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Election roundup: New council candidate in Dorchester after this weekend's murder; mayoral candidates call for release of Patrick Rose files
By adamg on Mon, 04/12/2021 - 8:12pm
Romilda Pereira says people had asked her to run for the city council, but that what convinced her to begin organizing was watching politicians and clergy descend on Olney Street, where 73-year-old Delois Brown was murdered Saturday as she sat on her front porch.
Pereira, 39, who grew up in the Bowdoin/Geneva area and who does non-profit work helping newly released prisoners re-adapt to life on the outside, said today she knew they would soon be leaving and not returning, and the cycle of violence would soon start up again. And so she's now organizing a run for the District 3 City Council seat (Dorchester) held by Frank Baker, who has yet to say if he's running for re-election.
In addition to violence, Pereira said housing and education would be her key issues.
And if she makes it into the final with Baker - Stephen McBride is also running - why should people vote for her instead of Baker? She said she would ""take care of all the people in the district" and added that in the Bowdoin/Geneva area specifically, "the community knows me. The community doesn't know Frank Baker."
Sudden calls for action on the Rose files
The Globe's report over the weekend that former BPPA head Patrick Rose was first accused of child molesting back in 1995 spurred acting Mayor Kim Janey to demand the city law department review his files and release everything to the public that would not infringe on the privacy of possible victims. She called it "baffling" that Rose was allowed to stay on the force until his retirement - before which he became president of the patrolmen's union.
Fellow mayoral candidates John Barros, Michelle Wu, Annissa Essaibi George and Andrea Campbell are also calling for the release of the Rose files.
"There is something seriously wrong with a system and a culture that allows that to happen," Barros said of Rose's long tenure in BPD.
"We also need to change the culture of BPD across the board to mandate transparency and accountability," Wu said, blasting recently departed Mayor Walsh for refusing to make any Rose info public.
Campbell, who is chair of the city council's public-safety committee, tweeted she's subpoenaed BPD's investigatory files on Rose, and called on Janey to order the immediate release of the files.
Jon Santiago wants an investigation into how Rose stuck around, but didn't say anything specifically about releasing BPD's files on him.
"Boston needs to know why he was kept on the job and how that decision was made," Santiago tweeted.
District council candidates interviewed
If you're looking for an at-large council candidate who opposes the current BPS plan to replace exams with a combination of GPAs and Zip-code based selection for the exam schools, meet Erin Murphy. The Dorchester Reporter reports Murphy wants exams returned ASAP.
The Scope interviews Mary Tamer, one of three candidates for the District 6 (JP, West Roxbury) seat that Matt O'Malley is retiring from.
The Scope also interviews Josette Williams, one of numerous candidates for the District 4 (Dorchester, Mattapan) seat that Andrea Campbell is giving up to run for mayor.
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Comments
The Mayor will release the
The Mayor will release the files. But the City Council finds another opportunity to inject itself into conversation and grandstand. Where were they before?
Where were they before the
Where were they before the article dropped? It sounds like no one was aware of this issue who wasn't originally involved.
"baffling"
Ah, this word accurately describes how Boston politicians conduct business?
What did you expect?
The resistance to a Citizen’s Police Review commission by the last two mayors and the police union has blocked any accountability outside of the press.
Even Boston Police Commissioners have been frustrated with civil service regulations and a wrench-in-the works police union when it comes to disciplinary actions being overturned.
Good luck with that
"change the culture... more transparency." City police systems rarely change in any meaningful way and they are not set up to be transparent. Reforms won't work. This is why folks call for abolishing the police altogether and I'm starting to agree with them.
So... how are the laws going
So... how are the laws going to be enforced exactly?
90% of what cops do on a day
90% of what cops do on a day to day basis has nothing to do with 'enforcing' the law. It's either community management or johnny come lately "well the law got broke and the dude's gone but I'll take a report and do fuck all nothing about it, sorry your purse is gone ma'am but that's how it is". Cops don't even FOLLOW laws, how the fuck are they in a position to enforce them?
Put police salaries towards social workers (wellness checks, homeless management, "neighborhood outreach") and unarmed ticket issuers (traffic, noise). You could probably fire half the department EASILY and you wouldn't see people "enforcing" the law by sitting at a red light, turning their sirens on to get through, and turning them right back off as they get to the other side. Or illegally hassling minorities because they don't know what constitutes a legal search. Or beating their wives and kids at a disproportionate rate. Real paragons of lawfulness.
Do we need some kind of much, much, much smaller team to deal with like, gang violence and hostage situations? Sure, absolutely. Do I trust any of the cops this city has to do that? Absolutely not.