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REALITY CHECK
Election message: the city is stagnant
BY ADAM REILLY

What a letdown.

This year’s city elections had so much potential. Sure, the chances of Maura Hennigan unseating Mayor Tom Menino were minimal. But at least there was a chance that Hennigan would make Menino sweat a bit on Election Night. Or that progressive favorite Felix Arroyo would bump Michael Flaherty from the top at-large city-council spot. Or that a couple of promising newcomers — Sam Yoon and John Connolly? Sam Yoon and Patricia White? — would grab at-large seats. Or that either Gibrán Rivera or Susan Passoni would pull off an upset for the ages.

Instead, we get this: Tom Menino more than doubled Maura Hennigan’s vote total. (Note to everyone who hoped a close race might shake Menino out of his late-career lethargy: it’s not going to happen.) Yoon nabbed the at-large spot vacated by Hennigan, but he’ll be the only newcomer to the council come 2006. Despite Connolly’s swagger and cash, Matt O’Malley’s friendship with Andrea Cabral, and the family connections of White and Ed Flynn, Steve Murphy — the same Steve Murphy whose head adorned a dinosaur’s body in the Phoenix a few months back — kept his at-large seat. Flaherty topped the ticket yet again. And district councilors Jimmy Kelly and John Tobin stopped Passoni and Rivera, respectively, in races that really weren’t all that close.

Much will be made of Yoon’s win, and for good reason. After all, he’s Boston’s first Asian-American elected official and, as of now, a potential mayoral candidate come 2009. But while Yoon’s story may be uplifting, the underlying lesson of this year’s elections is much bleaker.

Boston’s once-vibrant political culture has ossified. Including the mayor, 10 incumbents competed for their jobs this year. Ten incumbents were re-elected. And none of them really had to sweat on Election Night, sending a message to the world that everything is just fine and dandy in our city (never mind middle-class flight, a dysfunctional homicide squad, deep dissatisfaction in the public schools).

Meanwhile, another slate of promising challengers — the strongest in years, actually — went home disappointed. Patricia White has already said she won’t run again. Will Matt O’Malley, who stalled this year after a strong campaign in 2003, give up as well? What about Connolly, who looked like a lock just a few weeks ago? Hell, what about Ed Flynn? For the sake of Boston, let’s hope not. There’s a danger when council jobs become lifetime positions: the people who hold them risk growing stagnant and unimaginative, content to merely bide time and wait for something better to open up. This danger is all the more pronounced in the case of Menino, who seems destined to have the mayor’s job for long as he wants it. Please, John and Matt and Patricia and Ed — come back in two years.


Issue Date: November 11 - 15, 2005
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