Video of District 9 City Councilor Candidates Debate

Video of the debate between the two candidates for District 9 City Councilor is now streaming online to a computer near you.

You can watch it below or at this link on Vimeo.

I would like to thank two people for their extensive effort in putting together this video and getting it online: Abigail Furey, who took the video last Tuesday night; and Galen Mook, who loaned Furey the equipment, and then did all the processing/uploading to put the video online. Such work is a great public service, because the video allows the debate to inform a much broader than the audience of 80-90 who showed up for the event itself.

District 9, Boston City Council Debate, Oct 20 from Galen Mook on Vimeo.

Details:

Candidates Debate
District 9 City Councilor

Sponsored by the Brighton Allston Improvement Association

Location: Brighton Elks Lodge
October 20, 2009, 7:40 pm
Runtime: 84 minutes

Candidates:

• Mark Ciommo, incumbent [right-hand-side]
• Alex Selvig, challenger [left-hand-side]

Moderator: Michael Pahre

Format:

• Introduction: Donal Carroll, president, BAIA
• Explanation of the format: Michael Pahre, moderator
• Opening Statements: 2 minutes each
• Questions: response 90 seconds for first and second candidate, then 60 second rebuttal for the first candidate
• Closing Statements: 2 minutes each
• Conclusion: Pahre and Carroll
  

Questions were three types, interspersed: moderator-prepared; audience-submitted; and candidate-written.

BNN Report on District 9 City Councilor Candidates Debate

The Boston Neighborhood Network is streaming online a report they filmed at Tuesday night's debate between the candidates for District 9 City Councilor -- incumbent Mark Ciommo and challenger Alex Selvig.

See the video stream of BNN's report embedded below or follow this link.

Allston-Brighton City Councilor Debate from Chris Lovett on Vimeo.

Whacking the Knees of the Mayoral Debate

For those of us who have been spending many waking hours trying to prepare for a series of city councilor candidates forums -- er, fora -- and debate, lots of those hours are spent figuring out the logistics: what days venues are available; religious holidays to avoid; candidate appearance schedules; food and drink for attendees and setup/cleanup crew; arranging for, and setting up, the sound system; publicity; setting the format; arranging the hall, including tables and/or podiums; convincing someone to take audio and/or video, then getting it online; talking with people and researching questions; etc. And then actually running the event that night.

A lot of work, only a small amount of which is substantive about city and neighborhood issues.

John Carroll watched the debate last night between incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino and challenger Councilor-At-Large Michael Flaherty and has some sharp criticism of the event. Carroll, a professor of mass communications at Boston University, can always be counted on to see through the clutter and posturing to judge how effective the various tools of the media work -- or don't -- to further the political process.

Two thumbs up for Carroll, who invented a new term by saying that he was "dead blogging" the event, i.e., to wait until the event is over to write about it. He brings in analogies to trailer parks ("doublewide podiums"), Halloween ("Spooky World" lighting), arcade games (so many moderators "had sort of a pinball effect on the proceedings"), and Homer's Odyssey (Menino was more incoherent than usual, such that he was "totally channeling James Joyce").

And then the coup de grâce:

Was the most uncomfortable moment of the night when Menino was pressed about the lack of diversity in his administration by an all-white panel of journalists?

Ouch. Clever, biting, sarcastic... but totally fair criticism. I only hope Carroll doesn't watch our district 9 city councilor debate tonight, sponsored by the Brighton Allston Improvement Association.


Image of Menino [left] and Flaherty [right] taken from a screen capture of NECN's video feed of the debate.

District 9 City Councilor Candidates Debate: Tuesday 10/20 at 7:00 pm

Candidates Debate
Allston-Brighton District 9 City Councilor

Sponsored by the Brighton Allston Improvement Association


Tuesday, October 20th
7:00 pm --- Informal Meet-and-Greet with the Candidates
7:30 - 9:00 pm --- Candidates Debate
Moderated by: Michael Pahre


Brighton Elks Lodge
326 Washington Street, Brighton, MA 02135
Limited parking available at rear of the building


Light refreshments will be served for a meet-and-greet with the candidates beginning at 7:00 pm. Attendees may submit questions for the candidates prior to the 7:30 pm start. Due to time constraints not all questions submitted will be selected. No campaign signs inside the venue, please. We hope to film the event and stream the video online.

The preliminary election to narrow the field from four to two candidates will take place on Tuesday, November 3rd. This election will shape the future of our neighborhood and this is your opportunity to meet the two finalists running for Allston-Brighton's City Council seat. Please come and hear where the candidates stand on current neighborhood issues as well as their vision for our community.


Candidates for Allston-Brighton District 9 City Councilor (links to their webpages):

• Mark S. Ciommo (incumbent)
• Alex Selvig