Councilor Jimmy Kelly of South Boston — an 18-year veteran of the Boston City Council who hasn’t faced more than token opposition in recent years — will have a challenger this fall. Rich Evans, a 42-year-old South Boston native, announced on Monday that he’s running for the District Two seat, which encompasses South Boston, the South End, and Chinatown. Kelly, a combative conservative, has made a name for himself by providing top-notch constituent services, and by standing up for South Boston on issues such as waterfront development. “He’s very much a beloved figure in that community,” says former councilor John Nucci.

But his firm opposition to both domestic-partnership benefits and affirmative action has angered many constituents in the heavily gay, heavily minority South End. “I think Jim Kelly’s goal is primarily to keep things as much as possible as they were in the mid 1970s,” said Claremont Neighborhood Association president Mark Merante in an interview earlier this year. “So the council is a way to provide city services to his neighbors and a tool to prevent change that he feels is negative or disruptive.”

Enter Evans, a manager of finance and planning for the MBTA’s engineering department. While Evans has yet to carve out a detailed public platform, he says he wants to focus on youth issues — and clearly sees himself occupying a more progressive niche than the incumbent. “I won’t go on the record right now disagreeing with [Kelly] on any particular issues,” he says, “but I think as an individual I would bring more open-mindedness to a city-council seat than Councilor Kelly might. My main issue is that I feel all people have an opportunity to live their lives the way they choose.”

Evans faces an uphill battle. Though he has connections (he’s the cousin of Police Commissioner Paul Evans), he says he’s not planning to rely on help from Mayor Tom Menino — a controversial figure in the district ever since he disavowed a deal that would have sent lucrative community benefits to Southie. “I’m not in any way making this [campaign] a Tom Menino–backed initiative,” he says. “I know there’s some anti–Tom Menino sentiment.” He plans to raise $20,000 to $30,000, but hasn’t yet begun the process. “Most of it will be done with shoe leather and knocking on doors,” he says. But Kelly’s popularity could be daunting. “It’s tough to beat an incumbent under the best of circumstances,” says former city councilor Mike McCormack. “Someone who really works in the district, like Councilor Kelly has a history of doing, will be difficult if not impossible to beat.”

Issue Date: June 14 - 21, 2001