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

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Good evening. My name's Ben Weber. I'm the Boston City Councilor for District 6 and the chair of the Committee on Ways and Means, which handles the budget. Tonight, it's April 28th, 2026, and the exact time is We're here for a public testimony listening session. I just have a few formalities to get through. This session is being recorded. It's also being live streamed at boston.gov slash city dash council dash tv and broadcasts on Xfinity channel 8, RCN channel 82, and Fios channel 964. The Council's budget review process encompasses a series of public hearings that begin in April and run through June.

We strongly encourage residents to take a moment to engage in this process by giving testimony for the record. You can give testimony in several ways. First, you can attend one of our hearings. We're having around 40 hearings. We had a hearing this morning and usually have hearings twice a day with different departments. And at each of these hearings, we take public testimony, usually after the first round of questions from my council colleagues. and so you can show up and you can testify in person or you can testify virtually at any of these hearings. The full hearing schedule, we still have several weeks of hearings, lots of important departments. I encourage you to look up the schedule and you can show up here, you can testify virtually. You can see the full hearing schedule on our website at boston.gov slash council dash budget.

We are also holding two public listening sessions. There's one tonight and another one in person on Thursday, May 26th at 6 p.m. At the May 26th listening session, the plan is to have professional interpreters in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Cantonese. So we're going to be encouraging folks who speak different languages to testify at that hearing if you're here. You have an interpreter. We will certainly make time to accommodate that so you can get your full statement in. Again, you can show up at our hearings. You can show up here. You can show up at our hearings and testify in person. or virtually via Zoom. For in-person testimony, you should come to the Chamber, as many of you have done, and you can sign up on our sign-in sheet which is over at the entrance.

If you're here just to watch, you don't have to sign in, but if you want to testify, I will be reading the names off that sheet. If you want to testify virtually via Zoom, you can sign up using our online form and our council budget review website or by emailing the committee at ccc.wm.boston.gov or by emailing our Chief Budget Analyst, Krishma Chauhan, at karishma.chouhan at boston.gov. When you're called to testify, please state your name and affiliation and your residence. And we're going to be setting a two-minute time For testimony, when you hear the beep, please wrap up your statement. You can also submit testimony, sorry, that goes for both people here in person and virtually. It'll be a clock behind me you can watch.

to make sure you're on time and I'll remind you when you'll hear a beep at the end of that. You can also submit testimony by submitting written testimony to the committee by emailing it to ccc.wm at boston.gov. You can also submit a two-minute video of your testimony through the form on our website. For more information on the City Council budget process and how to testify, please visit the Council's budget website at boston.gov slash council dash budget. So in-person testimony will be taken here. Again, you'll have two minutes to testify. And just to restate it, if you want to testify virtually, email Karishma Chauhan at karishma.chouhan at boston.gov for the Zoom link and your name will be added to the list.

Tonight's public session is on docket number 0733 to 0740, which is an overview of the fiscal year 2027 budget. of two public testimony sessions dedicated to the FY27 budget. We've already held listening sessions here pre-budget and we've sent a letter to the council To the mayor stating the areas we want to focus on, which you can review. You can just contact my office at ben.weber at boston.gov. These dockets were sponsored by the mayor, Michelle Wu, and were referred to the committee on April 8th, 2026. We have here with us Councilor Flynn, and we have staff members from Madam President Breadon's office.

I know there are issues with traffic and the orange line at least, I don't know, maybe some other lines are having difficulties but other councillors may be coming to this Flynn, would you like to make a one-minute opening statement?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for holding this important listening session, the opportunity to talk to some of the young people that were here. Just before the start of this and I didn't let some of the young people know that I'm in a leadership program and I'm going to be leaving this listening session in a few minutes, but I will be watching it on video Tonight or tomorrow. But just want to thank the young people for being here, for their important contributions they are making. Being engaged in the budget process is a critical part of Decision-Making here at the City Council. So I just wanna say thank you to the young people for being here, for being engaged, and advocating for what they believe in. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay, thank you. We're going to be starting tonight's session off with a short video of statements from the Pop-Up Senior Center in West Roxbury. The state funds two days a week for seniors to gather at the Elks Lodge and it's a very popular program and they're one of the The days of their funding is not funded in the budget. So I don't know, we're gonna just, this is a short video. And then for folks, I'm just going to, I'll read off the first three. Hannah, Hoeven, Alex, DeFronzo, and Omar. And I apologize to everyone who's going to testify. I'm going to butcher everyone's names. I apologize, but it's Omar. I want to say this is Soror. I probably mispronounced it.

But if you're here, Hannah, Juven, Alex DeFranzo, or Omar, you can come down and line up. Here at the microphone, we'll start off with the video, and then we'll go to you to kick things off in person.

Hi, my name is Janice Hamilton and I've been a member of the Parkway Senior Center here at the Elks since its founding. And now, since the city gave another day, Now I have three days a week and our crowd is bigger and bigger than it was at the beginning. It has grown exponentially. So I'm very happy that this is here for all of us. Mental health, our emotional health, our physical health, and what am I missing? A spiritual too. Yes, our spiritual health. So, thank you so much.

I live in West Roxbury and I attend this as much as I can and I think funding for the Wednesday would be a great idea.

Hi, my name is Donna. I live in West Roxbury. I come here for three days just to meet everybody and talk in three of the classes, four of the classes I love. Broadway Dance, two of the exercise classes and one of the other classes and it's just fun to come. They have crafts and they have all kinds of stuff and you enjoy yourself instead of sitting at home. All by yourself and watching the Don TV, you know? You come here and talk and enjoy yourself, you know?

My name is Don Valenti. I live in West Roxbury, have for many, many years. And at my age, you're always looking for something different to do. So when this opportunity became available, I was delighted. And I have to say, My delight has been a hundredfold since I've been here. The people here are wonderful. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning and to shower and get dressed and get out of the house. and believe me, at my age, I'm 88 years old, that's a big plus. So I have to say, I can't tell you how much this means to me and I know that if you talk to other people, they'll feel the same way. I became friends and this is a great center to come to. I can move more than before.

Yes, it's wonderful. I write down the names of two people each day. I now know 40 names. I have 40 new friends.

Okay, well, thank you, Corey, for putting that together. As you can see, they're doing chair yoga. There's a lot of young folks here. Someday you may... Enjoy chair yoga as well, so hope to have those senior programs in place for when we're all headed there. So we're here with Madam President Liz Breadon. Councilor Breadon, did you want to say you want to speak for 30 seconds, a minute, and say hi to everyone?

Just say hi. Thank you all for being here. And it's really important to hear your voice with regard to our budget. So thanks a lot for being here.

Okay, thank you very much. So I see Hannah, Alex, Omar, and then the next three will be John, Smith, Saints, I'm not sure, John Smith, and then Amy Takanami after that. So if you want to, you can speak at either mic. We'll start here. Hannah, you get two minutes whenever you're ready.

