Author: Sarah Attie Khafif

  • At-Large council candidates differ on policing, housing and school reform

    At-Large City Council panel: (from l to r) Marvin Mathelier, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, Will Onouha, Henry Santana, Alexandra Valdez, Frank Baker and Ruthzee Louijeune. Photo by Jacqueline Manetta.

    A forum for candidates running for at-large seats on the Boston City Council revealed stark differences in how the candidates would approach education, public safety, housing and other issues.

    The June 16 forum at Suffolk University — organized by a group of Democratic ward committees— drew eight of the nine candidates seeking four seats: incumbents Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Henry Santana and Erin Murphy, and challengers Will Onuoha, Marvin Mathelier, Alexandra Valdez and Frank Baker. Yves Mary Jean, who did not attend the first candidates’ forum, did not attend this one either. The event was moderated by UMass Boston professor Travis Johnston.

    On issue after issue, Onuoha and Baker – often joined by Murphy – voiced opinions in polar opposition to the rest of the field.

    Education

    The question of whether Boston School Committee members should be elected or appointed by the mayor, as they are now, elicited strong reactions from the candidates. Only Valdez, Baker, and Onuoha said they do not support having an elected committee.

    “Our kids matter far too much for us to start playing politics with education,” Onuoha said.

    Mejia quickly countered him.

    “To say that Black and brown people are under-educated or unable to decide what democracy looks like, I take offense to that,” Mejia said, “because we’re in a moment right now that we have to understand that people want more democracy, not less.”

    Baker, Murphy and Onuoha said they do not support the state’s decision to drop the MCAS as a graduation requirement.

    The candidates agreed on other school issues, including expanding early education programs to infants and imposing a bell-to-bell ban on cellphones in schools.

    Asked how they would address inequities in education, the candidates offered different ideas. Murphy emphasized tackling chronic absenteeism and boosting support for mental health, music and art. Valdez and Frank called for more space for pre-K students. Louijeune, the current councilpresident, highlighted poverty and the need for affordable child care.

    Mejia stressed supporting early childhood education practitioners. Onuoha said he would advocate for helping parents who are struggling with housing. Mathelier and Santana said they would focus on transportation and housing, as 10 percent of students have been homeless during the school year.

    Pictured at the forum (from l to r) Travis Johnston, the moderator, Marvin Mathelier, Ruthzee Louijeune, Henry Santana, Alexandra Valdez, Erin Murphy, Julia Mejia, Frank Baker and Will Onouha. Photo by Jacqueline Manetta.

    Public safety

    Onuoha, Murphy, Baker and Valdez said they would not want police to stop working with the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), a federally funded counterterrorism agency that aims to prevent crime through data-gathering and analysis.

    Onuoha, a Mission Hill native, said growing up in a neighborhood directly impacted by street gangs in his youth is part of why he supports BRIC’s work. Louijeune mentioned a deportation that resulted from the center’s intelligence sharing, but Baker said that example is outdated and is not a reason to stop working with it.

    Murphy, Onuoha and Baker said they do not support legalizing overdose prevention centers, where people can safely consume drugs. The candidates all said they would support a policy banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from schools and courthouses.

    Housing

    Baker and Onouha said they do not support Boston’s updated Inclusionary Zoning policy (IDP) that requires 20 percent of new housing units to be income-restricted as a way to increase affordable housing in the city.

    Housing construction has slowed in Boston, Baker said, because it has become unsustainable to follow the 20 percent policy.

    “So 20 percent of nothing is nothing at the end of the day,” he said.

    Onuoha agreed and said focusing on workforce housing – aimed at tenants who earn too much for subsidized housing but not enough for market-rate housing – would be his solution.

    “You have to be poor to get into affordable housing,” Onuoha said. “You have to be poor to stay in it.”

    Baker, Onuoha and Murphy said they don’t support Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent control proposal to cap rent increases at inflation plus 6 percent.

    Baker explained why he opposes it: “Because a lot of renters like myself are small property owners, and I don’t think we necessarily need the government to tell us what we can charge for rent.”

    Onuoha said the regulation aimed at stabilizing rent doesn’t work. “We outlawed rent control,” he said, because it increased the cost of housing.

    Asked how they would ensure that Boston prioritizes long-term stability for low-income residents, families, and older people, Onouha again mentioned workforce housing, while Baker said he would direct city dollars at housing rather than focusing on policies.

