Michelle Wu sworn in as city’s new mayor

Boston has a new mayor today with the historic swearing-in of Michelle Wu who takes office as the first elected woman and person of color to lead the city.

“City government is special,” Wu said during a brief ceremony inside a packed council chambers at City Hall. “We are the level closest to the people, so we must do the big and small.”

Wu, 36, takes over for a fellow Democrat — former acting Mayor Kim Janey — who was Boston’s first woman and first Black resident to serve in, but who was not elected to, the top post.

The swearing-in means Wu will now face the daunting task of trying to make good on a slew of ambitious policy proposals that were the backbone of her campaign.

To push back against soaring housing costs that have forced some former residents out of the city, Wu has promised to pursue rent stabilization or rent control. The biggest hurdle to that proposal is the fact that Massachusetts voters narrowly approved a 1994 ballot question banning rent control statewide.

Another of Wu’s top campaign promises is to create a “fare-free” public transit system. Wu has said the proposal would strengthen the city’s economy, address climate change and help those who take the bus or subway to school or work.

Like the rent control pledge, Wu can’t unilaterally do away with fares on the public transit system. Wu has said she would try to work with partners in state government to make each proposal a reality.

Wu, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan, grew up in Chicago and moved to Boston to attend Harvard University and Harvard Law School.

Wu, who has two small children, is Boston’s third mayor this year.

“I know that Boston is in good hands and I am so proud to call you Madam mayor,” Janey said moments before Wu was sworn in.

Janey had been president of the Boston City Council before taking over as mayor.

She rose to the top post on an acting basis when the city’s previous elected mayor, Democrat Marty Walsh, stepped down this year to become U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Joe Biden. Janey was sworn in March 24.

Ahead of her noontime swearing-in, Boston Mayor-elect Michelle Wu on Tuesday announced a series of hires for her City Hall team, bringing on board a former chief of staff to Attorney General Maura Healey as well as drawing from her campaign and City Council staffs.

Former Healey aide Mike Firestone will join the Wu administration as chief of policy and strategic planning. Firestone has been working as director of the Coalition to Protect Workers’ Rights, the campaign opposing a proposed 2022 ballot question that would overhaul worker status and benefits for app-based drivers.

Wu’s mayoral campaign manager, Mary Lou Akai-Ferguson, will serve as her interim chief of staff. Wu also tapped a series of senior advisors, most of whom come from her council office — Brianna Millor, currently her civic engagement director; Tali Robbins, currently her policy director; and the current chief of staff for her council office, Dave Vittorini. Mariangely Solis Cervera, who was constituency director on the campaign, will also be a senior advisor to the mayor.

Wu’s transition director, Mariel Novas, will continue to lead transition efforts “through the early days of the Administration,” according to a release.

— Herald wire services contributed to this report

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/31XtNmy