2008 CCJ Notes
[items moved from main page]

Dec 7, 2008 - The Boston Globe's "Quotes of Note" on Sat, Dec 6 included the following item:

"I went to electric razors so I would not have to look at myself in the morning."-- Former New York governor MARIO CUOMO, on why he won't sit to have his portrait done

Cuomo's quote was taken from a recent New York Times article. Say what you will about Mario Cuomo (I always thought he was one of the classiest political figures in the country), but he's consistent. His quote is an echo of something he once wrote in the November 1985 issue of the National Lampoon - the "Mad As Hell" issue devoted entirely to statements from prominent Americans about what makes them angry. Mario Cuomo's contribution was this:

Mirrors

I am mad at mirrors. They are multiplying obscenely, confronting me at every turn...with myself.

At my age, mirrors serve only as a reproach. They magnify the retreat of my hairline, the breadth of my nose, the size of the bags under my eyes.

I don't need them reflecting my every wrinkle in lobbies, elevators, and restaurants, or creating the illusion in cramped rest rooms that I am sharing space with a stranger.

Such ubiquitousness compels the kind of self-scrutiny once reserved only for my soul.

That is bad for my image.

[Mario Cuomo's statement was accompanied by a photo of him sitting at his desk with his reflection clearly visible in the glass desktop.]

By the way, the gallery of National Lampoon covers can be found at http://lampoon.rwinters.com. Yeah, those are mine. - RW

Nov 21, 2008 - The Trash Collection Continues - Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner arrested

The Progressive Choice - Chuck Turner takes a bribe, no doubt just one of many.

Darling of the Left - Diane Wilkerson stuffs her bribe money into her bra.

State Senator Diane Wilkerson arrested on corruption charges
[and don't forget, ladies, that the best place to stuff your bribe money is in your bra, not in your pockets - but don't forget to have all of your acquaintances frisked for cameras first!

Preserving the Majesty of Old Works (by Robert Campbell, Boston Globe, Nov 16, 2008)

Election Eve 2008 - In case you've just awakened from a very long and beneficial sleep lasting two years (lucky you for being able to avoid listening to pundits, partisans, and putzes), the polls will be open in Cambridge on Tuesday, November 4 from 7:00am to 8:00pm. [Click here to find out where to vote.]

On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 the Cambridge City Council met at 5:30pm in a Roundtable meeting to discuss "ongoing strategic planning activities at the Cambridge Health Alliance." Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports:  Healthcare network says it may lay off hundreds due to deep cuts in state funding.

Eloquence - This speaks for itself. Or at least attempts to.....

Boston Celebrates Opening of Aqueduct: October 25, 1848

ON THIS DAY...

...in 1848, 300,000 people from all over New England gathered on Boston Common. They came to celebrate the completion of the city's first municipal water system. With the construction of an aqueduct that brought fresh water 15 miles from Lake Cochituate in Natick to Boston, the city for the first time had a pure supply of water for drinking, bathing, cooking, and cleaning. As the sun set, the gates to the fountain in Frog Pond were opened and a stream of clean water shot 80 feet in the air. People cheered and wept with joy. The celebration continued the next day, when the mayor announced that schools would close so that the city's children could play in the Frog Pond fountain.

Read more about this moment: http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=308

Oct 7 - Why We Should Let Housing Prices Keep Falling - Edward L. Glaeser (in the NY Times)

Sept 23 - Residents of Cambridge, home of proportional representation elections (using the Cincinnati method of surplus ballot distribution), may be interested to know that there's a ballot question this November 4 in Cincinnati that reads as follows:

PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT

CITY OF CINCINNATI

A majority affirmative vote is necessary for passage.

