Recorded February 2, 2018; first published February 7
Annissa Essaibi George[lower-alpha 1] (born December 12, 1973)[1] is an American politician who served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council. First elected in 2015, she served on the council from 2016 to 2022. She was a candidate in the 2021 Boston mayoral election. She placed second in the nonpartisan primary, but was defeated in the general election by fellow city councilor Michelle Wu. Since November 2022, Essaibi George has served as the president of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit organization Big Sister Boston.
Born and raised in Boston, Essaibi George began her career as a student services liaison at the Boston Private Industry Council. After receiving a master's in education, she later entered the field of education and worked as a social studies teacher at East Boston High School. A Democrat, Essaibi George entered electoral politics by running unsuccessfully for an at-large seat on the Boston City Council in 2013. Two years later, she won election to an at-large seat in the 2015 Boston City Council election. She was reelected to the Boston City Council in both 2017 and 2019. On the Boston City Council, she was regarded to be an ally of Mayor Marty Walsh, who had been an acquaintance of Essaibi George dating back to their childhoods. Having been first elected on a social services-centered platform, Essaibi George undertook work in that realm. She founded the Boston City Council's Homelessness, Mental Health, and Recovery Committee in 2016, which was later disestablished by in 2020 during the council presidency of Kim Janey to the disagreement of Essaibi George. Essaibi George organized needle clean-up drives. She opposed the idea of the city establishing supervised consumption sites (in the mold of supervised injection sites) as a response to public safety concerns regarding drug use. Martin J. Valencia of The Boston Globe partially credited Essaibi George's advocacy as a city councilor as contributing to the city acting to supply each of the city's public schools with a full-time social worker and a full-time nurse.
In January 2021, Essaibi George announced her candidacy in that year's election for mayor of Boston. Her candidacy was considered "centrist" in comparison to that of the other leading candidates. Edge placed second in the election's nonpartisan primary, outperforming then-acting mayor Kim Janey and other candidates including Andrea Campbell and John Barros. She faced Michelle Wu in the general election, and was defeated by Wu by a landslide.
Early life
Annissa Essaibi George was born on December 12, 1973, in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents met while studying in Paris. Her mother was born to Polish parents in a displaced persons camp in Germany but grew up in Boston. Her father, Ezzeddine, was from Tunisia. They relocated to the United States in 1972, settling in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. Essaibi George and her three siblings were raised Catholic while her father was a practicing Muslim.[2]
Essaibi George became an at-large member of the Boston City Council in January 2016 after she was elected in the 2015 election. She was re-elected in both November 2017 and November 2019.[6][7]
While on the City Council, Essaibi George was considered an ally of then-Mayor Marty Walsh, whom she has known since childhood.[8]
Essaibi George chaired committees, including both the Committee on Education and the Committee on Homelessness, Mental Health, and Recovery.[9]
Essaibi George's successful 2015 campaign, which first elected her to the Boston City Council, focused on social services, including mental health counseling and services for the homeless.[10] In 2016, she established the council's Homelessness, Mental Health, and Recovery committee.[10] She was critical of Kim Janey's move in 2020, as city council president, to disestablish this committee.[11] For several years, Essaibi George proposed ordinances requiring pharmacies to provide safe sharps waste disposal.[12][13][14] An ordinance sponsored by Essaibi George that requires pharmacy chains with more than three locations in the city to do so was passed unanimously by the City Council in October 2020.[13][14] Essaibi George also organized needle clean-up drives.[15][16] In 2019, Essaibi George expressed her disapproval for the prospect of creating supervised consumption sites (in the mold of supervised injection sites) in response to drug use in the city.[17] In 2019, Essaibi George advocated for the city to place a full-time social worker and a full-time nurse in every public school.[18] The city, ultimately, implemented this, with Martin J. Valencia of The Boston Globe later attributing this, in part, to her advocacy on the matter.[10]
In 2016, Essaibi George pressed the city to lessen the amount of geese in city parks, expressing concern over the amount of feces geese were leaving.[19]
In early 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she partnered with fellow city councilor Michelle Wu to propose a measure that would provide paid leave to municipal employees that feel ill after receiving the vaccine.[22]
In July 2021, amid her mayoral campaign, Essaibi George denied allegations made in an investigative article published in The Boston Globe that she had used her office to try to prevent the construction of a building that would block the views of a building owned by her husband, a real estate developer.[24] If the allegations are true, they pose a potential violation of a state conflict of interest law.[25][26]
In September 2021, a resolution authored by Councilor Lydia Edwards and co-sponsored by Essaibi George and Michelle Wu was passed by the City Council. The ordinance extends paid child leave for municipal employees to all forms of pregnancy loss, including abortion (as opposed to the existing law, which only covered loss of pregnancy by miscarriage), and also extends it to those welcoming a new family member or acting as a caregiver.[27][28] The ordinance was signed into law by Acting Mayor Kim Janey soon after.[29]
Logo for Essaibi George's mayoral campaignEssaibi George campaigning in January 2021
