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Last year, at his annual State of the City address, Mayor Thomas Menino sought to prove the thesis of the recently released Nas album entitled "Hip Hop is Dead" by declaring that the rap community had given him the name "T-Mizzy." He might need some credibility and political capital with minority Bostonians after unveiling at last night's speech that he wants to save on school transportation costs by dismantling part of the city's busing program.
The Herald's editorial page called the issue "another third rail" while the Globe said he "may have led with his chin." The court-mandated educational restructuring of the 1970's revealed and inflamed racial tensions, and the fight over desegregation busing remains one of the ugliest periods in the city's history.
Menino maintains that Boston now has enough high-performing schools to allow for a scaling back of busing that could save ten million dollars a year. Currently school transportation costs 40 million, but the mayor said that number could rise to 60 million within the next five years (the Herald somehow inflates these numbers to 70 and 100 million respectively).
The mayor also called for a "community learning" initiative that would bring together the resources of public schools, neighborhood branches of the Boston Public Library, and local community centers into a seamless, child-nurturing web.
Menino implored us to dream with him: "Imagine if your children had not just a teacher or two to push their progress, but a whole network of caring adults at a series of sites throughout your neighborhood. This is Community Learning." The idea makes sense, particularly if a move against busing will keep kids closer to home in the first place. But the Dr. Evil-friendly money Menino is seeking for the program-- one... million... dollars!--seems ridiculously low to make this kind of bureaucratic teamwork possible.
Post and video contributed by Gerard Sloan. Read what Menino had to say about the firefighters, crime, and recycling after the jump!
The big story going in to the speech was the planned demonstrations by the firefighters union. But by the time Bostonist made it to Dorchester an hour before Menino's address they were nowhere to be found, leaving one 9/11 conspiracy theorist to work the sidewalk all by himself. Later, when it was announced that the Strand Theater was a non-smoking facility, we overheard one reporter joke that a fire here would probably not garner quick attention.
Menino also revealed that police commissioner Ed Davis "promised me that this year we will reduce violent crime by another 10 percent." Aside from the power of positive intentions (or the potential for cooking the books), how is such a promise possible? And if it is, why stop at ten percent? What level of violent crime is acceptable?
In happier news, the mayor announced a series of smart micro-initiatives geared for the hipster set. We now have our first poet laureate (Sam Cornish), single stream recycling (no more sorting between paper and plastic), plans for an improved "bicycling infrastructure" (starting with bike lanes between Kenmore and the BU Bridge), and a renewed focus on environmental sustainability ("We really are turning Beantown into Greentown!")
Mayor Menino is not an orator, as he made light of when comparing his own addresses with those of Martin Luther King Jr., whose son was on hand. In Menino's speeches, exclamation points on the written page rarely translate into more energy or a loud interjection. Rather, they seem to be reminders that Menino should smile after he sees one.
Of course, none of this has ever gotten in the way of his legendary political skills. It doesn't seem possible to take on the firefighters, busing, and the 9/11 conspiracy movement in one night, but he seems to have done it. T-Mizzy is on a roll.
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Well we all know about Nas and album titles.