But as a report by the Globe’s Niki Griswold detailed this week, a recent community meeting at Roxbury Community College was heavy on criticism of Wu on a range of issues confronting Black Boston — some current, some grievances years old.
Former state senator Dianne Wilkerson headlined the event last month billed as a challenge to hold Black elected officials “accountable” for failing to aggressively advocate for the community’s concerns. City Council members who support Wu were put on notice that they should expect contested elections, or worse, if they continue to support Wu’s agenda.
The list of complaints included longstanding criticism of the renovation of White Stadium, as well as more recent concerns like the proposed center bus lane on Blue Hill Avenue.
But high on the list was Wu’s supposed sabotage of Brian Worrell’s bid to become president of the City Council. Worrell would have been the council’s fourth black president. But the council’s progressive wing — Wu’s usual allies, including several former aides — lined up behind Councilor Gabriel Coletta Zapata and didn’t back Worrell, even after Coletta Zapata’s bid fell apart the day before the election.
The machinations behind council president elections are mostly inside baseball, and the last election was no exception. Still, the bitterness behind Worrell’s defeat has shown staying power.
But more interesting complaints are the ones playing in the background. That Wu isn’t receptive enough to community input. That her inner circle doesn’t include enough Black voices. And that Wu isn’t the mayor some in Black Boston wanted in the first place.
In an interview, Wu said she believes some of the criticism comes with leading a city confronting major issues.
“We’re in a complicated moment with big challenges, and we’re in a smart, engaged city where all the easy solutions have already been implemented,” she said.
“So the problems that are left have bigger and harder issues to sort through, and it’s up to us to have those hard conversations and choose the places where we are going to decide to press forward together, even if it means doing something differently.”
Certainly, some of the criticism is deserved. Wu and her team botched the decision to change direction of the development of Parcel 3 in Roxbury, abandoning a longstanding community-backed plan in favor of designating that land for a new Madison Park High School. Building a new Madison Park is a great idea that will have a huge community benefit, but surely there was a better, more inclusive, way to navigate the neighborhood politics of the decision.
It played into the perception that many of Wu’s decisions are imposed, rather than reached through consensus.
White Stadium is also viewed by Wu’s critics as a community project the community never asked for, driven by a professional women’s soccer team — though Wu insists the driving force was the desire to create a first-class athletic facility for Boston Public Schools students (when they can use it).
Does the neighborhood really oppose it? Wu carried every precinct that borders Franklin Park, mostly by wide margins. If this project is so unpopular, why didn’t it have any traction as a campaign issue?
For some people, the biggest issue with Wu is one they are reluctant to air publicly: that they believe Boston’s first elected mayor of color should have been Black. Her supposed lack of responsiveness is especially galling, critics whisper, because there should be more solidarity.
I would argue Wu should be measured by what she does, especially as her second term unfolds. If her administration can deliver on its promises to spur development in Roxbury, improve the schools, and continue to drive down crime, that will be a great record on the issues that matter in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan.
And in that sense, it’s good to know that Wu’s critics have no plans to stop pushing her. Landslide victories have been known to breed complacency. That’s something Black Boston rightly has no time for.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at adrian.walker@globe.com. Follow him @Adrian_Walker.
