Talk:List of mayors of Boston, Massachusetts

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I've been doing a little work on this list (particularly in the 20th century) --- fixing the terms of office and adding pages for Boston mayors who didn't have pages. One thing I've found confusing is how terms of office are listed here and in the entries for individual mayors. During the 20th century (and perhaps earlier), Boston elections for mayor have been held in the fall of odd years and the winner has taken office the following year (on January 1?). For example, James Michael Curley was first elected mayor in 1913 and took office in early 1914. Since the early part of the 20th century, the term has been four years. There are, however, some inconsistencies that need to be resolved and I welcome feedback. One is the election of John Hynes in 1949 --- he took office in 1950 and was reelected in 1951. Why wasn't the next election in 1953? Maybe I need to re-read The Rascal King. Rickterp 16:40, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

I consulted The Rascal King and have the answer to my own question: In 1949, a reform to the Boston mayoral election process was passed by referendum (instituting the current system of a non-party preliminary election with a runoff among the top two finishers). Part of that reform was that, if passed by the voters, the new system would go into affect after just two years in 1951. So, that's why Hynes served three full terms and 10 years --- one two-year term (1950-1952) and two four-year terms (1952-1956 and 1956-1960). Rickterp 03:42, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Numbering

We have at least three acting mayors (Chairman of Board of Alderman) on this list, yet two are numbered and one is "A". Should we have some consistency? Perhaps if they are sworn in, they get a number, but if they are simply acting in that capacity, no number? Akatie (talk) 06:47, 8 February 2008 (UTC)