Political speed-dating

Political speed-dating
by Emily Cataneo
MySouthEnd.com Contributor
Wednesday Feb 9, 2011

Tito Jackson answers a constituent’s question at the ROXVote forum on Tuesday.

District 7 citizens question City Council hopefuls at ROXVote forum

At Hibernian Hall in Roxbury on Tuesday night, citizens of Roxbury, the South End, the Fenway and Dorchester questioned six of the seven City Councilor contenders about youth violence, revitalizing Dudley Square, elder issues, education, job creation, promoting small businesses, and integrating the different parts of District 7.

The two-and-a-half hour event was orchestrated by ROXVote to encourage voter turnout for the District 7 City Councilor preliminary election on Tuesday, Feb. 15 and the general election on Wednesday, March 15. In order to facilitate discussion between constituents and candidates, the evening was organized like a speed-dating event. At the beginning of the night, each candidate had two minutes to introduce him or herself. Then, each of the six candidates devoted fifteen minutes to speaking with the constituents, who had all been assigned to sit at one of six tables. At the end of each fifteen-minute session, a cymbal crash announced that the candidates needed to move on to the next table.

Natalie Carithers, Danielle Williams, Cornell Mills, Tito Jackson, Roy Owens and write-in candidate Haywood Fennell all appeared on Tuesday to field questions from their potential constituents. The seventh candidate, Althea Garrison, did not attend.

Few South Enders were in attendance-the majority of the over 200 constituents who attended were from Roxbury or Dorchester. But the South Enders who did attend repeatedly asked candidates how they would work to integrate the South End with the rest of District 7.

"I’d like to see more community sense between the South End and Lower Roxbury. We’re one community, each part of District 7, but people in Lower Roxbury don’t meet with the people in the South End," said Jeanette Boone of 521 Shawmut Ave. Boone is retired, but runs an after-school program in the South End and volunteers at several organizations.

"I think it’s really important for us to have a stake in this, even though it’s not the whole neighborhood," said Michelle Wu of West Brookline St., who was at the event as a representative of the Ward 4 Democratic Committee. "It’s easy to see this as a Roxbury thing, but everyone should get involved." Wu added that she hopes that the new City Councilor will foster economic development throughout the district.

Kim Vermeer, a Tremont St. resident who doesn’t live in District 7 but was also at the event representing the Ward 4 Democratic Committee, agreed that the new councilor needs to foster pan-district cooperation.

"My question has been, how can District 7 work together on issues that affect us all, like snow removal?" said Vermeer.

Candidates recognized the importance of bringing the district together. Williams noted that the district is very segregated along racial lines

"I’d like to bring us all together, because something I’ve noticed is that we all have the same issues," she said.

In response to a question from a Fenway resident about feeling isolated from the rest of the district, Jackson said that community meetings and use of technology would help the neighborhood feel more integrated.

"One of the things we can do is events like this," said Jackson.

In terms of issues facing the South End specifically, Kevin Johnson, director of community action at the Madison Park Development Corporation and one of the event organizers, who lives in the South End on Northhampton St., said that he would like to see the new city councilor focus on trash pick-up and diversity.

"I think trash pickup tends to be an issue. I’d like to see them do something about the parking. And a sense of diversity-the South End is diverse, but rich people don’t necessarily mingle with poor people," said Johnson.

One issue that came up repeatedly among the Roxbury constituents was the empty Ferdinand Building in Dudley Square. Tito Jackson said that finding a use for the Ferdinand Building is the key to revitalizing Dudley Square. With this sort of initiative, said Jackson, he sees a bright future for the neighborhood.

"Maybe this is crazy, but I want to see the Duck Tour come down here," said Jackson.

Another constituent asked Carithers what she would do about the proliferation of halfway houses driving down Roxbury property values. She suggested that her constituents get involved before these institutions are built.

"Every time they’re going to build something, there’s a public hearing, and that’s where we need to be," said Carithers.

One issue that constituents from both the South End and Roxbury brought up was youth violence, especially concerns about the spike in youth violence that typically occurs in the summer months.

"I’ve never been robbed by a young person who had a job," said Jackson. He said that he wants to work with businesses to get them to pledge a certain number of summer jobs to young people, and to get young people involved in training programs. He also said that the city should work on instituting programs for children from infancy to five-years-old, so children don’t enter the school system at a disadvantage and eventually drop out.

Roy Owens, who is urging people to vote for a return to family values, fielded a question about how he plans to reconcile his stated opposition to gay rights with District 7’s significant gay population. Owens said that he doesn’t have a problem with gay people, but rather with the fact that they have been lumped in with black people, who used to be the sole beneficiaries of affirmative action. By including GLBT people and other minorities in affirmative action, said Owens, the whole program is collapsing.

"I think my issue isn’t about gay and lesbian lifestyle, but that’s it’s been used to get rid of affirmative action," said Owens.

The preliminary election for District 7 City Councilor will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 15. Visit cityofboston.gov/elections for more information on where to vote.