Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — North End restauranteur Jorge Mendoza-Iturralde said that he plans to run for mayor in the next race in 2025.
He is the chef and owner of Vinoteca di Monica, which opened in 1995.
Mendoza-Iturralde has publically fought the Wu administration about outdoor dining restrictions in the North End for two years.
Earlier this year, a group of restaurant owners filed a lawsuit against the City of Boston complaining that they have lost millions of dollars due to the neighborhood’s outdoor dining ban.
Read More: North End Restaurant Owners Amend Outdoor Dining Complaint Against City
“I am appalled at what Boston is becoming. I am tired of having elections come and go where politicians get elected to promote themselves to their next venture… case in point, Mayor Wu," Mendoza-Iturralde told WBZ NewsRadio in an interview on Wednesday.
Mayor Michelle Wu is expected to run for reelection but has yet to announce her campaign. WBZ NewsRadio has reached out to her office for comment.
Previously, Mayor Wu said the outdoor dining restrictions in the North End were because of problems with trash, parking, and narrow streets.
Read More: North End Restaurant Owners Speak Out About Outdoor Dining Ban
Mendoza-Iturralde said he is not running under any particular political party.
“We offer a different view on things. I’m not a politician. And I think that we can save the taxpayers a ton of money,” said Mendoza-Iturralde.
He framed Wu as a political insider who is out of touch with average Bostonians.
He also expressed more conservative positions than Wu, such as coming down harder on petty crimes like shoplifting. “Although they might sound petty in today’s society, they affect all of us and increase the cost of goods.”
Mendoza-Iturralde called for lower property taxes as a way to decrease rent prices.
Read More: New North End Banners Call For The Return Of Outdoor Dining
Speaking on diversity and inclusion curriculums in public schools, Mendoza-Iturralde said that this kind of program “groups people in little tribal groups, and that’s not the way I think Boston should be run.”
He added that “I don’t believe that anybody in the city should be treated differently. Everybody should be treated equally.”
The North End restaurant owner also opposed adding more bike lanes to city streets.
“We have a mayor who thinks that more bicycle lanes are going to turn the city into a 15-minute city and vicariously she turns it into a three-hour-I’m-stuck-in-traffic-in-Boston city.”
Read More: North End Restaurant Owners Protest Outside St. Patrick's Day Breakfast
Mendoza-Iturralde came to Boston as an immigrant with his parents and siblings “with nothing but hope and the enterprising need to succeed.”
He said, “I am an adopted son of this great city and the country. I love the United States. I consider myself a patriot. I love Boston.”
He shared that Boston is where he learned to be a part of the civic process and help his neighbors, such as by serving in the North End Neighborhood Council.
“I think maybe it’s time – as it’s been shown politically in other parts of the world – for somebody who’s not a politician” to be in city hall, he said.
Mendoza-Iturralde has not yet formally launched his campaign.
WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.
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