Tania Fernandes Anderson
Tania Fernandes Anderson | |
---|---|
![]() Fernandes Anderson in 2023 | |
Member of the Boston City Council from the 7th district | |
Assumed office January 4, 2024 | |
Preceded by | Vacant |
In office January 3, 2022 – January 1, 2024 | |
Succeeded by | Vacant |
Preceded by | Kim Janey |
Personal details | |
Born | Praia, Santiago, Cape Verde | January 4, 1979
Political party | Democratic |
Residence | Roxbury, Boston |
Website | Campaign website |
Tania Fernandes Anderson (born January 4, 1979)[1] is a Cape Verdean-born American politician and non-profit executive who is a member of the Boston City Council for the 7th district. A Democrat, she was elected in 2021 to succeed Kim Janey and represents Roxbury, Dorchester, and part of the South End. She is the first practicing Muslim elected to the Council.[2]
Early life and career
Fernandes Anderson was born in Praia, Cape Verde, and moved to Roxbury when she was 10.[1][2] She graduated from John D. O'Bryant High School. The first formally undocumented African-born immigrant elected in Boston, MA, she is the executive director of Bowdoin Geneva Main Streets, a non-profit supporting small businesses.[3]
Boston City Council
First term (2022 and 2023)
Elected in November 2021, Fernandes Anderson took office in January 2022.
In June 2022, the Boston City Council unanimously adopted a resolution introduced by Fernandes Anderson and Councilors Kendra Lara and Ruthzee Louijeune which apologized for the city's historical role in the Atlantic slave trade.[4]
In her first term, Fernandes Anderson chaired the Ways and Means Committee, which has a purview centered on budget-related legislation. In June 2023, the city council voted 7–5 to approve an operating budget for the following fiscal year as it had been amended by the committee. Many of the amendments that the committee had made to the budget faced heavy criticism from dissenting council members.[5] Mayor Michelle Wu soon vetoed a majority of the budget amendments, including amendments which would have resulted in decreased funding to the city's Office of Veterans Services and its police department, an amendment aimed at increasing citizen input in budgeting, as well as decreases of funding for the city's Transportation Department, Public Works Department, and the Boston Public Library.[6][7] After Wu's vetoes, the city council held votes on overriding six of the vetoes, but were only secured the necessary threshold to override a single veto.[7]
In October 2022, Fernandes Anderson offered a resolution calling for “Boston's Hijab Day”, in recognition of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities. Amini had been arrested for improperly wearing the hijab. The city council agreed to mark September 23, Amini's birthday, as the “Day of Woman, Life and Freedom” in connection with human rights protests in Iran, but declined to recognize it as “Boston's Hijab Day”.[8]
Fernandes Anderson was vocal on the Israel–Hamas war. At an October 18, 2023 city council hearing where resolutions were presented about the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and subsequent war, Fernandes Anderson made comments calling for a return of hostages taken by Hamas and an immediate ceasefire by both sides and introduced a resolution calling for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire.[9] She was criticized for characterizing the Hamas-led October 7 attack in her resolution as a "military operation" rather than an act of terrorism.[10] Councilors Frank Baker and Sharon Durkan opposed holding an immediate vote on Fernandes Anderson's ordinance, and it was referred to the committee of the whole.[11] In December 2023, Fernandes Anderson presented a citation purportedly from the entire city council to two Boston Public Schools students praising them for a pro-Palestine student walkout that they had organized in Boston schools. The students were then, at the invite of Fernandes Anderson, given time to make a presentation and proceeded to make remarks that were characterized as being "divisive". Numerous councilors reported having felt "blindsided" by the citation and presentation, including Council President Ed Flynn. Flynn claimed that he had not been accurately informed by Fernandes Anderson as to what the citation and presentation related to, and that he would not have consented to either had he been familiar. Flynn claimed that the presentation went against council practice of disallowing presentations by outside individuals on controversial topics.[12]
Conflict of interest violation
