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After Councilor Sharon Durkan began regularly blocking late-file measures, tensions escalated between her and Councilor Erin Murphy.

For a month-and-a-half, tensions between two Boston City Council members have been growing over one’s use of procedural moves to block the body from taking up late-file matters. Now, the feud between Councilors Erin Murphy and Sharon Durkan is coming to a head. 

The friction centers around when and how certain measures are taken up by the body at its weekly meetings, which are held on most Wednesdays. Council rules dictate that measures need to be filed by Monday at 10 a.m. for them to be added to the Wednesday agenda. During the meeting, councilors can suspend the rules and bring forth late-file matters that did not make the Monday deadline. But unanimous consent is needed to do so, meaning these late-file measures can be easily blocked by a single councilor. 

According to Murphy, Durkan has made a concerted effort since the beginning of April to selectively block her late-file matters. This repeated “obstruction” has forced the council to delay important work while damaging the public perception of the council’s integrity, Murphy said.

Durkan said she is concerned about compliance with the state’s open meeting law and believes that suspending the rules for late-file matters should be reserved for emergencies. The regular filing of late-file matters discredits the council’s transparency, as it does not allow constituents to voice their opinions before an item is taken up by the body, she added. 

Murphy has exhibited a pattern of overreliance on late-file matters and is responsible for a disproportionate number of them in 2025 and 2026, Durkan said. 

“Unfortunately I think she really likes using this tool, and she really likes making news and it not being publicly noted,” Durkan said of Murphy.

When asked about this, Murphy said that she views any “overreliance” of late-files as a point of pride.

“If Councilor Durkan believes I use late-files more often than others, I take that as a compliment. It means I am paying attention, doing my job, and responding when issues come up after the agenda has already been posted,” she said. 

Murphy pointed to several blocked measures that particularly stand out, including a resolution calling for an audit of the city’s finances, another calling for an audit of Boston Public Schools, and a recent hearing order regarding funding for cancer screenings for firefighters. Blocking late-file matters simply delays discussion of these topics until the following week, and Murphy said this was indicative of Durkan wanting to play “games.”  

Durkan is adamant that her moves to block late-file matters have nothing to do with the contents of the measures themselves and that she is objecting to more late-files because the council as a whole is seeing more of them this year. Durkan maintains that her objections are not personally targeted at Murphy or any other specific councilor. 

The current council term has been marked by drama since it began in January. Councilor Liz Breadon was elected president in a last-minute surprise after Durkan and others encouraged her to run the night before the vote. Councilor Ed Flynn filed an open meeting law complaint afterward, alleging that the late-night deliberations were unlawful. 

In a late February response, the city’s law department informed the council that it had determined there was no open meeting law violation. 

Durkan said she grew concerned about compliance with open meeting law after the council received this notice and subsequently reviewed guidance from the Attorney General’s Office. 

“I became concerned that we were too easily making exceptions to open meeting law and normalizing a process that doesn’t allow constituents to weigh in before items are introduced,” Durkan said. 

Flynn’s complaint and the subsequent response from the city did not specifically concern late-file matters. Murphy blamed Durkan for using an “unrelated letter” to justify her ongoing objections to late-file matters. 

Murphy sees the late-file process as a well-established precedent that, if followed properly, does not run afoul of open meeting law. She views Durkan as acting hypocritically, saying that Durkan herself has used the late-file process in the past without objection.  

The City Council is currently in the midst of its busy budget season, with some members mulling an outright rejection of Mayor Michelle Wu’s budget due to spending cuts. Both Durkan and Murphy say they would prefer to be focusing on the important business before the council instead of spending their time waging this war. 

But emotions remain high. In recent interviews with Boston.com, Durkan called Murphy’s actions “very immature” and said that she no longer believes Murphy is operating in good faith.

“It has felt like a real distraction to have to respond to a personal affront when I feel like I’m making some of the biggest strides in my career for my constituents,” Durkan said.

Murphy sees herself as standing up to “bullies” and said that she is fighting to make sure the council does not act as a “rubber stamp to the mayor.” 

“Even though it’s hard some days, and I have most people in City Hall working against me, I’m not going to let people bully me,” Murphy said.

The City Council meets again Wednesday, and late-file matters could be the topic of more heated discussion. A communication from Murphy about the “selective blocking of late file matters” is on the agenda, and it directly calls out Durkan. 

In the meantime, each blames the other for a breakdown in direct talks. 

“I believed before this incident that every city councilor wanted the body to look good to the general public, and I am starting to doubt that,” Durkan said. “It honestly feels like I’m being content farmed rather than actually wanting to engage in a conversation about the future of the city.”

Murphy said that others on the council agree with her and that she would be willing to discuss the matter privately. 

“Everyone agrees that this behavior of hers since April 1 is out of control. Every councilor who’s willing to talk to me agrees that it’s not helpful to the body and that it seems very targeted,” Murphy said. “She should pick up the phone and call me. She has my number.”