The Somerville Labor Coalition’s Candidate’s Night took place last week. Pictured left to right: Mike McGrath, Ed Halloran, and Thomas Ross. ~Photos by Rob Carter

By Rob Carter

Mayoral candidate Payton Corbett criticized Mayor Curtatone’s history with unions, stealing the show at this year’s Somerville Labor Coalition’s Candidate’s Night, held at the Somerville City Club on June 27.

The tradition of a candidate’s night began in 2013 and gives those running for Somerville public office a chance to answer questions from local labor unions. SCATV’s Joe Lynch moderated the event, asking questions that SLC chairs Tommy Ross and Ed Halloran had gathered before the panel.

Event organizers handed out scorecards to union members in the audience, who could grade candidates’ answers based on the perceived support of union interests.

The SLC invited all candidates in contested races who completed a coalition-provided questionnaire to attend the event. Sixteen candidates accepted the invitation, including seven Aldermen At-Large candidates; candidates from Ward 2, Ward 3 and Ward 4; and two mayoral challengers.

The men running against Mayor Joe Curtatone had the most receptive audience for the night. SLC co-founded Thomas Ross used his opening statements to blame Curtatone, who was not at the event, for the length of time it took to get many city employees a union-negotiated contract.

Critiques of Curtatone continued during ward aldermen discussions. Even the questions had an anti-Curtatone spin, such as Lynch’s question about whether candidates would oppose the mayor’s “frivolous lawsuits against unions.”

When it was Corbett’s turn at the podium, he wasted no time laying into the mayor. The candidate used his introduction to point out Curtatone’s absence before questioning whether Curtatone truly holds progressive values.

Most candidates for office this year attended the Somerville Labor Coalition event.

“Is union busting a progressive value?” Corbett asked the crowd, who shouted back, “No.”

“Is privatization a progressive value?” Corbett asked. “We can fly every flag and hang every banner, but it doesn’t mean a damn if people can’t afford to live here.”

Corbett stayed on the attack as he answered Lynch’s questions, saying he felt the mayor was not supportive of unions during the construction of Assembly Row or, ironically, Union Square.

He and fellow challenger Kenneth Vanburskirk both endorsed adding an evergreen clause to union contracts, which would allow workers to continue to operate under an expired contract until a new contract was negotiated.

“I don’t know how anyone with a ‘D’ next to their name could ever oppose an evergreen clause,” Corbett said, implying that it was a key Democratic value the current mayor did not share.

Vanburskirk got mild support from the crowd, but lost them occasionally when he admitted he lacked a firm grasp on policy.

“I don’t know how to do that,” Vanburskirk said at one point, after agreeing that some executive power should be transferred to the Board of Aldermen. “I haven’t been focusing on policy, I’ve been focusing on elections.”

After the event, Halloran and Ross mentioned Corbett as the standout performance of the night.

Halloran said he was “very surprised by the mayoral race,” calling Corbett a “superb speaker who just came out of nowhere.”

Ross compared Corbett to a young Marty Walsh, but joked he was a more eloquent speaker, since he doesn’t share the Boston mayor’s thick accent.

The alderman debates, which book-ended the mayoral challengers’, showed little distinction between the candidates when it came to labor policy.

Candidates only substantially disagreed twice throughout the evening.

The first was between Jessie Clingan and Omar Boukili, who are running for the Ward 4 seat currently controlled by Tony Lafuente.

When asked if they supported the civil service test as a way to vet municipal employees, Boukili indicated it was an unfair hurdle for which many people did not have time to study properly.

Clingan, on the other hand, said it was needed to keep the process fair to all applicants, adding, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The second disagreement came near the end of the Alderman At-Large debate, when candidates were asked if they would want to change the “strong mayor” system of government in Somerville to give more power to the Board of Aldermen.

Four of the candidates, Dennis Sullivan, Jack Connolly, Kevin Tarpley and Stephanie Hirsh, said they felt no need to change the current system, although Tarpley added he would impose term limits on the Board and the mayor.

Meanwhile, Will Mbah, a fifth candidate, said he was definitely against the current system, believing it gave the mayor too much power. Incumbents Bill White and Mary Jo Rossetti both said they were open to change but would want to hear whether the community supported the decision before pushing for a change to the city charter.

Organizers said endorsements would be announced in the next couple of weeks, after votes from each of the subgroups could be tabulated. Four of the six unions that make up the Somerville Labor Coalition must vote to endorse a candidate in order for the umbrella organization to issue an endorsement.