There's sort of a "dog bites man" quality to this story. After six years in office, I am not running for reelection. "Big deal," you might say. I'm inclined to agree.

I ran for city council in 1993, challenging an incumbent who had held the seat for ten years. I did so arguing that Boston's government wasn't doing its job because it wasn't focused upon the needs of Boston. I argued that successful cities are residential cities and that good government should work to enhance our neighborhoods. I argued that urban government was about respecting and understanding competing interests — business, tourism, residential, green space, and the like — and working to achieve a proper balance among them all.

I won that race by an extraordinarily narrow margin of 27 votes. Since then, I have been lucky enough to represent 70,000 people in the Boston City Council. Those people live in many neighborhoods: Allston, Audubon Circle, the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the Fenway, Kenmore Square and Mission Hill. More broadly, of course, I have represented all of the citizens of Boston, because my votes on issues of policy and budget affected them all.

Much of what I set out to accomplish has happened. Boston today is a better city than it was when I first ran. I don't deserve all or even a lot of the credit for that — the Mayor, the other members of the City Council, and most critically the active and involved residents of Boston deserve that credit. But I like to think that I played some role in helping to rebuild this city.

When I first ran though, I also said that, if I won, I anticipated remaining in office for three terms — six years. I do not believe that any job, particularly the job of city councilor, should carry lifetime tenure. Hanging on to a political job simply because it's a sinecure does no one any good.

Those six years have passed. Having accomplished much of what I wanted to accomplish, it's time for me to move on to other priorities and other challenges.

Those priorities are both personal and professional, but I want to stress that they continue to include public policy and politics.

When I ran for Congress last summer I said that, despite our successes, there are nevertheless issues of extraordinary importance that continue to trouble this great city and this region — a deeply flawed educational system, racial and ethnic divisions, a failure to achieve balanced, long-term economic growth, a persistent underclass that does not reap the benefits of today's strong economy, a lack of affordable housing for lower- and middle-income citizens, and a myriad of complicated issues that speak to Boston's unresolved relationships with the other cities and towns within the entire metropolitan region.

The Council is one place, but certainly not the only place, from which to deal with these issues. My hope is that I can continue to address these concerns, albeit in a different capacity, both through my work in the private sector and through ongoing involvement in civic activities.

Meanwhile, my term of office doesn't end for another nine months. I am still a city councilor and I am still your representative. Let me know how I can help.