Thursday, April 30, 2026, 2 p.m. (Boston time), Boston City Hall, 1 City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201
Hearing on Dockets #0733-0740, 0751-0753, FY27 Budget: Consumer Affairs & Licensing, Tourism, Arts & Culture, Revolving Funds
The Ways & Means Committee held a budget hearing on dockets 0733, 0740, and 0751-0753, covering the FY27 operating budgets for Consumer Affairs and Licensing, the Office of Tourism, Sports and Entertainment, and the Office of Arts and Culture. City officials presented on upcoming summer events including the FIFA World Cup, Sail Boston 2026, and Open Streets, as well as licensing operations and consumer affairs work. The overwhelming focus of public testimony was opposition to a proposed ~27% ($1 million+) cut to the Office of Arts and Culture's FY27 budget, with dozens of artists and arts organization leaders urging restoration of funding. The hearing was adjourned without votes being taken.
2:48 and.
9:46 I'm.
12:04 Ready.
12:06 oh, great.
12:07 Everyone can follow directions
12:08 .
12:08 Uh.
12:10 Uh, so, uh.
12:10 Hello.
12:11 Good afternoon.
12:12 My name is ben weber.
12:14 I am the boston city
12:15 councilor for district six and
12:17 I'm the chair of the ways and
12:17 means committee.
12:19 I see we have a lot of folks
12:20 here for this afternoon's
12:21 hearing.
12:23 Just to give you a sense
12:24 of what we're going to do.
12:27 Uh uh, we have uh, panelists
12:30 here, uh, from art arts and
12:31 culture and the economic
12:32 opportunity inclusion cabinet.
12:36 Uh, including the office
12:37 of consumer affairs and
12:39 licensing and the office
12:40 of tourism.
12:43 So, uh, because I believe
12:44 almost everyone here if not
12:47 everyone here is for arts.
12:50 Um, we we yeah.
12:51 okay.
12:59 Um obviously not percussion but
13:03 uh um uh so what what we're
13:04 what uh what I'm going to do is
13:06 the chairs we're going to first
13:09 hear we're going to get to the
13:10 boring part first we're going
13:12 to hear from the the consumer
13:13 affairs and licensing and the
13:15 office of tourism.
13:17 My colleagues are going to ask
13:18 questions and we're going to
13:20 I'm going to do is short we do
13:22 relatively short shorter than
13:23 we usually do for questions.
13:27 Uh and uh then at the after
13:28 that we're going to get to the
13:30 arts part of the the evening
13:34 and uh um we're going to get a
13:37 presentation and then uh, we
13:39 you know, and we'll try to do
13:43 groups of 5 to 10 people for uh
13:44 for testimony.
13:45 Everyone will have two minutes
13:46 to testify.
13:48 Uh, you'll have the clock on
13:49 behind me.
13:51 Uh, and we'll we'll get your
13:51 testimony.
13:55 But we're going to start with
13:56 the, uh the opening act is
13:58 going to be uh, you know,
14:00 licensing followed by the
14:01 office of tourism.
14:01 Okay.
14:02 And then we will get to arts.
14:03 Yeah.
14:04 Uh, to the crickets.
14:05 Do we hear any crickets?
14:08 Um, okay.
14:09 Uh, great.
14:10 So my colleagues everybody
14:12 today do that right?
14:12 Okay.
14:16 Um, so, uh, donald, you you
14:17 were here this morning.
14:18 Do you have a you have a
14:18 presentation?
14:21 Uh, we again just save the arts
14:23 for, uh, the main part of the
14:24 show.
14:26 All right.
14:28 So the oh, sorry, just I
14:30 apologize, I have to there's
14:31 some preliminaries here.
14:34 Uh, the so this is a hearing.
14:36 We're having hearings, I
14:37 believe.
14:40 Uh uh, and this is a hearing
14:41 before the ways and means
14:43 committee today is APRIL 30th,
14:46 2026 and is now 2:14 P.M. This
14:47 hearing is being recorded.
14:48 It's also being live streamed
14:50 at boston.Gov/city.
14:54 Dash dash council dash tv and
14:55 broadcast on xfinity channel
14:58 eight rcn channel 82 and five
14:59 channel 964.
15:02 Um uh people can participate in
15:03 our budget hearings which run
15:05 from APRIL to JUNE.