Shall the proposed amendment to the Charter of the City of Cincinnati to provide for a method of proportional representation for electing the members of Council whereby each voter ranks candidate choice in descending order from 1 through 9 on each ballot; to provide for the counting of ballots and the determination of results whereby the ballots that are not needed or cannot be used to elect a candidate are distributed to the next highest candidate choice on each ballot who remains eligible to be elected; to provide for the ballot language and direction to voters; to provide for the election of two candidates for mayor in a primary election who shall be eligible for the regular municipal election for mayor; to provide for the election of mayor in the general election; to provide for the choice of write-in candidates; to provide for the election of council and the mayor by ballot without designation of political party; to provide for the marking, sorting and counting of ballots and tabulating the results in a manner consistent with the charter and general election law for non-partisan ballots; to provide for the ongoing validity of Article IX should any provision of Article IX be amended or held unconstitutional or in violation of state law; to provide for the use of mechanical, electronic or other devices for vote counting; and provide other procedures to implement proportional representation by repealing existing Sections 5, 5a, 7, 8, 11 and 12 and enacting new Sections 5, 5a, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13, be approved?

YES
NO

You don't have to be a Cambridge political junkie to recognize the content of "Issue 8" on the Cincinnati ballot. This would restore the nonpartisan proportional representation elections used in Cincinnati until its repeal in 1957 (except for the minor change of limiting the number of ranked choices to 9). [Read the history.] It also (apparently) provides for the reduction to two mayoral candidates in a primary election using the same method. [Whether the "Cincinnati method" of surplus ballot distribution or a superior "fractional distribution" is used is unclear from the text.] More information is available at the website of Better Ballot Cincinnati at www.betterballotcincinnati.com. - Robert Winters

Post-election postscript - The Cincinnati ballot question failed 45-55%.

On this date (July 3): In 1775, Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass. From the Cambridge Historical Commission website: Q: Did George Washington take command of the American Army under the Washington Elm? A: This popular legend became part of American popular culture as early as the 1830s. The story was made famous during the centennial year of 1876, with the publication of a fictitious "eye-witness" journal, The Diary of Dorothy Dudley. The tree itself was indeed real and stood in the middle of Garden Street at the intersection of Mason Street. In 1923, the diseased and very fragile trunk was accidentally pulled over by a city worker. A plaque embedded in the street's pavement marks the original location of the tree. Washington did take command of the army in Cambridge on July 3, 1775, but there is no documentation to indicate that the event took place under the elm tree. Washington established his New England headquarters at the Vassal House on Brattle Street (now better known as the Longfellow House), where he resided until April 1776. The myth of Washington and the elm is still widely known today, and the image of the tree remains a symbol of patriotism in Cambridge.

One object of desire among Cambridge historians is a piece of the original Washington Elm tree. Mine is a carved circular box made from one of its branches.

Aug 21, 2008 - State to take over building of North Point T station (Boston Globe)

Aug 8, 2008 - George McGovern: My Party Should Respect Secret Union Ballots (Wall Street Journal)
Meanwhile "The One" says otherwise.

Aug 6, 2008 - Middlesex County Register of Probate John Buonomo is a Thief- Boston.com [Aug 7 full article]
    Aug 7 Boston Globe article on Buonomo's arraignment 
PS - to all of my Cambridge friends who said what a great guy Buonomo is.... spare me your opinions in the future.
PPS - District Attorney Gerard Leone continues to impress me. He's a cut above all of his predecessors and we're lucky to have him.

Aug 6, 2008 - A Tyranny of True Believers - by Robert Samuelson

Aug 6, 2008 - My choice for president (well, at least my choice for today)

Picture Postcards

July 31, 2008 - A cone of silence for ice cream trucks (Boston Globe)
Boston City Council votes Yes to Obnoxious Boom Cars! and No to Ice Cream Trucks!
    Perhaps the best evidence yet that the Boston City Council is comprised of brain-dead panderers, on July 30 they passed a new city ordinance that will prohibit ice cream vendors from playing their familiar jingles while stationary. (They can still play the jingle while the trucks are moving.) Apparently, some of their constituents complained about the incessant jingles. Meanwhile, cars with ear-splitting sound systems cranking out high-decibel "music" can still drive down any Boston street, stop at traffic lights and stop signs, or park while puking out their auditory vomit. However, if they turn off the cop-killin' gangsta rap and play an ice cream jingle, they'll be violating the law.

