city council

The Dorchester Reporter reports on Turner's sentence for accepting a bribe and then lying about it to the FBI.

That's only six months less than Dianne Wilkerson got for accepting more money after a career filled with criminal and disciplinary issues, but unlike Wilkerson, Turner didn't plead guilty and never expressed remorse.

He's scheduled to turn himself in March 25; his lawyers promised an appeal.

If it stands, the sentence will render Turner's suit to get his council job back moot, since state law calls for booting elected officials sentenced to prison.

City Councilor Mike Ross, who presided over Turner's expulsion hearing in December said in a statement:

This is a sad day for all of us. Chuck was a colleague of mine for a decade. My thoughts are with Chuck and his family as they process the sentence handed down this afternoon.

• US Attorney's statement

An Open Boston City Council
http://anopenbostoncitycouncil.blogspot.com

The Boston City Council says its vote to boot Chuck Turner doesn't violate his constitutional rights, so a federal judge should dismiss his lawsuit - which might become moot on Tuesday when he's sentenced on his federal corruption conviction.

Blackstonian reports from last night's forum for candidates seeking to replace Chuck Turner; also rates their performance and fact-checks some of their statements.

The Dorchester Reporter zeroes in on how the candidates feel about the legality of the City Council's vote to expel Turner.

Suzanne LeeSuzanne Lee, former principal at the Josiah Quincy School, said today she's running for the District 2 council seat held by Bill Linehan:

I've dedicated my entire adult life to making things better for the community, by bringing people together to solve problems. As City Councilor I aim to bring my passion for activism, my commitment to public education, and my ability to solve problems to make Boston a place where all working families can have affordable housing, decent jobs, and thriving neighborhoods.

Earlier this year, Lee helped organize an effort to restore a branch library to Chinatown.

The daughter of immigrants, Lee grew up in Grove Hall, went to Girl's Latin (now Boston Latin Academy) and became the first person in her family to attend college. She spent 35 years as an educator in the Boston school system.

Lee said she's already raised $24,000 for her bid to unseat Linehan for the right to represent South Boston, the South End and Chinatown.

The Herald reports City Councilor Rob Consalvo (Hyde Park, Roslindale) wants an ordinance under which anybody who applies for a license for "jobs that involve public contact" would have to undergo a fingerprint check. The city hasn't had any major problems with coked up cab drivers or marauding bike messengers, but Consalvo says he wants to act before it's too late. He'd pay for the new check by charging license applicants $100.

City councilors have extensive public contact, but although nearly 8% of them have been convicted of federal offenses, they would be exempt because they are not required to obtain a city license before taking their jobs.

The Globe reports a federal judge isn't so sure the Boston City Council had the authority to boot Chuck Turner over his federal bribery/perjury convictions and wants the city to convince him by Friday - three days before another federal judge is scheduled to sentence Turner, which could make the whole thing moot if that judge puts Turner in prison, since state law requires the unseating of imprisoned officials.

As promised/threatened, convicted ex-city Councilor Chuck Turner has filed a federal lawsuit demanding he be allowed back into the City Council chambers.

In his suit, co-filed with several constituents yesterday in US District Court in Boston, Turner charges the council violated his and their Constitutional rights against punishments enacted after the fact - in Turner's case, a council rule allowing for ousters that was passed after his indictment - and that the move leaves all of District 7 without an elected representative. Somewhat ironically for a man who once proposed gutting the First Amendment, Turner also charges the council violated his First Amendment rights.

The Tito Jackson campaign says it submitted more than 1,300 signatures to the city to get on the ballot for the District 7 city-council seat formerly held by Chuck Turner. Only 191 valid signatures are required.

A special preliminary is scheduled for Feb. 15, followed by a final election March 15.

Whoever wins will fill out the remaining 9 1/2 months of Turner's current term - unless he or she also wins in the regular fall elections.

Today was the deadline for pulling nomination papers for the city-council seat left empty by Chuck Turner's eviction. Gin Dumcius compiles a list of the people who expressed enough interest to take out papers. And yes, Althea Garrison is one of them.

To nobody's surprise, Jackson announced today he's running for the District 7 seat from which Chuck Turner was ejected. He might have opposition from Dianne Wilkerson's son.

Jobs, education, public safety and affordable housing top Jackson's agenda. Jackson ran for an at-large council seat in 2009, during which he put out this music video:

Turner has both threatened to sue to stop the Feb. 15 preliminary and March 15 final election and said that if he couldn't serve, Jackson would be his choice to follow him.

Cambridge Day reports on that joint Cambridge/Boston city-council meeting at the city line, which included a talk by an expert on regional economic development who is really grooving on the state's plans to renovate the "Grand Junction" rail line that will let trains from Worcester sail into North Station:

We have to find a way of connecting these geographies, these populations. So I start talking about how do we improve commuter rail access from Worcester to the Allston Landing area to Cambridge and to Boston. It's very important because the high technology, life-science, educational credentials of the Worcester area need to relate directly to the Boston-Cambridge area. We want these clusters to grow and really develop, but the transportation system really needs to support that.

The City Council today approved a measure that will require the city employment commission to post searchable worker statistics on almost all large construction projects in the city.

City Councilor Mike Ross, who co-sponsored the measure with Councilor Ayanna Pressley, said the data will let residents see how many local construction jobs are going to Boston residents and how many to outsiders. The data will also include numbers on the racial and gender makeup of the workforces at construction sites.

