In ’83, how mayoral election’s respectful rivals united a city

Someone said that when I became Mayor of Boston, it brought the city together. But that’s not true.

It was the political campaign of 1983, when Mel King and I ran against each other, and the preliminary that had some of the most talented and articulate guys in the city running against each other, like David Finnegan, Larry DiCara and Dennis Kearney.

That brought the city together! More people turned out to vote than ever had in the city’s history.

It was the campaign that brought people together. Neither Mel King nor I had any money. We could not run ads on TV. We had to go talk to people. There had been forums during the campaign among the candidates, meetings in every neighborhood where voters could ask us questions and where we could ask voters about their lives and what they wanted for the city. We had to go everywhere. One Friday night I went to the Highland Tap in Roxbury. Friday was payday, so I knew the place would be packed with hard-working guys enjoying themselves after a long week. It was not a pre-arranged campaign event — they had come to see each other, not me. But they welcomed me warmly — they wanted to talk about my basketball career and more about Bill Russell and Sam Jones.

That same night, I think it was, Mel King went to the Pleasure Bay Lounge in South Boston — not far from where I live. He was given a warm welcome there and had a chance to talk one-on-one with hard-working people about their lives and the city. Some of them told him, “If Ray weren’t running we would be with you.”

They respected Mel as a fearless advocate for the people of his community and knew that when Mel became mayor his community would include them.

The mayor of Boston has to be the mayor of the whole city — not just white Boston, or Black Boston, or progressive Boston or conservative Boston. Both Mel and I were running to be the mayor of the neighborhoods — all the neighborhoods.

Running for mayor, and being mayor, is more than giving speeches or issuing policy reports. It is about bringing people together.

The morning after the election, about 7 o’clock, I decided to go have coffee at a place on Columbus Avenue. I called Mel, and he met me there. This was early in the morning, I hadn’t even seen the newspapers yet. The two of us sat there drinking coffee, talking, laughing. The people coming in to get their coffee saw us, two guys who had just finished a tough election. It was the historic election of 1983 which helped heal the city.