Mayoral candidates face off

In the first and only debate for mayoral candidates, Mayor Thomas Menino and City Councilor At-Large Maura Hennigan faced off at a town meeting-style debate Wednesday night, with Menino pushing his plan to make housing more affordable and Hennigan questioning the mayor’s accountability.

At the live televised debate held at the WGBH studio, Hennigan said the lack of affordable housing and skyrocketing cost of living is causing college graduates in Boston to relocate.

“Eighty percent of our college students leave the city,” Hennigan said. “The main reason college students and young professionals leave the city of Boston is because of the exorbitant cost of living.

“Boston is the most expensive city in the nation in which to live,” she added, saying Boston needs a policy to ensure affordable housing for more citizens. She said affordable housing would help keep college graduates in the area.

But Menino disagreed, asserting that college students stay in Boston upon graduating.

“We retain 46 percent of the graduates of the colleges around Boston,” Menino said. He said graduates stay because Boston has the jobs new graduates need. Menino said college students in Boston give the city brainpower that other cities don’t have.

“We have a problem with the rising cost of housing, but that’s not just a Boston problem. That’s a nationwide problem,” Menino said, adding that his administration has addressed the housing problem by creating 16,000 housing units over the last six years.

Hennigan said Menino’s policies have not done enough to alleviate the cost of living in Boston. She said most families can not afford the $50,000 housing units Menino’s plan created.

Menino and Hennigan also disagreed on Boston’s disaster preparedness. Menino said he worked with his homeland security director to create an “exodus plan” because of the Democratic National Convention. He said his plan focuses on using city resources to keep Bostonians safe without leaving the city by finding safe locations for citizens.

He added that he thinks Boston is one of the most prepared cities in the nation, citing a New York Times article that called Boston advanced in disaster preparedness.

Hennigan said she doesn’t think Menino has enough credibility for his evacuation plan to be taken seriously.

“First of all, you do not bring a man-made disaster to your city,” Hennigan said. “That is what Tom Menino is doing with this Level 4 Biolab. How can you trust Tom Menino to give you an evacuation plan when you can not trust Tom Menino to tell you about a tularemia outbreak that BU had that he did not share with you, that Boston University did not share with you?”

Menino said the biolab is not dangerous, adding that Atlanta also has a biolab on a college campus in an urban setting. He said he would never allow anything that could endanger people to be built in Boston. He added that his administration will keep the public informed about anything connected with the biolab.

Hennigan said if she were elected mayor, she would keep government records open to the public. She said Menino’s administration has failed to let the public know exactly what is happening, adding that her administration would have more accountability.

After the meeting, Menino answered questions about the debate. He said he thought Hennigan answered the questions the best she could.

“My opponent answered the way she thought they should be answered,” he said. “I answered factually.”

Outside the studio, about 100 Menino supporters were holding signs and cheering.

Paul Lynch, president of Ironworkers Local 7 union, said the union went to the debate to show support for Menino.

“We have solidarity for the mayor because he’s good for labor,” Lynch said.

Pat Simpson also went to the debate to show her support for the mayor. “He’s made women a priority in this administration,” Simpson said. “I feel very empowered by him.”