By Mary Whitfill, News Staff
Boston’s City Council saw little change on Tuesday as 9 of its 13 members were re-elected. Two of the four at-large councilors kept their seats while two the space left by mayoral candidates John Connolly and Felix Arroyo. Districts eight and five will also see new councilors, replacing mayoral candidates Rob Consalvo and Mike Ross.
Ayanna Pressley, incumbent councilor, came in first by a margin of less than one percent in the election for Boston’s at-large city councilors. Pressley was first elected to Boston City Council in 2009, and was the first black woman to be elected in the council’s 100 years.
In her first term she founded the Committee on Women and Healthy Communities, which she now chairs. According to her website, Pressley’s top priorities include creating comprehensive sex education programs for teenagers and pushing for minority equality in the workplace.
“Well I happen to be an elected official, but I think the thing that informs who I am the most is that I am my mother’s child,” Pressley said in a video on her website. “You know my mother, may she rest in peace, was my foundation. She raised me alone, she fought to make sure I would never be deprived or denied anything, and I do this work to honor her and to honor all of the families like mine.”
Moving up from her fourth-place finish in the primary election, council newcomer and attorney Michelle Wu trailed closely behind Pressley, finishing with 59,688 votes. Previously a small business owner from Chicago, Wu has centered her campaign on creating jobs and supporting family owned businesses in Boston. She plans to do this by further digitizing City Hall, making permits more compact and available online, according to her website. Wu is the only at-large councilor election who did not previously serve on the council.
“I have gotten to know and love the sense of community and family that Boston’s neighborhoods represent,” Wu said on her website. “From advising entrepreneurs at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain, to working with survivors of domestic violence at the Medical-Legal Partnership at Boston Medical Center and health centers around the city, I have seen the power of community organizations serving city residents.”
Coming in third was Michael Flaherty, former president of the Boston City Council and 2009 mayoral candidate. Flaherty has served in the council since 2000, was elected as city council vice president in 2001 and served as president from 2002 to 2006. He announced his candidacy for mayor in 2009 but lost to incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino. Prior to his time in City Hall, he served as a Suffolk County prosecutor.
Current Boston City Council President Stephen Murphy came in last with 13.54 percent of votes. In his 15th year as at-large councilor, Murphy was just elected to his third term as president by fellow members of the council. He spearheaded the Criminal Offender Record Information reform and the Mayor’s Task Force on Payment in Lieu of Taxes reform was a direct result of five years of his work on tax fairness, according to the City of Boston website. Murphy was the only one of the four elected at-large councilors that did not receive the endorsement of the Boston Globe.
Incumbents in seven of the nine districts in Boston held their seats including Salvatore “Sal” LaMattina, Bill Linehan, Charles Yancey, Mark Ciommo, Matt O’Malley, Frank Baker and Tito Jackson.
Josh Zakim will take over district eight, which includes Northeastern’s campus. Zakim is the son of “Lenny” Zakim, late civil rights pioneer in Boston and namesake of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge.
“As your city councilor I will continue to work with members of all communities to ensure that all Bostonians have the chance to achieve their full potential,” Zakim said on his website.
Also new to the council is Timothy McCarthy, director of the Boston Youth Fund and leader of the HOPELINE, a program aimed at helping hire Boston youths for summer jobs. McCarthy is also an elected member of the City of Boston Credit Union and serves on its Marketing and Labor Committee.