In July 2023, Fernandes Anderson admitted guilt and agreed to pay a $5,000 civil penalty after violating conflict of interest laws by hiring her sister and son to paid positions on her Boston City Council staff, according to the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission. After her 2021 election to the Boston City Council, Fernandes Anderson appointed her sister as her full-time Director of Constituent Services. She initially set her sister’s salary at $65,000 and then approved an increased to $70,000 in 2022, while also giving her sister a $7,000 bonus, according to the disposition agreement signed by Fernandes Anderson. In 2022, she also appointed her son as her office manager at an annual salary of $52,000 and then less than two weeks later, gave her son a pay raise to $70,000.[13][14] In a statement released to the public, State Ethics Commission executive director David Wilson said, "Fernandes Anderson's actions as a Boston City Councilor concerning the appointment and compensation of her sister and son violated the conflict of interest law's prohibition against municipal employees participating in their official capacity in matters in which they know members of their immediate family have a financial interest." Both her sister and her son's employment were terminated in August 2022.[15]
Second term (2024–present)
Fernandes Anderson was reelected in November 2023, defeating a challenge by Althea Garrison,[16] a perennial candidate and former officeholder. When the oath of office was being administered collectively to city councilors by Mayor Michelle Wu at the January 1, 2024 inaugural meeting of new council term, Fernandes Anderson failed both to raise her hand and verbally recite the oath.[17] A video showing Fernandes Anderson's failure to perform her oath of office went viral after being posted to the Libs of TikTok account on X, with the account's post including commentary accusing Fernandes of hating the United States. She responded that she had "internalized" the oath with a private prayer, and called commentary on it "anti-immigrant racist vitriol."[18] However, because the Boston City Charter requires that city councilors recite their oath of office in order to serve, Mayor Wu and the city government declared that Anderson's tenure on the council had lapsed and ordered that city council records be amended to discount Fernandes Anderson's vote on the selection of Ruthzee Louijeune as council president, since Fernandes Anderson had not been eligible to cast any council votes (the choice of Louijeune as council president had been unanimous, therefore this had no material impact). Fernandes Anderson was allowed to re-assume her office as a city councilor after taking her oath on January 4, 2024.[17]
In February 2024, Fernandes Anderson introduced a request to hold a hearing to explore the possibility of Boston adopting congestion pricing for access to the city by motor vehicles. Fernandes Anderson touted congestion pricing as a possible solution to allieviation traffic woes on the city's roadways.[19]
Personal life
Fernandes Anderson has been a foster mom of 17 children.[3] In a 2023 council meeting, Fernandes Anderson mentioned that one of her sons has served in the United States Marine Corps.[5] Fernandes Anderson is a practicing Sunni Muslim.[2]
Fernandes Anderson is married to Tanzerious Anderson,[20] who is currently incarcerated for murder.[21]
On August 2, 2023, Fernandes Anderson was a robbery victim in Boston. While she was surveying an area populated by homeless people, a man grabbed her cell phone and ran away. After summoning the police, officers conducted a search of the homeless encampment, recovered the phone and returned to her. Fernandes Anderson subsequently criticized the Boston Police for allowing details of the crime to be made public. She also criticized the media for reporting the incident, calling it “propaganda.”[22][23]
Electoral history
2021 Boston City Council 7th district election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Candidate | Primary election[24] | General election[25] | ||
Votes | % | Votes | % | |
Tania Anderson | 2,014 | 26.7 | 7,062 | 73.0 |
Roy Owens Sr. | 1,284 | 17.0 | 2,562 | 26.5 |
Angelina Comacho | 1,256 | 16.6 | ||
Brandy Brooks | 741 | 9.8 | ||
Lorraine Wheeler | 697 | 9.2 | ||
Santiago Rivera | 568 | 7.5 | ||
Marisa Luse | 550 | 7.3 | ||
Joao DePina | 407 | 5.4 | ||
Write-ins | 34 | 0.5 | 45 | 0.5 |
Total | 7,551 | 100 | 10,661 | 100 |
Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|
Tania Fernandes Anderson (incumbent) | 3,710 | 70.36 | |
Althea Garrison | 1,500 | 28.45 | |
Write-in | 63 | 1.19 | |
Total votes | 5,273 | 100 |
References
