City Council

Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 12 p.m. (Boston time), Council Chambers

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Roll-call votes

Documents

Summary

The Boston City Council met on August 26, 2026, with Council President Liz Breadon presiding. The meeting featured presentations recognizing Tech Boston Academy students behind Quality Homes for Humankind and the Boston to Belfast Youth Empowerment program. The Council passed a $40,000 grant to the police homicide unit (docket 1589), a firefighter pension home-rule amendment (1235), conservation restrictions on two park parcels (1401-1402), seven BERDO review board appointments (1403-1409), the Crescent Parcel land transfer for 217 affordable units in Roxbury (1514), and a $12.85 million Bloomberg Philanthropies skilled trades grant (1391). New measures included ordinances on paid parental leave for city employees (1599), rebuilding the Boston Human Rights Commission (1600), and hearing orders on CPA affordable housing funding, violence prevention, energy costs, and independent restaurants. A resolution supporting extended state receivership of the Boston Election Department failed on a 7-2-1 roll call, while resolutions on ShotSpotter and park ranger police powers were referred to committee over members' objections.

Transcript

0:21 i'm.

0:34 I'm sure that you.

0:38 Good afternoon everyone.

0:42 I called to order today's uh,

0:45 meeting of the boston city

0:47 council.

0:49 Viewers can watch the the

0:52 council meeting live on

0:54 youtube@boston.Gov backslash

0:58 city council tv.

1:02 At this time I ask my

1:05 colleagues and those in the

1:08 audience to please silence

1:12 their cellphones and electronic

1:15 devices including my um also

1:18 pursuant to rule 42.

1:22 I remind all in the chamber

1:25 that no demonstration

1:28 of approval or disapproval from

1:31 members of the public would be

1:33 permitted.

1:36 Thank you.

1:38 Mr clerk, will you please call

1:42 the roll to ascertain the

1:45 presence of a quorum?

1:49 Councilor breadon here

1:52 councilor collette as a further

1:55 councilor.

1:57 Culpeper.

2:00 Councilor.

2:01 Durkan.

2:04 Councilor.

2:06 Fitzgerald.

2:09 Councilor.

2:12 Flynn.

2:14 Yeah.

2:17 Councilor louijeune.

2:19 Yeah.

2:22 Concilor mejia here.

2:25 Councilor murphy.

2:28 Councilor vipond.

2:31 Yeah.

2:34 Councilor santana.

2:37 Councilor weber.

2:39 Thank you.

2:42 Councilor worrell.

2:45 Yeah.

2:48 A quorum.

2:51 Thank you.

2:54 MISTER.

2:57 Uh, the truck has informed us

3:00 that the quorum is PRESIDENT

3:02 Present.

3:05 Um, MR. Clerk, uh, if you would

3:07 do us the honor of some brief

3:10 remarks as an invocation today,

3:13 we appreciate it.

3:16 Thank you so much.

3:20 And following the invoking

3:24 following the invocation will,

3:27 um, have the pledge

3:31 of allegiance.

3:34 Good afternoon.

3:37 Please stand.

3:39 The ringing of bells calls us

3:41 to worship.

3:44 The pounding of the drum calls

3:47 us to war.

3:49 The popping of a cork calls us

3:52 to celebration.

3:55 What is the sound that calls us

3:57 to hear one another?

4:00 Listen.

4:03 Listen carefully.

4:06 It is here in the silence.

4:09 Listen deeply.

4:12 The beating of our own hearts

4:15 calls us to ourselves.

4:18 Call us to be our true selves.

4:22 Calls us to be our best selves.

4:25 Calls us to be what we might

4:28 become.

4:31 Listen.

4:34 There is another sound.

4:37 The breath of our neighbor

4:40 calls us outside ourselves.

4:42 Call us to be companions.

4:44 Call us to be allies.

4:47 Call us to be partners.

4:49 Listen.

4:51 We must heed the call of our

4:54 own hearts where love and

4:57 truth, caring and justice are

5:00 born.

5:04 Listen.

5:06 We must heed the call of others

5:09 to gather together for some

5:11 great purpose with passion for

5:14 and fidelity.

5:17 compassion and equity are

5:20 nourished.

5:22 The hammering silence calls us

5:24 together that we MAY do the

5:27 work we cannot do alone.

