Reporter's Notebook: Seven candidates, one seat means barbs will surely fly

With candidates vying for an open City Council seat in District 3 for the first time in nearly 18 years, sharp elbows are to be expected, and that includes electronic pokes.

A blast e-mail from a supporter of candidate John O’Toole this week drew the ire of a St. Mark’s civic activist, who accused the supporter of going negative in the race to succeed Maureen Feeney. The content of the e-mails offer a window into the campaign months away from the Sept. 27 preliminary election.

“Wow! Its [sic] only June and you are being so negative already,” St. Mark’s Barry Mullen wrote on Tuesday in response to an e-mail from Phil Carver, head of the Pope’s Hill Civic Association. Mullen sent copies of the conversation between the two of them to Feeney, the Reporter, and others, and asked to be taken off Carver’s e-mail list.

Carver, in an e-mail sent early Tuesday, wrote, “How come only ONE of the candidates for the Boston City Council District 3 seat has a demonstrable track record of civic activism? This is an important question to think about with the numerous Candidates for the District Council seat. It’s ironic to me that once there is a paid position available a whole litany of folks arrive with the ‘desire’ to make our community better. … Where were they when we needed them?”

In the e-mail, which was attached to an invitation to a party for O’Toole, Carver asserted that many of the candidates are looking for the money and the prestige that comes with being an elected official, and “have no stomach working for the concerns of you or your neighbors,” adding “John is a friend, but that alone does not merit my support, my support is cemented in the fact that John O’Toole has shown over the course of two decades that he is willing to do the work for our community.”

O’Toole, one of seven candidates in the race, is a longtime neighborhood activist and a former president of the Cedar Grove Civic Association.

In his response, Mullen wrote that Carver’s e-mail “made it very easy” to decide whom he’s not supporting, saying he will make up his mind on whom to back after several neighborhood forums.

Asked for a response about the emails, Carver said the Reporter should “in fairness” print the email in its entirety, instead of paraphrasing. Because of space constraints in the print edition, a copy of the emails are available on the Reporter’s political blog, The Lit Drop.

The other candidates in the District 3 race include Frank Baker, Doug Bennett, Stephanie Everett, Craig Galvin, Marty Hogan, and Marydith Tuitt.

Zoning, Michael Flaherty, and the 2011 at-large race

Reason No. 1,026 why the municipal election season will be fun this year: Even bone-dry Zoning Board of Appeals hearings get a slight injection of excitement.

Here’s the scene: Developer Gregg Donovan and Jason Rae, owner of 1722 Columbia Rd., went before the seven-member Zoning Board in late May to get approval for their project, which involves eliminating the slopes on the property’s roof and installing a roof deck that looks out onto Columbia Rd.

Enter Michael Flaherty, running to reclaim his at-large seat and appearing as a direct abutter who shares an easement with the property owners.

Flaherty took issue with their notification process, saying he didn’t get a heads up about the proposal. “Not so much as a courtesy phone call,” he said at the meeting, according to an audio tape obtained by the Reporter, since the ZBA appears to be unfamiliar with the concept of CDs. (Note to the board: That stands for compact disc.)

Flaherty charged that the developer and owner “all have relationships on the fifth floor” of City Hall and asked for a vote to be deferred or for the board to vote down the project “without prejudice.” If the board votes for the project, “we can tie this up for a few years,” he added.

But the developer and owner said Flaherty’s wife had been notified, and that all the local elected officials were aware of the project, and are notified as part of the regular ZBA process. Staffers from the offices of the four at-large councillors and South Boston Councillor Bill Linehan appeared before the zoning board and signed off on the project. “I think it’s unfortunate that he’s grandstanding,” Donovan said of Flaherty, according to the tape.

The board ended up voting 5-1 for the project, and word of Flaherty’s appearance spread throughout City Hall. “As a direct abutter, I had an objection to the process and as a result of that hearing, we’re in the process of resolving outstanding issues with respect to the project,” Flaherty told the Reporter last week, adding that there was no communication from the proponents and misinformation in the neighborhood led to a miscommunication at the ZBA.  “It underscores what’s wrong with the development process in Boston.”

Bill Trabucco wants to show candidates how to campaign

Former City Council at-large candidate Bill Trabucco is turning his political experience and past campaign investments into an entrepreneurial effort aimed at helping office-seekers improve their visibility, and with any luck, their vote tallies. Trabucco, a Dorchester native, has founded “Campaign Assets,” a new company dedicated to outdoor campaign media and support for election efforts across New England.

“I decided to take my talents.... and create my own business with it,” Trabucco told the Reporter this week.

The former EMT decided to start the company after being laid off and making an unsuccessful run at one of the Council’s at-large seats in 2009. He said he learned from his own council run how difficult it is to seek elected office.

Among the candidates who’ve utilized Trabucco’s services are District 7 Councillor Tito Jackson and at-large candidate Sean Ryan. Trabucco said Ryan’s use of one of his trucks in this week’s Dorchester Day parade led some candidates, such as Michael Flaherty, Steve Murphy and Newton Mayor Setti Warren, to show interest in his enterprise.

Featuring the slogan “Increase your visibility... Increase your VOTE count,” the Campaign Assets website advertises vehicles, adornments, signage, and even campaign personnel-for-hire to staff stand-outs or signature gathering efforts.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Check out updates to Boston’s political scene at The Lit Drop, located at dotnews.com/litdrop. Follow us on Twitter @LitDrop and @gintautasd


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