Hi, good evening, Councillors. My name is Hannah Houven. I'm a teacher at UP Academy Holland in the Boston Public Schools, which is in Dorchester. And I'm here to testify about the Access to Council program, which, Councillor Weber, you are very familiar with. Access to Council, which provides free legal service for BPS families facing eviction, is slated to be eliminated from this year's budget. From the first two months of this year, January and February of 2026, The Globe reports that 94 families had received free legal services from Access to Counsel, and more than a third of these families were able to have their evictions delayed or prevented outright. 94 families served in just two months with over 30 BPS families able to remain in their homes is a testament to the necessity of this program. If this rate of service continues through June for example, nearly 100 families in BPS would see their evictions prevented or delayed, meaning their students would experience a stable end to their school year.

As a teacher, I know that student homelessness leads to chronic absenteeism, lowered academic achievement, and heightened stress and unpredictability for our youngest children. I have students who, after being evicted from their homes, have to be bused in from faraway shelters. Students who have missed weeks of school at a time due to lack of stable housing. The previous year's budget funded access to council at $450,000. Within the budget as a whole, this is a relatively small portion of money that can be allocated to make a huge impact on the lives of families whose children attend our schools. Considering the other cuts that are happening to housing programs and the work that still needs to be done to make our city truly affordable, funding access to council is a necessary first step that will help us to protect our most vulnerable students and families. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay, Alex, and then Omar, followed by John Smith, Saint, I think, I don't know if that's an L or a C. and then Miss Takanami.

Okay, Chair Weber, thank you, and Councilor Brayden, thank you for being here. I am Alex Sifronzo. I live in District 1, 138 Coleridge Street in East Boston, and I work at Pierce Park Sailing in East Boston. We're a big youth development program, one of the larger youth employment coalitions in the city. We'll have about 205 young people working with YEO in our coalition this summer. And I'm here to advocate for school year jobs in this budget. Two years ago, the YEO budget was about $27 million for youth jobs. This year, it was about $24 million. And with the $6 million cut, it eliminates school year jobs. It is really challenging for us to go from no youth jobs during the school year to 205 in the summertime as like a really harsh transition period. The young people that work with us during the school year, are the leaders in the summer program.

It's necessary for us to spend the time with them to train them to be able to supervise and support all their peers that come to us in the summertime. All the really strong outcomes that we see in youth employment in Community Safety in Education and in Transition to Adulthood. They're not just because of the summer program, it's because of the school year program as well. It has been a program that's sort of like a bonus on top, but has definitely become more professionalized and more serious over the last several years. And for us, it's been a really important part of how we're able to run the entire continuum of youth jobs throughout the full year. This is the largest employment coalition in East Boston, one of the bigger ones in the city. And the school year jobs really allow us to have success in the summer program. So those strong outcomes that we see, and the equity in the program, like having the opportunity to train young people from all different BPS schools throughout the city in the school year, 14, 15, 16 years old, and get them ready to work as instructional staff. and the summertime is made possible because of the school year jobs program.

Thank you. Okay, thank you very much.

Hello, my name is Omar Sahrour and I live and work in East Boston. I am the Education Director at Pierce Park Sailing Center, where I lead our youth development and employment programs. I'm here today to advocate for the restoration of the school year employment program. For the young people we serve, this program is not just a job, it's a pathway. It gives youth the opportunity to earn income, often helping support their families while building critical skills like resume writing, interviewing, and financial literacy. At our organization, the school year program is what makes long-term growth possible. It allows a young person to go from never having been out on the water to becoming a confident sailor, a leader, and even a sailing instructor. That kind of transformation doesn't happen over just one summer. And we know the impact goes far beyond just our organization.

Youth employment programs lead to higher graduation rates, increased college enrollment, and measurable improvements in attendance and GPA. They also strengthen social emotional skills and reduce involvement in violence in the criminal legal system. These impacts are even greater for young people who need it most, low-income youth, youth of color, and those already facing systemic barriers. Eliminating the school year program doesn't just cut funding, it cuts off opportunity, stability, and proven outcome for Boston's youth. I urge the Council to fully restore the Office of Youth Employment and Opportunities budget to the FY26 level. Thank you for your time.

Okay, John Smith, I apologize. I think that says Saint. Okay, thank you very much. You just state your name and whenever you're ready.

Yep, so my name is John Smith St. Cyr. I'm the founder of the J.L. Smith Suicide Prevention Center for Young Black Boys. So I've been a Boston resident my entire life, and Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan has always functioned as Boston's evidence of structural abandonment. We represent the poorest parts of the city. We carry the lowest life expectancy, while nearly 80% of our children are not reading on grade level. These are not isolated failures. They are cumulative outcomes produced by decades of budgetary choices, housing policy, school inequity, public health neglect, and racial disinvestment. So before we call the FY27 budget a spending plan, we need to name what it really is. A budget is a moral document. It is a public health document. It is a racial justice document.

And if the same communities remain poor, sick, unsafe, undereducated after generations of public spending, then the question is not whether Boston has invested. The question is who Boston has chosen to stabilize and who Boston has chosen to leave unstable. Because poverty does not reproduce itself by accident. Low life expectancy does not appear without cause. Children do not fall behind in reading at this scale because families do not care. And violence does not concentrate in the same neighborhoods generation after generation after generation because of individual failure. These are structural outcomes. They are the result of decisions made long before a child ever enters a classroom, long before a young person ever enters the street, and Long before a family ever reaches crisis. So when the city underfunds prevention, underfunds youth development,

underfunds community-based organizations and then fully funds the systems that respond after harm has already happened That is not neutrality. That is a governing choice. And the communities paying the price are the same communities that have been paying it my entire life. So today, I come before you not asking to be funded, not to beg for the crumbs that may fall from the almost $500 million police budget's plate. I come before you to put it on record that a new day is coming. A day where communities that have been studied, managed, contained, and underfunded will no longer accept symbolic concern as a substitute for structural investment. A day where Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan will no longer be treated as evidence of failure, but as evidence of what this city has refused to repair. Because the budget is not just numbers, the budget is memory.

It remembers who was protected, it remembers who was ignored, it remembers who was stabilized, and it remembers who was left to survive. So let the record reflect this. I am not here with a list of demands. We already know how this works. We already know the hearing, the testimony, the polite nods, the language of equity, the public statements, and the private indifference. We know how Boston performs concern while preserving the same conditions. So today is not about begging the city to care. Today is about putting the city unnoticed. We have tried to bury communities that were never dead. We have treated Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan like disposable ground, not understanding that we already learned how to grow from concrete. We grew without stable investment. We grew without protection. We grew without being prioritized.

We grew through closed schools, broken promises, underfunded programs, concentrated poverty and preventable death. and we will continue to grow. But let the record reflect this, survival is not consent. Our ability to endure should never be mistaken for permission to keep neglecting us. So if this budget continues to preserve the same conditions, then the next question would not be whether our communities can survive. The next question will be whether the people elected to represent us can.

