumbent slate in a slow election year.

For Timilty, the benefit of Frank Jones's endorsement depends on how much work Jones actually does for him. Many say one reason Jones missed out on a seat himself was that he didn't pound enough pavement.

And working the street can be tough from 3000 miles away. These days, Jones is spending most of his time in Seattle attending to his new venture, Internet software aimed at assessing the needs of "at risk" youth and kids who are already in trouble with the law. He says he'll make it back "fairly frequently" in October to campaign with Timilty. If he's present enough to make his influence felt, victory might be within Timilty's reach.

"Both Flaherty and Timilty are trying to move to the left," says former city councilor John Nucci, a Flaherty supporter who, earlier in the decade, was part of the council's more liberal wing. "They realize liberals and minorities may decide a close race."

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The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Political Alliance of Massachusetts's endorsement of Timilty and Flaherty is an indication that the group seeks big changes in the council's four at-large seats. In fact, the organization doesn't support any at-large incumbent except Peggy Davis-Mullen.

Its endorsements, which were announced last week, are based on candidates' stands on a range of issues, including needle exchange, school support programs for lesbian and gay teenagers, and willingness to hire gay and lesbian staff members. Alliance chair Jeremy Pittman calls the endorsements part of the road map that progressive voters need to help change the city council. The current council has supported the city's domestic-partnership legislation (which the courts have torpedoed), but other than that, says Pittman, "the city council is not particularly friendly to our issues."

The group's endorsements are a mix of idealism and realism. Andrea Morell, who's running under the banner of the Socialist Workers' Party in the nonpartisan council election, aced the questionnaire, yet didn't get the group's endorsement. "My guess would be that she did not get the nod because some members consider her unelectable," says Pittman. "It makes sense to endorse candidates who, for the most part, have a strong chance of winning."

In the race to replace Gareth Saunders in the seat representing Roxbury and parts of Dorchester, the Fenway, and the South End, the Alliance offered a split endorsement to candidates Julio Henriquez and Chuck Turner. For the seat being vacated by Tom Keane -- which represents Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Mission Hill, and the Fenway -- it endorsed long-time Democratic activist Alana Murphy.

Pittman and Michelle La Pointe, chair of the group's political action committee, say the organization is reaching out to the endorsed candidates to offer help with phone banking and other support. "We have a chance," adds Pittman, "to reshape the council this year."

A preview of how successful they might be comes on September 21, when preliminary elections will whittle the number of at-large candidates down to eight, and candidates in contested district races down to two per territory.

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A nasty episode in City Councilor Maura Hennigan's defense of her West Roxbury-Jamaica Plain seat got nastier still last week, when Suffolk County district attorney Ralph Martin's office agreed to look into an apparent hoax aimed at disrupting Hennigan's campaign.

The scandal dates back to early August. That's when a letter was e-mailed to the weekly Parkway-West Roxbury Transcript bashing Hennigan for allegedly campaigning in West Roxbury with a uniformed cop at her side. The letter was signed by Mary Owens McNamara, vice-president of West Roxbury Association for Neighborhood Development.

Two weeks later, Transcript columnist Don Hubbard, in a column attacking Hennigan, cited McNamara and the "influential" West Roxbury Association for Neighborhood Development.

Only thing is, there is apparently no such person as Mary Owens McNamara. And there doesn't seem to be any organization called the West Roxbury Association for Neighborhood Development. Supporters of Hennigan, angry about the letter and column, launched a search for the organization and its irate vice-president; so did the paper. They turned up nothing, and so far no one has admitted to the hoax.

Hennigan declines to speculate on who might have sent the letter, but her attorney last week asked the DA's office to review the incident and pursue charges under a state law that makes false statements designed to injure or defeat candidates punishable by fine or imprisonment.

"A crime was committed," says Hennigan. "I don't think it should happen to anyone else."

In the September 1 issue of the Transcript, editor Don Seiffert took responsibility for printing the apparently fraudulent letter and pledged to beef up the paper's standards for confirming the validity of letters to the editor. The scandal, says Seiffert, has made covering an intense race even harder. "It's been tough," he says. "I've heard rumors this way and that and allegations . . . that I made this letter up, or the reason it was not checked is because I am biased. And that is a tough place for any editor."

Though the letter was false, its charges were rooted in a real campaign dust-up. Earlier this summer, Hennigan traveled door-to-door flanked by a police officer touting a program designed to help residents avoid car break-ins. Hennigan says she was merely aiding constituents, but John Tobin, one of the three challengers for her council seat, blasted the door-to-door visits as campaigning on the part of the incumbent. Either way, the police deemed the practice inappropriate enough to put an end to it.

Brian Wallace, a journalist who covers elections for Boston Neighborhood Network Television and writes columns for several local papers, says that even though the letter appeared more than a month ago, the scandal still dominated the conversation among attendants at a recent campaign forum.

"It was unbelievable," he says. "It's one of those small issues that has nothing to do with housing or education, but it is all people are talking about over there."

Ben Geman can be reached at bgeman[a]phx.com.