Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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version of himself. This is no illusion: After suffering a series of ailments that left him hospitalized for two months at the end of last year, Menino has dropped two suit sizes. When we met, he walked gingerly, pausing often to readjust his crutch. But once he opened his mouth, he was the same old mayor. He had spent the morning at the New England Aquarium, which that day reopened its 200,000-gallon tank following a $17 million, 10-month renovation. He boasted about its refurbished Caribbean coral reef exhibit and its new education center. Between takes with the photographer, his longtime press secretary, Dot Joyce, smoothed his hair. I complimented him on his navy blue blazer and red-checked oxford shirt, and he reminisced about the time he bought a green sport coat on sale at Filene's Basement for $75, marked down from $800. "I brought it home and showed my kids. They told me I looked like a maître d' at a restaurant. I gave it to charity the next day." He has since developed a much thicker skin, and perhaps nothing makes him more a man of the people than his speech. How did he feel the first time he was referred to as Mumbles Menino? "There is a columnist in the city of LEFT: Mayor Menino was joined by President Bill Clinton at a meeting of the Mayor's Youth Council in 1995. RIGHT: At a press conference during the hunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects this past year. Though recovering from serious surgery, he took a leading role in everything that was happening. EVERYMAN'S MAN Menino's popularity has its roots in "a combination of competence and a demeanor that evokes everyman," says Jeffrey M. Berry, a political scientist at Tufts University. "After his first reelection, political observers came to understand he is quite skillful and that his appeal to ordinary Bostonians was substantial and impressive." Boston has transitioned to a majority minority city, with 53 percent of the population identifying as nonwhite or Hispanic. Menino's deft handling of this diversity sets him apart, Berry maintains. "The key to his success was an aggressive pursuit of building relationships with neighborhood leaders. He spent virtually every evening at events all over Boston. He was always there so that ordinary Bostonians could speak with him. He left the impression that he cares about neighborhoods and not just the downtown business community." He's been such a key figure, in some ways larger than life, that it's a surprise to see him looking like a smaller 122 "I never went by polls. I talk to people. I get a sense of what they want and need. That's how I make my judgment calls." —MAYOR TOM MENINO Boston who makes fun of me all the time," he says. "Who cares? People didn't elect me for my speech. They elected me because I do my job and I help them." FROM HYDE PARK TO THE HILL Thomas Michael Menino was born and raised in Hyde Park, the southernmost neighborhood of Boston. He grew up in an Italian Catholic family, the oldest of three children. His father, Carl—a rakish clotheshorse—had a job at the Westinghouse factory. His mother, Susan, stayed at home with the kids. It was a scrappy existence: The Menino family lived in a two-family house, and they didn't own a car until Tom was 13 years old. His father was distant, but his mother was as saintly "as Mother Teresa," Menino says. She often helped new Italian families assimilate to life in the US. Menino recalls his childhood fondly but admits he didn't feel that he was anything special. "I was a regular guy. I wasn't class president. I wasn't popular. I was just a kid going to school, PHOTOGRAPHY BY J. DAVID AKE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (CLINTON); STAN HONDA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (PRESS CONFERENCE) rarely missing a ribbon-cutting ceremony, neighborhood parade, or other feel-good civic event. He is the "Urban Mechanic," who early on understood that fixing broken streetlights, filling potholes, and making sure that trash is picked up on time endears him to voters. A poll conducted earlier this year by the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire found that Menino has a 74 percent approval rating among city residents; nearly half of residents say they have personally met him. He is more than just a glad-hander, however. Menino has presided over years of solid economic growth and revitalization. Boston's unemployment rate stands at around 5.9 percent, lower than most major cities. Construction is expected to triple this year. Crime is down over the last 10 years. And Boston has one of the best bond ratings of any big city in the country. Menino is also a man of his convictions: He was a staunch defender of marriage equality long before it became a Supreme Court inevitability, and he's pushed nationally to curb gun violence. "I never went by polls," he says. "I talk to people. I listen to people. I get a sense of what they want and need. That's how I make my judgment calls." BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 120-123_BC_F_Menino_LateFall13.indd 122 9/16/13 11:01 AM