Thank you. Okay, so next up is a group from the Boston People's Response Campaign. So I can call you out in order or you can line up however you want. And you're going to each have two minutes. Just give me one second here. Yes, I just before before you start, you know, I just want to say like the the I'm not just here because I'm the chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Like when I was not the chair, I made a priority to be here to listen to people.

I know we all have a hard job. and there's there's five events every night that you have to be at and you can't you have to kind of pick and choose and I know all my colleagues are working really hard and it's you know whether they're at large and they're covering the whole city or their district councilor like me or Councilor Breadon, we have a small neighborhood, but I want to apologize to everyone who's here, who's made the time to come to City Hall. We are having another listening session and I will personally ask all of my colleagues to be here I think this is how the process works. Brady, and Councilor Flynn obviously made an effort to be here.

And I just want you to know that I'm taking note of the attendance. There's nothing I can do about it. You know, I'm expecting more from my colleagues. And I just want to thank Madam President for being here. So anyway, this is all being recorded. and we have discussions with all my colleagues and central staff. Everyone will know what has been said here, but on behalf of The Council, I just wanted to get that on the record. So yeah, my neighbor, whenever you're ready, you got two minutes.

Thank you for that acknowledgement, Councilor Weber, and thank you for being here, and thank you to Council President Liz Breadon for being here as well. My name is Amy Takanami. I use she, her pronouns. I am a resident of District 6, a social worker, and a steering committee member of the Boston People's Response Campaign. Our campaign is advocating for a non-police, non-carceral, community-based mental health crisis response for the City of Boston. You're going to get to hear from several campaign members tonight about why they and why all of us are urging you to fully fund the pilot of our crisis response model at $4 million in this FY27 budget. Our campaign grew out of an investment that the city made under the Janey administration back in 2021 to fund the design of a non-police community-based mental health crisis response. Many of us participated in that design process, which my colleague Maya will speak more about.

After the model was collectively designed and submitted to the city in 2022, our campaign was formed to organize and advocate for the pilot to be fully funded and implemented in the city. Since launching in 2023, our campaign has grown to include a powerful and engaged member base of Boston residents, many of whom you will hear from tonight, including young people, social workers, healthcare workers, black, indigenous, and other people of color, disabled people, queer and trans people, immigrants, Working Class People, and many others whose communities are disproportionately impacted by our current carceral responses here in the City of Boston. We're grateful for the opportunity to share our diverse and overlapping experiences this evening and to explain why we believe this pilot is needed now more than ever.

This is especially true in the shadow of the horrific police killing of Stevenson King Jr., who, according to his family's civil rights attorney, had struggled for years with mental health challenges. We want to help ensure that our city takes proactive action to prevent tragedies like this from happening in Boston. Thank you again for your time and consideration. I urge you to invest in our collective health and our collective safety by fully funding the pilot of our non-police, non-carceral, community-based mental health crisis response model for $4 million and the FY27 budget. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Yeah, just identify yourself by name so I know who to cross off. Thanks.

Hi, City Council. My name is Maya Meles-Trikai. I'm a Boston resident in District 6, a licensed independent clinical social worker and social work professor. I've been involved as a steering committee member since the city funded I'm here today to uplift the ask for the City Council to invest $4 million in the 2027 budget to fully fund the pilot for this model. So I wanted to share a little bit about the design process and the background of how we got here. So when Kim Janey was actually mayor, the city invested $875,000 specifically designated for a non-police community-led Mental Health Crisis Response Program to be designed for the City of Boston. And then in January 2022, two local community groups, the City School and Boston Liberation Health, were selected as the co-facilitators of the design process. I'm a steering committee member of Lawson Liberation Health and so became involved in the design process in this way.

Liberation Health was started over 20 years ago and is a group of primarily social workers, but also health and mental health providers and service users broadly. working to change and impact the larger systems that negatively impact mental and physical health and well-being. The city then took the time to additionally and thoughtfully select 14 community members as the design team. This design team intentionally consisted of community members with varying identities and backgrounds from neighborhoods across Boston. The majority of whom were BIPOC folks and included individuals who have experienced homelessness, challenges with substance use, criminalization, and major mental illness. There are members who have lived experiences navigating mental health crises themselves, members who have experience with peer support, and members who work in the mental health care field as therapists. This design group researched and consulted with similar programs across the country, as well as gathered input from community members and local organizations, such as Boston Healthcare for the Homeless and Health Resources in Action, to name just a few of those groups.

The design team held six listening sessions in English, Spanish, and ASL, engaging over 200 community members in this process. And then after the design process, this design group presented the findings and the design model to Mayor Wu and her team in the spring of 2023. So the city has already invested time and resources into designing a community-led non-police mental health crisis response model. Our campaign has confirmed ongoing interest from the City Council in investing in alternative resources to better respond to and address mental health crises for the City of Boston. So please invest the $4 million in the FY2027 budget for the pilot for the community-led non-police mental health crisis response model. Thank you for hearing testimony today. Thank you.

Okay, whenever you're ready.

Good afternoon, councillors. My name is McKaylee Nelms. I'm a youth worker at the City School, a student at UMass Boston, as well as a resident of District 5. I'm here along with my fellow Boston People's Response members asking for $4 million to be amended into the city's FY27 budget. to fund a pilot of the Mental Crisis Response, which will be consent-based, non-police, and non-carceral. What's important about this mental health crisis response model is if someone doesn't feel comfortable reaching out to our current system for mental health care for support, there's so many reasons as to being met with violence or inadequate and adequate care. BPR would be a great resource for someone to have peace of mind that they have control over the care that they receive.

For them to have peace of mind that their life is not in danger for having a mental health crisis. As someone with lived experience of mental health crises as well as witnessing loved ones with Going through mental health crises, I understand how important it is to have agency over the care that you want to receive. With community members' strength to support and deescalate crises, I have no doubt this pilot will be a beneficial resource for everyone in our community to rely on. Thank you for your time, and I hope you take this into consideration.

Thank you very much.

Hello, thank you so much for allowing me to share my testimony. My name is Ariel Ellison and I live in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of District 8. I'm an incoming junior at Northeastern University and a member of the Boston People Response. I'm here to ask our city councilors to fully fund the pilot for the non-police, non-carceral, community-based mental health crisis response model at $4 million. This campaign is important to me because of my personal experiences and firsthand exposure to the implications of mismanaged mental illness. My struggles with anxiety and depression began in elementary school. With what started as panic attacks that landed me in the ER, and it took over 10 years to reach an assessment and diagnosis. As a daughter of a Hispanic immigrant, the cultural norms that negatively stigmatize asking for help and being labeled as mentally ill were instilled at a formative age. I often felt helpless and desolate, unable to access medication and therapy as a minor due to my lack of parental support.

In addition to my own struggles, I watched close friends and family members receive aggressive interventions from law enforcement or refrain from seeking treatment and attempt suicide. My uncle's unmedicated bipolar disorder significantly impacted our family growing up. I vividly recall watching his manic outbursts while we were ill-equipped to navigate these episodes, which forced us to rely on law enforcement. On multiple occasions he was tackled and arrested by police for his erratic behavior and verbal hostility. These events reinforced the harmful ideas that had been internally established in fear of being mistreated for receiving mental health treatment. They also discouraged my parents from allowing me to seek out the support I needed in fear of the repercussions I could face if labeled as mentally ill. These violent and lethal interventions have yet to change, as the Washington Post data shows that 25% of fatal police shootings are responses to mental health crises. Most recently, Jacob Graves was shot and killed by police on April 4th at his residence during a crisis response.

