Voters who live in the District 3 City Council seat that covers much of eastern Dorchester will be asked to choose between incumbent Councillor Frank Baker and challenger Stephen McBride in the Nov. 2 general election.
Baker, who has served as district councillor for a decade, is a lifelong Columbia-Savin Hill resident known for his relentless pursuit of constituent services and neighborhood matters. But over the years he has become increasingly frustrated by the policy direction of a more activist, left-leaning city council.
McBride, a Pennsylvania native who has lived on Jones Hill for three years, pledges a more collaborative approach with other councillors and being less of the “odd person out” at City Hall.
Read more about the District 3 candidates, who answered a Dorchester Reporter questionnaire.
Baker officially launched his campaign last week at The Beat, the former Boston Globe building on Morrissey Boulevard.
“The rule in politics for a kick-off is not to pick a room that’s too enormous so that it doesn’t look empty if there’s not a huge crowd,” said Baker. “Well, we picked a venue that’s the size of a football field and we filled it. It was a great way to start our campaign, which we wanted to do after the preliminary election had taken place.”
For his part, McBride said, he and his volunteers are actively hitting the doors, talking to people one-on-one and at neighborhood events as well.
“The reason I wanted to run is I really believe District 3 deserves an accessible, accountable and approachable representative,” he said. “It’s someone they can relate to and someone they can text and call and who hears them and advocates for them in city government…There are swaths of the community that have never learned the name of their city councillor and I want to fight to change that.”
The ward committees that touch District 3, including Wards 13, 15, 16, and 17, have not yet endorsed in the race, which is unique in some ways. Ward 13 and Ward 17 are not having a process, though 17’s Joyce Linehan said they invited both candidates in for an information session this month.
“The committee has decided not to do an endorsement process in this election because we are right between District 3 and District 4,” she said. “It feels off to me to vote in the District 4 race endorsement when I live in District 3.”
In Ward 15, Chair Edward Cook said they had a vigorous process this month with both candidates, but they require a two-thirds vote of all present and neither Baker nor McBride got over that hurdle.
“I think some thought that given a little time to be seasoned, he could be a viable candidate,” Cook said of McBride. “With Frank, a lot of his support were people who have been here a long time. Those people have a history with him being supportive and responsive.”
Baker has taken some criticism citywide for his lone “no” votes on issues like the rent moratorium last year and same-day voter registration, among others. McBride has pounced on that, noting it’s one reason he ran.
“Councillor Baker has been the odd person out at City Hall,” he said. “He’s been the lone vote on 12-1 votes several times. That includes the eviction moratorium and Election Day voter registration. His political stances are out of line with what I believe our community deserves.”
Baker said his “no” votes were done in protest during what was a very tough year, one that saw big changes being pushed through without hearings and public involvement.
“I felt in a lot of ways that they were just pandering,” he said. “I don’t have any other word for it. A lot of the discussion around POST (Police Officers Standards and Training Commission) and police reform, I felt my colleagues didn’t have full conversations with the police. The police didn’t know what was going on in their own department.”
He alleged that one of his colleagues published on the Internet his home phone number – which goes to his wife’s phone. That led to a barrage of hate-filled calls coming in to his family, in particular due to his “no” vote on the rent moratorium – a vote he said came because the council didn’t have the authority to take that action.
“The first call I got was from some guy in Ohio,” Baker said. “When he called, I was delivering soup to seniors, and not for votes. It’s seniors that I care about and we were bringing them soup during a pandemic. Meanwhile [some of my colleagues] were putting my phone number online for everyone to call. I’d say 420 of the 500 calls I got were from out of state…and they were telling me to go kill myself because I wanted people out on the streets.”
An all-encompassing issue in District 3 – especially at this moment – is the development of properties around the neighborhood, including Dot Block, Dorchester City, South Bay, and the recently-completed The Beat – not to leave out many smaller projects.
McBride said he feels like development has to be reined in, or at least people need to feel like participants in the process.
“I’m not against development…but I think our zoning code hasn’t been updated since 1965 and a lot of folks don’t have confidence in the process,” he said.
Baker says the current procedure — with negotiations between developers, elected officials and civic leaders — typically results in better projects in the end.
“They say we haven’t re-zoned since 1965 and that’s just a bullet point from the Michelle Wu campaign and the housing advocates,” said Baker. “What they don’t understand is the fact that if the [Boston Planning and Development Agency] comes in and all of Dorchester is re-zoned, you’ll see that all of the 5,000 and 7,000 square foot lots will soon be five-to-seven unit buildings all day long…You get a better project when you negotiate it through, in my case my office, and through the neighborhood. It’s the as-of-right projects that often give us the most trouble.”
The race will continue on for the next 34 days (as of Oct. 10), with the final vote coming on Nov. 2– which will also include balloting for mayor and Council at-large seats.
Read more about the District 3 candidates, who answered a Dorchester Reporter questionnaire.
