GREEN SHEETS: Preview of 05/13/26 Boston City Council Meeting
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GREEN SHEETS: Preview of 05/13/26 Boston City Council MeetingBPS $22M supplemental budget request missing; $30M raises IDP questions; Morrissey Blvd mitigation $$$ Battle; Resolutions on White Stadium, RTO for City Hall, & social media age regulations
The big news on this agenda is what isn’t on it: the $22M supplemental budget from Boston Public Schools meant to close their FY26 budget deficit. The Boston School Committee approved at their May 6 meeting, and it requires Council approval, but it is not on this week’s agenda - find the documents for the BSC’s May 6 meeting, and read the transcripts for the April 15 and May 6 BSC meetings for more. The other things to watch:
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 #0968 (p. 11-12) is a request for the Council to approve sending $30M from the City’s Inclusionary Development Policy Fund to the Mayor’s Office of Housing. As a reminder: “inclusionary zoning policy” is the requirement that private-sector housing development must either include a certain amount of income-restricted housing, which the developer must build and manage, or pay a certain fee per unit. Based on BPI’s review of past Council agendas, this request is submitted by the Mayor every 2 years - check out past requests from 2024 and 2022. What isn’t clear from reviewing the Council’s last hearing on the request - back on August 30, 2024 - is how this executive order-based request and the Council’s approval of new legislation in 2023 of an update to the City’s Inclusionary Zoning Policy mesh - read more in the Boston Globe. Docket #0969 (p. 13-14) is a request for the Council to accept a $12.6M grant - the 2026 FIFA World Cup Grant Program - will be administered by the Office of Emergency Preparedness and will go to funding safety and security needs for the 2026 World Cup event. Docket #0970 (p. 15-16) is a request for the Council to accept a $1M grant - the FY26 Senator Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative - will be administered by the Police Department which will fund multi-disciplinary approaches to combat gang violence. Docket #0971 (p. 17-18) is a request for the Council to accept a $305k grant - the FY26 Local Cultural Council Program- which is from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and will be administered by the Office of Arts & Culture to fund “arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences programming.” Docket #0972 (p. 19-20) is a request for the Council to accept $250k in mitigation funds which is coming from the Boston Planning & Development Agency from the 35-75 Morrissey Blvd project and will go the the Office of Economic Opportunity & Inclusion’s Commercial Acquisition Assistance Program (CAAP). This is a docket to watch: the leaders of Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association, who obtained $750k in mitigation money from the developer back in January 2024, have expressed opposition to how this grant is written back in February - read more from Seth Daniels in the Dorchester Reporter. Docket #0973 (p. 21-22) is a request for the Council to accept a $194k grant - the Federal FY26 Nutrition Services Incentive Program - which is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via MA Executive Office of Elder Affairs and will be administered by the Age Strong Commission which will fund “efficient delivery of nutritious meals to individuals aged 60 and older.” Docket #0974 (p. 23-24) is a request for the Council to accept a $150k grant - the FY25 Violence Against Women Act, a STOP Grant - which is from the U.S. Department of Justice via MA Executive Office of Public Safety & Security and will be administered by the Police Department, to fund a:
Docket #0975 (p. 25-26) is a request for the Council to accept $150k from Amos and Barbara Hostetter - the billionaire couple behind the powerful Barr Foundation - via Pilot House Philanthropy which will be administered by the Office of Arts & Culture to fund “flexible programmatic support for Boston Family Days.” Major philanthropists like the Hostetters very rarely appear on the Council’s agenda, but Mayor Wu has been able to get their support for her Boston Family Days program. It remains to be seen if Mayor Wu can get their support for other city priorities as her administration makes deep budget cuts to the City’s Equity & Inclusion Cabinet, including the Office of Black Males Advancement and LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement and offices like Arts & Culture in FY27. Docket #0976 (p. 27-28) is a request for the Council to accept a $60k grant - the Sustainable Materials Recovery Program - which is from the MA Department of Environmental Protection and will be administered by Public Works. It isn’t clear from the documents submitted by the City in this docket, but it appears that this money is funding either the building material reuse study announced back on April 29, or another closely related effort - read the City’s press release about that study. Look out for the hearing on this docket to learn more. Docket #0977 (p. 29-30) is a request for the Council to accept a $50k grant - the Creative Aging Program - from a private sector business, Goddard House Assisted Living, which will be administered by the Age Strong Commission to “fund bringing arts programming to older adults in Boston.” Docket #0978 (p. 31-32) is a request for the Council to accept $50k from a Donor Group to be administered by Boston Centers for Youth & Families and would “fund the youth and senior programs at the Roche Community Center” which is in West Roxbury. Docket #0979 (p. 33-34) is a request for the Council to accept a $49k - the FY26 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program - from the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, which will be administered by