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Historic change for Boston
By michaelflaherty on Mon, 09/28/2009 - 10:56pm
Dear Universal Hub,
Tomorrow, we are announcing our historic ticket to change Boston politics forever.
One week ago, almost 50% of voters had the courage to vote for change. With their vote, they sent a message to Boston: it is time to transform the way we do business in City Hall with new leadership and a fresh perspective.
That's why tomorrow morning at 10:15 a.m., outside of City Hall, I am holding a press conference with Sam Yoon. I am asking Sam, a colleague and a friend, along with his impressive campaign, to join with me as a running mate on my ticket. Because, together, we agree, Boston can't wait four more years to change our city. Sam Yoon is not only endorsing our bid for Mayor, he will be campaigning alongside us, as Boston's future Deputy Mayor. But we need your support.
Throughout this entire campaign we have emphasized the need to capture the intellectual capital of our city-the best, brightest and most passionate minds-to bring innovation and efficiency to City Hall. We need to empower a new generation of leaders to improve our under-performing schools, make our streets safer and our neighborhoods cleaner.
I am so proud to announce that we are making good on this promise-by making Sam Yoon my partner in City Hall-we are recognizing the talent and very best of our city. By standing together tomorrow, we are showing Boston that a Flaherty-Yoon administration will embrace good ideas, even if they originate from former rivals. And, in the first 100 days of our new administration, we will proudly enact term limits for the office of Mayor. We will put an end to the "Mayor for Life" culture that has held Boston back. Together, we will create a city for all of us.
Last Tuesday, Mayor Menino spent $1.5 million and activated his whole political machine, but half of the people who voted refused to accept the status quo of the last 16 years. We are confident, over the next five weeks, with your help, that we can change our city. However, we are facing an entrenched political machine - a machine that won't give up power without a fight. In order to win, we need your help - and we need it now.
Please join the Flaherty-Yoon campaign at our press conference outside of City Hall tomorrow morning at 10:15 a.m. and help us usher in a new day for Boston, a city for all of us.
Thank you,
Michael Flaherty
Candidate for Mayor of Boston
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Comments
Great news
Great news Michael. Have you considered adding Kevin McCrea to the team too? Perhaps as an advisor or tap his experience in development and have him help reform development in the city?
Great idea!
I wish I'd thought of it!
;)
Two thumbs up.
Two thumbs up.
Sam Yoon's e-mail to supporters
Dear supporters and friends,
Last Tuesday, almost 50% of people who went to the polls voted for change. They demanded new leadership in our city and a change in the way we do business. Even after Mayor Menino rolled out his political machine, spent a staggering $1.5 million, and used all the powers of his 16-year incumbency, half of the city voted against the status quo. Our campaign has said again and again that we can't wait four more years for change.
That is why this morning, I will be joining Michael Flaherty in front of City Hall, not just to endorse his campaign for Mayor - but to join it, and to work with him to bring the changes to Boston that we fought so hard for over these past months.
Starting today, I will campaign alongside Michael Flaherty as his future Deputy Mayor. This is a first step that will change Boston politics for good.
I realize that for Boston, a joint campaign, a Flaherty-Yoon "ticket," is new and different. But we have always said that Boston politics has been too much about taking credit, and not enough about collaboration. So Michael and I will be working together to make the changes that we need in city government.
Over the next several weeks, we will be unveiling our plans for the first 100 days of our administration.
This will include enacting term limits for Mayor - putting an end to the 'Mayor for Life' culture in Boston that has held us back. The Boston Redevelopment Authority has been a breeding ground for back-room dealing and misuse of funds. Michael has asked that as Deputy Mayor I lead the effort to dismantle the BRA and replace it with a true community planning agency.
Of course Michael and I won't agree on everything. But we won't need to. We agree on enough - and most importantly, we agree that change can't wait. I believe this to my core. The alternative to acting now is standing still, and our city has been doing that for far too long.
We are asking for you to give everything you possibly can during these next five weeks to change our city. We are facing an entrenched political machine - a machine that won't give up power without a fight. We need your help and we need it now.
Join us - and let's change Boston for good.
Sincerely,
Sam
Ahem
They're going to have to get their slogans down pat.
I do believe he should have said "...and let's change Boston for better".
Right, Flaherty?
Why
Why are you so hateful?
LOL
Hateful? What the hell are you talking about? You know what...nevermind, Mr. anon (not verified).
