Michael F. Flaherty

Michael F. Flaherty (born May 4, 1969) is a politician who served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council for a cumulative ten terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the council in 1999, serving an initial five terms between 2000 until 2010. During this initial tenure, he served as vice president of the council in 2001 and as council president from 2002 to 2006. In 2009 he forwent re-election to a further term in order to run for mayor of Boston in that year's election, which he lost to incumbent mayor Thomas Menino. He ran unsuccessfully in 2011 to return to the council as an at-large member. In 2013, Flaherty again ran in the at-large city council race, and was returned to the council. He served five terms between 2014 and 2024. In 2023, he declined to seek re-election to an additional term.

Early life, education, and career Flaherty was born and grew up in South Boston, where has also lived in his adulthood.

First city council tenure (2000–2010) Elections and council politics Flaherty was first elected to the council in November 1999 as an at-large member. His election resulted in the unseating of longtime incumbent Dapper O'Neil. He was then re-elected to four additional two-year terms, holding office until January 2010.

After serving as vice president of the council in 2001,, Flaherty was reelected to the council in November 2001. In January 2002, Flaherty was elected by his fellow city councilors to serve as the council's president. Mayor Thomas Menino, who Flaherty had established a strong relationship with, had maneuvered to secure Flaherty the votes needed to become council president. Flaherty also was regarded as somewhat autocratic in his leadership of the council, often using parliamentary rules to prevent debate on matter that he regarded as immaterial for the council to discuss. Flaherty was the first city officeholder in Boston to voice support for same-sex marriage. He also gave his support to an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against transgender individuals. In 2023, Flaherty stated that his early support for same-sex marriage was what he was proudest of from his time on the council.

Unsuccessful 2009 mayoral campaign

Flaherty announced on January 25, 2009, that he would run for mayor of Boston in that year's election. By February 2009, he had raised more than $600,000 for his campaign. According to The Boston Globe, at that time, only 9% of Flaherty's contributions came from out-of-state, compared to fellow candidate Sam Yoon's 58%. Flaherty's campaign was also supported by a number of trade unions. Yoon thereafter campaigned as Flaherty's unofficial running mate.

The 2009 election was regarded to be the first time that Menino had faced a significant challenge for reelection. Flaherty had higher name-recognition and more funding than Menino's previous challengers. While he posed the strongest challenge for re-election Menino ever faced, Menino still was re-elected by a wide margin in the general election.

In 2011, the first election since his departure from the council, Flaherty sought election to rejoin the body as an at-large member. Flaherty placed fifth in the general election for the four at-large, missing the fourth and final seat by 925 votes.

Flaherty distinguished himself from other at-large candidates in 2011 by positioning himself as a vocal critic of Mayor Menino. He alleged that the incumbents were all in the pocket of Menino. The editorial board of The Boston Globe criticized this assertion as unfounded, noting that none of the incumbent at-large councilors were products of Menino ‘s political machine, and each had gone against the mayor previously on certain issues. The editorial board of The Boston Globe endorsed the re-election of all four incumbents against Flaherty and other challengers, writing that while they believed Flaherty was a "bright, knowledgeable public servant", he had provided provided no persuasive reason for voters to oust any incumbents in favor of himself. The editorial board praised each incumbent as accomplished councilors, and criticized Flaherty's candidacy as lacking any political agenda besides his own opposition to Menino. After his defeat, columnist Joan Vennochi and others opined that he had not given voters any cogent reason for his candidacy, aside for his own political ambitions (including a possible desire to position himself for another mayoral candidacy in 2013).

Second city council tenure (2014–2024) Elections and city politics

In the November 2013 election, Flaherty was returned to the council as an at-large member. Unlike in 2011, the editorial board of The Boston Globe endorsed him in 2013. Their endorsement praised his knowledge. His campaign platform included proposals for imposing mandatory random drug tests on members of the city's police force, allowing bars in the city to remain open at later hours, and making an additional "13th year" of public education available to students needing more help.

Flaherty was reelected in November 2015, November 2017, November 2019, and November 2021. In 2021, he was the lead vote-getter in both the September primary and the general election. In his ninth term (2020 and 2021), Flaherty served as chair of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee and vice chair of the Committee on Government Operations. In January 2017, David S. Bernstein of Boston magazine described Flaherty, State Senator Nick Collins, and district 2 city councilor Bill Linehan as being the three most important "southie" (South Boston) politicians. Flaherty had considered the possibility of running in the 2021 Boston mayoral election, but did not run.

