BOSTON — A “South Boston for Mayor Michelle Wu” fundraiser invite listed a public employee as a member of the host committee, an apparent violation of state law, but Wu’s campaign said it did nothing wrong and the name was listed mistakenly.

Wu’s campaign said the employee, Gregory Lally — listed on city payroll records as an athletic director with the Boston Center for Youth and Families who was paid $57,827 in 2023 — is not a member of the host committee and the mistake has since been rectified by the campaign with new invites that don’t list his name.

“An earlier draft had a mistake which has been corrected,” Julia Leja, a spokesperson for the Wu campaign, said in a statement prior to Wednesday’s event.

Leja went on to list the members of the host committee, which she said includes Clerk Mike Donovan, Angel Feng, Steve Hollinger, Kevin Lally, Vincent Lao, Tom Timlin, Dr. Robert Emmet Morris, Nancy and Simon Pongratz, Eddie Regan, Emily Sy, Langdon White and Emily Yu.

A similar mistake, where a public employee was mistakenly listed as a member of the host committee for a planned fundraiser, prompted former Gov. Charlie Baker to cancel and later reschedule a 2021 fundraiser, the Herald reported at the time.

Jason Tait, a spokesperson for the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, opted not to comment directly on the matter, but spoke generally about public employee rules, when reached for comment on Wednesday.

“The law prohibits appointed and compensated employees from soliciting or receiving funds, directly or indirectly, for any political purpose,” Tait said in a statement. “Our general advice has always been that public employees may not host fundraisers.”

Leja did not answer a Herald inquiry about whether the mayor planned to move forward with the evening fundraiser, but indicated in her statement that the event was proceeding as planned.

Her comment repeated an earlier statement she provided to a Herald columnist who opined that Wu was homing in on the home turf of her political rival, Ed Flynn, a South Boston city councilor who is considering a 2025 bid for mayor.

“The mayor has been hosting neighborhood events in South Boston since her first election in 2013, and regularly hosts neighborhood events throughout the city,” Leja said.

Southie restaurant Amrheins was booked for the mayor’s fundraiser, which was set to last from 5:30 to 7 p.m. An event billed on social media as an “Anti-Wu standout” was set to clash with the campaign event, from 5 to 8 p.m. outside the restaurant, as Wu is expected to be fundraising for her mayoral reelection campaign.

Demonstrators were urged to keep the protest peaceful in a social media post shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by Chester Tam, who lists himself as working for Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc.

_____

©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.