Ruthzee Louijeune cruised to a 13-0 sweep to become the next president of the Boston City Council, but the vote may have been manipulated by former Councilor Tito Jackson, who reportedly asked another candidate to step aside to make it unanimous.
The Herald has learned that another at-large councilor, Julia Mejia, was asked not to step forward, as part of Monday’s nomination process for council president.
Councilor Ed Flynn, whose term as president expired on Dec. 31, nominated Mejia for the position, but Mejia “respectfully” declined, saying that she wanted the body to use the vote to come together, “regardless of our political differences.”
Flynn and City Councilor Erin Murphy, who had been considering seconding the nomination, told the Herald that Mejia appeared to have a change of heart after speaking with Jackson, who approached her just before the Council meeting began.
“I think it was inappropriate and disrespectful for former Councilor Tito Jackson to discourage Julia Mejia from running,” Flynn told the Herald.
Jackson, a former city councilor and mayoral candidate who now runs a pot shop near Faneuil Hall called Apex Noire, did not directly address the assertions, but did praise Mejia for her vote. He did not confirm or deny influencing the vote.
“I commend Councilor Mejia for joining the unanimous vote to elect our new Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune,” Jackson told the Herald in a text message. “I look forward to working with this new council in the new year.”
Mejia knew she did not have the votes, but was apparently interested in putting her name forward as a way to encourage discussion on the council floor, the Herald was told. Mejia, however, did not respond to a request for comment.
“It’s unfortunate to me that we weren’t able, as a body, to hear from the president, the nominees, before the votes,” Murphy told the Herald, referring to their respective plans for the council and reasons for running.
“There haven’t been open conversations up to this point,” Murphy added. “I definitely was looking forward to hearing from both sides.”
The council president sets committee assignments, for example, and the body voted to adopt council rules for the 2024-25 municipal years, “except for Rule 36,” which pertains to council committees, according to the agenda.
The New Year’s Day vote followed weeks of speculation that persisted after Louijeune’s November claim that she had the seven necessary votes to become the next Boston City Council president.
According to City Hall sources, three other council members, Mejia, Erin Murphy and Brian Worrell, who agreed to become the body’s vice president, were said to have been vying for the presidency in recent weeks or months.
Ultimately, Louijeune was the only nomination that was considered on Monday, the first council meeting of the new year at City Hall, and Flynn, Murphy and Mejia joined the rest of their colleagues in voting for the new president.
The vote came shortly after the 13 new and continuing councilors were sworn into office at Faneuil Hall, with the oath of office given there by Mayor Michelle Wu, who was also present for Monday’s meeting, where she congratulated Louijeune.
Louijeune was nominated by Councilor Gabriela Coletta, and officially took control of the meeting from Liz Breadon, who as the oldest city councilor, presided over the beginning, as Flynn’s term ended Dec. 31.
“I am just overcome with emotion, with gratitude,” Louijeune said after the unanimous vote. “We have real work to do, and I’m so excited to do it alongside each and every one of you.”
In her speech, she noted that she wasn’t the first Black woman to lead the Council, while thanking now-Attorney General Andrea Campbell and former Acting Mayor Kim Janey for “blazing the trail” for her.
She also spoke of how she rejects the “zero-sum mentality,” or the notion that for one group to succeed, another has to lose, and the divisive talk of old vs. new Boston, saying that she supports a “true” Boston — an “inclusive” one that embraces all ethnicities, orientations and cultures.
Louijeune, who topped the ticket in the November election, will be the third Black woman to lead the Council. She was sworn into her second term prior to the afternoon vote, and will lead the 13-member body for two years, per term limits set by the city charter.
An attorney, Louijeune worked as senior legal counsel for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign and had started her own legal and advocacy business prior to joining the City Council in January 2021.
She is the first Haitian-American to sit on the City Council, and noted that her selection as the body’s new president coincided with Haitian Independence Day.