    Louijeune emphasized the need for rent stabilization policies as a commitment to Black and low-income communities, preventing them from being displaced by gentrification.

    Mathelier advocated for revising Article 80, the process that governs how new development projects are reviewed and approved by the Boston Planning Dept. Santana used the city of Austin, Texas, as a model of what they should aim for.

    Valdez said the most secure generational housing is achieved by creating tenant protection programs. Mejia and Murphy talked about their work on the City Council and the importance of working with the communities.

    Transportation and infrastructure

    Baker was the only candidate to oppose extending past 2026 free bus fares for all riders on routes 23, 28 and 29 through parts of Mattapan, Roxbury and Dorchester.

    “To say that fares are free, we’re paying for it one way or another,” Baker said.

    He was also the only candidate to oppose updating zoning rules to require new buildings to achieve net-zero carbon emission standards.

    Mejia, Murphy, Baker, Onuoha and Louijeune all said they oppose the renovation of White Stadium.

    Each candidate then offered their visions for a transportation system that balances safety, sustainability, and the needs of drivers, bicyclists, transit riders, and pedestrians.

    “Transportation and housing issues are actually married,” Onouha said.

    Baker said the city should do more with water taxis.

    “And we should also look to see what Uber and Lyft are doing,” he said.

    Civic engagement and leadership

    Murphy, Onuoha and Baker said they oppose increasing the $2 million allocated for participatory budgeting, which now allows residents to decide how part of the city budget is spent.

    The candidates were asked to grade the city’s success in engaging the voices of diverse residents.

    Mathelier, Murphy, Onuoha, Santana, Valdez and Baker all gave Boston a C. Louijeune gave the city a B-, and Mejia gave it an incomplete.

    They were asked to share what steps they would take to engage the voices of small businesses. There was overall agreement on the need to listen closely and find creative ways to include residents in conversations.

    A full video of the forum is available here.

  • Dot man drives LGBTQ+ museum plans

    Jean Dolin, a Haitian immigrant who was raised in Dorchester, is the person behind Boston LGBTQ+ Museum of Art, History & Culture. Dolin came up with the notion for the traveling museum in 2020 after years of working in politics and journalism.

    “I emerged out of Covid wanting to do the thing that moves me, the thing that I feel like would inspire, would inform, but would also empower,” Dolin said.

    “And then something kind of sparked,” he said. 

    Inspired by a photography exhibition he’d seen in the streets of Boston, he created “Portraits of Pride,” which is now in its fourth round. The latest iteration of the exhibit, featuring 10-foot-tall portrait banners of people who have stood out in their communities, is now installed at the Connector/Winthrop Center Park. 

    It includes 20 portraits, photographed by John Huet, including Gretchen Van Ness, executive director of LGBTQ Senior Housing, Paul Glass and Charles Evans, founders of LGBTQ+ Elders of Color, and Jerome Smith, a Dorchester resident who is the senior manager of external affairs at Amazon and Boston’s former chief of civic engagement.

    On June 11, the museum opened a new show, a collaboration between the two artistically renowned cousins, Paul Firmin, a queer Haitian artist widely known as KINI, and Rejeila Firmin, the exhibition’s curator, as the artist in residence. The presentation is at the Pryde Gallery, at 59 Harvard Ave. in Hyde Park.

    “I think I’m also excited that this is a Haitian queer artist that is doing it,” Dolin said. “There is a very long history of homophobia in Haiti. So that’s easy for these two identities to be held in one body.”

    The exhibition will be up until mid-September, and then will be followed by another, Dolin said.

    The museum’s 2026 project is still in the works, but there are plans to have a commemoration of the 250th birthday of the United States in the spring, and then travel with it across the state in 2027 and 2028.

    “So, at that point, we’re going to be evolving the name of the institution from Boston LGBTQ to Massachusetts LGBTQ,” Dolin said, “because ultimately, we’re telling the history of the state, and we want to evolve into a statewide institution.”

  • No walls, no limits: LGBTQ+ museum plans to go statewide

    Portraits of Pride exhibition on display at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, 100 Atlantic Ave,, Boston. Photo by Wen Qi

    The Boston LGBTQ+ Museum of Art, History & Culture had a big idea: bring the museum to the people.

