In 1992, Althea Garrison was elected a state rep in Roxbury, the first time a trans person had ever won election to a state legislature. She didn't tell anybody about that though and never discussed it, not even after the Herald outed her - at a time when coming out as trans could mean being murdered. In September, she discussed the issue publicly for the first time in an interview with Kate Sosin of the 19th. Read more.
They may be running against each other for mayor, but at-large councilors Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi-George said today they are seeking a measure that would give city workers up to three days of paid leave should they feel ill after getting a Covid-19 shot. Feeling like you're coming down with the flu is common after the second shot in particular; health experts say that shows the shot is working to stimulate the immune system. Read more.
She hasn't quite decided what yet, but look for another at-large council race, the Dorchester Reporter reports.
The Boston City Council today took no action on a resolution by Councilor Althea Garrison (at large) to formally support Boston Police and the local police action against outside agitators "committing crimes of assault against them," instead sending it to a council committee for a hearing and further discussion. Read more.
City Councilor Tim McCarthy (Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan) wants to ban mask wearing on public roads. Read more.
District City Councilors Matt O'Malley and Tim McCarthy both oppose a proposed charter school on Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale, near where their districts meet, but they said today there's no way they're supporting a resolution by at-large Councilor Althea Garrison to put the entire council on record as opposing the proposal. Read more.
A proposal by City Councilor Althea Garrison (at large) to study how to bring rent control back to Boston was met with virulent opposition from three councilors who rent out units who thundered rent control would turn the city into the sort of hellhole they said it was back before voters statewide eliminated rent control in 1994. Read more.
The City Council will look at how to curb noise in Boston - from screaming jets overhead to screaming, drunken tourists carousing through the North End late at night. Read more.
Hotel building, with outline of former companion building, torn down before it fell down. Photo by Rosabri Mejia.
A City Council committee will hold a hearing on a proposal by Councilor Althea Garrison (at large) to urge the BPDA to quash developers' plans to renovate the crumbling eyesore of the former Alexandra Hotel on Washington Street at Massachusetts Avenue by building a 13-story boutique hotel inside a renovated facade.
Unusual for a hearing request, however, no other councilors had their names added as co-sponsors. Read more.
Boston city councilors take turns inviting local members of the clergy to open their Wednesday meetings with a convocation. Today was Althea Garrison's first turn and the at-large councilor invited her friend, Roy Owens, pastor of the Walthall Chapel Church God in Christ in Roxbury.
Owens typically runs for elected office every year and makes opposition to the gays in general and same-sex marriage in particular a key part of his campaigns. Read more.
The Boston City Council agreed today to look at withholding the more than $85 million the city coughs up for T service every year until the T can meet performance guidelines that would be set after public hearings across the city.
City Council President Andrea Campbell today proposed changes to the city charter that would extend the current two-year terms of councilors four years and to eliminate the way Althea Garrison became an at-large councilor last month. Read more.
Garrison and City Council President Andrea Campbell.
Mayor Walsh swore Althea Garrison in today as an at-large city councilor, following the resignation of Ayanna Pressley, now in Washington. Read more.
It's not as if we all haven't known since the September primaries that come Jan. 2, Althea Garrison would replace Ayanna Pressley on the City Council.
And yet, as one roving UHub photographer discovered today, it seemed like a huge surprise at City Hall. He reports Garrison, her new chief of staff and some friends made their way up to the fifth floor at 12:30 p.m. - as somebody at City Hall told them to - only: Read more.
At 8:01 p.m., Associated Press declared Ayanna Pressley would become the first black woman member of Congress from Massachusetts, since she had no opposition in her race in the 7th Congressional District, after defeating incumbent Mike Capuano in the September primary. Read more.
Poster in Dudley Square this morning.
Perennial candidate Althea Garrison, who has run pretty much every year since the 1960s for city council, state representative or state senator - all but once without success - will finally get back into office after Ayanna Pressley goes to Washington on Jan. 1.
But first, she's still running for state representative in the 5th Suffolk (Roxbury, Dorchester) state representative's race, as an independent against Liz Miranda, who won yesterday's Democratic primary. Read more.
The Dorchester Reporter reports Garrison is running for the state-senate seat vacated by Linda Dorcena Forry. Demcratic state reps Nick Collins and Evandro Carvalho are also running, in the April 3 primary.
Essaibi-George, DaRosa, Flaherty, Garrison, King, Payaso, Pressley, Wu.
All eight of the candidates running for at-large seats on the Boston City Council expressed reservations about the idea of Amazon building its second headquarters in Boston - with or without tax subsidies - at a forum in Roslindale tonight. Read more.
District 4 candidates: Campbell, Lacet, Williams, Yancey
Most Boston voters will get to ignore the Sept. 8 preliminary elections for city council: Only District 4 (Dorchester, Mattapan) and District 7 (Roxbury) have enough candidates to warrant an election - and neither has any candidate debates or forums scheduled between now and the election. Read more.
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