15:08 Uh in one of several ways you
15:09 can give testimony which
15:11 appears like many of you are on
15:13 the uh, cusp of about about to
15:15 do your testimony at a hearing
15:17 in person to do so sign up on
15:18 the sign in sheet over here.
15:20 I already have one sign in
15:22 sheet uh, full though there'll
15:23 be others and I'll calling you
15:24 in the order in which you
15:25 signed up.
15:27 You can also testify virtually
15:28 at our hearings.
15:32 Uh, to do so please email uh
15:35 the this uh committee which is
15:37 ccw m@boston.Gov.
15:40 There you can email our uh our
15:42 chief budget analyst christmas
15:43 show on that.
15:49 had@boston.Gov.
15:49 Car I s h m a picture you
15:52 You can also come to the last
15:54 or fourth of four listening
15:57 sessions which we have held uh
15:59 hall.
15:59 in the evenings here at city
16:00 Our last listening session will
16:03 be on thursday, MAY 26th at 6
16:05 P.M. Where the counselors will
16:06 be here to take testimony.
16:09 We'll also have interpreters uh
16:12 ,here available in spanish,
16:13 haitian creole and cantonese.
16:17 Um so again you can you can
16:18 show up at a hearing and
16:18 testify.
16:20 You can uh, watch your hearing
16:21 online and testify virtually.
16:24 You can also submit written
16:26 testimony, uh, to the committee
16:28 at ccs@boston.Gov.
16:31 Lastly, uh you can submit a two
16:33 minute video of your testimony
16:35 through the form on our
16:35 website.
16:38 Again the website is
16:39 boston.Gov/council-budget.
16:40 Some folks in here MAY make
16:42 some great two minute videos.
16:44 Uh look forward to seeing those
16:47 um again folks will have two
16:50 minutes to testify um, and uh
16:52 we will do so uh, I'm going to
16:54 hold public testimony till uh
16:56 after we hear we have a
16:58 presentation from from arts and
16:59 then we'll hear some questions
17:00 from my colleagues and then
17:01 we'll we'll we'll go to public
17:02 testimony.
17:06 Um, uh, again if you want to
17:08 testify today's hearing, uh,
17:10 when you get up there tell us
17:10 your name.
17:12 Uh, if you're with an
17:13 organization, tell us the
17:13 organization.
17:16 If you, uh you also tell us
17:17 where you live in boston.
17:19 Uh, and then you'll have two
17:21 minutes to, um, just tell us
17:22 what's on your mind.
17:22 Um.
17:25 Uh, okay.
17:26 So today's, uh, this
17:27 afternoon's hearing is on
17:33 docket number 073320740 and 075
17:34 1 to 0 753.
17:38 An overview of the fy 27
17:39 operating um budgets for
17:41 consumer affairs and licensing
17:43 the office of tourism, sports
17:44 and entertainment and the
17:46 office of arts and culture.
17:48 This hearing will also
17:50 cover the public art revolving
17:51 fund and strand theater
17:53 revolving fund managed by the
17:55 office of arts and culture and
17:57 the city hall plaza revolving
17:59 fund managed by the office
18:01 entertainment.
18:01 of tourism, sports and
18:03 This is one of a series
18:05 of hearings on the fiscal year
18:06 2027 budget.
18:07 These matters were sponsored by
18:09 mayor michelle wu and were
18:13 referred to the committee on
18:14 APRIL 8th 2026 I'm joined by my
18:16 colleagues in order of arrival
18:17 councilor ed flynn from
18:19 district two councilor lucy
18:21 louijeune who's an at large
18:22 councilor from district eight,
18:25 councilor shannon durkan, uh
18:28 from uh district nine uh liz
18:31 breadon and the vice chair
18:33 of the ways and means committee
18:33 .
18:33 Uh.
18:34 You know.
18:36 Uh, john fitzgerald.
18:37 There he is.
18:38 Um, okay.
18:40 So, uh, I'm just gonna
18:41 introduce our panelists.
18:46 We have uh from uh tourism and
18:46 licensing.
18:48 We've got interim chief
18:49 of economic opportunity
18:49 inclusion donald ray.
18:52 We've got director of special
18:56 executive director of the
18:56 events amy yandle, uh, and
18:59 consumer affairs and licensing
18:59 kathleen joyce.