As a Northeastern student and member of this campaign, I am deeply committed to advocating for our community because we must speak out to break these stigmas. I ask for your consideration to support this initiative and fully fund the response model. By promoting alternative response measures that have been successfully implemented in other communities, Thank you for your time. Okay, thank you.

I'll try to remember to start the clock next time, but whenever you're ready.

Hi, my name is Star Nunez. I use she, her pronouns, and I am a resident of District 7. I'm here today as a youth worker with the city school and the BPR campaign. I've seen what a crisis looks like. I've seen it in the people I care about, I've seen it in the youth that I work with, and I've seen it up close. I've been in a crisis. It's not clean. It's not quiet. It's not convenient. It's shaking hands, racing thoughts, not knowing where to go or who to call. And still, a crisis is not a crime. But too often is it treated like one. It's fear being met with fear, pain met with control. I've seen moments that needed care turned into something completely different, something louder, harsher, and something that leaves marks Way after past the moment. A crisis is not a crime. Not for the young person who is overwhelmed. Not for the young person who needs someone to listen. Not for anyone at their lowest moment. But what people need most in those moments is not force.

They need patience, understanding, and someone trained to meet them with care, and someone trained to meet them halfway. A crisis is not a crime. It should be a moment where someone shows up and helps. That's the choice in front of you today. It's not difficult. What we need to send into a moment of crisis is it fear, care, control, support, Punishment or understanding. A crisis should not be a crime. So what I'm asking you today is to fund BPR, because the way we respond in someone's worst moment should make it better, not worse.

OK, thank you.

Hello, Councilors. My name is David Osashi, and I work in District 3 in the City of Boston, as well as I have family also living in places such as Mattapan, Dorchester, and Jamaican Plain. I'm here because I truly believe the Boston People's Response is the way to go in helping people with mental health. I am a member of the Boston People's Response and I hope today to sway your opinion to get behind the response. To start, I'm going to name three names and I'll tell you what they all have in common. Terrence Coleman, a black man with schizophrenia who was fatally shot by Boston police during a confrontation. Stephenson King Jr., a man with a variety of mental health issues who was also shot by police. Terrence Coleman, a black man who also has schizophrenia, who was fatally shot by police.

And the lawsuit against the city alleged that Boston police and EMT training brought a poor understanding of mental health. All those names are people who were fatally shot by police, obviously, who did not have training in how to deescalate situations with people with mental illness. Cases like these cause the community to be afraid to call the police, scaring them into thinking if they do, someone will end up dead. The Boston People's Response will actually help people and de-escalate situations with people who are actually trained in specifically in how to help people with mental illness and provide resources to end things safely. I hope after today you choose to get behind the response. Thank you for your time.

Okay, thank you very much. Whenever you're ready.

Hello, my name is Elise McCullough, use she, they pronouns, work with the city school, live in Dorchester, and I wanted to testify for the Boston people's response. A little bit about me is that I was raised my entire life in Boston, Massachusetts, and I'm planning to attend college in Framingham next year. I love Boston so much, but I wish I hadn't spent most of my life facing hardship. These struggles had enhanced the mental health challenges I would face later in life. One day in 2024, I felt hopeless and terrible. I had been homeless for three months and lived with a relative who had trouble taking care of me. I struggled in every aspect possible. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and one day it felt like I couldn't even breathe. My heart was struggling to beat and I was panicking. My family and friends came to the house to help me while I was unknowingly going through a psychotic episode. I was calm again, but EMS and the police had came.

I told them I was fine but they took me to the hospital anyways, complicating things even more. It's likely that EMS did so because they believed I still needed help, but it didn't change that I was facing hardship where I was at. Instead, they made things worse. I lost my housing and had to go through a gruesome process to get a diagnosis that would provide me with a little assistance. This story is a core memory for me about how my community helped me, but there was no effective city response. Sometimes I wish I was provided resources in my temporary stay and said I was met with people trying to take me to another place to get their job finished and hope and instead of ensuring that I was okay. I've been testifying for this model since 2022 and I still stand by it. If you fund this model, it's likely that my story won't repeat. Truly, I believe this pilot will make a change in my community, especially for young people.

Thank you for sharing that. Just take your time. Take a deep breath. Obviously, just use the time as a guideline if you need some extra.

Right, right.

Thank you. So whenever you're ready.

Okay, hi, my name is Amani. I'm 17 years old, a Boston resident and a youth worker at the city school. I'm here to speak in support of fully funding the non-police, non-carceral, community-based mental health crisis response model at $4 million. Throughout this hearing, you'll hear personal stories and detailed explanations of this campaign and other campaigns. in support of funding the youth and people of the community. And that matters, but that's not what I'm here to do. I'm here to ask why after hearing all that action is still a question. I'm going to college next year or this year sorry early in the fall but I want to speak up for youth in particular in the city because we are the ones in this case are that are living with the consequences that like of the decisions you make right now. And what I see is this in my community. People are struggling. You see it too. People on the streets, people dealing with mental health crises, and people who need care, not punishment.

And there's a clear pattern between mental health, poverty, and the way the city responds. The pattern is not hidden. We see it every single day. So when this model is presented, one that is well-researched, community-led solution, and it's still treated like it's optional, Then it's really hard to understand where your priorities lie. Because at this point, it doesn't feel like you see the problem. It feels like you don't want to see the problem and you don't want to connect the dots yourself. So because doing that would mean you would have to act differently and that's uncomfortable. But the problem is this job is not supposed to be comfortable. Youth should not have to keep Organizing, speaking out, and fighting to fix problems that you already have the power to address. That is your responsibility as councilmen and as people in power. So when action keeps getting delayed or deprioritized, it makes us question why, and it makes us question what is actually driving your decisions. So the city has money. We see where funding goes every year. So this is not a secret. It's about choice.

You are choosing what gets prioritized. So we are asking for $4 million. That is a small fraction of the city's budget, but it could mean real safety and real care. So please, do you care about addressing this crisis in a meaningful way, or will you continue to sit with what's comfortable? I urge you to fully fund the pilot for the non-police, non-carceral, community-based mental health crisis response model at $4 million. Thank you.

I'm sorry, could you just tell me your name again? I didn't catch it.

Oh, sorry, it's Amani Pagan.

Okay, great. Thank you. Okay, yep, whenever you're ready.

