Battenfeld: Fernandes Anderson brings yet more scrutiny to Boston City Council

Tania Fernandes Anderson has brought yet more scrutiny and potential disgrace to the Boston City Council clown show – one of the highest paid nearly no show jobs in Massachusetts.

The disclosure that Fernandes Anderson is under federal investigation is just the latest smear on the council, which has seen more than its share of embarrassment and scandal over the last few years.

Fernandes Anderson vowed not to quit on Wednesday outside a council meeting, and why should she?

Councilors must only show up to their office once a week for their $115,000 a year paycheck but even that seems too challenging for Fernandes Anderson, whose past behavior includes refusing to say the oath of office and brazenly hiring her son and sister to her staff payroll.

There are some hard-working councilors for sure, but it’s also a good excuse for some to be out “in the district” and not in their offices. Even during their meetings, councilors are usually up to something like yelling and screaming at each other or handing out pay raises.

It’s unclear how much new trouble Fernandes Anderson is in now because the feds refuse to say what they are investigating – a sad commentary on non-transparency in government.

It hurts Fernandes Anderson that we don’t know what she’s allegedly done, leaving her constituents and the media to speculate and rely on unconfirmed rumors swirling around City Hall.

All we know for facts is that the feds have issued subpoenas at City Hall for information.

And the councilor herself is giving no clues as to what the investigation might be about.

“To my people, District 7 constituents: You know that I am always transparent with you and always available,” Fernandes Anderson said in a statement. “My job is to show up and fight for you, and I will continue to do just that — the people’s work.

“Unfortunately, I am not able to comment on this matter at this time. As soon as I can, I will be sure to share more with you.”

Yes, we’ll be waiting anxiously for her “share.”

When reporters corralled her at City Hall, she didn’t offer much more than self-pity and prayer.

“I think something like this is tough, right? How would you feel if you were under something like this?

“It’s prayer. It’s feeling just everything that you do, with every step that you ask God to guard you and protect you, and I just say Alhamdulillah to everything,” Fernandes Anderson said, referencing an Arabic phrase that means “praise be to God.”

Unfortunately for Fernandes Anderson, God cannot save her from the feds. When they get a whiff of wrongdoing, they generally don’t bow to a higher power.

We’ll likely know more details about the investigation, but until then it’s just another ugly chapter in the history of the Boston City Council.

The last city councilor to run afoul of the law was the late Chuck Turner who was sentenced to three years in jail in 2018 for taking a $1,000 bribe from an informant who claimed to be seeking a liquor license.

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Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson subject of federal investigation

City Councilor Tanya Fernandes Anderson in the the council chambers. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

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