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Turner, Henriquez stick to the issues at RoxVOTE District 7 forum by Ashley Rigazio
MySouthEnd.com ContributorTuesday Oct 27, 2009 Candidates agree district has work to do
Incumbent District 7 City Councilor Chuck Turner and his challenger, Carlos "Tony" Henriquez, a Roxbury community organizer, discussed their ideas for addressing residents’ issues with the MBTA, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), and communication during a RoxVOTE-sponsored candidates’ forum at Roxbury’s Hibernian Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The candidates described similar stances on several issues, such as their opposition to Boston University’s Level 4 BioLab on Albany Street, officially known as the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory (NEIDL), their support for Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) reform, and their desire to rally the community in hopes of receiving more funding for substance abuse treatment and youth opportunities. The federal corruption charges Turner currently faces for allegedly accepting $1,000 in cash from an FBI informant in 2007, as has been the case during much of the campaign, was not a central point of debate.
The mood grew tense during closing statements, however, when Turner charged that Henriquez has yet to show any concrete examples of leadership and Henriquez argued that solving the district’s problems is about engagement and self-empowerment, "not the struggle or the fight."
Turner argued throughout the 90-minute discussion that he had provided consistent and productive leadership during his 10 years in office. He highlighted his fights against neighborhood schools, the NEIDL, and CORI restrictions, as well as his six successful pieces of legislation.
"I think that I can say in all humility that I’ve been the most active and effective city councilor serving not just the people of District 7, but the city as a whole," said Turner.
But Henriquez-who has stated that Turner’s past four years of service haven’t been as consistent and effective-repeatedly told the Hibernian Hall crowd that "we deserve better."
Transportation was on the minds of many Roxbury residents in attendance, who described inadequate service and cutbacks by the MBTA accompanied by unfair fare hikes that left them feeling "double-taxed."
Henriquez, who traded in his Charlie Card for a bike out of frustration with a "terrible" system, pushed for a boycott.
"We cannot continue to give them money and expect them to do what we want them to do," he said. "Until we’re willing to stand up and boycott for what we want, they’ll continue doing the same. We have to break the cycle by doing something more drastic than we’ve done before."
While the MBTA is a state issue, Henriquez said if elected, he would meet with MBTA officials, build relationships with state representatives, and work to get more public transit information to residents so they can make informed choices.
Turner said that the Legislature had shifted the cost of the Big Dig override onto riders and citizens must challenge the MBTA when it threatens their rights to proper public transportation. However, he believed that with the MBTA looking for excuses for more service cuts, a boycott would be counterproductive.
Both candidates did not support the MBTA’s planned 28X bus down Blue Hill Avenue, which they said showed a disconnect between the state agency and the neighborhood’s actual needs.
When asked what he would do to improve communication with constituents, Turner replied he has created a system through the Chuck Turner Daylight Network, monthly meetings, and his district office in Roxbury (open eight hours a day, five days a week). However, he said, he would like to set up an interactive website with a community events calendar in his next term.
Henriquez alleged that Turner was not reaching out to constituents but rather waiting for them to come to him.
"I currently think we have a decent communication network in District 7, but I think we can do a lot better," said Henriquez. "I’ve lived in District 7 my entire life. It is very rare that you get a letter, a phone call, or a knock on the door about an issue unless it is election time. I think that needs to change."
He outlined a plan for regular community meetings in every part of the district, including the South End, and pushed for the use of technology like Twitter, Facebook, e-mail blasts, and text messages to reach not only voters, but the district’s youth as well.
"We should be finding the residents, not asking the residents to find us," he added.
When asked for their stance on the BRA, both candidates opposed it in its current form, with Henriquez calling for a financial overhaul and Turner pushing to abolish it entirely and replace it with departments for planning and workforce/economic development.
"I really am not a strong supporter of the BRA," said Henriquez, adding, "To have an authority that does not answer to any of us in this room and makes money off of our land and then doesn’t return it to us while we’re sitting in a room thinking about how we’re going to fund non-violence [programs], how we’re going to fund substance abuse treatment, I think it’s foolish."
Turner agreed that the financial aspects of BRA "definitely need to be amended," but added that the whole structure was outdated.
"The BRA was created and the planning department was merged with it by the Boston business community to transform the nature of Boston in the ’50s; they wanted to make this into a gentrified city," he said. "They knew that if the council had the power that they gave to the BRA ... that wouldn’t happen."
The candidates will debate tomorrow night, Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Vine Street Community Center in Roxbury.
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