Boston city (regional capital), government - Pictures
In the 1990s Boston's government functioned under a mayor elected every four years. Thomas M. Menino began his second term as mayor in January 1998.
The city's legislative body, the Boston City Council, is composed of 13 elected members (four at-large and nine by district), and they serve a two-year term commencing in January of even-numbered years. Council members elect a president for a one-year term. Boston has 71 neighborhoods within 15 planning districts. Politically, Boston and a majority of the suburban cities and towns to its north and west have been consistently liberal in political philosophy and supportive of the Democratic Party since the election of U.S. president John F. Kennedy in 1960.
