Michael F. Flaherty
Flaherty in 2023
Member of theBoston City Council at-large
In office January 2014 – January 2024
Preceded by	John R. Connolly andFelix G. Arroyo
Succeeded by	Henry Santana
In office January 2000 – January 2010
Preceded by	Dapper O'Neil
Succeeded by	Ayanna Pressley and Felix G. Arroyo
President of the Boston City Council
In office January 2002 – January 2007
Preceded by	Charles Yancey
Succeeded by	Maureen Feeney
Personal details
Born	(1969-05-04)May 4, 1969 (age 56)
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Laurene Flaherty
Children	Patrick, Michael III, and twins Elizabeth and Jack
Residence	South Boston
Alma mater	Boston College(BA) Boston University(JD)

Michael F. Flaherty (born May 4, 1969) is a politician who served as an at-large member of theBoston City Council for a cumulative ten terms. A member of theDemocratic 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 formayor of Boston inthat year's election, which he lost to incumbent mayorThomas 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.

Flaherty was born and grew up inSouth Boston, where has also lived in his adulthood.^[1] His father,Michael F. Flaherty Sr., is a former associate justice of theBoston Municipal Court and a former state representative.^{[citation needed]} Flaherty grew in theOld Harbor Housing Project, apublic housing project.^[1]

Flaherty graduated fromBoston College High School, aprivate school in theDorchester neighborhood. He graduated fromBoston College. He earned aJuris Doctor degree at theBoston University School of Law, attending on a scholarship fromTeamsters Local 25 (atrade union which provides law scholarships to family of its members).^[1]

Prior to being elected to theBoston City Council in 1999, Flaherty was an assistant district attorney in theSuffolk County District Attorney's Office.^[1]

Flaherty was first elected to the council inNovember 1999 as anat-large member. His election resulted in the unseating of longtime incumbentDapper O'Neil.^[2] 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,^{[citation needed]}, Flaherty was reelected to the council inNovember 2001. In January 2002, Flaherty was elected by his fellow city councilors to serve as the council's president. MayorThomas Menino, who Flaherty had established a strong relationship with, had maneuvered to secure Flaherty the votes needed to become council president.^[3] During Flaherty's two-consecutive terms as council president, the council numerous times violated the state's open meetings law, for which it was successfully sued by Kevin McCrea, leading the council to plead guilty in 2008 to having violated the state's open meetings law between 2003 and 2005 by meeting illegally to discuss projects of the Boston Planning Agency (Boston Planning & Development Agency) and an outbreak at aBoston University bio-laboratory.^[3][4] Flaherty also was regarded as somewhatautocratic 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.^[3]

Flaherty was reelected inNovember 2003. He was the city council election's top vote-getter. Flaherty's margin of victory over first runner-upFelix D. Arroyo was 5,671 votes, which was the widest margin since the council had been restructured in 1983.^{[citation needed]} After the newly elected council took office in January 2004, Flaherty was elected by the council members to serve a second-consecutive term as the council's president.^{[citation needed]}

Flaherty won reelection inNovember 2005, again placing as the city council election's top vote-getter. He received only 14,000 fewer votes than Mayor Menino had in the coinciding2005 Boston mayoral election. Viewing Flaherty's rising stature as a political threat, Menino successfully maneuvered to getMaureen Feeney elected council president in January 2007 instead of Flaherty. In turn, Flaherty became a vocal critic of the mayor. Flaherty gave particularly strong opposition to a proposal by the mayor to relocate the city government headquarters from the existingBoston City Hall to a new city hall along the city's waterfront.^[3] Flaherty won reelection inNovember 2007 and was once again the city council election's top vote-getter. Flaherty did not run for re-election inNovember 2009, instead opting to run formayor of Boston.

Flaherty established political ties to the city's gay community.^[5] Flaherty was the first city officeholder in Boston to voice support forsame-sex marriage. He also gave his support to an ordinance prohibiting discrimination againsttransgender individuals.^[6] In 2023, Flaherty stated that his early support for same-sex marriage was what he was proudest of from his time on the council.^[7]

Flaherty announced on January 25, 2009, that he would run for mayor of Boston in that year's election.^[8][9] By February 2009, he had raised more than $600,000 for his campaign.^[10] According toThe Boston Globe, at that time, only 9% of Flaherty's contributions came from out-of-state, compared to fellow candidateSam Yoon's 58%.^[11] Flaherty's campaign was also supported by a number oftrade unions.^[3]

Finishing second behind incumbent mayorThomas Menino in the Septemberprimary election, Flaherty advanced to face Menino in the general election. In the general election, Flaherty pledged that he would re-create the position of deputy mayor and appoint Yoon deputy to the role. This position had not existed in Boston since the administration ofKevin White, who left office in 1984.^[12] Yoon thereafter campaigned as Flaherty's unofficialrunning mate.^[13]

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.^[3] While he posed the strongest challenge for re-election Menino ever faced, Menino still was re-elected by a wide margin in thegeneral election.^[14] The 57%-42% result was the narrowest of any of Menino's mayoral general election victories, but was still a double-digit victory.

