Boston City Councilor Althea Garrison took aim at fellow councilors — and at the area of the South End known as "Methadone Mile" — Tuesday night. Her comments came during a forum for at-large city council candidates in Roxbury.
“I am the independent candidate councilor,” she declared in response to the first question: What makes you stand out from the other candidates?
“Michelle Wu goes around and she pretends like she is doing good things, but she’s not doing very good things for the public,” she said, referring to Councilor Michelle Wu’s proposal for residential parking permits fees as a tax. “Maybe she can address that tonight.”
Wu addressed the criticism indirectly.
“We’re going to have a fun night tonight. Already, I can tell,” Wu said to laughter from the small audience of about 40 people.
Fifteen candidates ran for the council's four at-large seats in this year's city election, eight of whom advanced after the preliminary election last month. Boston residents will vote for their top four candidates in November.
Garrison currently serves as an at-large city councilor and is running for reelection. Her accusatory comments continued as she advocated for a ballot question about rent control as a remedy for Boston’s housing crisis.
“The current city council has not addressed the affordable housing problem. They try to avoid it.” she said, gesturing towards fellow councilors on the stage. “Many of the councilors have been on the council more than two years. No matter how much housing the city of Boston builds, it will not address affordable housing. What does it take to make these councilors understand that the problem is not being addressed?”
Garrison, who advanced to the November general election with slightly more than 7 percent of the vote, also expressed support for the widely-criticized “Operation Clean Sweep” — a two-day police sting in the South End near the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue.
“I believe Operation Clean Sweep was a just cause. I have a lot of friends that live in that area, and I go through there every morning when I’m going to city hall. It’s disgraceful,” she said in answer to a question on how to clean neighborhoods without criminalizing the homeless.
“The city of Boston should not allow those people over in that area,” she continued. “There must be other ways that they can get them out of there and clean up that area.”
Boston resident Doug Chavez said Garrison’s conduct at the forum surprised him.
“I just think it’s just outrageous,” he said. “It’s kinda sad that she’s our city councilor, to be honest.”
Chavez, who identified as a supporter of at-large candidates Julia Mejia, David Halbert and Alejandra St. Guillen, said he attended Tuesday’s event in order to figure out a fourth candidate to cast a ballot for next month. He said Garrison's attacks and her controversial views affirmed that she would not get his vote.
“I was like, ‘Let me see if she brings something to the table,’ he said, adding that he was curious because he had never seen her at a forum before. “Nothing.”
The event was hosted by Action for Boston Community Development, or ABCD, in the Thelma Burns Building in Roxbury.
Aisha Washington, deputy director of legislative affairs for ABCD, said the forum was especially important in light of low voter turnout in the preliminary municipal election.
“Boston is the biggest city in the commonwealth, and we drive a lot of initiatives that spread throughout the state. So, the more people who have their voices heard here can have wide impacts across the commonwealth.”
The event was moderated by WCVB City Line Host Karen Holmes Ward.
Nearly all of the candidates, except Garrison and Councilor Michael Flaherty, said they support increasing the city’s inclusionary development policy threshold — which requires certain housing development projects to make a portion of its units affordable — to at least 20 percent. Julia Mejia proposed a requirement as high as 50 percent.
Garrison, Mejia, Halbert, Wu and Alejandra St. Guillen expressed support for reviving rent control, which was banned in 1994 through a statewide ballot initiative.
There was also broad support for increased transparency and oversight on corporate tax deals made with the city.
Observer Janean Muhammad was pleased at the diversity and new perspectives among the eight candidates.
“We can’t go the same route how we’ve always gone,” she said while waiting to greet a candidate on the way out.
Muhammad, a Hyde Park resident, said she did not make up her mind after Tuesday’s event, but she did plan to look into candidates she had not heard from before.
Wednesday, Oct. 16 is the last day to register to vote in Boston. The general election is Nov. 5.
