By Brian Denitzio
Reporter Staff

South Boston-bred Martin Hogan scoffs at the notion there's one seat "open" in this year's City Council race. The 26-year-old Hogan, making his first run at elected office as a part of this year's at-large field, promises to move beyond "politics as usual," and has a battery of ideas to back it up.

"That idea is what keeps us in the rut that we're in - it's a bad one to have," says Hogan. "I look at it as four open seats - they have to fight just as hard as idea to get that seat."

Hogan was born at St. Margaret's Hospital in Dorchester and says that he's lived for most of his life on Linden Street in South Boston.

He attended Suffolk University and majored in communications; but, due to a car accident in which he broke his neck, Hogan has not completed his degree.

The car accident left Hogan unable to work or go to school for eight months, a period he recalls as the most depressing of his life.

"I couldn't do anything to make myself better or make the world better," says Hogan.

Hogan did receive a Systems and Network Engineer certificate from Boston University Education Center and now works as a cell phone salesman with Next Generation Wireless in Marlborough.

The decision to run came in March, Hogan says, after watching the St. Patrick's Day Parade in South Boston. He believes that voters are apathetic and that the city needs someone from outside the current system to work with residents.

"They're sick of politics as usual, they're sick of not having better choices," says Hogan.

In the current crop of candidates, Hogan says that he sees more of the same.

"We have 15 candidates [in the at-large field] right now and as far as I've seen nobody's made an impact. The fact that we have two former mayor's children running proves that it's politics as usual," Hogan says, referring to Edward Flynn and Patricia White.

Hogan's platform is built on three main issues: violence, drugs, and education. His proposed solutions to these problems, which have the city "falling apart at the seams," are all connected.

He is calling for more programs to get youth involved in positive activities, specifically requiring businesses that receive benefits from the city to do their part by hiring young people during the summer and perhaps the school year. Hogan also believes that parents need to be held accountable for their children's actions, and that adults in neighborhoods need to be good role models to the city's youth. If a child gets in trouble, Hogan says he would support criminal prosecution or other penalties to make sure parents take an active role in raising their children. At the same time, Hogan believes that the city should provide outreach to parents and provide counseling and resources for being a good parent.

As the campaign moves into the months of August, Hogan says he'll be taking this platform door-to-door, taking days off from work to devote more time to his campaign.

When asked about his predictions for September's primary, Hogan forecast a big turnover on the council, and that he'll still be standing among the top eight moving on to November's final.