Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn has formally filed an open meeting law complaint against the “many” councilors he says engaged in unlawful behind-the-scenes maneuvering to elect Liz Breadon as City Council president in a surprising upset.

Flynn filed the complaint with the City Council on Sunday, according to a communication offered this week by Breadon that directs the city’s law department to address the complaint and “respond accordingly on behalf of the Boston City Council” within 14 business days.

If Flynn is unsatisfied with the Council’s response, he can elevate the complaint to the state Attorney General’s office, but he must wait 30 days after filing it with the public body it pertains to, a state document outlining the open meeting law states.

“Members of the Boston City Council engaged in off-meeting deliberations and at Boston City Hall concerning the election of the City Council president, in violation of the open meeting law,” Flynn wrote in the complaint.

“Public reporting and contemporaneous accounts describe private, unposted meetings and serial communications — including late-night in-person meetings, sequential office-to-office contacts, and the use of intermediaries — intended to coordinate positions and outcomes related to the Jan. 5, 2026 Council president vote,” Flynn added, referencing the 7-6 vote to elect Breadon.

Flynn filed his complaint against the entire Boston City Council. He alleged that “many members” of the Council committed the open meeting law violation.

“Even if no single gathering involved a quorum, the open meeting law prohibits serial deliberations and the use of intermediaries to reach agreement outside a properly noticed public meeting,” Flynn wrote. “The conduct was not reasonably discoverable when it occurred and became discoverable only after subsequent public disclosures and reporting.”

Flynn filed the formal complaint with the City Council four days after withdrawing a non-binding resolution calling for councilors to vote to acknowledge the body’s open meeting law violation around the Council president election.

He said at last Wednesday’s Council meeting that he was withdrawing his resolution because many of his colleagues asked him to.

“Out of respect for my colleagues, at this time, I am going to withdraw this resolution, but I am concerned about the City Council presidency election and vote,” Flynn said at the meeting.

While he withdrew the resolution, he is seeking the same outcome by filing a formal complaint.

“I believe the Boston City Council violated (Massachusetts) state law during the election for City Council president,” Flynn said in a statement to the Herald. “We should acknowledge the violation and request legal assistance from the (Massachusetts) State Attorney General Division of Open Government on how to conduct a ‘campaign’ for City Council president that is in compliance with the Massachusetts open meeting law.

“Boston residents deserve a city government that demonstrates transparency and accepts responsibility and accountability,” Flynn added.

His formal complaint comes amid rumblings of continued turbulence around the Council presidency, nearly a month after Breadon’s surprising upset victory over Councilor Brian Worrell, who appeared to have secured the necessary votes to win the night before the election.

Worrell’s path to victory seemed to be all but cleared after the frontrunner Gabriela Coletta Zapata, who claimed to have the position locked down since November, dropped out the night before the vote. Her withdrawal from the race came after three councilors were said to have flipped their votes from her to Worrell.

Breadon told reporters after she prevailed over Worrell, by a 7-6 vote, that Councilors Sharon Durkan and Enrique Pepén, two allies of Mayor Michelle Wu, visited her house “quite late” the night before the election to encourage her to run as a “compromise candidate.”

Prior to that visit, Breadon said she wasn’t actively seeking the presidency, which, for months, had been seen as a two-person race between Coletta Zapata and Worrell.

Related Articles

Boston city councilors decry snowstorm response, push for mayor to provide relief

Boston cuts permitting fees, requirements for small businesses amid economic downturn

Boston City Council takes another stab at moving to elected School Committee

Battenfeld: Wintertime in Wutopia — Snow-clogged streets, sidewalks plague Boston

Boston City Council term begins with chaos, insults and a demand for an apology

Coletta Zapata accepted Breadon’s offer to become vice president. Both are seen as allies of the mayor.

The late-night visit between three councilors constitutes part of Flynn’s complaint.

Breadon’s first meeting as Council president last week quickly descended into chaos, when the body’s refusal to accept her proposed rule changes — a standard procedure in past years — led to an insult leveled by councilor, which prompted another to demand a formal apology.

Breadon is set to push for passage of the Council rules again on Wednesday, with proposed amendments anticipated from other councilors.

The Council will operate under last term’s rules until the new ones are adopted.