Remarks by Ruthzee Louijeune
94 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 3 of 4
- Play at 2:43:33
“Yeah, I think that would be great, especially at our schools, especially when you're talking about preregistration at the age of 16, 17. So, yeah, I would definitely think about that, and I know my colleagues will as well, think about how to integrate. I do see the department out in community. We need to think about better ways of integrating that, centering you more. So, yeah, thank you. We will, Commissioner, we will take that into under advisement.”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:44:20
“So what does that look like actually? Is the election department going into schools and there are tables with registration drives?”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:46:15
“Thank you. I also encourage you, I mean, I don't know if it's you or if it's the schools, to make sure that they're working with the student government body or whatever, whatever the name is. I think it's called different things in different schools.”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:46:31
“And so I just hope that the school department is not just an adult-run thing, that they're also engaging the students who would be most inclined to lead on this as well. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. To this panel, we really respect the work that you do. There are always growing pains and changes, and sometimes we take learning opportunities as what they are to improve. So really grateful for you. I know we didn't talk about it, but I know that this is an election department that would be ready to implement election day voter registration. Should it be passed on the ballot and implemented…”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:47:11
“And I believe in your ability to do that as well. Thank you very much and enjoy the rest of your Friday.”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:47:16
“Thank you. We have one more person signed up for public testimony.”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:47:24
“There's no one virtually. We have one more person signed up for public testimony and that is someone who's no stranger here. Ed Shoemaker from Voter Choice Massachusetts and in Dorchester. Ed, you have the floor and you have two minutes. And a former commissioner. That's why I said no stranger to this, anyone.”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:49:44
“And Ed reminded me of something, so I'm not going to let you go just yet. We did talk about the, we didn't talk about how it affects Boston, the census, the municipal census, and decoupling that with the voter roll. Just thoughts on that, because I think that, what have we seen? Has that been a problem in Boston and what should we do about it?”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:50:37
“I'm trying to read between any lines there. So I understand why it's important for the city to do the municipal census. I do. I want us to get an accurate count. But we are seeing that it can be disenfranchising to voters. And we know that even when there are attempts made, like I'm not going to tell you what my response rate is to my mail, even though I am someone who physically loves checking the mail. Let's ask my staff. there still are sometimes barriers in time as to responding. So I'm wondering, is it worth that, even the effort that we're putting out, to then the potential of…”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 2:51:18
“Thank you. Thanks, everyone. Are there formal things that I need to read in order to adjourn this hearing that I now put away? But I am really grateful. This was a really thought-provoking and educational hearing for me and I know for my colleagues as well. So thank you to my colleagues for being here. Thank you to Councilor Mejia for sticking it out and still being here with us. We know that the work is going to continue, and we know that all of you will continue that work. We will be asking for a vote on docket 1805 in support of question four, election day registration voting. And we will…”
City Council · Oct 2, 2026
- Play at 11:15
“Good morning, everyone. Bonjour tout le monde. Merci parce que nous l'avons. This is a topic and an issue that my office has been working on endlessly, day and night. And I mean that literally and figuratively. I was talking to Brian Cuncannon, the head of the IJDH, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, about how, you know, I fell yesterday, had a lot of issues going on, and at the same time got a call from a constituent who was being rejected from services at a legal services organization. I got on the phone in the middle of everything with the head of the immigration clinic there to…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 28:33
“Thank you, Courtney, for that presentation. I'm just going to continue to highlight the work that we need to continue to do with the Office of Housing Stability around the issues that you mentioned and been having calls on when it comes to RAP and when it comes to home base. I want to continue to highlight, I don't know if there are, and I think Emily called your office to talk about this, but how we can be more embedded in the mental health work. are other organizations that are also leading in the work i know united way is also putting together and has we're on calls um every other week…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 29:48
“And who can apply? Can a mental health, for example, consortium, can they apply for it?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 30:35
“Thank you. Yeah, and I'm glad the work that we did back in February and March with bringing the United Way together with the Boston Foundation to make, because we saw this coming down the pipe, but there's still not enough incoming funds, even for those large institutions, to do all of this work. I work very closely with the Mental Health Consortium, and they're who I send when I get these text messages, when I get that direct outreach. But they have funding issues, so we could maybe probably talk about how to support them as they're serving a very vulnerable population. I think those are…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 32:34
“because obviously that that helps in that exchange um i know that you have our list of haitians speaking speaking attorneys so if i mean i'm happy to send you if they're maybe you're missing one or two yeah who but it's also time consuming for them because they're also the people who i send emergency legal issues to in addition to other attorneys so it's just uh but i remember pasta kiki highlighting language issues and the amount of time yes the 15 minutes is really short and needing to do more warm handoffs. And I think we, I'm just going to say this for everyone, right? Yesterday was an…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:00:15
“Thank you. And I wanted to thank you, Courtney, for uplifting the name of Pierre Damas Bell and for really centering how important mental health is in this moment. It reminded me of a huge tragedy that we had in March at the passing of Emmanuel Damas, who was arrested by ICE right here in Dorchester and died of a toothache in Arizona. I'm wondering if we are seeing one of the things that happens when someone is detained by ICE is that they need to get an attorney as soon as possible, but also They need to make sure that that's an attorney who has experience not only in the immigration world…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:02:06
“Thank you. You know, there's so many offshoots to this work, and so sometimes things get lost. I remember one of the things that we were talking about was connecting with law schools. I know, for example, my alma mater, Harvard, they have an immigration clinic. It's an immigration refugee clinic. BC, I believe, also has a clinic. How have we been tapping into those clinics to also be of assistance, or where are they in terms of feeling like they can support this work?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:03:16
“We're seeing more of an edginess than we are seeing people go in.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:03:28
“I think that's something IFC is doing as well.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:03:46
“So if folks ask me who is leading on the work of making sure that our our law schools are integrated into sort of this environment of making sure we have lawyers for folks who need them or legal access, I could say that Moya is leading in on that charge.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:04:30
“Thank you. And have you been part of the cooperative work or the conversations around cooperatives?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:04:36
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:05:57
“Sure, sure. I'd like to see us do a little bit more work in that space. I haven't been seeing those private like big law firm attorneys involved. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. But I also think like we need to be thinking about all the ways in which we can get lawyers involved in legal assistance. And so I'd love for your office to sort of, I'm putting it on you, to own that work. Because a lot of it isn't just about, a lot of it is about coordination. A lot of it is about, okay, we have folks who can and who are able. And a lot of these big law firms also have immigration lawyers who…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:39:38
“Okay. Well, I know I'm going to need more than four, so I'm just going to say we'll do a second round. Let's start with four. Hopefully we'll do a second round and I can ask my additional questions.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:39:53
“All right. Thank you. I want to thank all of you. Like Brian, I just like, you know, we've been in this fight for so long. Like the fight for, against anti-blackness, the fight for our immigrant communities, the fight for a free Haiti has been ongoing since 1804. and what would it look like for us really to experience the beauty of what it means to have the only country founded in the world from a slave revolt, to have them to be able to stand on their feet. And so there's so much going in in that. I also just wanted to state that this evening at 6 PM at Sorrel and Lime in Dorchester, they're…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026