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Disgraced Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson takes victory lap in final meeting

Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald on

Published in News & Features

BOSTON — Disgraced Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson took a victory lap in her last meeting after resigning from the Council and painted herself as a victim of a broken system ahead of her sentencing next month on federal corruption charges.

Despite the circumstances of her departure, Fernandes Anderson was showered with praise by some of her colleagues and even compared to the celebrated abolitionist and former slave Harriet Tubman at Wednesday’s Council meeting.

But councilors also sent Fernandes Anderson a not-so-subtle message that her time calling the shots in the Roxbury-centric district she’s represented for nearly four years was over, when they voted to reject the extensive blueprint she’s developed for the district as part of her transition plan.

“Hopefully it sets the precedent for my district colleagues, councilors who can actually create one for their districts as well,” Fernandes Anderson said of the blueprint, which she dubbed the First Edition of the District 7 workbook. “But also, it is my baton for the next councilor.”

Fernandes Anderson said she plans to launch the workbook at a community town hall meeting she’s hosting on Saturday, but had been seeking support for it from her colleagues by way of a non-binding resolution.

“The workbook includes a full guide to District 7,” the resolution states. “This first edition was created not only to inform and engage today’s residents but also to serve as a baton for continuity, ensuring that the collective work, wisdom and advocacy of District 7 endures through future leadership and generations.”

Fernandes Anderson’s resolution was defeated, however, when it failed to garner the seven favorable votes needed for a majority. Five councilors voted in support, two voted against, one councilor abstained by voting present, and another five had temporarily left the chamber ahead of the vote, and were recorded as absent.

Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, along with Councilors Liz Breadon, Fernandes Anderson, Julia Mejia, and Henry Santana voted in favor. Ed Flynn and John FitzGerald voted against the resolution, and Benjamin Weber voted present. Gabriela Coletta Zapata, Sharon Durkan, Erin Murphy, Enrique Pepén, and Brian Worrell were absent.

It’s unclear whether those councilors left the room to avoid taking a vote, if they were taking part in a farewell luncheon that two City Hall sources said part of the Council was holding for Fernandes Anderson in another room during the meeting, or if they stepped out for other reasons entirely.

Despite the blueprint’s rejection, the meeting was a victory lap for Fernandes Anderson. She had sent a formal invite to her constituents Monday inviting them to come “celebrate” with her at her final meeting.

Fernandes Anderson was all smiles Wednesday, when she was hugging supporters, sharing a few laughs with Durkan, who sits right next to her, and even striking a defiant pose for a photographer.

She obtained approval for the other nine resolutions she brought to a vote and delivered a presentation for another one that honored her District 7 staff members.

Fernandes Anderson also took the opportunity before a vote was taken on her final resolution, that honored the “courage” of her constituents, to launch into the traditional farewell speech that councilors deliver when departing the body.

By contrast, four councilors who departed the body at the end of last term were prompted by then-council president Ed Flynn to deliver their farewell speeches.

“I came into this world the same way I leave it, in service, in the spirit of culpability, in the name of victory, and always, always in the belief that real power rests with the people,” Fernandes Anderson said. “To my constituents in District 7, thank you. … You are the reason I fought.”

Fernandes Anderson spoke of what she sees as a political system that is “not broken,” but “functioning exactly as it was designed to.”

 

“Because, let’s be honest,” Fernandes Anderson said. “The system is set up to accommodate politeness, not truth. It tolerates performance, not integrity, and anyone who dares to step outside of that theater risks being ostracized or worse.”

Fernandes Anderson, who pleaded guilty last month to two federal corruption charges tied to a $7,000 kickback scheme she carried out two years ago at City Hall and is awaiting a July 29 sentencing hearing, said she plans to continue her community advocacy efforts outside the Council chamber.

“This is not an ending, it is a return to the base, to the roots, where real power lives, with all the people,” Fernandes Anderson said. “Until we live in a society that doesn’t just say Black Lives Matter, that proves it in budgets and policies, and dignity of our everyday lives, I will still be fighting, not from this chamber but from the community, with you, always.”

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley has recommended that Fernandes Anderson be sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution.

Fernandes Anderson officially resigned earlier this month and her last day is July 4. She had defied calls from the mayor and five of her council colleagues to resign upon her arrest and federal indictment last December. Councilors can be removed from the body only after sentencing, rather than conviction.

The corruption charges weren’t mentioned during the day’s meeting. Fernandes Anderson’s speech and Council tenure drew praise from Mejia, who was described by the outgoing councilor as her “sanctuary” space.

“You are an ally in the fight for equity, and you are Boston’s Harriet Tubman,” Worrell said. “Thank you for your service.”

Worrell’s Tubman comparison was described as “inappropriate” and “insulting” by two councilors who asked not to be named.

Through tears, Mejia said of Fernandes Anderson’s impending departure, “I feel like I’m the last one here.

“I have been very vocal and they have demonstrated what happens to people like you and me,” Mejia said. “I’m here for you.”

Others on the Council didn’t think it was appropriate to celebrate Fernandes Anderson, given the circumstances.

“It’s not the time for a party,” Flynn said ahead of the meeting. “It’s not the time for celebration. What residents want is positive and ethical leadership from city councilors and city officials.”

Murphy said residents deserved a “sincere apology” from Fernandes Anderson, “or even a basic acknowledgment of wrongdoing,” which she failed to deliver.

“This moment demanded humility, remorse, and truth,” Murphy said in a statement. “We didn’t get that. Instead, we were asked to look away, to focus only on the good, and to ignore a serious breach of ethics and law. That’s not leadership. And that’s not justice.”

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