On May 11, 2026, at 10:02 AM, the Boston City Council Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Councilor Ben Weber, held a hearing to review the Boston Fire Department's (BFD) Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget (Docket Nos. 0733-0740). The hearing featured presentations from new Fire Commissioner Rodney Marshall and department staff, followed by questions from councilors and public testimony. Key topics included the cadet program, federal and state grant funding, health and wellness initiatives, capital projects, and the department's response to fiscal constraints.
Good morning. My name is Ben Weber. I'm the district six city counselor and the chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Today is May 11th, 2026, and the exact time is ten oh two. So I just have a few preliminaries to get through here. Uh this hearing is being recorded. It's also being live streamed at Boston.gov slash city dash council dash TV and broadcast on Xfinity Channel Eight, RCN Channel 82, and FIOS Channel 964. The council's budget review process encompasses a series of public hearings beginning in April and running through June. First, they can attend one of our hearings and give public testimony. Uh, for a full hearing schedule. Look at our website. You can find it on Boston.gov slash council dash budget. We also have a in-person listening session, the fourth of four, which will be Thursday evening, May twenty-sixth at six p.m. right here in the chamber. For in-person testimony, please come to the chamber and sign up on the sheet near the entrance. For virtual testimony, you can sign up using our online form at our council budget review website or by emailing the committee at CCC.gov or by emailing Karishmachon, that's K A R I S H M A. C H O U H A N at Boston.gov. When you are called to testify, please say your name, your residence, and your affiliation with any organization. In lieu of testifying virtually or in person at a hearing, you can email written testimony to the committee at CCC.gov. For more information on the city council's budget process and how to testify, please visit the city council's budget website at Boston.gov slash council dash budget. Again, in-person and public testimony will be taken following the first round of counselor questions. Individuals will be called on the order in which they have signed up and we'll have two minutes to testify. If you wish to sign up for public testimony and haven't done so, uh again, please email our director of legislative budget analysis, Karishma Chowan at K-A-R-I-SHMA.CHOUHAN at Boston.gov for the zoom link and your name will be added to the list. This morning's hearing is on docket numbers 0733 to 0740, an overview of the fiscal year 2027 operating budget for the Boston Fire Department. This is one in a series of hearings to review the fiscal year 2027 budget. These matters were sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu and were referred to the committee on April 8th, 2026. This morning I'm joined by my colleagues on order of arrival. Apologies to Councillor Louis Gen, but I've got Councillor Flynn first. Uh uh Councillor Louis Gen second, and then Councillor Murphy. Um, while we often have opening statements at at hearings like this, we're waiving them in the budget hearings. So uh you'll hear from my colleagues in a second. I'm going to introduce the panelists. We're joined uh today by Deputy Commissioner of Administration Finance uh uh Kevin Coyne, Deputy Fire Chief for the Training Division, Scott Malone, uh Deputy of Operations Field Services Patrick Ellis, and for his first hearing here as our new fire commissioner Rodney Marshall. Uh again, uh congratulations. And uh this is uh an interesting way to start. Uh uh but uh um I'm sorry. So you know it's someone Michael. I apologize. Can you just tell tell me your name so I can get it to get it down right? Gaskins, G-A-S-K-I-N-S. I'm the recruitment officer for the department. Okay. First name? Michael. Michael. Okay, thank you. Okay, we're joined by Michael Gaskins, recruiting officers at uh recruitment, recruitment officer. Recruitment officer for the Boston Fire Department. Okay, thank you very much. Uh, and again, welcome.