July 28, 2008 - Report urges Cambridge not to enact nanoparticle regulations (by Robert Weisman, Boston Globe)

July 26, 2008 - Unintended fallout of loan crisis (by Richard L. Cravatts, Boston Globe Op-Ed)

Jo Stafford (Nov 12, 1917 - July 16, 2008) - "You Belong to Me"

You may also want to listen to "I'll Be Seeing You"

July 17, 2008 - Seattle’s Automated Toilets Go Way of the Box and Chain (New York Times)
This one's worth mentioning only because some Cambridge city councillors were pressing the City Manager to install these fixtures in the public squares of Cambridge, and the Manager (correctly) resisted. It would make a lot more sense to offer a small subsidy to local businesses to cover the expenses associated with allowing public access to their facilities.

July 14, 2008 - Government as the Big Lender - New York Times news analysis

July 14, 2008 - A popularity contest that can't succeed - David Lewis Schaefer op-ed on "National Popular Vote" in Boston Globe

July 13, 2008 - Cambridge housing sales take hardest hit in area (Boston Globe)

June 5, 2008 - Foreclosure Rates in Massachusetts Cities and Towns: 1990–2007 [URL expired]
This is a great graphic representation of how foreclosure rates have varied over the last two decades and why, perhaps, there may be far less reason for concern that some might have you believe.

Note on the June 5, 2008, 6:00pm Public Hearing on Community Preservation Act Fund Allocation and Expenditures [The Community Preservation Act Committee will hold a public hearing that will include public suggestions for CPA fund allocations and project grant expenditures for Housing, Open Space and Historic Preservation.]
Remark: Since its inception after being voted in the 2001 election, meetings of the CPA Committee have never seriously considered any adjustment to the allocation of 80% of funds toward affordable housing, 10% toward Open Space Acquisition, and 10% for Historic Preservation. The only matters on the table have been which projects to fund within each category, and most of those decisions have been made administratively before any committee meetings. In recent years, advocates for open space acquisition have begun to show a greater presence at these largely pro-forma meetings, but Cambridge's public/private affordable housing industry leaders have always gone out of their way to pack the meetings with housing advocates. I hasten to add that I'm not personally advocating for what the appropriate allocations should be - only that there is little, if any, real public process on these budgetary decisions and all public meetings I've witnessed to date have been little more than “show and tell” by the Affordable Housing Trust, Just-A-Start, and related agencies.

June 4, 2008 - For your enjoyment: http://www.flixxy.com/story-of-a-sign-short-film.htm 

May 15, 2008 - Alice in Housing Land (George Will, Real Clear Politics and the Washington Post)

Apr 25, 2008 - Study Suggests Math Teachers Scrap Balls and Slices (Kenneth Chang, New York Times)

April 20, 2008 - Seriously, what does this official City web page for the Office of the Mayor tell us about the operation of that office? The current mayor was chosen by her colleagues on January 14 - over three months ago. Most of the links on that page send you back to the main City web page. [April 28 Addendum - The site has finally been updated.]

Apr 10, 2007 The Mayor’s Web Page is under construction pending appointment of a new Mayor for the City of Cambridge.

Apr 18, 2008 - Minding the Achievement Gap (by Vidya Viswanathan, Harvard Crimson)
Cambridge Public Schools focus on improving performance despite achievement discrepancy

Apr 17, 2008 - State Senator Anthony Galluccio moves to make affordable housing less affordable (Boston Globe article)
Our newest state senator has filed an amendment to the latest housing bond bill that will require developers to pay a “prevailing wage” to workers on projects of at least 75 units or at least $25 million in total development costs. As the article reports: “A 2007 study by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership of multifamily developments between 2002 and 2006 found projects that paid prevailing wages spent 34 percent more on each unit, or about $60,000 per unit.”

