Flynn asked to hold an Election Day hearing on a $1.36 million public housing broadband grant. The council will be closed

City Councilor Ed Flynn asked for permission to hold a hearing on Election Day on a federal grant to bring city broadband to public housing, and called the council's Election Day closure embarrassing, Hoodline reported on Oct. 29. According to Hoodline, Flynn wrote to Council President Liz Breadon and Mayor Michelle Wu on Oct. 27, calling the grant a matter of "utmost importance."

The council will not meet or hold hearings on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Council staff get a paid day off that does not count against their vacation or personal time, Hoodline reported. Other city departments stay open.

Why it matters

The grant would pay for equipment and engineering to extend the city's own broadband network across two Boston Housing Authority campuses. Public housing residents are among the Bostonians most likely to lack a reliable home internet connection. The council has to accept a grant before the city can spend it.

What our records add

The grant. The order (docket 1772) would let the city accept $1,361,182 from the U.S. Treasury, passed through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and run by the Department of Innovation and Technology. The council received it Sept. 23 and sent it to the Committee on City Services, which Flynn chairs. It has been there 37 days. The council's records do not name the two BHA campuses.

Flynn's committee and grants. Committee chairs set their own hearing dates, so the timing is Flynn's call. His committee holds hearings often: it has met 10 times this year, most recently on Oct. 23, according to council records. On Sept. 21 it heard a batch of grants, including $225,125 in federal digital equity money that pays for internet service, devices and digital skills training for residents who can't afford them (meeting page). The full council accepted that grant 12-0 on Sept. 23 (docket 1395).

The closure vote. Breadon's resolution closing the council on Election Day and urging the city and state to make it a holiday passed 10-3 on Oct. 21 (docket 1975). Flynn, City Councilor John FitzGerald and City Councilor Erin Murphy voted no. At that meeting Flynn said a day off for council staff would give incumbents an edge over challengers (watch at 3:23:52). Breadon said more than 26% of nonvoters in the 2022 midterms named work or school schedules as the main reason (3:19:10; our story).

What else was said this week

Hoodline reported that a council staff email on Oct. 27 encouraged employees to volunteer as poll workers or at the Election Department's call center but did not require it. Murphy said staff get the day off "whether they take part in election activities or not," and that the council's fifth-floor offices will be locked and central staff won't answer calls or emails that day, according to Hoodline.

Breadon has said the council has not held hearings, meetings or other business on an Election Day since at least 2005, Hoodline reported, and that she wants the closure to push the city and state to follow. Two bills on Beacon Hill would make Election Day a holiday: H.3344, for state and municipal employees, and S.2059, with paid voting leave.

What's next

For the grant to pass, Flynn's committee would need to report it back to the full council, or the council could vote to take it up directly. The next regular meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 4, at noon, followed by Nov. 18, Dec. 2 and Dec. 9. Watch the public notices page for a City Services hearing date.