The State House News Service reports that 2005 marked the first year in the last two decades that no newborns were abandoned in Massachusetts. Officials credit the state's Baby Safe Haven law with bringing about this change. Councillor Tobin was the leader in getting Boston to pass a Safe Haven law that became a model for the statewide legislation passed shortly thereafter.

Last year, one baby was surrendered under the law's guidelines. In March, the baby was turned in to a Merrimack Valley area hospital, said Department of Social Services spokeswoman Denise Monteiro.

The child's adoption will be finalized "pretty soon," Monteiro said. Details of the adoption and the child's surrender are kept confidential to ensure parents remain anonymous, she said.

Another incident last year involved a woman who surrendered her three-month-old baby at a police station. Although that case was not covered under the safe haven law because the baby was too old, Monteiro said the department was working with the mother to ensure the child is placed in a safe home.

"If you can't take care of your baby, we'd prefer that it be surrendered than it be left out in the cold," she said.

Under the law, the Department of Social Services is immediately granted custody of the infant and is responsible for placing the baby in a foster home.

Michael Morrissey, a leading advocate of the law and a member of the board of directors for the National Safe Haven Alliance, said this is a case where no news is good news. "Suddenly a police station became a non-threatening environment, which had never happened before," he said.

Jack Collins, general counsel for the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, agreed. "I've heard nothing," said Collins, who also served on the state's advisory committee for the law's implementation. "And if there were horror stories I certainly would have heard them."

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The West Roxbury Transcript asked Councillor Tobin about his plans for 2006 in this week's edition:

District 6 City Councilor John M. Tobin Jr. said he will continue to press for education reform in the city.

"I’m going to continue to push for neighborhood schools," he said. "There has to be a real broad conversation in the city about the middle class. It all goes back to the public schools. I’m going to continue to be an advocate for neighborhood children.

Tobin said he will also bring up other important issues with children, such as dental care and mental illness.

"It’s not treated as a luxury, but a necessity," he said. "We have some great dental programs ... dental care is so expensive."

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EWeek.com recently interviewed Councillor Tobin about his initiative to bring free Wi-Fi technology to the City of Boston. Last May, Councillor Tobin hosted a wireless summit at the Museum of Science. Since then, the city has already brought Wi-Fi access to the Roslindale Main Streets district and is in the process of doing so in West Roxbury, Hyde Park, and at the Washington Gateway.

What public policy goals are served by the Boston Main Streets Wi-Fi project?

It should always be our mission to make the next generation better. Boston has a lot going for it because we've been able to stay ahead of the curve and evolve.

The Internet is the communications device of our generation, and if you don't have access to it, you're left behind—socially, economically, academically. We have to give all people an opportunity to get online.

Do you see it as the proper role of government to be involved in providing communications services?

I'm not looking for the city of Boston to become a utility. We have enough trouble keeping the streets lighted and keeping the streets paved. However, I do think we have a responsibility to be a convener [in making Internet access available], and I think we've accomplished that.

How have you managed to avoid the heated controversies surrounding municipal Wi-Fi projects in other cities?

Sometimes it pays not to be first. We monitored closely what Philadelphia was doing. We saw that situation, and we said that we're here to make friends and not enemies. We invited Comcast [Corp.] and Verizon to the table at the first summit. They declined to participate, but they were in the audience. I wanted to bring them to the table so they'd know there's no hidden agenda here.

What is the next step for Boston in terms of deploying Wi-Fi?

I think the next step is to do an analysis on these four projects before they bring it out to the next four or five neighborhoods. I think they are wise to start out small, rather than just going out and trying to light up the whole city at once.

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Councillor Tobin was recently featured in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report looking back at the year 2005 as the year of digital citizens using vlogs and other personal technology to communicate and transcribe the news.

US video blogger, or vlogger, Steve Garfield is already showing how politicians themselves can harness these tools to engage with voters.

He "produces" his local Boston city councillor, John Tobin's, video blog, or vlog.

Regularly, Councillor Tobin reports and shows his voters the positive and negative about their community. He shows them the new mural or neighbourhood graffiti problems. He returns to areas for updates where action has been taken to make something better.

Councillor Tobin is convinced that by the 2008 presidential elections, most politicians in the US will vlog or die in the public eye.   more »