City Council - Ways & Means Committee Hearing on Dockets #0733-0740, FY27 Budget: Public Testimony

• Governing Body: City Council - Ways & Means Committee
• Meeting Type: Public Testimony Hearing
• Dockets: #0733-0740 (FY27 Budget)
• Date: May 26, 2026
• Chair: Councilor Ben Weber (District 6)
• Council Attendees: Council President Liz Breadon, Councilors Julia Mejia, Edward Flynn, Miniard Culpepper, Sharon Durkan, Henry Santana, Ruthzee Louijeune, and Brian Worrell.

• Councilor Mejia: Stated her office filed amendments to restore cuts and expressed support for the Boston Teachers Union (BTU) call for a better BPS budget.
• Councilor Flynn: Criticized the Council's decision not to vote the budget down initially to gain leverage for social programs.
• Councilor Culpepper: Emphasized the need for senior services, youth opportunities, and violence prevention.
• Councilor Durkan: Highlighted advocacy for arts, parks, small business vouchers, and ESOL for BPS parents.
• Councilor Santana: Declared his number one priority is restoring the $5.9 million cut to year-round youth jobs, affecting 1,800 positions. He stated, "This is the difference between life and death for many of our youth."

A significant portion of the testimony focused on the proposed $6 million cut to school-year youth jobs.

• Star Nunez (Roxbury): Urged the Council to reject the budget, stating, "When you cut youth jobs, you are not just cutting jobs. You're cutting stability, you're cutting safety, you're cutting community, and you're cutting hope."
• Devel Moore (Teen Empowerment): Argued that youth jobs are a preventative measure against violence and inequality, noting that prevention is often "politically inconvenient because its successes are invisible."
• Henry Santana (Youth Speaker): Credited youth programs for his ability to attend college tuition-free and urged the city to match its supportive rhetoric with funding.
• Rejoice Egyms: Demanded the Council reject the budget and add $10 million to the school-year youth job budget.

Educators and parents testified against proposed staffing reductions in BPS.

• Leah Serena (BTU Executive VP): Reported that the proposed budget would cut more than 400 educator jobs and potentially 100 paraprofessionals. She noted that 80% of BPS students are high-needs.
• Tania Escobar (Parent): Expressed deep concern over the loss of paraprofessionals for special needs students, specifically citing the impact on her son Tiago, who has significant special needs.
• Anabel Tavares (Parent Mentor): Stated, "Boston is not a poor city. This city has millions in reserves... reject these cuts and defend the future of our children."
• Sasha Pilcher (Student): Testified against the layoff of high-performing teachers based solely on seniority.

Advocates called for the restoration of funding for housing programs.

• Michael Caine (Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants): Opposed the $2 million cut to the City Rent Subsidy program, calculating it would displace 83 formerly homeless families. He suggested reallocating funds from the police overtime budget.
• John Labella (Housing Works): Highlighted that many affordable units remain empty because they are not truly affordable for low-income residents without subsidies.
• Fatima Pena (Dorchester): Shared her experience with homelessness and expressed fear over the $5 million cut to the Office of Housing budget (from $54.47M to $49.22M).
• Michelle DeLima (DSNI): Requested a $3.5 million amendment for the Acquisition Opportunity Program (AOP) to prevent displacement.

Members of the Boston People's Response (BPR) campaign advocated for a non-police crisis intervention model.

• Yasmin Bailey (The City School): Explained that the BPR model was community-designed to handle behavioral health calls without police involvement.
• Amy Takanami (Social Worker): Requested $4 million in the FY27 budget for a non-police, non-carceral mental health crisis response pilot.
• Dr. Christine Mitchell (Public Health Expert): Cited national research showing that non-police models are more effective and trusted, noting that people with untreated mental health needs are 16 times more likely to be killed by police.
• Hossain Rizvi (BPR Steering Committee): Demanded the Council reject the budget to force the Mayor to include the $4 million pilot and restore youth jobs.

• Alston-Brighton Community Center: Residents including Ricky Meinke, Sam Cooper, and Nafi Neshad demanded $65 million for a new Jackson Mann Community Center, noting Alston-Brighton is the only neighborhood without a functional city-run center.
• Libraries: Bryce Kieran Healy and Madeline Wright (BPL Professional Staff Association) opposed budget cuts to the Boston Public Library, citing severe understaffing and burnout.
• Immigrant Services: Franklin Peralta (English for New Bostonians) requested $500,000 to restore English classes for BPS parents.
• Public Restrooms: Kerry Muzzy advocated for increased funding for 24/7 publicly accessible restrooms near transit hubs.