    Jean Dolin, a Haitian immigrant raised in Dorchester, got the idea for the museum in 2020 after years working in politics and journalism. The museum doesn’t have a physical space and instead brings exhibits to places around the city, from Boston Common to the Seaport District. But while it lacks a building, Dolin has grand plans for his museum: He wants to take exhibits all across Massachusetts and build a statewide presence within four years.

    “I emerged out of COVID wanting to do the thing that moves me, the thing that I feel like would inspire, would inform, but would also empower,” Dolin said.

    He began with a documentary on the LGBTQ+ community called “Rainbow Tales” but decided it wasn’t reaching enough people.

    “And then something kind of sparked,” Dolin said.

    Inspired by a photography exhibition he’d seen in the streets of Boston, he created “Portraits of Pride,” which is now in its fourth round. The exhibit features 10-foot-tall portrait banners of people who have stood out in their communities. Printed on durable fabric and suspended from custom-built frames, the portraits spotlight leaders and figures in the LGBTQ+ community.

    Above, Susu Wong’s portrait on display at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park. Photo by Wen Qi

    “So to me, this was a way of saying thank you to all of those who fought for those decades, because I’m a beneficiary of all their work,” Dolin said.

    He held his first “Portraits of Pride” on Boston Common in 2022, and then started raising money so they could keep creating similar projects as part of a formal museum. And it was finally declared as an established institution in October 2023.

    Since that initial exhibit, the museum has held three more: on City Hall Plaza in 2023, in Sea Green in the Seaport in 2024, and the current one in the Connector/Winthrop Center Park.

    The new exhibit contains 20 portraits, photographed by John Huet, including Gretchen Van Ness, executive director of LGBTQ Senior Housing, Paul Glass and Charles Evans, founders of LGBTQ+ Elders of Color, and Jerome Smith, a Dorchester resident who is the senior manager of external affairs at Amazon and Boston’s former chief of civic engagement.

    Arline Isaacson, the board chair of the museum, was featured in the first Pride Legacy Exhibition. “It’s an important recognition of the work that our community has done over the years and especially young folks in our community,” she said.

    Their locations are crucial, Isaacson said. The museum chooses public spaces where all sorts of people walk by. The Winthrop Center faces the Connector building, which holds 4,000 people, including major employers like McKinsey & Co. and Deloitte.

    “It’s a great way to honor people,” said Aadya Gadkari, a solutions engineering analyst at Deloitte.

    On Wednesday the museum opened a new exhibit, a collaboration between the two artistically renowned cousins, Paul Firmin, a queer Haitian artist widely known as KINI, and Rejeila Firmin, the exhibition’s curator, as the artist in residence. The exhibition is at the Pryde Gallery, at 59 Harvard Ave. in Hyde Park. Inside the LGBTQ+ senior housing building, with which they have been partnering since last year.

    “I think I’m also excited that this is a Haitian queer artist that is doing it,” Dolin said. “There is a very long history of homophobia in Haiti. So that’s easy for these two identities to be held in one body. ”

    KINI is known for his lively, colorful paintings, but he decided to work in black and white for this exhibit to symbolize good and evil, and grays to represent the blurry lines in life. His goal was to blur the lines between the past, present and future.

    “Create a place where a kind of everything can exist,” KINI said, “and there’s like no objectivity really, and it’s just, that’s why I call it the void, because I feel like anything can happen in a void.”

    The exhibition will be up until mid-September, and then will be followed by another, Dolin said.

    In addition to “Portraits of Pride,” the museum commemorated 20 years of marriage equality in May 2024 at the State House and partnered with LGBTQ+ Senior Housing to create the Pryde Gallery. It also hosted the weeklong Queer Arts Festival last October and organized a National Coming Out Day celebration.

    The museum launched an artist-in-residence program with Rejeila Firmin and plans to introduce a fellowship next year. The first initiative, “Queer Youth Creative Writing & Poetry,” will recruit high school seniors and college freshmen in Greater Boston to develop their writing.

    The museum’s 2026 project is still in the works, but it plans to have a commemoration of the United States’ 250th birthday in the spring, and then travel with it through the whole state in 2027 and 2028.

    “So at that point, we’re going to be evolving the name of the institution from Boston LGBTQ to Massachusetts LGBTQ,” Dolin said, “because ultimately, we’re telling the history of the state, and we want to go and evolve into a statewide institution.”

