Boston City Council tenure of Michelle Wu explained

Boston City Council tenure of Michelle Wu
Office1:President of the Boston City Council
Term Start1:January 2016
Term End1:January 2018
Predecessor1:Bill Linehan
Successor1:Andrea Campbell
Office:Member of the Boston City Council
at-large
Term Start:January 4, 2014
Term End:November 16, 2021
Predecessor:John R. Connolly
Felix G. Arroyo
Successor:Erin Murphy

Michelle Wu, a Democrat,[1] served as a member of the Boston City Council from January 2014 until becoming mayor of Boston in November 2021. Wu was first elected to the City Council in November 2013, and was re-elected three times (in 2015, 2017, and 2019). In 2016 and 2017, Wu served as the Council’s president.

Wu won positive recognition for her work as a city councilor. Wu served on the Council at a time when the body acted to wield greater influence than earlier iterations had in preceding decades. The council acted particularly bolder during her own tenure as its president. Wu was considered to be a progressive member. As a councilor, Wu authored several ordinances that were enacted as law. This included an ordinance to prevent the city from contracting with health insurers that discriminate in their coverage against transgender individuals. She also authored ordinances to have the city protect wetlands, support adaption to climate change, enact a plastic bag ban, adopt Community Choice Aggregation, and provide paid parental leave to municipal employees. As a city councilor, Wu also partook in a successful effort to adopt regulations on short-term rentals.

Elections

Wu was first elected to the Boston City Council in 2013, and was subsequently thrice reelected. In 2021, Wu decided not to seek a fifth term on the City Council and to run for mayor instead.[2]

2013

Wu was first elected to an at-large seat on the Boston City Council in November 2013. She finished in second place to incumbent Ayanna Pressley in an election where the top four finishers were elected to at-large seats.[3]

Adrian Walker of The Boston Globe observed early into Wu's campaign that her candidacy that her entry into the City Council election was generating excitement in a municipal election cycle that had yet to foster much other excitement despite a rare open-seat race for mayor.[4]

In August 2013, an article by Emily Cahn of Roll Call noted Wu had already made a strong impression on political observers in Boston, and that Wu was being speculated as a potential future candidate for the United States House of Representatives. The article quoted an unnamed Democratic political consultant as remarking, "She is one to watch. She’s running for the Boston City Council for the first time, but everybody is so impressed with her."[5]

Wu received the endorsement of The Boston Globes editorial board. In endorsing Wu's candidacy, the editorial board wrote, The Boston Globe editorial board further praised Wu's work on reforming restaurant permitting and licensing during her time in the mayoral administration of Thomas Menino. The editorial board observed that Wu's candidacy had received support from some prominent political players in part due to Wu's work as a staffer for Elizabeth Warren's successful 2012 Senate election campaign.[6]

2015

Wu was re-elected in November 2015, again coming in second behind to Pressley.[7] Wu was again endorsed by the editorial board of The Boston Globe'.

2017

Wu was re-elected to a third term on the council in November 2017, garnering the most votes among all at-large candidates;[8] her tally of over 65,000 votes was the most since Michael J. McCormack in November 1983. Wu was again endorsed by the editorial board of The Boston Globe.[9]

2019

Wu re-elected to a fourth term in November 2019, again placing first.[10] In her 2019 campaign, Wu shared a campaign office with Kim Janey, who was seeking reelection as a district city councilor, and fellow at-large city council candidate Alejandra St. Guillen. Sharing campaign resources with a fellow at-large candidate was regarded as an unusual move that reflected confidence by Wu in her own odds of securing reelection.[11] [12] Wu was endorsed by Attorney General Maura Healey[13] and the editorial board of The Boston Globe.[14]

Council politics

Wu was the first Asian American woman to serve on the council, and only the second Asian American member to serve on the council.[15] In late 2014, Wu became the first city councilor in Boston history to give birth while serving on the Boston City Council.[16] From January 2016 to January 2018, she served as president of the council, the first woman of color and first Asian American to hold the role.[17] [18] Wu's council presidency made her only the third female president in the then-106 year history of the Boston City Council.[19] In 2024, Wu recalled the atmosphere on council at the start of her tenure as being, "so gendered and racialized and pitted." When she joined the council, she and Ayanna Pressley were the only two women of color serving on the council. However, at the end of her tenure six of the council's thirteen members were women of color.

During her tenure on the Boston City Council, Wu chaired the Post Audit; Planning, Development and Transportation; and Oversight committees.[20] [21]

While Boston's strong mayor form of government had conventionally limited the impact that members of the Council had on the city government,[22] Wu’s tenure on the City Council occurred during a period in which the council began to increasingly wield its power, with the body yielding less to the mayor than previous iterations of the council had in the preceding decades and making use of its subpoena powers for the first time in decades.[23] Wu was regarded as a progressive on the Boston City Council.[24] In December 2019, Milton J. Valencia of The Boston Globe opined that, beginning under Wu's tenure as council president and continuing into Andrea Campbell's tenure as her successor, the Boston City Council, "has been, perhaps, the most aggressive in recent history in pushing reforms, often to the left of the mayor, on issues addressing climate change and economic and racial equity."[25]

