For Flaherty, shift in seat may also alter prospects
Loss of gavel could free up time to pursue his other ambitions
The Boston Globe, January 22, 2007
By Donovan Slack

As president of the Boston City Council, Michael F. Flaherty was a behind-the-scenes deal-maker and a record-breaking fund-raiser. Rarely appearing in public without a crisp, gray suit, he was a consummate insider who was increasingly viewed as a possible heir-apparent to Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

But the steadily ascending path that some assumed would launch Flaherty into a mayoral campaign in coming years has taken a turn. Having lost the council presidency to Dorchester Councilor Maureen E. Feeney , Flaherty is confronting a new situation. Some political observers say the councilor is now in a better position to run for higher office, with more time for campaigning and fewer headaches that come with acting as the council's chief. But some say it signals a step backward and the loss of a politically potent fund-raising position -- and that Flaherty will have to switch strategies in order to fight any impression in the minds of voters that he has lost momentum.

"He has been succeeding by being the inside guy," said Lawrence S. DiCara , longtime City Hall observer and former City Council president. "Now, I expect he will be succeeding by being the outside guy."

Flaherty, who has made no secret of his ambitions for the city's top job but has never discussed them in public, said he is focused on his reelection bid this fall and declined to discuss the impact on his political career of losing the presidency.

"Being the presiding officer was a privilege and a tremendous honor, and I learned a great deal," Flaherty said last week.

Historically, council presidents have not used the post as a stepping - stone to higher office. In fact, during the past 30 years more nonranking councilors won election to higher offices than council presidents. State Senate President Robert E. Travaglini , who spent 10 years on the City Council before he won a Senate seat, was never council president. Nor was Daniel F. Conley , a former councilor who became district attorney. Or Raymond L. Flynn , a former councilor who became mayor.

But Flaherty has used the council presidency in a different way than predecessors like the late James M. Kelly and Christopher Iannella , who were nearing the ends of their careers and didn't profess aspirations to higher office. Flaherty has used the office to increase his exposure and bankroll a campaign chest that has fueled talk of a run for mayor. Finance records show he had $375,325 in his campaign account as of Nov. 1, more than twice as much as Menino, who had $168,890. The three other at-large councilors had less than $8,000 each.

"He was very effective using the council presidency in terms of fund - raising, probably more than anyone else in recent memory," said Michael McCormack , another former city councilor and longtime City Hall observer. "I think his image was burnished and enhanced by being council president."

Flaherty was the top vote-getter in the 2003 and 2005 at-large council races. As president from 2002 to 2006, he amassed legislative accomplishments that include expanding the city's assault weapons ban and taking on the mayor when violence escalated in the city, demanding the city hire 300 more police officers and urging Menino to accept help from State Police.

Flaherty was praised by some for a no-nonsense style of getting things done, assembling councilors in back offices to hammer out matters on zoning and redevelopment and discussing a case of accidental exposure to tularemia virus at a Boston University laboratory. But that style took a public beating last year when a superior court judge ruled that the council had violated the state's Open Meetings law 11 times between June 2003 and March 2005. The council was fined $11,000 and ordered to obey the law .

Flaherty's vote-getting and fund-raising success may have helped lead to his tumble from the council presidency, according to some observers who say he was seen as a threat by a notoriously thin-skinned mayor and regarded with jealousy by some councilors, who revoked support shortly before the council election early this month. "That was part of the calculus that went into electing Maureen Feeney," McCormack said.

Flaherty secure d the support of four colleagues in the council president election, two short of the majority needed to win the presiding role in the 13-member body. Two days before the election Jan. 1, he gave his support to Feeney and she was elected in the only unanimous first-round ballot in more than 15 years.

Some say Flaherty will have to prove that he can take on Menino, who has been showing signs of wanting to run again. Others say he will have to repair relations with him in order to avoid being blocked out of City Hall's bureaucracy, which he will need to provide constituent services and show he is effective on issues.

"There's nothing more important than having a good relationship with the mayor," said John A. Nucci , a former city councilor who is now vice president of government and community affairs for Suffolk University.

Flaherty says he plans to focus more on constituent relations and less on the administrative duties of council leadership. The president effectively sets the council agenda, assigning councilors to committee chairmanships and determining which legislation goes to which committees. The president also approves council budgets and spending.

"Now I look forward to taking more time outside City Hall to tackle the pressing issues plaguing our city, such as gang and gun violence, skyrocketing property taxes, and the achievement gap in city schools," Flaherty said.

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