Vying for the seat left vacant by the death of Allston-Brighton City Councilor Brian Honan, Democrats Jerry McDermott and Mark Ciommo contested at a public debate last night at the West End Boys and Girls’ Club.
McDermott’s opening statement declared the importance of the vacant position.
‘This is an important election, because your city councilor is the person that you have the most direct contact with in any level of government,’ he said. ‘It’s your district city counselor who will deal with 99 percent of the issues that affect your quality of life.’
Both candidates stressed the importance of solving Allston-Brighton’s housing crisis, decreasing the crime rate and improving public education.
McDermott called for increased affordable housing as a solution to homelessness and rent increases.
‘[For] whoever is fortunate enough to win, the number-one priority has to be affordable housing and creating more supply,’ he said, suggesting some buildings, such as old mills, be converted to residences.
Ciommo advocated working with local universities to increase on-campus housing.
‘Students increasingly occupy our [housing] units,’ he said. ‘We need the colleges to step up, [and] over the next eight to 10 years, house all their students.’
He stressed the benefits of college students residing in the area, but noted that they also contribute to many of the community’s problems.
‘A lot of our problems relate to the number of students that live in our community,’ he said.
McDermott conceded that Allston-Brighton’s large student population also contributes to crime rates, but stressed it was not the only factor involved.
‘The staffing [of] patrolmen are at the lowest levels in 10 years,’ he said. ‘We can’t have our scarce resources baby-sitting students at the borders of Harvard and BC and BU.’
McDermott suggested college and university police departments work more closely with Allston-Brighton police at the edges of their campuses. He expressed concern in the limited capacity police have to curb student drinking.
‘The police can only do so much,’ McDermott said.
Regarding public education, Ciommo said improvement is essential. He described education as ‘the great equalizer.’ He recommended reducing class sizes, increasing discipline and offering alternative classrooms for disruptive students.
‘No matter what background you come from, if you get a good education, you can do anything in life,’ he said. ‘You can’t have an environment of learning unless there is order in the schools.’
McDermott defended the condition of public schools.
‘I think the state of the public schools is not as bad as the newspapers would have us believe,’ he said. ‘There are a lot of good things going on in the Boston public schools.’
McDermott cited the success of local pilot and charter schools, suggesting they serve as examples to the public school system.
Both candidates voiced their disapproval of a school voucher system.
‘We need to stop kicking it around like a political football, and get serious about education reform,’ McDermott said, referring to the constant political back-and-forth over the issue of school vouchers.
Many audience members found value in the debate, but remained undecided as to who they would vote for in the Dec. 10 election. Housing was a top issue for many voters who attended the debate.
‘The debate was very instructive,’ said Arturo Vasquez, one of the original nine candidates for the office who was defeated by McDermott and Ciommo in the primary election last week. ‘There were two very different opinions about how [the housing issue] should be solved.’
‘Housing and public safety in the community is definitely a big issue,’ agreed Michael Franks, a Ciommo supporter in the audience. ‘I thought they both did a very good job.’
