Shame on the Boston City Council

Published Mar 28 2006, 12:00 PM by Adam Reilly

And thanks to Shirley Kressel, Kathleen Devine, and Kevin McCrea for challenging the council's blatant disregard for the state's Open Meeting Law.

You'd think this ruling by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Nancy Staffier Holtz would change the M.O. up at City Hall. But old habits die hard.

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7 Comments

Concerned citizen of Boston said:

Didn't I just read in last Saturday's Herald that Adler Pollock & Sheehan, a Providence law firm , had hired Council President Michael Flaherty and is openly touting him to their clients as "the next mayor of Boston"? (You can read the article by searching for "flaherty" on the Herald site)

Pardon me for suggesting that we actually hold an election before anointing the ringleader of these illegal meetings the mayor of the city. And why does a law firm hire a guy who was on trial for - and is now found guilty of - breaking the law? "The councilor has always practiced law on a limited basis," said Flaherty's spokesperson, Andrew Kenneally. Hey, at least he's consistent - he practices democracy on a limited basis, too.

Here's a suggestion for Team Flaherty as they prepare their '09 bumper stickers (I hope they're not at the printers already) - "Mike For Mayor: What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You."

And $11,000 might not seem like much, but that's money that should be used for something the city needs, not paying a fine for breaking the public meeting law. Kudos to all the councilors who had the good sense to stay away from these meetings. Adam - any idea who (besides Arroyo, mentioned in the Globe piece) put the law ahead of their own political interests on this one?

March 28, 2006 12:52 PM
kevin mccrea said:

Thanks for blogging about this Adam. To answer the concerned citizen: The only ones who avoided these meetings were Hennigan, Arroyo, Yancey and Turner. All the rest of them actively participated in the meetings, despite Councilor Arroyo writing to them and saying he believed that the meetings violated the law.

As Arroyo says in the article it is sad, that citizens had to bring this suit. It is too bad no elected official would stand up to them, including the DA and AG whom we asked personally to enforce the law.

You can read the decision in it's entirety on my website electkevin.us, and many of the pleadings, etc. can be found on my blog.

Kevin McCrea

March 28, 2006 2:53 PM
Adam said:

Kevin, sorry I didn't link to your site earlier--I just added it to the post.

March 28, 2006 3:50 PM
don warner saklad said:

Please interview, do a story on the central staff of Boston City Council. Ann Hess is the Council Staff Director. What backgrounds do Council central staff bring to the office?...

March 29, 2006 1:40 PM
Kurt said:

The only thing this does is hand the Mayor even more power over a statutorily weak Council. They got more for their constituents through negotiations over the budget and other matters and now that won't be able to happen.

Also, this issue obviously doesn't resonate with Boston voters. Ask Kevin McCrea, he came in last in the recent election.

As for Councilors working at 2nd jobs -- most do.

March 30, 2006 8:09 PM
JOhn Q Public said:

Concerned citizen has no balls - otherwise he would put his name. Easy to take anonymous shots at someone...

John Q Public

April 1, 2006 10:50 PM
tony schinella said:

Hurray for this group! Shirley Kressel is a hero of mine. :-)

April 3, 2006 12:20 AM