Politics

Election authorities side with Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara in residency eligibility case

The Boston Ballot Law Commission found that objectors failed to prove that District 6 Councilor Kendra Lara lived outside of her district the year before she was elected.

City Councilor Kendra Lara attended a hearing Tuesday where the Boston Ballot Law Commission decided whether she was ineligible to hold her seat based on residency. Nancy Lane/The Boston Herald

By Susannah Sudborough

August 2, 2023

3 minutes to read

Election officials ruled in favor of Boston District 6 City Councilor Kendra Lara Tuesday in a case that challenged her eligibility to hold the seat based on whether she’d lived in her district long enough, The Boston Globe reported.

The Boston Ballot Law Commission met to evaluate whether objectors’ claims that Lara had only proven five months of residency in her district before being elected — instead of the required year — was enough to make her ineligible, the newspaper wrote.

The four commissioners unanimously agreed that the burden of proof lay on the objectors to show that Lara lived outside her district, and that they had not met that bar, the Globe reported.

Lara offered to provide proof that she’d lived in her district, which includes Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury, for the required amount of time, but the commissioners decided this was not necessary, the newspaper wrote.

The arguments

Objector Anthony Strong argued that Lara’s paperwork left questions open and suggested she could be lying, the Globe reported. He said that in the documents, Lara listed two addresses and used two different last names.

In addition to Lara, the councilor used the name “Hicks” — her legal last name that she took from her husband and campaigned under two years ago. Lara said she switched back to Lara, her maiden name, after she and her husband separated, the Globe reported.

As for the two addresses, Commissioner Ellen Rooney said they both are located in District 6, the Boston Herald reported. Lara said she’s lived in Jamaica Plain for seven years, first on South Huntington Avenue and now on Saint Rose Street, NBC10 Boston reported.

Strong also brought attention to the fact that the lease Lara submitted for review doesn’t list what she pays in rent. That information is important, he argued, because one of the landlords on the lease is Lara’s campaign treasurer, who has “a vested interest” in her reelection, the Globe reported.

But, Boston Municipal Court Chief Justice Roberto Ronquillo Jr., who was overseeing the hearing, made clear during the proceedings that the only issue at play was the question of Lara’s residency, the newspaper wrote.

Reactions to the ruling

Lara said Tuesday that the case was “frivolous” and “politically motivated,” given that she faces two challengers for her seat in the preliminary municipal election on Sept. 12, the Globe reported.

“These laws are in place to protect our constituents, and this is just a moment where they were exploited for political gain,” she told reporters.

One of the four objectors, Rasheed Walters, was among the plaintiffs in a case which challenged Boston City Council’s original redistricting map and got it thrown out.

“This is not political,” Walters said, according to the Herald. “We pay her salary. She represents us. It’s all about figuring out if she is upholding the standards that have been laid out for anybody running for office.”

Residency challenges to Boston city councilors are rare, the Globe reported. The last one, which happened in 2015, was also unsuccessful.

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Lara’s other challenges

Lara has come under fire recently for crashing a car into a Jamaica Plain home while her son was in the back seat, causing him to suffer a minor head injury. Police allege that she was going over 50 mph in a 25 mph zone. She is now facing charges in connection with the incident.

The crash led to revelations that Lara’s license was revoked in 2015, and that she’d been regularly driving to City Hall in someone else’s car. In response to all this, another Boston city councilor called for her resignation.

But Lara has been adamant that she will still run for reelection this year. In September’s preliminary election, she will face West Roxbury IT director William King and Jamaica Plain lawyer Ben Weber.

Election authorities side with Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara in residency eligibility case