A few days ago the Globe ran a story on Boston City Councilor John Connolly, speculating on whether he had ambitions for higher office. Well, I didn't know about that article this morning, when David and I talked to him; his ambitions never came up, and I didn't even know to ask. Silly me. Just Boston city policy talk.
Apologies for the background music … unless you like it.
First question: How has the mayoral race affected the City Council race?
Do you feel that the media focus on the mayor’s race has sharpened the public’s interest?
I asked about education: How do we pay for expanding the school day and year? He says it’s partly a matter of using and coordinating with the assets already in the community:
More on funding the school year:
David asks about Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) — how big non-profits (e.g. universities) might contribute to the city’s coffers:
I asked about reforming Boston’s Byzantine school busing scheme:
Connolly’s concerns with the current busing and school selection system, continued:
More tomorrow.
UPDATE: Here are the other files:
On the composition of the school committee:
On the BRA:
Discuss
3 Comments . Comments are closed.Connolly
He's smart, serious, and savvy. I think he's got to have his eyes on bigger things. I've been impressed with his focus on education, particularly keeping kids in school who are at risk of dropping out. And I think it bodes well that he has made environmentalism one of his areas of focus--I'm not sure how much he has had to do with the bike lanes that are popping up in my neighborhood (Roslindale), but he's certainly made quality-of-life issues like bicycling an important part of his agenda.
I also keep an eye on the political yard signs in the Parkway area, and it's interesting to me to see Connolly yard signs maybe more often than I see either Menino signs or Flaherty signs. I'm not sure if that means anything!
TedF
compare and contrast
We actually interviewed him on Tuesday. Guess he's making the rounds ;)
I meant to post about it earlier today, but I got swamped!
I'll just let this be the Connolly-centric post.
City Council Race Discussion Tonight
Tonight at 7:30 p.m. the WGBH show "Basic Black" will be a live discussion of the city council race (as well as the mayoral and Senate races). You can participate in a live chat at www.wgbh.org/basicblack. Your questions and comments may make it into the show!
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