Fresh from his free ride to a second term Tuesday, Mayor ThomasM. Menino yesterday pledged to do a better job organizing his visionof the city's future, identifying several areas that need carefulattention to make Boston a No. 1 destination for businesses,visitors, and residents.
Menino also promised shake-ups in the structure of citygovernment, hinting that he might try to improve the delivery of cityservices with innovations being used in other cities such asPhiladelphia and Indianapolis. A two-day retreat with top officialsis planned for next week.
Although he was tired from staying up late on election night,Menino basked yesterday in both his uncontested election victory andthe news that a new convention center on the South Boston waterfront-- something he has long-touted as a crowning achievement of hisadministration -- may finally be on its way.He appeared unfazed by criticism of his mostly unsuccessfulattempts to influence the City Council race. And Menino also leftthe door wide open for serving a third term, in contrast to earlierstatements that he would limit himself to two.'I have a lot of work to do and I'm not going to leave the jobhalf-done,' Menino said in an hourlong interview. Asked if thatmeant he would run again in four years if he considered his workunfinished, he said, 'It's always a possibility.'The mayor joked about being criticized for not having 'the visionthing' but said he is serious about capitalizing on the momentum ofhis reelection, with a five-point agenda focusing on the schools,health care, housing, new development, and changing the way citygovernment works.Menino still talks about nuts and bolts. He cautioned that hisagenda targets slow-and-steady, incremental change and not anythingradical, and warned at one point in the interview that, 'I'm notgoing to promise anything that I can't deliver.'But he pointed out the broad themes he will concentrate on as thefirst months of his second term get under way:- Improving the schools. Menino said he will concentrate onbroadening after-school programs and involving parents more in theschools, and remains open to changes in the school-assignment system,pending recommendations of a task force. 'Have we blown up thesystem, like some people say we should do? No,' he said. 'But youdon't have to.'Menino said his goal is to make the public schools in Boston anacceptable alternative for middle-class families in the city who sendtheir kids to private schools or move to the suburbs. 'We want tomake this system work for all kids, from young professionals movinginto the city to the poorest families,' he said. 'We have to gaintheir confidence back.'- Creating affordable housing. The mayor said the city must actnow to supplement federal housing subsidies for the poorest of thepoor and create new housing stock for other families being squeezedout of Boston's red-hot real estate market. He seeks to luredevelopers to produce such housing on vacant city-owned land andprovide more mortgage assistance.'The other thing we're going to do is to market our programs muchbetter than we do now,' he said, to make sure homebuyers know whatcity programs are available.- Concentrating on health care. Menino promised a 'revitalized'Public Health Commission to assist city residents 'from birth to theelderly,' in a more exhaustive manner than it does now. He said theoverhaul will be one of the first things to be accomplished.The mayor also said he wants to remain closely involved in thecontinuing consolidation of the health care industry. 'They're notall going to be able to do heart transplants, and they know that.They're going to be working together and cooperating,' he said.'We've got seven or eight large institutions in this city, and themayor should play a role in those discussions.- Guiding a building boom. 'Boston's a hot city right now, butthe question is, how do you manage it?' Menino said. 'We don't wantto lose our character, as one of the more European cities in thiscountry.'Menino said he will pay special attention to the South Bostonwaterfront, site of the proposed convention center. He said he willappoint several people in the Boston Redevelopment Authority 'whoseonly job it will be to oversee the construction. It's thatimportant.'Other priorities include an expanded Fenway Park; the MillenniumPartners plan for a major hotel, cinema, and retail complex onWashington Street in the Combat Zone; the redevelopment of LafayettePlace nearby; hotel construction throughout the city; a redoneWashington Street through the South End; and the renovation of CityHall Plaza, sticking with plans for a controversial hotel.Menino said he will also ask for a master plan from theMassachusetts Turnpike Authority to provide a better sense of how airrights over the Pike will be developed. 