Boston City Councilor-at-Large Michael Flaherty is calling for embattled colleague Kendra Lara to resign after Lara's crash last month in Jamaica Plain, for which she's been charged.
Flaherty is the first city councilor to publicly say that Lara should resign over the June 30 crash, in which authorities allege her speeding car drove into a building, injuring her son. A not guilty plea was entered on her behalf at her arraignment this week on charges including permitting injury to a child, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license. She was released without bail, but a judge required that she not drive without a valid license.
When asked on NBC10 Boston's political show "@Issue," which airs in full Sunday, if Lara should resign, Flaherty said he thinks she should.
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"That decision should have already been made, that that councilor should have taken her own inventory, looked at the facts," said Flaherty, a long time city councilor who isn't running for re-election. "Checking it off as a mistake, or didn't check a box? The behavior is one of habitual scofflaw, and to go 10 years without a license isn't a mistake, it's the middle finger, frankly."
Lara has apologized over the crash and asked to be held accountable, but also says she plans to continue representing the city's Sixth District. Supporters have said she doesn't deserve to be ousted from the council.
Outside of court on Wednesday, Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson said she doesn't think "you just throw a whole person away because of a mistake."
City Council President Ed Flynn has said earlier this month that the body is "not living up to that high bar that we should be meeting," citing, among other things, Lara's crash.
On Friday, Flaherty also told NBC10 Boston that he thinks the city could shrink the size of the council, due to an overlap of work with Boston Neighborhood Services and 311.
“You can make the argument with [Office of Neighborhood Service] and 311, in the future there may not be a need for a district city councilor. You may want several at-large city councilors to be checks and balances for the mayor,” he said.
Watch the full episode of "@Issue" on Sunday on NBC10 Boston at 5 a.m., on NECN at 12:30, 2:30 and 5 p.m. and streaming on NBC Boston News.