OK, good evening, city council. My name is Naomi Hall. I'm a Roxbury District 7 resident, an MSW student at Boston University, and a Boston Public Schools paraprofessional. I've been involved with BPR since the beginning of my internship in September 2025. Learning about a community-led, non-police mental health crisis response model gave me a real sense of hope That meaningful, people-centered change is possible when communities are trusted and heard. I'm here today to urge you to fully fund the $4 million pilot for this model. While approximately $1.3 million has been allocated, it still falls short of what's needed to implement the program as it was thoughtfully designed and we want to receive the full $4 million. I also want to speak to the campaign process and my experience as a developing clinical social worker. Through attending BPR meetings, it is clear that young people are not only impacted by mental health systems

but are also deeply capable of understanding and contributing to conversations around policy, design, and implementation. Their voices have been critical in shaping this model and they deserve to see it fully in place. In my role as an intern, I've had the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with youth by providing relational and liberation health-oriented therapy alongside with academic support. Society sets the narrative that divides people into the deserving and undeserving, especially when it comes to mental health. This model challenges that narrative. It shifts our perspective from blaming individuals to understanding the broader context of their experiences. Mental health crises, including manic episodes, are not simply individual failings. They are moments that call for care, compassion, and appropriate support. If we begin to separate the person from The problem, then we could create space for empathy.

With empathy, we could reduce the reliance on police responses in situations that require care, not criminalization. Fully funding this pilot is not just a financial decision, it's a statement about our values. And it's an investment in dignity and community expertise and in safer, more effective responses to mental health crises. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Okay, thank you very much. Good luck in your master's program. Sounds fun. Okay.

Good afternoon. My name is Abdi, and I'm a 70-year-old youth worker at TCS. I'm here to bring attention to youth jobs and how money should be allocated into youth jobs. The youth in Boston are the building stones for our future. With these recent budget cuts to youth jobs, we are almost setting up the next generation for failure. Youth have needs, and every job slot taken from the youth is a youth that has to worry about where to acquire money to support their needs. Every job slot is a youth wondering if they can support with rent on time. Every job slot is a youth wondering how they can pay for their food to survive on. Every job slot is a youth that has to worry about buying clothes, and the list goes on. These youth job cuts will inevitably cause our youth to look into other ways to get money such as stealing, drug dealing, scamming, and etc. When people get put under pressure, they do things they normally wouldn't. We need to worry about the next generation and start investing into our youth. Thank you.

Thank you very much. For everyone here, we've been joined by District 7 Councilor Minyard-Culpepper. Thank you. I hesitate to do this. If you want 30 seconds, which in Culpepper time would be 10 seconds, but to just address everyone here. Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and thank you for the 30 minutes. Just really wanted to commend all of you for showing up tonight. For me, this is an exciting night. I see Alexis out there and she's putting a shirt on. And to be honest with you, I wouldn't have become the District 7 City Councilor without some of the work that Alexis did and the knocking on doors that she did with me. and the phone calling that she did with me and passing out literature that she did with me when I was a candidate. She came and she worked and she was committed to making sure that I got elected. I gotta give her a big shout. Stand up, let people see who you are. I gotta give her a big shout out, right?

Because to be honest, if it wasn't for the young folks that worked on my campaign, I'm talking about high school young folks that believed in me enough to get out on the street and help me. And so if she believed in me enough to give me elected council, I believe enough in her and all of y'all. to do whatever we can to restore whatever cuts there are to make sure that you get what you deserve. I mean, look, you guys are the future. And so whatever we can do to help you and to open doors for you, Make sure you remember Council Culpepper District 7 right in there. Just come and see me and You'll be seeing her this summer. You'll be coming to see her. So I just want to thank you all for showing up. I know it's late. My back, I got pain in my back, but I had to just come and say, commend you for coming out tonight.

and stay involved. Don't let this be the only time you show up. Every time you show up, make sure you show out because when you show out, you get our attention. We want to do all we can for you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Okay. Thank you. I was going to cut you off so I don't have to cut other people off. But thank you very much. So, yeah, whoever is next, just let me know. Your name? Okay, well, that's appropriate. Yep, here we go.

Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Alexa Santana. I'm a lifelong resident of District 7, and I'm 17 years old. I'm here today to share testimony in support of fully funding the pilot for the non-police, non-carceral community-based mental health crisis response. at $4 million. I'm a youth organizer at Youth Justice and Power Union. YJPU is a youth organization that allows youth a space to voice their thoughts about the issues in Boston and how the budget affects us. Through my organizing at YJPU, I have become involved with Boston People's Response as a member leader helping evolve the pilot. They have also supported me with a space to finish schoolwork, to get food, and also to receive free mental health counseling. This pilot is lifesaving to say the least. It is the difference of someone being treated in crisis with resource and somebody being traumatized during crisis.

The truth is police hold immense power over people. They have the gun and they have the power. And this is a power imbalance when coming into contact with vulnerable people. Police have proven to us that they are not equipped to handle mental health crisis. And as a young person of color, mental health is an issue that affects us immensely. I personally struggled with mental health when I was about to lose my apartment. because of high rent costs and this is the story of many young people and if I had a mental health crisis response I know I would feel supported and I know so many other young people would feel so supported. and I think everyone deserves that support and we see people in crisis every day in the streets suffering from homelessness and all different types of issues and yet they still are not receiving the support that they need.

While our police officers are sweeping homeless people off the street because poverty is being criminalized Think about the safety of our citizens and think about the safety of our young people as you think about like Thank you very much.

Okay, and just before you begin, in terms of my colleagues, I know Councilor Roussy-Louijeune is heading down to D.C. tonight because the Supreme Court is having oral argument tomorrow on The continuation of temporary protected status for Haitians. And so she's going down there to support. And I know Councilor Coletta Zapata, is due to give birth any minute now. She was here earlier in City Hall, so it's a long day. But anyway, okay, whenever you're ready.

Good evening, City Council. My name is Nayoung. I'm 30 years old, and I'm a full-time psychotherapist and a Boston resident. I reside in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in District 3 on Pawtucket land. I'm a proud community organizer with this campaign and a member of Boston Liberation Health and Runners for Justice in Palestine Boston. We are asking city councilors to approve an amendment for $4 million for the 2027 budget for the implementation of the non-police, non-carceral, community-led mental health crisis response model pilot. My clients should have the option to explore warm lines and interventions outside of the carceral system and have access to multiple options. As a psychotherapist and clinical social worker who also holds the title of mandated reporter, I fully believe that what people need are community, connection, and regrounding, not law enforcement.

I strongly believe this model to be an asset in the community once implemented as this will allow people to access a system of care that's tangible, responsive, local, and community-driven. In my experience, both living with people in a DV crisis and mental health crisis, a local third party intervention that's in person and not a hotline would have made a monumental difference in not just supporting the person experiencing the crisis, but also me and others who were witness and didn't have the supports and groundings to know what to do at the time. A third party without weapons, knowledge about the community, and someone who's trained in peer support to help ground and respond was needed. In addition, for me, it's about holding people we've lost, whether Saeed Faizal in Cambridge, Sonia Massey in Springfield, Illinois, or other Korean Americans just like me from Koreatown, LA, Yongyang, and Victoria Lee from Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Rest in peace to the lives senselessly lost in a moment where they needed connection and support. We need alternatives, not more police, not more prisons, not more systems that don't affirm agency and humanity. $4 million is absolutely nothing compared to Mayor Wu's recent allocation of $480 million plus for police. The research proves it, our lived experience proves it, that we need alternatives. Black Bostonians, disabled Bostonians, LGBTQ plus Bostonians, immigrant Bostonians, unhoused Bostonians, Bostonians of color deserve this and deserve to have their humanity Thank you. Thank you.

