If it's a conspiracy, it's ever so subtle

24 August 2001

Maura Hennigan is convinced the mayor is out to get her.

Or at least she's hoping.

The latest involves the endorsement of the exhaustively named Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Alliance of Massachusetts. The most prominent of the area's gay political groups, the alliance met last week and resoundingly endorsed Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. It also denied its support to long-time City Councilor Hennigan.

For Hennigan, a 20-year veteran of the council, the vote came as a shock. She has for years been regarded as a reliable pro-gay vote. And she has received the alliance's support in the past, most recently in her unsuccessful run for the Senate seat now held by Brian Joyce.

Hennigan blamed the mayor, saying that Menino's campaign manager, Michael Kelly, as well a political appointee, Harry Collings, both refused to support her in the alliance's voting. It was, she believes, part of a calculated campaign to discredit her.

But why, you may wonder?

For two decades, Hennigan has been a district councilor, representing roughly 70,000 people in the neighborhoods of Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury. Over the last year, she has emerged as a persistent critic of the mayor, taking him on over hot-button issues such as the development of the South Boston waterfront. She says it was those issues - reaching well beyond the confines of the communities she represents - that led her to take what is clearly an enormous political risk: running for an at-large seat on the council.

It's the kind of risk that left a lot of people scratching their heads. At-large councilors are pretty much the same as district councilors; they all get the same salary and staff. Yet an at-large race is a lot of work and the odds of losing are high.

Where is the glory in all of this?

At-large Councilor Peggy Davis-Mullen is now engaged in what will almost certainly be a losing race for mayor, a result that will mean the departure from the political scene of Menino's No. 1 nemesis. Should Hennigan win, she stands to assume Davis-Mullen's mantle. From there come lots of possibilities: a heightened prominence throughout the city, a possible shot at becoming City Council president or a future run for some other office, including mayor.

Those are the kinds of things that could bother a sitting mayor, particularly one with a reputation for being as thin-skinned as Menino. And for good reason: While he is personally popular, the mayor's relationship with the council is terrible. There have been lawsuits by the council over seemingly minor items and the body has blocked pet projects of the mayor's such as funding for a new Fenway Park.

When asked, the mayor's campaign staff predictably and forcefully denies any discussion whatsoever of targeting Hennigan. They profess shocked bewilderment; Why on earth would we do that? They are all focusing, presumably, on the rigors of the campaign ahead.

Right. In truth, Menino should care deeply about who is on the council. Unless he repairs his relationship with its members - or, even better, gets some friendlier councilors elected - Menino may find the next four years full of stalemates and squabbling.

Thus, there is every reason to believe that Menino is involved in the council races. Still, as the Wicked Witch of the West said to Dorothy, "These things must be done delicately." In 1981, then-Mayor Kevin White publicly tried to defeat a number of councilors and get his own slate (the "Kevin Seven") into office. The result was disastrous for White: Six of those seven lost. That backlash effect is a lesson Menino remembers well and he takes great pains to keep his fingerprints off of any dirty doings.

And Hennigan? The reverse is true. She too remembers those lessons. Standing up to the mayor makes for good politics. Moreover, she saw how Davis-Mullen rode to victory in earlier council races by holding herself out as the only one willing to take on Menino. Hennigan's chances are, perversely enough, improved if she can foster the perception that Menino fears her.

So were Menino's people targeting Hennigan in the alliance vote? It's hard to tell. Mark Walsh, a long-time activist, claims credit for Hennigan's loss of the endorsement. During the debate, it was Walsh, who denies any contact with the mayor's campaign on the matter, who questioned Hennigan's leadership on gay issues. Still, Hennigan lost the endorsement by only one vote. If any of Menino's campaign workers had supported her, the result would have been different. That fact alone gives grist to the conspiracy theory.

Perhaps the truth doesn't matter. We have here the politics of illusion. Menino wants a more compliant council, but can get it only by pretending he doesn't care at all. Hennigan, seeking visibility and a citywide seat, wishes he did.