BOSTON — Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn fired off a letter to Mayor Michelle Wu and Council President Liz Breadon on Wednesday slamming his Council colleagues and calling for a thorough ethics investigation of City Hall — and saying the public has "lost complete faith" in a body that has burned through one scandal after another, according to the Boston Herald.

Flynn, the South Boston councilor whose past push for a standalone Council ethics committee was killed by Wu's rubber-stamp majority, stacked the receipts in his letter.

He also carried the message into public view:

We must acknowledge the public has lost complete faith and trust in government. Boston residents deserve the highest standards of ethical leadership from city officials. Ethics and honesty can't be an afterthought at Boston City Hall.
— Ed Flynn (@edforboston) June 11, 2026

Receipt 1: The FBI bust

Former Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was federally arrested and indicted for a $7,000 kickback scheme. She pleaded guilty to two of six federal corruption charges last year and served a month in jail.

MDN prior coverage of Tania Fernandes Anderson's federal sentencing. — Eyebrows raised after an Obama-appointed judge gave Fernandes Anderson 30 days in jail. MDN's prior coverage.

Receipt 2: Taxpayer money flowing to the budget chair's wife's nonprofit

Ways and Means Chair Ben Weber publicly disclosed this week that the state Ethics Commission had raised concerns about his oversight of a budget process that could financially benefit an immigration nonprofit his wife, Alexandra Weber, works for as a senior executive. The nonprofit — the International Institute of New England — pulls grant funding from the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Advancement, included in the very budget Weber oversees.

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The receipts are public. The same nonprofit landed a 10-year city lease at the China Trade Center plus $341,900 in BPDA renovation money days after Weber took over the Council budget. Weber's own amendment package this month also carried a $1.2 million grant amendment to the nonprofit — which he pulled, and recused himself from, only after a formal ethics complaint was filed against him, per MDN's prior reporting.

MDN prior coverage of the BPDA handing Ben Weber's wife's nonprofit a 10-year lease and $341,900. — MDN's prior coverage of the BPDA handing Ben Weber's wife's nonprofit a 10-year lease and $341,900.

Receipt 3: The "backroom" $4.9 billion budget vote

Wednesday's $4.9 billion FY27 operating budget passed the Council 12-1 with $11.2 million in last-minute amendments — after the Council had deadlocked 6-6 only weeks earlier. The 12-1 was Wu's rubber-stamp majority falling back into formation. Flynn alleges in his letter that during a recess in Wednesday's meeting, "it was clear that councilors were negotiating directly with members of the mayor's office and one another — likely violating the open meeting law."

"Years of moral, legal and ethical lapses"

Flynn told Wu and Breadon his earlier push for a Council ethics committee was killed by his colleagues "soon after" Fernandes Anderson was busted by the FBI — and said his push had been driven by "years of moral, legal and ethical lapses at the Boston City Council."

The list runs long. In 2023, Fernandes Anderson and former Councilor Ricardo Arroyo each paid fines for separate state ethics violations during their time on the body. Arroyo was also tied to a federal-reports scandal involving text messages he exchanged with ex-U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, who resigned in 2023 after two federal reports concluded she had tried to tip the Suffolk DA's election in Arroyo's favor. Rollins later received a public reprimand from the state Board of Bar Overseers. She is now running against incumbent DA Kevin Hayden — the man she once tried to undermine — for her old job.

Former Councilor Kendra Lara, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to driving on a suspended license after crashing her car into a Jamaica Plain home in 2023 while still a sitting councilor. A city spokesperson said Lara had "regularly" driven to work at City Hall without a valid license — which had been suspended for a decade.

Flynn was also among the loudest voices criticizing Councilor Sharon Durkan last month after Durkan suggested that pulling back Council raises would lead to more corruption like the Fernandes Anderson kickback bust.

This isn't a new fight for Flynn — he was making the same case back in 2025:

Comprehensive ethics reform @CityOfBoston must be implemented. Now is the time to demonstrate transparency, accountability, positive leadership and ethical behavior. Boston residents deserve an honest and ethical city government. #bospoli
— Ed Flynn (@edforboston) May 2025

The reform Flynn wants

Flynn is calling for a "comprehensive ethics reform package" applying to councilors, the mayor, department heads and cabinet chiefs.

He also proposed adding "an annual disclosure statement as to whether any relatives may stand to benefit from city-sponsored grants or funding" — the kind of disclosure that would have flagged the Ben Weber situation in advance.

"The residents of Boston deserve the highest standards of leadership from their city government," Flynn wrote.

Boston Councilor Ed Flynn slams colleagues, demands ethics investigation after FBI corruption arrest, taxpayer money flowing to budget chair's wife's nonprofit, and a "backroom" $4.9B budget deal

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