Tuesday’s choice is between Bill Linehan of South Boston, a 32-year veteran of local politics who works in City Hall, and Susan Passoni of the South End, a financial analyst and a relative newcomer to city politics who had the gumption to take on the all-but-unbeatable and conservative Kelly in the regular municipal election.
Linehan and Passoni are solid candidates. It is to the credit of both that they have defied narrow stereotyping. Nevertheless, each offers different competencies.
Linehan is the candidate of the status quo. His are the politics of personal relationships, and he plays the game of politics as if it were a contact sport; deals are cozy rather than transparent and the score is kept in terms of favors done rather than goals accomplished.
Passoni is the candidate of an emerging Boston. She represents the modern era of city administration: financial expertise, practical solutions over ideological point-making, and willingness to hold city departments accountable at the risk of stepping on toes.
The Phoenix endorses Susan Passoni. We admired her willingness to campaign for a different sort of city politics when the odds were against her. And we hope that her time has come in this special election. Electing Passoni to the Boston City Council would be good for the neighborhoods she would represent and it would be good for the city at large. Susan Passoni is a win-win.
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