The Boston City Council has kicked off its new term with a fresh batch of chaos.
A body long battling a reputation for dysfunction was once again engaged in public infighting last week after an eleventh hour shakeup in the race for council president prompted a frenzy of horse trading and a divisive vote.
That, along with some early procedural stumbles from new Council President Liz Breadon, has left former councilors and other close observers wondering whether the body will be able to come together for meaningful policy-making — or continue on a fractious path.
Breadon insists she’s well positioned to bridge the gaps between her colleagues. But some in the Boston political scene said last week’s debacle was shameful.
“Unfortunately, this is nothing new,” said Annissa Essaibi George, a former councilor and mayoral candidate. “Just when you think things might calm down, and the body becomes sort of refocused or re-engaged in the very important work that it should be doing for the people of Boston, we’re back to just more chaos.”
The turbulent start to the year is “unacceptable,” she added, and only reinforces the negative public perception of the council. Essaibi George said she hopes Breadon can reverse the tides.
As the council launches into its new term, it falls to the new leader — who was elected president last week by a margin of just one vote, less than 24 hours after deciding to run — to restore order, civility, and cooperation to the council. Already, she has struggled with her first administrative task of selecting a vice president. Her first choice, Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, declined the job, as did her second choice, before Coletta Zapata ultimately reversed course to accept the offer.
Breadon acknowledged the events surrounding the presidency vote were “unorthodox” and “messy.” But her goal is to ensure that doesn’t continue, she argued.
“Our constituents deserve a City Council that’s functioning and collaborating and working together, and not just sniping and undercutting each other,” Breadon said in an interview. “I’ve got my work cut out for me, but I am selling my intention to build a more collegial and more collaborative City Council in Boston.”
Dramatic divisions and dysfunction on the Boston City Council have plagued the body in recent years.
In 2022, the council’s once-a-decade redistricting process — which Breadon led as committee chair — sparked enormous tension, heated clashes, and even a lawsuit against the council that was funded by several of its own members. Personal and political scandals have derailed the careers of several councilors, including one, Tania Fernandes Anderson, who recently served time in prison after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges.
The Boston City Council is also fighting the perception that it is merely a rubber stamp for the mayor’s agenda. Though the council has newfound powers to shape the budget, it has often ceded mostly to the mayor’s vision, and only rarely advances legislation of its own.
Meanwhile, pressure is growing for the council to address major issues — bring housing costs down, improve lingering challenges in Boston Public Schools, and preserve essential city services in a budget season that could prove especially challenging due to inflation and the threat of further federal funding cuts.
Against that backdrop, Breadon’s last-minute ascent to the presidency took many councilors by surprise, and inflamed existing rifts.
Coletta Zapata of East Boston had been considered the frontrunner in the race since November, when she announced she had enough support from her colleagues to secure the presidency. Councilor Brian Worrell, though, continued to campaign for the position. The night before the scheduled vote, Coletta Zapata announced she was withdrawing from the race after three of her original supporters — Breadon and Councilors John FitzGerald and Enrique Pepén — told her they planned to defect and vote for Worrell, according to City Hall sources.
In a last-ditch effort to salvage Coletta Zapata’s original coalition, Councilors Sharon Durkan and Pepén, both close allies to Mayor Michelle Wu, paid Breadon a late night visit to convince her to run as a “compromise candidate,” Breadon said last week. She won with the backing of Wu allies, while Worrell had pitched himself as an “independent” leader, though he is often aligned with Wu. His supporters included Wu’s most vocal critics on the council.
The vote left some councilors disappointed and angry — and, in a few cases, suspicious of the mayor for meddling, though Wu said on the radio this week she did not direct her allies to orchestrate Breadon’s candidacy. Breadon has put Wu allies in many of the council’s most influential posts, including as the chairs of the powerful government operations and ways and means committees.
Fernandes Anderson, the embattled former councilor, has accused some of her former colleagues of undermining Worrell’s candidacy to preserve Wu’s influence on the council — a concern shared by some sitting councilors as well.
“The fact that colleagues moved in the darkness of the night before the vote to reverse course and block [Worrell from winning] says far more about a power grab than about leadership or putting the Council first,” said Councilor Erin Murphy, an outspoken Wu antagonist who backed Worrell.
For many observers, the chaos surrounding the presidency vote was incredibly frustrating.
Joyce Ferriabough Bolling, a longtime Roxbury resident and political consultant, said she’s disappointed the council did not elect Worrell as its leader, but now it’s time for the body to put any lingering personal grudges aside.
“Enough of this back and forth. What’s done is done,” Ferriabough Bolling said. “Let’s get busy on the work of the people, because I believe that the city is going to have a lot of challenges.”
On a body as small as the 13-member Boston City Council, collegiality makes a big difference for effective policy-making, said former city councilor Josh Zakim. If councilors can’t work together, it will be harder for them to tackle major city issues.
Having a contested council presidency is “healthy,” he said — “but if people are going to carry over resentment because their preferred candidate didn’t win, that’s not going to be helpful for the term,” Zakim said. “A climate of pettiness just doesn’t serve anyone.”
It’s not unusual for councilors to engage in this sort of political maneuvering, though experts said it typically happens behind closed doors, with alliances sewn up weeks before the actual vote.
“Drama in this isn’t new, but it sounds like it’s been playing out in a more public fashion — that’s new. They haven’t been able to keep the lid on it to the same degree," said Erin O’Brien, a political science professor at UMass Boston.
Those negotiations — candidates offering their colleagues desirable committee assignments in exchange for their support — have long been controversial.
Whether the council can overcome its differences will largely depend on Breadon’s leadership, said David Hopkins, a political science professor at Boston College.
“Maybe things are a little raw right now, but in the months and years to come, will it improve, and will Breadon find success in smoothing it over? Or will these things kind of fester?” Hopkins said.
Breadon said despite a rocky start, she is up to the task.
“People are sick and tired of this bickering, and they want us to work together,” Breadon said. “It’s the first week of a long journey, and I’m hoping that people will give me the grace to let me have a chance to do that.”
Sign in to read the full article.
Sign in with Google