Майкл Флаэрти: Бостон қалалық кеңесінің саяхаты мен жетістіктері

American politician

Michael F. Flaherty (born May 4, 1969) is a politician who severely 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 reelection 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 reelection to an additional term.

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

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.

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. However, Flaherty was defeated by Menino in the general election on November 3, 2009. Flaherty lost by the smallest margin (57% to 42%) of anyone who ran against Menino in a mayoral race.

After leaving the city council, Flaherty practiced private sector law. 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. 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.

In the November 2013 election, Flaherty was returned to the council as an at large member. 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. but did not run. In his eighth term (2018 and 2019), Flaherty served as chair of the Committee on Government Operations. 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. 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.

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.

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.

2009 Boston mayoral electionCandidatesPreliminary electionGeneral electionVotes%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