Boston Globe: Sam Yoon Running For Mayor?

December 24, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

Signs point to mayoral run by Yoon, wife pens ambitious fund-raising appeal
By John C. Drake, Globe Staff  |  December 24, 2008

Two-term City Councilor Sam Yoon is increasingly sending signals that he intends to run for mayor.

In an end-of-year fund-raising appeal sent to relatives and friends, the at-large councilor’s wife, Christina, wrote that she has been inspired by her husband to help him raise the cash needed to “move up in Boston’s political world.”

“Certainly a commitment to seek higher office would require great sacrifice by our family (and especially me!), however because I feel strongly enough about what is at stake for our children’s future and that Sam may be uniquely qualified to lead our city forward, I felt it necessary to reach out to you at this time,” she wrote in the missive, which appears on a personal fund-raising page she set up on her husband’s political website.

No one, including four-term in cumbent Thomas M. Menino, has officially announced his or her intentions. But Yoon, Menino, and Councilor at Large Michael F. Flaherty have been raising money at a furious pace and staking out positions on politically potent issues.

As of mid-December, Menino had more than $1.37 million in the bank, campaign finance records show. Flaherty, who has been on the City Council since 2000, had about $542,000. Yoon, who jetted to the West Coast in September for a series of fund-raising events with Asian-American leaders and has brought in thousands of dollars from out of state, still trailed significantly, with just under $63,300 in the bank.

The fund-raising appeal, in which his wife set a personal goal of raising $10,000 by the end of the year, is an indication Yoon realizes he needs to make a decent showing in the first campaign finance reports of 2009 if he is to appear competitive against Menino and Flaherty, political observers said. All candidates make end-of-year fund-raising pushes because campaign finance laws allow contributors to give up to $500 a year to any one candidate. The municipal election is in November 2009.

“I think somebody’s who’s serious about the job has to raise between half a million and $1 million to get going,” said Paul J. Scapicchio, a former city councilor.

Yoon said yesterday that he has not launched a campaign for mayor, despite his wife’s optimistic fund-raising appeal.

“I haven’t made a decision, but the fact is it’s still something I’m considering,” Yoon said in a phone interview. “Raising money in this town, when a 16-year incumbent has fund-raising abilities that nobody else has, it is a challenge. So, I’m looking for every available way to raise the resources to see what’s possible next year.”

By yesterday, Christina Yoon’s fund-raising page showed she had raised $2,530 from 22 people.

Lawrence S. DiCara, a former city councilor and longtime political observer, said local political insiders increasingly believe Yoon will run, but said his financial picture must improve considerably by the start of the year for him to appear to be a viable challenger to Menino.

“Yoon has to have a six-figure number, or else he shouldn’t be playing the game, if he wants to play that game,” DiCara said.

While appealing far and wide for campaign cash, Yoon has been increasingly dinging the Menino administration and his fellow councilors over government and openness issues.

While not directly criticizing his council ally, Chuck Turner, who is facing federal charges of accepting a bribe from a Roxbury businessman, Yoon has seized on concerns about corruption in City Hall to call for more transparency. Earlier this month, the City Council approved a Yoon-sponsored proposal to include members’ names, meeting schedules, agendas, and minutes for all boards and commissions on the city’s website.

Flaherty also has been staking claim to transparency issues, focusing particular attention on the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Yesterday, Flaherty fired off a letter to the agency’s executive director seeking a list of all properties owned by the BRA and the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation, along with rental and lease agreements.

But despite the talk and the fact that the election is less than a year away, Boston residents still do not know who their choices for mayor will be. In contrast, a growing field of candidates for the four at-large seats on the City Council have been campaigning publicly for weeks.

“It’s interesting that nobody has committed to the task yet,” Scapicchio said. “I find the silence deafening.”

But political observers say there is a simple reason. With his approval ratings exceeding 70 percent, Menino would be unbeatable, the conventional wisdom remains.

Former city councilor Felix D. Arroyo, who’s son Felix G. Arroyo is running for City Council next year, said Yoon has a future in politics, but he doubts his chances - or anyone else’s - against Menino.

“Anybody running against the mayor on this occasion may have other things in mind than winning the race,” Arroyo said.

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com

Posted in WORD ON THE STREET | Print | 1 Comment »