Boston City Council unanimously elects Flynn president at historic reorganization meeting

BOSTON — January 3, 2022 — Boston City Council opens 2022 with unanimous Flynn presidency and most diverse body in city history. The 13-member council, convening January 3 for its reorganization meeting, unanimously elected District 2 Councilor Edward M. Flynn as Council President, with every member casting a vote for Flynn by name on the roll call. Councilor Liz Breadon of Allston-Brighton, the body's longest-serving member, presided as required by the Boston Charter before yielding the gavel. Five new members were seated after taking the oath of office from Mayor Michelle Wu earlier that morning, including at-large Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, the first Haitian-American elected to the council, and District 7 Councilor Tanya Fernandez Anderson, described as the first Muslim and African immigrant elected to the body. Councilor Frank Baker filed two 17F information orders demanding face-to-face responses from the Wu administration within one week on the city's COVID-19 employee vaccine mandate and the lease arrangement for the Best Western Roundhouse Hotel as a public health facility, saying the council "will not be having hearings for a month" and the matters are "pressing."