City Councilor Ed Flynn issued a call for the resignation of Boston’s Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Segun Idowu, and is seeking an outside investigation of several city departments.
He made the call Sunday in a statement shared on social media.
“The Chief of Boston’s Economic Opportunity and Inclusion failed to provide positive and ethical leadership to its employees, businesses and Boston residents,” said Flynn in a post on X on Sunday. “Ethical leadership can’t be an afterthought in city government. I’m calling for his immediate resignation or termination.”
The city councilor also called for an “outside investigation into the hiring practices, workplace culture and environment” in several city departments, including the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion, and Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services.
The Mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Sunday evening.
Flynn did not specify the reason for his calls for Idowu’s termination Sunday.
But his statement follows a police report last week alleging two city employees, one working as a neighborhood business manager for the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion and a second as chief of staff for the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, were involved in a domestic violence incident.
Both city employees, Marwa Khudaynazar, 27, and Chulan Huang, 26, were charged with assault and battery on a household member. Khudaynazar, a head at the police accountability office, was also charged with assault and battery on a police officer. Both pleaded not guilty at their arraignments on Thursday.
Idowu was not named in the police report. The Herald also reached to Idowu for comment and did not immediately receive a response.
The employees were immediately placed on unpaid leave following the incident.
Flynn called for both to be fired following the incident. The city councilor also called for an “independent investigation into workplace culture and environment” of the same three departments following the incident last week.
Idowu has headed the City’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion since January 2022.
The Boston Police Detectives Union has also called for an investigation into the arrests.
“Domestic Violence and Assault and Battery on a Police Officer charges are unacceptable by their very nature,” the union wrote in a social media post after the event Thursday. “However, when the alleged perpetrator of such crimes holds a public office that can drastically impact a police officer’s livelihood, the blatant disrespect towards officers is especially troubling.”
“We can only hope for a bias-free investigation,” the union added, “and that the City uses the same lens of scrutiny in this case that they would use if the allegations were against a sworn police officer.”
