E-Mail This Article to a Friend Gender and race, continued

RACE AND REILLY

If gender and class are difficult to discuss, talking about race can be flat-out painful. But it lurks just below the surface of Attorney General Tom Reilly’s recent decision to sue State Senator Dianne Wilkerson (D-Boston) for seven separate campaign-finance violations. According to the AG, the senator’s alleged violations include $26,000 in unreported contributions and $18,000 in unexplained reimbursements.

In person, Wilkerson is a remarkably appealing figure. She’s attractive, charismatic, and more articulate than most of her fellow legislators — in short, just the kind of person who would seem to have a boundless political future. But these current allegations are just the latest in a long line of embarrassing missteps, including a slew of unpaid parking tickets, previous allegations of campaign-finance violations, and failure to pay income tax for three years in the early ’90s. Wilkerson wants to be thought of as a possible contender for a congressional seat, or maybe for the Boston mayor’s job. But her continued inability to avoid financial controversy makes this increasingly implausible.

The allegations have yet to be proven. And for now, Wilkerson’s not talking. But some Wilkerson supporters seem inclined to view the current case less as a troubling continuation of a long-term trend than as a political vendetta. Reilly, of course, is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. His only opponent, at this point, is Deval Patrick, Bill Clinton’s former assistant attorney general for civil rights and, unlike Reilly, an African-American. Wilkerson, who is also African-American, has staked out a position as an unabashed Patrick supporter.

Given this — and the fact that the alleged violations date back to 2000 — one Wilkerson supporter suggests that this is pure payback. "Don’t you think it’s patently ridiculous that they’re drawing up five-year-old allegations now?" this person asks. "I think he’s pandering to more conservative middle-of-the-road voters, I do. I think he’s trying to out-Republican the Republicans — that he wants to be a Democrat of a Republican persuasion."

Strong words, these. But it’s hard to see what Reilly would gain by going after Wilkerson. There’s no Sister Souljah moment to be had here: Wilkerson’s alleged misdeeds are basically bookkeeping violations, with no obvious cultural resonance, and prosecuting Wilkerson is unlikely to get Reilly support among suburban independents who might otherwise vote Republican. Furthermore, Reilly’s ties to former US Attorney Wayne Budd — who Reilly has been close to since they were children in Springfield, and who is African-American — are well-known. Going after Wilkerson might hurt Reilly among black voters who, for whatever reason, still aren’t sold on Patrick. But unless the charges against the senator are shown to be frivolous, intimations of racism seem unwarranted.

BRAWL IN ALLSTON-BRIGHTON

This year’s at-large Boston City Council race is getting plenty of attention, and two district contests — Jimmy Kelly versus Susan Passoni in District Two, and John Tobin versus Gibrán Rivera in District Six — have received some coverage as well (See, respectively, "Urban plight," News and Features, July 1, 2001; and "Rivera has the moves," News and Features, August 12.) But another contest — in District Nine of Allston-Brighton, where incumbent Jerry McDermott is facing challenger Paul Creighton — has barely been noticed.

Why not? Maybe because the McDermott-Creighton race lacks a neat storyline. Unlike Passoni and Rivera, Creighton doesn’t personify any kind of demographic or cultural shift. Quite the opposite, actually: Creighton’s lived in Allston his entire life, and his candidacy represents, at least in part, the frustration of long-time Boston residents with the current direction of the city and with their perceived inability to control it.

Creighton is especially agitated about the continued expansion of Harvard, Boston College, and Boston University, and what he calls the city’s unwillingness to stand up to these institutions. Allston and Brighton, he warns, are on the verge of becoming "one large dormitory."

How to solve this problem? As a first step, Creighton proposes forcing colleges and universities to house their students on campus at least until their senior year. This, of course, would require the creation of new dormitories, and still more institutional expansion. But as Creighton sees it, if robust neighborhood organizations — rather than cherry-picked committees stocked with mayoral appointees — were in place to vigorously defend neighborhood interests, Brighton and Allston would be able to wrest meaningful concessions from these institutions in the process. The philosophy behind this approach hints at Creighton’s background as an organizer: for the last 35 years, he’s worked at the Allston/Brighton office of Action for Boston Community Development.

Judging from the results of last month’s preliminary election, Creighton is a long shot to unseat McDermott: he received just 26 percent of the vote, compared to McDermott’s 66 percent. But Creighton — who survived an unsuccessful effort by McDermott to knock him off the ballot earlier this year — is sanguine about his chances. "This is very doable," he insists. "We’ve been very well received, and we’re out to win it. I think we really have one last opportunity to bring some livability back to these neighborhoods."

Adam Reilly can be reached at areilly[a]phx.com.