From left: Ousted councillors Charles Yancey and Stephen Murphy, with councillors Mark Ciommo and Michael Flaherty. Jennifer Smith photo
City councillors Charles Yancey and Stephen Murphy bid farewell to the council on Dec. 17 at the final meeting of the year and their last as active members. Their colleagues saluted the two councillors, one as a dogged reformer, the other as an adept navigator of budgets and finance.

It was an emotional send-off for Yancey and Murphy, with 32 and 18 years on the council respectively, including terms as council president. They received ringing applause from a full and standing gallery, with some onlookers visibly teary-eyed.

Yancey, ebullient, pointed to a series of successes during his tenure, during which he estimates that he will have served 11,300 days as of Jan 3.

“I have benefitted from the support and the input of everyone in these chambers, whether you know it or not,” he said.

Quoting Edmund Burke, Socrates, Theodore Roosevelt, and finally William Butler Yeats, Murphy’s farewell speech tacked toward the philosophical and included some parting shots at the media, which he has found to be overly critical.

Murphy teared up describing council staff and his fondness for the late Mayor Thomas Menino, whose loss in the same year as his father hit Murphy particularly hard. He closed with a line from Yeats: “Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends.”

Mayor Martin Walsh lauded the two departing councillors -- Yancey for “loyalty and passionate representation of District 4 over 30 years… I want to thank you for always pushing and fighting for what you believed in;” Murphy for years of friendship and leadership: “I want to thank you for your expertise and understanding of the budget process and for being a person I could count on.”

Both, in their speeches, asked that the council support the mayor and the two new councillors, though not by name. Andrea Campbell displaced Yancey in District 4 in November, and Annissa Essaibi-George’s second run for at-large earned her a slot above Murphy.

In short, heartfelt speeches, the continuing councillors thanked Yancey and Murphy for their years of service and the distinct niches that they have carved out. Councillor Frank Baker said, “Today, we are losing quite a bit of institutional knowledge. Nobody is better on the rules, nobody is better on the budget, than these gentlemen.’’

Yancey, 66, of Dorchester, has held his district seat since its creation in 1983, needling administrations over diversity in city workers, pushing for police body cameras, advocating for a new high school, and, to the last day, holding hearings for the Post Audit and Oversight Committee, seeking justification for city expenditures.

“I believe this body is stronger, that the Boston City Council is stronger, when it endeavors to not only hold the administration accountable but to hold city government accountable,” he said.

His colleagues credited him with opening doors for diversity, for his unflagging resolve toward his most passionate projects.

“I am because you are,” Tito Jackson told Yancey. “You were the first elected official I ever met. I got to see what Dr. King said was ‘The ultimate measure of a man.’ ”

The District 7 councillor was briefly overwhelmed by emotion, thanking Yancey for being by his father’s beside at his death.

In Yancey’s time as councillor, Jackson said, “You did what was right, not what was easy.”
Hyde Park resident and Dorchester native Murphy, 58, has established himself as a master of budgetary process and minutiae, and his fellow councillors said his loss would be a procedural and personal loss.
“You are a champion for labor, for working class families, and for workers rights,” said at-large councillor Ayanna Pressley. “I like to think of you as the big kid on the playground, fighting for all the little kids.”

That fighting spirit was a valued aspect to a longtime friend, said councillor Salvatore LaMattina.

“He was for me a big brother on the council,’’ LaMattina said. “If there was anyone you want on your side when you are in battle, it is this guy right here.”

The council returned to normal business after speeches and photos concluded, capping off almost two hours of tribute. Murphy and Yancey held silver Paul Revere bowls from the mayor and glass gavels from the council.

The “Bring Your Own Bottle” proposal, co-sponsored by Murphy and Wu, passed unanimously.