I have two more people signed up. from the People's Response Campaign. If there's others, you can join.

Hi, my name is Theresa, and I'm a youth worker with Pathways to Change at the City School. And I'm here to talk about the BPR campaign. Mental health inequality in low-income communities is a social issue that deeply resonates with me because I've seen how stigma and limited access to care prevent people from getting the support that they need. In many low-income neighborhoods, people struggle in silence and this often leads to higher rates of mental health crises and untreated trauma. Throughout my work with young people, I've seen how these challenges show up in real life, especially with people who don't feel comfortable reaching out for help because they don't think it's available to them. When mental health needs go unmet, it becomes harder for people to succeed in school, maintain their jobs and build stable futures. When support systems aren't in place, the issue puts more strain on families, schools, and public health resources. That's why I That's why I believe community engaged approaches are so important.

When communities are involved in shaping solutions, those solutions are more effective, more trusted, and more accessible. People are more likely to seek help when they feel understood and supported by systems that reflect their experiences. Investing in community Based Mental Health Resources is a step towards addressing these inequalities at their root. It helps ensure that care is not only available, but also approachable and relevant to the people who need it the most. This is why I urge for the pilot for the Boston People's Response Campaign, a free, non-carceral, community-based mental health crisis resource to be funded in the upcoming city budget of $4 million. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon, city councilors. My name is Hussein. I use they, them pronouns, and I'm a resident of Dorchester in District 3. Thank you all to all of the BPR members who just testified. I have been a program director for the past three years at the City School, an organization in Upham's Corner that cultivates the leadership of youth organizers. I am also a steering committee member for the Boston People's Response. As a youth worker, I have seen time and time again how the current forms of mental health support available to young people in this city fail them. I have seen how the fear of police, ICE, and forced psychiatric institutionalization have stopped youth from reaching out for help from their families, schools, and school counselors. When they do reach out for help, I have seen how city and state services, the police, the BEST team, and DCF respond, and how their lack of consent, community connection, and follow-through created more harm.

For some youth that I have worked with, when the police are called in to respond to instances of family violence, they use an arrest-first approach. even arresting the adults or youth who are being harmed without understanding the context of the situation or adequately addressing the root of why violence is happening in the first place. For others, when the best team is called on them in school or at home, police officers often accompany them, making youth fearful that they could be killed for being seen as a dangerous, mentally ill person and a risk to cops when actually the person most at risk is themselves. We are committed to fighting long term for this campaign as we have been since 2022. Thank you again to all of the members who prepped so dearly for this testimony today. We will be coming back for the future budget hearings that Councilor Weber mentioned with more of our members and loved ones. and continue to follow up with city councilors. We urge you to support our amendment. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Just before we move on, we have a practice here where if people can't make it, they send in letters of absence, just so for the record. We did get a letter of absence from at-large Councilor Henry Santana and at-large Councilor Julia Mejia. So thank you for that. So next up, I have Malcolm Sherman Godfrey, and Nicholas, I think it says Mui, I apologize. But if there's anyone else from the, Mr. Takanami, was there anyone else from the people's response? Great. Really, thank you so much for your advocacy and, you know, I mean, we've talked about this and, you know, it's something that I think that we, you know, I think the majority of the councilors in theory support in finding the money. That's a whole other thing, but we'll be working on that.

Again, thank you for coming with such a unified, strong voice together, and I look forward to talking to you. about this moving forward. Okay, so Malcolm, okay.

Thank you, Councillors, for taking the time to listen to the people's comments today. I'm here to testify in support of something I think really affects every single one of us, and that's the extreme lack of public restrooms we have here in the city of Boston. My name, by the way, is Malcolm Sherman Godfrey. I'm an organizer with the Boston Democratic Socialists of America. And I'd like to say that public restrooms are truly critical infrastructure and necessary to make our city accessible to people of all backgrounds and to enable all Boston residents of the City of Boston. Open for very limited hours or exist in theoretically public buildings like this one or police stations that are closed at night or present significant barriers to access for some of our most vulnerable neighbors. Even those few bathrooms that do exist fail to live up to the city's own meager standards.

For example, we recently visited the Frog Pond bathroom in the City Common, or in Boston Common. which according to the city's website is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day from April through November. It is April, but the Boston Common Frog Pond bathroom doors were locked. There was no sign provided explaining the closure. leaving the many thousands of people who pass through that park every single day with absolutely nowhere to go. Despite the fact that our city departments are already clearly unable to meet the needs of our city's residents, workers, and visitors, the proposed fiscal year 27 budget actually cuts funding to several of the departments charged with maintaining public restrooms. For example, the building operations budget is facing a $320,000 cut and the parks operations an even steeper $500,000 cut. We're requesting that you, as city councilors, not only reject these unnecessary funding cuts, but actually dedicate

Funding streams within the Public Works, Property Management, and Parks and Rec departments to improve the quality and the maintenance of our existing public restrooms, transforming them into the year-round, free, 24-7, and many more accessible restrooms that we all deserve. We'd request that you expand the existing street furniture program to build new public restrooms funded by the city's capital budget in the years in 2027 and beyond, not just relying on uncertain and insufficient ad revenue to fund those programs.

Okay. Thank you very much. I just want to note we've been joined by District 4 Councilor Brian Worrell. Thank you very much. And so next up, Nicholas. and then I have Ian, I'm not, let me see, Coetti, and then Gregory Pinnell.

Hi, councilpersons. My name is Nicholas Moy. I am a Cambridge resident working in Boston and a member of Boston Democratic Socialists of America. Like my fellow DSA members today, I'm here to talk about public restroom access in Boston. There is a moral imperative to provide accessibility to a restroom for all people of Boston, whether that's an everyday commuter, workers, or people experiencing homelessness. It's basic human dignity that someone has a functional, safe, and clean space to relieve themselves. In the current moment, the city and MBTA are not living up to a reasonable standard of care. I believe it's important for the City of Boston to prioritize this issue in the 2026 Municipal Budget. The current proposal by Mayor Wu fails to do so, and in fact, $500,000 have been cut from the Parks Operation Budget and $320,000 from the Building Operations Budget. These cuts should be reversed and additional funds should be added towards these apartments to support the quality of public restrooms.