19:02 Um, we're also joined by uh
19:03 chief of arts and culture
19:06 joseph henry and senior advisor
19:07 of creative creative economy
19:09 for the office of arts and
19:09 culture.
19:10 Uh, kenny miscarry.
19:15 Um, so uh, I guess, uh, donald,
19:16 amy and kathleen, uh, the floor
19:17 is yours.
19:17 Great.
19:18 thank you.
19:18 Council.
19:21 Good afternoon chair
19:22 council weber and members
19:24 of the committee on ways and
19:24 means.
19:26 it is my pleasure to come
19:27 before you in the capacity
19:29 of interim chief of economic
19:31 opportunity and inclusion to
19:34 discuss our budget for the
19:35 fiscal year 2027.
19:38 We.
19:42 can I thought there was
19:43 another slide.
19:43 All right.
19:44 Great.
19:45 I'm going to turn it over to
19:47 amy to go over our work in in
19:48 our mission.
19:51 Good afternoon, chair weber
19:52 members of the council.
19:54 My name is amy yandell and I'm
19:54 the director of special events.
19:56 Uh, the mission of our
19:58 department is to advance
20:00 tourism and promote public
20:01 participation and celebrations
20:02 from both residents and
20:03 visitors to our city.
20:05 We do this by producing and
20:07 supporting events across the
20:10 city, by supporting film and tv
20:11 production and by marketing the
20:13 city to conventions and
20:13 visitors.
20:20 Our office produces annual
20:22 public celebrations that
20:24 include our our doctor martin
20:26 luther king junior day um we
20:28 partnered with a boston
20:29 university where doctor king
20:32 was a student um one boston day
20:34 donna summer disco party gospel
20:36 fest, open streets just to name
20:36 a few.
20:40 We also um.
20:42 Oh shoot.
20:43 sorry.
20:46 we also provide tech support
20:47 to neighborhood events
20:48 throughout the city.
20:49 I'm not going to read all
20:52 of them to you but annually we
20:53 probably do a well over 100
20:54 tech support.
20:57 uh, and we touch almost every I
20:58 would say every neighborhood in
20:58 the city of boston.
21:02 Now we'll get to the meet.
21:05 Summer of 2026 is going to be
21:08 an incredible summer for the
21:10 city of boston for both
21:11 residents and visitors.
21:14 We'll start by talking about
21:16 the 250th anniversary of our
21:17 country will continue this
21:17 summer.
21:19 Boston 250 has been working
21:21 diligently with our partners at
21:23 master 50 rev 250, the freedom
21:25 trail, national parks and local
21:26 historic organizations and our
21:28 partners in the private sector
21:30 to produce events that are
21:31 worthy of this commemoration.
21:32 Some highlights include last
21:34 year's um last APRIL's right
21:36 of paul revere that included a
21:38 drone show in a row across the
21:41 boston harbor evacuation day
21:43 festivities and most recently
21:44 celebrating the henry knox
21:45 trail at first church in
21:46 roxbury.
21:48 This year's independence day
21:49 parade reading of the
21:50 declaration of independence in
21:53 the faneuil hall will be bigger
21:53 and better than ever.
22:01 Additionally, um we have some
22:02 soccer matches, some little
22:04 soccer games coming to our uh
22:07 to our area in JUNE of 2022,
22:08 boston was selected as one
22:09 of the ten north american
22:11 cities to host the 2026 world
22:11 cup.
22:13 Really exciting news for our
22:14 city.
22:16 The 2026 fifa world cup will be
22:18 the largest to date with 80
22:19 matches featuring 48 national
22:22 teams slated to take place 60
22:23 in the united states, ten in
22:25 canada, ten in mexico.
22:27 we are excited to work with our
22:30 partners at boston soccer 2026
22:31 to ensure that the event and
22:34 fan fest on city hall plaza is
22:35 an experience that both
22:36 residents and visitors will be
22:38 talking about for years to
22:38 come.
22:42 And right after soccer leaves
22:44 we have some ships coming in so
22:45 the international tall ships
22:47 from around the world will be
22:48 in boston from JULY 11th
22:51 through the 16th but still
22:53 boston 2026 as part of the sale
22:55 250 regatta is centered around
22:57 the parade of sale on JULY 11th
22:58 and is expected to attract
23:00 millions of visitors to boston.