In April 2019, Rachael Allen of The Atlantic wrote that Wu, "embodies the kind of political change that’s making waves in Washington, D.C., and cities across the country." Allen described Wu as presenting a unique leadership style when compared to other rising politicians that challenged the status quo, writing,

Wu was a member of the council's liberal wing. Other members of this informal grouping included Ayanna Pressley and Lydia Edwards.[26]

In the weeks prior to taking office for her first term, Wu announced that she would vote for Bill Linehan to serve as the president of the Boston City Council. Many of Wu's progressive backers were surprised, since Linehan was seen as the council's most conservative member. The Boston Globes editorial board later characterized this as causing a "controversial start" to Wu's tenure, having "enraged some of the liberal voters who supported her."[27] Wu justified this by citing her belief that Linehan would be the most effective at running the City Council, and that she supported Linehan's promises to decentralize power away from the City Council president's office, empower the council's committee chairs, and reorganize the central staff of the City Council. The Council ultimately elected Linehan as its president by a 8 - 5 vote, with Linehan defeating a last-hour challenge from Ayanna Pressley.[28] The editorial board of The Boston Globe wrote that Wu's support for Linehan's bid for the council presidency was "a head-scratcher, at the very least," and called the rationale that Wu gave for her vote as, "honest enough but politically naïve."[29]

Ahead of the start of Wu's third term on the city council, she supported Kim Janey's candidacy to be the next president of the City Council. In the weeks before the 2020–22 Boston City Council term, the elected members were initially sharply divided in their support between Janey and Matt O'Malley. Wu's support played an important role in helping Janey secure the support to become City Council president. On January 6, 2020, Wu nominated Janey to be the council's president. Janey was elected with every member voting "yes" except for Frank Baker, who voted "present".[30]

Economic matters

In April 2015, the Boston City Council passed a paid parental leave ordinance that was authored by Wu.[31] The ordinance provided city employees with six weeks of paid parental leave after childbirth, stillbirth, or adoption. Roughly a month before its passage in the City Council, Wu and Mayor Marty Walsh co-authored an op-ed in The Boston Globe calling paid parental leave, "a must for working families".[32] Mayor Walsh signed the ordinance into law in May.[33] Wu had conceived this legislation after her own first pregnancy when she learned firsthand (after giving birth in December 2014) that municipal employees were not being offered paid child leave.[34]

In 2017, the Council passed the Ordinance on Equity in Opportunity for City Contracting, which was sponsored by Wu and Councilor Ayanna Pressley. It required that the city create a supplier diversity program to conduct outreach to female and minority-owned businesses in regards to the city contracting process. It also required the city to actively solicit bids from at least one female-owned business and one minority-owned business for contracts under $50,000. It also created a quarterly reporting requirement for the city.[35]

In February 2014, the Boston City Council unanimously passed a resolution authored by Wu which voiced the City Council's support for the Massachusetts Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights that was pending before the Massachusetts State Legislature.[36]

Wu voiced support for a “fair work week”, $15 minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, protections for freelancerss.[37] In October 2018, Wu proposed a "fair work week" ordinance, which would have required all city contractors to give employees at least two weeks of notice prior to changing their schedules, and would require employers to compensate workers for late schedule changes.[38]

Small business

In 2014, Wu headed the Boston City Council Special Committee on Small Business, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. In June 2014, it released a report making 25 recommendations to streamline the city's licensing and permitting process for small businesses.[39] [40] [41] In 2016, as City Council president, Wu supported a successful proposal to allow diners to bring their own alcoholic drinks into certain restaurants ("BYOB"), a move meant to promote economic vitality and assist restaurants unable to afford liquor licenses.[42] [43]

In January 2017, the city adopted an ordinance that Wu had introduced which allowed small businesses to forgo the fees and the bureaucratic approval process to host musical performances.[44] In July 2018, Wu, along with fellow city councilors Lydia Edwards and Kim Janey, introduced legislation to remove as-of-right designations for chain stores, thereby requiring a conditional use permit for chain stores to open and operate in any area designated as a "neighborhood business district". Wu characterized the proposed ordinance as protecting small business from "commercial gentrification" and pressures from large retail chains. She declared, "this legislation supports jobs in our neighborhoods by giving residents and stakeholders a voice, so that our business districts are not just shaped by which multinational corporations can offer the highest rents".[45]

Environmental matters

In October 2017, the Boston City Council voted to unanimously approve a resolution by Wu and fellow councilor Matt O'Malley, having the city adopt Community Choice Aggregation.[46] In November 2017, the Boston City Council unanimously passed an ordinance written by Wu and fellow councilor Matt O'Malley which implemented a plastic bag ban.[47] In December, Mayor Walsh signed it into law,[48] despite his administration having previously opposed such a ban when it was previously debated by the Council in 2016.[47] [49]

Shortly after Senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveiled their congressional resolution to recognize a duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal, Wu introduced a resolution to the Boston City Council to declare the council's support for the proposed federal resolution and urge the federal government to adopt it.[50] In April 2019, the Boston City Council passed the resolution.[50] [51] In December 2019, the Boston City Council passed an ordinance that Wu had introduced with Matt O'Malley that protects local wetlands and promotes adaption to climate change.[52] Mayor Walsh signed it into law later that month.[53] Wu also partnered with Councilor Kenzie Bok on a proposal aiming to create more affordable and climate resilient housing.[54] For years, beginning in 2014, Wu spearheaded efforts to have the city divest its financial resources from fossil fuels. She would partner with City Councilors Matt O'Malley and Lydia Edwards on this matter.[55] [56] Wu would ultimately sign such an ordinance into law days into her mayoralty.[57]

In 2019, Wu marched in a protest with Extinction Rebellion Boston.[58]

Proposal for a municipal Green New Deal

See also: Boston Green New Deal.

