Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn renewed his push to establish an ethics committee for oversight of the body, to “help restore credibility” with the public in light of Tania Fernandes Anderson’s plan to plead guilty to federal corruption charges.

After his last proposal to establish an internal ethics committee was handily defeated by the Boston City Council last January, Flynn pivoted to a new format this week that would create a mostly-external “oversight committee on compliance and accountability.”

While the name is different, the aim of the committee would largely be the same as before: to “ensure the Boston City Council is compliant on all rules and ethics matters,” a hearing order introduced by Flynn at Wednesday’s meeting states.

“Although the City Council voted against ethics reform in January, it is critical that we revisit this conversation and discuss the creation of an oversight board again, made up of non-affiliated, relevant and outside experts to help restore credibility with the people of Boston,” Flynn said. “This body has lost its credibility.

“We must acknowledge that the public has lost faith in the Boston City Council and we must act accordingly,” he said. “The status quo, my friends, is no longer an option.”

Flynn said potential committee membership would include the City Council president, a retired Massachusetts or federal judge, a representative from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, and Boston residents.

That format differs from his last proposal, which called for the establishment of an internal ethics committee made up of city councilors.

Councilors who opposed the measure, which Flynn introduced days after Fernandes Anderson was indicted and arrested by the feds last December, expressed uneasiness with other members having the authority to investigate and take action against their colleagues.

Opposing councilors also mentioned that external oversight already exists with the state Ethics Commission.

It was ultimately defeated last January, by way of an 8-3 vote, with Fernandes Anderson voting ‘present.’

“The Council pushed back on my previous ethics committee request because their argument against was councilors should not judge councilors,” Flynn told the Herald ahead of the meeting. “Now, under my proposal, that would not be the case.

“All I know is that the longer we wait and do nothing, the more we are damaged as a body and continue to lose credibility throughout the city with Boston residents,” he said. “We are damaged and we don’t want to recognize or deal with it.”

Flynn’s latest proposal appeared to draw the same tepid support as his prior committee push, with only fellow moderate Councilors John FitzGerald and Erin Murphy, who both voted in favor last January, signing onto the hearing order.

While the committee proposal is responsive to the Fernandes Anderson case, Flynn’s order also references past lapses by members of the City Council.

“There have been a series of legal and ethical lapses over the last several years by members of the Council, which have undermined the credibility of the body,” Flynn said at this week’s meeting.

Prior to the federal charges, Fernandes Anderson was hit with state ethics and campaign finance violations.

Ex-Councilors Ricardo Arroyo and Kendra Lara became the first incumbents to lose a primary election in Boston in at least four decades after their own lapses, in September 2023.

Councilor Enrique Pepén was hit with a state campaign finance law violation, after winning the election, but before taking office, in November 2023.

Flynn said he’s also advocating for all councilors to publicly release five years’ worth of state and federal tax returns, along with the financial statements of interest council members are required to submit annually to the city clerk’s office.

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Fernandes Anderson accepted a plea deal in a federal corruption case last week and is expected to plead guilty to two charges at a May 5 plea hearing. The charges are tied to a bonus kickback scheme the feds say she carried out at City Hall.

Fernandes Anderson, a second-term councilor who said she plans to resign, signed fraudulent federal income tax returns with the IRS for tax years 2021, 2022 and 2023, according to the plea agreement.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley plans to recommend that Fernandes Anderson be sentenced to a year and a day in prison and ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution.

City Councilor Ed Flynn (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)