Q&A: District 7 City Council Candidate Sheneal Parker

Of the four candidates running for District 7 City Council this fall, Boston Public School teacher Sheneal Parker is the newest face. Parker has nine years of experience in education and boasts two Master's degrees from Suffolk University and a B.S. in criminal justice from Northeastern University.

As a teenager, Parker helped raise her five sisters while her mother battled breast cancer. Later in life, she lost her son's father to violence. She credits her experiences with motivating her work as a community leader - prior to her employment with BPS, Parker was a community organizer for Mattapan Community Development Corporation.

Patch asked Parker to answer some key questions leading up to next week's Preliminary Election. Her answers are below.

What are the biggest issues facing the South End right now?

1. Two homicides in the past week along Tremont Street remind all of us that youth violence is a continuing threat to young people and communities in much of Boston. The South End is not immune. In particular, the ongoing conflict between a small number of youth at the Villa Victoria and Mission housing developments must be addressed - the cycle of retaliation must be "interrupted" and put to rest.

2. City services - the most visible of these is trash pickup. I am continually amazed at how the brick sidewalks and fine architecture of the South End is marred at least once a week by the allowed practice of leaving trash in bags at curbside. While I am open to the reasons why Boston DPW and some residents may have opposed it in the past, it seems a no-brainer to me to require trash to be placed into barrels, as well as the full implementation of the city's "single-stream" recycling carts in the South End.

3. Parking is always an ongoing issue in any high-density community like the South End. Columbus Avenue between Dartmouth & Mass. Ave. was converted a number of months ago from mostly unrestricted parking to resident parking. This certainly stopped the practice of commuters to Back Bay and downtown jobs of grabbing most of the spaces by 9 a.m. However, some residents have expressed concern with how quickly the change was implemented and felt - rightly or wrongly - the public input was lacking.

Further, while appreciating that parking for their own vehicles is now easier in terms of supply, some residents state it is now significantly more difficult for family, friends, home health aides and others to visit their homes.

How would you address these issues if elected to the Council?

I would advocate to ensure the South End has appropriate levels of highly-qualified youth violence experts - from detectives to youth workers to community folks. I would use the "bully pulpit" of my office to prod the city's street workers and Boston Foundation's "Street Safe" workers [to] work together more effectively. I would use my office to provide safe, neutral environments to conduct truce meetings between...other peace-making activities.

I will work with Boston DPW, BTD, residents and community activists on the trash and parking issues. Barring any bona-fide reasons not to implement trash cans & recycling carts, I will push for their quick implementation.

I will facilitate a follow-up review of major parking changes like the Columbus Avenue resident restrictions, to see what's worked and what hasn't. This review doesn't necessarily have to be a hearing in Council chambers - this could be a community meeting.

What unique skills would you bring to the position?

I am a working parent [with a] 15 year-old son. Two of the other candidates have never been parents and one has not raised children for several decades. There is nothing wrong with being childless et al, but I know intimately the hopes and fears of other parents as we work to provide our kids with a good place to live; an excellent education; and grow them to be successful adults who make a positive mark on society.

My mother died of breast cancer when I was a teenager. My son's father was murdered when he was two. I was a victim of domestic violence at one point. These experiences give me an understanding of violence and women's health issues that goes deeper than "policy" and statistics.

I am very hard-working and have never let these experiences hold me back nor prevent me from working for my community. I have two Master's degrees (Public Policy and Criminal Justice); I've taught for 10 years in the Boston Public Schools; run my own business and [have] always been involved in the community.

I have more hands-on affordable housing and limited equity housing cooperative experience than probably any candidate running in Boston this year, not just District 7. I was president of the board at Fenway Community Development Corporation and sit on its board; I live in a small co-op in the Fenway and sit on its board as well.

The Preliminary Municipal Election will be held on September 27. The Municipal Election will be held November 8. For more information, visit the city's Election Department website.