The controversy surrounding Boston city councilor Kendra Lara’s operation of motor vehicles has not stopped one carmaking union from endorsing her re-election bid.
United Auto Workers is backing the controversial candidate this fall, Lara revealed when rolling out some of her endorsements last week.
“Our campaign has always been about sending our movements into the halls of local government, standing up for our most vulnerable communities, supporting working families, and fighting for a more livable planet,” Lara tweeted when touting her endorsements, including UAW. “But we cant do this alone; it’ll take all of us. This is why I am so proud to have the endorsement and partnership of organizations working to build a bigger ‘we.’ Together, we are building a City where we all thrive, with longer tables, not taller fences.”
The endorsement was brought to the attention of a NewBostonPost reporter by a tweet by Aidan Kearney, founder of TB Daily News, also known as Turtleboy.
Kearney criticized UAW for endorsing Lara amid the controversy surrounding her.
“You have to be kidding me,” Kearney tweeted. “The United AUTO Workers endorsed a woman who crashed her unregistered auto while traveling 53 in a 25, without a license, with an unrestrained 6 year old in tow. This is why it’s hard to take unions seriously.”
As Kearney points out, Lara, first elected in 2021, is currently undergoing scrutiny for — according to Boston police — driving at least 53 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone and crashing into a house on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain on June 30. Additionally, her child was not in a booster seat, as Kearney noted.
The incident happened despite Lara’s driver’s license being revoked in 2013 for failing to pay a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt, as NewBostonPost previously reported. Even so, her colleagues say they have regularly seen her drive to work.
Lara “faces charges of operating an unregistered motor vehicle, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, driving with a suspended license, operating negligently and recklessly permitting bodily injury to a child,” according to WBUR.
Lara, a Jamaica Plain resident, represents District 6 of the Boston City Council. District 6 includes West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
Lara has drawn two challengers in her re-election bid: William King and Ben Weber. King is a West Roxbury resident who spent six years working as a technology specialist in the Boston Public School system; Weber, a Jamaica Plain resident, is a labor lawyer who served as an assistant attorney general to Martha Coakley from 2010 to 2012.
The top two vote-getters in the District 6 city council preliminary election on Tuesday, September 12 will advance to the Tuesday, November 7 general election.
United Auto Workers could not be reached for comment on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday to explain its decision to endorse Lara. Nor could Lara be reached for comment in that span to further address the endorsement.
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