Raymond Flynn

Raymond Leo Flynn (born July 22, 1939) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, from 1984 until 1993.

Flynn was born July 22, 1939, the son of Stephen Flynn and Lillian Flynn (Kirby).

He grew up in South Boston, where he has spent most of his life living.

Flynn is Irish-American.

His father was a union longshoreman, and his mother was a cleaning lady.

Flynn's father was an immigrant to the United States.

Flynn grew up a member of the Gate of Heaven Parish in South Boston.

Flynn was a three-sport star athlete at South Boston High School.

During his senior year, Flynn was selected the "Most Valuable Player" in the 1963 National Invitation Tournament.

After a brief professional basketball career, Flynn worked in several fields, including as a high school teacher and a probation officer, before entering politics.

Flynn began his political career as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1971 to 1979, representing the South Boston neighborhood during the turbulent Boston desegregation busing crisis of the early 1970s.

Flynn opposed federally-mandated school busing.

Throughout his political career, Flynn held a strong anti-abortion position.

As a state legislator, Flynn co-authored the "Flynn–Doyle amendment" to ban government funding of abortions covered by Medicaid.

This was initially successfully vetoed by Governor Michael Dukakis.

However a version of the amendment was passed over Dukakis's veto in 1978.

Flynn served on the Boston City Council from 1978 to 1984.

As a city councilor, Flynn stood in opposition to rate increases by utility companies and regularly proposed tenants' rights ordinances.

Flynn was elected mayor of Boston in 1983 and took office in 1984.

In 1985, a revenue package was passed and signed into law by Governor Dukakis.

In response to discriminatory practices studies found banks to be practicing in Boston, Flynn took actions which persuaded banks to reach a $400 million community reinvestment agreement with the city.

Flynn succeeded in getting legislation passed to replace the city's publicly-elected school board with the new Boston School Committee, members of which are appointed by the city's mayor.

Flynn would quickly come to express his regret about this change.

Flynn was reelected in 1987 and 1991.

Polls showed Flynn to enjoy strong approval from Bostonians during his mayoralty.

As mayor, Flynn balanced the city's budget, eliminating a large budget deficit.

To address the deficit, Flynn lobbied heavily for the passage of a revenue package for the city in the Massachusetts Legislature to provide additional state aid to the city and the authorization for the city to raise new local taxes.

In 1990, Flynn saw strong criticism from Black leaders over the Boston Police Department's handling of the investigation into the murder of Carol Stuart.

As mayor, Flynn advanced plans to desegregate the city's public housing.

Flynn's administration gave neighborhood groups more of a voice in the use of the city's development and planning authorities in their neighborhoods.

This included innovative move of granting the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative powers of eminent domain.

Flynn successfully fought to enact rent control laws and strong tenants' rights laws.

Flynn also served as president of the United States Conference of Mayors from 1991 to 1992.

He also served as United States Ambassador to the Holy See from 1993 to 1997.

Flynn was an All-American college basketball player at Providence College.

Flynn resigned as mayor in 1993 in order to accept an appointment by President Bill Clinton as ambassador to the Holy See.

He expanded the position's mission to involve participation in addressing problem areas around the world.

During his tenure as ambassador, he also encountered some controversy.

In 1998, Flynn unsuccessfully ran for the United States House of Representatives.

Flynn later served as president of Catholic Alliance, a nonpartisan Catholic advocacy group.