23:02 Boston's, the final port in
23:03 vessels will be traveling from
23:04 new york and new jersey into
23:05 boston harbor.
23:07 Sail boston 2026 is projected
23:09 to be larger than past sail
23:10 boston events.
23:11 This year's event will feature
23:13 will be more on the scope and
23:15 scale of sail boston 2000, when
23:17 an estimated 7 million visitors
23:19 came to the city over the
23:19 course of six days.
23:22 We expect 28 class vessels from
23:25 29 nations and 50 smaller
23:27 sailing ships.
23:32 And another major program um,
23:34 that I want to touch upon is um
23:35 open streets.
23:37 We're happy to partner again
23:38 with shauna bryant, a woman
23:40 founder of manifested events to
23:41 help lead in planning this
23:43 momentous event with the office
23:45 of economic opportunity
23:46 inclusion and the office
23:47 of tourism, sports and
23:47 entertainment.
23:50 Open streets will return to
23:51 mattapan, jamaica plain and
23:53 allston brighton and we are
23:55 expanding to roslindale for the
23:56 first time this year.
23:58 Over the first five years
23:59 of the open streets program,
24:01 over 2.8 million has been
24:02 reinvested back into boston
24:03 neighborhoods with local
24:04 businesses boasting as much as
24:07 a 300% increase in sales at
24:10 open streets events, over 800
24:12 community partners and 60,000
24:13 attendees join us each year.
24:15 And that's just an overview
24:17 of of some of the work our
24:17 department does.
24:33 Oh yeah.
24:36 For the for the panelists don't
24:38 press the button like uh no.
24:41 Our uh central staff can turn
24:42 them on and off and.
24:44 So every hearing ends up.
24:46 Turning into a comedy.
24:47 of errors or people you
24:47 would think.
24:48 I hadn't done this before.
24:48 Yeah.
24:51 Good afternoon chair my name is
24:51 kathleen joyce.
24:53 I am the executive director
24:54 of the mayor's office
24:55 of consumer affairs and
24:55 licensing.
24:56 I want to thank you for
24:57 inviting us to participate in
24:58 this hearing today.
25:04 The mayor's office of consumer
25:06 affairs and licensing supports
25:07 and regulates boston's
25:08 hospitality and cannabis
25:08 industries.
25:11 The office licenses and
25:12 coordinates all outdoor public
25:14 events citywide advancing
25:16 public safety, mitigating
25:17 neighborhood impacts and
25:18 supporting the successful
25:20 execution of events ranging
25:22 from local gatherings to major
25:23 international activations.
25:26 The office also educates and
25:27 mediates on behalf of boston
25:28 area consumers in order to
25:30 facilitate successful
25:32 resolution of consumer related
25:32 complaints.
25:34 Before I move on.
25:36 I just want to take a moment to
25:37 highlight how we're approaching
25:40 this upcoming summer as we look
25:42 ahead to summer 2026 with major
25:44 events and increased activity
25:46 across the city, we are taking
25:47 a proactive approach to support
25:49 our hospitality sector while
25:50 maintaining strong public
25:51 safety standards.
25:54 What we've done already we have
25:56 launched hospitality office
25:56 hours.
25:59 They are biweekly on wednesdays
26:01 from 3 to 5 where anyone has
26:03 direct access to our city staff
26:04 with real time guidance and
26:05 problem solving.
26:07 Our goal with these hospitality
26:09 office hours is to reduce
26:10 barriers and to help businesses
26:12 move faster through our
26:12 processes.
26:14 We've also done extensive
26:15 community outreach.
26:17 We've added dedicated outreach
26:19 staff going into neighborhoods
26:20 ,educating businesses on
26:22 liquor licenses and
26:24 opportunities, the application
26:25 process and we've focused on
26:27 small and unrepresented
26:28 businesses.
26:30 We've also had additional
26:31 public safety meetings.
26:33 We've already convened these
26:35 meetings in south boston, the
26:36 seaport and the theater
26:36 district.
26:39 I want to acknowledge the
26:40 council officials that were not
26:42 included in our most recent
26:42 invites.
26:44 This was a breakdown in our
26:45 internal communications and
26:46 we've corrected that and we'll
26:48 be sure to include all of you
26:48 moving forward.
26:50 We're continuing to expand