In August 2020, Wu released plans for "Boston Green New Deal & Just Recovery" program.[59] [60] The proposal aims to achieve carbon neutrality (net-zero carbon footprint) for the municipal government buildings by 2024, running the city on 100% renewable energy by 2030, and achieving citywide carbon neutrality by 2040. The proposal calls for creating "just and resilient development" through the establishment of affordable green overlay districts and standard community benefits agreements; priority planning zones informed by urban heat island maps, in order to expand the urban tree canopy; and a "local blue new deal" for coasts and oceans, using coastal and ocean resources for clean energy generation, sustainable food systems, carbon capture, and jobs.[61]

Food justice

In March 2019, the City Council unanimously passed the Good Food Purchasing Program ordinance authored by Wu. The ordinance set new requirements for public food purchasers, such as Boston Public Schools.[62] [63] The new policy, supported by the Food Chain Workers Alliance, pushes the city towards greater purchasing of local and sustainably grown food, and focuses on racial equity in the food chain.[64] In October 2020, Wu published a report on a "food justice" agenda in Boston;[65] The agenda includes increasing the minimum wage for food-sector workers and providing guaranteed paid sick leave to them. The plan also calls for the city government to support state legislation that would gradually phase out the tipped wage for restaurant and bar workers.[65]

Housing policy

Wu was a leading force in efforts to regulate short-term rentals of housing units.[66] Wu pushed for increased restrictions, including the elimination of investor units. In April 2018, Wu was targeted by Airbnb for her stance over short-term rental regulations in the city of Boston. The short-term lodging platform accused Wu of being "aligned with big hotel interests against the interests of regular Bostonians".[67] [68] [69] Boston adopted an ordinance, supported by Wu, that restricted short-term rentals to owner-occupied housing units, required hosts to register with the city, and required the city to collect and publish data on short-term rentals.[70] [71] [72]

Wu, since at least 2019,[73] supported the idea of reviving rent stabilization in Boston,[74] which would first require a change to state law.[75] She argued that it will assist in preventing people of color from being pushed out of Boston. While Wu and some other Boston City Council members came out in support of the idea of rent stabilization in 2019, it was a contentious issue in the city government, with other council members and Mayor Walsh voicing opposition to it.[76]

Law enforcement and public safety policy

In June 2020, Wu, alongside fellow city councilors Lydia Edwards and Julia Mejia, introduced an ordinance that would establish an unarmed community safety crisis response system, moving the response to nonviolent 9-1-1 calls away from the Boston Police Department, and instead transferring the response to non-law enforcement agencies and trained health professionals.[77] [78] In 2020, Wu was one of eight city councilors to sign a letter urging Mayor Walsh to decrease the Boston Police Department's annual budget by 10%. Activists had been calling for such a cut, in order to instead allot that money to COVID-19 relief, housing and food access, and other programs that would benefit communities of color.[79] In June 2020, Wu (along with Ricardo Arroyo, Andrea Campbell, Kim Janey, and Julia Mejia) was one of five members of the Boston City Council to vote against Mayor Walsh's 2021 operating budget for the city.[80] While the budget made $12 million in cuts to the overtime budget of the police department, Wu argued that the city was still contractually obligated to pay for every hour of overtime work, meaning that it was inconsequential what the line item in the city budget proposed.[81]

Wu voiced her desire to "demilitarize" the city's police department.[82] Wu led an effort to take account of the Boston Police Department's military equipment.[83] In June 2020, Wu introduced an order to the City Council that, if passed, would have required the disclosure of information about the Boston Police Department's heavy-duty equipment, and regarding how it had been deployed during recent protests. In Boston, such City Council orders require the backing of all City Council members.[84] Wu advocated for closing loopholes in the policy of the Boston Police Department regarding body cameras.[82]

Wu and fellow councilor Ayanna Pressley were credited as being the key figures that arranged for the Boston City Council to hold hearings on gun violence.[85]

Transportation policy

See also: Free public transport in Boston.

