Davis-Mullen can do the job

A few months ago, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino seemed so unbeatable in the upcoming mayoral election that he was almost certain to run unchallenged. But Tuesday, City Councilor Peggy Davis-Mullen officially announced she would run against the inarticulate incumbent, despite his 85 percent job approval rating.

Not only is her candidacy a good thing for preventing Menino from getting too complacent; it’s also good news because Davis-Mullen is an exciting candidate with a great record who cares about the issues that matter most intimately to Bostonians — including students.

I first met Peggy Davis-Mullen in 1999 as she ran for her fourth at-large seat on the Boston City Council. She seemed to me a refreshing, sensible voice among the homogenous Council members, most of whom are, like Menino, your typical fat old men in trench coats with dramatic Boston accents. A mother of three who has lived her whole life in Boston, Davis-Mullen has long been a leader here at the grassroots level. She served on the Boston School Committee and has been a leader on the City Council, chairing, among others, the Education and School Matters committee.

But I am most excited about her candidacy because she seems to return to some of the more important issues facing the city — many of those Menino has ignored. With three children in the Boston public school system, she is a fierce advocate of public school students in a way Menino has not been. In his eight years in office, Menino has failed to reform a school system that still sees a 25 percent dropout rate. He has also failed to make good on his promise to add five new neighborhood schools to decrease segregation. Last week, officials said high school students might need to attend double sessions because of overcrowding.

Davis-Mullen also opposes the use of the MCAS as a graduation requirement — a problem Menino has only compounded by postponing school construction to years when the test will be required. Furthermore, the mayor’s neglect of public schools led to the elimination of kindergarten for 4 year olds — programs which experts say are essential to future academic success.

Additionally, Davis-Mullen offers a better approach to Boston’s affordable housing crisis. While Menino, embroiled in scandal over the often-dysfunctional Boston Redevelopment Authority, has failed to curb the soaring prices of local housing, Davis-Mullen is calling media attention to the crisis. She has already begun meeting with the community about the impact of development on certain neighborhoods, while the mayor has been criticized for hand-selecting members of impact assessment groups and thereby controlling community response. She also pledges to focus on affordable housing development, something the Menino administration has largely ignored.

And while mayor Menino has allotted millions of city dollars to building a new Fenway Park, Davis-Mullen understands the negative effect this will have on the city’s residents. Not only is the new park a misuse of city funds — the team should pay for its own playground — but it is also a headache for other reasons. The expanded park will only put additional strain on a neighborhood where housing is scarce enough to begin with. And a beautiful and historical venue like Fenway should be preserved. Menino misses the city’s opposition to the plan, but Davis-Mullen listens to Bostonians.

Menino and Davis-Mullen differ fundamentally in their approach to government. While Menino has worked to make Boston a “world class city” by championing high-profile projects like a new Fenway and a convention center, Davis-Mullen has focused on the town itself by improving education and affordable housing for the people of the city. And although Menino has been a successful mayor and will probably be re-elected, Davis-Mullen’s candidacy should refocus his attention on Bostonians themselves, and on the issues that matter day-to-day.