With the fallout still reverberating a day after Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson announced she would plead guilty to federal corruption charges and resign her Roxbury-anchored seat, one question loomed above the others for City Hall observers and constituents alike: What happens next?
It’s unclear when or whether there will be a special election to replace Fernandes Anderson. And while the opening period to sign up for municipal elections in the fall starts April 16, and the candidate field won’t likely be set for some weeks, at least three hopefuls are already running for Fernandes Anderson’s District 7 post: Said Abdikarim, Said Ahmed, and Mavrick Afonso.
Abdikarim and Ahmed signaled their intentions to run weeks before Fernandes Anderson’s resignation announcement, and both shared stories of coming to Boston as children from war-torn Somalia. Over the phone Wednesday, both addressed Fernandes Anderson’s resignation while touting their own experience as the best fit to represent the district, which is anchored in Roxbury but includes parts of Dorchester, the South End, and Fenway.
“It is a sad day for Roxbury and the residents of District 7,” said Ahmed, a 43-year-old father of five and track coach who has previously run for state representative.
Abdikarim, a 39-year-old nonprofit executive and father of six who has run for the council in the past, referred to Fernandes Anderson stepping down as “the decision she’s made.”
“I can only concentrate on what I bring to the table,” said Abdikarim.
Afonso’s campaign, meanwhile, confirmed Wednesday afternoon that he was also running for District 7.
On Tuesday, court filings showed Fernandes Anderson will plead guilty to two counts for allegedly arranging to receive a kickback from a City Council staff member: one count of wire fraud and one of theft from a program receiving federal funds. Four other wire fraud counts will be dropped by prosecutors as part of the deal.
Prosecutors will recommend that she be sentenced to one year and a day in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release, and be ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution.
US District Judge Indira Talwani, who is presiding over the case, is not required to accept that sentence and the plea agreement does not say what punishment Fernandes Anderson’s defense lawyer will recommend. As part of the deal, Fernandes Anderson waived her right to appeal.
Fernandes Anderson was arrested in December on federal wire fraud and theft charges for allegedly pocketing a $7,000 kickback inside a City Hall bathroom from a relative who worked on her staff. But in a statement of facts filed in court Tuesday she also admitted to filing fraudulent federal income tax returns for three years; however, she has not been charged with tax offenses.
Prosecutors alleged Fernandes Anderson willfully omitted about $11,000 in income she earned from a Massachusetts-based corporation from her 2021 tax return, as well as not reporting campaign funds she used for personal enrichment on her 2022 and 2023 tax returns and the $7,000 kickback that she received from her staffer on her 2023 tax return.
A federal indictment alleges Fernandes Anderson, 46, hired her relative in December 2022, then gave her a $13,000 bonus months later with a caveat: She had to funnel more than half of it back to the councilor.
Joyce Ferriabough Bolling, a political consultant who lives in the district, said on Wednesday that Fernandes Anderson did the right thing in resigning. Ferriabough Bolling hoped that Fernandes Anderson will not receive prison time. Constituents, she said, feel good about Fernandes Anderson apologizing.
“Everybody can make a mistake and this is a big one because many people in the community felt let down,” said Ferriabough Bolling, whose late husband, Bruce, was a councilor who represented the district.
Still, Ferriabough Bolling said the District 7 constituents are resilient and she anticipated whoever runs for the seat will be deeply scrutinized.
“There’s a whole bunch of people talking about it now,” she said. “The floodgates are open.”
But for now, Afonso, Ahmed, and Abdikarim seem to be three declared candidates vying to succeed Fernandes Anderson. Ahmed had more than $33,000 cash-on-hand in his campaign coffers at the end of March, according to state records, while Abdikarim’s campaign had more than $14,000, and Afonso had more than $24,000.
Ahmed, who is a cofounder of Boston United Track and Cross Country Club, has worked with Boston youth for decades. He moved to Boston from Somalia at age 12. He was a track star at Boston English high school, where he won the national championship in the 800 meters and set numerous state and New England records. He ran at the University of Arkansas and also professionally under a Nike sponsorship deal.
Wednesday, Ahmed said providing quality constituent services would be his priority on the council.
“Roxbury has been my America. Roxbury has been my home from the moment I came to the United States until today,” he said.
Abdikarim was resettled, along with his family, from Somalia by Catholic Charities when he was 9 years old. Housing continues to be among the most pressing issues for district residents, he said. It’s an issue he has firsthand experience with, he said, having lived in four different public housing developments in Boston.
He was the oldest of 10 siblings, and it was difficult to find a home large enough to accommodate the size of his family, he said. He started working at 13, he said, to help provide for his family.
“I don’t think anyone understands the housing issue more than me,” he said.
Afonso, meanwhile, is a 36-year-old Cabo Verdean American who is originally from Dorchester’s Four Corners neighborhood. He works for the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, where, according to his campaign website, “he is focused on bringing down the cost of housing and bringing together stakeholders on the state’s five-year housing plan.”
Afonso’s site states that he is running to “help lower costs, close the wealth gap and provide opportunities in District 7 so that we all can thrive.”
At the City Hall Plaza Civic Pavilion on Wednesday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she has not looked over the plea agreement Fernandes Anderson signed, and has not been briefed on whether the councilor reached out to the mayor’s office before announcing she intends to resign.
Wu, who previously called for Fernandes Anderson to resign when the federal indictment became public, on Wednesday called the situation “incredibly unfortunate.”
“It seems that there has been a resolution,” Wu said, when asked by reporters about the issue at an unrelated event Wednesday. “We will be working to support [Fernandes Anderson’s] district, and make sure that services and city programs can still be available for residents.”
When Fernandes Anderson officially resigns, it will trigger the city’s process to schedule and hold a special election to fill her seat, if it is more than 180 days before the next regular municipal election, according to the city charter. Her seat would remain vacant until the special preliminary, then general elections determine her successor.
When asked about how Fernandes Anderson’s open seat would leave her district’s residents unrepresented during the budget process, Wu replied that that advocacy will have to come from her administration, at-large councilors, and the council president.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Council President Ruthzee Louijeune removed Fernandes Anderson from all the council committees that she sits on.
Fernandes Anderson attended Wednesday’s regular City Council meeting, but refused to speak with most reporters or answer questions about the plea agreement and her case.
In a statement responding to Globe questions Wednesday, she said she attended Wednesday’s meeting because, “It is important to me to put my constituents first, focus on accountability, do the right thing, resign but, with a sound transition plan that ensures stability for my District.”
She wrote that she does not know what comes next for her work-wise, but “the timeline for an exit plan has to be decided by the District 7 Advisory Council and my Constituents.”
”My focus in this moment is to do everything I can in collaboration with the District 7 Advisory Council to create a proper transition,” she said in her statement.
Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. Follow him @Danny__McDonald. Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold.