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Fernandes Anderson officially resigns from Boston City Council
The embattled council member will leave office on July 4. She pleaded guilty to fraud and theft charges earlier this year.
Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson announced Thursday that she submitted her letter of resignation, about six months after she was first arrested on public corruption charges.
Fernandes Anderson pleaded guilty last month to one count of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds. She was accused of pocketing thousands of dollars through a kickback scheme involving a family member who was part of her staff.
The embattled councilor announced her resignation in a post on Instagram Thursday morning. Her last day on the City Council will be July 4.
“It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve you, my neighbors, my community, my people. Every policy I wrote, every budget line I fought for, every block I walked was rooted in love and loyalty to you, District 7,” she wrote to her constituents in Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway, and the South End.
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Fernandes Anderson’s political career was derailed last December, when federal authorities indicted her on federal public corruption charges.
Facing financial hardships in part because of a fine for a previous ethics violation, Fernandes Anderson concocted a kickback scheme, authorities alleged. She secretly hired a family member to her staff and told them that they would be receiving a large bonus, but that a large portion of that bonus would be covertly handed back to her.
Since staff bonus information is publicly available, Fernandes Anderson dished out bonuses to all her staffers in May 2023. But the family member received a bonus of $13,000, more than twice the total amount of all bonus payments to her other staffers combined, according to federal prosecutors.
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Eventually, Fernandes Anderson arranged to meet the family member in a City Hall bathroom, where $7,000 in cash was given back to her.
Fernandes Anderson initially pleaded not guilty and resisted calls for her resignation from Mayor Michelle Wu and her colleagues on the City Council. But in early April she agreed to plead guilty to two charges and announced that she would be resigning.
But she did not offer a clear timetable for her resignation, leading to heightened tensions over whether a special election would be warranted. A special election will not take place, and Fernandes Anderson will be replaced through the general election this fall.
After announcing she would resign, Fernandes Anderson delayed, citing her desire to continue to represent constituents through the City Council’s budget process and to lay the groundwork for a transition. Some frustrated colleagues amplified the need for greater ethics oversight on the body. Despite her guilty plea, councilors could not force her removal.
Fernandes Anderson is scheduled to be sentenced in late July. Federal prosecutors recommended a sentence of one year and a day, but whether Fernandes Anderson will serve prison time is yet to be determined.
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In her post, Fernandes Anderson described her work meeting with constituents and others to plan for her transition out of office. She created a “toolkit” for constituents and a “workbook” for the district.
The latter is meant to “demystify government” and empower residents to take action in their communities, she said. The “workbook” will include a complete record of all legislative work and projects initiated during her tenure, a resource guide, a section dedicated to civic education, a “scorecard” to help residents assess how elected officials are impacting District 7, and more.
Fernandes Anderson also shared a timeline of what to expect from her and her staff in the coming weeks. She will release a list of “milestones” this week, hold a listening session this weekend, distribute the “toolkit” next Monday, and meet with colleagues to discuss transition plans on June 21. Fernandes Anderson plans to participate in a vote on the city’s budget on June 25 and launch the “workbook” on June 28 before exiting office.
Wu’s office has said that it will devote additional resources to support District 7 constituents in the absence of representation on the City Council. A spokesperson for Wu did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.
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Fernandes Anderson was first elected to the City Council in 2021 and again in 2023. She was the first African immigrant and Muslim elected to the body. Ideologically, Fernandes Anderson often aligned with many of the progressives on the City Council.
“Thank you for trusting me, challenging me, and building with me. While my chapter as your Councilor ends, my service to this community continues in new forms,” she wrote in her farewell message. “I leave you not with an end, but with the tools to keep going, stronger and together.”
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