Apr 4, 2008 - The Boston Globe yesterday reported that the current per pupil cost for the Cambridge Public Schools is $15,175 (compared to Waltham at $12,900; Somerville at $11,593; Watertown at $11,290; Boston at $10,872; Brookline at $10,546; Newton at $9,135; Lexington at $8,988; Belmont at $8,243; and Arlington at $8,225). However, in the 2007 municipal election campaign, several candidates said it was $23,000 per pupil. The greatschools website give the obviously wrong figure of $8,641. I found a 2003 chart from Alan Price on the cambridgepublic.us website that gives a range between $5,500 and $11,000 for various elementary schools. Metroprofiles.com puts the Cambridge figure at $17,551 in 2005. The Harvard Crimson in 2005 put the figure at about $15,000. For FY2004, the Crimson put the cost per pupil for regular education at $13,363. The Area 4 Newsletter said in 2002 that the projected cost per pupil was estimated to rise from $17,221 in 2002 to $21,419 in 2006. Councillors Toomey and Sullivan and City Manager Healy put the figure at $16,000 in 2000.

So, what's the accurate figure right now? Let me know.  I'm sure others would also like to know. - Robert Winters

Apr 2, 2008 - How Not to Save Housing - by Robert Samuelson (at Real Clear Politics)

Mar 19, 2008 - Massachusetts state budget reaches “point of reckoning” - MassInc

Mar 19, 2008 - Who's Zoomin' Who? (Harvard Crimson story "School Super Urged to Stay")

The Cambridge School Committee, really three members and a mayor, appear to be crafting their own new brand of dishonesty. In January, the School Committee voted 4-3 to extend the contract of Superintendent of Schools Thomas Fowler-Finn, though they did not at that time specify a term for the contract extension. The devil may be in the lack of details. In the initial vote on contract extension, members Fred Fantini, Joe Grassi, Nancy Tauber, and newly elected mayor Denise Simmons voted for the contract extension. The opposing votes were Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, and Luc Schuster. Some (and this includes me) felt that Simmons' vote was tied to her getting the votes of her Council colleagues to become mayor. It's not unusual that the mayoral selection hinges on some understanding about how the selected mayor will act in his or her role as Chair of the School Committee.

There was some cause for concern at the time of the January contract vote that no term was specified. Cynics (and this includes me) worried that Simmons' deciding vote might have been just the formal conclusion of a deal with her City Council colleagues and that what followed might be a negotiation in which the proposed terms might be so minimal or unacceptable that it would amount to a de facto rejection. The fact that there has been no resolution after two months in what is absolutely a cut-and-dried question is an indication that this School Committee may not have any understanding of what constitutes an understanding. Simmons statement that “you don’t want to rush something that’s so important” is bewildering at best.

Though I have personally only gone to a couple of School Committee meetings this year, I have watched portions of several other meetings on TV. My impression is that this is one of the most dysfunctional groups to have ever occupied the seats in the Henrietta S. Attles Meeting Room. With two petulant children serving on the School Committee, I suppose this was to be expected. What we could use is some leadership from the mayor, but for that we may just have to wait and see. -- Robert Winters

Feb 26, 2008 - Cash is King in Council Elections (by Sarah Howland, Harvard Crimson)

Feb 26, 2008 - Sometimes The Right is right: Decommissioning the peaceniks (Cambridge Chronicle, link expired)

Feb 19, 2008 - I just picked up the results of the Democratic City Committee ward committee elections, including the write-in votes. Here they are: http://rwinters.com/docs/demwards2008.pdf

One interesting thing about these results - they're not correct. Not that it matters much to me or anyone else, but I received enough write-in votes to be among those elected to the Ward 6 Democratic City Committee and the results show this. However, in my own precinct 6-1, as well as in the neighboring precinct 6-2, the results show no write-in votes at all. Only precinct 6-3 shows any write-ins, so apparently any write-in choices on my ballot and on the ballots of others in my precinct were not counted, even though I completed my ballot correctly. [I took a photo of my ballot, by the way, so there's no question that my ballot was completed correctly.] By the way, the Election Commission promised that the complete results would be posted Feb 6, but they were not due to complications with provisional ballots. The results were complete on Feb 12 and were to be posted on the website of the Election Commission the next day. They were still not posted as of Tues, Feb 19.

