State House News Service Weekly Roundup: Hizzoner’s Decision
He’s been omnipresent for 20 years from Roslindale to East Boston. His endorsement is coveted by city council hopefuls and U.S. senators alike. He occasionally mutilates the English language, mangles the names of sports stars, and commands loyalty unlike any public figure in Boston. He was mayor-for-life. Now he’ll be mayor for only another nine months. This week, as House Speaker Robert DeLeo continued to wait for the rescue helicopter to take him away from Gov. Deval Patrick’s “fantasy land” of higher taxes and trains, the Governor’s Council was up to its old tricks and the race for U.S. Senate kicked into a higher gear. But little could compete with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and “The Decision” that held foes and allies alike breathless for months. Menino decided not to seek a sixth-term and will at the end of 2013 end on his own terms — his 20-year tenure as the city’s longest-serving and first Italian-American mayor. At the first of what is sure to be many tributes to Menino over the coming months, a who’s-who of past and present power players from City Hall, the State House, and the business community crowded into Faneuil Hall on Thursday to hear Menino make it official. “I could run. I could win,” he said to the delight of the audience. Click here to subscribe to MASSterlist, a free morning newsletter by State House News Service that highlights political news from a wide array of newspapers and journals in Massachusetts and New England But slowed by illness, Menino can no longer do it his way, and so he said he won’t do it at all. Menino’s way required a tirelessness that few younger than his 70 years can muster. There were ribbon cuttings, school plays and block parties to attend, new business owners to meet and development plans to review. Before Menino retires to Hyde Park to download the latest edition of SimCity, he has his lame duck period to look forward to. “Just think what I can do in nine months. I don’t have to worry about a thing. No voters or anything else. We’re going to have some real fun,” he said. Trying to keep track of who gave thought to running for U.S. Senate in the days after John Kerry left to become secretary of state was hard enough. The mayoral sweepstakes promises to be on another level. In addition to forcing an entire generation of Bostonians to contemplate what life will be like P.M., Menino’s exit creates an opportunity for dozens of public figures bubbling over with pent-up ambition. They’ll have little time to pull the trigger and fire up their campaigns. There are probably no fewer […]