Chelsea’s eleven city councillors have held 17 council meetings this year for which a roll call is on the record, and between them they have missed 28. That is 28 empty seats out of 187, an attendance rate of 85 percent.
The record comes from the roll call the City Clerk takes at the start of each meeting, as written in the minutes. The minutes for September 21 and October 5 have not been published yet, so those two come from the clerk’s roll call on the meeting video. The January 12 minutes have not appeared in any council packet and are not counted.
Who missed the most
Manuel Teshe of District 7 missed seven meetings and arrived late to two more. Tanairi Garcia of District 4 missed six, four of them in a row from August 17 through October 5. Norieliz DeJesus of District 3 missed four and was late twice. Deron Hines of District 2 missed three and was late twice.
Giovanni Recupero of District 6, Calvin Brown of District 8 and at-large Councillor Kelly Garcia each missed two. Recupero was late four times, more than anyone else. Council President Roberto Jimenez-Rivera and at-large Councillor Leo Robinson missed one each, both on October 5. Todd Taylor of District 1 has missed none and was late once, by two minutes, to the June 22 swearing-in of firefighters.
Lisa Santagate of District 5 is the only councillor who was present and on time at all 17 meetings.
The dates, councillor by councillor
Times are when the minutes record the councillor arriving. Regular meetings start at 7 p.m.
- Manuel Teshe (District 7). Missed 7: March 3 (special meeting); March 9; March 23; April 27; June 22 (special meeting); August 17 (special meeting); September 21. Late 2: June 8, 7:35 p.m.; September 14, 7:04 p.m.
- Tanairi Garcia (District 4). Missed 6: January 5 (special meeting); May 4; August 17 (special meeting); September 14; September 21; October 5. Never late.
- Norieliz DeJesus (District 3). Missed 4: March 9; March 23; June 22 (special meeting); September 14. Late 2: January 28, 7:15 p.m.; March 3 (special meeting), 6:38 p.m.
- Deron Hines (District 2). Missed 3: January 28; March 9; March 23. Late 2: April 27, 7:08 p.m.; October 5, time not recorded.
- Giovanni Recupero (District 6). Missed 2: February 9; August 17 (special meeting). Late 4: March 2, 7:10 p.m.; March 9, 7:15 p.m.; March 23, 7:15 p.m.; June 22 (special meeting), 6:06 p.m.
- Calvin Brown (District 8). Missed 2: March 3 (special meeting); May 4. Late 1: June 22 (special meeting), 6:07 p.m.
- Kelly Garcia (at-large). Missed 2: August 17 (special meeting); October 5. Late 1: June 8, 7:22 p.m.
- Leo Robinson (at-large). Missed 1: October 5. Never late.
- Roberto Jimenez-Rivera (at-large). Missed 1: October 5. Never late.
- Todd Taylor (District 1). Missed none. Late 1: June 22 (special meeting), 6:02 p.m.
- Lisa Santagate (District 5). Missed none. Never late.
What the record does not show
The minutes record who was absent or late and nothing else. They do not record why. On a few occasions a reason was given from the floor: on September 14, Jimenez-Rivera said DeJesus and Tanairi Garcia were out because their children were sick, and on September 21 Kelly Garcia said her sister Tanairi was dealing with a family medical emergency. On October 5, Taylor said Robinson was at a Lewis Latimer Society program. No reason was given on the record for most absences.
A late arrival may mean a few minutes. The roll call also does not capture councillors who leave early, such as on September 14, when Kelly Garcia answered the roll and then missed the last ten votes of the night. Our count of individual roll-call votes tracks that.
Only two meetings, April 6 and the regular meeting of June 22, had every councillor present and on time. Four of the 17 were special meetings: the January 5 inauguration, the March 3 session, the June 22 swearing-in and the August 17 vote on the state primary warrant.
The council meets next on Monday, October 19.
Correction: Our September 14 report on council attendance left out DeJesus’s absence on March 9 and her late arrival on January 28, and said Recupero was late three times when the table showed four. This count corrects those errors.