The main reason I visited the Cambridge Election Commission today was to pick up campaign finance reports for the School Committee candidates. The deadline for submitting these reports was January 20. Neither Richard Harding nor Patty Nolan have filed their year-end reports - a full 30 days after the deadline. [Mar 14 update - Ms. Nolan turned in her report on Feb 25, 36 days late. No word yet on Harding and Walser.] Former School Committee member Nancy Walser is also required to file a year-end report and has not yet done so.

Here are some highlights of the reports:

Perhaps the most notable thing is the extraordinary amount of money ($23,637) spent by Marc McGovern for 2006-7 to win his seat. This is not the record high, however. That distinction goes to Marc McGovern for 2002-3 at $27,182. It is noteworthy that incumbent Richard Harding spent relatively little on his campaign and was defeated. In contrast, Fred Fantini and Joe Grassi continued their low-cost, high-effect campaigns in the $3/vote range. No one can ever accuse these two of buying an election. Here are the dollar per #1 vote totals for all School Committee candidates in the last three elections (Harding 2006-7 estimated):

I promise to provide some interesting information on the campaign finance reports of City Council candidates soon. Here's some preliminary information on the Council candidates, listed alphabetically:

Needless to say, Gregg Moree must have set some kind of record for least effective campaign. Among those who were elected, Councillors Kelley, Maher, and Seidel appear to have received the most bang for the buck in their campaigns. -- Robert Winters

Jan 29, 2008, 11:00pm - The Cambridge School Committee tonight passed on a 4-3 vote a motion to enter into negotiations for a contract extension with Superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn.
Voting in favor: Fred Fantini, Joe Grassi, Nancy Tauber, Denise Simmons
Voting against: Marc McGovern, Patty Nolan, Luc Schuster

I'm not aware of the length of the extension or of any other conditions. Much of that will presumably be determined during the contract negotiations.

January 11, 2008 - Thankfully, what appeared to be a move for a quick vote Friday on a contract extension for the School Superintendent (Tom Fowler-Finn) turned out to be an informational meeting only with no votes taken. There will be a public School Committee meeting at CRLS on Wednesday, January 16 at 6:00pm on the topic of the Superintendent's contract, and public comment will be permitted at this meeting. Let's hope the city councillors can put their differences and self-interest aside and settle on a mayor on Monday so that there will be a properly constituted School Committee before this very important matter will be seriously considered.

Make no mistake about it. This is a very important matter and the public has every reason to be concerned. This is one rare occasion where the electorate actually has a stake in the outcome of the mayoral selection, particularly those who have children in the Cambridge public schools. Some of us, including me, are teachers who have strong feelings about maintaining stability in the public schools and who want to keep the current revival on track. I teach mathematics at the college level (Brandeis University and the Harvard Extension School), and my primary concern is that most students graduating from the Cambridge public schools should be fluent in mathematics and able to travel the road toward good opportunities requiring technical skills. I believe we now have, at long last, a Superintendent who has created an environment that can best make this a reality. Almost all of the Cambridge public school teachers I've met agree.

