Ed Flynn (politician)

Flynn was elected to the Boston City Council's 2nd district seat in 2017 being vacated by outgoing Councilmember Bill Linehan. Flynn was elected, defeating LGBTQ activist Mike Kelley by over three percentage points.[1]

During the campaign, Flynn was considered the front-runner.[10] Among those who endorsed his candidacy were Congressman Stephen F. Lynch,[11] retiring City Councilor Bill Linehan,[10] City Councilor Michael F. Flaherty, and State Representative Nick Collins.[11] He was also endorsed by a number of trade unions.[11]

Among the issues that Flynn pledged would be a priority for him if he was elected was domestic violence. He invoked the work his mother had done as the city's first lady to support survivors of domestic violence, promising to continue her work.[4]

In mid-October 2017, the already-retiring Councilor Bill Linehan announced his early resignation from the City Council and also gave his endorsement of Flynn's candidacy to succeed him.[10]

Flynn is only the third individual to hold the council's 2nd district seat since it was established in 1984.[1] After joining the City Council, Flynn stopped working as a probation officer at the Suffolk Superior Court.[5]

Having been elected to fill a vacant seat, Flynn took office after the vote had been certified, beginning his tenure during the 2015–2018 Boston City Council term, as opposed to taking his seat months later at the start of the new 2018–21 Boston City Council term.

In December 2018, the Boston City Council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance that Flynn authored with Lydia Edwards that extended the period of repayment for back taxes by low-income elder residents, and forgave interest.[12]

Flynn was reelected in 2019.[3]

In 2021, Flynn voted against legislation that was passed by the City Council which restricted the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray by the Boston Police Department.[13]

Flynn was reelected to his city council seat in 2021.[3]

On the Boston City Council, its president is elected by a vote of its members. The campaign process of those seeking the presidency generally occurs behind closed doors, with the contenders privately lobbying and negotiating with members of the council for their votes.[14] Initially, after the new council had been elected, rumors initially arose that Kenzie Bok had secured the backing of enough City Council members to be elected the City Council's president for its 2022–23 term. It has been reported by the press that sources have said was initially the case, but that Flynn (who had initially pledged to support Bok for president) and two additional councilors decided to withdraw their backing of her candidacy, and partnered with a coalition of newly elected freshman City Council members to support Flynn to serve as the president, giving Flynn sufficient support to win the presidency.[15]

On December 1, 2021, Flynn announced in a press release that he had secured guarantees of support from enough council members that he was confident he would be voted by the city council to serve as its president of the Boston City Council during its 2022–23 term. WGBH-TV reported that numerous sources had informed them that Flynn had indeed received support from enough councilors to win the position. It was reported that the councilors who had rival efforts for the council presidency had been Ricardo Arroyo and Kenzie Bok. It was noted that it was possible that councilors could potentially shift their support before the January vote. However, upon Flynn's apparent success in securing sufficient backing to become council president, Arroyo released a statement that acted as an informal concession of sorts, giving strong praise to Flynn's kindness and work ethic, and declaring that he looked forward, "to seeing how he utilizes those great qualities in this leadership role."[14] Flynn ultimately was elected unanimously to the council presidency in the formal vote.[5]

Political reporter Saraya Wintersmith of WGBH-TV opined that, while the position of City Council president was mostly a symbolic post, it was poised to take more political importance than usual in the Boston City Council's 2022–23 term, with the council set to receive greater power in the city's budgeting process and poised to play a role in determining new appointees to seats on the Boston School Committee.[14] The Boston City Council was anticipated at the time to play a greater role in city decision making than it previously had.[16]

Flynn (right) in 2022 at Boston's 22nd Annual Street Festival with Mayor Michelle Wu (left) and Congressman Stephen Lynch (center)

Flynn (left) and Governor Charlie Baker in June 2022

Flynn (center left) at South Boston Health Center in July 2023, standing with City Councilor Michael F. Flaherty (far left), Congressman Stephen Lynch (center right), Mayor Michelle Wu (far right)

As council president, Flynn suspended Councilman Ricardo Arroyo from his committee chairmanships after it was reported in The Boston Globe that Arroyo had been investigated for sexual assault in 2005 and 2007 without being charged for a crime.[17] He also removed Arroyo's council vice presidency.[18]

In August 2022, ahead of month-long closure of a key segment of the MBTA Orange Line, Flynn and several other city councilors wrote a letter to the MBTA that requested the operation of shuttle bus service to Chinatown during the closure. He expressed worry that the MBTA was not including Chinatown in its plan for alternate transit during the closure.[19]

Flynn was one of four Boston city councilors that voted against the council's redistricting map that was initially approved by the City Council after the 2020 United States Census and which and Mayor Michelle Wu passed into law in November 2022.[20][21] The map made major alterations to the shape of Flynn's district and a neighboring district. Flynn took particular issue with the fact that the map placed two large South Boston public housing developments in different city council districts.[20] Flynn had desired to keep all of South Boston and the South End in the boundaries of his own district, which the new map did not do.[22] The redistricting process was contentious.[23] It was noted that the four city councilors to vote against the map were all White and politically moderate.[20] Before it was adopted, Flynn had fought and attempted to stall the adoption of the new map and proposed to instead have an independent panel draw the new map.[24] The map that Flynn was against was ultimately prohibited by preliminary injunction from being used in the 2023 Boston City Council election after a ruling by Federal Judge Patti Saris.[25] Flynn had given $10,000 of his own money to help fund the litigation that had challenged the map.[26] After the judicial ruling, Flynn tasked Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, head of the Boston City Council's Civil Rights Committee, to oversee the process of drawing a map to be used in the 2023 Boston City Council election instead of Liz Breadon, the head of the Redistricting Committee. The resulting map was adopted by the council in a 10–2 vote[27] and signed into law by Mayor Wu.[28]

Flynn considered the 6% plus CPI cap that Mayor Wu placed in the rent stabilization home rule petition she placed before the City Council to be a "reasonable" compromise.[29] In May 2023, Flynn proposed that the Boston City Council adopt an official no-tolerance policy for bullying by members, their staff, and other council employees.[30]

Flynn voiced his desire for Boston to follow New York City's lead and hire a "rat czar" to address steps to decrease the city's rat population.[31]

In June 2023, Flynn voted against an amended budget that was approved by the City Council 7–5. The vote had largely been along racial lines, with Flynn and the other four city councilors who voted against the budget all being white, and all but one city councilor who voted for the amendment being persons of color. Flynn voiced strong opposition to budget amendments that included a decrease to the city's Department of Veterans Services and the city's police budget.[32] Both of those amendments that Flynn cited specific opposition to were vetoed by Mayor Wu.[33]

Despite initial anticipation that the Boston City Council would wield more power than it previously had, during Flynn's' tenure as president, Mayor Wu has generally prevailed in instances where she and the City Council have been at odds. Emma Platoff of the Boston Globe has credited Wu's ability to frequently prevail on matters where she and the City Council are not aligned to Wu's own "political savvy", the strong legal power afforded to mayors of Boston, divisions on the City Council that give the body a weaker negotiating position, and the inexperience of new council members.[16]