Fifteen candidates will be on the ballot for four available at-large Boston City Council seats next month, bucking a trend of low-level interest come election time.

Does former councilor Ayanna Pressley's meteoric rise to Congress have anything to do with the interest in open positions? Is it Bostonians' desire to improve transportation, schools, and the cost of housing?

Christopher Arena, CEO of GFTB Digital and one-time voting member of Allston Civic Organization, and Jonathan Cohn, elections committee chair for Progressive Massachusetts, joined Boston Public Radio on Wednesday to discuss the increased interest in council positions.

"What's happened is that millennials are aging into leadership roles," said Arena. "You're seeing a lot more younger candidates jumping into the field, but on top of that, the council has been more empowered for the past four years."

Boston has a system of government that gives a lot of power to the mayor. The city council's biggest lever of power is voting on the city budget. Former Councilor Pressley, Councilor Michelle Wu, and Council President Andrea Campbell have been more open to pushing back against the mayor's clout than many previous councilors, said Cohn.

"We have seen the council push back against the mayor on issues, whether [passing an ordinance to regulate Airbnb] ... whether the plastic bag ordinance," Cohn said. "Those were council-led initiatives that had initial pushback against the mayor."

Arena also noted that recent and current city councilors have been able to lobby for issues that impact both the city and the state.

"Boston is the number one economic driver of the state," he said. "So if our council members aren't going up to Baker's office asking for a better T, a better statewide transit, asking for better schools and better housing at a state level, then what are we paying them six figures to do?"

The city's primary is Sept. 24, 2019.