City Councilor-at-large John Connolly officially launched his Boston mayoral campaign Wednesday night at the Omni Parker hotel to a crowd of nearly 400 supporters. Connolly, who is running against incumbent Boston mayor Thomas Menino, promised a campaign that would bring change and new energy to the Boston economy and Boston Public Schools.
Greg Selkoe, founder and CEO of Karmaloop, a company he created while living in Jamaica Plain was first to introduce Connolly. He said Connolly offered a fresh take for the city and a new source of support for Boston entrepreneurs.
“A new era in Boston in starting right here with our next mayor of Boston, John Connolly,” he said. “He wants to bring a bright new future to Boston. That means real support of entrepreneurs. That means reaching out to entrepreneurs and tech leaders, which John plans to do.”
A former student of Connolly’s spoke briefly before Connolly’ wife, Meg Connolly, took the stage to introduce her husband.
“The qualities that make John a great candidate for mayor are the same qualities that make him a good friend and a good man,” Mrs. Connolly said. “John’s belief in the promise of new ideas and his faith in everyone’s potential will allow this city to tap into a wealth of talent an ability.”
When Connolly took the podium, he gave a speech that outlined his plans to revitalize the Boston economy, open city hall to the public and usher in a new era of innovation.
“This campaign is about Boston’s future and a need for new ideas, new energy and new leadership,” he said. “We should have a completely transparent city government focused on inclusive approach to problem solving. We should have a city government that nurtures, fosters and taps into all of our advantages.”
Connolly said he plans to revitalize and reform the Boston Public School system, which has been the cornerstone of his campaign.
“I will take a no-nonsense approach when it comes to our schools,” he said. “I’ll create a culture of accountability in our school department that it is sorely missing today. I will create a culture dedicated to recruiting, supporting, developing and retaining the best principles and teachers in the nation. I will make sure our children get the absolute best.”
Connolly closed his speech with a request for support.
“If you share my vision for a more inclusive city hall,” he said, “if you share my vision for a Boston driven by an innovative spirit and a bold desire to break the status quo and if you believe that every Bostonian deserves a safe and livable neighborhood no matter their first language, no matter their economic circumstance, their race, gay or straight, if you believe that everyone should be able to choose to live in Boston and say it was the best decision they ever made, then I need you with me.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
Well-written piece, great content, intelligent choice of quotes, helpful and informative about Connolly and the race (and this event) overall. Nice job.
Two copyediting points: 1) Who is the “he” in the second paragraph? Specifically: did Connolly or Selkoe start KarmaLoop whlie living in JP? Using the found’s last name in place of the pronoun would produce clarity instead of confusion.
2) check your homonyms: In gradeschool I learned that the PrinciPAL is your Pal. In the third-to-last paragraph, you mistyped the point about “developing and retaining the best priniciPALS and teachers” for the Boston public schools. As a parent in Boston, I can say that these seemingly small points reveal important data about the quality of education in general, and particularly when refering to the quality of our schools here in Boston.
Keep up the good work – you might be surprised to learn who is reading and benefitting from your online content! Show BU well to the world: stay strong in your content, AND mind the details. 🙂 Alll the best!
Corrections to my own comment (ipad touch keypad foils me again!): please replace my “found’s” with “founder’s” and my “refering” with “referring.” Yes, I see the irony in my own point about minding the details =). Onward!