GREEN SHEETS: Preview of 07/22/26 Boston City Council Meeting
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GREEN SHEETS: Preview of 07/22/26 Boston City Council MeetingNew ordinances on how to handle BPD video footage & street projects; Culpepper seeks more info about Madison Park & O'Bryant; Council is informed of a months-old ZBA resignation
This week has a packed agenda, with Councilors focused on a variety of issues, including 2 different ordinances about how BPD handles footage and the power of Boston’s civilian police oversight board, a number of street safety dockets; and dockets looking for more information and discussion about the very different futures of Madison Park and the O’Bryant. There is also a months-old resignation at the ZBA the Council was informed of this week and the BERDO Review Board needs Council approval. Before getting into that, at least one Councilor will be absent from today’s meeting: yesterday Councilor-at-Large Henry Santana announced he had been hospitalized due to “persistent and unresolved health issues.” Santana is likely not to be the only Councilor absent from today’s hearing: Councilor-at-Large Julia Mejia collapsed at the last regular Council meeting back on July 8 and was rushed to the hospital and District 1 Councilor Gabriella Coletta Zapata has been absent from most Council meetings since giving birth back in May. 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 #1391 (p. 14-15) is a request for Council approval of a $12.9M grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which will be administered by the Office of Workforce Development and fund the “Skilled Trades Initiative.” That program is based at Madison Park, the City’s only vocational-technical high school, which aims to send more students into “Registered Apprenticeship” programs. While this grant is coming before the Council on July 22, the City announced it got this money more than a month ago, all the way back in early June - read the press release. Docket #1392 (p. 16-17) is a request for Council approval of a $810k grant from the Boston Planning & Development Agency for “streetscape enhancements” in Phillips Square in Chinatown. Unusually, there is no department to whom this money is being assigned for administration. Docket #1393 (p. 18-19) is a request for Council approval of a $252k grant from the National Park Service, which will be administered by the Office of Historic Preservation and fund:
Docket #1394 (p. 20-21) is a request for Council approval of a $241k grant from the MA Department of Mental Health which will fund a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for Boston Police officers. Docket #1395 (p. 22-23) is a request for Council approval of a $225k grant from the U.S. Treasury to the MA Technology Collaborative, which will be administered by the DOIT, and fund services and support for residents who either cannot afford broadband services, or lack the skills to utilize the internet. Docket #1396 (p. 24-25) is a request for Council approval of a $150k grant from MassDOT, which will be administered by the DPW and fund the replacement of Brighton’s public safety lighting. Docket #1397 (p. 26-27) is a request for Council approval of a gift of 43 HVAC units from FWC2026 US, Inc., which is FIFA’s official US-based corporate entity created to manage the 2026 World Cup, and which will be used in municipal buildings, including police stations and schools. Docket #1398 (p. 28-29), #1399 (p. 30-31), and Docket #1400 (p. 32-33) are 3 requests for Council approval of grants from the US Department of Health & Human Services, passed through the MA Executive Office of Elder Affairs, which will be administered by the Age Strong Commission. The grant will fund the administration of Title III programs, a federally funded program that funds everything from transportation to Meals on Wheels to health services for low-income people 60 years and older. The 3 grants are for: $51k for C-Nutrition; $24k for A-Area Plan Administration; and $18k for D-Disease Prevention & Health Promotion. Docket #1401 (p. 34) and Docket #1402 (p. 35-36) are both requests for Council approval to add a “Conservation Restriction” on land owned by the City:
The hearing on these 2 dockets will be interesting: BPI hasn’t encountered them in the past. For more on conservation restrictions, check out the state’s webpage about them. Docket #1403-#1409 (p. 38-51) are requests for Council approval for 6 mayoral re-appointments and 1 new appointment to the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance - better known as BERDO - Review Board:
BERDO Review Board members are appointed to 3 year terms, so this raft of appointees have been responsible for major decisions, including the recent extension of BERDO reporting deadlines from April 16 to August 15. That means the hearing on these appointments is a unique opportunity to review their work, and understand who potential reforms to BERDO and its Review Board may work. Docket #1410 (p. 52-53) is a response from Mayor Wu to Councilor Flynn’s 17F request - Docket #1003 - from May that seemed aimed at the on-going debate over abolishing the City’s parking minimums:
The Mayor’s answer is essentially that Flynn should do his own research: it directs Flynn to 2 websites: the list of Article 80 projects and the ZBA’s list of decisions. Since it is not believable that no one in City Hall tracks how Article 80 projects fare before ZBA, it appears this response from Mayor Wu relies on the “specific information” language in the 17F rules, which means Councilors can only request existing records. This letter then means that a list specifically of Article 80 projects requiring parking relief doesn’t exist. That doesn’t mean this information doesn’t exist. A broader 17F request, for example one that asks for how City Hall tracks Article 80 projects going through ZBA, may elicit this information. 