In Campaign Debut, Tito Jackson Depicts Two Bostons

BOSTON, MA — In a fiery introduction to the 2017 campaign season, City Councilor Tito Jackson stood in front of Roxbury's Haley House and described his vision for Boston — "a city for all, not just a city for some."

Drawing inspiration from Malcolm X, the Holy Bible, John F. Kennedy, Tip O'Neill, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, Jackson described a city starkly divided between rich and poor, and a mayoral administration he believes has lost focus on those who most need the city's attention.

Working class people, he said, "are barely holding on," are being "pushed out of the city." Families who have grown up in Boston, raised children, brought property here are struggling, he said. "They have invested in this city, and now it is abandoning them." Success seems to be "judged by the number of skyscrapers," rather than by economic mobility.

He touched on the city's challenges, listing Boston Public Schools funding, income inequality, racial disparities, violent crime, homelessness and housing affordability among key issues.

"With all this that is occurring in Boston, there's another Boston that is being focused on," he said.

Jackson skirted around overtly criticizing Mayor Marty Walsh, but in as many words cast the incumbent mayor as someone who has not taken action, and whose focus on development and business interests, including GE's, undermines pressing constituent issues in Boston's less affluent neighborhoods.

His entry to the race puts Walsh on the defensive. Jackson made clear Thursday he will force the popular mayor to account for positions and decisions during his first term, staking out a foothold to the left of the predominately liberal city's Democratic leader on numerous issues.

Walsh has said he will run for a second term in 2017, but has not formally declared his candidacy. His first chance at an in-depth, public rebuttal will likely manifest in the form of his fourth State of the City address next week.

When asked about taking on Walsh, his longtime friend, Jackson demurred, telling reporters this race was "not about an individual, it's about our city." And yet.

"We've lost our way," he said. "We're not focusing on the right things, and we're not focused on thea right people. ... I believe that we have been distracted. I believe that we have been pulled away from what we should be focusing on. We don't need IndyCar and we don't need the Olympics to declare ourselves a world-class city."

Jackson, 41, currently represents Roxbury and parts of the South End, Dorchester and Fenway. The Democrat was first elected to the city council in 2011. He has been dancing around the edges of the race for some time, and first made clear Wednesday night he planned to plunge into the campaign.

Image via Tito Jackson Twitter