  • Two Mattapan businesses savor their Legacy Awards

    Nazir Ali, the founder of Ali’s Roti, inside his Blue Hill Avenue restaurant. A native of Trinidad and Tobago. He married into a Dot family and “followed love” to his current home. Sarah Khafif photo

    Ali’s Roti Restaurant has been serving Indian-Caribbean dishes in Mattapan for 35 years while Boulevard Cleaners has been providing laundry services in the neighborhood for 60 years.

    Now the two businesses, each started and run by immigrants, are among 30 honored this year with Boston Legacy Business Awards that Mayor Wu announced in late May. They were presented on Tuesday evening (June 3) at a reception in partnership with The Dorchester Reporter.

    In addition to plaques that they can hang in their shops, the businesses will receive technical assistance with focuses on succession planning and employee ownership as well as free legal consultation and advice for dealing with commercial leases.

    ALI’s ROTI

    Standing and greeting almost every customer who comes into his restaurant, Nazir Ali, the owner and founder of Ali’s Roti, has worked for more than three decades to make his dream come to life.

    He migrated from Trinidad and Tobago after living there with his wife, who was born and raised in Dorchester and wanted to return home, and children for a couple of years.

    “I followed love,” said Ali, who arrived in the United States with almost nothing. Back home, he had worked as a painting contractor, but when he converted his earnings to US dollars, it amounted to very little.

    “I’ve never worked so hard for so little in my life,” said Ali, remembering those early days.

    Initially, he planned to move to Florida and start a taxi business there, but his wife insisted on Boston. Although he had been a painting contractor for over 20 years in Trinidad and Tobago, that business thrived on networking, he said. Because he didn’t know anybody in Boston, he said, he pivoted to his second idea: a restaurant.

    Ali’s Roti began with him, his wife, and his in-laws, and with his children helping on weekends and during summers while they were growing up.

    Although none of his current employees are immediate family now, he says they are all “like children, brothers and sisters.” Some have been working there for more than 25 years.

    The restaurant’s signature dish, roti, is an Indian-Caribbean flatbread filled with different curry fillings such as curry potato, chicken, shrimp, and vegetables. The menu also includes chicken curry, beef curry, goat curry, and steamed cabbage.

    “I have a policy that I implemented: If a customer is wrong, we make them right,” he said. “If it costs us a meal, we’ll take the loss. We don’t want to lose a customer.”

    City Councillor Brian Worrell says he often eats there with his colleagues, craving not only the rotis but also the restaurant’s ambience.

    “It’s like a reunion, like you’re running into family, friends from school, people from work,” he said. “It’s just a special place.” From their seats in the restaurant’s red booths, diners have a direct view into the kitchen where they can watch the cooks make the rotis.

    Winning a Legacy Business award feels unnatural, Ali said. “I was an award giver,” he said, not the other way around, referring to the various times the restaurant has donated awards for church, clubs and carnivals in the neighborhood.

    His restaurant means everything to him, said Ali. “I do get emotional when I talk about it.”

    BOULEVARD CLEANERS

    Above, Peter Papadogiannis, co-owner of Boulevard Cleaners, is shown in the Blue Hill Avenue business last month. “I look at them as family,” he says of his longtime customers. Hannah Roderick photo

    Brothers Peter and Dimitrios Papadogiannis are the essence of Boulevard Cleaners & Tailors, a laundry service that has served customers from all over Massachusetts since the 1960s.

    “I look at them as family,” said Peter, the owner. “We love everybody here,” said Dimitrios, Peter’s right hand man.

    The moment you step inside Boulevard Cleaners, your eyes fix on a wall filled with photos that tell of the family’s odyssey to Mattapan. They start with scenic landscapes of Greece, including Athens, Santorini, and Ioannina, and end with images of the Boston skyline.

    The brothers’ late uncle opened Boulevard Cleaners after migrating from Greece during the political turmoil of the 1960s, seeking a better life in America. The brothers and their mother followed in 1977, and their father joined them two years later.

    When they first arrived, Dimitrios, who was 19, worked at a bakery in the Fenway to help pay the bills, while Peter, then 14, attended high school. After graduation, Peter started working in the laundry business with his uncle. Dimitrios joined later – he had opened his own business, but shut it down after the 9/11 attacks.

    Together, they’ve continued their uncle’s legacy, which has earned them a Legacy Business Award.

    “It’s an honor,” Dimitrios said. “It’s not just for us. The award is for everybody.” 

    Peter said he has avoided the temptation to raise prices in difficult times because he wants to keep his customers. “I’d rather work a little harder instead of raising my prices.” 