This means improving the current bathroom infrastructure, which looks like increased maintenance, extended hours, improved accessibility for disabilities, cleanliness, and free public access. No one at any public station should be met with a locked bathroom door or one that's been out of order for months. This also means opening more public bathrooms in high traffic areas, particularly tea stops. A big component of addressing accessibility is availability. So please, access to a restroom should not be paywalled behind a purchase at a coffee shop. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Ian Coletti from the Boston DSA. I just want to give a brief comment to follow up on my fellow Boston DSA members working on the public restrooms campaign. For my part, I want to impose the perhaps implicit notion that public restrooms are simply nice to have. They serve a basic biological function. The human body does not work effectively under stress and discomfort. That's why our offices have bathrooms and water and heating. But our society doesn't just exist in the office. Any resources we spend on public facilities we will more than make up for in health and productivity. Like all of the issues that have been raised tonight, if we seriously don't think we can find the money for such simple and logical public goods, I think we have much bigger problems as a city.

Thank you. Gregory, Pinnell, Edgar, Santana, Deborah, Ahims, I think. I don't know, Brian Worrell was the chair of the Ways and Means Committee for two years. I don't think he ever mispronounced anyone's names. I don't know how he did it. I apologize again.

Pronounce my name right.

Okay, well, because I got one. A broken clock is right twice a day. Okay, whenever you're ready.

Hello, my name is Gregory Fennell. I'm with the Independent Socialist Group, and I am a resident of Hyde Park. I am here today to talk about the massive budget cuts that are happening in the city of Boston and all around Massachusetts. Boston is expected to close three schools and lay off 400 teachers. One of those teachers is in my neighborhood. It's called Another Course to College. It serves 90% students of color and 80% low-income students. And last time I was here, there was a paraprofessional who said, at best, it's always the people who have the least who are expected to give up the most when it's time to cut money for our budget. When I was in elementary school, we actually had a school closure and I saw firsthand class sizes balloon, my own teachers get burnt out. Me and my peers fell behind academically and socially. State has an $8.6 billion rainy day fund that we

You guys could be putting pressure on. This fund actually has an interest rate of $250 million a year. which would be more than enough to pay off our schools. And Boston has its own rainy day fund, but I don't remember how much it is. So the state has the money for not just this problem, but all the problems being talked about tonight. And there is no excuse for, to close schools, there's no excuse for any of these cuts to our schools. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay, next up, Edgar Santana, Deborah Hems, Ed Jims, Maya French.

Hello. Good afternoon, City Council. My name is Edgar Santana Castro, and I'm from Roxbury. I'm also a student in Tech Boston Academy, and I'm also a member of BPR and part of YJPU. I just want to give a brief testimony to add on to my fellow BPR members and to just clarify and to give more of an understanding of why BPR is so important and why we should really fund the pilot. People show how important it is to care for each other, for one another and programs like BPR help make that possible. BPR is a system that gives mental health support to people who need it across the city. instead of relying on police to handle mental health crises.

It sends trained professionals who know how to respond with care and understanding that makes help more effective and shows how much the community values being there for one another. and I hope today just those small words for this testament change people's minds if they haven't already to help fund the pilot for BPR. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Okay, Deborah, and then Maya French, and then Joaquina Atala Gutierrez. Whenever you're ready.

Okay.

Hello, my name is Debra James, resident of High Park. It is a huge setback to see that Mayor Wu delete the budget for the school year jobs while the hands of working out the hands of working youth in Boston while increasing the Boston police budget tremendously. Because it shows that Mayor Wu doesn't really care about the upcoming generation and youth living and working in Boston. It is necessary to stop cutting youth jobs. Youth jobs are essential and important to multiple teens in Boston. These jobs help stabilize family income and help families with other things such as food and bills. Youth jobs are also like stepping stones that will eventually lead to a bridge because they fill the gaps between education and a long-term career. The bridge that will later come in the years is built off the prior experience and training from the youth jobs early on. Cutting these jobs from youth are like cutting youth off from the path that leads to their success.

That is what I believe and I hope you do too.

Okay. Amaya French, Joaquin, Atala Gutierrez, and then I think it's Janice McManus, and then George Lee, so.

Whenever you're ready. Hello, my name is Amaya French. I live in Dorchester. And I think it is just really crucial to speak on how important it is to refrain putting The police have shown that they cannot be trusted in handling mental health crises because they are not properly trained to be able to De-escalate the situation and we are in need of real solutions for these issues. They already withhold $484 million in their budget and get funded to buy equipment they do not use. And when they do use it, it is to threaten people to keep them fearful and stay in line. I know many of the city councilors and the mayor believe that law enforcement are there to protect and help our streets. But think about the people who are saying that they use their power to their advantage.

When you look at people who say they are not beneficial, they most likely would look like someone like me. Just because the police may have not hurt you or any of your family, that does not mean that they protect everyone else. Listen to the city. Listen to the streets. Listen to the young. Listen to the old. Listen to people like you. but make sure to listen to people like me because you cannot speak or make a decision for everybody when you yourself have not heard from them.

Thank you. Okay, we got Joaquin, I think it's Janice McManus, and then George Lee. Thank you.

Good afternoon, my name is Joaquin and I'm 17 years old and I live in Hyde Park in Dorchester and I work with you just as a power union. As a young Palestinian-Mexican American in Boston, the amount of money that goes into police and not what the community needs is disgusting. Many people have come to City Council demanding that money goes from the police budget to housing, youth jobs, participatory budgeting, and mental health. The police budget gets $484 million from the city while youth jobs is getting cut and there are no more school year funded youth jobs. Youth jobs just over the summer is not enough for youth to be comfortable. Mayor Wu promised every young person a job over the summer and in the summer of 2024, 15,000 youth applied to youth jobs and only 4,500 young people did not get jobs.

Youth jobs are very important to the community in Boston as they create safe spaces for youth to be in rather than getting wrapped up with the wrong crowd, which is easy with living in spaces where money is needed. YouthJobs prepare youth for the future as experienced with jobs at a young age. Many youth also need money to support not just themselves, but their families with money that youth make to go help with resources. Yeah, sorry, my bad. The housing department and food department both got cut, which means youth now need the money more than ever. Police have $57.7 million in overtime money, which is almost triple the amount that youth jobs in total gets. Police don't actually bring safety to the community, and instead of preventing crime, they put people in cages. As a city, we should focus more on a restorative process to make our community safer, like the people's response, rather than having people with guns showing up and putting people in handcuffs. The police are built off a racist system that date back to slavery and catching runaway enslaved people.

The racist vibe that police officers have towards different people It's highlighted in the way they treat different people based on their skin color, economic status, gender, etc. The community needs a safer environment and not racist cops walking around with guns. Thank you for your time.

Okay, thank you. Okay. I have George Lee, but I have Janice McManus. You don't have to testify if you don't want to. You're okay? George, you can go, and if anyone else wants to speak, they can after you.

Yeah, I was trying to figure out, am I next or what's the order?

Janice McManus has signed up before you, but we can go out of order.

Is Janice here? Sorry, is Janice here?

I guess not. Or Janice, no? No, apparently not. So you're up. You're also the last person signed up. If there's anyone else here. Who hasn't spoken? Who wants to speak? Just line up here. OK. George. Oh, and then there will be one person on line. Whenever you're ready, George, I'll start the clock.

OK.

