Boston

Boston City Council head calls for new parking rules amid councilor crash controversy

Council President Ed Flynn is requesting driver's license, registration and insurance requirements for workers parking at city hall; days earlier, Councilor Kendra Lara was found to be driving an unregistered, uninsured vehicle with a revoked license when she crashed into a Jamaica Plain house

Boston City Hall
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Days after a Boston City Council member's crash into a Jamaica Plain house, the body's president is requesting new parking regulations for workers at city hall.

In a letter dated Wednesday and obtained Friday by NBC10 Boston, Ed Flynn asked that proof of license, registration and insurance be required for employees to park.

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"In light of recent events, please note that I am respectfully requesting that the City of Boston Property Management Department review its current parking policies at City Hall to maintain consistency for all city employees and elected officials," he wrote in the letter to Property Management Commissioner Eamon Shelton.

He went on to request "that every City Councilor, staff, and any City of Boston employee parking at the executive garage or at the Donnelly Garage ... be required to provide verification of a valid driver's license, copy of a vehicle registration, and insurance."

Five days earlier, City Councilor Kendra Lara crashed into a Centre Street home. According to a police report in which her name was redacted, she was driving an unregistered, uninsured car with a revoked license.

While Flynn did not mention Lara by name in the letter, he addressed the crash in a public statement the same day, referring to "troubling ethical and legal lapses" from Lara and fellow City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo.

"We're not living up to that high bar that we should be meeting," Flynn told NBC10 Boston Wednesday after releasing the statement.

Elected officials are supposed to be held to higher standards, but some people, including the Boston City council president, are saying some members of the city council aren’t living up to that.

Lara was not arrested after the crash, which left her 7-year-old son with injuries she said required stitches. But she is facing potential charges and is due to appear in the West Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court July 19.

In addition to the license, registration and insurance issues, authorities said Lara's son was not secured in a car seat as required by law.

Police filed a 51A report with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families "due to neglect and failure to use a proper car seat for the child's safety," they said in their report.

A 51A report is filed with the DCF if a person is accused of child abuse or neglect, according to the state's website.

A spokesperson with the DCF told NBC10 Boston it does not provide specifics on cases due to state and federal privacy requirements.

Lara's office declined NBC10 Boston's request for comment earlier this week.

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