Interview with Michael Capuano, IOC’s Senior Urban Leadership Fellow

By Doruntina Zeneli

A twenty year member of Congress and former Mayor of Somerville, Representative Michael Capuano has begun his post as a senior urban leadership fellow at the Initiative on Cities. In this interview, he shares how his previous experiences are transferable to his current role at the IOC, the impact he plans to have on the MetroBridge program, and other involvements. 

Where did your passion and commitment for advancing the needs and interests of urban areas first arise?

MC: I grew up in an area that was very urban and it was overlooked by most because it was a small city. I understood early on that we were on our own and no one was going to come in from the outside on a white horse and save us. As a result of this, it is all about having those who live in urban areas stand up for themselves and take care of themselves and not wait for someone else to help.

You wrote one of the first sanctuary cities ordinances in the country while serving on the Somerville Board, what was the motivation behind this?

My grandparents are immigrants and Somerville is a city of immigrants and still is. I see immigrants get blamed for all kinds of things. People say immigrants have taken jobs away, which is nonsense. When it came to police work, it was really about allowing the police to focus on the things that impacted immigrants. Why do we have police officers in places like Somerville? The answer is to protect my mother from the bad things of life. In Somerville, if you arrested everybody that did not have a green card, the jails would be full in about 15 minutes. I am not for open borders and this is the mistake people think when they hear about sanctuary cities. However, this is the wrong priorities for local police who are there to stop crime, make sure the traffic flows and kids are protected. The passage of the ordinance really helped with crime and the police were in favor. We want to be able to cooperate with the police and know we are not the enemy. It took time for people to realize when we passed the ordinance, that we meant it and it worked. Crime rates stayed the same, but we found a lot more crime than we realized was there because it had gone unreported.

As a graduate of Dartmouth and Boston College, what made you want to be involved with  BU?

I actually took classes here after law school and I have known about BU all my life. I have watched it grow from a good local school to a good international school.

What motivated you to be a senior urban fellow with the Initiative on Cities? What will your role entail as a member of the IOC?

President Bob Brown was a main motivator. In terms of my role, that is a good question, I am not sure yet. I always thought about teaching. I have been a guest lecturer across the district for a long time. I have always enjoyed it and thought maybe I had something to offer that would balance out the academic aspects of education. When it comes to politics, academics has a real serious limitation. In reality, politics is not the same as the education of it. I was always interested in teaching and so when I was out of office, I thought it maybe something I want to pursue. 

How has your previous experience as mayor and a member of Congress transferable to your current involvement at the IOC?

The whole idea is to provide a sense of reality to the academics. Everybody has a opinion about how the world should be. I get bored by people who have all the answers because the answers are easy. The tough thing is to find people with comparable answers on any given issue, to work together and come up with a consensus and actually get it done, so I hope to bring this to the IOC.

A part of your work includes your involvement with the MetroBridge program, which includes linking the needs to cities with undergraduate courses at BU. What do you hope to accomplish with this program?

I did not know about the MetroBridge program until I came to BU. I have talked to Emily Robbins and other members of the IOC and I really like the concept. When I was mayor, there was nothing like this that existed. For me, I liked the concept of the city coming up with the issue as opposed to the school. The idea of having a certain time frame to get something done, that is real life. Real life is not about studying an issue putting it on the shelf and if I do not finish it by Tuesday, it is no big deal. MetroBridge has the real possibility of giving young people an opportunity to see that the problems they are talking about are real. These issues probably have solutions, but the solutions have to be realistic and capable of being implemented.

Based on your previous experience as a former mayor, what insights or influence do you hope to contribute to Menino Survey of Mayors?

I have not dived into the Menino Survey of Mayors yet, but the first thing I asked “What mayors did you ask?” I understand there is a confidentiality issue, but you need to find a way that shows that 70 percent of mayors agree that clean water is most important. I need to be able to go to members of Congress and say “in your state, 10 mayors participated in our survey or 3 of your mayors said this.” I want something to come out of it more than just a study.

Overall, what are you seeking to accomplish while working with the program?  

I want to get one, two, ten or a thousand young people to understand that this stuff matters in real life and it is not just something you read about. There is going to be a mayor, congressman, governor, president, and state representative that are going to make decisions that will impact your life. For me, if I can have this much impact and help bridge the divide between the academic and the real, that is the goal.

This interview has been edited and condensed.