by Neil W. McCabe

The incumbent Ward 6 alderman, who is serving in his
11^th  two-year term, told The Somerville News
he is ready for the challenge from Rebekah Gewirtz, who announced her candidacy
today.

 “I’ll concede two points right off. She’s better looking
than I am and she is younger,” said John M. “Jack” Connolly, who owns  Davis  Square’s Wedgewood-Crane & Connolly Insurance
Agency. “I will just run on my record as I have in the past.”

He said he was surprised Gewirtz announced her campaign in
February, nearly nine months before the election, but he is ready.

 Connolly chairs the board of aldermen’s licensing and
permits sub-committee, and has served as the board’s president and
vice-president for two terms each.

 In 11 elections, Connolly said he has had six or seven
challengers. “Charlie Chisholm ran against me three times in a row, and those
were tough races. He was very tenacious.”

 The Ward 6 alderman said he is not a progressive in same way
as Gewirtz. “I am a Democrat and I have made a lot of progress as a Democrat.”

 “Look at the progress we have made in Davis Square," he said. 

 More recent example of his leadership is the new residential
development at the former garage at

100 Willow Ave., Connolly said.

 It took 16 months to get the 10-unit project approved, which
many people doubted would ever get approved, he said. “We replaced a
100-year-old pollution trap.”

 When the construction is completed, neighborhood property values
will go up, and instead the auto density will be reduced when instead of 100
cars a day there are roughly 10 cars for the 19 covered parking spaces that are
part of the plan, he said.

 Connolly said the most he has spent on a campaign is roughly
$5,000.

 The local people expect to see a candidate around and get
some mailed pieces, he said. “In the course of the summer, you can cover the area
two or three times.”

“I’ve helped a lot of people, whether it’s getting the
street paved or getting a traffic signal fixed. I expect people will step up
and help me out,” he said.