William P. Linehan is an American politician who was a member and president of the

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He represented District 2, which includes Downtown Boston, the South End,

South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

and

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

Early life

Linehan was born in Boston and is the oldest of eight children. He has been active in politics since his teenage years. He graduated magna cum laude from the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

Early career

Before his election to the City Council, Linehan served as the Director of Operations for the City of Boston's Parks Department and later as the Special Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer of the City of Boston for six years.

Boston City Council

Linehan was first elected to the City Council via a special election in May 2007, following the death of Councillor James M. Kelly. Linehan was reelected five times, until announcing in February 2017 that he would not run in the November 2017 election. Linehan was president of the City Council in 2014 and 2015. Linehan's district included Downtown Boston, the South End,

and

."Bio: Bill Linehan"
City of Boston. Retrieved 2010-03-29. In both his 2011 and 2013 elections, Linehan only narrowly defeated challenges from Suzanne Lee. These races against a female

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

challenger from the Chinatown portion of his district were described by Benjamin Swasey of WBUR as having been viewed as contests pitting, "'old Boston' politics against a new, more diverse brand" as well as races that were, "representative of changes in the district itself." Linehan faced criticism a proposal he made in his role in chairing the post- 2010 United States Census redistricting process to divide Chinatown between two separate City Council electoral districts. He was accused by critics of attempting to help his own electoral fortunes in his influence on the process. His proposal would have removed from his district two Chinatown districts that had voted strongly against him in his elections. The map that Linehan proposed was adopted by the City Council, but vetoed by Mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three mont ...

. After a failed second attempt, the City Council later approved a third map with amendments by City Councilor

Tito Jackson Toriano Adaryll "Tito" Jackson (October 15, 1953 – September 15, 2024) was an American musician. He was a founding member of the Jackson 5 (later known as the Jacksons), a group who rose to fame in the late 1960s and 1970s with the Motown la ...

, which Mayor Menino approved. In 2013, Linehan proposed a

home rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

petition that would have seen Boston ask the state legislature to allow it to impose a 6.25%

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

alcoholic beverage Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

purchases at stores with licenses permitting "off-premise" consumption of alcohol sold. He argued that such a tax could fund programs to combat

substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

. Also in 2013, Linehan proposed legislation to raise the citation given for public smoking of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

in city parks to $200. In December of that year, Linehan was the only member of the Boston City Council to vote against advancing a home rule petition authored by Councilor Ayanna Pressley requesting that the state cede its control over the number of liquor licenses in Boston to the Boston Licensing Board. In 2013, Linehan was one of five Boston city councilors that voted against a successful City Council rule change that effectively allowed for the City Council to effectively discharge from committee a bill that was being stalled in committee. In 2014, Linehan was elected by his fellow councilors to serve as Boston City Council president during his fifth term. At the time, Linehan was regarded to be the council's most

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

member. Linehan was regarded as representative of "old Boston" politics. In 2014, Linehan and fellow city councilor Stephen J. Murphy authored an ordinance that would have significantly increase the salaries and

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

s of members of the Boston City Council. Also in 2014, Linehan championed a proposal to rename South Boston's Branch Library for former

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

President William M. Bulger. Linehan also advocated for increased scrutiny and regulation of

ridesharing companies A ridesharing company (or ridehailing service) is a company (or service offered by a company) that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire that, unlike taxis, cannot legally be hailed from the street. ...

such as

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

and

Lyft Lyft, Inc. is an American company offering ride-hailing services, motorized scooters, and bicycle-sharing systems in the United States and Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic pricing model based on local supply and demand a ...

. On October 18, 2017, Linehan made the surprise move of immediately retiring from the council two months before his term had been set to expire. He endorsed Ed Flynn's campaign to be elected his successor.

Personal life

Linehan and his wife, Judy, have four children and six grandchildren.

Electoral history

write-in votes

References

* * * "Linehan's name game". The Boston Globe. November 22, 2014. * Irons, Meghan E. and Ryan, Andrew. "Council head now says raise can wait: Before expected vote, Linehan cites ethics panel advice". The Boston Globe. October 7, 2014. * Ryan, Andrew. "Linehan proposes 29% raise for City Council". The Boston Globe. September 16, 2014. * "Linehan stirs up resentments with proposal to honor Bulger". The Boston Globe. August 15, 2014. * Baker, Billy. "Linehan to skip St. Patrick's parade: City Council leader invited to Ireland". The Boston Globe. February 13, 2014. * Irons, Meghan E. "Linehan elected council president". The Boston Globe. January 7, 2014. * Irons, Meghan E. "Linehan poised to take council reins: Appears to have secured backers". The Boston Globe. December 10, 2013. * Irons, Meghan E. "Linehan, Lee: The rematch: Incumbent city councilor talks up his accomplishments as a 'persistent' rival aims to finish what she began 2 years ago". The Boston Globe. October 24, 2013. * Irons, Meghan E. "Councilor Bill Linehan pulls out of District 2 debate". The Boston Globe. October 24, 2013. * * Ryan, Andrew. "Song in back pocket, Linehan steps up: Councilor warily prepares for a St. Patrick's Day tradition in Boston". The Boston Globe. March 16, 2013. * Cassidy, Chris. "Linehan sings praises for St. Pat's Day fest". McClatchy - Tribune Business News . February 17, 2013. * Irons, Meghan E. "Linehan stands by his council redistricting plan". The Boston Globe. November 29, 2011. * MacQuarrie, Brian. "Linehan keeps District 2 seat in recount: But councilor's redistricting plan draws fire". The Boston Globe. November 24, 2011. * Wedge, Dave. "Bill Linehan, recount behind him, vows more focus on schools". McClatchy - Tribune Business News . November 24, 2011. * Ryan, Andrew. "Linehan is facing his first challenge". The Boston Globe. September 26, 2011. * Van Sack, Jessica. "Southie reigns supreme ; Linehan captures Kelly seat". Boston Herald. May 16, 2007. * Matt Viser
Shoe leather makes it a race
Boston Globe, May 12, 2007 * Slack, Donovan. "Passoni, Linehan reshift focus - Begin groundwork for council seat". The Boston Globe. April 19, 2007. * Slack, Donovan. "Passoni, Linehan top race for council". The Boston Globe. April 18, 2007. * Johnson, O'Ryan. "Passoni, Linehan to battle for council seat". Boston Herald. April 18, 2007.

External links

City of Boston
official Boston City Councillors website * Universal Hub
Various articles about Linehan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linehan, Bill Presidents of the Boston City Council People from South End, Boston People from South Boston Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Massachusetts Democrats