davis_square | Jack is BACK!

So, you definitely seem excited about this. I'm new to the area, but Rebekah Gewirtz seems good -- and really great for Davis Square. What's the excitement over Mr. Connolly?

I don't find Jack Connolly exciting, but he was a pretty good alderman (I supported Rebekah, but it was a case of amazing vs. good, not good vs. bad). I think many people expect Marty Martinez, who finished 5th last year, to run again next year, so having Connolly in would mean at least two strong candidates and an exciting race.

(since there are 4 at-large slots, 5th place is the first one not elected, and since only three incumbents are running for re-election, if we had the same field Marty would be considered the favorite to win the 4th slot)

Oh, I forgot, special election! So no incumbents running, and only one slot to fill, but the same logic holds.

Why's the seat empty?

Senator Shannon died in April 2005. Pat Jehlen, state rep from Somerville, got elected to fill that Senate seat in September, opening up her state rep district. In February 2006, city councilor at-large Denise Provost got elected to fill that state rep seat. She said she'd stay on the city council for a while to wrap up things she was working on, but didn't intend to keep the job. She recently resigned from the council so she can be a full time state rep.

Out of curiosity (since I was unabel to get an answer on this from anyone at election time) what made Rebekah great to Jack's good?

I'm also curious to hear from mattdm why Rebekah is "really great for Davis Square", and why Jack, who was Alderman through DAvis' rise to superhipdom, wouldn't also be considered to be so.

I've been wodnering about this since the campaigns, where I was unable to discern any difference between the candidates except that one was young and cute and one was old. None of their supporters could tell me why one was better than the other beyond the expereince vs. new-face distinction.

I was impressed when I met her at the big Someday Cafe meeting. She's really
concerned about and works for getting and keeping good locally-owned and
operated businesses in the square. (See also the items in her newsletter
posted here just a little bit ago.) But I don't know specifically that she'd
be better than Jack. (Also of note, I'm over on the Ward 7 side of the
Square, so I haven't followed in a having-to-decide-on-my vote kinda way.)

*nodnod* I don't question that she's great, I've just wondered about the relative qualities. They're both good people, and I wasn't at all worried over the outcome.

I suspect that unlike Jack, Rebekah has ambitions that go beyond Somerville, and it will just be a matter of time until she runs for bigger office, like Jehlen and Provost. But hey, they all do good work, so that's not a bad thing.

Jack began to take his position for granted and was ignoring the concerns of residents over the interests of the developers who wanted to build big box condo units in Davis. See the monstrosity at the corner of Willow and Morrison as an example of his legacy.

Was he the developer? I don't mean to sound flip, but ward aldermen don't get automatic veto power over what anyone does with private land within a given ward.

Another view of his legacy might be that he presided over the transformation of Davis Square from just another section of "Slummerville" to a neighborhood that became so desirable to young people from outside of Somerville that they eventually outnumbered the natives and voted in one of their own (i.e. someone young and from out-of-state).

I don't mean to suggest that this is a bad thing or that Jack Connolly was responsible for making Davis Square what it is today (the Red Line is probably most responsible for that). I'm just saying he may have been as much a victim of changing demographics in Ward 6 as anything he did wrong.

I think Jack did some good things for Somerville, but I also think he definitely lost touch with his constituents. He hosted meetings between the developer and the residents, and he was obviously there to support the developer. It was obvious talking to him that he didn't care this building is taller than anything in the area, fills nearly the entire lot, doesn't at all resemble the surrounding buildings (a 9 unit building in a neighborhood of 2 families?!!?), doesn't meet parking requirements, doesn't meet greenspace requirements. It will cast a shadow on neighbors, and damn near jut out onto the bikepath. Despite this, and the obvious resident opposition, he still worked with the developer to get them their permit, and it wasn't the first time he helped an out of town developer bowl over zoning laws and objections of residents...

At last night's Davis Square Task Force meeting, Jack Connolly and Lee Auspitz were leading the charge for a zoning change that would require all businesses in the Square to shut down at 1 am.

They are trying to prevent 2 am liquor licenses, which is a subject worth discussing. But regulating the hours of all businesses in order to prevent this is overreaching. I'd like to get the Store 24 open 24 hours again, myself.

Jack is BACK!

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Why is that his legacy?

Re: Why is that his legacy?

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