Boston residents mourn death of city’s longest-serving mayor

Boston residents and local and national officials paid last respects to Mayor Thomas Menino at Faneuil Hall on a cold, snowy Sunday. Menino was Boston’s longest-serving mayor. (Photo: Don West)

Well-wishers lined the streets of Boston on Monday as the motorcade carrying former Mayor Thomas Menino’s body made its way to Hyde Park, the home turf of the city’s longest-serving mayor.

Menino left an indelible mark on the city during his 20 years in office, bringing into fruition a vision of neighborhood redevelopment that touched every corner of the city, perhaps nowhere more than in Dudley Square, where his motorcade drew out scores of spectators, many holding green-and-white campaign-style signs that read, “Thank you Mayor Menino.”

The funeral procession made its way up Warren Street to Grove Hall, and then meandered through Bowdoin Street, Mattapan Square and Roslindale Square before ending at the Most Precious Blood Church in Hyde Park.

Civic leaders, elected officials past and present and scores of former city workers who cut their teeth under the Menino administration expressed sadness at the passing of the self-described urban mechanic, who obsessed over the details of city government like no mayor before.

“Boston has lost a political giant, and Diane and I have lost a friend,” said Gov. Deval Patrick in a statement to the media. “Our hearts and prayers go out to Angela and the whole Menino family. And we thank God for the service and the life of Tom Menino.”

From the beginning of his mayoral administration, Menino’s political fortunes were inextricably linked with Boston’s black community. It was the late Anthony Crayton, former District 7 City Councilor, who in 1993 cast the swing vote that clinched the City Council presidency for Menino, paving the way for him to become acting mayor when then-Mayor Raymond Flynn left to become ambassador to the Vatican.

In Menino’s mayoral campaign that year, it was a combination of black, Latino and liberal white voters in the center of the city that put him in office — not the traditional voter-rich strongholds of South Boston, West Roxbury and Charlestown. Menino had a sometimes

rocky relationship with many of the city’s black elected officials serving in the City Council and State House, but he could consistently rely on super-high support from black voters every four years, often earning more than 80 percent of the black vote.

One way Menino earned that popularity was by simply showing up. He was ubiquitous at community events, held walk-throughs in neighborhood business districts and attended to the physical needs of each Boston neighborhood with an obsessive eye for detail. It was that focus on potholes, trash collection and snow removal that earned him the title, the Urban Mechanic.

Another way Menino gained popularity in the black community was his focus on urban redevelopment, including a campaign promise to rebuild Blue Hill Avenue between Dudley Street and Grove Hall, a promise that supporters say he kept.

He also trained his administration’s attention on Dudley Square, directing millions of dollars in federal funds to projects ranging from the redevelopment of the former Boys and Girls Club to the soon-to-open new Boston Public Schools headquarters in the long-vacant Ferdinand’s furniture store.

In City Hall, a generation of black, Latino and Asian public servants cut their teeth working in Menino’s administration.

“He created a whole cadre of politicians,” said State Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez, who served as Menino’s liaison to the Latino community before running for and winning election in the 15th Suffolk District House seat, which includes Mission Hill, parts of Jamaica Plain and a section of Brookline. “He mentored me from day one and never stopped. He’d call me up when he’d read about something I did. He’d give me a hard time because he thought I could have done something better or tell me he was happy with what I’d done. He’d always remind you that it was never about you. It’s about the people.”

Victoria Williams, a 37-year veteran of City Hall who headed the office of Fair Housing and Civil Rights under Menino said he was always supportive of her work.

“Tom Menino had a very strong belief that everyone should have access to opportunity and that people should not be discriminated against,” she said.

Like many, Williams said Menino was always there for her during trying times. When her mother passed away ten years ago, Menino came to the wake.

“I was surprised the next day when he came to the funeral,” she recalled. “When Reverend Borders called him up, [Menino] said, ‘Vicky not only works for me. She’s my friend. I know what it’s like to lose your mother. I lost mine.’ He spoke from the heart.”

Menino’s relationship with blacks wasn’t always easy. Neighborhood activists often clashed with the mayor over development projects that were seen as impositions on the community rather than the product of community-based planning. And his endorsements of

candidates for office rarely matched the political aspirations blacks expressed at the ballot box.

But among the voters, elected officials and community activists there was always a deep respect for the mayor whose unrelenting attention to the minute details of city government indicated a profound love for the city of Boston and its people.

“Mayor Menino left Boston a better place after more than twenty years of dedicated service to the city he loved so much,” said state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry in a statement. “Through his passion, work ethic and huge heart, Mayor Menino exemplified what it means to be from Boston. Thank you Mayor Menino. Rest in Peace, my friend.”