In farewell remarks delivered Wednesday from Roxbury's Hibernian Hall, acting Mayor Kim Janey, the first woman and person of color to hold the Boston's executive seat, likened her seven months in office to a marathon against inequity and the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the city charter dictates, Janey, then City Council president, became mayor in March when Marty Walsh left to become U.S. Secretary of Labor.
On Wednesday night, Janey described the two framed prints she hung on the concrete wall opposite her desk within the mayor's office — one of Boston Magazine's April 2013 cover featuring a collection of running shoes from Boston Marathon participants and the other of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris walking beside a "pint-sized" depiction of civil rights icon Ruby Bridges' silhouette — and how they informed what she saw as her charge.
"Both of these prints inspire me," said Janey. "They represent what have been overarching priorities during my tenure as mayor of the city. First, to comfort our city through a time of multiple crises and ensure stability. Second, to lead Boston to become the more equitable, just and resilient city that we all deserve."
Janey recalled her accomplishments: steering the city through its pandemic revival; distributing COVID-19 vaccines in neighborhoods hard-hit by infections; rolling out mask and vaccination mandates to balance public health and safety concerns while also re-opening the city for businesses; and confronting the moment of racial reckoning brought on by the previous year's nationwide protests over the killings of unarmed Black people.
"It was a time of uncertainty in our county, but Boston stayed strong," she said.
That guiding compass of making Boston more "equitable, just and resilient" was part of Janey's campaign slogan as she fought to win the mayor's office in her own right.
Janey placed fourth in the city's Sept. 14 preliminary election and quickly threw her support behind now-Mayor-elect Michelle Wu.
Though she ultimately came up short, Janey thanked her former mayoral rivals as well as city department heads and workers, sniffling and shedding tears as she did so.
"Working with you over the last eight months has been an honor and I am proud to have served with you," she said to applause. “Yes. Boston is better because of your contributions. And while I am proud to be Boston's first woman mayor and the first mayor of color, I am also very proud to know that I will not be the last,” she added, giving congratulations to the incoming mayor.
The event also brought a physical manifestation of the transition of power into view as Mayor-elect Wu delivered flowers and a hug to the acting mayor following her remarks.
Wu, who has begun announcing cabinet appointments, is set to be sworn in as mayor next Tuesday.
