BOSTON — Boston City Councilor Sharon Durkan doesn't want anyone looking at the city's books.

Durkan won't let Boston's finances be audited. So Mass Daily News audited hers — pulling every dollar of her campaign finance records from the state's public database.

What we found was $295,000 in spending that reads less like a campaign war chest and more like a personal expense account — 736 Uber charges, $47,000 in consulting fees, $14,000 in restaurant tabs, hundreds of dollars at a candy shop, and nearly $20,000 paid to a relative.

The most striking line item in Durkan's filings is a series of payments to Victoria Durkan — a relative — totaling $19,706 for "consulting services."

The payments ran from June 2023 through January 2024, ranging from $806 to $3,500 a pop. Seven checks in seven months. Every single one filed under the same vague description: "Consulting Services (No Subvendor Required)."

What those consulting services actually involved is anyone's guess. The filings don't say.

Paying a family member nearly $20,000 from campaign funds isn't illegal under Massachusetts law — but for a councilor who just voted against opening the city's books, it's a curious look.

Beyond the family payments, Durkan's campaign funneled $47,155 to MLM Strategies LLC — a political consulting and compliance firm — in 36 separate payments stretching from May 2023 through February 2026.

The retainer started at $500 a month, then jumped to $1,750 — every month, like clockwork. The descriptions alternate between "Consulting Services," "Compliance Services," and "Fundraising and Compliance Services" — sometimes for the same amount on the same billing cycle, just with different labels.

Another $16,500 went to John Paul Gervais for "Campaign Consulting" and "Campaign Management Services" in three payments during the summer of 2023.

In total, Durkan spent more than $83,000 on political consultants — nearly 30 percent of her entire campaign expenditures.

If there's one vendor that defines the Durkan campaign, it's Uber.

Her filings show 736 separate Uber charges totaling $12,084 — 722 rides and 14 Uber Eats orders. That's roughly one charge per day since she took office. The purposes read like a diary: "Travel to City Hall." "Travel from community meeting." "Travel to fundraiser." "Travel home from event."

Some days she logged five or six rides. The purposes are vague enough to justify anything: "Travel to meeting with constituent." "Travel home from meeting with constituent." "Travel to community event." "Travel from community event."

There were Uber rides to tree lightings. Uber rides to ribbon cuttings. Uber rides to "a celebration of life for a constituent." Uber rides to a press conference, then Uber rides home from the press conference. On St. Patrick's Day 2025 alone, she took six Uber rides totaling $157 — including a single $84 trip she attributed to "Road Closure."

More than half the rides cost less than $15. Nearly 150 were under $10 — the kind of distance most people in Boston walk or take the T. This is one of the most walkable cities in America, with a functioning subway system and bus network.

On February 25, 2026, Durkan's campaign dropped $1,568.45 at The Tip Tap Room on Beacon Hill for what she described as a "Birthday fundraiser for campaign."

That wasn't a one-off. The Tip Tap Room appears 12 times in Durkan's filings for a combined $3,585 — making it the single most-visited restaurant in her records. She's also a regular at Peregrine ($1,020 across six visits), Cornwall's ($1,384 across 11 visits), and The Dubliner ($312 across four visits).

Her total restaurant and bar spending: $14,272 across dozens of establishments. Saltie Girl. Alcove. The Beehive. Ward 8. Bartaco. Flour Bakery — where she spent $548 on catering for a single Valentine's Day event at City Hall.

Every tab came with a purpose note. "Meeting with staff member." "Lunch with fellow Councilor." "Coffee with West End constituent." "Going away lunch for staff member." The descriptions are just specific enough to justify the expense, never specific enough to verify.

On February 23, 2026, Durkan's campaign paid $300 to Madeleine's Candy Shop in Boston for — and this is the actual filing description — "Valentines Candy Gift for Colleagues and City Staff."

Campaign cash. Buying candy. For colleagues.

Durkan's travel spending tells its own story.

In August 2024, she billed her campaign $3,670 for a trip to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention — including $2,485 at the Sheraton Grand across two charges, $383 for a "Brunch for Boston Delegates," and an Uber ride described as "Travel to DNC pizza event with Mayor Wu."

Three months later, she charged $1,401 for a trip to Scranton, Pennsylvania, for Harris campaign GOTV volunteering — an $815 hotel stay, dinners at Sambuca Grille and Coopers Seafood House, Waffle House, Uber rides, all on Boston campaign donor money.

And in May 2024, there was Copenhagen. A $1,265 trip with something called the "Vicinity Energy + Boston Delegation" — flights on Iceland Air, a $620 hotel, in-flight wifi, and a taxi home from the airport. On the campaign tab.

The irony is thick.

Durkan single-handedly killed a $100 million audit that would have examined how Boston spends taxpayer money — blocking it before it could even be spoken aloud on the council floor. Her argument, relayed through a spokesperson, was that it didn't warrant emergency action.

Her own campaign spending — all of it legal, all of it publicly filed, none of it secret — shows exactly why "trust us" isn't good enough.

Nearly $20,000 to a relative for undefined consulting. More than $47,000 to a political firm for services described in copy-paste boilerplate. 736 Uber charges. A $1,568 birthday party at a bar. Hundreds of dollars in Valentine's candy for city workers.

And the woman who spent it all couldn't even let the city council discuss whether the city's $4.6 billion budget was being spent any better.