Claim: Mayors have no role in the fight for reproductive freedom.

Fact Check: With the repeated national attacks on reproductive rights, it is up to states and cities to ensure each person can make their own health care decisions with the support of their doctor without fear. In Massachusetts, while our state leaders have taken action to protect the legal right to reproductive care, local cities and towns are on the frontlines of protecting access to care. It is critical in these uncertain times to have leaders at the local level who will fight to protect and expand health care, not put their own religious beliefs above the rights of the people they serve.

Claim: Mayor Koch’s pro-life policies don’t impact Quincy residents.

Fact Check: Mayor Koch made this an issue for Quincy voters when he decided to use city-owned spaces to hold rallies to advance his anti-choice agenda. Even if Mayor Koch claims to believe it is not a city issue, his extremist friends sure believe it is. This New Boston Post article from August 11, 2023 shows how his extremist allies are excited about his role as a pro-life mayor.

Claim: Anne has been in office for 20 years. 

Fact Check: Anne has only been in office for 18 years. She was on the School Committee for 12 years and is currently serving as a City Councilor-at-Large coming up on 6 years. Quincy has a strong mayor form of government meaning most of the power lies in the executive office. Working as a part-time member of a committee of 7 and a city council of 9 is a lot different from working as a full-time mayor.

Claim: Anne sued the City to stop Faxon Field track from being built for our young people.

Fact Check: Anne responded to this directly on the debate stage and you can read previous Patriot Ledger coverage on this issue here. The voters against the original plan included Anne Mahoney, Elaine Dwyer, David McCarthy (current Ward 1 Councilor), and Kevin Mulvey (current Superintendent of Schools). When the mayor tried to go against the School Committee vote and illegally seize the property anyway, residents led the effort against the mayor in court and they won. A newly-elected School Committee two years later voted in favor of the track, but with the project completed, the track does not even comply with MIAA regulations, meaning Quincy still does not have the ability to host a regulation school track meet here.

Claim: Anne was the only vote against the new learning center for children with autism.

Fact Check: Anne raised questions about the mayor’s budget priorities when he presented plans for this new building at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without careful evaluation of the city’s rapidly changing educational needs, Anne cannot support projects without a guaranteed return on investment to the city’s residents. Currently, this project is being rushed to completion with unforced errors in design raising the cost by millions on the taxpayers’ backs. 

Claim: Anne was the only vote against a downtown plan making Trader Joe's possible.

Fact Check: Anne never voted against a plan for a Trader Joe’s as no such plan ever went before the Council. In the mayor’s own comments on Thursday’s debate, he said “I can’t mention the name” of any new businesses in Quincy Center. Anne has repeatedly asked for an Economic Development Plan every year she has been on the City Council and has been rebuffed every single time.

Claim: Anne was the only vote against replacing a decaying police headquarters.

Fact Check: Anne voted in support of the original $150 million funding for the public safety headquarters. When the administration came back and said it would require another $23 million to complete, Anne asked for solutions to bring the costs down, but the administration refused to relook and instead pushed for a bloated additional budget. The mayor himself even delayed the project by a year and a half during Covid to wait for prices to go down, when they instead escalated. 

Claim: Quincy has never been safer due to Mayor Koch's leadership.

Fact Check: In 2022, there were 3,623 total offenses in Quincy, a nearly 9% increase from the year prior. Patriot Ledger

Claim: Anne was the only vote against tax relief for homeowners.

Fact Check: Anne has never voted against tax relief for homeowners. In fact, she has strongly advocated for a residential tax credit and creative solutions to addressing Quincy’s mayor-made affordability crisis.

Claim: Anne was the only vote against improvement to Broadmeadows Middle School.

Fact Check: Anne has always supported fully funding our schools and improving educational facilities while balancing the return on investment to students, teachers, and the taxpayers’ dollars.

Claim: Anne was the only vote against turning a surface parking lot downtown into vibrant mixed-use Kilroy Square.

Fact Check: Funding for Kilroy Square came out of District Improvement Financing (DIF). Every time the administration has proposed using DIF monies, there has never been a clear explanation of how the monies will be put to use. Anne does not support writing a blank check for unidentified and unspecified projects with unclear return on investments for the taxpayers. 

Claim: Anne was the only vote against replacing the crumbling animal shelter.

Fact Check: Anne raised concerns about the feasibility of creating a new animal shelter on the site of a former dump. Her concerns were validated when builders hit an underground cap, exposing the local residents to asbestos. To make matters worse the city neglected to communicate warnings of the hazardous breach. Instead, abutters woke up to workers in hazmat suits moving contaminated soil mere feet from their property.