Paul Toner Must Resign

Amidst a storm of federal chaos, much of Harvard’s student body has neglected the political scandal in its own backyard: Cambridge City Councilor Paul F. Toner’s alleged frequenting of a local high-end brothel.

Toner, like all Cambridge City Councilors, represents Cambridge — including Harvard. Despite being stripped of several council chairships, he continues to hold his seat as City Councilor. The fact that an alleged client of an illegal brothel continues to hold high office is an injustice: Paul Toner must resign now.

Some Massachusetts elected officials have taken a stand. Early after the hearing, Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Massachusetts State Representative Michael L. Connolly released statements demanding Toner’s resignation. Recently, another Massachusetts House member, Rep. Majorie C. Decker, also rightfully called on Toner to resign. As of last week, most of Cambridge’s city council followed suit.

Unfortunately, the calls for resignation have not been unanimous. A pair of Cambridge city councilors — and Mayor of Cambridge E. Denise Simmons — have seemingly approached the scandal with trepidation and have neglected to push for a resignation thus far.

It is up to us as Cambridge residents to increase the pressure on our local government and make our voices heard: we do not want someone charged for such a crime to represent us, nor do we want representatives who are afraid to call out injustice — especially when the alleged perpetrator is one of their own.

Many have rightfully called on Harvard to fight back against the decisions of the Trump administration and have pushed for greater moral conviction from our individual members of Congress. Given the current political moment, a fixation on federal issues is both necessary and understandable. But we cannot let national happenings overshadow wrongdoings at the local level.

A particularly noxious facet of the charges lies in the repeated nature of Toner’s alleged offenses. According to police reports, Toner “agreed to pay to engage in sex with a woman” at least 13 times and contacted the brothel at least 432 times. Combined with the ringleaders’ alleged coercion of victims, Toner’s purported engagement is doubly heinous.

Do these actions make Toner seem like a man who genuinely cares about his constituents?

Vapid statement declaring he was “forever sorry” aside, his clinging to power is inherently selfish — especially when many Cantabrigians have expressed their desire for him to resign.

Many representatives have also emphasized the logistical obstacles his continued involvement in a legal case has on the functioning of the city council. Cambridge Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern put it well: Toner’s needed resignation “is not about job performance — it’s about an elected official violating the public’s trust in their civic leadership.”

Day after day, we are witnessing a persistent cycle of abuses of the rule of law and the deterioration of leadership standards on the national level. It seems that this time around, members of Congress in both parties are less willing to put up a fight. Fostering the values we wish to see at the federal level must begin at the local level, especially when President Donald Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and a committee found that Matthew L. Gaetz (R-Fla) “engaged in sexual activity” with an underaged girl in 2017.

Words are not enough from our leaders. To the few councilors and our mayor that have refused to condemn Toner, it is time to say what is long overdue. To the Harvard student body, protest alongside your fellow Cantabrigians in calling for just and selfless leadership at all levels of government.

And to Toner — if you truly care about the community you serve, do the right thing. Resign.

Jasmine N. Wynn ’27, an Associate Editorial editor, is a History concentrator in Winthrop House.