Wu advocated for late night public transit in her original platform when running for City Council in 2012.[86] In this vein, in 2015, she voiced her support for having the MBTA extend its pilot "late-night T" program, which kept transit service open late on the weekends[87] when it ran as a pilot program from 2014 through 2016.[88] In April 2016, Wu filed a home rule petition seeking for the city to be able to offer an annual excise tax break to electric vehicle owners.[89] In 2019, Wu was the lead sponsor on a City Council proposal that would have established a fee for resident parking permits.[90] Her proposal exempted low-income residents, home-healthcare workers, and certain school workers from the fee.[91]

Wu also called for local representation on the governing board of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).[92] In 2018, as the MBTA was proposing fare increases, Wu introduced a measure calling for the Boston City Council to hold hearings about the possibility of withholding its local payments to the MBTA in protest of the quality of its service.[93] The proposed measure was not acted upon.[94] In the early summer of 2019, Wu led protests against the MBTA's fare hikes and the inferior quality of its subway, light-rail, and bus line services.

Wu was credited with laying the groundwork for several transit initiatives that Mayor Walsh adopted.[95]

Wu proposed eliminating fares for local public transit. Wu argued that the MBTA should explore the possibility of eliminating fares in a January 31, 2019 op-ed published in The Boston Globe.[96] Later in 2019, she and fellow councilor Kim Janey proposed making the MBTA Route 28 bus fare-free.[97] Janey would later fund a pilot program to make the bus route fare-free for three months while acting mayor in 2021.[98] As mayor, Wu would later expandec the pilot program, adding two additional routes to serve other lower-income areas of the city free of charge for all riders beginning March 1, 2022, and extending for two years.[99] Wu's advocacy is seen as popularizing the idea of fare-free public transportation in Boston.[100] Crediting Wu as a leader on fare-free public transit, in January 2021, the editorial board of The Boston Globe endorsed the idea of making the city's buses fare-free.[101] Wu's promotion of fare-free public transit also inspired Lawrence, Massachusetts mayor Daniel Rivera to implement it in his city.[102] [103]

Zoning and permitting policy

Wu advocated for reforming the city's permitting system.[104] Wu called for the abolition of the Boston Planning & Development Agency, which she characterized as being extremely politicized and "opaque". In 2019, her office published a 72-page report on the matter.[105] [106] Wu came into conflict with Mayor Walsh over his appointees to the city's Zoning Board of Appeals.[107]

Positions on Boston's bid for the 2024 Olympics

See also: Boston bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. In January 2015, (days after Boston was initially selected to be the United States' bid city to host the 2024 Summer Olympics[108]) Wu published an op-ed on WGBH's website in which she called for there to her greater public transparency about the bid's details. Wu expressed hope in the proposal for claims that a 2024 Olympics in Boston would be,

While she expressed that an Olympic Games held in the city could be successful, she believed that there needed to be public input, writing,

In the op-ed, Wu outlined four steps that she believed that the city needed to take in order for a potential Olympics in the city to be successful:

In promoting her proposals for greater public input, Wu argued that it would benefit public support for a bid, increasing the city's score when the International Olympic Committee would assess the city on the criteria of local support for its bid.[109]

By March 2015, Wu had grown more critical of the city's bid, and remarked during hearings on the bid that, "Boston doesn't needy to host the Olympics to be a world-class city."[110] During a hearing in May 2015, Wu expressed concern that the city would be violating the Boston City Charter if it signed an agreement to pay for cost overruns related to hosting the games. Wu argued that she believed that the charter required for all municipal appropriations to be for specified amounts, and that agreeing to provide an unlimited guarantee to pay for all overruns would violate that.[111] [112]

After the collapse of Boston's bid, the organization No Boston Olympics (which had opposed the bid) endorsed Wu and three other incumbent Boston City Council members for reelection, praising them for "Demonstrat[ing] leadership by asking tough questions" to the leaders behind Boston's Olympic bid.[113]

COVID-19 pandemic

See also: COVID-19 pandemic in Boston.

In early 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic had just spread to the United States, Wu and Councilor Matt O'Malley jointly urged the city council to hold a hearing on the city's plans for addressing the pandemic.[114]

Wu criticized some of Mayor Walsh's pandemic-related initiatives.[107] [92] Wu specifically criticized some of Walsh's COVID-19 initiative, which as the Boston Resiliency Fund and Racial Equity Fund, that solicited private sector donor funding, saying that "Philanthropy is wonderful" but that the government soliciting money from corporations and distributing it to nonprofits "creates a very disruptive and dangerous dynamic" with the effect of "distorting the political process."[115] Wu criticized Walsh over a lack of minority-owned businesses receiving emergency coronavirus-related contracts (less than 2% of the $12 million in such contracts issued prior to July 2020 went to Boston-located minority-owned businesses, with only one such business being among eighty businesses to receive such contracts per data the Walsh administration had provided).[116]

Wu called for the city to facilitate an "equitable recovery" from the pandemic, chairing City Council hearings in 2020 on promoting equity in the city's recovery.[117]

In February 2021, Wu proposed legislation that would seek to create an equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Boston by requiring that at least one vaccination site be established in each residential neighborhood.[118] She also partnered with fellow city councilor Annissa Essaibi George to propose a measure that would provide paid leave to municipal employees who felt ill after receiving the vaccine.[119]

In early August 2021, Wu criticized Acting Mayor Kim Janey for failing to commit to require city workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Wu supported a mandate for city workers, including public school employees, to be vaccinated.[74] Fellow mayoral candidates John Barros and Essaibi George opposed this.[120]

In August 2021, Wu voiced support for implementing a vaccine passport program, requiring proof-of-vaccination for indoor dining and other public indoor activities.[121] Fellow mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell had, days before Wu, made similar calls for the city to put in place rules which would require that many businesses require patrons provide proof of vaccination.

