Worcester City Councilor stopped attending meetings but hasn’t resigned

Politics

Councilor Thu Nguyen, who is nonbinary, hasn’t been on the council floor since Feb. 11 — but they haven’t resigned, and they are still being paid by the city.

The Worcester City Council has been plagued by political drama this year, with two sitting councilors now missing from the chamber — one attending remotely after saying she and her family received threats, and the other not planning to return at all.

At-Large Worcester City Councilor Thu Nguyen, whose pronouns are they/them, hasn’t been on the council floor since Feb. 11, citing alleged transphobia and discrimination from other councilors. But, they haven’t resigned, and they are still receiving pay from the city. 

City councilors in Worcester, the second largest city in New England, earn $36,000 a year, paid in monthly stipends, a city official told Boston.com.

Nguyen, who is serving their second two-year term, said Tuesday that “as most folks know, (they) won’t be running again.”

Mayor Joesph Petty will continue to read their name during roll call at council meetings, and their position won’t be filled ahead of the election this fall unless they formally resign. City Clerk Niko Vangjeli confirmed Wednesday that he has “yet to receive a communication from that councilor.”

Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, a Nguyen ally on the council, is voting remotely after threats, some “of a sexual nature,” against her and her family, she said late last month.

“Given previous acts of vandalism and non-stop harassment these last few years, I take my safety as a woman, mother and immigrant very seriously,” Haxhiaj wrote on Facebook. “My and my family’s safety come first and my work serving District 5 residents continues uninterrupted.” 

Haxhiaj attended the council meeting virtually on March 4. Worcester police said the investigation is ongoing.

Nguyen shared a message of support for Haxhiaj, saying “this is discrimination. This is a safety issue.”

“This is a problem far greater than disagreements in policy. Where not one, but two councilors feel unsafe attending meetings in chambers,” Nguyen wrote on Facebook. “This is targeted hateful behavior and it is reprehensible.” 

Nguyen called on the council to “publicly” condemn the threats and the use of the word “it” as a slur for LGBTQ+ people.

Haxhiaj and Nguyen did not return a request for comment.

Nguyen’s ‘hiatus’ becomes an ‘indefinite leave’

Nguyen, the first nonbinary person to be elected to any public office in Massachusetts, has served as an at-large councilor since 2022. In January, they announced their intention to take a “hiatus” from the body, citing discrimination and transphobia including being publicly misgendered and allegedly privately called “it” by Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson.

At the time, Nguyen, who was participating in council meetings remotely, said they were also facing targeted comments regarding their decision to attend via Zoom.

“I really really wished I felt safe enough to show up on the council floor, but I don’t due to this level of dehumanization of my being,” Nguyen said. “I know, as someone with many marginalized intersecting identities, City Hall is not safe, welcoming, nor accessible to everyone.”

About a month later, the council designated Worcester as a “sanctuary city” for members of the trans, nonbinary, and LGBTQIA+ community. Nguyen, along with dozens of community members, spoke at the council meeting in person.

“This past month leaves me with almost zero faith in this council,” Nguyen said then, before engaging in a fiery back-and-forth with the city clerk, accusing him of “complaining” about their use of Zoom and forcing Nguyen to have meetings in City Hall. 

“This has to do with me and my inability to be a councilor when a city clerk is creating new rules. That to me is textbook retaliation,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen said on Facebook on Feb. 19 that they would not return to the council at all.

“I will not be returning indefinitely to the council floor nor partake in performative politics or a council that refuses to hold themselves accountable to human decency and the unravelling of transphobia, discrimination and the toxic council culture we’ve all witnessed in the last month,” Nguyen wrote on Facebook.

Nguyen weighs in on election while trans candidate announces campaign for council

Despite bowing out of the upcoming election, Nguyen has stayed active on social media, criticizing Petty and supporting Haxhiaj and At-Large Councilor Khrystian King, who is running for mayor.

“City Hall is failing you,” King wrote in his campaign announcement. “There is no real leadership, no accountability to residents, and the divisive politics is causing dysfunction.”

In a statement, Petty accused King of contributing “to weekly chaos and gridlock, making dysfunction the hallmark of this council term.” Nguyen fired back, saying Petty’s “mischaracterization” is a step back into “conservative right wing politics.”

Moving forward, Nguyen is promoting a celebration for their birthday and Worcester’s sanctuary designation for LGBTQ+ people. Nguyen described the event as a fundraiser for signature gathering to support candidates who have been allies to queer and trans people.

Cayden Davis, a trans man, filed to run for Worcester City Council on March 3, the first day candidates were able to announce their intent to run. Davis spoke with Bill Shaner of “Worcester Sucks and I Love It,” a political commentary Substack, on Thursday.

“Trans people and gender diverse people are under attack for sure, but even in that, that attack is also not equal and it’s really trans women and trans feminine people that are the ones that are being just targeted at a different level,” Davis said. “I am definitely impacted by what’s going on and what has gone on at council, but I also do walk around the world most of the time as just a white guy.”

Davis did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.