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Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson admits to ethics violations

Fernandes Anderson agreed to pay a $5,000 penalty for conflict of interest violations regarding her hiring family members and increasing their pay.

Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson. Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe

July 25, 2023

2 minutes to read

Another Boston city councilor, Tania Fernandes Anderson, has admitted to violating conflict of interest law.

She admitted to violating the law by hiring her sister and her son to paid positions on her staff, according to the State Ethics Commission. Fernandes Anderson admitted to the conduct in a signed disposition agreement and agreed to pay a $5,000 civil penalty.

Not long after she was elected to City Council in November 2021, Fernandes Anderson appointed her sister as her director of constituent services, a full-time position. After Fernandes Anderson was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2022, she participated in a City Council vote to approve the appointment, according to the Ethics Commission.

Fernandes Anderson first set her sister’s annual salary at $65,000. She increased it to $70,000 that June and awarded her sister a $7,000 bonus, according to the Ethics Commission.

In June 2022, Fernandes Anderson also appointed her son as a full-time office manager with an annual salary of $52,000. She participated in a City Council vote on the appointment on July 15, 2022, and increased her son’s annual salary to $70,000 just 11 days later, according to the Ethics Commission.

Fernandes Anderson ended both the employment of her son and her sister on Aug. 31, 2022, officials said.

The conflict of interest law prohibits municipal employees from participating in their official capacity in matters in which they know members of their immediate family have a financial interest.

The revelation about Fernades Anderson’s actions is the latest controversy to plague City Council this year. Last month, Councilor Ricardo Arroyo admitted to violating conflict of interest law by continuing to represent his brother in a sexual harassment lawsuit after Arroyo joined City Council.

Councilor Kendra Lara has made headlines since she crashed a car into a Jamaica Plain house on June 30. She was accused of driving an uninsured car more than double the speed limit without a valid license at the time. Police also said she did not have her 7-year-old son properly restrained in a booster seat at the time.

Lara appeared in court last week. A judge agreed with a recommendation from prosecutors that she should face charges of operating negligently so as to endanger and recklessly permitting bodily injury to a child under 14. She is also charged with driving a car with a suspended license.

Arroyo, Fernandes Anderson, and Councilor Julia Mejia attended Lara’s arraignment to show their support, The Boston Globe reported.

Councilor Michael Flaherty called for Lara’s resignation in an interview that aired over the weekend, telling NBC10 Boston that her behavior is that of “a habitual scofflaw.”

Council President Ed Flynn has also publicly called out his colleagues for their “troubling ethical and legal lapses.”

Disposition Agreement in the Matter of Tania Fernandes Anderson by Ross Cristantiello on Scribd