Tito to Dist. 7 candidates: ‘Keep heat on the mayor’
City Councilor and mayoral candidate Tito Jackson teamed up with two former District 7 councilors to school nearly a dozen City Hall hopefuls on the challenges the area faces, urging them to continue to keep the heat on the mayor’s office if elected.
“Somehow you have to find a way to keep it on the radar,” said former councilor Gareth Saunders, referring specifically to Roxbury’s Madison Park High School and other education issues. “Challenge the mayor and, as a last resort, maybe embarrass him.”
Saunders, who served the district from 1994-1999, said yesterday working with the mayor is the best course of action, but the next councilor has to be willing to butt heads when necessary.
Jackson, Saunders, and former councilor Chuck Turner met with 10 of the 13 candidates for the seat, which Jackson will vacate as he makes his bid to unseat Mayor Martin J. Walsh.
District 7 includes the neighborhood of Roxbury, as well as parts of Jamaica Plain, Back Bay, the South End and Fenway.
Speaking in a back room at Victoria’s Diner, the group met for more than two hours and the candidates peppered the current and former office-holders with questions primarily focused on three major issues — affordable housing, tackling violent crime and education.
“I’ve been in Boston for 50 years and I think it’s the most difficult time in District 7 I’ve known,” Turner told the group. “The person who’s a councilor has a responsibility to really speak for not just the issues the city brings up, but really try to protect the interests of the people who are already here in the community.”
The gathering featured community activists, past candidates and political newcomers bidding for the seat, including Angelina Camacho, Joao Gomes DePina, James Jackson, Kim Janey, Deego Jibril, Brian Keith, Jose Lopez, Charles Clemons Mohammed, Hassan Williams and Steven A. Wise.
“Regardless of who is mayor, the job of the District 7 city councilor is to ensure we deal with these issues,” Jackson told the Herald, adding his own message is “catching fire” and that he plans to win his race in November. Asked if he will endorse anyone in the race to replace him, Jackson said he was focused on his own election.
“Everyone here, I believe, is capable,” he said. “It’ll be up to the people of District 7.”
Jackson, Turner, and Saunders stressed disparities in income, crime rates, and life expectancy between their district and the rest of the city and lamented rising housing costs that they say are forcing people from the community.