The Boston Globe

Menino weighs offers from academic world

Opportunit­ies at Harvard, BU, NU, Suffolk

- By David Abel GLOBE STAFF

LOWELL — With 77 days left in office, Mayor Thomas M. Menino spoke publicly Monday for the first time about his plans after he leaves the job he has occupied for two decades.

Menino told a forum at the University of Massachuse­tts Lowell that he has received offers to lecture and organize conference­s at Boston, Harvard, Northeaste­rn, and Suffolk universiti­es.

“I’ll make a decision in the next couple of weeks,” he said. “I haven’t made a deal yet, so nobody is the front-runner. I’m a mercenary right now.”

Officials at Harvard said the Kennedy School of Government and the School of Public Health have offered the mayor fellowship­s because they want to tap his “considerab­le expertise.”

“The mayor has guest-lectured on several occasions at both [Harvard College] and the Kennedy School, and has always received strong, positive feedback from students and faculty,” said Christine Heenan, a Harvard vice president of public affairs.

The other universiti­es did not respond to e-mails or calls requesting comment.

Menino said he will not take a job on the state payroll or work as a lobbyist. Job offers from the private sector would pay him a lot of money, he acknowledg­ed, but he has turned those down.

“I could make as much as I want now,” he said. “. . . This isn’t about money. I want to do something for kids.”

When asked at the forum about his greatest achievemen­t as mayor, he cited helping change Boston’s reputation as a bitterly racist city to one that prizes its diversity.

“I think I brought people together more than before,” he said.

“Boston was a real racist city at one point,” he said. “You don’t read about that anymore. We gave opportunit­y to a lot of people in our city that didn’t have opportunit­y in the past.”

In a wide-ranging conversati­on with Brian Mooney, a former Boston Globe reporter and now a special assistant for strategic communicat­ions at UMass Lowell, Menino said he continues to support a proposal for an East Boston casino, despite the unexpected withdrawal last week of Caesars Entertainm­ent from its partnershi­p with Suffolk Downs.

He called it a lucrative agreement for the city and described it as “the best deal cut with any city in America” for a casino.

Menino said he wants East Boston residents to vote as scheduled in a Nov. 5 referendum on the casino. He said Suffolk Downs officials are working overtime to find a new partner by then.

“I’d like to see the casino part decided by the vote as quickly as possible,” he told reporters afterward.

On the upcoming election to replace him, he continued to avoid endorsing either of the final candidates.

“I don’t care who wins,” he said.

When Mooney asked whether Councilor at Large John R. Connolly or state Representa­tive Martin J. Walsh was more like him, he demurred. “Neither one,” he said.

He called them “distinct individual­s” and said he thinks it will be a close race.

Menino did praise Connolly for recruiting “a cadre of mothers who go knocking on doors with baby carriages,” compared with the traditiona­l endorsemen­ts and union support that Walsh has received.

“That’s a different voting pattern than most of us have,” he said.

Although he noted he differs “a little” with Connolly on education issues, he called education “the most important thing we can do.”

Menino said it is critical that his successor choose wisely when building a staff, and he called on the new mayor to remain friendly with leaders in the local business, university, and health care communitie­s.

Menino took umbrage at criticism leveled in the campaign against the Boston Redevelopm­ent Authority, which some have said allows the mayor too much authority over billions of dollars in developmen­t. He has been criticized recently for appearing to rush projects through before leaving office.

“These projects that are going through have been in the pipeline for years,” he said, noting Harvard’s expansion into Allston, recently approved, took seven years to win agency backing.

He said talk about the agency’s apparent lack of transparen­cy “drives me crazy.”

“Transparen­cy exists today,” he said, noting developmen­t proposals must go through multiple public meetings before approval.

He said two financial companies called him recently to say they were holding back on deals after some candidates said they wanted to “blow up” the agency. “They said to me we’re not going to invest in your city, because we have instabilit­y at the Redevelopm­ent Authority,” he said.

When asked about security at the World Series, he said there could not be too much.

“I’m not worried about it at all,” he said. “We’ll have a plan in place that will work, and we’ll reassure people that it’s safe to go to the ballgame.”

He rolled his eyes when asked whether he would make any bets on the Red Sox-Cardinals tilt with the mayor of St. Louis, who declined to make a friendly wager. “He said it takes too much of his staff ’s time,” Menino said.

When asked about his health, the mayor acknowledg­ed that the job has taken a toll. Most days, he gets only four or five hours of sleep, often working from 4:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. But he said he would not change a thing. “I love the job,” he said. Menino said he has already booked a flight to leave town in January, after the new mayor takes office. “I don’t want to be the critic,” he said. “It doesn’t do the city any good.”

 ?? JESSICA RINALDI FOR THE GLOBE ?? Mayor Menino spoke at UMass Lowell Monday.
JESSICA RINALDI FOR THE GLOBE Mayor Menino spoke at UMass Lowell Monday.
 ?? JESSICA RINALDI FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE ?? Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he will not take a job on the state payroll or work as a lobbyist after he leaves City Hall. “This isn’t about money, I want to do something for kids.’’
JESSICA RINALDI FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he will not take a job on the state payroll or work as a lobbyist after he leaves City Hall. “This isn’t about money, I want to do something for kids.’’

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