GREEN SHEETS: Preview of 04/29/26 Boston City Council Meeting
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GREEN SHEETS: Preview of 04/29/26 Boston City Council MeetingCouncil agenda features 59 dockets; Culpepper files dockets about in-custody death at Suffolk County House of Correction; Durkan filed hearing order on BPDA to Planning Dept transition
Even with budget season in full swing, the Council is continuing to do other work as well. The most newsworthy set of dockets this week is from Councilor Culpepper, who has filed 3 dockets about an in-custody death at the Suffolk County House of Correction - read the Boston Globe’s coverage of the case. This is particularly notable because Councilor At-Large & Public Safety Committee Chair Henry Santana posted on social media about Shacoby Kenny’s death back in December 2025, but Culpepper’s dockets are the first to actually be filed about the matter.
Culpepper isn’t the only elected official who has called for action on this case: State Senator Liz Miranda also took public action on this case, calling on Governor Healey to support new legislation to increase oversight of the state’s prisons and jails - read more from the Dorchester Reporter. In this preview there will be the docket number, along with the page numbers and a short description of the docket. You can follow along in the agenda packet: First up is “COMMUNICATIONS FROM HER HONOR, THE MAYOR,” which are items being sent to the Council by the Mayor that will see follow-up hearings before being voted on by the Council. Docket #0850 (p. 9-13) is a response to Docket #0779, a 17F request from Councilor Murphy that sought information about Boston Public Schools’ school bus auto liability insurance coverage. This 17F was filed back on April 8, but it stemmed from information first revealed back in December 2025 and captured by this Boston Globe headline “Boston Public Schools’ bus insurer refused to renew coverage before fatal crash.” There are 2 interesting answers in the 17F. The first on is on p. 11:
The second is on p. 12:
Docket #0851 (p. 14-15) is a response to Docket #0817, a 17F request from Councilor Flynn that sought information about “the City of Boston’s insurance and liability coverage.” It shows that Boston is self-insured and provides totals for “settlements and liabilities over the past five years.” Next up is “REPORTS OF PUBLIC OFFICERS AND OTHERS,” which are items the Council is being informed about, but is not able to vote on. Docket #0852 (p. 16) is notice from Mayor Wu about “the appointment of Rodney Marshall as Fire Commissioner and Chief of the Boston Fire Department effective May 1, 2026.” Marshall’s appointment is historic: he is the first African-American appointed to the job - City Hall put out a press release about the appointment. Docket #0853 & 0854 (p. 17-18) is the appointment, effective immediately, of 2 people to the Task Force on the Study on City of Boston Reparations:
When the Reparations Task Force was created in 2022, it was scheduled to make recommendations by the end of 2024. In March 2024, the Task Force revealed at a Council hearing they wouldn’t hit that deadline, and as of April 2026 still hasn’t made any recommendations. According to the Task Force’s website, it last met on September 20 2025, more than 7 months ago. Docket #0855 (p. 19) is notice from Boston’s Assessing Commissioner Nicholas Ariniello of the appointment of Caroline Noone as an Assistant Assessor in the Valuation Unit. Docket #0856 (p. 20-21) is a strange notice: it is to let the Council know about a still un-filled vacancy: “the Trustees of the Boston Retirement Board seeking an individual to fill the vacant Fifth Member board position.” For more information about the vacancy and how to apply to fill it, check out the City’s dedicated webpage. Docket #0857 (p. 22-52) is a notice from Timothy J. Smyth, Executive Officer of the Boston Retirement Board, about 2 upcoming events concerning the FY27 Retiree Cost of Living Adjustment (”COLA”) Base Vote:
According to the letter on p. 22-23, the Social Security Administration set the latest COLA at 2.8%, but the board could boost it to 3%. The board could also not raise the COLA if doing so would “substantially impair” the retirement system. There is also a memo from Massachusetts’ Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission on p. 24 and a slide deck laying the “Preliminary Actuarial Valuation Results” for the Boston Retirement System on p. 25-52. Docket #0858-#0861 (p. 53-62) are all notice from the City Clerk that the Mayor had taken action on papers the Council acted on at its past meetings on January 28, February 4, February 25, and March 18. Docket #0862 (p. 63) is a letter from Councilor Flynn to Mike Firestone, the