Michael F. Flaherty (born May 4, 1969) is a politician who served as an at-large member of the Boston City Council for a cumulative ten terms.

[1] His father, Michael F. Flaherty Sr., is a former associate justice of the Boston Municipal Court and a former state representative.

[3] During Flaherty's two-consecutive terms as council president, the council numerous times violated the state's open meetings law, for which it was successfully sued by Kevin McCrea, leading the council to plead guilty in 2008 to having violated the state's open meetings law between 2003 and 2005 by meeting illegally to discuss projects of the Boston Planning Agency (Boston Planning & Development Agency) and an outbreak at a Boston University bio-laboratory.

[citation needed] Flaherty won reelection in November 2005, again placing as the city council election's top vote-getter.

[3] Flaherty won reelection in November 2007 and was once again the city council election's top vote-getter.

[6] In 2023, Flaherty stated that his early support for same-sex marriage was what he was proudest of from his time on the council.

[10] According to The Boston Globe, at that time, only 9% of Flaherty's contributions came from out-of-state, compared to fellow candidate Sam Yoon's 58%.

Flaherty placed fifth in the general election for the four at-large, missing the fourth and final seat by 925 votes.

Flaherty distinguished himself from other at-large candidates in 2011 by positioning himself as a vocal critic of Mayor Menino.

The editorial board of The Boston Globe criticized this assertion as unfounded, noting that none of the incumbent at-large councilors were products of Menino ‘s political machine, and each had gone against the mayor previously on certain issues.

[17] The editorial board of The Boston Globe endorsed the re-election of all four incumbents against Flaherty and other challengers, writing that while they believed Flaherty was a "bright, knowledgeable public servant", he had provided provided no persuasive reason for voters to oust any incumbents in favor of himself.

The editorial board praised each incumbent as accomplished councilors, and criticized Flaherty's candidacy as lacking any political agenda besides his own opposition to Menino.

His campaign platform included proposals for imposing mandatory random drug tests on members of the city's police force, allowing bars in the city to remain open at later hours, and making an additional "13th year" of public education available to students needing more help.

[25][26] The bill passed the council in October and was soon after approved by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to be referred to the Massachusetts General Court (the state legislature) for passage.

[25] In February 2023, Flaherty expressed reservations about the rent stabilization home rule petition that Mayor Michelle Wu had sent to council.

He also voted the same day to advance Wu's home-rule petition to reform the Boston Planning & Development Agency, which also passed the council 11–2.

[30] Flaherty received media attention in April 2019 for comments he made regarding a proposal to charge for resident parking permits.

His comments were met with backlash from the public and transportation advocates, with many pointing to his ownership of five cars in a city as the real problem.