Future of Boston Schools Ignites Debate at OMB-Sponsored At-Large City Council Candidates Forum
BOSTON/Roxbury - Ten of the fifteen candidates running for At-Large City Council seats this fall participated in a public forum sponsored by Open Media Boston this past Wednesday at Roxbury Community College. The preliminary election – to be held across Boston on Tuesday, September 22nd – will narrow the field to eight candidates. Four At-Large seats are up for grabs - and two incumbents are in the race. So, at least two new candidates will be elected to office after the final election in November.
Photos by Jason Pramas.
Participating in the forum, held in the Mainstage Theater Auditorium at Roxbury Community College’s Media Arts Center, were, alphabetically, Felix G. Arroyo, Ego Ezedi, Robert Fortes, Tomas Gonzelez, Andrew Kenneally, Hiep Nguyen, Sean Ryan, Jean-Claude Sanon, Bill Trabucco, and Scotland Willis. If elected, all of these candidates would be new to the City Council.
Incumbent John Connolly took his place on stage, but left before addressing the forum or answering questions; telling the moderator he had another event to attend and would return later in the evening. He never returned.
Video by Press Pass TV
Ayanna Pressley arrived near the end of the allotted three hours and did not address the forum. Earlier in the week, Tito Jackson confirmed he would participate but did not make an appearance. Incumbent Stephen Murphy declined Open Media Boston’s invitation to participate. Doug Bennett did not respond to multiple voice mail messages seeking his participation.
Following a brief introduction to Open Media Boston by Editor/Publisher Jason Pramas, the candidates were asked what motivates each of them to be in this race.
Looking ahead, many believe the Council’s most pressing concern will be the city budget. With unemployment on a steady climb upwards and municipal services threatened with cutbacks or facing elimination, residents will be looking closely at how the newly minted council approaches fiscal as well as operational management.
Another issue that touches the lives of most if not all residents is the public school system. During the forum, the question of how to improve schools (or what forces currently are holding them back) became the evening’s central topic of concern.
OMB Audio: Question on Boston Public Schools; 8 candidates respond in this order:: Scotland Willis, Bill Trabucco, Jean Claude-Sanon, Sean Ryan, Robert Fortes, Hiep Nguyen, Tomas Gonzalez, and Felix Arroyo.
Following the candidate’s responses to this question on how to improve public school education in Boston, an audience of about seventy people was given the opportunity to ask questions. The topic of public education – which has inspired some people to call for alternative institutions such as charter schools, and others to lobby vigorously for improving existing neighborhood schools – must have been foremost on the minds of city residents who attended the forum. Every subsequent question from the audience involved the public schools.
Over 70 people - about one-third of whom were campaign staffers - attended the event. The relatively low turnout at the forum was somewhat disappointing to Pramas who stated that "any future electoral events sponsored by Open Media Boston will need to be organized with more than the two weeks' lead time that OMB staff had for this forum."