City’s Corporation Counsel, requesting that the City respond to his 17F request about “BHA elevators and quality of life issues” that was filed back on January 28, 2026. Docket #0863 (p. 64) is another letter from Councilor Flynn to Mike Firestone, this one urging Firestone to fulfil a public records request made by anti-drinking spiking activist Ilana Katz Katz. This letter follows up a Council hearing on drink spiking held on March 12 - read the transcript & the Boston Herald’s coverage. Next up is “REPORTS OF COMMITTEES” which are hearings that were held prior to 9 AM the Monday prior to the regular meeting. This section has been missing for the last few weeks, despite hearings being held in this time frame, so it is good to see it back. Docket #0260 (p. 65-68) is the appointment of Samira Ahmadi to the BERDO Review Board. When this docket was introduced to the Council back on February 6, Councilor Murphy said that the lack of information about the seat Ahmadi was being appointed to violated a written agreement struck between the Mayor’s IGR office and the Council - read more from the 2/06/26 issue of GREEN SHEETS. Murphy’s question was not answered at either the April 21 hearing - read the transcript - or in the Committee Chair Report in the Agenda Packet. The Committee Chair recommends that Ahmadi ought to be approved. Docket #0569 & Docket #0738 (p. 69-84) are 2 requests, both for spending community preservation funds:
Both dockets were discussed at a hearing held last week on April 21 - read the transcript - and the Committee Chair recommends that both dockets ought to pass. Docket #0760 (p. 85-87) is a request for the Council to approve a $375k grant from the Red Sox Arts & Parks Program. The Council held a hearing on April 21 - read the transcript - & the Committee Chair recommended that it ought to pass. Docket #0771 (p. 88-95) is a petition from the Landmarks Commission to designate the Copley Plaza Hotel in the Back Bay as a landmark. The Council must act on this petition before April 30, 2026, or it automatically is designated. The Council held a hearing on April 21 - read the transcript - and the Committee Chair recommended that it ought to pass. Next up is “MATTERS RECENTLY HEARD-FOR POSSIBLE ACTION,” which are dockets that had hearing between 9 AM on Monday and the beginning of since the last regular meeting. There are just budget dockets here: no action is expected on any of these. Next up is “MOTIONS, ORDERS AND RESOLUTIONS,” which are legislative actions from City Councilors. There are 22 dockets in this section, so BPI won’t summarize all of them, but here are 5 to watch. Docket #0866 (p. 105-106) is a hearing order filed by District 8 Councilor & Planning Committee Chair Sharon Durkan “to discuss the City of Boston Planning Department’s performance and 2026 Annual Report.” Based on BPI’s review, there is just one annual report so far: a March 2025 report that focused on what the Planning Department had done in 2024. Last year the Council got a docket like this - Docket #0337, a hearing order “regarding the transition and operations of the new City Planning Department” - was filed by Councilor Murphy, but it was sent to the Government Operation Committee. BPI has been closely monitoring Mayor Wu’s efforts to reform the BPDA and her wider efforts to reform Boston’s wider zoning and planning rules and process, so this is a docket we will track closely. Docket #0870, #0871, and #0872 (p. 112-117) are 1 hearing order and 2 resolutions, all filed by Councilor Culpepper and focused on the in-custody death of Shacoby Kenny at the Suffolk County House of Correction:
Docket #0873 (p. 118) is a 17F request from Councilor Murphy that seeks information about
The 17F details 6 specific requests, including a list of “nonprofit organizations and external partners” that received funding in FY25, FY26 and FY27 and communications sent by the City to those folks informing them of cuts in FY27. The 17F request references an exchange that Council Ways & Means Chair had with CFO Groffenberger and Budget Director Williamson at the FY27 Operating Budget hearing on April 14 - this exchange starts at the 46:15 mark:
That exchange and this 17F brings up an important point: it appears that much of the material that City officials have promised to Councilors hasn’t been produced yet. For example, BPI asked Council central staff for the list of state and federal projects that Interim Streets Chief Gove said he would provide last week, and we were informed earlier this week that they hadn’t received it yet. Boston Policy Institute, Inc is working to improve the public conversation - help us by following BPI on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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