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The once and future councilor?

Michael Flaherty announced today that, yes, he is running for an at-large seat on the City Council in the fall elections. He gave up his seat in 2009 to run for mayor.

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Comments

He's clearly positioning himself for 2013. Of course, most councilors have an eye on higher office, but this is a transparent move to get his name back in the papers and have a staff working for him as the next mayoral race comes into view.

But there are no open seats in 2011. Someone's going to have to lose, and Arroyo and Pressley are your #3 and #4 finishers in '09, respectively. How does Councilor Flaherty go to Latinos, Blacks, and Progressives in 2013 and ask for their vote if he's seen as the guy who bumped a promising young candidate from office (a city council that's already got more than it's share of white guys)??

It's everyone's right to run. And it's everyone's right to embrace a deeply flawed strategy. It sure looks like Flaherty is exercising both in this case.

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I suspect more than anything he needs the cash. He burnt a lot of bridges along the way thats for sure

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You treat Latinos and blacks like regular people and not like space aliens. They're Bostonians like the rest of us. Identify their specific problems, pitch a solution, and hope for their vote.

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The Globe wants to create the impression this is about Pressley and Arroyo. With Flaherty in the race he his top draw in Charlestown, Southie and Dorchester....and Connolly is big draw for top choice in West Roxbury and Roslindale. It's Steve Murphy who is most vulnerable...he was typically 3rd or 4th when Michael was on the ballot. Pressley, Arroyo, and Connolly have a solid base, Murphy not so much.

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What an incredibly patronizing thing to say. Minorities aren't capable of winning on their own, so they need white people to stay out of elections so that they can have a chance? There's more than a little racism in that thinking.

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David Bernstein analyzes Flaherty's announcement, finds him running strictly against the mayor, with the implication that his opponents are somehow complicit with all the ills he feels Menino is responsible for.

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The Editor (first comment) is trying very hard to revive the racial politics of the 1970s. He has not afterall complained about the candidacy of Mr. Dorcena, a member of the Dorchester Haitian Dorchester and a particular threat to Councilor Pressley. As somebody who was in Boston at that time, I have no problem responding under my own name. I hope others will stand up and be counted too. This has got to stop. If you are going to bring that horrible era to bear on today's politics, by innuendo or explicitly, planting the poison that a Flaherty candidacy is racially divisive or disrespentful, you need to say more about who stood where at that time. As I recall Michael Flaherty was no more than a toddler at the time busing caused our city to experience a certifiable nervous breakdown. There weren't many in Southie who had the courage to keep communication lines open for the sake of public safety; the Flaherty family did. To the contrary, Mayor Menino was outspoken in his opposition to busing in the hope of destabilizing the municipal governmebt and seeing a friend elected Mayor. Menino marched with his Hyde Park neighbors against busing and they were a nasty contingent. Today Arroyo and Pressley have understandably accepted the support of Menino rather than have his machine turned against them. I know that the Mayor has matured since then but I hope that both of these young politicians and their fellow candidates whose family also took political stands during that crisis will stand up and insist that their political operatives stop this. It stinks to high heaven. It's old hat and not in the City's best interest. Moreover, the Boston electorate doesn't buy it. I assume we are in concerned about that.

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Boston City Council Potential candidates as of Thursday 5 May 2011.
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES
[for updates, email john.donovan at cityofboston.gov]
PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for COUNCILLOR-at-LARGE
Deshon Porter 39 Boylston Street Boston, Ma 02116
William B Feegbeh 251 Cambridge Street Allston, Ma 02134 857-237-6649
John R Connolly 12 Shaw Street West Roxbury, Ma 02132 617-635-3115 617-447-1302
Felix G Arroyo 93 Wachusett Street Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-635-4205
Robert R. Frasca 440 Hanover Street Boston, Ma 02113 617-227-1533
Kenneth P Jervis 14 Burrill Place South Boston, Ma 02127 617-480-1123
Ayanna S. Pressley 1910 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester Ma 02124 617-635-4217
Will Dorcena 63 Gordon Avenue Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-899-4076
Stephen J Murphy 141 Warren Avenue Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-635-4376
Kevin R McCrea 218 West Springfield Street Boston, Ma 02118 617-267-2453
Abdillahi Mash Abdirahman 14 Guild Street Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-438-9087
Sean H Ryan 264 Lamartine Street Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-504-3133
Thomas J Dooley III 112 Pinckney Street Boston, Ma 02114 617-529-8860

PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for DISTRICT CITY COUNCILLOR
DISTRICT ONE
Robert R. Frasca 440 Hanover Street Boston, Ma 02113 617-227-1533
Salvatore LaMattina 76 Montmorenci Avenue East Boston, Ma 02128 617-635-3200
DISTRICT TWO
Suzanne Lee 1 Nassau Street Boston, Ma 02111 617-566-9992 617-935-1211
Bill Linehan 128 G Street South Boston, Ma 02127 617-635-3203 617-224-6911
DISTRICT THREE
Doug Bennett 714 Adams Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-963-4213 `
Martin J Hogan 491 Ashmont Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-297-5771 `617-203-1791
Marydith E Tuitt 127 Fairmount Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-719-6813
John K O’Toole 114 Minot Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-201-7866 `617-287-9398
Robert P McDonagh 35 Auriga Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-839-9817
Henry C Paquin 26 Taft Street Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-792-3823
Doug Hurley 15 Penhallow Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-922-1990
Sean Weir 32 Myrtlebank Avenue Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-710-1110
Michael P Christopher 43 Grampian Way Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-825-5238
Craig M Galvin 23 Cheverus Road Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-436-2000
Leonard M Lee 11 Mather Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-204-2832
DISTRICT FOUR
Joseph A Jones Jr. 76 Bernard Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 857-221-1367
Charles Calvin Yancey 3 Hooper Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-635-3131
J R Rucker 103 Tonawanda Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-436-0815

PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for DISTRICT CITY COUNCILLOR
DISTRICT FIVE
Rob Consalvo 18A Chittick Road Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-361-5733 617-828-0129
DISTRICT SIX
Matt O’Malley 226 Jamaicaway Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-935-9752 617-635-4220
DISTRICT SEVEN
Althea Garrison 98 Howard Avenue Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-407-7661
Tito Jackson 37 Schuyler Street Dorchester, Ma 02121 617-442-2837 617-635-3510
David James Wyatt 62 Weaver Court Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-442-4191 617-492-3076
Roy Owens 6 Woodville Street Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-541-4335
Sheneal Parker 30 Symphony Road Boston, Ma 02115 781-473-0640
Haywood Fennell Sr. 1850 Washington Street Boston, Ma 02118
Kevin A Dwire 25 Hawthorne Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-680-0085
Lee Buckley 840 A Shawmut Avenue Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-320-9396
DISTRICT EIGHT
Michael P Ross 214 Parker Hill Avenue Roxbury, Ma 02120 617-635-4225 617-708-0202
DISTRICT NINE
Mark S Ciommo 10 Oliva Road Brighton, Ma 02135 617-789-4693 617-635-3113

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Are City of Boston elections commissioners serving both in the Elections Department office and on the City Board of Elections Commissioners? Is it Proper? Could it be a conflict of interest?
http://www.cityofboston.gov/boardsandcommissions/
http://www.cityofboston.gov/elections/

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Boston Elections Commissioners need to put on their website at http://www.cityofboston.gov/elections/ the listings of potential candidates...

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I just read the Dorchester Reporter's story on Flaherty's announcement. What a great quote Flaherty gave on the situation in the city and on the council:

“The fact is that members of the council are routinely marginalized by the mayor, kept in line by a carrot and stick approach that is counterproductive to spirited and thoughtful political debate,” he said in a statement. “I know this from first-hand experience and I will be the first to admit that, during my early council career, I was part of it. Gradually, however, you come to realize that this situation is unhealthy for the city, its finances and its future.”

It's time we had someone speak truth to power. Go Flaherty go!!!!!

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Flaherty's a decent guy, hit the right notes in his previous terms and always took the "city-wide" part seriously. He listened to everyone.

Needless to say, I supported Flaherty for mayor, but the machine and the hackarama was too strong.

I'm glad he's running, someone has to bring the dictatorship down before it kills economic and cultural growth in Boston. Menino is like the Dead Hand of shakedowns and suppression on the city.

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I would love to be a fly on the wall on the 5th floor today.

"Honey, we aren't going down the Cape this summer."

"I guess it was a bad idea to vote for last year's budget."

"It's okay Menino will get our back, because we got his, just like Diane Wilk... Oh shit."

"If anyone wants a tree, get them a f'ing tree."

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Hey "anon"=

"The Globe wants to create the impression this is about Pressley and Arroyo. With Flaherty in the race he his top draw in Charlestown, Southie and Dorchester....and Connolly is big draw for top choice in West Roxbury and Roslindale. It's Steve Murphy who is most vulnerable...he was typically 3rd or 4th when Michael was on the ballot. Pressley, Arroyo, and Connolly have a solid base, Murphy not so much."

You couldn't be more wrong. If you want to throw around incorrect info, go for it, but you really should check your facts. Steve Murphy has the strongest citywide organization and it shows in his strong city-wide voter count- not just the few areas your mention.

Good Luck to Flaherty- history will repeat itself. Freddie Langone ring a bell?

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Hey Murph Stop using city resources to blog on UHub. PS. You have a huge head.

