The new city council

Just one new face, but a different place

by Yvonne Abraham

A hundred of Jimmy Kelly's supporters are gathered at his South Boston campaign headquarters, watching the vote totals go up on the wall. Less than a half-hour after the polls close, it's clear that the city councilor from District 2 will vanquish challenger Andrew McKinnon to be returned to City Hall yet again: Ward 6, Kelly 3066, McK 244; Ward 7, Kelly 2933, McK 256. The covers are taken off the Chinese buffet. Cans of Bud are popped. No surprises.

But before the sweet-and-sour pork has congealed, Kelly learns more interesting news. It's news that will have a direct effect on his council presidency, a position he's held for four years, and for which he'll be up again on January 5. Although all but one incumbent will return to City Hall on that day, Kelly will probably not be reelected as council head. That's because the new city council, though it may look a lot like the old city council, is actually going to be a different body.

At about 9:15 p.m., Kelly is sitting with a little girl called Emily on his lap. "Kelly," she says, burying her face in his right cheek, "When are these people gonna go home?"

"I think they're here for the night," he says.

At-large councilor Peggy Davis-Mullen calls. "How are ya, darlin'?" Kelly says. "Yes, I did very well in South Boston." Davis-Mullen tells Kelly she's doing well, too, but that District 1 councilor Diane Modica hasn't been so lucky, and it looks like challenger Paul Scapicchio will unseat her. Still, she might make it in the end. "Well," says Kelly, "we'll just keep our fingers crossed and see if she does it."

She doesn't. With Modica's departure, Kelly loses an important ally. For the last four years, the council president has been able to rely on Modica, Davis-Mullen, District 3 councilor Maureen Feeney, and District 6 councilor Maura Hennigan. It's been an odd coalition: Kelly has something in common with each of them, but not everything. For example, the conservative councilor was no fan of Davis-Mullen's support for domestic-partnership benefits, or of Modica's move to make condoms and sex ed available in public schools, but both women were successful. In return for his open-mindedness, they kept Kelly in the top job for four years in a row: only council legend Christopher Iannella had a longer run, and that was just five years.

The Kelly coalition managed to set something of an agenda, to agree on issues that were important to its members, and to get those issues an airing. If the whole 13-member council worked that way, it would probably be a much more powerful body, or at least a more effective one.

But it doesn't all work that way -- much to the chagrin of councilors like Gareth Saunders and Tom Keane, who says: "The small group who elected Kelly are insiders, and he has played it in such a way as to have them control where the council goes." Former councilor John Nucci is similarly miffed: "The others may as well have been mopping the floors," he says.

Still, for better or worse, that coalition shaped the character of the council, and the nature of council debate. Now, with Modica gone -- and with both Feeney and Hennigan up for Paul White's State Senate seat (the final is on January 6, the day after the new council president is chosen) -- that shape will necessarily change. Kelly's vehement support of Davis-Mullen cost him Murphy's favor, and since he also aggressively backed Modica, he won't be counting on any votes from Scapicchio either.

District councilors Keane and Dan Conley both have their eye on the presidency now, but January 5 will probably find all 13 councilors interested.

Still, it could be worse for Kelly. Before tonight, it looked as if he'd also lose Peggy Davis-Mullen, who struggled to finish fourth in the preliminary, with Suzanne Iannella gaining on her. To make matters worse, Menino had reportedly supported Iannella and his former nemesis, Stephen Murphy. Murphy had finished second in the preliminary.

But in the most surprising result of the night, Davis-Mullen not only retained her seat, but came in second. Dapper O'Neil held on for third despite talk that he was washed up. (Frank Jones, a favorite of the pundits, placed sixth). Now it was Murphy and Iannella who were battling for fourth place (Murphy would finally win, but at press time, a recount seemed likely). Davis-Mullen triumphed on the strength of her huge campaign corps; endorsements from the Phoenix, Globe, and Herald; and Kelly's efforts to rally the unions behind her in the final weeks of the campaign.

If Menino had been trying to drum Davis-Mullen out of City Hall, an attempt he has denied, it backfired. And if he was also trying to airlift Murphy into the place, that also backfired, although less spectacularly. Both Davis-Mullen and Menino awoke to a different world on November 5: when the councilor was struggling, Menino could continue to thwart her, and she had little to lose by antagonizing him. Indeed, Davis-Mullen's claim that she was keeping Menino honest became her strongest selling point. Now, as she herself has said, they're going to have to make nice. Ironically, Davis-Mullen's third term will be less explosive than her first two: she won't want to squander any of that new political capital by continuing her battle with Menino, and the mayor will be less willing to mess with her because of her strong showing with the voters.

It'll be the end of a mini-era. But while Davis-Mullen's ascension, and Modica's demise, might mean smoother relations between the city council and Menino, the absence of a ready-made majority might also bring more debate to the chamber, more open discussions of matters before the city, and less brokering behind the scenes.

Then again, this is Boston City Council.