Ross said the information, which will be on the city Web site, could force contractors to hire more minority, women and local workers.

"In this economic climate, we couldn't just sit back as thousands of Boston residents are struggling to find work," Pressley said.

The City Council set Feb.15 and March 15 as the dates for the preliminary and final elections to replace ousted felon Chuck Turner.

Only Turner ally Charles Yancey voted against the measure. Yancey read a letter from Turner's lawyer, threatening a federal lawsuit because, he said, the whole process of ejecting Turner and setting the dates would require an act of the state legislature and in the meantime disenfranchises District 7 voters. Council President Mike Ross rejected that theory, said the city charter lets the council toss members for good reasons and set dates for special elections to replace members. He then called for a vote on the dates, which passed 11-1.

The Boston and Cambridge city councils will hold a rare joint meeting on Thursday, to discuss ways of making the Boston area more economically competitive (apparently, Cambridge councilors have gotten over their fear of Boston).

The meeting, which starts at 3 p.m., is in the one building that straddles the line between the two cities - the Museum of Science. Rather than just milling about awkwardly by the border painted on the floor near the entrance, though, they'll be meeting in the Cahners Theater, on the Cambridge side of the building,

Councilors Mike Ross and Sal Lamattina propose up to 25 new licenses for food trucks to roam the city, bringing fresh, hot, inexpensive meals to the masses.

City Council President Mike Ross says he is reluctantly urging his colleagues to expel Roxbury Councilor Chuck Turner at a meeting on Wednesday.

In a letter to councilors, Ross said he appreciates the long years of hard work Turner has put in, but said the council has little choice but to expel him immediately now that he's a convicted felon, rather than waiting to see if a judge lets him out on probation in January, as Turner had requested, in the hopes he could finish out his term:

We have but one judicial system in this country, and whether we personally agree with the verdict or not, a jury of his peers found Councilor Turner guilty of very serious crimes. As public officials, we are sworn to uphold the laws of this city, state and nation. We are not above the law and none of us is above the rules we have established as a body. If we act as if we are this body loses its credibility, its integrity and the trust of the people we serve. Many are cynical of government as it is, we cannot add to their distrust.

Ross said if the council agrees, he would also move to continue paying Turner's staff members to continue their constituent work and to hold elections in Turner's District 7 as soon as possible.

The council meeting begins at 3 p.m. in the council's fifth-floor chambers in City Hall.

Ross's letter and background material (1.5M PDF file).

The Boston City Council voted today to schedule a hearing on banning caffeinated alcoholic beverages such as Four Loko.

At-large Councilor John Connolly, co-sponsor of the request, said the city cannot simply sit by and let local liquor stores continue to stock the drinks while growing numbers of college and pre-college kids down them, putting themselves and others at risk. He said the combination of depressants - the alcohol - and stimulants - caffeine - leads to worse effects than alcohol alone.

How does "Four Loko: Banned in Boston" grab you? The Boston City Council this week will consider a formal inquiry into the health risks posed by Four Loko, a brand of beverages that is what you'd get if you mixed some Red Bull with vodka, then dumped some sugar into it.

City councilors John Connolly and Mark Ciommo - whose Allston/Brighton district is loaded with the sort of people who might drink the stuff - want to convene a session to consider "any appropriate action" the city could take against Four Loko.

The two point to warnings from federal and local college health officials about the risks posed by combining alcohol and caffeine and to efforts by local colleges to get their students to stop drinking the stuff. Last week, a Northeastern student was hospitalized after possibly excessive Four Loko consumption - along with possibly excessive vodka consumption.

Copy of the formal hearing request.

At least, that's what David Bernstein argues, pointing to, among other things, the council's role in finally getting firefighters a new contract.

NorthEndWaterfront.com reports city councilors Mike Ross (of course) and Sal LaMattina are working on an idea to "have students sign leases where certain loud party' terms are included." The idea is to then enforce those terms with fines or outright eviction.

Why is NorthEndWaterfront.com reporting on this? Seems the North End might soon have to rename itself East Allston, based on a rising number of complaints about out-of-control parties run by college students (the more enterprising of whom charge admission).

Boston.com talks to Jim Hennigan and Matt O'Malley, one of whom will be elected on Nov. 16 to represent West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain on the city council. Both say they would vote to expel turner because of his corruption conviction last week. City Council President Mike Ross set the date so that whoever wins the election to replace John Tobin can join the expulsion discussion and vote.

A Boston Licensing Board hearing turned heated this morning when City Councilor Maureen Feeney accused the new owner of the Ka-Carlos building at 33 Hancock St. of lying to residents and city officials about his plans for the building.

The City Council won't wait until after Chuck Turner is sentenced on extortion and perjury charges to consider whether to strip him of his seat on the council.

In a letter to Turner today, Council President Mike Ross said he's called a hearing of the council after its regular meeting on Dec. 1 - a date chosen to let whoever wins the vacant District 6 (West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain) have a say. That district's next councilor will be selected in a special election on Nov. 16.

Turner will be sentenced in federal district court on Jan. 25. Yesterday, he announced he would not appeal the verdict but would instead seek to have his supporters convince the judge to give him only probation - and to appeal to Ross to delay any expulsion hearing until after his sentencing.

Chuck Turner, convicted last week of extortion and perjury, said today he won't appeal - but will fight any attempt by his fellow councilors to boot him out of office. In a statement on his Web site, he writes: