Arroyo criticized the budget as insufficiently addressing the issue of equity, and pointed out that matters such as fair housing, the city's Disabilities commission, and support services for senior citizens received far less funding than the Boston Police Department.
[6] Arroyo was a prominent backer of an ordinance that would advance a home rule petition to make the Boston School Committee an elected body.
The ordinance passed the city council 7–5 on February 15, 2023,[7] but was vetoed two days later by Mayor Michelle Wu who felt it was an inopportune time to change the board structure.
[8] In early February 2022, Arroyo announced his candidacy for the position of district attorney (DA) of Suffolk County (Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop), Massachusetts.
Following the Democratic primary election held on September 6, and with results showing Hayden with a lead of approximately seven points (53.8% to 46.2%), Arroyo conceded the race via Twitter the following morning.
[17] Arroyo and councilors Julia Mejia and Brian Worrell introduced an ordinance to create an Office of Cultural Affairs in the city.
[19] On August 23, 2022, The Boston Globe published an article regarding two instances of sexual assault reports involving Arroyo that were investigated by police in 2005 and 2007.
[23] The following day, Arroyo lost the support of senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Boston mayor Michelle Wu, as they withdrew their endorsements of him for Suffolk DA.
[24] Arroyo pursued the police records in Suffolk Superior Court seeking their release to the public which was partially granted by Judge Squires Lee.
Arroyo's version of events differed “The entirety of this exchange was between myself and Councilor Ed Flynn on the floor, on video, in front of media and the public,” he said in a statement.
A Boston Globe report from the meeting describes Flynn and Arroyo having a “frosty exchange.”[35] The complaint was leaked to the Boston Herald in August of 2023 during the three Councilors' re-election campaigns, leading to the public revelation that due to geotag location data embedded in the photographs of the complaint that were leaked it could be traced to City Council President Ed Flynn's home.