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Hannah Reale/GBH News
Lawrence city councilors voted no confidence on Tuesday night in Mayor Brian DePeña’s ability to lead the city as he faces 26 state and federal criminal charges.
The resolution supporting the vote of no confidence passed on five votes in support of the measure from the nine-person council, while three councilors voted present and one voted against it.
The lone “no” vote was cast by Councilor Marc Laplante, who said he felt the residents should decide whether they have confidence in the mayor, rather than the council.
“I believe in the democratic process, and I believe the people of Lawrence deserve the opportunity to make that decision for themselves,” he said during the city council meeting Tuesday night.
In response to Laplante, Lawrence City Council President Jeovanny Rodriguez said that the city council is the only body that can vote no confidence, and that it represents the official opinion of the city.
The “yes” votes were cast by Rodriguez, Vice President Ana Levy, and councilors Stephany Infante, Vivian Marmol and Franklin Miguel.
The Lawrence City Council initially proposed holding the vote of no confidence at their Oct. 6 meeting, but the motion first needed to go to a committee and receive a supermajority vote.
On Oct. 13, the council met as the Committee of the Whole and voted 5-2 to send the recommendation for a no-confidence vote to the full council for a final vote.
The official vote of no confidence comes nearly a month after DePeña publicly issued a letter stating that he won’t be resigning as mayor and plans to serve the remainder of his term.
Rodriguez previously told GBH News that they don’t have the power to force DePeña to resign as he awaits trial, but he hopes that a vote of no confidence would make him reconsider.
The only way to remove the mayor is by a recall petition, which is already underway in Lawrence.
For a recall, organizers must collect at least 7,000 signatures in 30 days to remove the mayor.
The vote comes nearly two months after DePeña was indicted on 11 counts in federal court: four counts of wire fraud and seven counts involving money laundering allegations, including fraudulently obtaining more than $1.5 million in COVID small-business loans.
In September, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced that DePeña would also be indicted on one charge of witness intimidation and 14 charges of wiretapping. DePeña was arraigned on those charges last week in Essex Superior Court.
