In Ward 7, The Somerville Journal endorses...

...neither candidate.

Although both candidates have expressed a dedication to Ward 7 neighbors, we do not feel strongly enough to put full support behind either one. Incumbent Bob Trane has an important bond with many of his dedicated constituents, but he seems more skeptical of the mayor’s critics than of the mayor himself. Challenger Katjana Ballantyne wants to give the residents more of a voice and is a big advocate for mixed-use development, but her obliqueness on many of the issues does not give voters, or us, a real sense of how she will represent the ward.

While The Journal is unwilling to put their full support behind either candidate, the highlighted quotes above suggest, to me, which candidate they prefer. As a voter who is largely supportive of the mayor, I am glad to hear that The Journal finds Trane to be supportive of him as well.

Perhaps full support from The Journal would have been forthcoming if Bob Trane had not asked for his money back (from recent campaign finance report):

(That's a joke - I'm not seriously suggesting that The Journal's endorsement could be bought or that the candidate would be interested in buying it.)

It seems that The Journal is as puzzled as I have been at Ballantyne's failure to be forthcoming and clear about her plans. In any endeavor, the burden is on the challenger to show why he is the better choice. As I said back in July, Ballantyne has dealt only in "fluff" (obliqueness):

Speaking of that July post, at the time I received an e-mail taking me to task for suggesting that Ballantyne's new flagpole and her (then) recent expressions of allegiance to the Boston Bruins were simply pandering to popular symbols. For that commenter, I would suggest that you take a few trips down Russell Road to see how frequently the flag is raised these days. I can't recall the last time that I saw that flag proudly waving.

I'll predict that it is up on Tuesday, November 8.