5:30 Let us heed the calls that come

5:31 in the silence.

5:33 That we MAY be well and do good

5:35 in this world together.

5:37 Amen.

5:42 ladies and gents to the flag

5:43 of the united states of america

5:45 and to the republic for which

5:46 it stands one nation under GOD,

5:48 indivisible with liberty and

5:50 justice for all.

5:52 Thank you, MR. Clerk.

5:55 We have two presentations

5:57 today.

5:59 Councilor worrell is

6:01 recognizing quality homes for

6:04 humankind.

6:06 And I will be recognizing, uh,

6:09 boston to belfast youth.

6:12 Uh, constable.

6:14 Well, would you like to come

6:17 forward with your guests?

6:19 Yes.

6:21 And MR. Clerk, could you

6:23 please, uh, take note that

6:25 councilor collette as a pastor

6:28 and councilor culpeper have

6:30 joined us?

6:32 Thank you.

6:35 good afternoon.

6:37 Um.

6:39 first I want to begin by

6:41 recognizing the students, uh,

6:43 who are joining us today.

6:46 Uh, we have michael gillen, uh,

6:48 brian hodge molina, ander

6:51 santos, yassir muhammad and

6:53 muhammad abraham and their

6:56 advisor doctor bruce potter

6:59 graham also known as doctor

7:01 peter.

7:03 I first met these students

7:05 nearly two years ago when take

7:08 boston academy was putting

7:10 together aspen challenge team.

7:13 Then they came here to city

7:16 hall and presented their work

7:18 to us in the kali room.

7:20 Their presentation was around

7:22 raising awareness around gun

7:25 violence in their community.

7:27 The following school year they

7:29 got to work at solving some

7:31 of the root causes of violence

7:33 including the lack of stable

7:35 housing and access to

7:38 employment.

7:40 And that's why they launched

7:42 quality homes for humankind

7:44 last SEPTEMBER.

7:47 Since that time they met with

7:49 countless organizations and

7:52 research workforce development

7:54 programs to learn how to turn

7:57 their idea into something real.

8:00 Do that work.

8:02 They have established models

8:04 with action for equity and

8:07 netcat to bring vocational

8:10 training directly to tech

8:12 boston academy.

8:14 They held a workforce connector

8:16 event at tech boston in the

8:18 spring where they partnered

8:20 with ibm, ibew local 103, the

8:22 carpenters union power corp's

8:24 netcat, boston fire cadets,

8:26 action for equity level ground,

8:28 boston public health commission

8:30 and the election department.

8:32 They've secured tens

8:34 of thousands in funding from

8:36 the trevor foundation and the

8:38 boston foundation.

8:40 And they won the city's aspen

8:43 challenge last year, earning a

8:45 trip to colorado where they

8:47 presented in front of about 100

8:49 nonprofits including the bezos

8:51 foundation and the mayor

8:54 of denver.

8:56 And they also won the national

8:58 aspen challenge.

9:01 Some of the students behind

9:04 sheets started this work as

9:06 juniors and are now heading to

9:09 college, but they're not

9:11 walking away from the mission.

9:14 The first step is job training

9:17 .

9:20 The next step is housing.

9:22 They've already begun working

9:25 on that as well.

9:27 Today is about celebrating and

9:30 recognizing how far they've

9:33 come and marking the beginning

9:36 for their next chapter.

9:39 We have a resolution which will

9:40 be voted on later in the

9:41 meeting, but now like to turn

9:43 it over to the people to the

9:45 students behind sheet for some

9:47 brief remarks.

9:49 Good morning everyone.

9:50 I just want to say it's a huge

9:52 honor.

9:53 to be welcomed by the city

9:56 of boston city council today.

9:58 And I just wanted to say that

10:01 in these past weeks and months

10:03 me and my peers entered a

10:05 competition and we competed

10:08 against almost 20 other schools

10:11 in the district.

10:14 We won.

10:16 We triumphed.

10:19 We can win and wants to compete

10:20 nationally.

10:23 Against other winners.

10:25 And we also came out on top.

10:27 So I just want to say and give

10:29 thanks to brian.

