Underdog mayoral hopeful Maura Hennigan fought to upstage incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino, challenging his policies on the city’s relationship with college students at a question-and-answer forum in Metcalf Hall on Wednesday, moderated by former Gov. Michael Dukakis.
Menino and Hennigan, who is a city councilor-at-large, vied for college students’ votes, with Hennigan drawing the most applause from a sparse audience when she addressed student rights and called for a formal debate with the mayor.
In an exclusive interview, Hennigan told The Daily Free Press that her campaign was working to make college students feel they are more integrated into the city.
“We want to engage them to become an integral part of our community so that they don’t just view themselves as college students within a city and that they think of themselves as part of our city here and now,” she said.
She added that the negative perceptions many Boston residents have about college students is undeserved.
During the forum, Hennigan said, she would propose a plan to pair college students with local public school children in a mentoring program.
“Before you graduate, I want to link you up with some young man or woman, some boy or girl in the public school, and I want you to make a difference in their life,” Hennigan said.
Menino shot back, defending his administration’s relationship with college students.
“I think 99 percent of our students are great kids. The problem is we have to deal with that 1 percent that want to cause problems,” Menino said, adding that his administration is committed to working with students to solve problems.
Afterwards, Menino told The Daily Free Press that he promised to make Boston a more enjoyable place for college students.
“We are going to create entertainment zones,” he said. “We’ll have different activities so you have different choices to go to instead of just having to go to the bar.”
Menino added that he plans to get the private sector involved in funding the new entertainment venues. He said the private sector would get involved because young people have the money to spend.
Hennigan and Menino disagreed on how to make Boston’s nightlife more appealing to college students and young adults.
“It is very important in the city of Boston that we have a vibrant economy,” Hennigan told the audience. “Our downtown is dying at 5 o’clock and on the weekends.”
Hennigan said she would not commit to a plan to keep Boston’s downtown establishments open until 4 a.m., but she added that the city should look at how a similar plan would affect local drinking establishments.
She said that if downtown Boston were allowed to remain open later, there would need to be free transportation from colleges to the downtown area.
Menino said he was against the plan to keep establishments open until 4 a.m. He said downtown Boston is too close to residential areas for that to be a viable option.
At a press conference after the forum, Hennigan expressed frustration with the format of the forum, demanding a back-and-forth debate with Menino before the Nov. 8 election.
“Let’s not fool anybody today,” Hennigan said. “This was not a debate by any stretch of the imagination. To have two candidates seeking the highest office of this city to not appear together face to face, eye to eye, taking questions from students directly … is not what democracy is all about.”
Hennigan asked why her opponent was “afraid to defend his record” in a face-to-face debate.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Ari Wartanian said he also thought an actual debate would contribute more to the campaign.
“I felt as if a debate between Councilor Hennigan and Mayor Menino would have been better if they had been on stage together, confronting the issues and challenging one another,” Wartanian said. “I felt that was missing, and that that kind of dialogue is really important to our democracy.”
CAS senior Dan Hoffer said he thinks public safety is a major issue of this election. Hoffer, who has lived in Allston for three years, said police patrol of the area should be increased.
“You hardly ever see a cop unless there’s a problem,” Hoffer said. “Unless it’s a Saturday night at four in the morning and the bar fights are spilling out into the street, the police are not there. Allston is like a community living in the absence of the law.”
CAS senior Daniel Rhodes said he was unimpressed by either candidate.
“Neither candidate addressed the questions directly,” he said. “Essentially, what I’ve heard is that they’ve both been on the same track.”
The forum could not be called a debate because Menino refused to appear on stage alongside Hennigan. Instead, Dukakis asked each candidate the same questions as they appeared before the audience separately. Students submitted the questions that were screened and eventually asked by Dukakis.
Students from all over Boston were invited to attend the forum, which was organized by the Boston Intercollegiate Government. CAS junior Jon Marker, president of BU’s Student Union, is also the vice chair of the intercollegiate government and helped organize the forum.
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