Instead of hiding as some residents and city and state officials have called for his resignation, Cambridge city councillor Paul Toner attended a meeting in person Monday – finding it fairly normal, barring a couple of public comments allowed to slip through council rules and a half-dozen still and television cameras examining his expression.
Immediately before the meeting – mayor E. Denise Simmons seemed to be under the impression its 5:30 p.m. start time had arrived – Toner read a statement addressing a misdemeanor charge that he was a customer of “brothels” operating in Cambridge.
“You have all heard the news concerning my personal legal matters. First, I’m ashamed to have my name associated with this case,” Toner said during the special presentation allowed by the mayor. “I would like to apologize to my fellow councillors, my supporters and the community for taking up the time of the council and the public discourse on this matter.”
“All Americans, including elected officials, are entitled to due process, but some have already judged and convicted me. As this is an ongoing legal matter, I will not contest the statements that are being circulated in the community regarding this case in this forum,” Toner said, citing legal advice not to comment but expressing that he was “deeply grateful and humbled by the love and steadfast support of my family, friends and the voters who have voiced their strong support for me to continue my service as a Cambridge city councillor.”
“I am here because I have a duty to fulfill my obligations to the voters who elected me,” Toner said.
After the meeting, when approached by television news teams who waited throughout long discussions of drought, bond ratings and transit issues, Toner repeated that he would have no comment beyond his statement.
Legal issues
Toner was among men named in court Friday as customers of brothels operating in Cambridge, Watertown and Virginia from at least July 2020 to a bust in November 2023. The courts are identifying 28 total from a list of 2,800 alleged customers, authorities said, selecting some based on the number of times a customer’s phone interacted with a brothel phone. For Toner, that was 432 times, which some residents misinterpreted as 400 visits. The number is closer to a dozen, the MassLive website said.
The operators have pleaded guilty, including Cambridge resident Han Lee, 42. Though state Rep. Mike Connolly and others have said Lee pleaded guilty to trafficking, she pleaded guilty in September to one count of “conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution,” as well as one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Though councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler said last week that it was “in the interest of the body and the public” that Toner resign – Connolly said Sunday that residents were “rightfully calling” for a resignation and repeated the demand – there was no related item on the agenda, and by the rules of the council that meant no one could speak on it during public comment.
Public comment allowed
Two people found ways. First, former council legislative aide Dan Totten asked if it were appropriate for Toner to be chairing committees working on police appropriations, which technically were on the agenda (albeit on the table awaiting action). Given that he had been charged with a misdemeanor, “it represents a fundamental conflict of interest,” Totten said, calling – like Sobrinho-Wheeler – for Toner to be stripped of committee leadership because “it erodes public trust to allow him to continue.”
The second speaker was Madeline Nohrnberg, a Cambridge Rindge and Latin School student and member of the Title IX Aurelia Advocates, a student-founded advocacy group. Sobrinho-Wheeler, sitting next to Toner and his most outspoken antagonist on the council, asked special permission to allow her to speak so she could read a letter posted by the group Sunday and shared already with the council.
Toner was opposed and other councillors were conflicted – Toner in part because his “was a very neutral statement that said I would not be discussing the matters before the court; the statement that this young lady is about to read makes allegations that I will not be able to rebut in this forum.” But more councillors than Toner were dismayed that it denied residents an equal chance to participate. “I do tend to bend that rule just a little bit if it’s younger people who are first participating or older people who can’t get out as often,” vice mayor Marc McGovern said, but “there are other people that wanted to be here that were told not to.”
“As the vice mayor said, if I’d known that this would be discussed, I would have invited other people to come discuss the issue as well,” Toner said, referring to his supporters.
Student message
Allowing Nohrnberg to speak was better than if there had been an agenda item that “would have had hours and hours of public comment on this,” Sobrinho-Wheeler argued. Councillor Burhan Azeem similarly suggested that if he voted no, “other colleagues will just introduce a resolution and then we’ll get tons of comments on it. If it’s just one person, this is fine.”
Five voted in favor of considering the suspension of rules – Azeem, Sobrinho-Wheeler, McGovern, Patty Nolan and Sumbul Siddiqui – while Toner and councillor Cathie Zusy were opposed. Simmons voted “present” and no vote could be heard from councillor Ayesha Wilson. On hearing the statement itself, Wilson joined the majority.
“What message are we sending young people if Toner is permitted to stay in office?” the students’ letter said. “Toner’s connection to this case signals that those involved in sexual violence are rewarded with positions of power.”
Rules are silent
The rest of the meeting was without incident, with Toner participating normally in dialogue about municipal issues.
