Boston at-large city council candidates stand united against Trump immigration tactics, split on White Stadium, BPS

Boston Globe

17-06-2025

'If they're looking for people in Boston, police knows about it. ... They're going to direct them away from those schools, away from those churches,' Baker said.
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It was one of the few things that the eight candidates agreed on at a forum organized by the Boston Ward Committee Democrats Monday night. Other than immigration, the candidates debated their policy stances on housing, education, criminal justice, transportation, and the
Four of the candidates — Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy and Henry Santana — are incumbents, while three of the challengers who participated in the forum have worked in city government before, including Baker, the former councilor. Alexandra Valdez, the current director of the city's Office of Cultural Affairs previously worked in Mayor Michelle Wu's office, and Will Onuoha serves as executive director of the city's Office of Fair Housing, Equity and Civil Rights. Marvin Mathelier, the eighth candidate who spoke at the forum, is a former Marine and owner of the small business Ula Café in Jamaica Plain.
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Five other candidates — Clifton Braithwaite, Jacob Jones, Rachel Nicole Miselman, Yves Mary Jean and Reggie Stewart — are also running for at-large seats on the council, though they weren't at the forum. Braithwaite, Jones and Stewart had not collected the minimum number of verified signatures needed to run, as of June 2. They have until June 24 to collect the signatures to qualify for the ballot.
There will be a preliminary municipal election on Sept. 9, where voters will pick eight out of the at-large candidates to send to the general election in November.
On most issues, including housing and criminal justice, Baker, Murphy and Onuoha supported centrist policies while the other five candidates took more progressive stances.
Murphy, Onuoha, and Baker said they opposed rent control, which Wu supports. Onuoha proposed that the city tackle affordability through policies that encourage more building.
'[Rent control] actually hurts mom and pop landlords who have investment property,' Onuoha said.
On the city's inclusionary development policies, Baker and Onuoha said they disagree with the
'I think that you have to be flexible in an economy like we're having now, with the interest rates and the cost of labor the way it is,' Baker said, 'We're not building enough units right now … so 20 percent of nothing is nothing at the end of the day.'
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Louijeune, president of the city council, said she supports both rent stabilization and encouraging new development through zoning reform.
'Rent stabilization is a commitment to communities, especially Black, brown, low-income communities, that says 'Our investments in your neighborhood is not to push you out, it's actually to keep you in,'' said Louijeune who's seeking a third term.
On education, most candidates said they would support Boston Public Schools having a fully elected school committee in the future; Valdez, Onuoha, and Baker opposed that change. Valdez said she supported a 'hybrid' of some appointed members and some elected members.
'I'm a huge believer that we need to give a chance to everyone who wants to serve, both those who are education professionals and professors and those who are community members who would like to be elected,' Valdez said.
Onuoha supported a similar hybrid proposal because he was concerned that a fully elected board could lead to education becoming 'politicized.'
Currently, all nine members of the school committee are appointed by the mayor, but Mejia, who's seeking her fourth term, has
'I'm in full favor of an elected school committee, because as a parent, I understand the important role that I play in choosing who is going to be in that seat,' Mejia said.
When asked how to improve Boston Public Schools overall, Santana, who's seeking his second term, proposed redirecting dollars spent on transportation.
'We're spending over $100 million dollars on transportation. We need to be able to really look at those costs and reinvest that,' Santana said, 'More than 10 percent of our students right now are unhoused so we should spend more money on housing our students than we are on transporting them outside of the city.'
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Murphy, a former kindergarten and special education teacher for the Boston Public Schools who's seeking her third term on the council, proposed expanding early education so students have a better foundation.
'When over 80 percent of our third graders are not reading on grade level … and so many kids have chronic absenteeism. We have real systemic problems that we have to address,' Murphy said.
On crime, Baker, Murphy, Onuoha and Valdez said that the city should not end its engagement with Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), a controversial counterterrorism intelligence center meant to facilitate information sharing about terrorism among local, state, and federal agencies. BRIC also manages
Valdez said that there needs to be a more in-depth study on how the data are being used, rather than ending the partnership entirely. Louijeune said that a reformed version of the BRIC could be valuable in solving crimes related to white supremacy.
Baker gave a more full-throated defense of the center.
'It's called Boston Regional Intelligence. We don't want stupid police,' Baker said, 'When very progressive [district attorney] Rachael Rollins was in office, she had her own database, and it nearly exactly matched with the police's.'
The majority of the candidates at the forum said they opposed Wu's plan to redevelop White Stadium. Mathelier, who said he supported it along with Santana and Valdez, said he lives two blocks away from the site and believes the project could bring economic benefits to communities in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and Dorchester if the needs of residents and small businesses are taken into consideration.
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'I really want to focus on ensuring that we are still taking care of those neighbors that live there,' Matherlier said, 'the last thing I want to see is that years from now, the whole landscape changed.'
Mejia, an opponent of the project, said that nearby residents have a lot of unanswered questions.
'They are interested in knowing about the transportation plan. They're concerned about the climate, they're concerned about parking,' Mejia said.
The conversation about White Stadium led the candidates to talk about the broader idea of community engagement for projects in the city. All eight candidates agreed that the city could do a better job at reaching out to residents.
'You don't have meetings just to check a box,' Baker said, 'you need to respond to the people that pay your salary … the people in the city of Boston."
Angela Mathew can be reached at