Mike Ross is proud to represent District 8 on the Boston City Council since his election in 1999. A diverse collection of neighborhoods, the district includes Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, and Mission Hill. In addition to the finest constituents a Councilor could ever want, District 8 is home to some of Boston's greatest institutions and landmarks: including Fenway Park, the Longwood Medical Area and Massachusetts General Hospital, the Museum of Fine Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and a number of our city's finest academic institutions. World-renowned public spaces like the Boston Common, the Public Garden, the Esplanade, and Frederick Law Olmstead's historic Emerald Necklace are also in the district.

In his second term as Council President, Mike is working on a number of critical issues. He formed the Citizen’s Committee on Boston’s Future, a group of local leaders who will recommend ways in which Boston can retain residents. Mike is working to reform Boston’s Public Schools by examining models that have worked in other cities, and plans to bring his colleagues to the Harlem Children’s Zone, an innovative school in New York City. He also formed a Council committee that will examine the possibility of reforming Boston’s charter.

Mike is dedicated to making Boston a world-class city that everyone can afford to call home. He has championed revitalizing America’s oldest park—the Boston Common—and making it America’s greatest park. The City recently approved legislation that would allow a long-term lease on an abandoned structure on the Common, creating an incentive for a restaurateur to rehab the space and open a business that will bring positive activity to the park. In 2008, the Boston Zoning Commission unanimously passed a law that limits the number of undergraduate student to four, which discourages property owners from turning small units into high-occupancy student housing. (You can read more about Mike’s record here.)

Mike has a long history of utilizing technology to make city government more accessible for residents. Prior to his election to the Council, Mike was part of a team that developed Boston's first Website. The site received the "Best of the Web" award for municipalities by Government Technology Magazine. As Councilor, Mike has written for Boston magazine's blog, Boston Daily, as well as contributing to Blue Mass Group and starting his own blog. He believes that there is a strong role that technology and the internet can play in making government better, more open, and more accessible. Mike also welcomes constituents to reach out to him via Facebook and Twitter.

Mike continues to help the young people in his district. He works with area youth to prevent growing issues of violence, playing an active role with youth groups like Sociedad Latina and Youth Noise. Mike also is working to bring physical education back to Boston's public schools, a program that has been cut in nearly every public school in Boston. He believes that adding physical education can have an impact on issues around youth violence, student behavior, and test scores, giving kids additional outlets for the stress of their daily lives. He and his staff are proud of the constituent services they provide, helping keep neighborhoods strong and active.

Mike proudly endorsed Barack Obama on the first day he announced his candidacy. Mike earned a spot as a pledged delegate representing Boston for Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, and was heavily involved in the campaign. Mike volunteered as a voting rights attorney in Florida on Election Day.

Mike is a first-generation American. His father, Stephan Ross, survived 10 concentration camps during the Holocaust, and was rescued by American soldiers at Dachau. Mike holds a Bachelor's Degree from Clark University in Worcester, an MBA from Boston University, and a Law Degree from Suffolk University. Mike currently lives in Mission Hill. Previously he was a Beacon Hill resident, where he was actively involved in the community as a board member of the Democratic Ward 5 Committee, coaching Little League and youth soccer, and serving on the board of the Boston Groundwater Trust.