So here's my bottom line on the mayoral issue. If the selection of mayor turns out to make the difference between keeping or not keeping Tom Fowler-Finn for at least a few more years, then I fervently hope the City Council will have the wisdom to choose as their mayor someone favorable to a contract extension for the Superintendent. Based on what I've been hearing, the swing vote could be our newest city councillor, Sam Seidel. Nobody ever said this was going to be a job without controversy and difficult choices. Let's also hope that Sam has the wisdom to not get snookered by those whose real agenda is their own self-interest.  -- Robert Winters

January 9, 2008 - Like a nagging infection, Kenneth E. Reeves appears to be trying to force a quick vote on School Superintendent Tom Fowler-Finn's contract while he's still in a position to do so. The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, January 14 and there's a good chance a mayor will be elected at that time. With the clock ticking, Mr. Reeves in his capacity as acting mayor today issued the following NOTICE:

By order of his honor, Kenneth E. Reeves, acting in accordance with chapter I, section 3 of the rules of the School Committee, there will be a Special Meeting at 6:30pm Friday, January 11, 2008, in the Henrietta S. Attles meeting room, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, for the purpose of discussing strategy for contract negotiations with nonunion personnel. [signed by Marilyn Y. Bradshaw, Exec. Secretary to the School Committee]

What this translates into is that the School Committee is being called to a Special Meeting by Reeves for the specific purpose of taking up the matter of the Superintendent's contract before the City Council has a chance to elect a mayor for the 2008-2009 term. Though we can only speculate at this point, this startling development could mean that there may be five votes to elect as mayor either Henrietta Davis or Brian Murphy or someone else agreeable to a contract extension for Fowler-Finn. If this is the case, Reeves would have to force a vote before Monday in order to have the most favorable odds of having his way before the gavel can be pried out of his hand.

It's not completely clear where the votes are on the School Committee regarding the matter of Fowler-Finn's contract. The last time this question came up, Fred Fantini, Joe Grassi, Luc Schuster, and Nancy Walser voted for a contract extension. Richard Harding, Patty Nolan, and Reeves voted against the extension. At the time, Richard Harding and Luc Schuster were seen as the swing votes and the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Luc Schuster to cast the deciding vote. Nancy Walser has now left the School Committee and was replaced by Nancy Tauber who will likely also vote for another contract extension. Richard Harding lost his seat to Marc McGovern who is outspoken in the extreme in his opposition to Fowler-Finn. If all else remains equal, even with Reeves scrambling to get in his vote, it would still be a 4-3 vote for an extension unless either Fantini, Grassi, or Schuster have a change of heart. After Monday, the odds could shift further in favor of Fowler-Finn.

Let's hope that School Committee members Grassi, Fantini, Schuster, and Tauber see this maneuver for what it is - an undemocratic power grab. Regardless how the votes may eventually fall on the Fowler-Finn question, this important matter should not be decided in this manner. Let's wait until at least next week when the City Council at least has a chance to properly choose their one representative on the School Committee.  -- Robert Winters

January 7, 2008 - Inauguration Day

The Inaugural meeting of the Cambridge City Council takes place this morning starting at 10:00am in the Sullivan Chamber at City Hall - the first time in over 70 years that a member of the Sullivan family will not be inaugurated. While most of the meeting will be taken up with processions, introduction of family and friends, and the swearing of oaths to the City, the State, and the United States, there will be one order of business - the election of the mayor and of the vice-chair of the City Council.

As I've stated before, the outcome of the vote doesn't really matter all that much to so many people. How the vote comes down, however, could affect the way the elected councillors interact with each other over the next two years. The choice of mayor may also affect the upcoming vote on School Superintendent Tom Fowler-Finn's contract, but a delay in choosing a mayor will also affect that vote since the Council's most senior member (by a few minutes), Kenneth E. Reeves, will chair the School Committee until a mayor is chosen and Mr. Reeves opposed Fowler-Finn the last time the question came up. For what it's worth, my sense is that Councillors Davis, Murphy, Maher, and Toomey tend to come down as supportive of Fowler-Finn. Councillors Kelley, Decker, and Reeves have been clearly outspoken in their opposition to Fowler-Finn. Councillor Simmons also appears to be opposed to Fowler-Finn judging from her reaction to the last contract vote, but you never know what deals will be made in order to garner the five votes necessary to become mayor. I don't know what freshman Councillor Sam Seidel's position is on Fowler-Finn.

