Jack is BACK!

[dominic-santos.livejournal.com]

The Somerville News is reporting that Jack Connolly, former Ward 6 Alderman, is running for the vacant Alderman-at-Large seat!

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

*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.

[dent42.livejournal.com]

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.

Why is that his legacy?

[rollzroix.livejournal.com]

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.

Re: Why is that his legacy?

[dent42.livejournal.com]

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...