Nicholas Goldberg: Jeering, screaming and upending the City Council is arrogant, irresponsible and ineffective in the face of the serious threat to the health and safety of our community.”
But others saw the mayor as “trying to distract from an unpopular budget,” and called his actions “reckless.”
“It’s a disgrace,” said Councilman Frank DiCicco, who has previously introduced bills that would reduce the number of council members from nine to seven.
“I’m going to continue to call for the mayor to step down,” DiCicco said. “The mayor is doing it to distract people — he’s doing it to try to get elected.”
But the mayor is refusing to step down.
“I will not step down from being mayor,” he said. “This whole city needs a mayor, and I need to lead.”
Goldberg, his spokeswoman, said in a statement that the mayor’s actions show “the arrogant and mean spirit that is typical of some in today’s city council.”
“We are working to bring the citizens of Somerville back to the city, and we don’t need to tear it down to try to do that. We need to bring back trust and integrity back to the city, and now is the time to do that.”
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the same thing that happened with the late Mayor Tom Menino when he tried to use the job to build himself up after being the least-popular mayor in a generation.
When Menino announced in 2014 that he’d be stepping down to focus on his law practice and charitable work, many Boston residents applauded him for showing a change of heart. But his announcement was just the first of many that would come over the next eight years, most of which would be marked by a string of scandals.
