Pols & Politics: Jockeying heats up for Boston City Council president

Two contenders have emerged to succeed Ruthzee Louijeune as president of the Boston City Council next term Brian Worrell the Council s vice president and chair of the Options and Means committee and Gabriela Coletta Zapata chair of the Ruling body Operations committee are both jockeying for the role the Herald has learned Louijeune who succeeded Ed Flynn is ineligible to continue in the role which limits councilors to a two-year term as body president Worrell was approached by his colleagues to be Council president last term but didn t actively pursue the role instead opting to throw his encouragement behind Louijeune This time around he is jockeying for a chance to lead the Council a City Hall source explained the Herald Coletta Zapata is reported to be the other top contender for Council president Like Worrell she swiftly lined up behind Louijeune in her pursuit of the position ahead of this past term Both were the only councilors quoted in Louijeune s press release announcing that she had secured the seven votes necessary to become president Worrell and Coletta Zapata were seemingly rewarded for their patronage by securing the top two committee chair assignments on the City Council Avenues and Means which oversees the Council s budget process and Authorities Operations which plays a key role in finalizing act proposed by the mayor and Council Worrell was also named vice president Part of the jockeying for Council president involves behind the scenes deal-making with contenders vying to secure votes from their current and anticipated colleagues pending the results of next month s voting by promising chairmanships for their preferred committees a source recounted the Herald Councilor Flynn noted on X this week that the Council president deal-making was the talk of City Hall last Wednesday when the body s weekly meeting was held The campaign to elect the next City Council president is the main topic of discussion at City Hall in the present day Flynn wrote on X last Wednesday Candidates are actively lobbying their City Council colleagues and even prospective colleagues for votes in exchange for crucial City Council committee positions and other promises Crinkling PAC As the saying goes politics makes strange bedfellows It also produced a misdirection maneuver seldom used but comical A call by the Herald to one of the officers of A Balanced and Better Boston Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee was met with a Hello then a lot of crinkling noise A call back went straight to message where it was noted the aluminum-foil-sounding annoyance was unique if not annoying The PAC s stated goal is to patronage candidates who represent a balanced and fair Boston for all and oppose those who do not That officer according to the Boston gov website was once a top staffer to former Mayor Marty Walsh where in March of is was written that she has a wide-ranging background across sectors it is clear that she is someone who is smart and driven and who has a keen sensibility of the opportunities and challenges we face as a city Her commitment to common-sense solutions will be a valuable asset as we work together to carry out our wide-ranging and progressive agenda of bold initiatives to move Boston forward There was no mention of crinkling to get out of a call from a journalist AG s one-note approach Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is once again on the attack over SNAP benefits She posted late Friday that the federal regime is making a deliberate and unprecedented choice to neglect to feed American families This decision is cruel and shameful and I urge the President to take immediate action to restore benefits and ensure millions of Americans including children do not go hungry Yet she failed to mention Congresswoman Katherine Clark who stated that Democrats are using the authorities shutdown as leverage The AG s comment did not call out Clark for equating hunger with any political advantage Of program there will be families that are going to suffer Clark the House Minority Whip commented in a national interview this past week but it is one of the minimal leverage times we have The shutdown sadly can t be leveraged by those furloughed or soon needing to seek food assistance elsewhere as Thanksgiving looms Maybe Clark can dust off Scrooge comparisons if this insanity lasts until Christmas And Clark is still being paid with her net worth estimated to be in the low double-digit millions Andrew Harnik Getty ImagesRep Katherine Clark AP file photo Pols Politics logo Boston Herald