A metropolis resident filed a grievance with the Boston Election Department, difficult the residency of District 6 Councilor Kendra Lara.
The grievance, filed Thursday night and obtained by the Herald, states that the resident is “formally challenging the residency of the district of Kendra Lara, also known as Kendra Hicks, for District 6 of the Boston City Council.”
The problem may set off a assessment from the Boston Election Commission. Lara is looking for a second time period and faces two challengers within the Sept. 12 preliminary election.
Lara denied the allegation, telling the Herald that she lives within the district she represents, on the deal with listed on her marketing campaign submitting with the Boston Election Department and voter registration type: 46 Saint Rose St., a multi-family house in Jamaica Plain.
“That is my house,” Lara stated. “I moved into this apartment in February.”
Prior to that, Lara stated she lived at 161 South Huntington Ave. in Jamaica Plain for six years. That advanced, Bell Olmsted Park, is income-restricted housing by means of the Boston Planning & Development Agency.
Lara addressed rumors that she was staying with a pal outdoors of Boston, stating that she was at her listed deal with in Jamaica Plain whereas talking with the Herald on Thursday night.
“I’m literally in my house with my kid,” Lara stated. “Why would I be spending time in Somerville?”
Lara declined to remark, nonetheless, on statements made by a metropolis spokesperson, confirming that the District 6 councilor was seen on safety footage “regularly” driving right into a City Hall storage with a revoked license.
“I have put out a statement and I will refer you back to the statement that my office put out,” Lara stated. “If we have any other comment to make then we will reach out and let you know. But the reality is that this is a case that’s being heard in court and I’m not going to make any comment about an open case.”
Lara, 33, is because of seem within the West Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court on July 19 for a clerk Justice of the Peace’s listening to, in reference to a June 30 crash the place the councilor is alleged to have pushed an unregistered and uninsured automotive right into a Centre Street house in Jamaica Plain.
She can be dealing with costs for driving with a revoked driver’s license, which in response to police paperwork shared with the Herald, had first been suspended in 2013. Her license was revoked by Massachusetts after she was cited in Connecticut in March 2015, which had resulted in her license being suspended in that state.
Amid questions that Lara was additionally driving to City Hall and parking at a storage with a revoked license, City Council President Ed Flynn requested a assessment of worker parking procedures by means of the Boston Property Management Division.
Specifically, Flynn was looking for a assessment of whether or not metropolis councilors, staffers, and any City of Boston worker parking on the government storage or on the Donnelly Garage was “required to provide verification of a valid driver’s license, copy of a vehicle registration, and insurance.”
In response to a public information request from the Boston Globe, looking for digital camera footage of the chief storage, “city officials reviewed the footage and confirmed that Councilor Lara drove a dark gray Honda Civic into and out of the garage regularly,” a metropolis spokesperson advised the Herald on Thursday.
“We are not releasing footage at this time while the city reviews the records request for potential security exemptions,” the town spokesperson stated.
The automotive’s description matches the one described in a police report for the June 30 crash that was beforehand supplied to the Herald.
The footage reviewed by metropolis officers solely goes again 30 days, the spokesperson stated.
A City Hall worker advised the Herald, nonetheless, that Lara is a “full-time driver” who “parks in a garage as much as any other.” City councilors are capable of swipe the cross card they use to get into their places of work to get into the chief storage, and have assigned spots, the worker stated.
Lara was clocked at going twice the velocity restrict earlier than crashing into the Jamaica Plain house final month, in response to police paperwork.
Her 7-year-old son, Zaire, was not in a automotive seat as required for kids underneath 8 and under 57 inches in peak, which prompted authorities to file a 51A baby abuse or neglect type with the Department of Children and Families. The boy was injured within the crash and was handled at Children’s Hospital in Boston, police wrote.
Lara issued an apology for the crash in a press release final Saturday.
“We are all accountable for our actions, and I am no different, which is why I offer my sincerest apologies to everyone, especially the residents of District 6,” she stated. “As an elected official, I’ve worked hard to center the dignity and humanity of my constituents. Today, I ask you to see mine as I correct my mistake.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”