Despite their calls for unity, Boston’s City Councilors seem as divided as ever.

At its meeting on January 1, the newly sworn in councilors elected Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune as their president for the 2024–2025 term. She earned the most votes of any at-large candidate in November’s election. She ran unopposed and enjoyed a unanimous, 13–0 mandate from her colleagues.

But that isn’t the full story. Earlier in the meeting, Councilor Ed Flynn nominated Councilor Julia Mejia as a potential challenger to Louijeune. Mejia, however, declined the nomination, citing a need for unity among the councilors despite their political differences.

According to Flynn and Councilor Erin Murphy, the real reason Meija stepped aside was a conversation between her and Tito Jackson, a former city councilor who now serves as chief executive officer of Apex Noire, a cannabis dispensary near City Hall. They said that, after Jackson approached her just before the meeting started, Meija appeared to change her mind about running for the council presidency, which she had planned to do going into the meeting.

Concerning the situation, Flynn said, “It was inappropriate and disrespectful for former City Councilor Tito Jackson to discourage City Councilor Julia Mejia from running for president. This is still a democracy.”

Murphy shared similar concerns, saying “When Councilor Mejia withdrew her name, I was disappointed because I was looking forward to having the opportunity to hear why the candidates for council president thought they were the best choice to lead this body before a vote was taken. Once we only had one nomination, we were forced to vote without any transparency or accountability.”

Jackson told The Boston Guardian, “I applaud Councilor Mejia’s support of a very awesome candidate for council president, Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune.” He added, “I’m really excited about the great things this council will do in the future, and I look forward to working with them.”

When asked about the content of his discussion with Mejia, Jackson declined to comment.

This debacle could be symptomatic of a greater divide on the City Council. In November, Louijeune claimed that she had the necessary seven votes to secure the council presidency. Since then, an undisclosed source said, Louijeune has largely left a few of the councilors out of the loop. Some of the city councilors who supported Louijeune have done the same, refusing to tell their out of favor colleagues if Louijeune had promised them committee positions.

The source also said that Mejia was planning to expose this divide by running for the council’s presidency. Though Mejia apparently knew she didn’t have the votes to win, she wanted to call attention to the body’s growing divide in her nomination speech. Mejia could not be reached for comment.

Some have wondered why Jackson cared that Louijeune won a unanimous victory, especially because it didn’t change the race’s outcome. Jackson and Louijeune apparently have a close relationship. In her victory speech, Louijeune thanked Jackson while placing her hands over her heart.

Given Jackson’s interests in the cannabis industry and current position as chair of Boston’s Black Men and Boys Commission, some have also wondered whether Jackson’s actions constituted lobbying. According to Lawrence DiCara, a former City Councilor, attorney, and lobbyist, Jackson’s actions didn’t rise to that level.

“I don’t think there was any triggering of lobbying laws because there was no compensation exchanged,” DiCara said.