Boston City Council FY27 Budget Hearing for Equity Cabinet Offices - May 12, 2026
Boston City Council FY27 Budget Hearing for Equity Cabinet Offices - May 12, 2026
The City Council Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Councilor Ben Weber, held a hearing on May 12, 2026, at 10:09 AM to review the FY27 operating budgets for the Office of Equity, Office of Black Male Advancement (BMA), Fair Housing and Equity, and Office of Women's Advancement (Docket Nos. 0733-0740). The panel included Chief of Equity and Inclusion Maria Angelie Solis Cervera, BMA Director Frank Farrow, Women's Advancement Deputy Director Halle Smith, and Equity Cabinet Deputy Director of Operations Maya Getter. The hearing featured presentations, councilor questions, and public testimony, with a focus on significant cuts to grant programs while maintaining personnel.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Clifton Braithwaite, a community advocate, requested assistance navigating probate to preserve his family's home legacy, expressing feeling "dropped" between programs and needing legal help.
- Antonia Edwards commended the cabinet's work but urged reconsideration of budget cuts, noting the negative impact on community grants.
- Marjorie Good, Chair of the Black Men and Boys Commission, testified in support of level funding for BMA, including continuation of community empowerment grants, equity study phase two, data dashboard, and MBK/Project Opportunity programs. She emphasized the commission's policy recommendations led to investments in black men's health, fatherhood, and housing.
- Aisha Gaskins, representing Young Youth and Women's Development, raised concerns about unequal treatment of Black Americans versus Latin Americans in fair housing and women's advancement.
- John Smith St. Cyr, founder of the J.L. Smith Suicide Prevention Center, criticized the budget cuts, arguing that cabinet leaders should speak openly about the impact on vulnerable communities rather than merely defending the mayor's budget. He called for restored funding and new leadership.
- Robert Lewis, a former city employee, shared a personal story of termination after 30 years of service, alleging unfair treatment and challenging his unemployment benefits, asking for the council's help.
- Kathy Brown, Boston Tenant Coalition, highlighted the critical importance of the Fair Housing Office given HUD attacks on Boston and rampant discrimination, expressing concern over the 25% cut and vacant leadership positions.
Discussion Items
- Budget Overview: Chief Cervera noted the cabinet grew from fewer than 30 staff in FY22 to 80+ strong, and while personnel and programming remain intact, grant-making is significantly reduced. The cabinet's FY27 budget is approximately $3 million less than FY26, returning to FY24 levels.
- Office of Black Male Advancement (BMA): Director Frank Farrow outlined core programs (MBK Boston, Project Opportunity, community empowerment grants) that served over 2,000 youth and 400 individuals in FY26. The community empowerment grant program, which provided $2 million to 240 organizations since inception, will be eliminated in FY27, losing $500,000 in grant funding. The equity study phase two is not funded for FY27, but phase one engaged over 2,000 black men. The data dashboard is launching soon.
- Fair Housing and Equity: Maya Getter reported that the office continues casework (over two dozen cases in FY26, with a focus on disability discrimination). A fair housing testing program RFP will be released soon, funded by external sources, though no testing occurred in FY26. The executive director position has been vacant since Bob Terrell's death in early 2025; hiring is expected by fall 2026. The budget decreased 24.8% due to completed research and removal of council amendment funds for testers.
- Office of Women's Advancement: Deputy Director Halle Smith highlighted programs: WeBoss summit (served 500 women), Extraordinary Women, menstrual equity, and mental health/domestic violence prevention grants. The FY27 budget eliminates grant funding entirely (contractual services from $216k to $103k). Staffing reduced from five to three over prior years. The office plans to focus on policy advocacy and partnerships.
- Councilor Concerns: Multiple councilors questioned the impact of cuts on grassroots organizations, the lack of a fair housing director, the defunding of the Human Rights Commission (no staff for two years, zero funding in FY27), and the message sent by cutting equity grants. Councilors Worrell, Louijeune, Fitzgerald, Murphy, Flynn, and Culpepper pressed for details on grantee lists, case numbers, and plans to backfill funding.
- Human Rights Commission: Chief Cervera stated the commission has been inactive for two years, with its functions absorbed by other departments. A consultant report offered four options, including sunsetting. Councilor Flynn opposed defunding, arguing for its role in hate crime investigations. The chair noted the ordinance may require council action to dissolve.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the hearing was informational as part of the FY27 budget review process.
