Q&A: Connolly Counting West Roxbury as Base of Support

Boston mayoral candidate and current At-Large City Councilor John Connolly fielded questions from Patch about running a campaign during a tragedy, Boston Public Schools assignment plan, and how his mother influenced him more in politics than his father.

Patch: First – how are you, your family and friends after the recent tragic events in and around Boston?

Connolly: My family like so many of us from Boston are still in a state of shock and also incredibly thankful for the amazing job the first responders and law enforcement did. We're also really grieving for all the victims. I don’t think this is the type of thing that is going to fade away. I think we’re all going to carry parts of this for the rest of our lives.

Patch: How has that changed your political campaign?

Connolly: I think in the most direct sense it puts everything in perspective. We immediatly shut our campaign down. What’s most important is making sure that we’re doing anything we can for everyone when we’re in a crisis like that. That was a single aspect I’m sure that all of the candidates will need to talk about - how you would keep a city safe and run a city in this day and age.

Patch: Getting back to non-bombing topics, you’re not the only mayoral candidate residing in West Roxbury. There’s also District Attorney Dan Conley. You two are two heavy hitters in the race. What’s that like in West Roxbury? 

Connolly: I honestly don’t pay attention to any other campaign to the best of my ability. And that’s with all due respect to every candidate. But I can only control my own campaigning, so I just go out there and try to talk to as many voters as possible and get my message out to voters as much as possible. It’s the whole city that votes on election day, not just one neighborhood. I try not to get caught up in any neighborhood specific rivalries.

Patch: Are people you thought you had the support of going to Conley, or or vice versa?

Connolly: I don’t think that’s specific to one candidate or one neighborhood. I certainly count on West Roxbury as the base of my support. But I’ve known in every race that not everyone in West Roxbury is going to vote for me. That applies to every neighborhood. I’m lucky to have support across every neighborhood. But I’m well aware I’m not going to get 100 percent of the vote anywhere.

Patch: We went through a lengthy school assignment process and selected a plan to go into affect in 2014. If elected what would you do with student assignment?

Connolly: I just want to make sure we have a student assignment plan that works. I’m very concerned that this new plan has a lot of the fatal flaws that the old system had. We need to be making sure every school is a quality school, giving families real close to home options, and creating choice for those who want something broader. That’s what I want to see. I testified in front of the Boston School Committee against the new plan. I’ve made it clear we have a new plan like the old plan -- convoluted and confusing for families without any guarantees that a child can go to a quality school, or a school close to home.

Patch: What are your thoughts on charter schools? 

Connolly: Fundamentally, I will support any school that does a good job whether it’s a charter school, a pilot school, a traditional district school, innovation schools... It’s not to divide people against a type of school. It’s to find succesful schools and replicate them. I believe in supporting successful schools and replicating them. If a charter is scuccessful I want to support it and replicate it. If it’s a BPS school (Boston Public School) I want to support it and replicate it.

Patch: How are you balancing your at-large work and mayoral campaign?

Connolly: (Laughs) You always ask those questions that get to the meat of the matter. Nobody else has asked me that.

Patch: Are you serious - no one else has asked you that?

Connolly: Now is the toughest time because we have to balance our budget hearings with a really aggressive campaign schedule. But I can handle that. I’ve got a great team in the council office that is really responsible with neighborhood and city services, and I’m really focusing on the budget the next couple of months while campaigning aggressively. If you want to be mayor you need to be able to balance a campaign with your council duties.

Patch: Who taught you more about politics your mother, a judge (Chief Justice of the Dedham District Court), or your father, a former secretary of state?

Connolly: Definitely my mother is the most profound influence on my desire to be in public service. She’s a real influence on me. My dad was great, my dad was about coaching my little league team and helping me with my math homework, and he really didn’t talk politics with me. It was my mother who was originally from Virginia and was a passionate civil rights advocate, and a big fan of President Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, who really excited my passion for public service.

Patch: And how tall are you?

Connolly: I’m 6’1”

Patch: Really?

Connolly: Yeah.

Patch: I thought you were taller?

Connolly: I wish I were taller. Maybe I would’ve been able to play more football then sit on the bench at Harvard. I played for two years. I use the term 'play' loosely. I was on the team. 

Patch: Anything else?

Connolly: I think this campaign and election is a great thing for Boston. We’ve got a lot of candidates who have a lot of real point of views, and we're really going to have a debate and people are going to get to see all the candidates and make up their minds. I think it’s really exciting.