Boston Herald: Endorsement: Mayor Menino

The legacy lap

Of all the statistics that Boston Mayor Tom Menino can lay claim to during his record 16 years in that office, the most astonishing is that well over 50 percent of the population claims to have met him personally.

Sure, Boston isn’t that big a city and 16 years is a long time, but still it speaks to the manner of the man and the fact that he still appears to enjoy the interaction that he is indeed always out there - in the neighborhoods, at local events, at Christmas tree-lightings. And he’s there when things don’t go so well too - to comfort a grieving family, to calm a jittery community.

These are difficult times economically and just when people expect government to do more, it has fewer resources with which to do what it needs to do. It’s also the kind of time when voters are inclined not to rock the boat. So that “Mayor for Life” nickname bestowed upon Tom Menino by fans and foes alike looks like a self-fullfilling prophesy.

And frankly four more years of the best that Menino can be would be a very good thing.

We all know that other side of Tom Menino - sometimes too well. The prickly, enemies-list-making fella who spent more than a decade giving away too much to public employee unions only to get little back in services or political loyalty.

But the new and improved Tom Menino, well, he’s someone we can support.

That’s the guy who decided to get tough with firefighters at some political risk and stand up for public safety (including mandatory drug testing) without breaking the backs of taxpayers.

He’s the guy who has, however belatedly, displayed a certain openness to charter schools as a way of turning around public schools in need of help.

And he’s the guy who put the idea of a Business Improvement District for Downtown Crossing back on the table a decade after his first attempt.

He’s also the guy who brought Police Commissioner Ed Davis to town - and Davis, in turn, has brought a much-needed level of transparency to the workings of the department. A city’s reputation and its economic prosperity rise and fall on the way it deals with crime and prevents crime. Davis continues to provide solid leadership on both scores.

So too Fire Commissioner Rod Fraser, whose job is far from easy with the firefighters’ contract now more than three years into the negotiating process.

Another fine addition to the city’s team has been Boston Public Library President Amy Ryan, who ably balances the needs of a diverse and complex system.

No, the names of Davis, Fraser and Ryan won’t appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. But a mayor is known by the team he puts together. And Menino has some first-rate players on his.

The mayor, now 66, will wrap up his next term at age 70 - high time to contemplate his legacy. Some of that should be of the bricks and mortar variety - a vibrant seaport district, a thriving Dudley Square, a rebuilt Downtown Crossing. But the measure of a city and its leader is also found in how it attracts young workers, educates its students, cares for its seniors.

For 16 years Tom Menino has devoted himself tirelessly to this city. He has asked for four more years to continue that task. The Herald is pleased to endorse him for that legacy lap.