the Fire Department and will “fund the purchase of the necessary personal protective and safety equipment.” Docket #0980 (p. 35-36) is a request for the Council to accept a $44k grant - the Drought Resiliency & Water Efficiency Grant Program - from the Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs which will be administered by the Office of Climate Resilience and will “fund the Outdoor Water Use Efficiency Improvements program in distributing rain barrels and engage with the public on the importance of drought management.” Docket #0981 (p. 37-38) is a request for the Council to accept a $28k grant - the ACLS Grant- from MassHire Department of Career Services, which will be administered by the Office of Workforce Development and will “fund efforts to work in partnership with local adult education programs to identify and develop career pathway opportunities for adult learners.” Docket #0982 (p. 39-40) is a request for the Council to accept a $2.5k grant - the Roche – Kids 360 Grant - from Kids 360 Charity, which will be administered by Boston Centers for Youth & Families and will “fund the youth programs at the Roche Community Center.” Docket #0983, #0984, and #0985 (p. 41-64) are all responses to 17F requests for information about White Stadium:
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. Dockets #0986-#0993 (p. 56-63) is the appointment of 8 people to the Boston Public Library Board of Trustees:
Docket #0994 (p. 64) is notice Diana Fernandez Bibeau is being appointed Commissioner of the Parks and Recreation Department, starting June 1, 2026. Docket #0995 & #0996 (p. 65-66) is notice from the City Clerk of the Mayor’s actions on papers acted upon by the Council at its April 1 and April 15 meetings. Docket #0997 (p. 67–69) is the 2025 Annual Report from the Boston Residency Compliance Commission. 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. Docket #0909-#0912 (p. 70-77) are 4 dockets sent to the Council last week requesting approval of 2 contracts, 1 with the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society (BPDBS) that calls for a $1.9M payment for FY26 costs and the other with Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society – Superior Officers Unit (BPDBS-SO) that calls for a $1.3M payment for FY26 costs. The Council is holding a virtual hearing on these 4 dockets is this morning at 9:30 AM - read more in the public notice. BPI will be watching that hearing for more information about how this ~$3.2M in new spending affects the pre-existing $100M+ deficit in FY26. Next up is “MOTIONS, ORDERS AND RESOLUTIONS,” which are legislative actions from City Councilors. There are just 11 dockets in this section this week, so BPI won’t summarize all of them, but here are 5 to watch. Docket #1002 (p. 90) is a 17F order filed by Councilor Flynn requesting “employment contracts for various City Commissioners.” It is very simple, and specifically requests contracts for the current Commissioners at:
Docket #1003 (p. 91) is another 17F order filed by Councilor Flynn, looking to answer:
The obvious thing this 17F is aimed at is Councilor Durkan’s parking minimum abolition zoning code amendment. The less obvious thing is a practice that Councilor FitzGerald identified in last week’s Planning Department budget hearing: planning staff telling developers to reduce the amount of parking before talking to the public. Councilor FitzGerald asked about this practice, prompting an extremely interesting exchange with Planning Chief Kairos Shen - this exchange starts at the 1:44:05 mark:
Shen’s denial that the practice FitzGerald described was office policy is something that the Council will likely return to, and points to emerging cracks in the Wu administration between front-line staff - like at Planning - pushing for changes, often in direct opposition to Mayoral-appointed senior staff like Shen - check out this exchange between Durkan & Shen that underlines this divide.  Docket #1004 (p. 92) is a resolution offered by Councilor Flynn, which urges the City of Boston to resume in-person work for a minimum of four days per week. This resolution comes on the heels of news that Fidelity Investment was bringing back its employees 5 days a week. Mayor Wu not only cheered that decision during a radio interview this week, she made the case for in-person work.  Now Councilor Flynn’s resolution will give the Council a chance to weigh in on whether they think City employees would benefit from 4 days a week in office. Docket #1005 (p. 93) is a resolution from Councilor Mejia calling on City Hall for a “temporary pause” in construction at White Stadium while Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decides on the lawsuit, a decision that should come out by early August. Docket #1007 (p. 96–97) is a resolution from Councilor Santana “opposing federal and state legislation that would censor or restrict lifesaving online resources for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and other marginalized groups.” While Santana’s resolution names federal legislation, the mention of state legislation and “mandatory age verification laws” means it is also expressing opposition to a piece of legislation that recently passed through the State House 129-25-3 - read more from WBUR and the Boston Herald.
Looking at the list of yea votes, this legislation was supported by House leadership and every member of Boston’s State House delegation and just 2 Democrats, Cambridge’s Mike Connolly and Somerville’s Erika Uyterhoeven voted no. That means Santana’s resolution pits Councilors against Boston’s Beacon Hill legislators. The remaining sections are “PERSONNEL ORDERS” which is legislative action required to keep Council staff on payroll and “CONSENT AGENDA” which are for recognition from the Council of events like birthdays and anniversaries. 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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