"The Menino Legacy: Down To The Wire" with Grogan, DiCara, Vennochi, Marsh and Nucci.

BOSTON - Sept. 3, 2013 - PRLog -- Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University presents The Menino Legacy: Down To The Wire with Lawrence S. DiCara, Joan Vennochi, Mary Anne Marsh and John Nucci; discussion moderated by Paul Grogan and introductions by James McCarthy. Thursday, September 26, 6:30-8:00 pm. Admission is free and open to all. C. Walsh Theatre at Suffolk University, 55 Temple St., Boston, MA 02114. Wheelchair accessible and conveniently located near the Park St. MBTA Station. For more information, contact Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University: 617-557-2007, www.fordhallforum.org.

Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University kicks off its 2013 Fall series of lectures with undoubtedly the key local political discussion of the season. Boston's mayoral primary will have just ended two days before, giving the public barely over a month to determine which of the two finalists can best assume the seat proudly held for five terms by Mayor Thomas Menino, the City of Boston's longest running mayor.

When Menino announced last March that he would not seek reelection, his decision opened the floodgates to create a lengthy roster of mayoral candidates -- at one point 24 total -- and set the stage for a tumultuous and confusing campaign season. Now down to the wire after the primaries, the final election shall prove to be a pivotal one for the city. The outcome will not only determine how Boston best proceeds in serving its citizens. The results of this race will also set the tone for all those in the Commonwealth and beyond who frequent Boston as their place of work and play.

Paul Grogan, president and CEO of the Boston Foundation, moderatesFord Hall Forum's The Menino Legacy: Down To The Wire which includes the following participants: Lawrence S. DiCara, partner at Nixon Peabody, former Boston City Council president and mayoral candidate; Joan Vennochi, associate editor and op-ed columnist for The Boston Globe; Mary Anne Marsh, Democratic strategist and commentator; and John Nucci,Suffolk University's Vice President for Government and Community Affairs, former Boston City Council member and mayoral candidate. All these panelists have distinguished themselves as civic opinion-shapers. Suffolk University's James McCarthy will be on hand to introduce the evening's proceedings.

Further background information on the participants:

Paul Grogan is President and CEO of The Boston Foundation. He served as Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs at Harvard University, and was President and CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). Grogan holds a master’s degree in administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was awarded a Bicentennial Medal from Williams College for his leadership in inner-city revitalization efforts. Grogan is a founder and director of The Community Development Trust, a director of New Profit Inc., and a trustee of Brandeis University. He previously served on the Boards of Williams College, FSG Social Impact Advisors, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Lawrence S. DiCara is a partner at Nixon Peabody where he practices real estate and administrative law. He has taught at Harvard, Boston University, and the UMass. DiCara is a former member and president of the Boston City Council and has served as a member of the Democratic State Committee for over 40 years. He is also former president of the Boston Latin School Association, the Greater Boston Council, Boy Scouts of America, and the Boston Theatre District Association. In recent years, he has received the Father of the Year Award from the American Diabetes Association and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts Boys/Girls State Foundation.

Joan Vennochi is an op-ed columnist for The Boston Globe. She writes regularly about national and local politics and covers issues relating to business, law, and culture. Before joining the op-ed page, she wrote a column on the Globe's business page. Vennochi was City Hall bureau chief, State House bureau chief, and covered national politics. She began her career at the Globe as a researcher on the Spotlight Team, the newspaper's investigative unit; later, she shared in a Pulitzer Prize awarded to the team for local investigative reporting. Vennochi received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University and her J.D. from Suffolk Law School.

Mary Anne Marsh is a principal at Dewey Square Group and has more than 20 years of experience in public policy, communications, and electoral politics. Her experience includes providing strategic counsel to many national grassroots organizations for dozens of public policy campaigns and media relations to Fortune 500 companies. Marsh has also worked with numerous political clients such as John Kerry, Edward M. Kennedy, and Shannon O’Brien. She directed Victory ’92 for the Massachusetts Democratic Party and is a Democratic political analyst on FOX News. Her commentary and analysis can be heard on a variety of national and local media.

John Nucci is the Vice President of Government Relations and Community Affairs at Suffolk University and has been a prominent elected official in Boston for over 20 years. Nucci served for six years on the Boston School Committee, including four years as president, and was an at-large member of the Boston City Council for four years. He has been the elected Clerk of the Suffolk County Criminal Superior Court for the past 11 years. In addition to his elected positions, Nucci served for more than 20 years at Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) in Boston. He teaches in the graduate-level public administration program at Suffolk, is a graduate of Boston College and Suffolk University, and is a lifelong resident of East Boston.

James McCarthy is the ninth president of Suffolk University, beginning his tenure at the University in February 2012. He is committed to building a cohesive campus community, enhancing experiential learning, implementing new models of education, and using technology to complement the traditional Suffolk education. Before joining Suffolk University, President McCarthy served for five years as provost and senior vice president at Baruch College of the City University of New York. He was most recently the dean of the School of Health and Human Services at the University of New Hampshire. McCarthy has engaged in sociological research through Princeton University, the International Statistical Institute London, and Trinity College Dublin, and in a multitude of countries. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University, an M.A. for Indiana University, and an A.B. from the College of the Holy Cross.

For more information on Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, visit www.fordhallforum.org.