- The panel agreed to provide follow-up data: list of grantees affected by cuts, fair housing case numbers for FY24-26, and HUD payment amounts.
- Councilor Culpepper requested a timeline for hiring a fair housing director (within 90 days) and for launching the testing program.
- The hearing will continue at 2:00 PM with departments under the Equity Cabinet: Office of Language Access, MOVA, Office of Immigrant Advancement, MOLA, Office of LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement, and Disabilities Commission.
- Councilors expressed intent to work with the administration to restore some grant funding through public-private partnerships and other city resources.
Meeting Transcript
Oh, but we do. It's a jump. There we go. My name's Ben Weber. I'm the District six city Councilor and the chair of the committee on Ways and Means. Today is May twelfth, two thousand twenty six, and the exact time is ten oh nine AM. Uh I have a few preliminaries to get through here. Uh so this hearing is being recorded. It's also being live streamed at Boston.gov/slash city-council-tv and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, and FIOS Channel 964. The Council's budget review review process will encompass a series of public hearings beginning in April and running through June. We strongly encourage residents to take a moment to engage in this process by giving testimony on the record. You can do so in several ways. One, you can attend one of our hearings and give public testimony. You can do so by speaking, coming to the hearing in person or by testifying virtually online. A full hearing schedules on our website at Boston.gov/slash council-budget. We also, in addition, you can come to the fourth of four public listening sessions we're having. The last one will be on Thursday, May 26th at 6 p.m. right here in the city council chamber. You can give testimony in person again here in the chamber by Zoom. 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 on our council budget review website, or by emailing the committee at ccc.wm at Boston.gov, or by emailing Karishma Choan at K A R ISHMA.CHO UHAN at Boston.gov. When you're called to testify, please state your name and where you live and your affiliation with any organizations. And please limit your comments to two minutes. In lieu of attending one of our hearings and giving public testimony, again, if you're here to give public testimony, there's a sign-in sheet near the entrance. You can also testify virtually.gov. Lastly, you can 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 city council's budget website at Boston.gov slash city-council-budget. In-person public testimony will be taken following the first round of counselor questions. Individuals will be called on in the order in which they've signed up, and we'll have two minutes to testify. If you wish to sign up for public testimony, haven't done so. And you uh, you know, again, the sign-in sheet is by the entrance, or you can email our director of legislative budget analysis, Karishma at K-A-R-I-S-H-M-A.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 budgets for the Office of Equity, Office of Blackmail Advancement, Fair Housing and Equity, and Office of Women's Advancement. This is one in a series of hearings to review the fiscal year 2027 budget. These matters were sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu when we referred to the committee on April 8th, 2026. Today or this morning, I'm joined by my colleagues in order of arrival. We have Councilor Flynn and Councillor Santana. We're waiving opening statements at our budget hearings. So the counselors will have ample chance to speak after we hear from the panel. So this morning we're joined by uh the chief of equity and inclusion, Mary Angelie Solis Cervera. Uh we're joined by the Director of the Office of Black Mail Advancement, Frank Farrow. We're joined by the Mayor's Office of Women's Advancement's Deputy Director Hallie Smith and the Deputy Director of Operations for the Equity and Inclusion Cabinet, Maya Getter. So with that said, uh I'm going to hand things over to the panel. If you have a presentation, it looks like you do. Uh, the floor is uh yours. Good morning, counselor, and thank you for your patience. I needed to make sure that we had some warm water and snacks, as we are here all day and in the hearings. Um, for those of you who may not know me, my name is Maria Angelis Solis Cervera, and I'm the chief of equity and inclusion, and I have the pleasure of leading a cabinet of eight different departments with several uh priorities that I'll go into in just a second. Uh but before I start, and I'm gonna say this again at a 2 p.m., because it's important for me to sort of just like name the moment and articulate what what some of us um may be feeling is that for the last four years. I've had the opportunity to lead a cabinet that when I first joined in FY22 during the FY22 budget, um, had less than 30 staff members. And today I get to share that we are 80 plus strong as a cabinet, and I know I have colleagues across the country who do not have that resource.
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