Why is it that when talking about charter schools, the principals are praised for their success & innovation and when discussing failing BPS, teachers are villified?
When will Mr. Menino and Mr.Flahery acknowledge that BPS principals and Dr. Johnson need to be held accountable? Union breaking is not the true answer.

Which mayoral candidate will be in favor of city wide WIFI?

Could you please ask Mayor Menino on the air on my befalf when is he going to hold Harvard liable for their behavior in Allston and to put a stop to it? He wrote a letter to President Faust on February 26 establishing deadlines for Harvard to give responses. Most of the deadlines were 30 to 60 days. We are at the end of the year, none of the deadlines have been respected, most of Harvard properties are STILL not leased, and there is no statement from Harvard about what are they going to do with the big construction site planned to be a Science Complex and now completely stopped. Thanks!

Boston’s public library system is among the worst in the country, especially when considering libraries in comparable cities like Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul and others. In the last 16 years, less than half a dozen new libraries were built in Boston, most in neighborhoods critical to the Mayor’s reelection ( Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roxbury). The rest of the more than two dozen BPL branches are stuck in the 20th Century and sinking toward the 19th, with cramped spaces, lack of handicapped accessibility, scarce computers, hours of operation that don’t meet people’s needs and hardly any teen centers or teen-savvy librarians. The current policy appears to be one of three Cs: Cut the budget, Consolidate libraries with each other and with school libraries, and Centralize decision-making about neighborhood libraries. No public debate on this has been encouraged.

Compare this to Seattle, WA, where in the last ten years that city and its trustees built, rebuilt or renovated 26 libraries, including four new branches in neighborhoods where there had been none, as well as a new downtown library. (See Libraries for All on the web). Seattle’s chief librarian asked people in neighborhoods what they would like to see, and LISTENED. A subsequent $200 million bond issue was passed with 70 percent vote approval. Instead of raising the required $40 million in private funds to go with the bond fund, the library raised $87 million, suggestion what other studies already have shown: people will support their libraries when asked to do so.. Nearly all Seattle libraries now have vibrant teen centers, handicapped accessibility and a skyrocketing readership. It has given ten years of work, and many awards, to architects, builders, and revitalized each neighborhood where libraries were rebuilt or built. In addition, the BPL trustees are all appointed by the Mayor, without any vetting by an independent commission, board or even city council committee to make sure they represent the interest and needs of Bostonian library users, instead of the only the political and budgetary interest of the Mayor. Whether the trustees have any library advocacy background, library development vision, or even use or visit libraries seems to be of no importance at all.

Two questions:
In light of the good bond rating of Boston, why not use this opportunity to repair and replace all its libraries in each neighborhood where one is needed by means of a process that actively encourages broad neighborhood participation?
And why not change the current method of selecting trustees to one where trustees are vetted and approved by an independent commission of library specialists, neighborhood library advocates and perhaps even at-large city councilors?

Mr. Mayor: I’ve lived in Boston my whole life and for the past 16, regardless of what your statistics may say, I have seen a rise in crime in my neighborhood. Do you have a solid plan in place, where I, as a resident,will see a decline visually, not statistically?

I believe the city will continue to loose the middle and working classes as there doesn’t seem to be any interest in reversing that trend. I have lived in Boston for over 25 years. I have two children and over the last 8 years have been in 5 different public schools because of the system in place now. We are committed to the public schools, but the focus is on the “drop out rate” and attendance. The curriculum itself and the quality is poor. And there feels to be no interest in including the parents into the school discussions, apart from going to meetings and hearing what it going to happen. When will parents be included into the discusson about the schools.

Additionally, my neighbors and I just spent $70,000 to fight (and won) a condo development to be placed on an empty lot in our residential neighborhood. The zoning board is allowed to operate on its own, with its own agenda and affects the neighborhoods tremendously. What will be done about that?

Mayor,

I am a father of a three year old and we live in Dorchester. None of my immediate neighbors send their kids to public school because they could not get them into the Murphy or O’Hearn schools and do not want to put their kindergarten students on a bus to get to school. We are, quite frankly, considering moving out of the city to send our son to school in two years.

You said this morning on WBUR that your biggest failure with regards to education was not selling the public on the schools. Please sell me on why I should not move or send my child to a private school if we cannot get into the Murphy or O’Hearn?

Thank you.

I was undecided on this election, until I had the opportunity to work with Mayor Menino. I have worked and negotiated a lot of difficult personalities, from higher politicians to Hollywood celebrities, but boy did Thomas Menino take the cake. What a crumby attitude and lousy character.

A follow-up question:

I know there is supposed to be a requirement for most city employees to live in the city. Why does that no apply to teachers and why doesn’t the mayor require his employees to send their kids to BPS?

Flaherty for Mayor!

You have done a good job with this city, but the people also deserve a lot of the credit too. Boston is a great city. I don’t think it is efficient for any business or government to have someone in office as long as you have been in office. We can’t afford to have a “Vladimir Putin” environment where everyone is afraid of government and thus preventing progress.

Here is my question. How can you be mayor for so long and not have an elevator for handicap and people with strollers in Copley Square (Green Line)? Do you not know anyone that is handicapped? How humiliating would it be to visit a world-class city like Boston as an elderly or handicapped person and not be able to get around via public transportation (please don’t tell me about some crack van service)? I challenge you to come to Back Bay and try to take a child to the Aquarium with a stroller. Even if you get someone to help you carry the stroller down the stairs, the geniuses that designed the new smoke-glass ticket entrances, did not make them wide enough to fit a popular stroller (let alone a wheel chair).

This is a complete embarrassment for the city! I was shocked to see the nearly completed entrance on Boylston and Dartmouth was again build with stairs only. I understand you don’t use a computer, but we can operate a city like we did before computers invented.

Please look into this matter. Small towns have better handicap access.

P.S. I’d also love to know who put the green light turning arrows on Comm Ave. Is this to help increase the speed at which pedestrians are run over while trying to cross the street?

BRA is corrupt. Just about everyone believes it needs to be dismantle. Why does the mayor wants to keep BRA intact.
Boston is ranked on one of the most unaffordable cities.
It is time for change… Boston should not be a monarchy