In the late summer of 2021, Wu's office compiled data that suggested that half of the city's Restaurant Revitalization Fund money that had been allocated to restaurants was given to establishments in only three of the city's 23 neighborhoods (Back Bay, Downtown Boston, and the Seaport District). It was noted that these were largely white and wealthy neighborhoods in comparison to the rest of the city.[122] In June 2021, Wu expressed support for having a municipal eviction moratorium once the federal eviction moratorium expired.[123]

Other matters

In June 2014, the Boston City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Wu coauthored with fellow councilwoman Ayanna Pressley, which prohibits Boston's city government, "from contracting with any health insurer that denies coverage or discriminates in the amount of premium, policy fees, or rates charged...because of gender identity or expression". This ordinance guaranteed healthcare (including gender reassignment surgery, hormone therapy, and mental health services) to transgender city employees and dependents. Wu called the ordinance, "a matter of equity and of fairness".[124] [125] The ordinance had the support of Mayor Walsh prior to its passage.[126]

In April 2016, Wu was the sole member of the Boston City council to vote against a home rule petition that requested for the state to allow the city to extend the terms of city councilors from two years to four years. Wu cited worry that longer terms would increase the fundraising advantage of incumbent city councilors over challengers and would discourage political outsiders from running.[127] Ultimately, the state government did not approve the home rule petition.[128] In February 2019, Wu was joined by Josh Zakim in voting against another such petition which advanced from the council by a vote of 11–2.[129]

In 2018, Wu proposed legislation that would establish a city identification card program in Boston.[130] Wu was a leading force in the years-long effort that established the Boston Little Saigon Cultural District.[131] [132]

In 2019, Wu supported a proposed ordinance introduced by Councilor Kim Janey which aimed to ensure that the legal cannabis industry in Boston would be equitable and fair for racial minority owners. This plan, in part, works to do so by only issuing business licenses to qualifying equity applicants for a period of two-years.[133] The ordinance also included a new oversight board to assess and vote on applications for licenses based on a set criteria. It was by the City Council in November 2019.[134] Walsh signed the ordinance into law later that month.[135]

In September 2017, the Boston City Council voted to approve a home rule petition authored by Wu which, if approved by the Massachusetts State Legislature, would have given the mayor of Boston the power to appoint members to vacant or expired seats on certain municipal boards and commissions in the incident that the nominating entity failed to submit names within 90 days of being notified of the vacancy. It would have also made it so that all municipal boards and commissions in Boston would have a residency requirement.[136]

Wu partnered with fellow councilor Kim Janey to probe the city's process for awarding municipal contracts, finding that only 1% municipal contracts were going to women and minority-owned vendors. These findings were the impetus for a subsequent move by the city to start looking at ways to diversify the recipients of city contracts.[137]

Other political activity as city councilor

In 2016, Wu endorsed Lydia Edwards' unsuccessful campaign in the special election for the Suffolk and Middlesex Massachusetts Senate district.[138] During the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary, Wu endorsed the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.[139]

Wu was among the earliest supporters of Ayanna Pressley's successful 2018 Democratic primary election challenge to incumbent U.S. congressman Mike Capuano.[140] In the 2018 election cycle, Wu also endorsed Jay Gonzalez's unsuccessful campaign in the Massachusetts gubernatorial election.[141] She also endorsed State Senator Byron Rushing in his unsuccessful 2018 reelection campaign.[142]

Wu endorsed Elizabeth Warren's 2020 presidential campaign in a speech at Warren's official campaign launch in February 2019.[143] Wu was a campaign surrogate for Warren, campaigning on her behalf in New Hampshire[144] and Iowa ahead of those states' primary and caucuses, respectively.[145]

Recognition received

At the end of 2013, the readers of Boston magazine voted Wu to be named the magazine's 2013 "Rookie of the Year", one three political awards given by the magazine that year.[146] In 2016, Frank Bruni of The New York Times named Wu as one of the United States', "14 Young Democrats to Watch".[147] In 2017, the Massachusetts Democratic Party awarded Wu its Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Award, which it considers its highest honor.[148] In March 2018, Wu was among six finalists to be honored as a "Rising Star" by EMILY's List, a national group that supports female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights.[149] The next month, Wu was listed as one of the "100 Most Influential People in Boston" by Boston magazine, being listed 31st on the list, which opined, "Ambitious, smart, and just 33 years old, Wu is positioned to be a force in this town for decades to come."[150] In 2019, Rachel Allen of The Atlantic wrote that Wu had emerged as one of Boston's "most effective politicians".[151]

Election as mayor and departure from the council

Two weeks after being elected mayor of Boston in the 2021 Boston mayoral election, Wu left the City Council and was sworn-in as mayor.[152]

