Special election

I support efforts by District 5 City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo to avoid a special preliminary and general election to replace mayor Martin Walsh (“Arroyo: Just skip special election,” Boston Herald, Jan. 9). It would indeed be “unnecessary” to hold such elections so close to the scheduled Sept. preliminary and general elections in the fall

Arroyo, who represents Roslindale and Hyde Park, has filed a home rule petition seeking to override the City Council’s requirement since Mayor Marty Walsh has been nominated by

President-elect Joe Biden as his secretary of Labor.

Arroyo sees no reason for “holding an unnecessary and redundant special election” and I strongly agree with him. City funds have already been stretched to their limits due to COVID-19 and the costs involved in springtime elections only months away from the scheduled ones would only exacerbate needless financial spending when it could be better used elsewhere.

Going back to 1993, the last sitting mayor who was nominated for a federal post was Mayor Ray Flynn, who had been selected by President Bill Clinton in midMarch to be ambassador to the Holy See, the City Council president then was Tom Menino, who became acting mayor in July 1993. There is more than a good chance that Walsh would not be leaving the mayor’s office until later in March at the earliest and wouldn’t likely be confirmed to his cabinet position until late spring or early summer.

It would be prudent just to remove any issue involving the city charter now. Finally, I believe once current City Council President Kim Janey gets appointed acting mayor, she gives up her District 7 council seat and the office of City Council president.

— Sal Giarratani, East Boston