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 4. But her photo remained hanging alongside professional portraits of the 12 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 said “the removal was scheduled for today.” When asked what caused the delay in its removal, Louijeune said in a statement, “There was no delay.” “There was necessary coordination between city departments who are busy serving the residents of this city,” Louijeune said. “This is a non-story.” Councilor Erin Murphy said, 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 4 should’ve been immediate,” Murphy said in a statement. “Instead, it lingered for a week — a glaring failure to address this head on. “This delay not only showed a lack of accountability but also prevented the Council from moving forward and clearly separating itself from her actions. Finally taking it down is overdue. The Council can’t keep avoiding responsibility like this.” Fernandes Anderson, 46, pleaded guilty on May 5 to two of six public 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 program — 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 $13,000 bonus to one of her Council staffers, a relative but not immediate family member, on the condition that $7,000 be kicked back to her. The handoff was coordinated by text and took place in a City Hall bathroom in June 2023, the federal indictment states. Fernandes Anderson is set to be sentenced in federal court on July 29. 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 $13,000 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 7 councilor — who will succeed her in representing Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of the South End after the November general election. Until then, the District 7 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 support 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 development came to light. “As DA, I would have removed Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik on day #1, 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 culture 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 case spreads. He is now on a “temporary duty assignment” at the Division of Standards and Training in the Framingham headquarters. The sergeant, who earned $211,961 in 2024 and has already pulled down $110,851 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 case. After two trials, Read was found 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 case 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 reported 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 2026 election. — Lance Reynolds