Newly minted Boston mayoral candidate Annissa Essaibi George told Boston Public Radio on Friday she's running on her record as a city councilor and on her varied experience as a former school teacher and local business owner.
"It's really important to have someone lead the city who's had lots of different experiences," she said. "I'm excited to lead the city that I call home, that I'm raising my family in, that I've built my business in and that I've taught in."
Essaibi George owns a knitting shop in Dorchester, where she lives.
She officially jumped into the race Thursday morning, joining fellow city councilors Michelle Wu and Andrea Campbell, both of whom announced they were running last fall. She is the first person to commit to running since President Joe Biden nominated Mayor Marty Walsh to his cabinet earlier this month.
As a city councilor, she said, she has advocated for improved special education, vocational and technical education, and mental health services for students, adding that the city needs "a greater sense of urgency" around the city's schools.
She urged a prompt return to in-person learning for Boston students, while acknowledging the district needs to take a measured approach.
"As a parent, it can't happen quick enough," she said. "But as an elected official, as a leader of this city, as someone who wants to be mayor, we do have to move just slow enough so that we can watch the impacts of reopening schools."
Essaibi George also discussed the economic challenges ahead for Boston, as it faces a balancing act between keeping the community safe and protecting businesses in the city. While she praised Walsh and other leaders for acting as they did in the face of an unprecedented crisis, she said there were missteps along the way.
"We've certainly laid the burden of this crisis on the doorstep of our locally-owned businesses, and it has been devastating to too many businesses, too many industries," she said, specifically citing gyms and fitness centers. "I think we did put too tight of a restriction on many of those businesses."
"I'm really concerned about those businesses that will not make it to recovery," she continued, "and what are the steps we need to take as municipal government and state government for sure, to support those businesses so they don't collapse before we get to a place where we can say we've taken control of this virus, we can now discuss recovery."
Essaibi George's mother was born to Polish parents in a displaced persons camp in Germany. Her father immigrated to the United States from Tunisia in 1972.
She said her father once told her "no girl with an Arab name — Annissa Essaibi — will ever run or win anything in this city."
"A small part of me wants to prove my father wrong," she said. "Boston has changed, but there's still so much work to do."
