As has been previously noted here at BMG, there is an election for Mayor of Medford next month. The office has been occupied by Michael McGlynn for two decades, but he’s retiring, so it’s a wide-open contest between former Medford City Councillor and budget director Stephanie Muccini-Burke, and current Medford City Councillor Bob Penta.
Penta is a controversial guy, to say the least. He was nearly incoherent at a forum on Obamacare a few years back, but he sure was mad based on something he read on the internet. (Seriously. Read the post.) And now it emerges that he has expressed some attitudes that are, well … antiquated is perhaps a good word for it. Give a listen to Councillor Penta at a City Council meeting from January of 2001.
Now, maybe there’s a perfectly good explanation for this. Maybe this excerpt was taken way out of context, or something, so that there’s actually a perfectly sensible reason that a grown man holding elective office would, in the 21st century, refer to a building contractor who happens to be female as “a lady contractor – excuse me, a lady, woman-owned contractor,” who is “trying to make her stamp in a man’s world,” and declare that her bidding on a particular job (or something – the context isn’t entirely clear) is “the height of insult to her profession and to her femininity,” because she had the temerity to “alleg[e] that she knows more than a man … in this world of building and construction.”
If so, I’d sure like to know what it is.
but it would be nice to hear a little more context. In what way, if any, was the female contractor making gender or sex an issue? To what words, specifically, were Mr. Penta responding?
Every few months or so this criminal releases selectively edited media, and the right wing howls about some great offense made by a liberal or liberal organization. We bang our heads as the main stream media falls for it, over and over, including copycats.
Let’s not fall into the same trap, m’kay?
I don’t doubt Penta is bad-but wouldn’t it be nice if we heard something from his opponent? What are her positive ideas and progressive vision for that fine city? Where does she stand on the College Ave station? Other transit ideas? Affordability which is rocking that city not that it’s the new Somerville? She can’t just be progressive by default because this jerk said something horribly sexist 15 years ago, rhetoric some folks here long tolerated on this board when it came from the “wit” of a certain used car heir.
I did a bit of writing in the comments in the post linked to in the beginning of this one – “As has been previously noted here at BMG,” putting forth the argument that Stephanie Muccini Burke was being touted as a strong progressive by a few progressive groups and talked about some of my frustrations with trying to get some assistance in grass roots mobilization here, but the whole post is *poof*.
There was a debate between Burke and Penta last week that you can watch here
and they’ll have their last debate at Medford High School on Oct. 28 (next week), which you can find out more about here.
There were also brief prepared remarks by them at a forum https://www.dropbox.com/s/30sqz1gv2ajkzz5/Mayors.mp3
While Burke was being touted as a strong progressive by a few groups, there was no record that could show that (and the word “progressive” was not on her website when I checked). It’s a buzzword and branding in MA, and I’ve seen some candidates refer to themselves as progressives here who have some disturbingly reactionary positions and support even more obviously reactionary candidates.
Councillor Penta’s rhetoric, while frequently incomprehensible, has grown slightly less misogynistic but has continued to be homophobic to the point of offensive. He began a completely unnecessary debate over transgender rights in the Schools about 18 months ago. It included fear mongering such as suggesting that boys which switch back and forth as to what gender they claim to be to access girls bathrooms. While I don’t have time to find the details, here is a link to Medford mass city Council minutes. I’m not clear the one I’m thinking off is in this group but others might find these videos enlightening. http://masstraction.org/medford-ma-city-council-meetings-2015/.
Stephanie’s statements have not been dramatic, but they are solid democratic views. I will try to find some good quotes later.
To be clear, it’s a persistent pattern of patently offensive behavior so I wouldn’t vote for a philistine like this. I’ve been guilty of attack posts on BMG in the past in the heat of election season, and when the facts are on your side, it’s a valid strategy.
He is obviously unfit to be the mayor of a diverse and increasingly progressive place like Medford if he is shouting sexist, homophobic, and transphobic remarks. But I feel like those are the only posts I’ve gotten on this race, and it would be nice to hear about the progressive vision for the city, I don’t live there currently but it’s a strong candidate for when I move back.