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Boston City Council potential candidates as of Monday 9 May 2011
Updates available by email john.donovan at cityofboston.gov

POTENTIAL CANDIDATES
PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for COUNCILLOR-at-LARGE
Deshon Porter 39 Boylston Street Boston, Ma 02116
William B Feegbeh 251 Cambridge Street Allston, Ma 02134 857-237-6649
John R Connolly 12 Shaw Street West Roxbury, Ma 02132 617-635-3115 617-447-1302
Felix G Arroyo 93 Wachusett Street Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-635-4205
Robert R. Frasca 440 Hanover Street Boston, Ma 02113 617-227-1533
Kenneth P Jervis 14 Burrill Place South Boston, Ma 02127 617-480-1123
Ayanna S. Pressley 1910 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester Ma 02124 617-635-4217
Will Dorcena 63 Gordon Avenue Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-899-4076
Stephen J Murphy 141 Warren Avenue Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-635-4376
Kevin R McCrea 218 West Springfield Street Boston, Ma 02118 617-267-2453
Abdillahi Mash Abdirahman 14 Guild Street Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-438-9087
Sean H Ryan 264 Lamartine Street Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-504-3133
Thomas J Dooley III 112 Pinckney Street Boston, Ma 02114 617-529-8860
Michael F Flaherty 1726 Columbia Road South Boston, Ma 02127 617-269-4673

PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for DISTRICT CITY COUNCILLOR
DISTRICT ONE
Robert R. Frasca 440 Hanover Street Boston, Ma 02113 617-227-1533
Salvatore LaMattina 76 Montmorenci Avenue East Boston, Ma 02128 617-635-3200

DISTRICT TWO
Suzanne Lee 1 Nassau Street Boston, Ma 02111 617-566-9992 617-935-1211
Bill Linehan 128 G Street South Boston, Ma 02127 617-635-3203 617-224-6911

DISTRICT THREE
Doug Bennett 714 Adams Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-963-4213 `
Martin J Hogan 491 Ashmont Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-297-5771 `617-203-1791
Marydith E Tuitt 127 Fairmount Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-719-6813
John K O’Toole 114 Minot Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-201-7866 `617-287-9398
Robert P McDonagh 35 Auriga Street Dorchester, Ma 02122 617-839-9817
Henry C Paquin 26 Taft Street Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-792-3823
Doug Hurley 15 Penhallow Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-922-1990
Sean Weir 32 Myrtlebank Avenue Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-710-1110
Michael P Christopher 43 Grampian Way Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-825-5238
Craig M Galvin 23 Cheverus Road Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-436-2000
Leonard M Lee 11 Mather Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-204-2832
Stephanie L Everett 197 Manchester Street Mattapan, Ma 02126 617-834-8688

DISTRICT FOUR
Joseph A Jones Jr. 76 Bernard Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-785-9166
Charles Calvin Yancey 3 Hooper Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-635-3131
J R Rucker 103 Tonawanda Street Dorchester, Ma 02124 617-436-0815

PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES for DISTRICT CITY COUNCILLOR

DISTRICT FIVE
Rob Consalvo 18A Chittick Road Hyde Park, Ma 02136 617-361-5733 617-828-0129

DISTRICT SIX
Matt O’Malley 226 Jamaicaway Jamaica Plain, Ma 02130 617-935-9752 617-635-4220

DISTRICT SEVEN
Althea Garrison 98 Howard Avenue Dorchester, Ma 02125 617-407-7661
Tito Jackson 37 Schuyler Street Dorchester, Ma 02121 617-442-2837 617-635-3510
David James Wyatt 62 Weaver Court Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-442-4191 617-492-3076
Roy Owens 6 Woodville Street Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-541-4335
Sheneal Parker 30 Symphony Road Boston, Ma 02115 781-473-0640
Haywood Fennell Sr. 1850 Washington Street Boston, Ma 02118
Kevin A Dwire 25 Hawthorne Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-680-0085
Lee Buckley 840 A Shawmut Avenue Roxbury, Ma 02119 617-320-9396

DISTRICT EIGHT
Michael P Ross 214 Parker Hill Avenue Roxbury, Ma 02120 617-635-4225 617-708-0202

DISTRICT NINE
Mark S Ciommo 10 Oliva Road Brighton, Ma 02135 617-789-4693 617-635-3113

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No, you're wrong "White Reuben".

When one can't dispute the facts, cowards like "White Reuben" resort to name calling...........

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You are wrong 02136. You called me a coward and that is name calling. You big meany.

Is there any dispute that Murph's head is enormous. that is a fact. Isn't a bad thing either. Last Christmas I saw him and wanted to give him a big kiss on his huge head. I think Dapper felt the same way, may he rest in peace.

Now that I think of it Murph can drive Flaherty around when he comes in 5th in November. Everybody wins!!!!!!!

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Perhaps Boston voters should consider writing in U.S. political prisoner and former anti-war Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner as their choice for an at-large seat on the Boston City Council in fall 2011 elections, instead of voting for perpetual office-seeking politicians like former Boston City Council President Flaherty? For more information about Boston City Council's Chuck Turner Case, readers might be interested in checking out video of a public domain folk song about this case that was recently posted at the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv19GHRz790

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