Old Guard no more

IN SOMERVILLE, THE OLD GUARD RULES NO MORE [THIRD Edition] Boston Globe (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Boston, Mass. Author: Chris Chinlund, Globe Staff Date: Mar 24, 1985 Start Page: 1 Section: METRO Text Word Count: 1443 Document Text Larry Bretta is in jail. Denis McKenna retired. Vinnie Piro, although cleared of attempted extortion last Wednesday, is out of office. All are part of a Somerville old guard that rules no longer. After years of dominance, the city's traditional political establishment is on the wane. Some say the balance tipped in favor of a more progressive new guard last year. Some say the year before. Others say the transition is just now taking hold. "Mayor Brune and the new guard have taken over, and they have begun to entrench themselves," says Billy Joyce, a former alderman and part of the city's old establishment. "There are very few old guard on the ward and city committees. The old guard is slowly fading into the dust." Joyce is secure in his job as city messenger; his appointment runs until he is 70. Sen. Denis McKenna, as much a representative of Somerville's old guard as any, retired this year from 30 years in politics. "I was the type of politican able to do many favors for people, but things changed in the last eight or 10 years and you can't do things like you used to," he says. It's hard now to secure summer jobs for young people, he says, hard to arrange public housing for elderly people. "You can't do the bread and butter favors like you used to." In Somerville - a densely populated working-class city known for its 10hills and almost as many political factions - the terms old guard and new guard are common lingo. They refer more to political persuasion than tenure. Old guarders are seen as conservative Democrats, many from the politicalfamilies that have dominated for decades. The new guard is more progressive, reformist, less likely to have relatives in office and friendly with the Dukakis administration. Like most labels, these are not perfect, and in recent years the lines have blurred to some extent. But people here know what old guard and new guard mean. "I like to think of it as the more traditional Somerville politicians versus the progressives," says Alderman Cathleen O'Dea, who says she relates to both sides. "It's certainly become increasingly more difficult for traditional Somerville politicians to get elected." The change began in 1980 when Eugene Brune arrived in the mayor's office after beating incumbent Thomas August. That election showed Somerville politics - never genteel - at their most rambunctious. When the Somerville Journal called for August's defeat, for example, the edition mysteriously disappeared from the newsstands in the early morning hours. But it took a few years for Brune to establish his style of government, and to muster support on the Board of Aldermen. It was not until last year that the city's State House delegation was reconstituted. Rep. Marie E. Howe, a veteran conservative Democrat, remains but McKenna, also a conservative Democrat, retired and state Rep. Vincent J. Piro was defeated in his Senate bid. Their replacements were epitomes of the new political camp, Aldermen Salvatore R. Albano and Joseph Mackey, both of a progressive bent. "It's tough to fight the Vinnie Piros, the Marie Howes and the Larry Brettas (former mayor and political force)," says Albano. "They have the resources and the ability to raise money, but this year was the climax of what we have been working for for many years." Adds Mayor Brune, "I'm going into my fourth term, and there is no opposition from the old guard." The change in climate is expected to make it harder, although not impossible, for Piro to win office again in his city. Talk on the street is that he may run for alderman in Ward 4. But even some of his supporters are doubtful of his election chances. Asked if Piro could win election again in the city, Alderman Michael McKenna replies slowly, "I don't think so." His father, Denis McKenna, responds to the same question with a noncommittal "I don't know." Others say Piro still can pull the votes. S. Lester Ralph - the city's first reform mayor who, unlike Brune, was battling the old guard at every turn in the 1970s - remembers the lessons of the past. Never, he says, underestimate the opposition. "There's no question the old situation could return," he warns. "It's almost like the law of gravity." People of all persuasions seem to agree that the seeds of change began with community organization in the late 1960s, and that the Ralph administration laid much of the groundwork. Ralph endured hostile times. He remembers being spit at by an official from the opposing camp as he walked out of City Hall. He remembers how difficult it was even to get postage stamps from the auditor, another political foe. People who know Somerville best give many reasons for the decline of the old guard. A few ran afoul of the law. Bretta, the former mayor and General Services Administration official, is now serving four years for extortion. Alderman Timothy Creedon, a friend of Piro, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail for conspiring