Boston Mayor Michelle Wu endorses Enrique Pepén for City Council, rejecting Ricardo Arroyo
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu endorsed her former employee Enrique Pepén for the District 5 seat on the City Council, scorning the embattled incumbent Ricardo Arroyo, a longtime ally she’s supported in prior elections.
In a Monday statement, Wu described Pepén as “exactly the kind of leader we need in government,” saying that he “not only knows City Hall inside out, but has lived the challenges of our community through growing up in Boston and now raising his two young kids here.”
“He’ll be a fantastic partner on the Council with the shared progressive values, determination, and heart for service to make Boston a city for everyone,” Wu said.
The endorsement, first reported by Politico, is the mayor’s latest effort to back her former employees in the Boston City Council race, ahead of the Sept. 12 preliminary. Pepén worked as the executive director of the Boston Office of Neighborhood Services under Wu.
Wu has also backed Henry Santana, her former director of civic organizing, for councilor-at-large, and Sharon Durkan, a political fundraiser who worked for the mayor when she was a city councilor, for the District 8 seat.
Pepén previously worked for former City Councilor Tito Jackson, former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III and former Mayor Marty Walsh. The son of Dominican immigrant parents, he was born and raised in Boston and lives in Roslindale with his wife and two children, according to his campaign website.
“I am profoundly humbled and honored to receive the support of my mentor and friend Michelle Wu,” Pepén said in a Monday statement. “I share Mayor Wu’s dedication to serve our community and meet people where they are.”
The two other challengers vying to unseat the progressive incumbent are Jose Ruiz, a retired Boston Police officer, and Jean-Claude Sanon, a small business owner.
While the endorsement may be seen as the mayor’s latest attempt to reshape a City Council prone to infighting and scandals over the past two years, it may also be interpreted as a direct indictment on Arroyo, the current District 5 councilor.
Wu’s statement did not mention Arroyo by name, but she did yank her support for him ahead of last year’s preliminary election for Suffolk County district attorney, when old sexual misconduct allegations came to light.
In a Monday statement, Arroyo said he was “proud to be the only candidate in this race with a proven independent and progressive record.”
“Like the residents of District 5, I am focused on the issues that impact their daily lives and will continue to be a champion for racial, environmental, economic and social justice,” Arroyo said.
The mayor had initially stuck by Arroyo after the 2005 and 2007 misconduct allegations surfaced, but eventually joined big-name progressive politicians U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey in pulling their support, after a Boston Globe report revealed one of the women was a minor at the time.
Still, Wu said on a prior GBH Boston Public Radio appearance that she had voted for Arroyo in the Suffolk DA primary. She also backed him during his initial bid for City Council in 2019.
Arroyo has denied the allegations and charges were never filed.
It was later revealed in two federal reports that former U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins colluded with Arroyo to tip the outcome of the election for Suffolk District Attorney, by leaking information that led to damaging pre-primary stories about his opponent that were published by the Globe.
The Herald chose not to publish the leaked information until after the primary.
Arroyo has denied any wrongdoing, stating that he had no knowledge Rollins was leaking sensitive information on his behalf, and denied pressuring the state’s top prosecutor to investigate his primary opponent, now-DA Kevin Hayden. Rollins resigned when the two reports were made public in May.
In late June, Arroyo admitted to a state ethics violation, and agreed to pay a $3,000 fine for continuing to represent his brother, Felix G. Arroyo, in a 2018 civil lawsuit involving the city after he became a city councilor. The lawsuit involves sexual assault allegations made against his brother by a former city employee.
Arroyo was also one of three city councilors named in a bullying and harassment complaint made by a City Council attorney in April, the Herald reported last week. He dismissed the complaint as “baseless.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/4F9AcDn
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