By: Cody Furbish
Although all eyes remain heavily set on the Boston 2013 mayoral race, voters will also have to elect 13 new city council members: four for the city councilor-at-large and an additional council member from each of the city’s nine districts. Preliminary elections for the race are on Sept. 24 and the final elections are on Nov. 5.
There are 19 individuals running for the four available council seats. Only two of the 19 candidates are incumbents, as the remaining two incumbents, Felix Arroyo and John Connolly, have taken up stakes in the mayoral race instead. The 19 candidates running for council seats are:
Frank John Addivinola
Christopher J. Conroy
Michael F. Flaherty
Philip Arthur Frattaroli
Althea Garrison
Annissa Essaibi-George
Jack F. Kelly III
Keith B. Kenyon
Martin J. Keogh
Stephen Murphy
(incumbent)
Catherine M. O’Neill
Ayanna Pressley
(incumbent)
Jeffrey Michael Ross
Gareth R. Saunders
Ramon Soto
Seamus M. Whelan
Francisco L. White
Douglas D. Wohn
Michelle Wu
District council members come from the nine separate districts of the city. Below is a breakdown of the nine districts, and the candidates running for seats as representatives of the districts –
District One-
Charlestown, East Boston, North End
Brian J. Gannon, Sal LaMattina (incumbent), John Ribeiro Jr.
District Two-
South Boston, South End, Chinatown
Suzanne Lee, Bill Linehan (incumbent)
District Three-
Dorchester
Frank Baker (incumbent)
District Four-
Mattapan, Dorchester
Steven Godfrey, Divo Rodrigues Monteiro, Terrance J. Williams, Charles Yancey (incumbent)
District Five-
Hyde Park, Roslindale
Ava D. Callender, Margherita Ciampa-Coyne, Andrew Norman Cousino, Patrice Gattozzi, Timothy P. McCarthy, Jean-Claude Sanon, Mimi E. Turchinetz, Michael E. Wells III
District Six-
Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury
Matt O’Malley (incumbent), Luis F. Valerio
District Seven-
Roxbury
Tito Jackson (incumbent), Roy Owens
District Eight-
Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Mission Hill, West End
Angelica Elle Addivinola, Thomas Joseph Dooley III, Gloria Murray, Michael Joseph Nichols, Josh Zakim
District Nine-
Allston, Brighton
Michael C. Bronner, Mark Ciommo (incumbent)
There has been no distinct favorites between any of the district or city at-large council candidates. Though, in an election cycle where topics including education, crime, and the environment are key issues, some candidates do retain a better standing than others. Experienced individuals and representatives of the communities are what voters are hoping for in the upcoming city council race.
Come early November, the city of Boston will have a brand new council to make some of the most crucial decisions regarding city life. Voters remain hopeful that the incoming council will help to make Boston a safer and better educated community on the issues surrounding our generation and culture. And with such a grand pool of experienced candidates, there’s no doubt that voters will receive exactly what they’ve been hoping for.
