Tanairi Garcia has filed four items this year, two of them resolutions, and she has cast one dissenting vote. It was the one that set her apart: on April 27 she was the only councillor besides Giovanni Recupero to vote for his petition to allow three-family houses in Chelsea’s single-family districts. It lost 2 to 6.
What she asks for
Her first filing, in February, was a resolution “Supporting Immigrant Families and Affirming the City’s Commitment to Safety, Dignity and Due Process,” adopted 9 to 0. In April she filed a resolution in support of youth job funding. In June she filed two orders in one night: with Kelly Garcia, the anti-displacement protection plan for elderly and disabled residents, and on her own, a Conference subcommittee meeting with Inspectional Services, the fire and police departments and the Chelsea Housing Authority on conditions, safety and maintenance at 14 Bloomingdale Street, the housing authority’s high-rise.
How she has voted
Yes on the R-1 three-family zoning. Yes on the Hines amendment for the $275,000 inclusionary fee. Yes to continue the inclusionary meeting on March 30. Every other roll call, with the majority. She missed the January 5 inauguration, the May 4 meeting and the August 17 special meeting and has been marked absent on seven roll calls. She sat on the Rules subcommittee during its revision of the council rules and is on this year’s City Manager evaluation committee. She has not moved any business under suspension.
The profile
The record shows a councillor whose votes and filings point the same way: more housing, deeper affordability, and protection for immigrants, tenants and the elderly. She is the only member to have voted for both of the year’s pro-density positions, Recupero’s zoning and the Hines amendment. She runs the food pantry at La Colaborativa. Her biography is here.