Residents Call For Toner’s Resignation at City Council Meeting

For the first time since Cambridge learned of City Councilor Paul F. Toner’s criminal charges, residents were given the opportunity to publicly address the charges at Monday’s City Council meeting.

More than 60 Cambridge residents spoke at the weekly Council meeting, the majority of whom called for Toner’s resignation and denounced his actions.

Toner was charged with sexual conduct for a fee after police reports revealed he had engaged with the brothel network operating in Cambridge at least 13 times in 2023.

A majority of individuals who spoke about Toner’s charges condemned his involvement.

“Paul Toner’s continued role in city government sends a clear message that power and privilege outweigh accountability. Cambridge has an opportunity to show that our values are not just words,” said Kira Woodward, an advocate against human trafficking. “Paul Toner must resign — anything less is a betrayal of the survivors this city claims to protect.”

But not all speakers were against Toner. Out of the 62 residents who addressed Toner during public comment, 22 residents argued that he should keep his position.

Sascha Cohen, a professor of gender and sexuality at Emerson College, refuted other speakers’ claims that the brothels exploited the women involved in the network.

“The affidavit of the local brothel case contains no evidence of force, fraud, coercion, or underage workers or physical violence. We cannot conflate sex trafficking with consensual exchange between adults,” Cohen said. “These are two different things, only one of which involves abuse and assault.”

Residents’ complaints come as local and state leaders criticize Toner’s involvement in the brothel network and as he was stripped of leadership positions on the Council.

After his charges were announced last Friday, State Representative Mike L. Connolly and Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler called on Toner to resign, while other members of the City Council released statements that fell short of a call for Toner’s resignation.

On Friday, Councilor Sumbul Siddiqui released a statement urging Toner to resign.

“Especially at a time when public trust is eroding, I believe the ethical course of action for Councillor Toner would be to resign from his position,” Siddiqui wrote.

The next day, The Crimson reported that Toner had been quietly removed from five committee chairships on the council.

At Monday’s meeting, Councilor Patty M. Nolan ’80, Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern, Sobrinho-Wheeler, and Siddiqui introduced a policy order to hold a meeting of the Human Services and Veterans Committee dedicated to a conversation on sex work and sex trafficking. This order allowed all Cambridge residents to address the allegations against Toner in front of the council for the first time.

“It’s important to acknowledge that this is an issue that was brought about because we did all discover there was a brothel operating in Cambridge. We’re disappointed,” Nolan said. “We have to navigate this issue through the context of the City Council, but the community is discussing this issue, and so the Council should not shy away from ensuring that there’s discussion of the larger issues.”

Toner voted with the rest of the Council in favor of the policy order but protested its inclusion on the agenda for the meeting.

“I just want to be clear, I’ll be voting for it because it is an important conversation. I do want to point out that this could have just been called as a meeting and not been a policy order,” Toner said.

— Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

— Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.