Afterward, though, McGovern spoke to the uncharted nature of the moment, with the last time a councillor embroiled in a court case being perhaps as far back as the 1990s – before his time – and nothing in council rules about forcing a member to resign, or even a process for a formal censure. “It is really up to the councillor to decide what they want to do,” McGovern said. Emphasizing that he was speaking in general and not about Toner, he called it “something we need to think about: What do we do in the future if someone does something that is detrimental to the community?”
McGovern said messages from constituents over the weekend had also distracted him from thinking about important issues facing the community such as housing, homelessness and poverty, and how to deal with a budget faltering amid a worsening economy.
An active councillor
Coincidentally, the council is now wrapping up work on the first update to the city charter in more than 80 years – work being led by Toner.
“I have been an effective councillor who has carried out my official duties during my time in office to the best of my abilities,” Toner said in his statement, and Zusy agreed after the meeting: “I can’t tell you how hard he works. He’s the chair or co-chair of seven committees. He’s the one that’s really led, with Sumbul Siddiqui, on charter review. He’s the one that led the negotiations with the city manager for continuing his contract. I mean, again and again and again, he steps up. He brings a lot of wisdom and insight.”
It wasn’t surprising that Toner chose to show up in person for the meeting and its uncertainties, instead of skipping a Monday or dialing in remotely, Zusy said.
“He has said he can’t tell us what transpired,” Zusy said, expressing a willingness to wait and noting that Toner “is also getting a lot of support from people.”
“It’s a tragedy to me, because councillor Toner is an outstanding city councillor, and he’s been a real leader,” Zusy said. “I didn’t realize being a city councillor was going to be so dramatic.”
A stronger
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Bono has to admit that he agrees with, at least, one comment attributed to Dan Totten at Monday’s City Council meeting. Toner is currently the co-chair of the Finance Committee, which is scheduled to conduct a hearing this Thursday afternoon on the budget for the Police Department, including a possible purchase of a half-a-million dollars in new firearms. Bono doesn’t understand how it’s appropriate – even in “liberal” Cambridge – for someone facing likely charges for criminal behavior, regardless of what they may be, to go ahead and preside at a hearing on the Police budget. That just seems absurd, on the face of it. But, in the aptly named People’s Republic of Cambridge, we’ve come to learn that, “Anything goes.”
In my experience of attending dozens of school committee meetings over the years, the students who offer public comment are truthful and inspiring. I appreciate their words last night.
I’m sorry but it’s shameful that Paul Toner believes he’s still entitled to his position of power and authority when he’s been associated with abuses in the most grotesque way against the marginalized. If Paul Toner had any honor or decency he’d step down as city councilor. If the rest of the city council had any political backbone they would remove him from the council, at the very least his chair positions. This is an embarrassment to the city of Cambridge to be in. They should take decisive action.
Being aware of a criminal enterprise and failing to act warrants resignation, even without evidence of direct participation. Trusting such an individual to oversee the police budget is untenable.
Cathie Zusy: Sending over 400 text messages and visiting a brothel 11 times is not a “mistake” but sustained involvement in criminal activity. Her defense of this behavior is indefensible. Voters should carefully consider this in November.
“It’s a tragedy to me, because councillor Toner is an outstanding city councillor, and he’s been a real leader,” Zusy said. “I didn’t realize being a city councillor was going to be so dramatic.”
If it is a “tragedy” it is purely self imposed. And in terms of it being “dramatic,” no one forced them to run for public office. I find it so strange when politicians act like accountability for wrong doing is an injustice imposed upon them.
@Frank
The “deplorables” Toner listens to pay property and car exicse taxes as well as for parking permits to the city
Renters do not pay property taxes. In fact you may claim a portion of your rent on your Mass tax return that reduces your tax burden
Excise taxes on liquor and beer/wine are applied on a per-unit basis, generally per gallon for liquids, and unlike sales taxes are collected from the merchant who sells the alcohol rather than the end consumer.
I would say that a wait and see what the courts find and present in the matter might be the best path. 400 text messages could be for a variety of reasons, their details as found by the court rather than their number may be important. Let the courts do their job.
I agree with CambridgeJoe. Thanks to Cambridge Day for trying to cover this so carefully.
Councillor Toner: “All Americans, including elected officials, are entitled to due process,…”
I strongly agree with this statement and innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If he is in fact innocent there is no reason for him not to say loudly and clearly that he did not engage in paying for sex and therefore he did not engage in illegal activities that directly supported sex trafficking. And that he understands that sex trafficking, a multi-billion-dollar criminal industry, exists because a significant number of men in our community are willing to pay for sex with people, mostly women but also men, who have been coerced into doing so. That would demonstrate innocence and courage and real character.
Toner has not denied he did this. He is not claiming innocence.