Boston voters will select a new mayor in less than a week, and there won't be a standard two-month transition period. Whoever replaces Acting Mayor Kim Janey will be sworn in just two weeks after the historic election.
Michelle Wu or Annissa Essaibi George will have only 14 days to put together her team, connect with key department heads and get briefed on any crises de jour. So, NBC10 Boston asked them, what will you do on your first day in office, if elected?
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"We are going to start with an extension of the public health emergency as it relates to Mass. and Cass," Essaibi George said. " will appoint on day one an individual who will be my direct report."
Tackling the Mass. and Cass housing and addiction crisis is a concern both candidates mentioned first.
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"One of my first hires will be a Mass. and Cass cabinet level chief reporting directly to me so we have a point of accountability and coordination," Wu similarly shared.
Secondly, Wu wants to prioritize COVID recovery, its effect on the schools and expected new funding from the federal government.
"The decisions have to be made, not as Band-Aids on situations but to really get at root causes and build out the systemic change that we need to seem," Wu said.
Final Days Before Boston Election
For her part, Essaibi George jumped to a community-based search for the next police commissioner.
"And I will begin on day one implementing the task force recommendations around police reform," she said, noting "we need greater transparency, accountability and diversity."
Essaibi George also mentioned the nomination process for the multiple openings on the Boston School Committee.
"We’ve got a lot of work to catch up on," she said.
When asked why her priorities might be better or different than what Wu would put in place, Essaibi George replied, "Well, I’d say my opponent is prepared to start some conversations on day one. I’m prepared to do the work."
Wu pushed back on that assertion.
"We have put forward very detailed action plans from a year plus earlier when we launched this campaign," she retorted.
The new mayor of Boston will be sworn in on Nov. 16.
