Domestic violence takes center stage
A spat from last term spilled over into the first Boston City Council committee hearing of the year, with the new president Ruthzee Louijeune and former president Ed Flynn sparring over his renewed push for a domestic violence committee she helped to kill in November.
Flynn brought up the “critically important” need for a standalone committee dedicated to tackling domestic violence yesterday during a Strong Women, Families and Communities Committee hearing that focused on a federal violence against women grant, prompting Louijeune to essentially tell her predecessor to back off.
“I’m glad this is in your committee where it should be,” Flynn told Strong Women Committee chair Erin Murphy, referring to the grant, “but I also think there should be a standalone domestic violence committee on the Boston City Council, something I have advocated in the past, something I’m going to continue to advocate for because this is an important issue.”
Flynn said domestic violence is an issue that impacts “so many people,” including city residents, neighbors and the immigrant community. It’s a “distinct issue” that deserves its own committee, he said while pledging to continue trying to garner support from his council colleagues for its creation.
Louijeune put a pin in the idea, however, saying that the Strong Women, Families and Communities Committee was created by former Councilor and now U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley with the stated intention of addressing domestic violence issues.
Also addressing the committee chair Murphy, Louijeune said that when the domestic violence grant came before the City Council last Wednesday, she intentionally chose to refer it to Strong Women, Families and Communities.
“It was previously in Public Health,” Louijeune said, referring to Murphy’s request that she move it from that committee, which she initially referred the grant to, to the one Murphy chairs.
“I moved it to this committee because I know how much you champion it and also because this was the vision of Councilor Pressley in creating this committee,” Louijeune said, adding that intimate partner violence is at the root of gun and a lot of other violence that occurs in the U.S., “And it’s important that we get this right.”
An undeterred Flynn brought up his intention to push for a standalone domestic violence committee again later in the hearing, saying that it’s a “critically important issue” that is “impacting every neighborhood.”
“If we agree that it is an important position, let’s try to come together and create a standalone domestic violence committee,” Flynn said.
The debate, while not so much heated as it was pointed, hearkens back to what occurred at the end of Flynn’s Council president term in November, at which point Louijeune had already stated she had the votes to succeed him in that role. Council rules limit the presidency to a two-year term.
Louijeune was among the two councilors to vote against Flynn’s proposal to change the Council rules to create a Committee on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, which needed two-thirds approval from the 13-member body but garnered just five votes, with three councilors voting present and three others leaving the room before a vote was taken.
Prior to the vote, Louijeune joined those who stated that there were several other committees that could conceivably cover the topic of domestic violence: Public Health, Homelessness and Recovery; Strong Women, Families and Communities; and Public Safety and Criminal Justice.
Flynn said, however, that the Council had not held a hearing on domestic violence in “a long time,” and that a standalone committee would be aimed at elevating the issue — which drew a lot of interest from councilors yesterday.
The hearing was held despite what Murphy described as “pushback” from Mayor Michelle Wu’s intergovernmental relations department.
Murphy said intergovernmental relations had suggested that rather than have the Council hold a hearing on an annual grant the body tends to pass, the administration could provide a “one-pager” document with information on what the federal funding would be used for.
“But as you can see, this is very important,” Murphy said, remarks that Councilor Julia Mejia described as “a little shade coming into intergovernmental.
Addressing those remarks, a Wu spokesperson said, “We offered materials and were happy to attend the hearing.”
Murphy said that while the grant amount of $146,089 was relatively low, it was important to hold a hearing to avoid the perception of the Council acting as a “rubber stamp” for the Wu administration.
Mejia replied, however, by stating that the body already brought that perception upon itself last week, however, when it chose to approve a $13 million federal counter-terrorism grant without a hearing, which she had pushed for.
The Violence Against Women STOP grant administered by the U.S. Department of Justice would fund a civilian domestic violence advocate who provides services for Jamaica Plain, East Boston and Charlestown, as well as overtime for all advocates citywide, according to a communication from the mayor.
There are six other advocates throughout the city, four of whom are funded through the city budget and two who are funded by a state Department of Public Health grant, Jenna Savage, deputy director of the Boston Police Department’s Office of Research and Development told the Council.
Councilor John FitzGerald pushed for a future advocate in the South End, particularly at and around Mass and Cass to target the domestic violence that takes place among the homeless.
Savage agreed with the need, citing the human trafficking that occurs there.
Murphy plans to call for a vote on the grant at the Wednesday Council meeting.