Council's Nov. 6 Blue Hill Avenue hearing is posted. Whether the MBTA's Phil Eng will come is still open

The City Council has posted the hearing it wants MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng to attend. The Committee on Civil Rights, Racial Equity, and Immigrant Advancement will meet Friday, Nov. 6, at 10 a.m. in the Iannella Chamber, according to the city's public notice. Eng has not said publicly whether he will show up.

This matters to anyone who rides, drives or runs a business on Blue Hill Avenue. The MBTA and the city plan a redesign of about three miles of the avenue, with center-running bus lanes, through Mattapan, Dorchester and Roxbury. Two district councilors want a different plan. The council voted Oct. 21 to summon Eng after he skipped an Oct. 14 hearing on the corridor. The Globe reported it is only the second council summons in more than a decade (our story).

What the notice says, and what it leaves out

The notice lists two items, both filed by City Councilor Miniard Culpepper with City Councilor Brian Worrell and sent to the committee July 8:

• Docket 1340: an order for a hearing on the civil rights effects of unequal rapid transit service in Boston. It has 11 sponsors.
• Docket 1341: a resolution supporting a study of an Orange Line extension along Blue Hill Avenue. It has 10 sponsors.

The notice does not name Eng, the MBTA or any other invited witness. It says the public may testify in person or online. The summons itself (docket 1968) orders Eng to come before the same committee. Boston.com reported that it asks him to appear Nov. 6 and bring crash data for 2022 to 2026.

The enforcement question

On Oct. 27 the Boston Globe looked at what happens if Eng doesn't come. Under the city charter and state law, the council can summon witnesses, and a witness who ignores a summons faces the same penalties as one who ignores a civil court subpoena. But the Globe found that enforcing it would probably mean going to court, which raises a question: can the council compel a state employee at all? Eng runs the T and is also the interim state transportation secretary.

Lawyers the Globe spoke with said:

• The MBTA could go to court to quash the summons, arguing that state authority overrides the city's. A former assistant corporation counsel said a loss could weaken the council's summons power for years.
• The city's corporation counsel represents both the mayor and the council. City law lets the council hire outside lawyers when their interests appear to conflict. That could cost taxpayers.
• In 2014 the council summoned Boston University's president. The dispute ended out of court after the city law department stepped in, and he appeared that December.

Culpepper told the Globe he would "absolutely" go to court if Eng does not appear. Eng told the paper he had not seen "any official requests." Culpepper said the summons was served later that day. Mayor Michelle Wu's office repeated that it does not see subpoenas as a constructive way to work with partners in government.

What our records add

The summons passed 8-2, with three members voting present (docket 1968):

• Yes (8): Liz Breadon, Miniard Culpepper, Ed Flynn, Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, Henry Santana and Brian Worrell.
• No (2): Gabriela Coletta Zapata and Sharon Durkan.
• Present (3): John FitzGerald, Enrique Pepén and Benjamin Jacob Weber.

The legal question came up on the floor. City Councilor Sharon Durkan said she did not expect Eng to appear and that state law limits whom the council can summon (watch at 2:07:01). Culpepper answered that state law lets the council summon some state bodies (2:10:03). City Councilor Ed Flynn said he had voted against an earlier summons of a postal official but supported this one (2:14:22). The Globe reported that the postal official, Boston's postmaster, did not appear in 2024, and that the council did not try to enforce that summons.

Other Blue Hill Avenue items are still waiting. Culpepper and Worrell's March resolution asking the MBTA and the city to drop the center bus lanes is still in committee (docket 0483).

Another Blue Hill Avenue plan

The avenue also has building plans in the works. On Oct. 29 the Boston Planning Department held a virtual meeting on revised plans for a five-story building with 40 income-restricted family apartments at 329 Blue Hill Ave. in Roxbury, on a vacant half-acre lot, the Dorchester Reporter reported.

What's next

The hearing is at 10 a.m. Nov. 6. It will stream at boston.gov/city-council-tv and be recorded. If Eng doesn't attend, any court action would need lawyers and, possibly, a council vote. We will link the meeting page and transcript once the video is posted.