Candidates for Boston City Councilor-At-Large Respond to Questionnaire

Many of the candidates for Boston City Councilor-At-Large have responded to a questionnaire I gave to them at the conclusion of the candidates forum on October 10, 2007.  One candidate, William Estrada, did not attend that forum -- and all indications are that he is not actively campaigning.  Two other candidates, David Wyatt and Councilor Stephen Murphy, attended the forum but did not respond to the questionnaire.

The instructions to the candidates were that they should submit responses by COB on Monday, October 22. All responses submitted by then would be posted at the same time, so no one could read another's responses in advance. No word limit was imposed, although I suggested approximately a paragraph (2-4 sentences) in the response to each question --although some questions may naturally lead to a longer or shorter response.  All responses are published in their entirety without editing, although I have done a little bit of re-formatting for consistency in layout. None of them have been fact-checked, either.

I have organized the responses into two sets of posts:  one set by candidate name, and the other by question.  That way you can read all of the answers given by one candidate, or you can read all of the responses to one particular question side-by-side.


Questions

1. If you could reverse one decision made by the City Council in the last five years, what would it be and why?  Click here for responses.
   
2. What specific changes do you think should be made to Article 80 of the zoning code?  Click here for responses.
3. Vancouver, British Columbia, requires 25% of their new housing stock built downtown to be “family-friendly.” What is your vision of the specific design elements that would make housing “family-friendly,” and should Boston adopt a similar requirement?  Click here for responses.
4. Some people have proposed that the BPS return to “neighborhood” or “community” schools. Do you support such a proposal? How would such a move impact the achievement gap?  Click here for responses.
5. Should Boston College be required to house all of their undergraduate students in on-campus dormitories? If so, where should the dormitories be located? On their 'Brighton Campus' (land recently purchased from the Archdiocese of Boston), on their 'Main Campus,' or both?  Click here for responses.
6. Have you ever used the Mayor's 24-Hour Constituent Service hotline, either the phone number or the online version? Is it an effective tool for delivering constituent services? What, if anything, would you change about it?  Click here for responses.

Answers by Candidate  (click on names to see all their responses)

1. Councilor Felix Arroyo
2. John Connolly
   
3. William Estrada
4. Councilor Michael Flaherty
5. Matthew Geary
6. Martin Hogan
7. Councilor Stephen Murphy (did not respond)
8. David Wyatt (did not respond)
9. Councilor Sam Yoon

Other Candidate Questionnaires in the Councilor-At-Large Race

Various organizations and media entities typically submit questionnaires to the candidates, like this one.  Some get published widely, while others might end up only viewed by that organization's endorsement committee.  Here are links to a couple of other questionnaires that I know about.  Please send me information on any other questionnaires available online, if you know about them.

Note that I culled out information from all of those questionnaires, and the October 10th candidates forum, related to the issue of splitting off the planning functions from the BRA.

Allston Brighton Community Blog Questionnaire (Harry Mattison):

1. Councilor Felix Arroyo
2. John Connolly (did not respond)
   
3. William Estrada (did not respond)
4. Councilor Michael Flaherty
5. Matthew Geary (did not respond)
6. Martin Hogan
7. Councilor Stephen Murphy
8. David Wyatt (did not respond)
9. Councilor Sam Yoon

Asian Pacific American Agenda Committee (APAAC) questionnaire-in-one-file:

1. Councilor Felix Arroyo
2. John Connolly (did not respond)
   
3. William Estrada
4. Councilor Michael Flaherty
5. Matthew Geary (did not respond)
6. Martin Hogan (did not respond)
7. Councilor Stephen Murphy (did not respond)
8. David Wyatt
9. Councilor Sam Yoon

Previous Information on Councilor-At-Large Race

Some such information can be seen by loading the full Brighton Centered website.  Other links include:

• Audio from 10/10/07 candidates forum in Brighton
  
• Campaign finance summary as of 10/15/07 ... 9/30/07
  
• Written and verbal on Harvard science complex
  
• Candidate positions on creating a City Planning Department
  
• Links to candidate websites, phone numbers, etc.
  
• Candidate positions on casino gambling in the city of Boston