boston politics

When Boston Public Schools Superintendent Tommy Chang announced Friday he is stepping down three years into his five-year contract with the city, the news was sudden, but the warning signs were there.

In the five-way race for the Suffolk County district attorney office, candidates made their case for election at a public debate last week hosted by the “What a Difference a DA Makes” campaign, a voter education campaign launched by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.

Nika Elugardo’s challenge of 15th Suffolk Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez is pitting the incumbent’s base of support against progressive who oppose the Legislature’s leadership.

Back in April, when a Boston Public Schools official presented the Boston School Committee with a proposal to sell off a portion of the land adjacent to the McCormack Middle School in Dorchester, the plan was billed as a precursor to future public-private partnerships that could maximize public assets. In the weeks since the proposal was unveiled during an April 11 School Committee meeting, opposition has gained steam and a coalition of civil rights organizations, parent groups and student groups sent a letter to Superintendent Tommy Chang, Mayor Martin Walsh and the School Committee demanding a moratorium on facilities-related decisions.

For the better part of the last 22 years, Linda Dorcena Forry has seen the Dorchester Day parade from the front, where the politicians march. First she marched as an aide to former state Rep. Charlotte Golar Richie. Then as 12th Suffolk District representative and finally 1st Suffolk District senator.

The debate over how to regulate short-term rental units in Boston ramped up last week as the City Council pushed back the vote on Mayor Martin Walsh’s proposed ordinance to June 6.

Elected officials gathered at the Puerto Rican Veterans memorial Monday to call for unity during a wreath laying ceremony in observance of Memorial Day.

U.S. Reps. Michael Capuano of the 7th Congressional District of Massachusetts and John Lewis from the 5th Congressional District of Georgia held a discussion a discussion on civil rights at the Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury Saturday as the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee announced its officials endorsement of the Somerville Democrat, who is facing a challenge from at-large City Councilor Ayanna Pressley.

District 1 City Councilor Lydia Edwards has focused on housing issues in the city of Boston since her election in November.

Walking through Dorchester’s Mary Hannon Park last Friday, 5th Suffolk District candidate Liz Miranda hands out campaign literature. As she chats with street worker Jamal Wornum, a group of elementary, middle and high school students play basketball as part of the informal summer program he runs when he’s not working for the city.

While ethnic issues are indeed important there are often other considerations of greater significance than the questionable concept of race. As blacks become more involved in sophisticated political, business and professional activities, personal commitments regularly emerge more forcefully than binding ethnic ties.

Democratic incumbents in Massachusetts from U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano down to four Boston legislators are facing challenges from left-leaning candidates taking aim at the slow pace of change nationally and locally.