On January 27, 2021, Essaibi George confirmed that she would run in the 2021 Boston mayoral election, considered a "wide open" race due to the then-expected confirmation of Mayor Walsh as United States Secretary of Labor;[30][31] Walsh was confirmed to his Cabinet post in March.[32]
Essaibi George was often described as a "centrist" or "moderate" candidate in comparison to the other candidates.[33][34] Among her endorsers is former Boston police chief William G. Gross, who is also heading one of the two super PACs that backed her candidacy in the nonpartisan primary.[35] That super PAC received $495,000 from New Balance owner and longtime Republican donor Jim Davis, who in 2016 contributed nearly $400,000 to the Trump Victory PAC. Her ties to pro-Trump groups resulted in some of her critics characterizing her as aligned with Trump or Republicans,[36] characterizations which Essaibi George repudiated.[37]
As a candidate, Essaibi George touted her experience as an educator.[33]
In the preliminary election on September 14, her campaign placed second with 22.4% of the vote, outperforming acting mayor Kim Janey and several other challengers to advance to the general election with first-place winner Michelle Wu, who earned 33.4% of the vote.[38]
Essaibi George was often described as a police-friendly candidate compared to her opponents.[33][39] On public safety and law enforcement, Essaibi George supported police reform.[39][40] However, she was the only one of the election's five major candidates to oppose cutting the Boston Police Department's budget.[39][41] She expressed her belief that the city needed to increase the size of its police force.[42] Her public safety platform also touted community policing as being a means to address shortcomings in the city.[40] Essaibi George's campaign platform described gun violence as a "racial justice issue, a public health issue and a public safety issue".[40]
Ellen Barry of The New York Times described Essaibi George as promising "more harmonious dealings" with real estate developers than her opponents.[34] Barry described Essaibi George's stances on development as one of the two greatest contrasts between her and her general election opponent Wu, who took stances on development and housing (such as Wu's support of rent control and dissolving the Boston Planning & Development Agency) that Essaibi George had criticized as strongly detrimental to development in the city.[43] The other greatest contrast between Essaibi George and Wu, per Barry's opinion, was their aforementioned differences on whether to make cuts to police funding.[43]
Essaibi George criticized her general election opponent as taking a policy approach that Essaibi George characterized as "abstract" and "academic".[44]
On September 21, Essaibi George publicly urged super PACs to refrain from involvement in the general election.[45] Her opponent Wu, the following day, made public remarks that only urged super PACs to refrain from negative campaigning.[46] Essaibi George's public demand for super PACS to avoid involvement in the election came in the aftermath of the Dorchester Reporter revealing Jim Davis' contributions to one of the super PACs supporting her candidacy.[47]
In the general election, Essaibi George placed emphasis on the fact that she is a native Bostonian. Her opponent, Wu, was originally from Chicago. During a radio interview, Essaibi George declared her belief that it was "relevant" that she was a native Bostonian. After these remarks, some analysts pointed out that, per the United States Census Bureau, 57% of Bostonians were born outside of the state of Massachusetts.[48][49] In addition, Essaibi George touted herself as having a different leadership style than her opponent, claiming that she makes herself more available to residents and community leaders.[50] However, an early September 2021 poll had shown that more of the primary election's likely voters recalled having personally met Wu than had recalled having personally met Essaibi George.[51]
Essaibi George embarked on a "listen and learn" tour of various Boston neighborhoods, which she claimed would inform her "equity, inclusion and justice agenda". She released the resulting agenda on October 8.[52][53]
Essaibi George (right) as president and CEO of Big Sister Boston; sitting beside Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
In 2022, Essaibi George returned to her roots of teaching, working as a substitute teacher in Boston's public schools.[55] She did so amid a shortage of substitute teachers in the city's schools.[56] In April 2022, amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Essaibi George made a humanitarian trip to Poland to provide supplies to refugees near the Polish-Ukrainian border.[56] In October 2022, Essaibi George was appointed president and chief operating officer of Big Sister Boston by the nonprofit's board of directors. She began her tenure on November 28, 2022.[57]
Personal life
Essaibi George is the founder and owner of a retail store in Dorchester called Stitch House, which sells yarn and fabrics and offers classes in knitting, sewing, quilting and crochet.[4][33] She is married to Doug George, a real estate developer.[58] She and her husband have four sons, including a set of triplets.[2]
↑ Some sources use a hyphen in her name; Annissa Essaibi-George. However, neither her own website nor her profile page at Boston.gov use a hyphen; Annissa Essaibi George.
Related Research Articles
Michael F. Flaherty is a politician who severely served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council for a cumulative ten terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the council in 1999, serving an initial five terms between 2000 until 2010. During this initial tenure, he served as vice president of the council in 2001 and as council president from 2002 to 2006. In 2009 he forwent reelection to a further term in order to run for mayor of Boston in that year's election, which he lost to incumbent mayor Thomas Menino. He ran unsuccessfully in 2011 to return to the council as an at-large member. In 2013, Flaherty again ran in the at-large city council race, and was returned to the council. He served five terms between 2014 and 2024. In 2023, he declined to seek reelection to an additional term.