to extort money from a developer. Piro's political career also suffered because of his two trials on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion. Albano used the "corruption factor" to engineer his defeat of Piro in the Senate race. One of Albano's leaflets quoted from FBI tapes of Piro allegedly arranging a payoff, planning to "grease a few guys." Other people associated with Somerville's old guard moved to the suburbs, as the city's population dropped 12.8 percent in the 1970s. Says a former activist who later headed the Metropolitan Area Planning Council: "There's been a fairly substantial population loss in Somerville . . . and a lot of the people who moved out were the old guard." They were people, she said, who had always wanted to trade Somerville's crowded triple-deckers for a suburban lawn and two-car garage. When they had the chance, they left. Many people who have moved into Somerville, on the other hand, have had new expectations of their government. They are often professionals who can afford the $150,000 homes around Davis Square, and they are often more liberal. Demographic surveys show 50 percent have at least a college education, compared to 16 percent citywide. But according to Brune, the newcomers don't have the numbers to be responsible for the ousting from office of the old establishment. James Bretta, a former priest who now runs an elderly services program and who has been active in city affairs for many years, says, "I don't think at this point the yuppie thing is consequential. The backbone of Somerville politics are the people who have been here for a while: the second- and third- generation Irish and Italians." The difference, they maintain, is simply that the Somerville electorate, old and new, now demands more of its officials. Perhaps the most important reason for Brune's success - he's widely considered a popular mayor - is the willingness of once- contentious aldermen to adopt his initiatives. Michael McKenna is one of them. "I have been able to change in the way the city has, although a lot of times in the past I have seen the new guard as a threat," says the alderman. "The population of the city has changed, and a lot of the old-guard politicians didn't grow with the population." And the effect of two federal probes - one in the 1970s and the second under way - has been to expose to residents some undesirable aspects of their elected officials. Those probes, say some, have helped convince voters that a change was needed. The current federal probe continues to cause nervousness in some city circles, especially among a few aldermen who privately fear they might be named in later indictments. The nature of possible indictments is unknown. Concern was lessened, but not erased, by Piro's acquittal. Sources say at least five current or former Somerville city officials may be named. Meanwhile, Brune - with the help of Albano and Mackey - is carrying out the recommendations of a third investigation, one done last year by the state Revenue Department. Auditors found the city's elected assessors had engaged in illegal assessing practices, giving breaks to a few at the expense of many. The issue reflects the city's new order. Three years ago, when Brune asked the Legislature for the power to remove the assessors, the effort was killed in the Senate by McKenna. This year, with Albano in McKenna's old seat, the measure is expected to sail through. The current assessors are expected to be ousted from office by mid-year. "The new guard," says one activist, "is now the establishment." Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) It took a few years for [Eugene Brune] to establish his style of government, and to muster support on the Board of Aldermen. It was not until last year that the city's State House delegation was reconstituted. Rep. Marie E. Howe, a veteran conservative Democrat, remains but McKenna, also a conservative Democrat, retired and state Rep. Vincent J. Piro was defeated in his Senate bid. Their replacements were epitomes of the new political camp, Aldermen Salvatore R. Albano and Joseph Mackey, both of a progressive bent. A few ran afoul of the law. Bretta, the former mayor and General Services Administration official, is now serving four years for extortion. Alderman Timothy Creedon, a friend of Piro, was sentenced to a year and a day in jail for conspiring to extort money from a developer. [Vinnie Piros] political career also suffered because of his two trials on charges of conspiracy and attempted extortion. Albano used the "corruption factor" to engineer his defeat of Piro in the Senate race. One of Albano's leaflets quoted from FBI tapes of Piro allegedly arranging a payoff, planning to "grease a few guys." according to Brune, the newcomers don't have the numbers to be responsible for the ousting from office of the old establishment. James Bretta, a former priest who now runs an elderly services program and who has been active in city affairs for many years, says, "I don't think at this point the yuppie thing is consequential. The backbone of Somerville politics are the people who have been here for a while: the second- and third- generation Irish and Italians."