10:31 Well he's been our angel

10:33 throughout our journey and I

10:34 just want to say that I've been

10:36 able to meet many people like

10:39 mike bezos and the and and the

10:41 mayor of denver, mike johnston

10:44 and I never thought that in my

10:47 life that I'd be able to meet

10:51 all these important people or

10:55 like come face to face with

10:59 them.

11:03 But after those encounters i

11:06 realized that what we're doing

11:09 has actually become a real

11:12 thing and this ceremony is

11:15 proof of that.

11:18 So I thank you guys.

11:21 Hello everyone.

11:25 I'm brian hodge molina.

11:28 And I wanted to take this

11:30 opportunity to thank the city

11:33 council and brian gray's office

11:35 and martin martinelli

11:38 especially for all the help

11:40 they provided us through our

11:42 journeys from freshman from

11:43 just junior sorry to now

11:46 heading off to college.

11:47 And I wanted to make a

11:48 commitment to not let the work

11:49 end, to continue the work and

11:51 to continue.

11:53 Pushing up.

11:55 Boston's youth.

11:57 thank you.

11:58 Hi, bruce um tech boston

12:01 academy and I work for the two

12:03 youth leaders here they are the

12:05 directors of quality homes

12:07 humankind.

12:09 The program director and the

12:11 outreach director.

12:13 And just you know, from my

12:15 perspective this started two

12:17 years ago with a situation

12:19 of violence in order to one,

12:20 two, four you know, tech boston

12:21 academy we had a shooting we've

12:23 had violence in our community

12:26 and these young people had had

12:29 enough and they did research.

12:32 We we hit we hit the road

12:34 outside their peers to find out

12:38 what's what what's the reason

12:41 what's going on?

12:43 Um, they discovered a lack

12:46 of belonging and a sense of um

12:49 not no upward mobility or not

12:51 enough upward mobility in

12:53 housing that was transitional.

12:56 We put they put together a

12:58 class.

13:01 they came to me and say can we

13:04 have a class and put together

13:07 an advocacy class?

13:11 We did that.

13:14 They actually wanted to have a

13:17 nonprofit so that we wouldn't

13:22 look like a passion project.

13:25 They did that.

13:28 They entered the aspen

13:30 challenge won the city

13:33 of boston's aspen challenge.

13:36 They did that.

13:38 They were invited to the aspen

13:41 institute and they were

13:44 informed that the aspen

13:47 institute and the business

13:50 foundation they'll be they'll

13:52 be honored in the basis

13:55 foundation aspen report is

13:59 having the most youth impact in

14:03 their 2026 report reflecting us

14:06 in boston public school tech,

14:10 boston academy, the city

14:13 council and the city of boston

14:16 they did that.

14:20 We are grateful to the boston

14:26 foundation for giving us a

14:30 planning grant so these

14:35 students could work over the

14:40 summer every day for 20 plus

14:45 meetings from business owners

14:49 in 02124 clergy members, banks

14:52 ,um restaurant owners, um

14:56 people that they met in aspen,

15:01 the mayor of denver and his

15:05 staff I could go on.

15:10 and on.

15:14 And on and I have never seen in

15:20 the 23 years that I've been in

15:24 boston with so many people from

15:29 the community including parents

15:34 come in to say this is what we

15:39 want in our community and I'm

15:44 proud to say and give a shout

15:48 out to action for equity.

15:52 Our first mou was signed with

15:56 action for equity.

16:01 These young folks wrote not

16:05 only wrote the grant for um the

16:08 boston foundation but did the

16:12 mou with action for equity and

16:16 they.

16:19 Will we will be.

16:23 Co-sponsoring a hvac

16:25 refrigeration certification

16:28 course at tech boston meeting

16:31 every thursday.

16:35 And five of our graduates are

16:39 that need a launchpad are going

16:43 to be in that program and we

16:46 are going to find jobs for them

16:51 and we already have potentially

16:54 jobs lined up with mass safe

16:58 they did that.

17:02 I have never in all my years

17:06 and I've been at tech boston

17:11 for 23 years.

17:15 I know why the school was

17:20 founded with mayor menino.

17:24 I know why the school was

17:29 probably with mary skipper and

17:33 the and the support of the

17:36 community.

17:40 I have never seen the

17:45 leadership of these young men

17:50 have as much impact as I've

17:55 seen over the past year.

