City politics in Boston are still pretty quiet, but there's plenty of bad blood in New Bedford, according to SouthCoastToday's Jack Spillane:
Mayor [Scott] Lang recently described the council as existing primarily to "complement" his agenda, and five councilors returned the insult by writing a letter calling him incompetent to craft a city budget.
The mayor is certainly right that the New Bedford council doesn't have the immense, budget-setting powers of Congress or a state legislature. But he is wrong to describe the council as existing simply to complement his government. And he would be ill-advised to approach the council that way.
From the simple standpoint of accomplishing his own agenda, it's dangerous for a mayor to go to war with a council that retains significant power.
Spillane has more to say on his All Politics Is Local blog.