Mayoral run has surprising twist

While thousands of students vacate the city this summer, the races for mayor and City Council are likely to heat up.

Mayor Thomas Menino was elected by a 64 percent majority in 1993, and is currently serving his third consecutive term.

Menino helped bring the Democratic National Convention to Boston in July 2004 and is also proud of his efforts to improve public safety.

In January, Menino implemented Operation Student Shield, a program that encourages judges to impose stricter punishments on students committing crimes. Police Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole also supports the measure.

Most recently, Menino proposed his $2.04 billion budget to the City Council. This year's budget is an $116.1 million increase over last year's, but Menino said in a statement on the city's website that Boston is still facing a fiscal crisis.

Menino won unopposed in the 1997 election, but the mayor's seat is up for grabs again in November, and this time he has competition.

City Councilor-At-Large Maura Hennigan, a former Boston public school teacher and 23-year Council veteran, formally announced her decision to run for mayor in March.

"I've always made it a very personal campaign," Hennigan told The Daily Free Press. "I'm out door to door [to] hear what the issues are on people's minds."

Hennigan said she has received a positive response from Bostonians since she announced that she is running for mayor. She said she will continue working personally with residents during the summer.

"I've been doing a lot of work with the students and making the effort to get to know them," she said.

Beth Leonard, the mayor's campaign manager, said Menino will also be "out in the community everyday" this summer.

"We want to reach out to every single voter in the city from all walks of life," Leonard said, but did not specific any campaign plans or how much money she is hoping to raise.

Nowhere do Hennigan and Menino clash more than over Boston University's proposed Level 4 Biosafety lab. The lab, which BU would use to research potentially lethal diseases, has been censured by several politicians.

Hennigan expressed concern with BU's irresponsible behavior concerning the lab when an accident that infected three researchers with a strain of the viral disease tularemia last year was publicized in January.

But Menino, along with Gov. Mitt Romney and has stood behind BU's proposal because the lab would bring prestige and top researchers to Boston.

If approved, the lab will be built in Boston's South End and Roxbury. Construction is tentatively planned to be completed by 2007.

In addition to halting construction of the Level 4 lab, Hennigan is working on initiatives to turn Boston's School Committee into a publicly elected body rather than an appointed one, and to increase staffing in police departments.

"Through early retirement we continue to lose police officers," Hennigan said, adding that because of the shortage of officers, more than 1,000 sexual assault cases have not been dealt with.

Hennigan criticized Menino's $2 billion budget, which the Council must approve by June 30, for coming up short on police funding.

She is also pushing for police to be more efficient about publicizing random incidences of rape.

Gareth Saunders, a former City Councilor from Roxbury, and John ''Jack" Hanney, a chemical technician at Polaroid, also entered the mayoral race, the Boston Globe reported on April 20.

Also up for grabs this year are four at-large seats in the City Council.

Felix Arroyo, Michael Flaherty and Stephen Murphy are running for re-election as at-large councilors, while Hennigan will be vacating her seat as she focuses on the Mayor's office.

Besides the four incumbents, seven other candidates have entered the race.

Patricia White and Ed Flynn, both children of former Boston mayors are among the candidates.

Kevin McCrae, a developer from Roxbury, said he wants to improve citizens' access to government, and improving housing and education services.

"I promise to visit every single one of the 128 Boston Public schools in my two years of councilor, because education is a trinity between the city, the student and the parents. Every one of them has an important role to play," McCrae said.

Joseph Ready recently graduated from Suffolk University and said he would focus his campaign on diminishing youth violence and reducing resident property taxes.

Matt O'Malley, former manager of Andrea Cabral's campaign for sheriff; attorney John Connolly and Sam Yoon are also running for councilor-at-large.

Staff writer Julien Pfyffer contributed to this report.