Right, because the fact that
Right, because the fact that you are registered here with a fake name really makes your posts more legitimate, Mr. Kaz.
Your original post above was snarky and served no positive purpose.
Just made a contribution
I like this. It gives me hope. Bravo to both Flaherty and Yoon for working together to try something different.
Showing Innovation at a Critical Time
Two more thumbs up from this guy. What a great idea, and hopefully this is a winning decision. You still have less than 50% of the vote together based on the preliminarily election, but the innovation you are showing by running together and the promise that you are making to create term limits is compelling.
I live outside the city, but close enough to pay attention to the goings-on and what the mayor is in the news for. Although I can't vote for you, I intend to stick a contribution in the mail tomorrow.
Best of luck - the Flaherty-Yoon ticket is change.
Ask candidates about FOI freedom of information public records
Ask your favorite Mayoral candidate... Will you put the public documents of city government on the city website?...
Ask your favorite Mayoral candidate... Will you appoint a new City Clerk & Assistant City Clerk with more knowledge of technology and software for the City Clerks Office?
Ask your favorite Mayoral candidate... Will you appoint a more knowledgeable CIO Chief Information Officer at MIS Management Info Systems?
Ask your favorite City Council candidate... Will you appoint a new Council Staff Director with more knowledge of technology and software to improve Council communications with the people of our city?
Am I seeing double?
Too bad the Herald site ignored your formatting when you posted it there. Is that the definition of being a troll? Trolling different sites and posting the same message? I wonder.
no, but it's the definition
no, but it's the definition of Spam.
As to why Adam hasn't banned him for it, no one knows....
Maybe because he seems sincere rather than disruptive?
IMHO a troll/spammer seeks to disrupt the site, or capture site traffic for gain, not just harp on a point of personal interest.
Would be nice if you and Sam would stop spamming people
It's bad enough to spam people once. Ignoring their multiple complaints about it and spamming them twice more makes it much worse, and a sign that you place your own interests ahead of those of your constituents.
More at http://blog.kamens.brookline.ma.us/~jik/wordpress/... .
Seriously?
Wow, you are such a joke. I just commented this on your blog, but I figured it would be fun for everyone else to read as well. My advise is UNSUBSCRIBE from Yoon's email list! I DID, it wasn't hard, and it consisted of no complaining, much less online.
Also, I don't see any connection between emails and constituent services. You are a crazy person.
I hate bloggers that just sit and complain- and that's quite obviously you! So please, stop wasting everyone's time- and maybe get a job.
Wrong facts -> wrong conclusions
Hi Erin,
Since you feel compelled to baselessly attack me both here and on my blog, I suppose I must defend myself in both places as well. Here is how I responded to you on my blog:
Your claim that I am "crazy" to think that the way a candidate treats constituents before the election is relevant to how he will treat constituents after the election is too stupid to be worthy of a response.
Salary for "Deputy Mayor"?
What's Sam Yoon's salary as "Deputy Mayor" going to be? Wasn't Michael Flaherty the candidate who promised to do a stem-to-stern audit of all city departments and reduce the number of employees on the city payroll? How, then, is it a good thing that the biggest promise Flaherty is making is to add a new position to the payroll?
On the one hand, I think this is clearly a political stunt to win votes. On the other hand, if this stunt is what it's going to take to beat Menino, then perhaps it's forgivable.
If it's a "political stunt," it's a good one
Adding a new title that helps to define an administration is a far cry from breaking a pledge to trim the city payroll. If the position of Deputy Mayor and necessary staffing are offset by cuts in other areas, then perhaps it's a wash from a budget standpoint.
Some of the best political moves, both for electioneering and eventual governance, are symbolic. Having two guys with as different backgrounds as Flaherty and Yoon agreeing to work together in this manner is a symbolic plus for a city like Boston.
Also, it could be an effective governance tool if the position of Deputy Mayor has a genuine portfolio, and only time will answer that one.
Bottom line, both Flaherty and Yoon elevated their profile in good ways. And it certainly adds a bit of excitement to a mayoral race that many of us were not all that thrilled about.
By Any Means Necessary!
Flaherty and his folks probably guessed that having Sam Yoon endorse him wasn't going to cut it. That's the old way of doing business. This collaboration is a testament to working together and city government not being about one person. The addition of term limits as well sets Flaherty on another level than tommy.
Exciting!