THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021 PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY SERVING BACK BAY - SOUTH END - FENWAY - KENMORE New traditions, sad reflection mark One Boston Day By Seth Daniel the neighborhoods. Last Thursday, April 15, It’s been nearly eight years known as One Boston Day, Act- since the Boston Marathon ing Mayor Kim Janey toured Bombing in 2013, where numer- several locations to thank first ous people were injured and four responders at Engine 33 on died of their injuries, but already Boylston Street and Engine 7 on One Boston Day has taken on Columbus Avenue, help out with steadfast traditions throughout cleaning the Carter School in Just after noon, Acting Mayor Kim Janey noted the names of Martin Richard and Lingzi Lu on their memo- rial on Boylston Street. Meanwhile, at the finish line, there was no Marathon on Monday, but workers on Thursday painted the iconic Boylston Street finish line in yellow and blue to commemorate One Boston Day. the South End, and to pause for Engine 7 and Engine 33 to thank age everyone to show acts of a moment of silence at the new them for their service to our city kindness to others and reflect on Memorial on Boylston Street just that day and always. the importance of this day.” after noon. “The Boston Marathon At the Carter School, the Pub- “On April 15, 2013, our first Memorial serves as a tribute to lic Facilities Department for the responders stepped up in the face the victims and their families of City made its annual sojourn to of tragedy to protect everyone the 2013 bombing, but also our the South End to clean up the At the Carter School in the South End, Donere Johnson of the City’s at the Boston Marathon,” she City’s resilience,” she continued. Public Facilities Department cleans out a flower bed as part of the said. “Today, I was happy to visit “This #OneBostonDay, I encour- (ONE BOSTON DAY Pg. 8) Department’s annual One Boston Day cleanup there. FROM THE MAYORAL CANDIDATES FORUM Virtual candidates forums Mayoral candidates answer Acting Mayor Janey cancels bring new challenges questions on hot-button issues last minute on mayoral forum By Dan Murphy Durkan, chair of the Bos- By Lauren Bennett Black on GBH. By Seth Daniel There was no offi- ton Ward 5 Democratic Acting Mayor Kim cial announcement made For the Boston Ward 4 Committee, planned this Five of the six declared Janey has announced that Acting Mayor Kim about Janey’s absence at and 5 Democratic Com- week’s event, they want- mayoral candidates gath- she will join the mayoral Janey was the only miss- the Forum, which began mittees to successfully part- ed to make sure it took ered on Zoom on Tuesday race, but she did not attend ing candidate for mayor around 6:45 p.m., but ner on their online May- place early enough in the evening for a Candidates this forum. of the six major candidates Moderator Callie Crossley oral Candidates Forum campaign cycle that voters Forum that drew an esti- The forum covered who have declared during did mention that she was on Tuesday, April 20, its weren’t already suffering mated 500 participants. several topics of con- Tuesday night’s lively Ward not able to make it due to organizers were met with a from “Zoom overload,” The forum was host- cern throughout the city, 4 and 5 Democratic Com- the breaking news on the different set of logistics and which they had both read ed by the Boston Ward 4 including the Boston mittee. Chauvin verdict. challenges than they would has already happened with and Ward 5 Democratic Police Department (BPD), Janey had been commit- Janey’s campaign told have faced in staging an voters in New York in the Committees. and candi- affordable housing, cli- ted and confirmed to the the Sun that the acting in-person event, as was the anticipation of that city’s dates John Barros, Andrea mate change, Boston Pub- 6:30 p.m. Forum earlier in mayor had put a stop to all norm in the pre-pandemic upcoming mayoral elec- Campbell, Annissa Essaibi lic Schools, the Boston the day, but cancelled last political activities on Tues- world. tion. George, Jon Santiago, and Planning and Develop- minute in order to speak at day night in light of the Jonathan Cohn, chair “We wanted to make Michelle Wu answered ment Agency (BPDA), and a 6 p.m. press conference verdict. of the Boston Ward 4 sure we had a forum early questions from modera- COVID response. regarding the verdict ren- “In light of the verdict in Democratic Committee, tor Callie Crossley, host of dered in the Derek Chau- said when he and Sharon (VIRTUAL CHALLENGES, Pg. 4) Under the Radar and Basic (MAYORAL FORUM, Pg. 5) vin case in Minnesota. (JANEY, Pg. 4) PAGE 2 THE BOSTON SUN APRIL 22, 2021 editorial AT LAST, SPRING HAS SPRUNG LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Spring officially may have arrived on March 21, but the past month MONTEIRO RUNNING know what it takes to help our to combat youth homelessness, has been anything but spring-like. FOR COUNCIL AT- families and children be success- and passed historic zoning legis- For those of us who live along the Massachusetts coastline, this is ful. lation to help ensure fair housing nothing new of course. The prevailing, on-shore sea breezes at this LARGE I know that Boston’s families access and housing affordability time of year transport air from the ocean that still is in the low 40s. Dear Editor, are struggling because I have across all our neighborhoods. So on days when the temperature may be in the 60s in central Mass., My name is Carla B. Monteiro lived that struggle and see the We’ve gotten the City to commit we’re at least 10 degrees cooler, with a wind-chill factor that makes it and I’m running for Boston City consequences of the gaps in our to reevaluate large institutional feel 10 degrees cooler than that. Council At-Large. My story is social services daily. But the real- landholdings this year so that In other words, the 60s elsewhere feel like the 40s for us. the story of so many Boston fam- ity is this: We can achieve a Bos- the PILOT program can work as But this week finally brought a measure of spring, not only because ilies, one of struggle and rising ton where everyone’s basic needs intended. of the warmth, but because of the daffodils, forsythia, and flower- above it. are met if we’re bold enough to We’ve also put Communi- ing trees that signal the end of winter and the promise of nicer days My parents emigrated from imagine it and passionate enough ty Preservation Act dollars to ahead. Cabo Verde in 1979. As the to fight for it. Join our neighbor- work improving our parks and With the coronavirus pandemic hopefully coming to an end, the daughter of immigrants, my fam- hood by neighborhood move- preserving our architectural arrival of spring is coming none too soon. ily, like so many others across ment at CarlaForBoston.com treasures. We’ve shown our care Boston, struggled to navigate Carla B. Monteiro for our community landscape at language barriers in our daily Candidate, Council at-large countless virtual public meetings, MASS SHOOTINGS lives. At age 4, my father walked whether by blocking electron- out on us and we were evicted. KENZIE BOK: I’M ic billboards, saving the garden ARE OUR NEW EPIDEMIC I was too young to fully under- courtyard at the Prudential, or stand what was happening, but, RUNNING FOR weighing in on updates to our in so many ways, that day would Mass shootings with high-powered weapons are nothing new in RE-ELECTION! much-loved playgrounds at Clar- form the rest of my journey. America. The recent tragedies in Atlanta and Indianapolis are just Dear Editor, endon St and Sheehy Park. We As a 16-year-old, I dreamed two more of a long string of the slaughter of innocent Americans who Two years ago, I walked into have capital projects committed of buying a house in Boston and simply were going about their everyday lives at work, in school, or at City Hall and put my name on that will bring quality accessible moving my family in to protect a shopping mall. the ballot for the first time. This pathways to the Fens, redesign all of us from housing insecuri- But as horrific as these well-publicized incidents have been, they week, I returned to the Elections the last block of the Common- ty. Eventually, I transformed my are just the proverbial tip of the iceberg when it comes to mass shoot- Department and filed to run for wealth Mall at Kenmore Square, ings all across the country, which have been occurring at ever-increas- dream of owning a home into re-election! improve safety on Boylston and ing rates. a reality and at 28 I purchased I have never loved doing any- Blossom Streets, give us a new In the past 30 days since the Atlanta massacre, there have been 45 a triple-decker in Dorchester to thing as much as I love represent- West End Library, and revitalize mass shootings -- defined as incidents where four or more people have provide a home for my family ing the people of Mission Hill, the Boston Common. been shot -- across the U.S. and create a stable foundation Fenway, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, A draft budget came out this The vast majority of these shootings never make it into the national for my son, Mesiah.