William J. Phelan is an American attorney, former mayor and town administrator, and politician. He served as Mayor of Quincy, Massachusetts from 2002 to 2008 and town administrator of Holbrook, Massachusetts, from 2011 to 2015.
Early life
Phelan graduated from North Quincy High School in 1978. He was a standout basketball player and was elected to the school's athletic hall of fame. Phelan earned a bachelor's degree from Suffolk University and a J.D. degree from the Suffolk University Law School. He worked as a counselor for the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services before beginning a law practice in Quincy in 1989.
Quincy school committee
Phelan first ran for public office in 1999 as a candidate for the Quincy school committee. During his term on the school board, Phelan clashed with mayor James A. Sheets over the location of the new high school. Phelan successfully blocked Sheets' plan to build the school on contaminated land at a former industrial site in Quincy Point.
Mayor of Quincy
First term
In 2001, Phelan challenged Sheets for mayor. It was the first time that Sheets had faced a competitive election since he was first elected in 1989. During the campaign, Phelan criticized Sheets for rising taxes, the unsuccessful effort to reopen the Fore River Shipyard, and for "putting the interests of the developers ahead of the people". Sheets in turn faulted Phelan for his lack of experience, running a negative campaign, and for not putting forward ideas of his own. Phelan defeated Sheets by fifteen votes in the general election. After a recount, the margin of victory was increased to seventeen votes and Sheets conceded the election.
During Phelan's first days in office he was faced with a $4 million budget deficit due to reduced revenue from taxes and fees, including a $1.5 million reduction in the fees paid by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, as well as a reduction in local aid from the state government. He was able to avoid layoffs by instituting an early retirement program for city employees, which reduced the city's workforce by over 100 employees. He also had to deal with anger arising from an increase in local property taxes. In September 2002, Phelan suspended eight Quincy police officers for misconduct, which included drinking while on duty, firing weapons in the air, driving under the influence of alcohol, allowing one of the officers girlfriend's to drive a police cruiser, and attempting to cover up the incident, that occurred while they were working a paid detail at a nightclub.
In 2003, Phelan negotiated a new lease with Quarry Hills Associates, which ran the newly opened Granite Links Golf Club at Quarry Hills, that would give the city 10% of the club's gross revenues. That June he vetoed a proposed ordinance that would've implement minimum staffing requirements for the fire department, stating that the city could not afford the cost of the requirements (which he stated would be $8 million over five years). The veto was criticized by the president of the Quincy Firefighters Association, who accused Phelan of not making public safety a priority. Fire Chief Paul O'Connell also objected to the ordinance, citing the cost as well as the fact that only two other municipalities in the country had adopted these staffing requirements. In July 2003, Phelan presented a city budget that called for no layoffs, preserved most city services, and increased the amount of money in the city's reserves.
Second term
In the 2003 election, Phelan faced a last-minute challenge from city councilor Joseph F. Newton. Newton criticized Phelan for moving slowly with plans for a new Quincy high school as well as the poor condition of the city's infrastructure. Phelan was reelected with 73% of the vote, defeating Newton 13,117 votes to 4,775.