>>Roslindale Neighbors Special Section<< Community Involvement Still Ahead for Councilor Mccarthy

By Lauren Bennett

After six years as the District 5 City Councilor, Tim McCarthy has announced that he will not seek re-election this fall. As he looks back on his three terms, the councilor, who represents Hyde Park and Roslindale, told the Gazette that there are several accomplishments that he is particularly proud of. Basic city services are something that McCarthy said has always been at the forefront of his work. He said that he has really sunk his teeth into transportation, public works, and parks. “What you see outside your front door is important to us,” he said.

McCarthy said that he sat down with Mayor Walsh before being sworn in and told him that his main pushes were capital investments, as he felt that Southwest Boston had lacked capital investments in the last 20 years. “If you look around now, we’ve completely restored many of the parks in D5,” McCarthy said. He said there has also been a lot of road work done, and that his “greatest joy” has been looking across the street and seeing kids playing on brand new playgrounds.

Despite the rewarding satisfaction of serving the city for a number of years, McCarthy started thinking last September about what he might want to do next. With one of his sons choosing to go to the army, the other enrolled in Stonehill College, and his wife accepting a new job that requires her to work from home four days a week, McCarthy said he thought might want to make a change too.

“Everybody in the family made changes,” he said. Right now, he goes from City Hall to community meetings Monday through Thursday, and with his wife home more now, he said it’s time to spend some more time with her. He said his choice not to run again was solidified when his sons were home for Christmas in December—it was “not a tough decision,” he said.

McCarthy is finishing out his term—which ends next January-=-so while he is in the process of looking for a new job, he said he’s “in no rush.” He said he would like his next job to be in the realm of what he knows best: operations, public works, or parks,

“I feel really happy,” he said. “I’m honored to have that D5 seat and I’m looking forward to bigger and better things.” He has some words of advice for the current candidates: “you have to want it,” he said. He said that he personally looks for a candidate “who’s been here, who’s doing the work, [and is who is an] integral part of the community already. That’s where you’ll find someone who’s going to be your candidate.”

And his message to his constituents? “Thank you for all of your support,” he said. He said he appreciates all of the kind comments and messages he’s received from people since his announcement in January. “I’ll still be busy, but just not in this capacity,” he said.

In the future, he’s hoping to get more involved in the Hyde Park community with things like the theater and Pop Warner. “I’m not dying,” he joked. “ I’ll still be very involved.”

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