City Clerk Alex Geourntas is acting mayor of Boston this week while Mayor Michelle Wu is out of town as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention.

Typically, the role of acting mayor would fall to the City Council president during the mayor’s absence from the city, as dictated by the city charter, but since the body’s leader Ruthzee Louijeune is also serving as a delegate at the convention, the position was delegated, as it historically has been in Boston, to the city clerk.

“I received notification from both the mayor’s office and the city council president’s office of their respective absences from the city,” Geourntas said in a Monday email. “Pursuant to the city charter, in the event that both are absent, the city clerk may serve as acting mayor.

“Historically, under similar circumstances, the city clerk has served in this capacity as needed,” he added.

The change, confirmed by the mayor’s office, went into effect Sunday night, and will continue until Friday afternoon, Geourntas said.

An acting mayor, per the charter, “shall possess the powers of mayor only in matters not admitting of delay,” he said, when asked what his temporary role would entail.

Related Articles

Hamas hostage exhibit sets up on Boston City Hall plaza: ‘I want him back’

Boston Common safety concerns prompting tour company to rethink route: ‘A tragedy’

Hamas hostage tunnel exhibit comes to Boston: ‘The hostages must have visibility’

Boston sends out early voting flyers with wrong dates, prompting complaint from candidate

Boston city councilor pitches pause on downtown events amid violence, mayor dismisses request as unserious

Last year, then-City Council President Ed Flynn served as acting mayor on two separate occasions near the tail end of summer, due to Wu’s absence from the city for what her office said was vacation.

Flynn, who has expressed interest in running for mayor, was particularly active during his time in the temporary role, focusing on Mass and Cass at a time when Wu said the area had reached a “new level of public safety alarm” and was planning to release a new plan to address the spike in violence and drug activity.

Wu’s absence this week coincided with another public safety incident that occurred on Sunday night, when five people were shot at Franklin Park, where many people had gathered for the annual Dominican Festival.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)