Although the moniker is usually mentioned in a whisper, Boston city councilors have taken to referring to the liberal wing of the council — those who employ unorthodox tactics like disregarding council protocol, and who introduce controversial resolutions — as the " crazy caucus. " With the addition of at-large councilor Felix Arroyo to the body, membership in the caucus has grown to four: Chuck Turner of Roxbury, Charles Yancey of Dorchester, at-large councilor Maura Hennigan, and now Arroyo. It’s a label members of the " crazy caucus " accept. During an interview shortly after his swearing in — and after he joined Turner, Yancey, and Hennigan in voting for Hennigan for council president, despite the fact that Michael Flaherty’s victory was certain — Arroyo said, " I guess I just joined the ‘crazy caucus.’ "

But just how crazy is " crazy " ? When Arroyo tried to introduce a resolution at the January 29 council session opposing President George W. Bush’s all-but-certain declaration of war against Saddam Hussein, council president Michael Flaherty ruled it out of order, invoking council rule 19, which gives the council president the power to limit the body’s deliberations to matters germane to the City of Boston. While Flaherty says he hates to be " the bad guy " — adding that he, too, is uncomfortable with the Bush administration’s saber-rattling on Iraq — a " majority " of his council colleagues want the rule strictly enforced.

" We’ve spent an enormous amount of time in the past talking about issues that we have no control over, " he explains. " But with the city looking at a $23 million cut in local aid this year — and the prospect of $100 million more next year — we have serious issues before us now, and the feeling of the council is that we need to focus on them. "

Such concerns were less prominent when Flaherty joined his colleagues in approving a November 2001 resolution supporting President Bush’s actions in Afghanistan — which is about as far from the business of Boston as you can get. But several incidents in the past year, including a series of resolutions offered by Yancey on a redistricting measure long after the bill had been passed and signed into law by the mayor, galvanized support among councilors to limit floor debate to relevant city matters.

But Arroyo begs to differ as to what is germane. While he too is concerned about the loss of local-aid revenue, Arroyo says a war with Iraq will have a major impact on Boston because it is likely to cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars and result in the loss of countless lives.

" Is it crazy to oppose a war? " Arroyo asks. " Is it crazy to fast in protest? The pope opposes invading Iraq. Is he crazy? People play with words without understanding the seriousness of the situation.... Our young people could die over there. I’ll tell you what is crazy: to go to war at this stage. " (Arroyo, who last month announced that he would fast one day every other week to demonstrate his opposition to war in Iraq, has now taken to fasting every Monday and Friday. And if war is declared, the councilor has said he will begin fasting every day from sunrise to sundown.)

Flaherty’s ruling, which is not subject to debate, prompted more heat later in the day when Turner tried to introduce a resolution urging the City of Philadelphia to drop assault charges against Boston-based housing activist Camilo Viveiros, who is scheduled to go on trial later this month for allegedly assaulting the Philadelphia police chief during demonstrations at the 2000 Republican National Convention. Turner’s resolution also was deemed " not germane. "

In an unusual move, at-large councilor Stephen Murphy — no council liberal — joined forces with Turner and the rest of the " caucus " to question whether Flaherty’s use of the rule is subject to debate. Flaherty’s ruling was upheld (7-5), though with conservative councilor Jimmy Kelly still absent following colon surgery, only by the narrowest of margins. (In the past, Kelly has been sharply critical of symbolic resolutions of support by the council, including several offered by Yancey and Turner while Kelly was city-council president.) Though the council never voted on the resolution, eight councilors, including Flaherty, eventually sent letters of support to Viveiros.

Murphy says he’s not " crazy " and doesn’t belong to the liberal caucus — he did not support debating Arroyo’s Iraq resolution, for instance — but he does question Flaherty's authority to arbitrarily invoke rule 19 and shut off debate. " We don’t work for him; he works for us, " Murphy says. " His ruling should be subject to appeal. I supported Chuck because I want the right to determine issue-by-issue whether something is germane and not have someone dictate to me. Viveiros is a Boston resident and worked in southwest Boston.... I am not sure that is something those who supported Flaherty understood. "