Turner triumphs in City Council showdown

Colleagues cancel hearing over his fate

Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner, facing a federal bribery charge and fighting for his political future, won a political showdown with his council colleagues yesterday, forcing them to cancel a hearing that was scheduled to discuss his fate.

Shortly after forcing the council to back down, Turner presided over an extraordinary political rally on the City Hall steps, launching a full-throated public defense of his character and attacking his perceived political enemies, especially Council President Maureen Feeney and the Boston media. He was warmly embraced by up to 250 allies who held signs and chanted their support.

It was a remarkable performance for a man who was led out of City Hall in handcuffs three days earlier and who was depicted in a grainy FBI surveillance photograph allegedly accepting a $1,000 bribe from a Roxbury nightclub owner.

"I will not sit back silently and allow my reputation that I struggled to build for 45 years to be ripped to shreds," Turner said during the hourlong remarks in which he accused large media corporations of at tempting to stifle dissent among people who "speak the truth about oppression in this city."

Turner said it was wrong of Feeney to strip him of his committee assignments, an action she took Friday morning. And he said it was wrong of Feeney and her allies on the council to schedule yesterday's meeting to discuss further actions that could be taken against him.

"You achieve progress by standing up for the truth, and I said to my constituency that we were coming here today to stand up for the truth," said Turner..

The City Council is attempting to navigate uncharted waters as it grapples with subpoenas and visits by FBI agents in an undercover investigation that began 18 months ago and then exploded in public last month with the arrest of Dianne Wilkerson, the state senator who resigned her seat last week.

The council has no recent experience with a bribery scandal. The last time a sitting member of the council was charged with bribery was in 1947, when Councilor Joseph M. Scannell and Council President John B. Kelly were indicted in a probe by the Suffolk County district attorney's office. Kelly, who was also the acting mayor, was acquitted, while Scannell pleaded no contest to soliciting bribes and attempted larceny.

It appeared that Feeney and her colleagues ultimately lacked the stomach to take action against Turner after a massive public relations blitz by Turner that began Friday immediately after his court appearance. Feeney said she canceled yesterday's scheduled closed-door meeting after Turner demanded that it be open to the public, and threatened to pack it with his supporters. Feeney said she was concerned that Turner would transform the session into "political theater."

"I believe it would be premature for this body to take any decisive action today on Councilor Turner's future," Feeney said. She pushed back against suggestions that her decision to call off yesterday's meeting was bowing to pressure from Turner.

"We are not easily intimidated, I can assure you of that," she said.

Turner was ensnared Friday in the investigation that resulted in last month's indictment of Wilkerson. Turner is charged with accepting a single bribe on behalf of a nightclub owner who was seeking their help in 2007 securing a coveted liquor license. Wilkerson allegedly accepted numerous bribes from the nightclub owner. She is also charged with accepting bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as developers who wanted to build on state land in Roxbury.

Turner's highly public campaign to defend his image stands in stark contrast to Wilkerson's approach after she was arrested on Oct. 28. Wilkerson, who has with a history of legal, ethical, and financial problems that preceded the criminal charges, shunned the State House and the media.

Wilkerson also failed to win public support from supporters; in fact, clergy members in the black community asked her to resign after her arrest.

Turner, a 68-year-old member of the Green-Rainbow Party, has the backing from some progressive community leaders in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain who are convinced that he would not compromise decades of community activism to get a handful of cash.

"If there's a rationale for this, I'm sure he has one, and we're standing by him," said Horace Small, executive director of the Union of Minority Neighborhoods, who has an office in Turner's district in Roxbury.

Small said he planned to hold a meeting last night to set up a legal defense fund for Turner. Community activists set up a website to defend Turner, distributed press releases on his behalf, and organized the hourlong afternoon rally and news conference in front of City Hall.

"With Wilkerson it was different," Small said. "When was the last time you heard of Chuck Turner getting in trouble?"

Aaron Tanaka, executive director of the Boston Workers' Alliance, said activists' defense of Turner stems from their history with him.

"He's been in the community for 45 years," said Tanaka, saying he was speaking for himself and not his organization. "So many organizations have relied on him to support a progressive voice from positions of power, which is rare. He's basically been a reliable ally."

Among the backers of Chuck Turner who crowded City Hall Plaza yesterday was the father of Steven Odom, a 13-year-old who was shot and killed outside his Dorchester home last fall.

"[Turner] was one of the first responders, and he was there for us almost every day," said the Rev. Ronald D. Odom Sr.

While Feeney defended her decision to remove Turner as chairman of the committees on education and human services, she offered varying reasons for doing so.

Feeney first said that the committees' work was too important to be led by a compromised councilor, but later said she believed Turner needed to be able to focus on dealing with the charges he faced.

Feeney did not consult anyone before deciding to strip Turner of his chairmanships, but she conferred with Councilors Michael Ross - who is expected to be elected council president in January - and Stephen J. Murphy Friday before scheduling yesterday's meeting, said Feeney spokesman Justin Holmes.

Turner was backed up by other councilors, including Michael Flaherty, the former council president and likely mayoral candidate, and John Tobin, the council's vice president. They contended that the council should not do anything to undermine Turner until he is at least indicted.

Yesterday, Feeney outlined the steps that the council's legal advisers told her the body could exercise. They may pass a resolution calling on Turner to resign, they can vote to censure Turner, or they could "judge the councilor unqualified to serve."

It is unclear what the effect of the last option would be, however, since the city charter does not explicitly give the council authority to expel a member.

In lieu of yesterday's council meeting, Feeney said she would convene the council's committee on rules and administration, which she chairs, to discuss the standards for a member to be qualified to serve and report back to City Council. She did not set a date for the meeting.

If Turner is indicted, Feeney said, the committee would appoint a "fact-finder" to investigate the charges and make a recommendation on further action.

Globe correspondent Casey D. Ramsdell contributed to this report. John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.