The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year terms and there is no limit on the number of terms an individual can serve. Boston uses a strong-mayor form of government in which the city council acts as a check against the power of the executive branch, the mayor. The council is responsible for approving the city budget; monitoring, creating, and abolishing city agencies; making land use decisions; and approving, amending, or rejecting other legislative proposals.
Althea Garrison is an American politician from Boston, Massachusetts who previously served a single term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1993–1995) and a partial term as an at-large councilor on the Boston City Council (2019–2020). She is considered the earliest transgender person known to have been elected to a state legislature in the United States. She was outed against her will by the Boston Herald after her 1992 election. She is a perennial candidate, having been an unsuccessful candidate for political office more than forty times.
The 2013 Boston mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 5, 2013. Incumbent mayor Thomas Menino had declined to run for re-election to a sixth term. A non-partisan preliminary election was held on Tuesday, September 24, 2013. 12 candidates made the ballot to replace Menino, with state representative Marty Walsh and at-large city councilor John R. Connolly advancing to the general election. Walsh was elected to his first term, defeating Connolly by 3% of the vote, and was inaugurated on Monday, January 6, 2014.
Tito Jackson is an American politician who was a member of the Boston City Council. He represented council District 7, representing parts of the Roxbury neighborhood and parts of Dorchester, South End, and Fenway. In 2017, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Boston. After leaving the Boston City Council, Jackson worked in the cannabis industry. In 2022, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appointed Jackson to the city's Commission on Black Men and Boys.
James S. Davis is an American billionaire businessman, the owner and chairman of New Balance, and an early investor in Major League Lacrosse.
Michelle Wu is an American politician serving as the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, since 2021. The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, she was the first Asian American woman to serve on the Boston City Council, from 2014 to 2021, and acted as its president from 2016–2018. She is the first woman and first non-white person to have been elected mayor of Boston. Wu is a member of the Democratic Party.
The Boston mayoral election of 2017 was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, to elect the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. Incumbent Democratic mayor Marty J. Walsh won re-election to a second term, defeating District 7 City Councilor Tito Jackson, and two long-shot candidates, Robert Cappucci and Joseph Wiley.
Andrea Joy Campbell is an American lawyer and politician who is serving as the attorney general of Massachusetts. Campbell is a former member of the Boston City Council. On the city council, she represented District 4, which includes parts of Boston's Dorchester, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, and Roslindale neighborhoods. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to the council in November 2015 and assumed office in January 2016. She served as president of the council from January 2018 until January 2020. Campbell unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Boston in 2021, placing third in the nonpartisan primary election behind Annissa Essaibi George and Michelle Wu, the latter of whom would go on to win the general election.
Boston City Council elections were held on November 7, 2017. Nine seats in the Boston City Council were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 3, 4, 5, and 6 were unopposed. Four seats had also been contested in the preliminary election held on September 26, 2017.
William G. Gross is a former American police officer who served as Commissioner of the Boston Police Department for 29 months, from August 2018 to January 2021.
Boston City Council elections were held on November 5, 2019. Nomination forms could be submitted starting April 17, and candidates had a filing deadline of May 21. A preliminary election was held on September 24. By law, Boston municipal elections are nonpartisan—candidates do not represent a specific political party.
Kim Michelle Janey is an American politician and community organizer who served as acting mayor of Boston for eight months in 2021. She served as president of the Boston City Council from 2020 to 2022, and as a member of the council from the 7th district from 2018 to 2022. As a black woman, her tenure as acting mayor made her the first woman and the first person of color to lead the city.
Frank Baker is an American politician who represents District 3 on the Boston City Council. He was first elected on November 8, 2011.
The 2021 Boston mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, to elect the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. Incumbent mayor Marty Walsh was eligible to seek a third term. However, he resigned as mayor on March 22, 2021, after being confirmed as secretary of labor in the Cabinet of Joe Biden. This left the Boston City Council president, at the time Kim Janey, to hold the role of acting mayor until the victor of the election would take office.
The 2021 Boston City Council election was held on November 2, 2021. All thirteen councillors from the nine districts and four councillors at-large were up for election. Elections in Boston are officially nonpartisan.
Michelle Wu, a Democrat, served as a member of the Boston City Council from January 2014 until becoming mayor of Boston in November 2021. Wu was first elected to the City Council in November 2013, and was re-elected three times. In 2016 and 2017, Wu served as the Council’s president.
Ayanna Pressley was first elected to the Boston City Council in November 2009 and served from January 2010 until joining the United States House of Representatives in January 2020. Upon being sworn in as a city councilor on January 4, 2010, she became the first woman of color to serve in the Boston City Council up to that point.
Marty Walsh served as mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 2015 through 2021.
Michelle Wu has served as mayor of Boston, Massachusetts since November 2021. Wu was elected mayor in 2021, winning with 64% of the vote, becoming the first woman, first person of color, and first Asian American elected to serve as the mayor of Boston. Wu is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to being sworn in as mayor, Wu served as a member of the Boston City Council
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
