Council adopts Mejia's youth jobs records request, 13-0. It also asks for the city's early revenue estimates

The City Council voted 13-0 on Wednesday to adopt City Councilor Julia Mejia's formal request for the records behind the city's count of school-year youth jobs (docket 2051). The order also reaches past youth jobs: its last three questions ask for the city's own early revenue estimates.

For families, the question is simple: how many paid jobs are actually available to Boston teenagers this school year, and who is paying for them. The city has set a goal of 2,000. We described the job-by-job spreadsheet the order asks for in our preview.

What passed

Section 17F, a provision of the 1951 state law that governs Boston's government, lets the council formally ask the mayor for information, and the order asks for answers within one week of receipt. Mejia moved to suspend the rules and pass it, and the vote was unanimous.

Besides the youth jobs list, the order asks for:

• Immigrant Youth Advancement slots. Which organizations applied, how many slots they sought and how many they got, for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years and summers 2025 and 2026.
• Applications to the Office of Youth Employment and Opportunity. Which community organizations and city agencies applied for school-year and summer job slots, and how many they received, for 2025-26, summer 2026 and 2026-27.
• Money for jobs. The amounts allocated for summer jobs in summer 2026 and for school-year jobs in 2025-26 and 2026-27, both at city agencies and as grants to community organizations.
• Revenue estimates. The initial estimates city finance departments created after the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 and the first quarter of fiscal 2027, by account, "even if they were not fully audited," and current projections for the rest of fiscal 2027.

The order does not explain why it asks for revenue figures. Quarterly estimates would show how the city's revenue is tracking during the fiscal year.

What our records show

• 17F answers can take weeks. Mejia's earlier 17F request on White Stadium passed March 25 (docket 0637); the administration's response was placed on file May 13 (docket 0984), seven weeks later. On Oct. 21, the council unanimously passed City Councilor Erin Murphy's order pressing for answers to three unanswered 17F requests from September (our story).
• A heavily used tool. By our count, councilors have filed 35 Section 17F orders this year. City Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy have filed 11 each; this is Mejia's third. Our records show 15 formal 17F responses filed with the council this year, though some answers may arrive in other forms.
• The SuccessLink hearing still has no date. City Councilor Henry Santana's order for a hearing on the future of SuccessLink (docket 1966) has been in the Labor and Economic Development Committee since Oct. 21 (our story).
• Federal youth jobs money is waiting too. A $2,409,496.20 federal WIOA Youth Program grant that arrived the same day went to that committee instead of passing (docket 2025; our story).

What's next

If the administration meets the one-week window, an answer would be due around the council's Nov. 4 meeting. Responses usually appear on the council agenda as a message from the mayor and are placed on file; it will show on our docket page. Students can apply for school-year jobs through futureBOS.