If you want an indication on how seriously this city is taking the Boston City Council elections, just take a look at the newspapers, which don’t seem to be all that keen on covering the races or the election. Today’s Globe doesn’t provide anything more than an article about the new voting machines and instructions on how to fill in the circles on the ballot… you’ll have to check out yesterday’s edition for an explanation of what the preliminary election actually does and what’s at stake. The Herald has a similarly short piece buried in the local section today, though I’m not sure if its headline “Council Vote May Set More Moderate Tone” is analysis or wishful thinking. We’ll see.
Not all the elections are contested in this prelim election tomorrow, but Marxists for Keynes lives in John Tobin’s district and is putting its support behind him. His opposition to rent stabilization was knee-jerk, but his opponent Francesca Fordiani fails by the “Rule 19″ test, whereas Tobin has shown himself to be a competent councillor.
Of the at-large candidates, some aren’t substantive contenders - Phyllis Igoe, Arthur Craffey, Althea Garrison, Laura Garza - while Roy Owens is a creationists looking to overturn the school board. Of the remaining, Michael Flaherty deserves continued support for his able direction of the Council. Patricia White and Matt O’Malley also seem like promising and able at-large candidates, able to fit with the “moderates” in the day-to-day running of the city without substituting a facile government-needs-to-be-run-like-business line that Republican candidate Edward Puglielli is offering. Of the remaining candidates, Jacquelyne Payne-Thompson seems the most promising… she supports faith-based government initiatives, but in general seems to provide a practically-oriented left perspective that’s not merely grandstanding. For a full list of candidates, check out City of Boston’s website.
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