Time
to act
Election year is often troubling for citizens. One
of the primary jobs of politicians is to get re-elected. High-principled
policies often fall victim to the pursuit of this career-enhancing
goal.
Thomas Menino has been an outstanding mayor. The probability that
he will be re-elected is high. Nonetheless, no good politician would
count on victory being assured. The customary re-election mode is
to shore up the base and establish good will with other voting blocs.
Before the election is a good time to avoid controversy.
Sometimes controversy cannot be avoided. Problems simply pursue
the incumbent. And sometimes incumbents take positions which offend.
The changing demographics in Boston could prove to cause controversy
for Mayor Menino.
A source of embarrassment is the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice
Department against the mayor for alleged voting rights violations.
The complaint accuses the Elections Department of failing to prepare
election materials in the language of voters with limited English
skills. Also, there was an alleged violation of the Voting Rights
Act because of an inadequate number of bilingual poll workers. Whether
or not there are any real violations, this conflict will undoubtedly
be resolved by a consent decree.
But Mayor Menino faces a problem much more serious than that. There
is a widening rift between Boston’s African American community
and the Boston police. Citizens have reported to the Banner a number
of abusive and violent encounters with the police. There seems to
be a culture of disrespect toward the black community which has
existed in the police department from before the appointment of
Kathleen O’Toole as commissioner.
Even while law-abiding citizens have been forced to confront a hostile
police department, drug dealers have been permitted to operate openly.
Several members of a crack-cocaine ring operating in Roxbury, Mattapan,
the South End and Jamaica Plain have recently been arrested in a
joint city, state and federal operation. According to reports the
drug ring has been operating openly for a decade.
The mayor has often expressed his concern about youth violence.
He has been told that much of the conflict is drug related. While
the mayor’s police department permits high level drug dealers
to stay in business, the mayor expects law-abiding citizens to take
to the streets to confront youthful, low-level dealers. And still
the citizens must suffer the disrespect of the police.
There is a growing discontent in black Boston. Mayor Menino did
not soothe this feeling by endorsing Atty. Gen. Tom Reilly for Governor
over the community’s preferred candidate, Deval Patrick. The
customary practice is for an incumbent to withhold his open endorsement
until after the primary election.
Menino has established a strong mayor administration. The consequence
of that is the mayor must stand up and assume responsibility for
failures just as he receives the applause for successes. It is time
for the mayor to stand up and root out the problems in the police
department. His constituents deserve better.
|
Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher
Bay State Banner |