With Wu vacating her city council seat before the end of her term in order to assume the mayoralty, by Boston City Charter, the opportunity to serve the remainder of the term Wu had been elected to in 2017 was to be offered to the first runner-up of the 2017 election. In this instance, that was Alejandra St. Guillen. Initially planning to accept the opportunity to serve the remainder of Wu's term, due to ethics concerns about matters such as St. Guillen also holding on the city’s cannabis board, St. Guillen ultimately declined to accept the position. Thereafter, per the Boston City Charter, the remainder of Wu's term was offered to Erin Murphy, who was the second runner-up in the 2017 election. Murphy accepted the opportunity. Murphy had recently won election to a full term in the 2019 at-large city council election, and thus would effectively be starting her tenure on the city council earlier by accepting. Murphy was sworn in by Mayor Wu on December 1, 2021.[153]

Notes and References

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  2. Web site: Trojano. Katie. July 21, 2021. 17 hopefuls make their cases for at-large seats on the City Council. September 6, 2021. Dorchester Reporter. en. September 6, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210906061236/https://www.dotnews.com/2021/17-hopefuls-make-their-cases-large-seats-city-council. live.
  3. Web site: City of Boston Municipal Election - November 5, 2013 City Councillor at Large. February 16, 2018. cityofboston.gov. July 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210721203318/https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/2013%20-%2011-05-13%20-%20City%20Councillor%20at%20Large%20Ward%20%26%20Precinct%20Results_tcm3-41961.pdf. live.
  4. Web site: Walker . Adrian . Michelle Wu shows promise for city’s future - The Boston Globe . The Boston Globe . 9 July 2023 . April 3, 2013.
  5. Web site: Cahm . Emily . Female Candidates Waiting in Massachusetts' Wings . Roll Call . 30 July 2023 . en . 29 August 2013.
  6. Web site: Pressley, Wu, Flaherty, Kelly for at-large City Council - The Boston Globe . The Boston Globe . 9 July 2023 . October 30, 2013.
  7. Web site: City of Boston Municipal Election - November 3, 2015 City Councillor at Large. February 16, 2018. cityofboston.gov. July 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210721203125/https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/Nov%203%202015%20City%20Councillor%20at%20Large%20Ward%20%20Precinct%20Results_tcm3-52572.pdf. live.
  8. Web site: CITY OF BOSTON MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 7, 2017 CITY COUNCILLOR AT LARGE. February 16, 2018. cityofboston.gov. November 9, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181109211600/https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/2017_-_11-07-17_-_city_councillor_at_large_ward_precinct_results.pdf. dead.
  9. Web site: City council at-large: Reelect Wu, Pressley, Essaibi-George, and Flaherty - The Boston Globe . The Boston Globe . 9 July 2023 . October 26, 2017.
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  11. Web site: June 4, 2019. Three Boston City Council Candidates — 2 Running Against Each Other — Share A Campaign Office. September 15, 2021. WGBH. en. September 15, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210915104513/https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2019/06/04/three-boston-city-council-candidates-2-running-against-each-other-share-office-resources. live.
  12. Web site: Ebbert. Stephanie. June 2, 2019. Women of color team up for Boston City Council run. September 15, 2021. Boston Globe. September 15, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210915104512/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/06/02/women-color-team-for-boston-city-council-run/VY2arndAeVAJG4frxryeMM/story.html. live.
  13. Web site: Valencia . Milton J. . Maura Healey’s coveted endorsement goes to Michelle Wu, Annissa Essaibi-George - The Boston Globe . The Boston Globe . 9 July 2023 . September 12, 2019.
  14. Web site: Wu, Flaherty, Halbert, St. Guillen: Our picks for at-large Boston City Council seats . The Boston Globe . 9 July 2023 . September 18, 2019.
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  104. News: Meghan E.. Irons. New look urged for Boston's silly old rules. February 26, 2014. The Boston Globe. February 26, 2014. July 11, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210711115634/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/02/26/councilor-michelle-pushes-ease-permitting-and-licensing-process/f4PHNqlDOiMY18UYTyTXUK/story.html. live.
  105. Web site: Gavin . Christopher . Michelle Wu wants to abolish the BPDA. Here's what to know. . www.boston.com . September 17, 2021 . October 7, 2019 . September 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210917124104/https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2019/10/07/michelle-wu-abolish-bpda/ . live .
  106. Web site: Martinez . Andrew . Mayoral Hopeful Michelle Wu On Abolishing The BPDA, Reviving Downtown And The Lab Boom . Bisnow . September 17, 2021 . en . June 15, 2021 . September 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210917162547/https://www.bisnow.com/boston/news/affordable-housing/mayoral-hopeful-michelle-wu-on-abolishing-the-bpda-streamlining-housing-and-lab-development-efforts-109258 . live .
  107. Web site: Michelle Wu tells Walsh she's running for mayor next year, report says . WCVB . September 8, 2020 . en . September 7, 2020 . July 9, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183859/https://www.wcvb.com/article/boston-city-councilor-michelle-wu-to-run-for-mayor-next-year-marty-walsh-says/33943475 . live .
  108. Web site: Sims . Shannon . How to Kill Your City's Olympic Dreams . Bloomberg.com . 9 July 2023 . en . 5 June 2017.
