Pols & Politics: Ex-Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson’s photo taken down … a week after her exit

Disgraced ex-Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson s photo was taken down Friday from the fifth-floor City Council lobby in City Hall where it remained hanging for a week after her resignation from the body took effect Fernandes Anderson who was convicted on federal corruption charges in early May departed her job as a city councilor on July But her photo remained hanging alongside professional portraits of the current councilors for the entirety of this past week in a prominent publicly-accessible City Hall location After the Herald inquired Friday about whether there were plans take down the ex-councilor s photo from the City Council lobby where visitors check in with a receptionist Council President Ruthzee Louijeune s office disclosed the removal was scheduled for the present day When petitioned what caused the delay in its removal Louijeune disclosed in a comment There was no delay There was necessary coordination between city departments who are busy serving the residents of this city Louijeune disclosed This is a non-story Councilor Erin Murphy disclosed however that removing the disgraced ex-councilor s photo should have been a higher priority Given Councilor Fernandes Anderson s federal guilty plea and impending prison sentence removing her portrait on July should ve been immediate Murphy noted in a comment Instead it lingered for a week a glaring failure to address this head on This delay not only exhibited a lack of accountability but also prevented the Council from moving forward and clearly separating itself from her actions Conclusively taking it down is overdue The Council can t keep avoiding responsibility like this Fernandes Anderson pleaded guilty on May to two of six masses corruption felony charges that were lodged against her in a federal indictment last December when she was also arrested by the feds outside her Dorchester home The ex-councilor agreed to plead guilty to two of the charges one count of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning a federal plan as part of a plea deal with the U S Attorney s office The four other wire fraud charges were dropped as part of the deal she entered into with federal prosecutors in early April The charges are tied to a kickback scheme Fernandes Anderson carried out at City Hall two years ago The then-councilor doled out a bonus to one of her Council staffers a relative but not immediate family member on the condition that be kicked back to her The handoff was coordinated by text and took place in a City Hall bathroom in June the federal indictment states Fernandes Anderson is set to be sentenced in federal court on July U S Attorney Leah Foley has recommended that the ex-councilor be sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay in restitution All that remains now of Fernandes Anderson s embattled Council tenure is an empty frame set to be filled by a photo of the next District councilor who will succeed her in representing Roxbury Dorchester Fenway and part of the South End after the November general voting process Until then the District Council frame and seat will both remain vacant Gayla Cawley Norfolk DA candidate applauds Sgt Yuriy Bukhenik s removal A candidate running for Norfolk County District Attorney says she is in full advocacy of the Massachusetts State Police removing Sgt Yuriy Buhkenik from the office I again applaud MA State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble for his leadership in reassigning another officer from the Norfolk County District Attorney s Office Dedham resident Djuna Perkins stated in a social media post last week a day after the rise came to light As DA I would have removed Sgt Yuri Bukhenik on day but now that will not be necessary the former assistant attorney general and head of the Suffolk County DA s domestic violence unit added I will eliminate the toxic tradition from the office and demand professionalism integrity and excellence so every resident of Norfolk County is safe and treated fairly under the law Bukhenik s removal from office comes as the fallout from the Karen Read matter spreads He is now on a temporary duty assignment at the Division of Standards and Training in the Framingham headquarters The sergeant who earned in and has already pulled down this year was previously forced to forfeit five days of leave for failing to properly supervise rogue ex-Trooper Michael Proctor who texted his boss vile observations about Karen Read that became a central theme in the murder event After two trials Read was ascertained guilty of just one charge drunken driving Related Articles Pols Politics What s next for Beacon Hill Democrats after finishing early-term priorities Pols Politics Boston city councilors want an HBCU campus Pols Politics Secretary of State William Galvin has concerns about upcoming census Pols Politics Karen Spilka compares ICE arrests to Adolf Hitler s rise to power Pols Politics Gov Healey touts WalletHub rankings Reality is more complicated Bukhenik s inauspicious exit from the Norfolk DA s office made him the third trooper linked to the Read incident to be banished Proctor was fired in March when Noble accepted the MSP Trial Board s recommendation to terminate Proctor for failing to uphold agency standards Det Lt Brian Tully was also removed as head of the detective bureau at the Norfolk DA s office as the Herald shared in October Perkins has called on Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey to resign from the post after the jury acquitted Read of second-degree murder in the death of her Boston Police officer boyfriend John O Keefe a charge Perkins says signals an inexperienced prosecutor The seat will be up for vote in the November balloting Lance Reynolds