Candidates running to replace former City Councillor Chuck Turner will likely face off for the final time on Sunday, days before polls open in the preliminary election aimed at winnowing the seven-person field to two contenders.

The two-hour forum starts at 2 p.m. at the Crispus Attucks Child Care Center in Grove Hall.

The forum is sponsored by the Garrison-Trotter Neighborhood Association, Project RIGHT, the Prince Hall Grand Lodge, and the Franklin Park Coalition.

The seven candidates include Natalie Carithers, an ex-aide to state Rep. Willie Mae Allen; former City Hall staffer Danielle Renee Williams; foreclosure prevention specialist and the son of former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, Cornell Mills; Tito Jackson, former aide to Gov. Deval Patrick; community activist Haywood Fennell; and perennial candidates Althea Garrison and Roy Owens.

On Monday, federal Judge Mark Wolf cleared the way for the special election to occur, rejecting Turner’s request to delay the vote while the federal court considers his civil lawsuit against the City Council for removing him from office in December. Turner was convicted of bribery charges and maintains his innocence.

Wolf also requested an opinion from the state Supreme Judicial Court on whether the City Council had the legal authority to oust Turner.

Turner supporters say voters had returned Turner to office in 2009 despite the indictment, and the council should not have acted, and instead waited until a federal judge sentenced him in late January. Turner was sentenced to three years in jail by Judge Douglas Woodlock, a move the Green Rainbow Party member is appealing.

Polls open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday. The final election is March 15.

Another candidate joins District 3 race

Another former City Council At-Large candidate is leaping into the District 3 race: Marty Hogan, who lives in the Ashmont area of Dorchester and serves as president of the Dorchester Day Parade Committee. Hogan came in sixth place out of nine major candidates in the 2007 City Council At-Large race.

Councillor Maureen Feeney, who has held the District 3 seat since 1993, has said she is leaning towards one last run this year. Doug Bennett, who came in last place out of eight City Council At-Large candidates in 2009, has also declared his candidacy.

Hogan, an information technology consultant, said in a press release that he would look to cut waste in the city budget. “Government should be restored to citizen legislators who put the public’s best interest first and foremost and serve for a time then return to the work force,” he said in the statement.
City councillors, who all face re-election this year, have two-year terms.

People on the move in City Hall, on Beacon Hill

Mayor Thomas Menino last week tapped the executive director of the Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF) as his human services chief. Daphne Griffin, an Egleston Square resident, was the first Latino-American appointed to the job at BCYF and oversaw dozens of community centers, a $22 million budget and 406 employees. She served in that job from 1997 on.

As human services chief, she will oversee a $34 million budget and 500 employees. She replaces Larry Mayes, who left last year to work for Catholic Charities.

“Our human service agencies are such a vital component of our great city and work best when they work together,” Menino said in a statement. “She will lead that continued integration among them. Daphne has what good government needs – that human touch, that energy and excitement for people. I look forward to her success.”

Gov. Deval Patrick’s former chief of staff is returning to his old job at UMass-Boston, university officials said last week. Arthur Bernard, who also served as chief of staff to former Senate President Robert Travaglini, is rejoining the Dorchester campus as vice chancellor for government relations and public affairs. He started on Monday.

Bernard had the same job, which now carries a salary of $175,000 a year, in 2007 before leaving to become a top aide to the governor in June 2008. He was eventually promoted to chief of staff, when top adviser Doug Rubin left to handle Patrick’s re-election campaign.

“Mr. Bernard’s return will further enhance the division’s support for the university, particularly as we move toward implementing a new strategic plan, begin construction of new buildings, and plan for the future development of the former Bayside Expo Center property,” Chancellor Keith Motley said in a Tuesday afternoon e-mail to the university community.

Bernard served as Travaglini’s chief of staff for four years. Between 1993 and 1996, he also worked at the now-defunct Mass. Turnpike Authority. Associate Vice Chancellor John Ciccarelli filled in at UMass-Boston while Bernard was working for Patrick.

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