In July 2023, Flaherty announced that he would not be pursuing an additional term in office. Flaherty cited discord on the council and a desire to spend more time with his family as his motivations for retiring from the council. Flaherty has stated that he has no immediate plans of running for other office.

Housing Flaherty worked on the Jim Brooks Act, a home-rule petition which (if approved by the state government) would have enacted a number of measures to protect tenants against eviction, including a city prohibition on no-cause evictions. The bill passed the council in October and was soon after approved by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to be referred to the Massachusetts General Court (the state legislature) for passage. However, the legislation did not receive traction in the state legislature. In March 2023, when the petition came to a vote, Flaherty proposed an amendment to exempt properties or Boston-resident landlords who own fewer than six units and live within one of the units themselves. However, the amendment failed after only receiving support from three other councilors. He voted for the petition, which passed the council 11–2. He also voted the same day to advance Wu's home-rule petition to reform the Boston Planning & Development Agency, which also passed the council 11–2.

Other matters In 2015, anticipating a possible legalization of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts, Flaherty proposed that the city adopt a text amendment prohibiting either medical marijuana dispensary or recreational sales outlets from being located within 2,500 of each other in hopes of preventing a large proliferation of marijuana sales points in any singular community.

Flaherty received media attention in April 2019 for comments he made regarding a proposal to charge for resident parking permits. In a City Council hearing on the issue, he stated that bus stop spacing and stop length were a major cause of the city's parking woes and instead suggested coordinating with the MBTA to start a conversation about removing some of them. His comments were met with backlash from the public and transportation advocates, with many pointing to his ownership of five cars in a city as the real problem. The Twitter hashtag "#FiveCarFlaherty" was used by many to voice their opposition to his comments.

Personal life Flaherty has continued to reside in South Boston. Flaherty has four adult children.

Francis Roache (incumbent)

Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent)

Peggy Davis-Mullen (incumbent)

Michael F. Flaherty

Dapper O'Neil (incumbent)

Gregory B. Timilty

Joseph Mulligan III

Andrea Morrell

Daniel Kontoff

John Hugo

2001 Boston at-large City Council election CandidateVotes% Francis Roache (incumbent) 44,062 19.0 Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 42,869 18.5 Maura Hennigan 40,423 17.4 Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent) 39,436 17.0 Felix D. Arroyo 28,551 12.3 Robert Consalvo 28,584 12.3 Phyllis Yetman Igoe 8,186 3.5

2003 Boston at-large City Council electionCandidatePrimary Election General Election Votes%Votes% Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 20,307 18.21 36,387 18.33 Felix D. Arroyo (incumbent) 14,379 12.89 34,685 17.48 Maura Hennigan (incumbent) 15,916 14.27 33,596 16.93 Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent) 17,597 15.78 30,510 15.37 Patricia H. White 16,439 14.74 29,649 14.94 Matt O'Malley 7,025 6.30 12,929 6.51 Althea Garrison 5,050 4.53 10,524 5.30 Roy Owens 4,356 3.91 10,204 5.14 Jacquelyne Payne-Thompson 2,723 2.44 Phyllis Yetman Igoe 1,940 1.74 Edward Puglielli 1,705 1.53 Laura Garza 1,604 1.44 Arthur "Lucky" Craffey 1,594 1.43 Joseph Anthony Ureneck 907 0.81

2005 Boston at-large City Council electionCandidatePrimary election General election Votes%Votes% Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 17,828 13.90 49,220 17.58 Felix D. Arroyo (incumbent) 15,690 12.23 43,533 15.55 Sam Yoon 13,165 10.27 41,891 14.96 Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent) 14,094 10.99 35,553 12.70 John R. Connolly 14,287 11.14 31,629 11.30 Matt O'Malley 12,070 9.41 28,318 10.12 Patricia H. White 12,895 10.05 26,999 9.64 Edward M. Flynn 11,092 8.65 21,778 7.78 Althea Garrison 4824 3.76 Kevin R. McCrea 3661 2.85 Roy Owens 3622 2.82 Laura Garza 1807 1.41 Gregory Joseph O'Connell 1174 0.92 Martin J. Hogan 1031 0.80 Joseph Ready 675 0.53 Joseph Ureneck 17 0.01 133 0.05 Gibran Rivera 17 0.01 all others 297 0.23 874 0.31 write-in votes

2007 Boston at-large City Council election CandidatesVotes% Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 25,863 20.57 Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent) 23,659 18.82 Sam Yoon (incumbent) 23,230 18.48 John R. Connolly 21,997 17.50 Felix D. Arroyo 18,579 4.78 Martin J. Hogan 4,008 3.19 Matthew Geary 3,030 2.41% William P. Estrada 2,439 1.94% David James Wyatt 2,383 1.90% Scattering 542 0.43%

2011 Boston at-large City Council election General election Votes%Votes% Ayanna Pressley (incumbent) 42,915 16.71 60,799 18.30 Michelle Wu 29,384 11.44 59,741 17.98 Michael F. Flaherty 39,904 15.54 55,104 16.59 Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent) 31,728 12.35 44,993 13.54 Annissa Essaibi George 12,244 4.77 30,538 9.19 Jeffrey Ross 13,939 5.43 28,879 8.69 Martin Keogh 15,743 6.13 26,500 7.98 Jack Kelly III 11,909 4.64 23,967 7.22 Catherine O'Neill 10,952 4.26 Althea Garrison 10,268 4.00 Ramon Soto 9,928 3.87 Philip Frattaroli 5,832 2.27 Gareth Saunders 5,363 2.09 Christopher Conroy 3,433 1.34 Seamus Whelan 3,118 1.21 Francisco White 2,745 1.07 Douglas Wohn 2,382 0.93 Frank Addivinola Jr. 2,240 0.87 Keith Kenyon 1,950 0.76 Jamarhl Crawford 21 0.01 all others 832 0.32 1,658 0.50 write-in votes

2019 Boston at-large City Council electionCandidatePrimary election General election Votes%Votes% Michelle Wu (incumbent) 26,622 19.41 41,664 20.73 Annissa Essaibi George (incumbent) 18,993 13.85 34,109 16.97 Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 18,766 13.68 33,284 16.56 Julia Mejia 10,799 7.87 22,492 11.19 Alejandra St. Guillen 11,910 8.68 22,491 11.19 Erin Murphy 9,385 6.84 16,867 8.39 Althea Garrison (incumbent) 9,720 7.09 16,189 8.05 David Halbert 6,354 4.76 13,214 6.57 Martin Keogh 6,246 4.55 Jeffrey Ross 5,078 3.70 Priscilla Flint-Banks 4,094 2.98 Domingos DaRosa 2,840 2.07 Michel Denis 2,108 1.54 William King 1,809 1.32 Herb Lozano 1,510 1.10 all others 766 0.56 704 0.35

2021 Boston City Council at-large electionCandidatePrimary election General electionVotes%Votes% Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 41,299 15.0 62,606 17.4 Julia Mejia (incumbent) 38,765 14.1 62,058 17.3 Ruthzee Louijeune 33,425 12.2 54,898 15.3 Erin Murphy 22,835 8.3 43,076 12.0 David Halbert 16,921 6.2 42,765 11.9 Carla Monteiro 18,844 6.9 39,876 11.1 Bridget Nee-Walsh 15,118 5.5 27,591 7.7 Althea Garrison 16,810 6.1 25,078 7.0 Kelly Bates 12,735 4.6 Alexander Gray 11,263 4.1 Jon Spillane 11,155 4.1 Said Abdikarim 7,725 2.8 Domingos DaRosa 7,139 2.6 Donnie Dionico Palmer Jr. 6,823 2.5 Roy A. Owens Sr 5,223 1.9 James Rignald Colimon 4,671 1.7 Nick Vance 3,943 1.4 Write-ins 845 0.3 1,350 0.4 Total 274,694 100 359,294 100

Mayoral 2009 Boston mayoral electionCandidatesPreliminary election General election Votes%Votes% Thomas Menino (incumbent) 41,026 50.52 63,123 57.27 Michael F. Flaherty 19,459 23.96 46,768 42.43 Sam Yoon 17,179 21.16 Kevin McCrea 3,340 4.11