Livestream: Boston City Council holds first meeting amid Ricardo Arroyo controversy

The Boston City Council appeared to be on track for a potentially contentious meeting on Wednesday, as councilors were slated to meet as a full body for the first time since news broke that Councilor and Suffolk County district attorney candidate Ricardo Arroyo was twice investigated as a teenager for possible sexual assaults, but not charged.

Controversy began to ensnarl the council in recent days, as two councilors filed what are essentially city subpoenas for information on their colleagues and Council President Ed Flynn opted to temporarily strip chairmanships from Arroyo.

On Friday, Councilor Frank Baker, who has butted heads with Arroyo on the council before, began filing subpoenas for police and school records related to the investigations surrounding Arroyo, GBH News reported. Baker formally filed the request on Monday.

Apparently in response, on Monday, Councilor Kendra Lara, an Arroyo supporter, filed a police information request of her own, seeking information about Baker’s guilty plea to a charge of marijuana possession with intent to sell in 1993 — nearly two decades before he was elected to represent District 3.

And also on Monday, Flynn, the council president, notified City Clerk Alex Geourntas he had temporarily re-adjusted committee assignments for 60 days, removing Arroyo from his chairmanship positions.

Arroyo was the sitting chair of the powerful Committee on Government Operations and of the council’s redistricting committee. He was also the vice chairman on the entire council.

All three matters are on Wednesday’s agenda.

Arroyo has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has said he did not know about the investigations until this month.

A police report obtained by the Globe, however, states that Arroyo spoke with police regarding the first investigation in 2005.

Wednesday’s meeting also arrived amid a backdrop of new developments within the past 24 hours.

The woman who accused Arroyo of assault in 2005 broke her silence to The Boston Globe in a report published Tuesday — a story that spurred a wave of rescinded endorsements from a trio of the state’s most influential Democrats: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

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