5 contenders competing for open City Council seat

5 contenders competing for open City Council seat
By David Abel, Globe Staff | October 16, 2010

One candidate describes the city’s political system as “an incubator of despotism’’ and calls for slashing the mayor’s powers. Another argues that legalizing marijuana would reduce violent crime. The other candidates are promoting such policies as pressing tax-exempt universities to pay for more teachers, reducing the size of school buses to save gas, and creating an independent authority to review the budget.

The five hopefuls vying to replace Councilor John M. Tobin Jr. — who resigned over the summer after nine years representing a district that spans West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and parts of Mission Hill and Roslindale — are trying to distinguish themselves in an all-male, all Democratic field in which a smidgen of the local electorate is likely to vote.

The two top vote-getters in the preliminary special election Tuesday will face off in a final election Nov. 16.

“This is a classic campaign in which the candidate that can turn out the most voters will win,’’ said Tobin, who gave up his $87,500 annual councilor salary to take a job at Northeastern University and who expects maybe 5 percent of the district’s 40,000 registered voters to go to the polls.

The campaign’s apparent front-runner is Matt O’Malley, 31, a political consultant who grew up in Roslindale, attended Boston Latin School and George Washington University, and now lives in Jamaica Plain. By the end of last month, he had nearly $22,000 in campaign donations on hand, nearly triple his closest rival.

O’Malley, who once interned at City Hall and last served as campaign manager and legislative director for Suffolk Sheriff Andrea Cabral, has also racked up endorsements from Tobin, state Representative Elizabeth A. Malia of Jamaica Plain, Council President Michael P. Ross, and Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, among others.

Among initiatives O’Malley supports are increasing the number of hybrid vehicles in the city’s fleet, revising the city’s charter to give councilors the ability to revise the budget line by line, and leaning on local universities to pay more money to the city in lieu of taxes.

“My experience working in government at the city and county level gives me a unique perspective and skill set to serve,’’ O’Malley said in response to a list of questions submitted to each candidate by the Globe. “Working at the staff level of the City Council has prepared me to be an effective advocate for delivering excellence in city services.’’

Jim Hennigan — a 56-year-old insurance salesman whose sister, Maura Hennigan, previously represented the district and whose father, James W. Hennigan Jr., served as a state representative for Jamaica Plain — ended last month with nearly $8,500 on hand. He has been endorsed by Councilors at Large Felix Arroyo, a Jamaica Plain resident, and Steve Murphy, as well as the city’s largest firefighters union and other unions.

Hennigan, who graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, cites his ownership of the James W. Hennigan Insurance Agency in West Roxbury as evidence that he “knows the struggles small businesses are facing.’’

He wants to increase the number of after-school programs available to teenagers, minimize the number of schools closed in the city, and promote job growth by making it easier for small businesses to obtain financing.

“I am the best candidate because I know this district and I understand the challenges that the voters of the Sixth are facing,’’ Hennigan said. “Small businesses need to be helped to create jobs; we need to improve the quality of our school; and we need to improve community safety. I will work to accomplish these needs and more.’’

Sean Ryan, 30, a former high school music teacher who grew up in Jamaica Plain, attended Boston Latin School and Harvard College, and has a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music, has been somewhat the maverick in the campaign. In addition to calling for the legalization of marijuana, he’s the only candidate who plans to vote yes on Question 2 on the state ballot, which would repeal the state’s affordable housing law.

A self-described “conservative Democrat,’’ Ryan said he would like to take a leading role in helping the city revise its education policies by promoting neighborhood schools and decentralizing the system, cutting back on services such as busing to reduce city expenses, and reducing crime by changing drug laws.

“It is time to examine prohibition laws with an open and honest public discussion,’’ he said. “These laws have failed to affect addiction rates, have strained our criminal justice system to the breaking point, and have put millions of nonviolent Americans in jail. . . . As the violence reaches tragic levels, no local office-holder seems willing to consider a sensible solution: put drugs in a safe, legal, and regulated environment.’’

Chun-Fai Chan, 29, a Hong Kong native who grew up in West Roxbury, attended Boston Public Schools and Northeastern, and has a master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts Boston, cites his experience in teaching math to hundreds of students at Clarence R. Edwards Middle School in Charlestown.

He said he would like to improve city schools; increase recycling as well as the number of bike lanes; create the equivalent of the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan budget watchdog, for Boston; and fight the closing of schools or libraries.

“It is important to have an educator’s perspective who has the experience on the ground for the past six years working in Boston public schools on what works in a school and what does not,’’ he said.

Perhaps the most outspoken candidate in the race is Kosta Demos, 49, a longtime local activist, artist, and businessman who grew up in Jamaica Plain, also attended Boston public schools, and later studied at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge and the New School for Social Research in New York.

He cites his experience as a writer and performer as well as his work producing photographs as owner of 3rd Eye Photo Services for why he would be best suited to help promote the arts and bring jobs to Boston. He wants to serve on the City Council to promote “sustainable, ecologically responsible economic growth’’ and increase the transparency of government.

At a candidate’s forum Thursday night at the Springhouse nursing home on Allendale Street, Demos denounced the city’s strong mayoral system of government and vowed to give the City Council more power.

“It’s a shame that the cradle of liberty has become the incubator of despotism,’’ he said. “I know there would be virulent opposition to change, but I have another career. I don’t need a political career. I can go in there and give it my best shot.’’

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.