By Lucas De Oliveira and Sarah Attie.
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.
This story is part of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
A strong turnout at the Boston City Council Forum, Hibernian Hall, Thursday, May 22, 2025. Photo by Georgia Epiphaniou
