Edward Michael Flynn is an American politician currently serving on the Boston City Council, representing the city's 2nd district. A member of the Democratic Party, he has held his seat since January 2018. From January 2022 until January 2024, he served as president of the Boston City Council. He is the son of former Boston mayor Raymond Flynn. He is regarded to be one of the city council's most moderate members, and has been alternatively described as being conservative-leaning.
Flynn spent 24 years in the United States Navy and the United States Navy Reserve. He served as a legislative affairs specialist at the United States Department of Labor for five years during the Clinton administration, working on matters related to expanding access to affordable healthcare and efforts to increase federal minimum wage. He also previously worked as a probation officer in the Suffolk Superior Court and a substitute teacher.
In 2005, Flynn unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat on the Boston City Council, placing eighth in the general election for four seats. In 2007, Flynn unsuccessfully ran in a special election for the 2nd district seat on the Boston City Council, placing third in the nonpartisan primary. In 2017, Flynn succeeded in his third campaign for city council, narrowly winning an open election for the 2nd district seat. Flynn has since been reelected three times without opposition (in 2019, 2021, and 2023). After joining the council, Flynn was a strong advocate for the passage of city regulations on short-term rentals, which were ultimately adopted in 2018. In his third term on the council (2021–2022) Flynn served as the council's president. During his term as president, the council carried out the process of adopting a map for its decennial redistricting which proved contentious.
Early life and career
Flynn was born to Raymond Flynn and Kathy Flynn (). Flynn's father was mayor of Boston from 1984 through 1993, and was also an ambassador of the United States to the Holy See from 1993 through 1997, a member of the Boston City Council from 1978 through 1984, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1971 through 1978.
Flynn was one of six siblings. Flynn graduated from Boston's Don Bosco Technical High School and from Newport, Rhode Island's Salve Regina College, where he studied history and government.
Flynn served in the United States Navy and United States Naval Reserve for 24 years, becoming a second-class petty officer. He served active duty at Joint Task Force Guantanamo, and had further service abroad in the United States Naval Reserves. His military service included Operation Enduring Freedom.
Flynn worked as a probation officer in the Suffolk Superior Court, as a legislative affairs specialist at the United States Department of Labor during the Clinton administration, and as a transportation logistical specialist for the 2005 United States presidential inauguration. At the Department of Labor he worked on matters related to expanding access to affordable healthcare and efforts to increase the federal minimum wage.
In 2005, Flynn permanently moved back to Boston from Washington, D.C., settling in South Boston and beginning work as a substitute teacher at Charlestown High School. By the time he was elected to the Boston City Council in 2017, Flynn had held membership in a number of Bostonian civic organizations, including the Cityside Neighborhood Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars Thomas M. Fitzgerald Post, Ward 7 Democratic Committee, and South Boston Citizens' Association.
Unsuccessful 2005 and 2007 Boston City Council campaigns In April 2005, a month after resettling in Boston, Flynn declared that he had intended to run for an at-large seat in the 2005 Boston City Council election. He cited youth substance abuse as a key issue he intended to focus on, declaring that, "OxyContin and heroin are an epidemic now, in every neighborhood. I would like to try to get the business community involved". Flynn advanced from the nonpartisan primary election to the general election, but was unsuccessful, placing eighth in the race for four at-large seats.
In 2007, Flynn ran in the second district special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death in office of James M. Kelly. He placed third in the nonpartisan primary election behind Susan M. Passoni and Bill Linehan, thus failing to advance to the general election.
2017 election to the Boston City Council In February 2017 District 2 Councilor Bill Linehan announced he was not seeking reelection and Flynn was considered a potential candidate.
During the campaign, Flynn was considered the front-runner. Among those who endorsed his candidacy were Congressman Stephen F. Lynch, retiring City Councilor Bill Linehan, City Councilor Michael F. Flaherty, and State Representative Nick Collins. He was also endorsed by a number of trade unions, as well as the Chinese Progressive Association.
Among the issues that Flynn pledged would be a priority for him if he was elected was addressing the problem of domestic violence. He invoked the work his mother had done as the city's first lady to support survivors of domestic violence, promising to continue her work.
Flynn narrowly won the election, defeating LGBTQ activist Mike Kelley with 52% of the vote.
First council term (2018–2019) Flynn took office, becoming only the third individual to hold the council's 2nd district seat since it was established in 1984. After joining the council, Flynn stopped working as a probation officer at the Suffolk Superior Court.
In December 2018, the Boston City Council unanimously voted to pass an ordinance that Flynn authored with Lydia Edwards that extended the period of repayment for back taxes by low-income elder residents, and forgave interest.
During campaigning, Flynn supported restricting short-term rentals. In June 2018, Flynn voted for an ordinance which regulated short-term rentals in the city by restricting short-term rentals to owner-occupied housing units, requiring hosts to register with the city, and requiring the city to collect and publish data on short-term rentals The ordinance's adoption was endorsed both by then-City Council President Michelle Wu and then-mayor Marty Walsh. In hearings prior to its 11-2 adoption by the City Council, Flynn supported the ordinance. He argued that it would preserve the ability for neighborhoods like Chinatown to accommodate working-class immigrants as residents, and highlighted a need to, "defend our communities from commercialization, investor speculation and to protect the fabric of our neighborhoods." In late-2019, Flynn partnered with Councilwomen Wu and Edwards to hold a hearing meant to identify possible loopholes in the enforcement of the short-term rental regulation ordinance adopted the previous year.
Second council term (2020–2021)
Flynn ran unopposed and was reelected in 2019.
In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the United States, Flynn introduced a resolution to express the council's support towards the city's Chinese and broader Asian communities. The city's Chinatown neighborhood had suffered more pronounced economic hardship in that stage of the pandemic than other areas of the city, likely due to negative attitudes towards the Chinese due to perceptions related to the pandemic's origins in China.
In 2021, Flynn voted against legislation that was passed by the City Council which restricted the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray by the Boston Police Department. After the legislation was passed in January 2021, it was vetoed by Mayor Walsh. However, after Walsh resigned the office of mayor to become United States secretary of labor and Council President Kim Janey became acting mayor, the resolution was again brought to a vote. Flynn again voted against it, but the resolution was passed by the council and signed into law by Acting Mayor Janey.
Third council term (2022–2023) Flynn ran unopposed and was reelected to his city council seat in 2021.
Election as council president Flynn successfully sought the council presidency, a position which is elected though a vote of council members. The campaign process for those seeking the presidency typically occurs behind closed doors, with the contenders privately lobbying and negotiating with members of the council for their votes. Initially, after the new council had been elected, rumors initially arose that Kenzie Bok had secured the backing of enough city council members to be elected the City Council's president for its 2022–23 term. It would later be reported by the press that sources confirmed was initially the case, but that Flynn (who had initially pledged to support Bok for president) and two additional councilors decided to withdraw their backing of her candidacy, and instead partnered with a coalition of newly elected freshman members to support Flynn for the position (thereby giving Flynn sufficient support to win the presidency).
On December 1, 2021, Flynn announced in a press release that he had secured guarantees of support from enough council members that he was confident he would be voted by the city council to serve as its president of the Boston City Council during its 2022–23 term. WGBH-TV reported that numerous sources had informed them that Flynn had indeed received support from enough councilors to win the position. It was reported that the councilors who had rival efforts for the council presidency had been Ricardo Arroyo and Kenzie Bok. It was noted that it was possible that councilors could potentially shift their support before the January vote. However, upon Flynn's apparent success in securing sufficient backing to become council president, Arroyo released a statement that acted as an informal concession of sorts, giving strong praise to Flynn's kindness and work ethic, and declaring that he looked forward, "to seeing how he utilizes those great qualities in this leadership role." Flynn ultimately was elected unanimously to the council presidency in the formal vote.
Council politics
During his third council term, Flynn was joined councilors Frank Baker, Michael F. Flaherty, and Erin Murphy in an informal grouping that often functioned as a centrist/conservative voting bloc.
During Flynn's council presidency, Michelle Wu was mayor. Wu is considered to be significantly more of a political progressive than Flynn, who himself is regarded to be one of the council's most moderate members. Flynn was occasionally described as a critic of Wu. However, during his tenure as council president, Flynn personally stated that he had a good working relationship with Wu and that he saw it as important to collaborate with her mayoral administration. At the end of his council presidency, Flynn responded to a reporter's question on his opinion of Mayor Wu's job performance by saying, "I think she's done a good job. I'm close with the mayor personally. I like her, I respect her." Despite initial expectations that the Boston City Council would wield more power than it previously had, during Flynn's' tenure as president, Mayor Wu generally prevailed in instances where she and the City Council were at odds. Emma Platoff of The Boston Globe credited Wu's ability to frequently prevail on matters where she and the City Council were not aligned to Wu's own "political savvy", the strong legal power afforded to mayors of Boston, divisions on the City Council that give the body a weaker negotiating position, and the inexperience of new council members. Adrian Walker of The Boston Globe has opined that Flynn had not been particularly successful in his role as council president, characterizing Flynn's tenure as council president as having been "unimpressive, to put it mildly."