- ^ a b Daniel, Seth (September 8, 2021). "D7 candidates list priorities, Janey grade". Dorchester Reporter. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ a b c Bedford, Tori (November 3, 2021). "Tania Fernandes Anderson Makes History As Boston's First Muslim City Councilor-Elect". WGBH. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ a b Weaver, Lex (July 20, 2021). "City council race: Tania Fernandes Anderson running for District 7". The Scope Boston. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ Grove, Rashad (20 June 2022). "Boston City Council Apologizes for its Role in Slavery". Ebony. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ a b Dumcius, Gintautas (June 14, 2023). "Divided councillors vote to send city budget to Mayor Wu after clash over police funds". www.dotnews.com. Dorchester Reporter. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- McDonald, Danny (June 16, 2023). "Wu rejects City Council's budget plan that would slash money to police, veterans services". Boston Globe. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- Battenfeld, Joe (17 June 2023). "Battenfeld: Michelle Wu puts a stop to foolish Boston City Council cuts". Boston Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ a b Wuthmann, Walter (July 17, 2023). "Mayor Wu says council's budget override violates Boston city charter". WBUR. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ Lannan, Katie. "After backlash, Boston councilor shifts course on 'Hijab Day' resolution". WGBH-TV. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Bienick, David (18 October 2023). "Israel-Hamas war sparks emotional Boston City Council debate". WCVB. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- Chan, Tiffany (18 October 2023). "Boston City Council holds heated debate on whether to formally support Israel - CBS Boston". CBS News. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^
- Cawley, Gayla (18 October 2023). "Boston city councilor's description of Hamas attack as 'massive military operation' sparks outrage". Boston Herald. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- Van Zile, Dexter (3 November 2023). "Tania Fernandes Anderson owes Boston an apology". Boston Herald. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ Abrams, Nicole (19 October 2023). "City councilors speak on Israeli-Palestinian conflict". The Daily Free Press. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ Cawley, Gayla (9 December 2023). "Boston city councilors 'blindsided' by presentation honoring pro-Palestinian student walkout". Boston Herald. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Morelli, Jim. "Boston City Councilor admits she hired family members, violated conflict of interest law". Boston 25News. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ "Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson admits violation of conflict of interest law, agrees to pay $5,000 penalty". News7 Boston. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ "Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson fined for hiring family members in ethics breach". CBS News Boston. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Unofficial Election Results". Boston.gov. 29 December 2023. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ a b Cawley, Gayla (6 January 2024). "Boston Mayor Wu says city councilor failed to take oath of office at inauguration". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ Farrar, Molly (January 4, 2024). "Boston city councilor appears to not say the oath of office, is reportedly asked to do it again". Boston Globe. MSN. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ Reed, Russ (18 February 2024). "Boston City Council discusses congestion pricing for drivers". WCVB. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
- ^ Michaud, Jim (31 August 2020). "Ride For Black Lives". Boston Herald.
- ^ "Who Is Tanzerious Anderson?". Anderson & Robinson Project.
- ^ Fortin, Matt. "Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson mugged in Mass. and Cass area". NBC 10 Boston. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ Cristantiello, Ross. "City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson reportedly robbed near Mass. and Cass". Boston.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ "2021 District 7 Primary results" (PDF). Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ "City of Boston Municipal Election - November 2, 2021 City Councillor - District 7" (PDF). Boston.gov. 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
External links
- 1979 births
- Living people
- 21st-century American politicians
- 21st-century American women politicians
- American politicians of Cape Verdean descent
- American Sunni Muslims
- African-American Sunni Muslims
- Boston City Council members
- Cape Verdean expatriates in the United States
- Women city councillors in Massachusetts