OUR VIEW: A race in Quincy

By The Patriot Ledger

Getting elected has gotten easier and easier over the years for Quincy Mayor William Phelan. Too easy, the last time around.

In 2001, newcomer Phelan overcame a lack of political experience to squeak by longtime Mayor James Sheets by just 17 votes.

Things were much easier for Phelan in 2003, when he sailed to a second term by taking 73 percent of the vote over challenger Joseph Newton, a Ward 6 city councilor.

In 2005, Phelan ran uncontested in his bid for a third term.

Quincy’s 2007 mayoral election, however, will be contested. It began last Tuesday, when the city’s longtime park commissioner, Thomas P. Koch, walked into his Phelan’s city hall office, hand-delivered his letter of resignation, and told his boss he’ll challenge him in the November election.

It’s good news for city voters. There’s nothing more damaging to the vibrancy and dynamism of city government than a municipal leader who goes unchallenged year after year.

His supporters and opponents alike will agree that Phelan deserves a referendum on his tenure from time to time. Voters will be treated to a discussion and a review of the mayor’s record to date.

As a first-time candidate for mayor, Phelan led the charge on a new Quincy High School, and he decried the failure to redevelop the Fore River shipyard. With Phelan approaching six years in office, both issues remain unfinished business.

Phelan can point to other accomplishments, including stable city finances, although taxes have not gone down; some strides in downtown redevelopment; completion of a golf course at Quarry Hills; and improvements to city roads and parks.

Yet what some see as an abrasive leadership style produced unnecessary tensions and some departures from city hall - Koch being the latest. As the first candidate to jump into the race against Phelan, Koch says he has grown increasingly unhappy with ‘‘the tone’’ resonating from the mayor’s office and said Quincy needs a ‘‘positive new vision.’’

It remains to be seen whether other mayoral challengers will emerge, or how persuasive a claim Koch can make on the mayor’s office. For now, two well-known native sons of Quincy with extensive experience in local government are setting their sights on the city’s top job. Phelan brings a distinct fundraising advantage to the race, while Koch has a solid command of grass-roots campaigning that he used successfully as an aide to James Sheets.

Here’s to a civil and thorough debate about the city, where it is headed, and who can best lead it into the future.

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Tuesday, January 30, 2007