    Some customers keep bringing their laundry to Boulevard even after moving out of town, the brothers said. Customers come from as far as Brockton, Framingham, and Martha’s Vineyard, they said.

    The brothers’ fun-filled ways and easygoing personalities have helped build long-lasting relationships with customers. “We joke all the time,” Peter said.

    That’s especially true on April Fool’s Day, when they have made a habit of pulling pranks on customers. This year, they said, a customer pulled up early in the morning and parked next to the curb. He stepped in to pick up his clothes and was faced with worrisome looks.

    “Did you notice you have a flat tire on the rear?” Peter recalled telling him. The customer turned around to check out his car and was greeted by laughter from behind the counter.

    “April Fools,” the brothers said.

  • In council forum, topics run the gamut from affordable housing to immigration, rent control, bike and bus lanes

    Part of the at-large panel (l-r): Erin Murphy, Henry Santana, Ruthzee Louijeune, Marvin Mathelier and Alexandra Valdez at a Hibernian Hall forum on May 22, 2025. Photo by Georgia Epiphaniou

    Seventeen candidates for City Council seats fielded questions about affordable housing, immigration enforcement, and other topics last Thursday evening (May 22) at a forum at Roxbury’s Hibernian Hall.

    Nine candidates for the District 7 seat and eight for the four at-large seats participated in the nearly three-hour forum, which drew more than 100 people and was moderated by Yawu Miller, editor in chief of The Flipside, and WGBH reporter Saraya Wintersmith.

    The at-large field
    All four incumbent at-large councillors running for re-election attended the event: Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Henry Santana, and Erin Murphy. City election officials have also certified nomination signatures for five challengers, so far: Will Onuoha, Marvin Mathelier, Alexandra Valdez, Yves Mary Jean, and Frank Baker. All but Mary Jean were in attendance.

    Baker previously served as the District 3 councillor for 12 years. Valdez is the director of Boston’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and Onuoha worked as the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Fair Housing & Equity, among other posts in over two decades in city government.

    Marvin Mathelier, a Marine Corps Reserve veteran, said his goal is to bring to the City Council the values instilled in him by military service.

    At-Large City Council panel: (from l to r) Will Onouha, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, Henry Santana, Ruthzee Louijeune, Marvin Mathelier, Alexandra Valdez and Frank Baker. Photo by Wen Qi

    Asked how they would make Boston more affordable, Mathelier, Valdez, Santana, and Louijeune give similar answers about supporting rent control, community involvement, budgeting, zoning, mixed-income social housing, and reusing old buildings.

    Onuoha introduced a new idea on workforce housing, targeted to families that earn too much to qualify for affordable housing but can’t afford market rate housing. He says no one should pay over 30 percent of their income for housing.

    “Affordable housing is not affordable,” he said. “That’s a myth that we tell people.”

    Mejia said she supports a displacement tax, a fee that she says would mitigate the loss of residents and businesses due to rising property values, typically caused by gentrification.

    “I’ve been questioning this whole idea, because we’re getting displaced in high numbers” she said.

    Murphy talked about education and workforce development.

    The candidates gave varying answers about how they would support communities targeted by ICE. Baker and Onuoha recommend that immigrants stay off social media. “Do not say anything bad about the government,” Onuoha said.

    Baker thinks Boston police should have a relationship with ICE to create transparency. “There should be some sort of liaison with ICE to see where they’re going, what they’re doing,” he said.

    At-Large City Council panel included (from left to right): Marvin Mathelier, Alexandra Valdez and Frank Baker. Photo by Wen Qi

    Most of the candidates said the city should do more to educate immigrants about their rights. Mejia, who was born in the Dominican Republic, said she survived Trump’s first term and can do it again.

    “I’m prepared to stand up to Trump,” she said, while reinforcing the need to educate immigrants about their rights.
    There was some support among the candidates for bike and bus lanes.

    “I don’t want to walk by no more ghost bikes,” Louijeune said. “I don’t want that. I don’t want that for our children, to say that someone died here because we didn’t do our job to build a safer, better city.”

    Baker said the city should explore expanding water transportation and Valdez and Mejia emphasized that each neighborhood needs its own plan for bike and bus lanes so it makes sense to businesses and residents.
    “People can’t do one size fits all,” Mejia said.

