For most Bay State political junkies, the story of the year will likely be the chief of the Chelsea Housing Authority pulling in a $360,000-a-year salary. At least, that was his figure until The Boston Globe took a closer look. Or it could be the passage of gambling legislation, which will bring casinos to Massachusetts. But in Dorchester, what captured everyone’s attention was a rough and tumble City Council race that divided families and front lawns.

Maureen Feeney finally said she would not run again, and seven candidates eventually jumped into the race. In September, two emerged: Frank Baker of Savin Hill and John O’Toole of Cedar Grove. Two months of war followed before Baker beat out O’Toole for the title of “City Councillor.”

The District 3 gyre wasn’t the only thing on the ballot. Former City Councillor At-Large Michael Flaherty attempted to return to the 13-member body, but fell short, and appeared to slip a shiv into his future mayoral ambitions as a result. First-termer Ayanna Pressley, a Dorchester resident, topped the City Council At-Large ticket, with her fellow incumbents not far behind.

All politics was especially local in 2011. Here are some highlights:

JANUARY

City Councillor At-Large Stephen Murphy is elected by his colleagues to the ceremonial post of council president. Gov. Deval Patrick signed a spending bill that included a key $350,000 for the cash-strapped Boston Public Library system, which weighed a proposal of branch closures last year. State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz pushed a bill calling for “graduation coaches” to be placed in every public middle school and high school with a dropout rate of five percent or more.

FEBRUARY

Former Patrick aide Tito Jackson picks up 67 percent of the vote in a preliminary special election to replace Chuck Turner, a former District 7 city councillor who was convicted of bribery charges and ousted from the body. The results foreshadow what will occur in March when he faces off against the other finalist in the race, Cornell Mills.

MARCH

Days before her expected check-in to federal prison in Connecticut to start a 42-month sentence, disgraced former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson alleged that two ministers had reported on her to the FBI. Wilkerson, who was convicted of bribery charges, accused the head of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts of spreading rumors early on that she was under a federal investigation. The ministers and Urban League chief, in a joint letter, said the allegations were completely untrue. “We’ll continue to pray that in time Sen. Wilkerson will be able to confront some difficult truths about herself and begin rebuilding her life,” they wrote. Meanwhile, Tito Jackson received 82 percent of the vote in the final special election for the District 7 seat. Mills, Wilkerson’s son, received 16.13 percent.

APRIL

Mayor Thomas Menino tapped Peter Meade, a Dorchester native and political insider, to head the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Menino also submitted a $2.4 billion spending plan for fiscal 2012 that pulled 30 staffers out of 5 community centers and cut 169 full-time employees. Feeney said she wouldn’t run for another term, setting off a mad scramble among those who wished to replace her.

MAY

Just as quickly as he jumped in, Executive Office of Public Safety aide Michael Christopher, a Savin Hill native, jumped out of the District 3 race. But the field remained crowded before solidifying into the seven slated to face off in the Sept. 27 preliminary.

JUNE

At a Back Bay forum, City Councillor At-Large John Connolly previewed the argument he and his fellow incumbents would expound until November: “Each of us comes from very different places and very different life experiences and we don’t agree on everything. But in our two years together we’ve always worked together to bring Boston together.” Flaherty argued that he would be a more independent voice. A week later the seven District 3 candidates faced off in St. Mark’s church hall. A Reporter review of campaign finance records showed realtor Craig Galvin leading the money race in June, with a fundraising total of $17,550. Connolly was the leader in the at-large race, with $40,000 raised that month.

JULY

Feeney endorses O’Toole as her successor, making her unsurprising support explicit weeks after marching with him in a gay pride parade. Galvin again leads in fundraising.

AUGUST

Weighing a run for U.S. Senate, the consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren drops by Dorchester to meet with supporters. “People were immediately captivated by the idea of this really articulate advocate they had seen on a national level,” one local activist told the Reporter after the house party. “I think there’s definitely an energy there she can tap into.” Former state Rep. Brian Wallace (D-South Boston) and his treasurer pleaded not guilty in Suffolk Superior Court to charges that they violated state campaign finance law.

SEPTEMBER

Baker took the lead the preliminary election at the end of the month, pulling in 32 percent of the vote to O’Toole’s 26 percent. But more surprising were the results from the sleepy District 2 race, in which incumbent Bill Linehan faced a strong challenge from former teacher Suzanne Lee. Lee received 39 percent to Linehan’s 35 percent. Southie resident Bob Ferrara did not make it to the final election, but picked up 25 percent.

OCTOBER

The legislative committee at the State House, tasked with redrawing political boundaries, hands a slice of North Quincy to state Rep. Marty Walsh. In the endorsement wars, several city councillors backed O’Toole in the District 3 race, while members of the Dorchester delegation in the House announced they were backing Baker. And Oct. 2011 could be marked down as the end of “Floon.” Flaherty and Sam Yoon agreed to unsuccessfully run on a “ticket” in order to beat Menino at the polls in 2009, leading to the political portmanteau. But in an e-mail to supporters, Yoon urged them to vote for Pressley and her fellow City Councillor At-Large Felix Arroyo. Flaherty went unmentioned.

NOVEMBER

Baker wins the District 3 race with 56 percent of the vote, while all the incumbents are reelected to the four City Council At-Large slots. A crowd of supporters, including Gov. Patrick, gathered in front of Pressley’s campaign headquarters on Dorchester Avenue as she celebrated her victory. Linehan defeated Lee in a squeaker in District 2. Lee later challenged the results, but Linehan’s victory was confirmed in a recount. Just two days after the city election, Feeney quietly and quickly resigns from the job of city councillor, and was widely expected to chase the $102,000-a-year job of city clerk.

DECEMBER

The City Council, by a vote of 10 to 1, with one abstention, installs Feeney as the next city clerk. Yancey voted for the other candidate for the post, Natalie Carithers, while Jackson declined to cast a vote, citing the rushed hiring process. The vote came four days before Christmas, guaranteeing it would recede from the forefront of most people’s minds as they focused on the holidays and the new year.