At-large forum brings Council race to RCC

Yawu Miller

To hear it from the nine candidates running for the four at-large seats on the City Council, each supports affordable housing, improved schools and efforts to stem violence.

But when eight of those candidates came to Roxbury Community College last Thursday night to meet voters from the black, Latino, Cape Verdean and Asian communities, stark differences emerged in the details.

Asked whether they would support legislation affirming tenants groups’ rights to collective bargaining with landlords, the incumbent councilors split along racial lines.

“I was part of that vote,” said Felix Arroyo, who was lead sponsor of a failed rent stabilization bill in 2004. “I felt it was too little.”

The legislation, which gained the support of the four councilors of color and Back Bay/Fenway Councilor Mike Ross, was seen as a measure to protect tenants of large, privately-owned buildings from large rent increases.

The measure stands as a wedge issue that divides voters of color and white progressives from conservative white voters.

Incumbent councilors Michael Flaherty and Stephen Murphy found themselves defending their “no” votes on the collective bargaining vote before the people of color in attendance.

“It had the dangerous potential to force developers to build less affordable housing,” Flaherty said, noting that he tried to broker a compromise between the tenants and property owners.

Explaining his “no” vote, Murphy echoed the arguments against the measure put forth by the other eight white councilors.

“I thought it could have had a pernicious effect on the production of affordable housing,” he said.

But Sam Yoon, who sponsored the measure, cited his experience as a developer of affordable housing working for the Asian Community Development Corporation in arguing that tenant collective bargaining would not at all affect the production of affordable housing.

All but one of the other council candidates at the forum voiced support for collective bargaining: David James Wyatt, a newspaper deliverer and president of the Academy Homes Tenant Council.

“I don’t know if it’s possible for a business to be held accountable to a tenant group,” he said, adding that people who cannot afford to live in Boston should move out.

Candidate John Connolly, who has reportedly voiced opposition to tenant collective bargaining legislation, did not attend the forum.

The candidates at the forum split along similar lines when asked whether they would vote for a city budget that did not significantly increase funding for outreach workers for youth and summer jobs.

Yoon and Arroyo, who did not vote for this fiscal year’s budget, re-affirmed their position. Flaherty and Murphy, both of whom voted for the budget, would not commit to voting against the mayor’s budget next year.

“I haven’t seen the fiscal year ’09 budget,” Flaherty said. “Clearly, street workers are important in the war against crime. I’ve been actively calling for youth and street workers to be assigned in significantly higher numbers.”

All but one of the challengers at the forum said they would vote against the mayor’s budget if youth funding is not increased.

Matthew Geary, a candidate who represents the Socialist Alternative; Marty Hogan, an Internet technology associate at Horizon Beverage; and William Estrada, a candidate who is a member of the Socialist Workers Party, all pledged to vote against a budget without increased funding for youth services.

Wyatt stuck to his Republican ideals.

“As a Republican, I would try to be fiscally responsible,” he said, asserting that faith-based organizations are more effective in stemming youth violence than taxpayer-funded initiatives.

Minus the wedge issues of funding for youth programs and tenant protections, the candidates sounded similar themes in their pitches to the black, Latino and Asian voters.

Arroyo spoke about the values of respect and equity guiding his work on the council. Estrada spoke about the importance of union organizing and large federal programs.

Flaherty touched on a “two Bostons” theme, underscoring the widening gulf between haves and have-nots in the city. Geary spoke on behalf of the workers and the poor in Boston and stressed the importance of organizing and mass action.

Hogan expressed a desire to represent all the different neighborhoods of Boston, while Murphy spoke about his legislative record on the council. Wyatt spoke about the importance of supporting police officers and firefighters.

Yoon noted that he is a founding member of the New Majority Coalition — one of the organizations that convened the forum — and spoke about the importance of making government more accessible to citizens.

To win a spot on the council, challengers must knock off either Arroyo, Flaherty, Murphy or Yoon. In an off-year election like the one slated for Nov. 6, a candidate will need at least 30,000 votes to secure a spot on the ballot.

John Connolly, an attorney who has run a close sixth place in the last two elections, is widely perceived as the strongest challenger. Murphy, who has placed fourth in the last two elections, is seen as the most vulnerable incumbent.

Successful candidates generally have a base of support and are able to garner votes in other candidates’ bases as well. Arroyo and Yoon, for instance, draw from a base of voters of color, dominating the ballot in Ward 12, the Roxbury voting district with the highest concentration of African American voters.

Political activist Ty DePass said the white candidates clearly tailored their messages to appeal to voters of color.

“It’s hard to get where they’re really coming from,” he said. “While they’re in this community, they love us.”

Edwin Argueta, civic engagement coordinator for the East Boston Ecumenical Community Council, questioned whether Flaherty’s support for the right of legal immigrants to vote in city elections and his talk of “two Bostons” is a move to draw more voters from the city’s black and Latino neighborhoods.

“He needs to cater to people outside his base,” he said. “The dynamics in this city are changing.”

But Argueta said Flaherty and others on the council need to be more specific about what they plan to do about the city’s affordable housing problem.

“There weren’t many clear answers,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest problems we have in this city.”