City Council kicks off new year with new leadership

The Boston City Council kicked off its 2009 term by putting two new faces in leadership positions for the coming legislative session. City Councilor Michael Ross (right) was elected the body’s president, while City Councilor-at-Large John Connolly (left) was named chairman of the council’s new “special committee on a livable Boston.” (Ross photo courtesy of the Office of City Council President Michael Ross; Connolly photo courtesy of the Office of City Councilor-at-Large John Connolly)

St. John Barned-Smith

The Boston City Council began its 2009 term on Monday, unanimously electing City Councilor Michael Ross as the new president of the legislative body as his father, a Holocaust survivor, looked on.

One of the first acts of the new legislative session under Ross, whose council district includes Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the Fenway and Mission Hill, was the establishment of a “special committee on a livable Boston,” according to City Councilor-at-Large John Connolly, who will chair the committee.

According to Ross, one of the anticipated strengths of the new committee — launched primarily because of the weak economy — is that it will “give us an opportunity to look at things a little differently.”

“The mission of the committee will be to look at the impact of the recession on Bostonians and Boston’s ability to attract and retain people, from all walks of life, who will call Boston home for a lifetime,” Connolly told the Banner in a telephone interview on Monday.

“We don’t want to be a city that’s forcing people away,” Connolly added.

A variety of factors, including the high cost of living in an urban center, have contributed to Boston’s difficulty in retaining residents, particularly the young people who come to the Hub each year to attend the city’s many colleges and universities.

But if recent population data is any indication, one of the biggest issues facing the committee might not be reversing a trend of outward migration — it could be determining how to keep a growing population content. According to statistics released last month by the Mayor’s Office and the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston’s population has swelled, reaching more than 600,000 for the first time since 1970.

Although the committee has not yet begun its work, Connolly said its main interest will be to hear from Bostonians themselves about what actions they think the city can take to make costs of living more manageable.

“We’re going to the neighborhoods,” Connolly said.

The council plans to hold hearings throughout the city, allowing residents to voice their concerns, give the councilors a better sense of how to deal with problems and help find ways to address issues.

“The city’s future hinges on people choosing to live here for the long term,” Connolly wrote in a letter released to the press following Ross’ election. “When someone leaves Boston for whatever reason, we lose a potential little league coach, civic leader or neighbor who starts the crime watch. We lose the people who are the heart of our neighborhoods.”

The new initiative is part of a broader agenda that Ross set forth following his election. It is aimed at both increasing openness and transparency in local government — an issue championed of late by City Councilor-at-Large and rumored mayoral candidate Sam Yoon — and addressing the implications of a struggling economy for the city.

In addition to the cost-of-living committee, Ross also called for holding formal evening council meetings, a move that would give city residents more of an opportunity to participate in their government. Other agenda items promoted by the new council president included posting all City Council dockets online and convening a summit of Boston business, nonprofit and economic leaders “to advise city government on how best to react to the economic crisis.”