  109. Web site: Dezenski . Lauren . Olympic bid not a ‘done deal,’ says Wu; asks more transparency Dorchester Reporter . www.dotnews.com . Dorchester Reporter . 9 July 2023 . en . January 22, 2015.
  110. Web site: Marcelo . Philip . City Councilors Raise Concerns About Boston's Olympics Bid . WBUR . The Associated Press . 9 July 2023 . en . March 6, 2015.
  111. Web site: Vaccaro . Adam . This is what has everybody so worried about Boston’s Olympic bid . Boston.com . 9 July 2023 . July 14, 2015.
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  113. Web site: Arsenault . Mark . Olympics opponents weigh in on city elections - The Boston Globe . The Boston Globe . 9 July 2023 . October 6, 2015.
  114. Web site: Nations . Alyssa . In the Face of Racism and Misinformation, City Council Confronts Coronavirus Pandemic – NorthEndWaterfront.com . North End Waterfront.com . 3 April 2024 . March 5, 2020.
  115. Web site: Singh . Arjun . Locke . Kaitlyn . Wu, Walsh Exchange Public Criticisms Over Boston Resiliency, Racial Equity Funds . www.wgbh.org . WGBH . August 25, 2021 . en . July 16, 2020 . August 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210825215909/https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/07/16/wu-walsh-exchange-public-criticisms-over-boston-resiliency-racial-equity-funds . live .
  116. Web site: Thompson . Isiah . Of $17 Million In Boston COVID Contracts, Only One Went To A Local Minority Business . www.wgbh.org . WGBH . August 25, 2021 . en . July 13, 2020 . August 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210825215134/https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2020/07/13/of-17-million-in-boston-covid-contracts-only-one-went-to-a-local-minority-business . live .
  117. Web site: Thompson . Isaiah . City Council Asks How Boston Will Help Small Businesses Recover . www.wgbh.org . WGBH . August 25, 2021 . en . April 24, 2020 . August 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210825222440/https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/04/24/city-council-asks-how-boston-will-help-small-businesses-recover . live .
  118. Web site: Basile . Abigail . Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu on her proposed equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution . The Mass Media . February 11, 2021 . en . February 8, 2021 . July 12, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210712120648/http://www.umassmedia.com/news/boston-city-councilor-michelle-wu-on-her-proposed-equitable-covid-19-vaccine-distribution/article_e4f2c632-67c1-11eb-82f8-cbd2fcfe7ba2.html . live .
  119. Web site: Election roundup: Wu, Essaibi-George want paid leave for city workers who feel ill after getting a Covid-19 shot . Universal Hub . February 11, 2021 . February 3, 2021 . February 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210216085807/https://www.universalhub.com/2021/election-roundup-wu-essaibi-george-want-paid-leave . live .
  120. Web site: Cotter . Sean Philip . Delta variant injects movement into Boston mayoral race . Boston Herald . August 17, 2021 . August 11, 2021 . August 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210817221758/https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/08/11/delta-variant-injects-movement-into-boston-mayoral-race/ . live .
  121. Web site: Harding . Ed . OTR: Michelle Wu on why she wants vaccine passports for Boston . WCVB . August 17, 2021 . en . August 15, 2021 . August 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210816123550/https://www.wcvb.com/article/on-the-record-michelle-wu-boston-mayoral-candidate-august-15-2021/37310977 . live .
  122. Web site: Doyle . Terrence . Mayoral Candidate Michelle Wu Has a Plan for Restaurant Equity in Boston . Eater Boston . September 9, 2021 . en . September 1, 2021 . September 8, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210908221733/https://boston.eater.com/2021/9/1/22648786/boston-mayoral-candidate-michelle-wu-restaurant-equity . live .
  123. Web site: DeCosta-Klipa . Nik . Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George: 4 key policy differences . www.boston.com . September 15, 201 . September 16, 2021 . September 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210916070823/https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2021/09/15/michelle-wu-annissa-essaibi-george-differences-boston-mayor/ . live .
  124. Web site: Ryan . Andrew . Council OKs insurance coverage for transgender workers - The Boston Globe . The Boston Globe . August 17, 2021 . June 11, 2014 . August 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210817223018/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/06/11/boston-city-council-approves-insurance-coverage-for-transgender-city-workers/0C8lUs3qQAUTExgMfP2gfO/story.html . live .
  125. Web site: Boston guarantees access to transgender healthcare for city employees . GLAAD . August 17, 2021 . en . June 19, 2014 . August 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210817223029/https://www.glaad.org/blog/boston-guarantees-access-transgender-healthcare-city-employees . live .
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  127. Web site: Isaiah . Thompson . Boston Council Votes to Extend Terms; Council President Wu Lone Dissenter . WGBH . 30 July 2023 . en . 6 April 2016.
  128. Web site: Valencia . Milton J. . Boston city councilors look to extend term limits . The Boston Globe . 30 July 2023 . February 11, 2019.
  129. Web site: Brown . Sara . Boston City Council Votes to Extend Term Limits to Four Years . North End Waterfront . 30 July 2023 . February 18, 2019.
