Mayor Michelle Wu: Grace Under Pressure

The job of mayor of a large American city never has been easy, but these days the challenges facing our public officials who lead our major metropolitan areas are greater than ever.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a confluence of difficult circumstances, ranging from an epidemic of drug overdose deaths, a housing shortage that is exacerbating homelessness, exponentially-increasing firearm murder rates, school closures, public transportation issues, and unprecedented small business failures.

In addition, the political rancor that exists at the national level has spilled over to the local level in an unprecedented manner. The axiom that all politics is local, as the great Tip O’Neill famously said, no longer is true — the political demagoguery that has poisoned our politics in Washington now has spread to every corner of the country.

Michelle Wu, the new mayor of Boston, is now at the center of a firestorm regarding her order to require Boston’s city employees to  get a COVID-19 vaccine. According to the Boston Globe, there is  a small minority of those who oppose her order who are protesting loudly outside her house, disturbing her neighborhood, and some who are hurling racially-charged comments and threats toward Mayor Wu and her family.

So we wish to take this opportunity to express our support for the mayor and for her order requiring vaccinations for city employees. Unfortunately, she is taking on the burden of dealing with the small but vocal mob alone — and we are grateful that she is showing the courage to do what is right for the city and its residents.