Boston City Councillor John M. Tobin, Jr. last week was reappointed as the City Council’s Vice President and was tapped to head a new committee formed to plan the Boston City Council’s Centennial Celebration in 2009. He was also renamed Chair of the Committee on Arts, Film, Humanities & Tourism, a post he has held since 2002.

Councillor Tobin’s appointments were announced by City Council President Maureen Feeney at the council’s weekly meeting on Wednesday, January 30.

“I am honored to serve another year as the City Council’s Vice President and as the Chair of the Committee on Arts, Film Humanities & Tourism,” said Councillor Tobin. “I look forward to working on new projects this year including the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Boston City Council.”

Councillor Tobin was also named as Vice Chair of the Committee of the Whole, which includes all of the Council members, and to the following committees: City & Neighborhood Services, Education, Environment & Health, Government Operations, Human Services, Post Audit & Oversight, Rules & Administration and Youth Affairs.

The Presidential Committee on the Council Centennial was formed this year and will plan a celebration commemorating a 1909 change to the City Charter which merged the bicameral Board of Aldermen and the Common Council and established the Boston City Council as a unicameral body.

As Chair of the City Council’s Arts Committee, Councillor Tobin has fought to restore funding to the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism & Special Events and has initiated innovative ways to enhance the arts citywide and promote cultural tourism.

Councillor Tobin, who represents West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and parts of Roslindale and Mission Hill, filed an order last year with the City Council calling for the appointment of an official city poet laureate who would record major events and commemorate moments in the city’s history through poetry. Mayor Menino formed a Poet Laureate committee and recently chose Brighton resident Sam Cornish as the city’s first Poet Laureate.

Councillor Tobin also continues to be a strong proponent of resurrecting the city’s Film Bureau arguing that the movie industry creates jobs, generates revenue, and showcases the city to the world. He sponsors an annual art contest challenging Boston students to design his holiday greeting card and proposed the “Boston Walk of Fame” as a way to promote tourism and honor local people who have made a lasting contribution to the arts. He currently serves on the board of the Boston Children’s Theatre.