Pols & Politics: Boston City Council attendance scrutiny rattles pols
A Herald report pointing out the irony of a Boston city councilor calling for attendance accountability for the body while missing more meetings than her colleagues since taking office in January 2022 rattled the cages of a few pols.
City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who was calling for attendance to be considered as a key “metric” for assessing the performance of councilors while logging seven absences at weekly meetings over the past two years, was not happy when her colleague, Erin Murphy, shared a link of the article on her Facebook page with a line from the piece that referenced her own perfect attendance.
“Showing up matters,” Murphy wrote last Tuesday, while quoting a line that stated, “Of a City Council that now makes $115,000 annually, after voting themselves a raise that kicked in this past January, only Erin Murphy had perfect attendance.”
Fernandes Anderson took issue with the post, which included a link that featured her photo, according to a Facebook comment she added that stated, “So is speaking the truth and not falsifying your endorsement list … So is running for a lofty position you actually qualify for.”
“Keep my name out of your mouth. Other than (Ed) Flynn, I’m the only councilor who is kind to you and you repay me with messy posts,” Fernandes Anderson said in a comment that has since been deleted.
Fernandes Anderson was likely referring in part of her comment to Murphy’s decision to run for clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court without legal experience, which her opponent, Allison Cartwright, has. The position paid $189,324 in 2023.
Murphy, a former Boston schoolteacher, said her time as an educator and on the City Council has prepared her for the role. She faced some heat for the same race last week, when Politico reported a piece calling some of the endorsements she featured in a campaign newsletter into question.
“As a citywide elected official, who gained the support of over 75 diverse labor unions, first responder unions, ward committees and elected officials in my last successful race for at-large City Council, I find it disheartening that colleagues would question my integrity,” Murphy told the Herald Friday.
She pointed to the smaller number of labor unions and elected officials who have supported her run for SJC clerk in the first few weeks of her campaign, and “know my value and commitment to this city.” She expects that list will grow.
Former Councilor Frank Baker, who opted not to run for reelection last term after more than a decade on the Council, told the Herald Friday that he didn’t think it was fair to compare his seven absences from 2022-23 with the seven logged by Fernandes Anderson over the past 27 months — given that her absences largely occurred in her first term and he didn’t skip meetings to avoid big votes.
Of the absences in his last term, Baker said he was hospitalized “three or four times,” two of which were for a week, and he also missed meetings to attend funerals for the three deaths that occurred in his family last year.
He plans to look back on prior meeting minutes, but said he would be “shocked” if he missed a meeting during his first two-year term on the Council.
“I take pride in showing up, and that’s half the battle, is showing up,” Baker said. “She didn’t come to meetings to avoid votes. You’re never going to see me avoid any sort of tough decision.”
Baker was referring to meeting minutes cited by the Herald that showed Fernandes Anderson, who oversaw a budget process last year that sought to cut millions from the police department, was absent for three meetings in 2023 that involved big votes on public safety.
Councilor Julia Mejia, who missed six meetings since January 2022, made it a point to clarify at last Wednesday’s meeting what committee hearings she did or did not attend earlier in the week, given that the body’s attendance is “under the microscope here and I want to make sure that I get credit for when I show up.”
She also referenced her attendance at a Tuesday afternoon committee hearing, saying that she missed a hearing held that morning because of a prior speaking engagement, community ribbon cutting, and visit with students at a nonprofit.
“So just for the record in case anyone is wondering about my attendance, I was busy doing other things out on these streets,” Mejia said, “which is the work that I do.”
Fernandes Anderson ultimately withdrew her hearing order calling for a councilor performance review, with attendance as a key metric, at Wednesday’s meeting, saying it was unnecessary given that Mejia had filed a different accountability measure, calling for the creation of an inspector general’s office in Boston.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/WCsBocD
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