Boston mayoral candidate Michelle Wu says she's running a campaign to change more than just policies — she wants to transform city politics, too.
Wu joined Boston Public Radio Thursday, nine days after she topped the ticket in Boston's mayoral preliminary election. She will face fellow City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George in November's general election.
On the fact that no Black candidates made it through the preliminary election.
"It's been such an honor to be part of this historic mayoral field and to see the power of representation of our communities on the ballot," she said. "I never would have imagined, at this moment eight years [after joining the City Council], that Boston's mayoral field and race would reflect our communities in this way. And the issues we've been pushing for need to remain front and center.
"The next mayor needs to center racial justice, needs to prioritize the challenges and the visions and the dreams and opportunities of the Black community — and Black communities — in Boston," Wu continued. "So I am determined to ensure that we're continuing to be in community, to listen and push forward with the boldest agenda that would actually tackle and address our biggest challenges, especially focused on racial justice and equity."
Host Jim Braude pressed Wu to respond to criticism from some residents, including African American leaders, that she hasn't always been on the ground, instead favoring a loftier approach on big ideas.
"What I love about city government is that it's impossible to stay in the space of just talking and taking positions and not getting things done because there is that direct level of feedback and accountability from the community," she said. "And so I always appreciate and value that accountability."
Wu also counted herself among those who want to push for not just changes in policies but also changing the politics and those who get to speak at thetable.
On the growing humanitarian and public health crisis at Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue.
Wu has advocated for a decentralization of services across the city. She said she would review all city-owned parcels to find places the city can establish supportive housing immediately. She also wants to reactivate the recovery center on Long Island that was shuttered in 2014, utilizing ferry service immediately while the protracted negotiations around rebuilding a bridge continue.
"This has got to be a top priority headed right into the fall and winter months as it gets colder and as being outside is even more dangerous for folks who are unhoused. I have already been in conversations with health care providers citywide about how we expand treatment quickly with regional partners, and thinking through possibilities of moving very quickly on providing the support of housing that’s needed to ensure patients and residents can get off the streets and into safe warm homes in order to access treatment. This is a conversation that is much wider than just one intersection. We need to expand treatment and move quickly both on public safety side but also the housing side.
Recently, Boston officials declared a plan to transfer some people experiencing homelessness from Mass. and Cass to live in a hotel in Revere, a move that was met with resistance from that city's mayor. Wu said she supports plans that would decentralize services across the city and neighboring municipalities, but said she would be more transparent about her plans as mayor.
"What I hear in Mayor [Brian] Arrigo's comments is a desire and willingness and eagerness to make sure that we’re all part of moving this situation quickly," she said. "We, in order to be strong regional partners do need to have strong and transparent communication. I look forward to stepping into a role to ensure that that is the baseline and that we are all on the same page.
"I have said that, in my first 100 days, an immediate priority will be ensuring that we're reviewing every parcel of city-owned land, every building where we could retrofit supportive housing quickly and then work to very quickly set up ferry service so that we can reactivate the island for treatment as well," she said.
On both candidates' pledge to run positive campaigns free of outside attack ads.
Wu said that, while it's important to draw distinctions between each other, she wants to focus on "our records, our experience, our visions for the city and leadership approach and what that means."
"My goal is to not just change policy but to help be a platform for the type of politics we need to see as well," she said. "A politics where we are not perpetuating divisions and inequities, but calling people into the conversation and empowering grassroots organizing to really move the changes and types of transformations we need at a systemic level."
On how Wu sets herself apart from Essaibi George on police reform.
Essaibi George has said she would support hiring more officers, and while Wu said the city should invest more in public safety overall, "we're not there in this moment, and we need to have a structural and cultural change to how we think about public safety — and particularly the police department in Boston — so that we're meeting residents where they're at and building trust."
Wu called for a public health-led approach to policing by civilianizing some work currently done by police officers. Instead of dispatching uniformed cops, she said she like to see people trained in mental health and substance abuse respond to crisis situations.
She would reform the police department's overtime budget in a way "that would actually embed transparency and accountability to get the scale of change that we need," Wu said.