18:00 We should all be very, very

18:05 proud because this is the

18:09 rising generation of what we

18:13 want to see in 02124.

18:18 And on behalf of all of us,

18:22 just trust us and help us

18:26 activate this because we need

18:30 to see this happen.

18:33 We are we are totally convinced

18:36 that this model.

18:38 Of transitional housing

18:43 belonging, entrepreneurship,

18:46 asset building that they came

18:50 up with is the solution

18:53 of building a safer community

18:57 in 01202124 and for the city

19:01 of boston.

19:06 So I work for these young men

19:11 it's their idea and they should

19:15 they should just get a shot up

19:19 for all this and thank you for

19:24 action, for equity, for

19:28 believing in us.

19:32 you know councilor worrell

19:37 you're you are you thought we

19:41 were you never thought we were

19:45 crazy doing this and he has

19:50 been an absolute as a kiss an

19:55 angel supporting us from matt

20:00 martinelli every single step

20:05 of the way when he comes into

20:08 tech boston he's brian okay.

20:12 And we just we just thank you a

20:15 great deal and thank you thank

20:19 you for the city

20:23 council because this is the

20:26 type of civic learning that we

20:31 want as a civics teacher.

20:36 We want to be partnered with

20:41 you.

20:45 We want to be accessible.

20:49 We want you to be able to walk

20:53 into the building or pick up

20:59 the phone like hey we how do we

21:04 do this grant who do we talk

21:10 to?

21:14 And that's what's been

21:19 happening.

21:23 It's a whole new view of how

21:27 we're working with with with

21:33 you folks and let's just

21:38 continue this work.

21:43 Thank you.

21:47 I would like to.

21:52 Tax my colleagues to come up to

21:55 for a group picture.

21:59 Matt matt, I don't know if you

22:03 want to.

22:08 Join too because you had a big

22:13 role in this matt matt matt

22:17 matt come on up.

22:21 Frequently through each other.

22:24 It's about yeah.

22:27 Okay I'll show you.

22:31 Yeah so.

22:34 Thank you thank you so much.

22:37 That supports your first matt

22:40 appreciate you.

22:43 Oh yeah.

22:46 Why don't you leave me.

22:50 yeah this needs to.

22:55 Congratulations.

22:59 what an incredible

23:03 achievement.

23:07 I think we look forward to a

23:11 bright future for all these

23:14 young men and the great work

23:16 that they've been doing and, uh

23:20 ,we look forward to seeing

23:24 what they're going to do next.

23:28 So continued success wish that

23:32 wish you that um our next

23:36 presentation um is who's my.

23:39 Get mine.

23:43 it's my uh I'm happy to have

23:47 the opportunity to introduce

23:50 another wonderful group

23:54 of young folks here on behalf

23:57 of boston to belfast youth

24:01 empowerment.

24:03 I understand I just learned a

24:07 few and an hour ago that

24:10 councilor murphy's daughter is

24:13 a coach with this incredible

24:16 organization.

24:18 Um, and there MAY there maybe

24:22 have been a lot of buzz this

24:25 summer about scotland and the

24:29 tartan army and our sister new

24:32 sister city edinburgh.

24:35 But both boston and belfast

24:40 have been sister cities for

24:43 over a decade.

24:47 The friendship for college

24:50 hockey tournament is held every

24:52 year in boston and belfast,

24:55 featuring american college

24:59 hockey teams to celebrate the

25:02 bond between boston and belfast

25:05 and for the past seven years

25:09 boston to belfast youth

25:12 empowerment have provided

25:15 cultural exchange opportunities

25:18 for youth hockey players in

25:22 boston.

25:26 Every year representatives from

25:30 boston travel to belfast to

25:34 play with local teams, take in

25:37 the culture, build leadership

25:39 skills and become very more

25:42 civically minded.

25:45 Today we joined by members

25:48 of allston, brighton youth

25:51 hockey and dorchester youth

25:53 hockey making this trip making

25:56 the trip this year um and I

26:00 think from those of you who

26:04 know me I've always believed

26:08 the sports are a very powerful

26:12 tool in shaping young adults

26:15 and I want to thank steve and

26:19 patrice, um and everyone else

26:23 involved in making this

26:25 wonderful experience happening

26:29 happen this year.