I’m old enough to remember when Lisle Baker was a ward alderman and also president of the board. It infuriated me to no end that, on a board with two-thirds of the members elected city-wide, the most powerful position on the board was held by a guy elected by so few voters, relative to his peers. I frequently and publicly encouraged him to run city-wide and give greater legitimacy to his board leadership.
Fast forward a few years. Ward Alderman Bill Brandel heard the word and ran for an at-large seat to give him a greater claim for board leadership. He gave up his relatively safe seat to run city-wide and lost to then newcomer Deb Crossley and even then long-time incumbent Brian Yates.
Fast forward a few more years. When an at-large seat opened up in Ward 1, Scott Lennon also heard the word. He won the special election and graduated from ward alderman to at-large alderman. When he became president of the board (now City Council), he had a claim of accountability that Lisle never had. As admirable as Scott’s move was, it was relatively low risk as he did not have to give up his ward seat to run in the special election.
Fast forward a few more years to yesterday and Allison Leary’s victory in the at-large race in Ward 1. She has no more voting power on the council, but she is now accountable to the entire city. And, she gave up her safe ward seat for a tough battle in the at-large race. Allison’s step up in accountability should be rewarded with a leadership role when the council reconvenes, under a new president, in January.
Maybe Allison should be the council president.
Ward councilors are legitimate councilors. Boston has a mix of all ward (district) councilors and they are also considered legitimate. As we saw in Ward 6, ward councilors can be replaced if their ward so desires!
Also, I believe Alison being a Ward councilor before running citywide raised her name recognition and helped her win citywide. Which seems like a good system.
Lucia,
Ward council councilors are legit councilors, but the most important leadership positions ought to go to the most accountable. If we switch to 8 ward councilors and 4 at-large, different calculus.
I know Alison very well. In all fairness she is my wife and friend. I have been so very lucky to watch Alison over the last twenty years grow and evolve into a very committed civil servant. Her dedication to the city and to her ward has always been a priority, and I am sure will continue to be so.
There are a couple of things I find most impressive about Alison; her ability to listen to all sides with an open mind and work with several different opinions to achieve goals by providing real solutions, and assuring that any compromises do not detract from the original goal. Secondly, Alison also is firmly committed to doing what is right and best for the future of our community, state, country and world. Her dedication to the environment comes out of a deep commitment and obligation to leave this world in a better condition than she found it, not just for our kids but for everyone’s kids. We get one planet to live on (for the time being) and there are no do-overs.
As for leadership position on the Council, I have never known Alison to look for or aspire to positions like that. However that being said she is clearly a leader, and when she leads it is from the front in actions and not just words.
The family is so proud of her and the work she has done so far, and the work no one else gets to see except for me and the kids at home. I wish she could enjoy the moment a little more but there is work to do and she is already hard at work and preparing for her next meeting!
I would only add that Alison Leary is currently Vice Chair of Programs & Services.
Sean, thank you for your confidence in me but I do not wish to be considered for council president. I would much rather focus on the issues and the nitty gritty day to day work. I am very much looking forward to working with the new administration and my colleagues on the council, especially the newly elected councilors.
@Peter its only been 18 1/2 years.
It’s nice that Village 14 is able to bring the Leary family together like this.