Maura Hennigan
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Maura Hennigan (Maura A. Hennigan) is the Clerk Magistrate of the Suffolk County, Massachusetts Superior Court Criminal/Business Division; she is the ninth elected official to hold this position and the first female. Hennigan is decended from a long line of politicians beginning with her great uncle who served on the Boston Common Council.
After graduating from Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Brighton, Maura attended Salve Regina University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. For seven years, Maura taught in the Boston Public School system, at the elementary, middle and high school levels. In 1981, Maura was elected to the Boston City Council where she would serve until 2005.
As a Boston City Councilor, Maura became a leader on the City’s key issues, earning her posts on the Council’s most important committees. Maura became the first woman to head the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which she chaired for 7 years.
A strong supporter of public schools, Maura initiated and led efforts to create the Patrick Lyndon Pilot School in West Roxbury. As the first woman to serve as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, she secured funding for Boston’s first citywide mammography van, which brought badly-needed mammography services to women citywide. She also is a strong advocate for helping Bostonians become more financially literate and independent through financial literacy programs and Individual Development Accounts (IDAs).
Hennigan ran for Mayor of Boston in 2005. She was defeated by incumbent Thomas Menino. After leaving office in 2006, Hennigan was selected by Harvard University to travel with the "Women's Leadership Board" of the John F. Kennedy School of Government to Cairo, Egypt. After a short retirement, Hennigan mounted what became a successful bid for Clerk of the Criminal/Business Court of Suffolk County, against relative unknown Assistant Clerk of Court Robert Dello-Russo. This is said to be a possible stepping stone for a future run for Mayor of Boston.
While on the Boston City Council Hennigan chaired many committees:
- Chair of Ways and Means Committee
- Chair of Public Safety Committee
- Chair of Education
- Chair of Environment & Historic Preservation
- Chair of Flooding and Storm Damage
- Chair of Government Operations
- Chair of Housing
- Chair of Hunger & Homelessness
- Chair of Planning & Economic Development
- Chair of Special Committee on Equity
- Chair of Veterans and Veterans Service Organization
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