  130. Web site: Allen . Zoe . Boston city councilors consider municipal ID card system – The Daily Free Press . dailyfreepress.com . The Daily Free Press . September 6, 2021 . December 3, 2018 . September 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906005417/https://dailyfreepress.com/2018/12/03/boston-city-councilors-consider-municipal-id-card-system/ . live .
  131. Web site: Wintersmith . Saraya . Little Saigon? Debate Simmers Over Naming Cultural District . www.wgbh.org . September 6, 2021 . en . August 1, 2018 . September 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906053918/https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2018/08/01/little-saigon-debate-simmers-over-naming-cultural-district . live .
  132. Web site: City Approves Designation Of Boston Little Saigon As Cultural District . WBZ NewsRadio 1030 . September 6, 2021 . en . May 19, 2021 . September 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906053914/https://wbznewsradio.iheart.com/content/city-approves-designation-of-boston-little-saigon-as-cultural-district/ . live .
  133. Web site: A Boston city councilor has a plan to make sure the marijuana industry is fair for minority residents . www.boston.com . September 5, 2021 . February 7, 2019 . September 5, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210905081404/https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2019/02/07/a-boston-city-councilor-has-a-plan-to-make-sure-the-marijuana-industry-is-fair-for-minority-residents/ . live .
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  137. Web site: Valencia . Milton J. . Kim Janey claims votes to be next Boston City Council president - The Boston Globe . Boston Globe . 30 August 2021 . 10 December 2019.
  138. Web site: 20 days 'till MA PRIMARY -- WU endorses EDWARDS for Senate -- REGAN out at Suffolk U . POLITICO . September 12, 2021 . en . February 10, 2016 . September 12, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210912201647/https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/massachusetts-playbook/2016/02/20-days-till-ma-primary-wu-endorses-edwards-for-senate-regan-out-at-suffolk-u-212623 . live .
  139. Web site: Miller . Yawu . Presidential campaigns battle for votes in Mass. . The Bay State Banner . 7 April 2023 . 24 February 2016.
  140. Web site: Ebbert . Stephanie . In mayor's race, Pressley's endorsement packs the most power - The Boston Globe . The Boston Globe . September 6, 2021 . January 16, 2021 . September 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906065821/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/16/metro/mayors-race-pressleys-endorsement-packs-most-power/ . live .
  141. News: Boston City Councilor At-Large Michelle Wu Endorses Jay Gonzalez for Governor. June 4, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180906013941/https://jay4ma.com/boston-city-councilor-large-michelle-wu-endorses-jay-gonzalez-governor/. September 6, 2018. dead.
  142. Web site: Byron Rushing Endorsed by City Councilor Michelle Wu, Sen Will Brownsberger, and Rep Jay Livingstone – The Boston Sun . The Boston Sun . September 30, 2021 . September 3, 2018 . September 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930093805/https://thebostonsun.com/2018/09/03/byron-rushing-endorsed-by-city-councilor-michelle-wu-sen-will-brownsberger-and-rep-jay-livingstone/ . live .
  143. Web site: DeCosta-Klipa . Nik . Here's everyone who endorsed Elizabeth Warren during her 2020 presidential campaign launch . www.boston.com . September 9, 2021 . February 9, 2019 . September 9, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210909174650/https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2019/02/09/elizabeth-warren-endorsements-2020/ . live .
  144. Web site: Phelan . Jordan J. . Warren opens campaign office in Claremont . The Eagle Times . September 6, 2021 . en . November 20, 2019 . September 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906111840/https://www.eagletimes.com/news/warren-opens-campaign-office-in-claremont/article_a2247ce4-1d66-5c45-882e-b68c29dcb894.html . live .
  145. Web site: Unable To Make Her Case In Person, Warren Leans On Ayanna Pressley In Iowa . www.wbur.org . September 6, 2021 . en . January 31, 2020 . September 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906065822/https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/01/31/elizabeth-warren-ayanna-pressley-iowa-surrogates . live .
  146. Web site: Bernstein . David S. . Here Are The Winners of the 2013 Boston Political Awards . Boston Magazine . October 11, 2021 . December 19, 2013 . November 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201125031133/https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2013/12/19/2013-boston-political-awards/ . live .
  147. Web site: Bruni . Frank . 14 Young Democrats to Watch . The New York Times . 15 July 2023 . 25 June 2016.
  148. Web site: Congressman Jim McGovern and Boston City Council President Michelle Wu to Receive Massachusetts Democratic Party's Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Award . Massachusetts Democratic Party . September 11, 2021 . April 6, 2017 . September 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210911204137/https://massdems.org/press-releases/congressman-jim-mcgovern-and-boston-city-council-president-michelle-wu-to-receive-massachusetts-democratic-party-s-franklin-and-eleanor-roosevelt-award/ . live .
  149. News: James . Pindell . Michelle Wu a finalist for award from abortion rights group EMILY's List . The Boston Globe . March 1, 2018 . June 22, 2018 . July 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210711153326/https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2018/03/01/michelle-finalist-for-award-from-abortion-rights-group-emily-list/KWeYWrOcqhuYLcPLqNit8J/story.html . live .
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