Getting it Done
September 11, 2009
By: Joan Vennochi
ASKED ABOUT his bumbling speaking style during yesterday’s debate, Mayor Thomas M. Menino gave a typically garbled reply. But he was clear about the one thing: “It’s not the way you speak, it’s about getting the job done.’’
After 16 years in office, Menino and his poor articulation are known quantities. It will take more than that – and challenger Kevin McCrea’s eagerness to praise his “deficiency’’ – to defeat him. Continue Reading…
Fewer Residents Get Building Jobs
Under Menino, Number of Minority, Women Workers Sink
September 10, 2009
By: Donovan Slack
The proportion of Boston residents, minorities, and women working on city construction projects has dropped sharply since Mayor Thomas M. Menino took office, even as a boom in real estate development brought tens of thousands of construction jobs to the city.
Boston residents performed 32 percent of construction work last year, down from 44 percent in 1993, the year Menino became mayor, records show. Minorities performed 30 percent of the work in 2008, compared with 38 percent in 1993. And women got 2 percent of the work last year, down from 2.8 percent when Menino took office.
Under city law, both publicly funded construction projects and large private ones are supposed to fill construction jobs with 50 percent city residents, 25 percent minorities, and 10 percent women. The law empowers the city to impose stiff fines and ban violators from bidding on future city contracts, but the Menino administration, by its account, has rarely taken such steps.
City officials say the mayor, instead of aggressively enforcing the law, has tried other avenues to diversify construction work in Boston, such as creating job training programs and employment services for residents, minorities, and women. City officials say they are reluctant to impose legal sanctions because they fear the law might not survive a court challenge. Continue Reading…
Yalking with Yoon: Boston Bloggers Talk with Sam Yoon
by Adam Pieniazek
Yesterday I sat down with Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub, Rick Sawyer and Kerry Skemp of Bostonist, and Mike Ball of Marry in Massachusetts to talk Boston politics with Sam Yoon, a Boston City Councillor and candidate for the Mayor’s Office…..
Yoon’s passionate personality is immediately evident when you begin talking to him. He arrived a little late and immediately dove right into a questions & answers session. While our current Mayor, Tom Menino, has a slow and methodical delivery, Yoon’s is fast and energetic. Neither is better or worse, just different. Continue Reading…
Marry in Massachusetts
Boston Song Out of Yoon
posted by massmarrier
September 9, 2009
Boston mayoral candidate Sam Yoon was his intelligent, intense and sincere self yesterday evening. At a small gathering of bloggers, he hosted, held forth, and made strong statements.
His key proposal was for a way to fix the strong-mayor/weak-council government he regularly blames for what ails us. Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub covered both the abstract and particulars of that well here.
At every stump speech, forum and debate, Yoon decries that everything must pass through Menino’s hands to happen. The contradiction in his call is not lost on him though. He quickly points out that changing this will initially take a strong mayor to drive the legal and statutory changes necessary to define and structure a weaker mayor. Continue Reading…
Universal Hub
Yoon: Create commission to overhaul structure of city government
posted by adamg
September 8, 2009
Sam Yoon, speaking to a group of bloggers tonight, says he would start a formal process to changing the city’s current strong-mayor system.
Yoon says city government under the control of a “strong” mayor is not working and that after 100 years of the system, it’s time for a more democratically run city. Continue Reading…
Reaching out to a new generation
September 6, 2009
By: Brian C. Mooney
Sam Yoon has heard the slights and whispers: that he’s unschooled in the ways of city politics and merely trying to ride the wave of President Obama’s message of change all the way to the mayor’s office at Boston City Hall.
The second-term city councilor brushes aside the skeptics, suggesting they ignore Boston’s fast-changing demographics at their peril. More and more Bostonians not only grew up somewhere else, he says, but about 30 percent were, like himself, born in another country.
What this means, Yoon asserts, is that influence is waning for those who have long dominated Boston politics, or, as he describes them, “the ones who will have the long memories and look back wistfully.’’
“I know this will be kind of the knock against me in certain quarters,’’ Yoon said during an interview in his City Hall office. “But to say that I don’t understand Boston politics means that basically half of the city doesn’t understand Boston politics.’’ Continue Reading…
Bay Windows
Yoon Excites at Forum
September 4, 2009
By: Sue O’Connell
I’m beginning to see the appeal of Sam Yoon. He’s reminiscent of Obama and he stands in stark difference to his rivals. He’s got passion and he shows it. And the crowd at Thursday night’s candidate forum at the Reggie Lewis Center ate him up.
Michael Flaherty started the forum strong, but quickly wilted. Flaherty is going to have to show some passion. His message is sound- more beds for rehab and detox, hire more locals for construction jobs-but his delivery is flat. Continue Reading…
And the Edge Goes to Yoon
September 3, 2009
By: Scott Lehigh
This was the key question going into the first televised mayoral debate: Who would establish himself as the most credible challenger to Thomas Menino?
That’s primarily a contest between City Councilors Sam Yoon and Michael Flaherty. I gave Yoon the edge. Polite but pointed in his critique of Menino, Yoon returned repeatedly to his contention that a strong-mayor system – a system that gives Menino tremendous power – isn’t good for Boston. His performance would have been more persuasive with concrete examples of how the governance changes he advocates would make Boston better. Still, he gave voters a serious matter to mull. Continue Reading…
Name that Yoon!
September 2, 2009
By: Richard Weir
Sam Yoon tickled the ivories last night at a House of Blues fund-raiser during which the mayoral hopeful and former Princeton jazz club band member played some Miles Davis and Horace Silver numbers.
“I’m going to let my hair down. My message will be music tonight,” said the city councilor, who played keyboard with Northeastern professor Zeke Martin’s jazz ensemble after schmoozing with his guests. Continue Reading…
Allston-Brighton Tab
Yoon wants later hours at City Hall
August 28, 2009
City Councilor-at-Large and mayoral candidate Sam Yoon offered a plan for extending business hours at City Hall at least once a week by shifting the hours to offer later services on Wednesdays and close earlier on Fridays.
“We should be doing government business in prime-time hours,” said Yoon. “This is your City Hall, and it should be open and accessible beyond the work day. The current hours speak to a mentality of treating taxpayers as an afterthought, and that’s wrong. Boston’s residents are our customers and our bosses. We should treat them that way.” Continue Reading…