I'm not sure how to speak in a way that, I mean, I've been here before, but I don't know how to underline just that this is the most inhumane and cruel budget in more than 20 years. Just the devastation of these cuts is a complete outrage. It's like a five alarm budget. Completely eliminating school year youth jobs. Six million dollars after years and years of building that up, the community fighting for it, the current mayor actually putting money into it, the city council pushing for it. The nerve of the mayor to go to DC and say she's protecting immigrants and then stabbing immigrants in the back by defunding attorneys for the immigrants who are getting deported. I just found out last night about a friend of mine who's slated for deportation.

There were already cuts to all the immigrant youth jobs during the school year. Housing vouchers attorneys for folks who are facing evictions, emergency funds for people trying to pay their rent and utilities. Just on a short-sighted financial It just doesn't make sense. You're not going to spend $6,000 or $10,000 on a voucher and instead you're going to spend how much money on the other end of things? Hundreds of school staff being laid off. It's just awful. And like John said before, this is a particularly cruel budget year. But it's not as if the budget in the past has been all roses and sunshine. I mean, it's historically been rooted in divestment and criminalization and destroying communities and setting communities up to fail.

So really, it needs to go beyond reversing the cuts. That's the bare minimum of what y'all do. If you can't do that, I'd be ashamed if you can't figure out how to reverse all these cuts. But it's more than that. It's like the folks at Boston People's Response have said, to actually invest in the solutions that will care for people and not continue to massively increase the police budget. And all the things that have been cut, food, housing, immigration, elder support, youth jobs, All of those need more money, not just reversing the cuts. And I think it's a slap in the face to the city council and the community. Like two years in a row, the mayor writes in her budget document, Oh, I'm going to cut the amendments the city council passed last year. Like, don't be a sore loser. Like, it's the process. The city council and mayor worked together. Y'all passed things. She agreed on the budget. And this year, she's cutting it back.

And the things that the community voted for in participatory budgeting, food, housing, and immigration are the things that are being cut. So it's really on y'all to stand side by side to protect the things you fought for tooth and nail in the past. And you need to fight double tooth and nail, I guess, this year. And the last thing I just want to say is there's a lot of myths and misinformation that the mayor and the administration will throw around and that you can't let it fool you. She's like, oh, don't worry, we'll raise private money to make up for the school year jobs. It's an empty promise. Like maybe there'll be some press conference announcing a few million dollars. But that's six million dollars that took years to get of public money, public taxpayer dollars that needs to be put back in the city budget to be sustainable and long term. There's a myth that there's not enough money when the police budget is going up. There's hundreds of millions of dollars in reserves.

and when the Boston people's response only needs $4 million and we're pumping $20 million into overtime at Mount Neocast and Mass Ave, that doesn't make sense as well. So don't fall for the myths and we're our eyes on you are on you y'all done right by us before sometimes with some of y'all having to pull some of your fellow counselors along but we really need you to hold the line this year and we're watching you because we need that.

Thank you. Thank you, George. No one else who's here? I want to thank you for being here. Councilor Worrell. Oh, do we have, yeah. Did you want to speak now? Okay. Oh yeah, we do have one person on line. Jack, if you can hear us.

Yes, hello, can you hear me?

Yes, yep, we can hear you. Whenever you're ready, I'll start the timer.

Hi, awesome. Hello, Council. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak this evening. My name is Jack Fersi. I am a member of the Boston DSA Eco-Socialism Working Group and a resident of Alston. And I want to speak with you tonight about public restrooms, a critical resource for any major city that Boston needs to do a better job providing to its citizens, especially around public transit hubs. Public transit is supposed to be an accessible resource for every citizen to use. Boston has room for improvement with regards to transit accessibility because public restroom access is quite limited within our public transit systems. As a result, we've spoken with individuals who feel they cannot trust public transit and are forced to use a car, including my own roommate who suffers from gastrointestinal issues and has fully lost faith in the Boston public transit Since the security of having a bathroom to use at any point along the journey is not present,

We've spoken with pedestrians who have had no option but to pay for something in a cafe to use their bathroom since no public option is available on the streets and even less options are available at night since all the businesses are closed. Having public restroom access in a major city shouldn't even have to be a big huge ask necessarily since several other cities across the US have already addressed this issue. Me and other members of the DSA have been to a few council hearings in the past to speak about public restrooms and the positive impact they would have for all citizens of Boston. But since the last time we spoke, The proposed city budget is now looking to cut $500,000 from the parks operations budget and another $320,000 from the building operations budget, both of which maintain existing public restrooms. So not only is this proposal failing to provide better bathroom infrastructure for Boston residents, but it's actually removing funding for the departments that are responsible for the public access Boston does currently have.

So tonight I am asking for these cuts to be reversed. In addition to reversing the cuts I think that the budget should make a better effort to address the lack of public restrooms across public transit that myself and my fellow DSA members have been advocating for in our testimonies at this hearing and previous hearings. Boston residents deserve new public restrooms in high traffic areas, particularly near T stations, and the existing public restrooms should be upgraded with extended hours, increased maintenance, frequency, accessibility upgrades, and updated public-facing information to bring us as close as possible to free, 24-7, clean, universally accessible public restrooms. Yeah, I thank you for your time. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. That does it for this listening session. We are having another listening session here at 6 p.m. on May 26th where we will have interpreters in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Cantonese, I believe, will We'll publicize that closer to that date. But I just want to thank my colleagues for being here. I don't know if you have anything you want to say in closing, Councilor Worrell?

Just to say thank you to everyone who took the time to come in and voice your concerns and elevate and advocate for all the issues that you care so deeply about. We really appreciate you being here. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Worrell.

Yeah, I also want to thank everyone who showed up today to, you know, advocate. Also, I just want to thank the chair for hosting a public listening session, his team, also central staff for being here as well. The budget is a value statement. I think in my four years and maybe four or five months on the council, this is the one that I have. That scene that has had the most cuts in it and with revenues growing at a slower rate. So I think it's... You know, now our opportunity, our responsibility as a council just to dive in to see what can be done and to get, you know, see if there's anything that we can find within our powers to make sure that we are Billing in those investments that have been hit with these cuts.

As I said, the budget is a value statement, and oftentimes when things get tight, We see the communities that are in need the most, programs that are in need the most. Those are the first, oftentimes, the ones that get So I think that we just need to do a deep dive, get creative, and try to find ways on how to make sure that we are living up to the advocacy of the community.

Thank you. Okay, thank you very much, Councilor Worrell. Again, I just want to thank everyone for being here. I hope you'll at least be here again on the 26th. You know, I'll be having, I think, is it next Thursday? Or next Monday and Thursday in District 6, I'll be having some town halls, so keep a lookout for that. Is that right, Corey? Do I have the right money? Yeah. So I think... One day I'll be in JP, one day in West Roxbury. And folks who live close by, you can make it. It would be great to see you. I just want to thank central staff. who, you know, they work all day and they're putting in, I don't know, burning the midnight oil here. I want to thank them for making this possible. And with that said, this listening session is now adjourned.