In light of the recent murder of Analicia Perry, who was killed on the same spot as her brother some four years earlier, David asked, What is it going to take for city and state to react to public safety crisis? Chang-Diaz related the horror of the people in her district to the uptick in murder: “People aren’t used to this violence.” (That’s perhaps more than one can say for the Boston mayor and police — ed.) Chang-Diaz suggests a simple return to the effective strategies of the 90’s: Reinstate summer jobs and after-school programs, and have the police cultivate close relationships with the communities that they patrol. She bemoaned the cuts in these programs that seems to have allowed the violence to spiral out of control. I asked how to get other folks in the legislature to give a damn; she emphasized the importance of building coalitions, and the preventative value of these programs:
“What we’re doing now is penny-wise and pound foolish.”
[I will take this opportunity to climb on my personal soapbox: How is it that conservative “Government is the problem” dogma has soaked through our political discourse so thoroughly that a *manifestly successful* government program like the Boston Miracle of the 1990’s can get de-funded and taken apart in various ways when the chips are down with the budget? In our current discourse, government gets all the blame and no credit. Somehow it’s “not cool” to actually say government is doing something right; that going beyond a jut-jawed “lock ’em up” strategy to crime prevention actually worked, actually saved lives, and deserves to be celebrated and *protected* at all costs. And where was city and state leadership when that was happening? Here endeth the rant.]
I asked about charter schools, and what role they should play, if any. She replied that she supports their intended function as incubators of new and innovative methods in teaching, but there are flaws in the way charter schools are funded. She hoped to find a way to keep those functions without engendering anger from teachers and administrators: “Teachers want to do what’s best for their students … They’ll change if given a better model.”
David asked about housing. Chang-Diaz fears that “The middle-class is becoming endangered species in Boston.” She advocates a regional solution to the housing crunch: “It’s going to take a variety of solutions. It’s not a Boston-only problem or Boston-only solution.” She pressed the need to preserve affordable stock in Boston, to boost production in and out of city, and to connect new housing to transit.
Chang-Diaz is young and energetic, which cuts both ways in her race: Compared to the grizzled vet Wilkerson, she’ll come across as either a breath of fresh air — or as a little green. But she is bright, has election experience, and the sticker campaign sounds like anything could happen, not least of all because her other primary opponent shares one of her names: Samiyah Diaz — no relation.
And I gotta leave you with this: Sonia’s dad is an astronaut. How cool is that?
I’m a fan, and I expect more from her in the future whether she wins this or not. And an astronaut dad is definitely a plus.
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(Also, definitely my biggest politics-related crush since Cate Edwards:)
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2. David, we covered this question a couple months ago in another thread, and at that time you said your view included a number of strategies that Diaz did not mention….basically, anything that would lead to better enforcement, catching more crooks, etc.
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Why didn’t you ask if she exclusively has the paleoliberal “more social programs,” or if she also believes in what has worked in other cities (but requires tough change in police department, which obviously has political costs)?
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3. Will you interview Samiyah Diaz, too? C’mon, a Republican in the South End is more to the left than Hillary’s current positioning.
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4. Did you ask whether she thought it was weird to get into the race with another candidate also named Diaz? Did she consider running as Sonia Chang? I’m just curious.
… but something came up and she cancelled. Haven’t heard back from her.
First, this write-up is by Charley (mine will be up shortly). Second, I didn’t post any comments in the thread you linked to, though I’ve talked about these issues elsewhere. So I can’t tell if you’re criticizing me, or what.
i’m an idiot. charley wrote the post. not you. my bad.
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as for your remarks though i thought this counted as a comment “Fri Jul 28, 2006 at 13:09:39 PM EDT (I’m thinking the answer is “1 through 6, not 7.” Unfortunately, the current strategy appears to be “7 only.” – promoted by David)”
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sorry, i thought that it meant you made the “1 through 6” comment. that is, i thought you were on board with the “hard” elements of better policing which chang-diaz is apparently not into….
I too am an idiot! You’re right – the promotion comment was mine. And I am indeed on board with 1-6 of what you listed in that post.
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As far as what Chang-Diaz is for or against, though, we really didn’t get into that level of detail with her. Generally, it seemed to me, she was in favor of going back to “what worked in the 1990s,” which included both “hard” and “soft” approaches. She was upset that federal and state funding cuts had made it impossible to continue those programs. It might be good for us to clarify this with her, which we’ll try to do – but don’t write her off as a softie just yet!
First of all, just because we wrote something doesn’t mean that she didn’t say other things. Furthermore, just because she didn’t say something doesn’t mean she doesn’t think other things. đŸ™‚
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I know her campaign has seen the post, so maybe they’ll hold forth at some point…
Stickers are a convenience for voters, but the voter is not required to use one. She can still just write in “Sonia Chang-Diaz” or “Dianne Wilkerson” and the vote will be counted. Even misspelled votes should be counted if the voter’s intent can be clearly discerned.
“Diaz” or “S Diaz” write-ins?
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I assume they get tossed out, right, to Wilkerson’s benefit?
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But if so, what happens with “Chang-Diaz” write-ins? If they count, then the only loser is Samiyah Diaz.
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What about “Somia Diaz”? Or “Saniyah Diaz”?
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Can Bill Galvin clear this up in advance? Otherwise, recount craziness may loom!
anyone know how this will be handled? If not, the campaigns should look into it, pronto.
…a judge will eventually ahve to answer that…and maybe a coiple of judges.
Ron, you missed one: voters can also write in “Samiyah Diaz” to support her candidacy. Or “Samiyah” will count too. The more complicated one is “S. Diaz.” Sonia originally filed as “Sonia Chang” with OCPF when she entered the race and has been campaigning as “Chang for Change.” So Samiyah probably would have the better part of the argument that “S. Diaz” reflects voter intent to support her rather than Chang. It’ll end up in court no matter what because stickers will gum up the scanners, fall off the ballots, and be required to be hand counted 100%. Is there any buzz on the street about who’s got an edge in this race? Clearly Wilkerson has the name ID but also baggage. Sonia is impressive and fast becoming a liberal darling of the primary base. But Samiyah is also impressive and appeals to unenrolled voters who, because of the attraction of the Gov primary, will outnumber dem voters at the polls. Any predictions?