July 21, 2009
Taking a shot at Mayor Thomas Menino, mayoral candidate Sam Yoon said Monday night that he would keep his name off city signs that denote projects and neighborhoods.
“That will be a major budget cost saving initiative that I will do as mayor,†Yoon said during a sit-down with WBZ Radio’s “Nightside with Dan Rea.†“This is something that’s well known about Boston. The mayor’s name is on everything. It speaks to a culture in our city and our city government where the mayor wants everybody to believe that everything that happens in our city, that’s worth anything, is done by him personally.â€
Yoon spent most of the hour-long appearance fielding friendly questions. (His campaign had been promoting the appearance through Twitter.)
A caller named “Peter†from South Boston asked whether Yoon would be attending ribbon-cuttings across the city if he wins the corner office in City Hall.
“I think that the mayor does spend a lot of time at ribbon-cuttings. I think the most dangerous place to be in our city is between the mayor, and a ribbon and his scissors,†Yoon quipped. “But there’s clearly more to being the mayor than going around shaking hands, and ‘hi how are you’ and cutting ribbons. I think that’s the difference a new mayor would make. Somebody who actually thinks about governing…The real work of governance has to come from a place where you’re saying, now that I’m mayor, how do I use this office, not to advance my interests but the interests of the entire city.â€
But Rea, the host of the show, said that alongside “disaster†cities like Detroit and Los Angeles, Boston is doing well. “I think Boston as a city, putting aside the politics, looks pretty damn good right now,†he said.
Another caller, “Deb†from Jamaica Plain, apparently unaware that Cambridge is another city separate from Boston, asked Yoon his thoughts on the arrest of Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. (The topic has already generated dozens of posts on UHub.)
“I think it is best not to comment until the public knows more,†Yoon said.
Alas, there were no questions about one very, very, very incredibly important campaign issue: Candidates and how many Facebook “friends†they actually have. The issue was front-paged earlier on Monday on the left-leaning Blue Mass Group site and had 19 comments as of Monday evening.