Flynn, Michlewitz Won’t Run for Mayor

Both Councilor Ed Flynn and State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz have put themselves out of the running for a potential mayoral race this week, as State Rep. Jon Santiago continues on with his potential bid and Health and Human Services Chief Marty Martinez said he would “absolutely” be running.

Flynn said he plans to run again for District 2 Council this year, and has no intention to seek higher office.

“I won’t be a mayoral candidate,” he said. “I love my job as district City Councilor and am humbled to be a City Councilor. I’m looking forward to running for re-election this year as well.”

Instead, Flynn has focused his efforts on quality of life issues, and said he is starting a look at property taxes and their effect on the elderly. He said tax bills just went out at the first of the month, and with skyrocketing assessed home values, he has heard from many residents about how high taxes have gone up. This is especially true for the elderly on a fixed income, long-time residents that bought their homes long ago before they were so valuable.

“I want to look at what the City can do to help long-time residents, especially seniors,” he said. “They’ve contributed so much to our City and our country and we should help them be able to continue living in Boston. They might have bought their homes 50 years ago and it might be a million dollar home now. That doesn’t mean that person is wealthy.”

Instead of running for mayor, Flynn said he’ll be tacking that and other issues.

Meanwhile, Michlewitz said he would not be running for mayor as he would be more effective advocating in the House as chair of the powerful Ways & Means Committee.

“I will not be seeking the office of mayor,” he said late last week. “I believe I can be most effective to the residents of the City of Boston in my current role as the chair of Ways and Means with a seat at the table leading us through the economic recovery necessary to see the Commonwealth of Massachusetts out of the damage caused by the pandemic. At this time I will not participate in the race, but I do believe that the next mayor should be the person who can most reflect, understand, and identify with a progressive, majority minority city like Boston.”

Meanwhile, in a bit of a surprise, Health Chief Marty Martinez said he was “absolutely” running for mayor in the coming year. Martinez has been well-known in the South End as the one implementing the Mass/Cass 2.0 plan over the past year, and citywide, he has been a leader in the City’s COVID-19 responses.

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