After leaving the city council, Flaherty practiced private-sector law.^[15]

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. Theeditorial board ofThe Boston Globe criticized this assertion as unfounded, noting that none of the incumbent at-large councilors were products of Menino ‘spolitical machine, and each had gone against the mayor previously on certain issues.^[16]

In making his endorsements for the 2011 election, Sam Yoon (Flaherty's unofficial running mate from two years prior) snubbed Flaherty and instead endorsed two of his opponents.^[17] The editorial board ofThe Boston Globeendorsed 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.^[16] After his defeat, columnistJoan 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).^[14]

In theNovember 2013 election, Flaherty was returned to the council as an at-large member. Unlike in 2011, the editorial board ofThe 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.^[18]

Flaherty was reelected inNovember 2015,November 2017,November 2019,^[19] andNovember 2021. In 2021, he was the lead vote-getter in both the September primary and the general election.^[20][21]

In his eighth term (2018 and 2019), Flaherty served as chair of the Committee on Government Operations.^[22] 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.^[1]

Flaherty was a member of the council's de factovoting bloc ofcentrist/conservative councilors, a grouping which in the 2022–23 council term also includedFrank Baker,Ed Flynn, andErin Murphy.^[23] In January 2017, David S. Bernstein ofBoston magazine described Flaherty, State SenatorNick Collins, and district 2 city councilorBill Linehan as being the three most important "southie" (South Boston) politicians.^[24]

More than a year in advance of the2017 Boston mayoral election, Flaherty endorsed MayorMarty Walsh for re-election.^[24] Flaherty had considered the possibility of running in the2021 Boston mayoral election,^[25] but did not run.

In July 2023, Flaherty announced that he would not be pursuing an additional term in office.^[26] Flaherty cited discord on the council and a desire to spend more time with his family as his motivations for retiring from the council.^[21] Flaherty has stated that he has no immediate plans of running for other office.

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 againsteviction, including a city prohibition on no-causeevictions.^[27][28] The bill passed the council in October and was soon after approved by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to be referred to theMassachusetts General Court (the state legislature) for passage.^[29] However, the legislation did not receive traction in the state legislature.^[27]

In February 2023, Flaherty expressed reservations about therent stabilization home rule petition that Mayor Michelle Wu had sent to council.^[28] He cited the years-earlier stall in the state legislature of the Jim Brooks Act he had helped to create, Flaherty urged city council members not to pass a rent control home rule petition (which would need state approval to become law) unless there was a desire by state legislators to enact as law.^[27] He also expressed worry about the possibility that rent stabilization would put landlords with smaller property portfolios at a disadvantage in competing against those holding larger portfolios.^[30] 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.^[31]

In 2015, anticipating a possible legalization ofrecreational marijuana in Massachusetts, Flaherty proposed that the city adopt a text amendment prohibiting eithermedical 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.^[32]

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 theMBTA 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.^[33][34][35] TheTwitter hashtag "#FiveCarFlaherty" was used by many to voice their opposition to his comments.^[33][34]

In April 2021, Flaherty was among a group that voted against legislation, which was nevertheless passed by a 7–5 vote of the City Council, that restricted the use ofrubber bullets,tear gas, andpepper spray by theBoston Police Department.^[36]

Flaherty has continued to reside in South Boston. Flaherty has four adult children.^[1]

† write-in votes

† write-in votes

• Bernstein, David S. (July 18, 2013)."City Council Candidate Chat: Michael Flaherty".Boston. RetrievedFebruary 21, 2018.

• Profile at boston.gov
• Official website

• 1969 births
• Living people
• Boston College alumni
• Boston College High School alumni
• Boston University School of Law alumni
• Presidents of the Boston City Council
• Lawyers from Boston
• People from South Boston
• Massachusetts Democrats
• 21st-century Massachusetts politicians

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2024
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia