Prior to 1822, there was no mayor of Boston, because Boston was incorporated as a town. In Massachusetts, a town is typically governed by a
town meeting, with a
board of selectmen handling regular business. Boston was the first community in Massachusetts to receive a city charter, which was granted in 1822. Under the terms of the new charter, the mayor was elected annually. In June 1895, the charter was amended, and the mayor's term was increased to two years. In 1909, the
Republican-controlled
state legislature enacted
strong-mayor charter changes it hoped would dampen the rising power of
Democratic Irish Americans. Adopted by public vote in the November 1909
general election, changes included extending the mayoral term to four years, and making the post formally non-partisan. The reforms did not have the intended effect; the first mayor elected under the new charter was Democrat
John F. Fitzgerald ("Honey Fitz"), and every mayor since Republican
Malcolm Nichols (1926–1930) has been known to be a Democrat. In a bid to temper the rising power of
James Michael Curley, the state legislature in 1918 passed legislation barring the mayor of Boston from serving consecutive terms in office; Curley was prevented from running for re-election twice by this law (
November 1925 and
November 1933). The law was repealed in 1939, after Curley's political career appeared to be in decline. Another charter change was enacted in 1949, partly in response to Curley's fourth term (1946–1950), during which he served prison time for crimes committed in an earlier term. Changes included adding a
preliminary election to narrow the field to two mayoral candidates in advance of the general election, changing the
Boston City Council from having 22 members (one from each city
ward) to having nine members (elected
at-large), and giving the council ability to override some mayoral vetoes. These changes went into effect in 1951, resulting in the first term of
John B. Hynes being shortened to two years. From 1951 through 1991, Boston mayoral elections were held the year before presidential elections (e.g. mayoral election in
1951, presidential election in
1952). Starting in 1993, due to the election held following
Raymond Flynn's appointment as
United States Ambassador to the Holy See, Boston mayoral elections are held the year following presidential elections (e.g. presidential election in
1992, mayoral election in
1993).
Salary In June 2018, the council voted to increase the salary of the mayor to $207,000, effective after the mayoral election of
November 2021 (term starting in January 2022); this increased the salary of councillors to $103,500, effective after the council elections of
November 2019 (terms starting in January 2020). In October 2022, the council voted to increase the salary of the mayor to $250,000.
Numbering There is no official count of Boston's mayors. The City of Boston does not number its mayors and numbering has been inconsistent over time. For example,
Thomas Menino was referred to as the 47th mayor at the time he was sworn in, yet his successor,
Marty Walsh, was identified as the 54th. The Walsh administration cited
Wikipedia for its use of 54. == of mayors==