    Murphy blamed increased traffic congestion on bike lanes and speed bumps. “I think it’s important that we don’t just wake up one day and find out that our streets look different and we didn’t have to say anything,” she said.

    In a “speed round,” everyone except Onuoha, Baker, and Murphy said they support statewide rent control legislation. Everyone except Baker said “yes” when asked whether they support inclusionary zoning requiring 20 percent of housing in market-rate developments to be income restricted.

    Onuoha, Valdez, and Baker went on record opposing an elected school committee and against abolishing the Boston police gang database. Everyone else voted yes on those questions.

    There was unanimous support for approving a $4 million increase in the city’s rent subsidy program to provide permanent housing for 130 homeless families.

    Baker was the only candidate who didn’t answer a question about whether universities should increase their payments in lieu of taxes, known as PILOT funds. Baker held his paddle sideways, refraining to answer and drawing an eruption of laughter from the crowd.

    District 7

    District 7 City Council panel: (from l to r) Wawa Bell, Samuel Hurtado, Said Abdikarim, Said Ahmed, Mavrick Afonso, Miniard Culpepper, Roy Owens, Natalie Juba Sutherland and Jerome King. Photo by Georgia Epiphaniou

    The first part of the forum focused on the District 7 seat now held by Tania Fernandes Anderson, who recently pleaded guilty to two of six federal corruption charges after allegedly arranging a kickback scheme that netted her $7,000. Fernandes Anderson, who has said she intends to resign from the seat before her term expires at the end of the year, is not running for re-election.

    Nine candidates have qualified for the ballot for the preliminary election to be held on Sept. 9, with early voting starting on Aug. 30: WaWa Bell, Samuel Hurtado, Said Abdikarim, Said Ahmed, Mavrick Afonso, Rev. Miniard Culpepper, Roy Owens, Natalie Juba-Sutherland, and Jerome King.

    The candidates began by explaining what makes them qualified for the job.

    “I think that our community has been ill-represented for a long time,” said Bell, who went on to say he wants to continue the “positive work” of Fernandes Anderson, who was in attendance at the event.

    Miller asked the candidates how they would work to make District 7 more affordable. Bell expressed support for rent control and a cap on how much landlords can earn.

    The candidates all agreed to advocate for the statewide “Homes for All Massachusetts” rent control legislation that would limit rent increases and ban no-fault evictions. The response came during rapid-fire questions for which candidates had to respond with a paddle with “yes” on one side and “no” on the other.

    Bell and Culpepper emphasized a push for more homeownership, while Juba-Sutherland mentioned a need for more financial literacy among homeowners.

    “What financial literacy does [is] it teaches us how to manage our money,” Juba-Sutherland said. “Because we can actually say, ‘Yes, we can own our homes,’ but can we keep our homes?”

    Afonso, who is the director of external affairs at the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, called for the development of “surplus land” and accessory dwelling units for affordable housing.

    Candidates answered questions about how they would support communities targeted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. King called himself a “fighter” and questioned who ICE agents are.

    “All I see is a bunch of people running around with shiesties on,” King said. “They don’t show their face.”

    Nearly all candidates expressed some form of support for community members targeted by ICE, except Owens, who did not answer the question and went on to talk about congestion pricing.

    Both Hurtado and Abdikarim emphasized educating immigrants about their constitutional rights. Afonso said he supports more funding for legal resources for immigrants.

    From left: Said Ahmed, Mavrick Afonso (standing), Miniard Culpepper: and Roy Owens. Photo by Wen Qi

    “This is a sanctuary state,” Afonso said, ”so let’s provide these people the counsel that they need if ICE comes to try to take them away.”

    During rapid-fire questioning, all candidates backed Boston’s inclusionary zoning policy requiring 20 percent of units in market-rate developments to be income restricted and indicated support for amendments that would increase participatory budgeting funds.

    Bell, Hurtado, Owens, Juba-Sutherland, and King said they oppose the Wu administration’s decision to lease White Stadium to a professional women’s soccer team. Abdikarim, Ahmed, Afonso and Culpepper all said they support the plan.

    All except for Juba-Sutherland and Owens voted to abolish the Boston Police Department’s gang database. Juba-Sutherland voted “no,” and Owens abstained from the question.

    Hurtado was the only one of the nine candidates to vote against a fully elected school committee.

    A strong turnout at the Boston City Council Forum, Hibernian Hall, Thursday, May 22, 2025. Photo by Georgia Epiphaniou