In Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s 19th annual State of the City Address Tuesday night at Faneuil Hall, he celebrated strides the city made in 2011 and said in the future, Boston must focus on a sense of community.
“We need collaboration now more than ever because as Boston continues moving forward, harmful divisions have sprung up around us,” he said, citing unaccountable politicians and economic inequality as the causes of those ruptures.
Preceded by an invocation given by Rabbi Barbara Penzner of temple Hillel B’nai Torah in West Roxbury and speeches given by four community members, Menino, accompanied by his wife Angela, entered Faneuil Hall to “Eye of the Tiger” by rock band Survivor.
“It was a great honor and a great thrill to be in the presence of this historic place with the audience of people who are such dedicated public servants,” Penzner said. “I think the mayor is doing as good a job as anybody can under these circumstances.”
Despite his cautionary remarks, Menino, the longest-serving mayor in Boston’s history, also spoke about the city’s accomplishments in the past year.
“Boston’s unemployment rate has dropped almost two full points in the last year [and has] forged a groundbreaking agreement that will slow the growth of runaway healthcare costs by more than $70 million,” he said.
Indeed, Menino mentioned the city’s drive to put people back to work, citing the “100 new companies [that] have brought 3,000 jobs to the waterfront” and the proposal to bring a resort casino to East Boston.
By employing a Boston Gaming Advisory Board, he said, the proposed casino would “maximize job creation for Bostonians and provide transparency for residents into the process of casino review.”
Menino also spoke about education, saying “our fourth and eighth graders’ scores in math last year beat out almost every large city across the country.”
He noted, however, that the school system could still use reform. In addition to announcing his continued dedication to adopting “a radically different student assignment plan” that would place Boston children in schools near their homes, he also spoke about the importance of vocational schools.
He used Madison Park Technical Vocational High School as an example of a school with great potential for reform. By introducing work-based experiences, internships and apprenticeships to the school’s curriculum, he said, Madison Park could become “a better center of job training for unemployed and underemployed Bostonians.
“We must do a better job engaging our students,” Menino added.
Boston resident Marilyn Swartz-Lloyd, 35, agreed that the Madison Park School could be an asset to the city.
“[His speech] was full of work that we all have to do,” she said. “His idea about Madison Park High was excellent, to train the students for all the jobs we have in the city, and I think he presented that very, very well.”
The mayor also addressed issues of public safety in Boston, outlining his intention to expand Neighborhood Crime Watch Groups and summarizing his request that the Boston Police Department “expand their Unresolved Shootings Project.”
Although the crime rate has dropped by 25 percent over the last six years, he said, “we must drive it lower yet.”
Menino also brought up city health issues, stating that despite Boston being named America’s third healthiest city by Forbes last year, 50 percent of adults and 33 percent of school-aged children are overweight or obese.
“Look, weight is an issue that many of us struggle with,” Menino said, eliciting a chuckle from the crowd. “But what is daunting on our own becomes doable when we work together. So, my goal is to see all of us combine to shed a million pounds this year.”
Menino also emphasized what he called the city’s need for unity.
“Our relationships are strong,” he said. “Therefore, the state of our city is strong.”
Many members of the crowd seemed to receive the mayor’s assertions warmly, applauding enthusiastically before and after he spoke.
“I think [Menino] always is able to be honest with the people of Boston where we’ve succeeded at and where we have challenges,” said Boston resident Robert Pulster “[He] has done a great job . . . bringing people together to create the change for improvements in the neighborhoods.”
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