They were packed into the Community Church of Boston last night for the first candidates’ forum of this year’s Boston at-large city council race. And there was a full house in the audience, too.
With two open seats and the political juices in Boston at least trickling, if not flowing, the largest field in years is competing for the four at-large council slots. Thirteen of the 15 hopefuls who have qualified for the September preliminary election turned out for last night’s forum at the Boylston Street church, sponsored by the Ward 4 and Ward 5 Democratic committees. Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin provides the play-by-play summary.
Lots of platitudes and pledges that were so similar it was hard to distinguish meaningful differences among the candidates. Everyone will stand up for residents. Many want tax-exempt institutions to pony up more money. They will shield homeowners from increases in property taxes (even though Boston residents pay a pittance compared with those in surrounding communities). Not only was the discussion often devoid of sharply focused stands, when positions were staked out it was striking how little range there was in candidates’ overall views, with only a few exceptions.
Perhaps the most notable exception was first-time candidate Sean Ryan. He may not get far with the libertarian positions he articulated, but his answers were surely more thought-provoking than most of the bland fare offered up. He called for an end to height restrictions on buildings in the downtown area (not likely to be a big winner with this Back Bay crowd) and for an end to residential density limits that would prevent a three-family home from being built today on the footprint of many existing triple-deckers. Easing the way for more housing, not subsidizing units with government spending, is best way to drive down costs and promote affordable housing, he argued. It’s a perfectly reasonable approach to housing policy — the density argument has been shaping state policy in recent years — but you’re not likely to hear it echoed by other candidates, who will be eager to pledge their determination to help Boston neighborhoods say no to anything that might change the way things are.
One head-turning moment was the declaration by incumbent City Councilor Steve Murphy that we ought to scrap the MCAS graduation requirement for high school students. MCAS and the state’s education reform law have brought a degree of accountability — especially to low-performing districts like Boston — that was completely absent before passage of the 1993 law. Doing away with the high-stakes MCAS test is a tired argument that can’t possibly be reconciled with the goal of eliminating the achievement gap and setting high expectations for all students. It will be interesting to see how prominently Murphy tries to play this.
Following the forum, the Ward 5 Democratic Committee voted to endorse first-term incumbent John Connolly and first-time candidate Ayanna Pressley, a long-time aide to US Sen. John Kerry, who, based at least on endorsements and buzz, is gaining traction as a leading challenger in the at-large race.
The Boston Phoenix‘s David Bernstein, who capably moderated the forum, has helpfully provided links here to the campaign websites of all 15 at-large hopefuls. He also weighed this morning in with his own take on how the candidates did.