Of course, city councillors generally keep their focus a little closer to home, so it's not at all clear how much, if any, the Fowler-Finn question will play into the mayoral vote.

Objectively speaking, Councillor Davis probably has the best case to make for why she should get the nod. She's come close before and has served since 1996 without taking the chair. She topped the ticket as measured by #1 vote totals and was the only councillor elected with a surplus, she has experience on the School Committee, and (for what it's worth) she would handily win in an instant runoff election based on the ballots cast in November. On the other hand, there is a history of the City Council not favoring candidates who fared well at the polls due to the competitive advantage that may be derived from being mayor. Councillor Simmons will likely have made the case that her presence on the School Committee will provide racial balance now that Richard Harding was defeated in November. Councillor Simmons can also point to her experience on the School Committee prior to her election to the City Council. Councillors Toomey and Maher can also claim that experience.

There are terms used in the recycling industry that come to mind in this context - positive sort and negative sort. When commingled potentially recyclable material rolls down the sorting line, a positive sort is where you pick out all the good stuff and let the rest go over the edge into the dumpster at the end of the line destined for disposal. A negative sort is where everything is presumed recyclable, contaminants are removed from the line, and everything else rumbles on down on the way to an end market. The choice of mayor should be a "positive sort" based on an affirmative vote for a person who is really supported by those who voted for that person. This should never be a "negative sort" where a candidate receives five votes just to prevent someone else from getting the nod. Unfortunately, we have seen "negative sort" mayors before. Let's hope we start out the 2008-2009 term on a positive note.

And with that, I'm off to City Hall for the vote. The School Committee will be inaugurated at 5:30pm.  -- Robert Winters

Addendum - after the 1st ballot

Well, the vote took place and it's deadlocked. Councillor Simmons picked up votes from Craig Kelley and Sam Seidel for a total of three; Councillor Toomey added David Maher's vote for a total of two; and Councillors Davis, Decker, Murphy, and Reeves each voted for themselves. The next vote will take place at the start of business at next Monday's City Council meeting (Jan 14). If it's not settled then, the next opportunity will be two weeks later (Jan 28). The vote on the School Superintendent's contract extension must take place by the end of January.

My sense is that some of the councillors voted for themselves today not so much because they think they have a shot at becoming mayor, but rather to delay the vote for more time to wheel and deal. There seems to be a fragile coalition among Councillors Davis, Kelley, Murphy, Seidel, and Simmons that will ultimately decide the outcome, but Councillors Davis, Murphy, and Simmons all have serious aspirations for the job. That's the real deadlock here. On the other side, former councillor Billy Walsh appears again to be trying to determine the outcome by working with Councillors Decker and Reeves, but getting the necessary five votes may no longer be possible no matter what kind of pact with the devil is offered. That leaves Councillors Maher and Toomey who could possibly settle things quickly by talking turkey with the aforementioned coalition of five.

I'm not backing a particular horse in the race, but I do consider it to be very important that this coalition of five to seven reasonable and honorable men and women should determine the outcome.

Jan 3, 2008 - Handicapping the mayoral sweepstakes - First, let's be clear that the choice for who will be mayor this term really only matters to about 20 people in the city - the 9 councillors, the 6 elected School Committee members, and the handful of people who will be rewarded with jobs in the Mayor's Office. For those of us who have attended City Council meetings over the years, it could mean the difference between attending and not attending. If the councillors make an intelligent choice on Monday, January 7 or soon thereafter it may still be worth watching the conduct of the meetings, the appointments of the Council committees and their Chairs, and the work of the committees. Primarily, I hope the councillors choose a Chair who the majority of residents can support and that the choice is made honorably with little or no deal-making behind the scenes. I have no idea what kind of alchemy will go into the decision or if it will happen on the 1st ballot. Good luck!

Based on watching the councillors and candidates over the last few years, here's my impressionistic take on the support for each of the 7 possible candidates (listed alphabetically):