'You can't just keep givingaway sites,' he said. 'There has to be continuity.'- Reinventing city government. The mayor said his first step willbe to re-align city departments within the present Cabinet structure,and to foster a 'team' approach and a sense of cooperation amongdifferent departments. He also hinted at introducing competition inthe delivery of city services, as Indianapolis has done, although hevowed he will not go down the privatization road. 'We're not goingto blow up the unions. We're going to work with them,' Menino said.'I want to deliver services in an effective manner.'Other nuts-and-bolts matters, he said, is improving the flow oftraffic through the city, continuing to work on parking, and betterorganizing the street signs to make more sense of the maze ofBoston's streets.Menino said he also wants to build on the success of communitypolicing and youth outreach in keeping crime down, and to providemore job training and English classes to help 'New Bostonians' --Haitian, Cambodian, Brazilian, Vietnamese immigrants and others --assimilate into the mainstream culture and economy.The mayor continued to deny that he expended much energy trying toinfluence the City Council race. He was said to be backing Councilorat Large Stephen J. Murphy and challenger Suzanne Iannella in a bidto knock off Councilor at Large Peggy Davis-Mullen, a persistentcritic. But Davis-Mullen finished a surprising second in the voting,and Murphy and Iannella ended up locked in a battle.Other candidates, meanwhile, including defeated District CouncilorDiane J. Modica (East Boston) and at-large challenger Frank Jones,blamed the mayor for torpedoing their campaigns.'I get blamed for people losing, I get blamed for people winning,'Menino said with a chuckle. He added that 'Peggy Davis-Mullen is nota problem' and that the media had overblown their differences.SIDEBARMayoral races around Massachusetts*** Elected * IncumbentAgawam*** Christopher C. Johnson* 4,773Kent P. Servis 4,101Attleboro*** Judith H. Robbins* 4,880Benton W. Keene, III 3,159Beverly*** William F. Scanlon Jr.* 5,143Philip Dunkelbarger 4,347Boston*** Thomas M. Menino* (unopposed)Brockton*** John T. Yunits Jr.* 10,496Michael J. Benjamino 2,761Cambridge(To be elected by new city council)Chicopee*** Richard J. Kos* (unopposed)Everett*** David Ragucci 8,013John R. McCarthy* 5,096Fall River*** Edward M. Lambert Jr.* 14,743Walter Lach 1,944Fitchburg*** Mary H. Whitney 5,086E. Thomas Donnelly 3,545Gardner*** Charles J. Manca* (unopposed)Gloucester*** Bruce H. Tobey* (unopposed)Haverhill*** James A. Rurak* 8,243Maureen M. Corbett 4,232Holyoke*** Daniel J. Szostkiewicz* 7,125William A. Hamilton 2,990Lawrence*** Patricia A. Dowling 6,443Mary Claire Kennedy* 4,873Leominster*** Dean J. Mazzarella* (unopposed)Lowell(To be elected by new city council)Lynn*** Patrick J. McManus* 11,915Matt Wills 4,080Malden*** Richard C. Howard* (unopposed)Marlborough*** William J. Mauro, Jr. 4,003J. Michael McGorty* 3,825Medford*** Michael J. McGlynn* 8,518Aime J. Prudhomme, Jr. 1,562James J. Morse 1,409Melrose*** Patrick C. Guerriero 5,873Jonathan D. Berg 717Harry A. Coule 247Methuen*** Dennis DiZoglio* 6,526Anthony J. Tamis 1,616New Bedford*** Frederick M. Kalisz, Jr. 15,201Rosemary S. Tierney* 10,653Newburyport*** Mary M. Carrier 3,321John F. Bradshaw 2,731Newton*** David B. Cohen 12,663Thomas Concannon, Jr.* 11,028North Adams*** John Barrett, III* 3,283Paul R. Babeu 2,930Northampton (partial)*** Mary L. Ford* 4,013Roy C. Martin 1,852Peabody*** Peter Torigian* 10,709James Moutsoulas 2,860Pittsfield*** Gerald S. Doyle, Jr. 6,922Henry J. Hebert 3,960Quincy*** James A. Sheets* (unopposed)Revere*** Robert J. Haas, Jr.* 7,741John Peter Jordan 7,432Salem*** Stanley J. Usovicz, Jr. 6,045Neil J. Harrington* 4,236Somerville*** Michael E. Capuano* 7,664Anthony (Buddy) Andrews 2,273Springfield*** Michael J. Albano* (unopposed)Taunton*** Robert G. Nunes* 6,888Gail F. Tardo 5,333Westfield*** Richard K. Sullivan, Jr.*(unopposed)Woburn*** Robert M. Dever* (unopposed)Worcester*** Raymond V. Mariano* 18,670Bill Coleman 4,169Write-in and sticker candidates not included.Globe staff chart
