How the Responsibilities of District and At-large City Councilors Compare

Boston City Council consists of four members who represent the whole city and nine who represent different districts.

Each position comes with difficult tasks. District councilors must know every local issue and. At-large councilors criss-cross the city, trying to appeal to everyone.

But there’s a “tremendous overlap” in their responsibilities, as District 6 Councilor Matt O’Malley put it. In short, being one type of councilor or the other isn’t as clear-cut as it seems.

Creating today’s City Council 

When legislators rewrote the city’s charter in 1909, they created a City Council composed of nine at-large councilors. But in 1981, Bostonians voted to divide the city into nine districts, each represented by a councilor, said O’Malley, who represents West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, as well as parts of Roslindale and Mission Hill. 

“It’s a much stronger system because it makes sure that every neighborhood has a voice,” he said. 

In addition, people who favored the new council hoped that it would attract more women and people of color to city government, said District 8 Councilor Michael Ross, who represents Back Bay, Beacon Hill, West End, Fenway and Mission Hill.

“Our at-large councilors were producing little diversity,” Ross said. “The people they were representing looked different.” 

Nevertheless, “we still lack diversity on the council,” Ross said, pointing out that men still outnumber women.  

The similarities between their jobs 

At-large councilor John Connolly, who lives in West Roxbury, said that his work mirrors that of the district councilors “90 percent of the time,” with everyone taking requests to repair streetlights and improve the schools.

“One difference,” he said, “is that when you’re an at-large councilor, you’re trying to work on issues in a way to bring neighborhoods together. District councilors have to be focused on their specific neighborhoods. [They] have a real hard job. Every single issue that happens in their neighborhood they have to be totally on top of because they’re the first line into government for people in their district.” 

However, Connolly said, at-large councilors tend to spearhead broad issues, like how he focuses on education, Pressley on women, Stephen Murphy on the budget and Felix Arroyo on youth.

The way councilors avoid encroaching on one another’s areas of responsibility, Connolly said, is by regularly sharing information and ideas. 

For instance, O’Malley lives in and represents Jamaica Plain, along with West Roxbury and sections of Roslindale and Mission Hill. But At-large Councilor Connolly also lives in West Roxbury, and, needless to say, has a stake in governing the neighborhood. The men have known each other for 15 years and work in adjacent offices in City Hall. They also talk on the phone almost every day about what’s happening in West Roxbury, Connolly said. So far, they’ve managed to see eye-to-eye on issues there.

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” he said, “and we care deeply about the neighborhood.

O’Malley agreed, characterizing Connolly as his ally, instead of his competition.

“Having two people familiar with the neighborhoods and having John living in West Roxbury is a terrific opportunity to deliver services and address constituent concerns,” he said.

Focusing on a single district

At-large Councilor Murphy said that people tend to call their district councilor about transportation, communications or utilities before they call the at-large ones about municipal services.   

District 1 Councilor Salvatore LaMattina, who represents Charlestown, East Boston and parts of downtown Boston, said that’s what he likes about his job. 

“Me, I’m a nuts and bolts guy,” LaMattina said. “If there’s a pothole or a basic city service that needs to be addressed, they call me.”

But councilors often look beyond the needs of their districts to how they can affect the whole city. District 8 Councilor Michael Ross represents Back Bay, Beacon Hill, West End, Fenway and Mission Hill, said that when he became a district councilor in 1999, at first he focused on learning the issues in the neighborhoods.  

“As I’ve continued to serve,” he said, “broad policies that can have an affect on the entire city have become a large part of this job as well. 

The duties, trials and rewards of representing a whole city

Both district and at-large councilors have a staff of four who plan their meetings and attend ones they can’t go to themselves. Even so, Pressley said that it’s a “daunting” task for her and her staff to keep up with all of the public meetings and events that happen across the city.

“As an at-large councilor, no matter what,” she said, “there’s always some place you’re not at.” “You make an effort to meet families where they are; it’s an important part of the job. But trying to do that with 22 neighborhoods is incredibly challenging.”

On the other hand, she said, what is rewarding about being an at-large councilor is the very same thing: Every week I’m learning about a new community organization or enjoying a new restaurant or meeting someone I never would have before.”