December 21, 2003
Outspoken Alderman-at-large Denise Provost is poised to be the next president of the Board of Aldermen.
The board's move to select Provost, made in a nonbinding vote Dec. 11, promises further political changes for the city, already rocked by the surprise defeat of two-term Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay.
The mayor leaves office on Jan. 5, when Alderman Joseph A. Curtatone will be inaugurated.
The board must reaffirm its decision in January, when Provost would begin her tenure.
In an interview, Provost said she had not formulated an agenda. She is now focused, she said, on delaying passage of a 30-page zoning plan for Assembly Square. We are being asked to act in great haste," she said.
Provost was elected to the board in 1999. As its president, she will preside over meetings and serve as a voting member of the city's School Committee. Sean Fitzgerald, a former aide to Kelly Gay, said the board's agenda is guided by the mayor. But Provost, he said, will probably use her position to advocate liberal causes.
"I think that Denise will absolutely use the bully pulpit," he said. "I'm sure she'll be the leader of the opposition."
Voting unanimously, the board also chose Alderman-at-Large Bruce M. Desmond as its vice president. The two will lead a reconfigured 11-member board, with two new members, School Committee Chairman Dennis M. Sullivan and a former alderman, Walter Pero.
Benjamin Gedan can be reached at gedan@globe.com
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