Here’s who I voted for in Quincy’s at-large preliminary
Today is a very special day here in Quincy. Not only is it the last hurrah for many kiddos before school starts tomorrow, but it’s preliminary voting day.
Why is that special? Preliminary elections are rare. We only have them when more than two candidates run for a single open seat. Preliminary elections are the semifinals that decide who will be on November’s ballot.
Here in Quincy, most ward races have just ONE candidate to “choose” from – that is, most races in Quincy offer no choice at all.
But this year, 27 candidates are running for nine council seats and three school committee seats. That’s enough to trigger a preliminary election in two council races – “at-large,” representing the whole city, and Ward 6, representing Squantum and parts of North Quincy.
Today, every voter in the city can choose up to three at-large candidates from eight. The top six vote getters after today will then move on to November’s ballot. Ward 6 voters can choose one of four candidates; the top two vote getters will move on to November’s ballot.
I’ve been asked who I support in the at-large race, so I’ll share my thoughts here in case they’re useful.
My main concern about the current city council – and the reason I decided to run myself – is the fact that it has not been willing to represent residents’ interests if those interests differ from the administration’s.
Quincy has a “strong mayor” form of government, so the mayor can and does make most decisions – about budgeting priorities, board appointments, department heads. The council’s main job is to act as a voice for the people – all of us – and to act as a check on the mayor’s power, especially on financial matters. The current council is failing at these responsibilities. It voted unanimously to waive state laws on competitive bids and lease lengths to move forward on an eight-decade lease of public land for a for-profit golf club, despite the fact that dozens of residents spoke out against the deal. And the current council repeatedly refused to hold public hearings on controversial issues, including the million-dollar religious statues the mayor commissioned in secret (and which are now the subject of a lawsuit) and the 79% and 50% raises that the mayor and council gave themselves (which the State Ethics Commission subsequently forced them to delay taking). This, despite the fact that the council’s own rules state that it should hold a public hearing once a month!
So a candidate’s willingness to center residents’ voices and speak truth to power when necessary are the main factors I use to decide who to support. After reading and watching all of the candidate interviews and questionnaires I could find, I used those criteria to vote for the following three people:
Anne Mahoney. As a former at-large councilor, she was often the only councilor willing to raise critical questions about the administration’s proposals and budget requests, and she frequently showed up to board meetings to support constituents.
Ziqiang “Susan” Yuan. She worked tirelessly (like the Energizer bunny!) to collect signatures to try to repeal the mayor’s and council’s raises last summer. She has also spoken out at rare public comment periods at the council to advocate for fiscal responsibility.
Andy Pham. He took clear stands against the raises and the religious statues in his interviews, showing a willingness to speak truth to power. He is also a trained accountant, which would come in very handy in our debt-ridden city.
If I had a fourth vote, I would have voted for Jackie Carvey, who seems like a sensible and kind person who cares about the city.
In any case, I hope all of us turn out to vote today! We have the rare opportunity of true choice this year – let’s use it!