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 #1411 (p. 54) is a letter of resignation from Zoning Board of Appeals member Celina Barrios-Millner. The letter is a little unusual: Barrios Millner reports her resignation was effective on 04/06/26, but the letter is dated 07/20/26. Millner was a new appointee to the ZBA in August 2025 and approved by the Council in October 2025 for a term ending 05/01/28, meaning she served just over 5 months. Millner was in the news around the time of her resignation: she was announced as the Chief of Economic Opportunity at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, part of the new leadership team brought in by interim Executive Director Jon Barros, who took over in January 2026. This means there is now an open seat on the ZBA, so look for a mayoral appointment, which is subject to Council approval, in an upcoming GREEN SHEETS. Next up is “REPORTS OF COMMITTEES” which are hearings that were held prior to 9 AM the Monday prior to the regular meeting. Docket #1311 (p. 55-60) is a recommendation from Ways & Means Chair Weber that the Council ought to authorize for the first time - these sorts of actions require 2 separate votes - a $5M loan order for a feasibility study and schematic design for the new Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. Docket #1312 (p. 61-66) is a recommendation from Ways & Means Chair Weber that the Council ought to authorize for the first time - these sorts of actions require 2 separate votes - a $850k loan order for feasibility study and schematic design work for major renovation projects at 5 different schools: 2 new roofs and 3 windows and doors. These 2 dockets are the first of several school-related dockets in this week’s agenda. Next up is “MATTERS RECENTLY HEARD-FOR POSSIBLE ACTION,” which are dockets that had hearing between 9 AM on Monday and the beginning of this regular meeting. Docket #1237 (p. 67-68) is a hearing order on the Human Rights Commission which was held yesterday, and which is something to pay attention to: funding the HRC was a major part of the Council’s changes to the FY27 budget, and why it was being closed was discussed several times during the FY27 budget hearings. Look for an update on all of that today - if you can’t wait, read the transcript of yesterday’s hearing. Next up is “MOTIONS, ORDERS AND RESOLUTIONS,” which are legislative actions from City Councilors. This week there are 22 dockets total, and there are 7 worth watching. Docket #1412 (p. 69-86) is an ordinance from Councilor Worrell that if passed would reform City rules around Boston Police officers’ body-worn cameras and dash-cameras footage. Reviewing the ordinance, it aims to end the current rules, which give the BPD Commissioner sole authority over the footage. This reform was prompted by frustration over the Commissioner’s refusal to release footage of a BPD officer shooting and killing an alleged car jacker back in March. The Commissioner’s refusal to show the footage to a limited group of community leaders broke with past practice, but District Attorney Hayden argued the different circumstances merited the change: the officer was indicted on manslaughter charges. Docket #1413 (p. 87-90) is an ordinance from Councilor Culpepper that if passed would expand the powers of Boston’s Office of Police Accountability and Transparency. Reviewing the ordinance, language which requires Boston Police officers and other City employees “to cooperate fully with OPAT investigations” stands out. Culpepper’s ordinance also addresses the footage issue addressed by Worrell. It appears the City Clerk and Council President believe that these ordinances are different enough not to trigger Rule 15. Docket #1415 (p. 96-97) is an ordinance from Councilor Pepen and Council President Breadon “Mandating Annual Reporting of Streets Projects.” While this ordinance is being presented both on social media and in its preamble as an effort to produce safer streets, it is not at all clear how it accomplishes this. On the contrary, after reviewing this docket, it does not appear to require City Hall to disclose much new information. Whether or not this ordinance will produce safer streets or a more informed Council can be answered through a straight forward counter factual: if it was in place at the start of 2025 would this ordinance have resulted in City Hall informing the Council about Mayor Wu’s year-long blanket pause on street infrastructure, which was reported by the Boston Globe, or on Interim Streets Chief Gove’s order to a City planner not to meet with the MBTA about a federally funded transit project, as emails obtained by StreetsBlogMass show? Hopefully the docket’s lead sponsors are able to answer that question at today’s meeting, and in a future hearing on this docket. Docket #1418 (p. 100-101) is a hearing order from Councilors Weber and Pepen “to review the status of Boston’s citywide Bike Network Plan.” The docket points out that creating a “Comprehensive Plan for Bike Lane infrastructure” was recommendation in the 30 Day Review, commissioned by Mayor Wu and published back in April 2025. What most stands out about these 2 transportation-related dockets - and several more that BPI is not highlighting here - is that none appear directly responsive to the petition signed by thousands of Boston residents and delivered to Mayor Wu last week - read the letter. That petition had 5 demands:
Docket #1421 (p. 106-108) & #1422 (p. 109-111) are a hearing order and what appears to be an accompanying 17F request from Councilor Culpepper about Boston’s plans for the O’Bryant. At last week’s hearing on Madison Park, Culpepper asked a number of questions about BPS plans for the O’Bryant, and these dockets appear to follow-up those questions.  The 17F stands out because it is looking for the work produced by Mayor Wu’s failed effort to move the O’Bryant to West Roxbury. During that effort, Mayor Wu repeatedly claimed that there had been extensive work done on the move, but to date little of that work has become public. The lack of public information about how decisions are made about new school construction is not unique to the O’Bryant: it is also true of BPS facilities plans more broadly, making this 17F a chance for a broader view into Mayor Wu’s decision-making on that issue. Docket #1423 (p. 112-113) is a 17F request looking for information that BPI was hoping to see produced at last week’s hearing on Madison Park: the documents that City Hall sent to the Massachusetts School Building Authority as part of the state-mandated school building process. This 17F highlights how different Boston is from other communities involved in the MSBA’s Core Program: the City does not have detailed project websites providing easy access to the project paperwork. Compare the City’s website for the Ruth Batson with Dennis-Yarmouth’s website for their elementary school project, accepted the same year. Given the cost of new schools and the scale of Boston’s need for new schools - even elementary schools cost hundreds of millions of dollars and BPS students are still attending dozens of schools that were built before 1940 - this is an enormous lost opportunity to engage the public. 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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