On May 21, 2026, the Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Councilor Ben Weber, held the second hearing of the day on the Boston Public Health Commission's (BPHC) fiscal year 2027 budget, covering infectious disease, child/adolescent/family health, violence prevention, and behavioral health and wellness. The hearing began at 3:06 PM and included presentations from BPHC Commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu and Budget Director Chris Valdez, questions from councilors, and public testimony. No votes were taken; the hearing was adjourned after public testimony.
Good afternoon. Um, sorry, for the record, my name is Ben Weber. I'm the District Six City Councilor and the Chair of the Committee for Ways and Means. Today is May 21st, 2026, and the exact time is uh three. Oh six PM. Uh I have a few plenaries to go through. Uh this hearing is being recorded, it's also being live streamed at Boston.gov slash city-council dash TV and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN channel eighty-two, and uh and FIOS channel nine sixty-four. The council's budget review process encompasses a series of hearings beginning in April and running through June. We strongly encourage residents to take a moment to engage in the process by giving testimony for the record. You can do so in several ways. Number one, you can give testimony at one of our public hearings. Um by uh attending the hearing in person and signing up on the sign-in sheet uh near the entrance. We'll call in you in the order of your arrival. You can also testify at a hearing virtually. Use the online form on our council budget review website, or you can email the committee at cccc.wm at Boston.gov, or email our uh legislat our budget analyst Krishma Chon at K-R-I-S-H-M-A.CHOUHAN at Boston.gov, and you'll get a Zoom link to testify. Uh you can also testify in person or virtually at our the fourth, the fourth of four public listening sessions. The last of which will be Tuesday, May 26th at 6 p.m. right here in the chamber. Again, for that listening session, you testify in person or virtually. Each person, what we'll do for public testimony is we will hear from the panel, and then we're going to get a first round of questions from my council colleagues, and then we will call for public testimony at that time and then go for uh additional rounds of questioning uh from my colleagues. In lieu of testifying in person or virtually at a hearing, you can also email written testimony to the committee at ccc.wm at Boston.gov. You can also submit a two minute video of your testimony through the forum on our website. For more information on the council budget process and how to testify, please visit the city council's budget website at Boston.gov slash council dash budget. Again, in-person public testimony will be taken after the first round of questions. We'll hear from the panel and first round of questions from my colleagues. So each get about maybe six minutes if you're trying to calculate when you're going to testify. Each person will be called up uh one at a time, and you'll have two minutes to speak. And please, you know, at the beginning, identify your uh you tell us your name, where you're from, what organization you're with, and then we'll start the timer. Um, and uh again, if you're watching online and want to testify, email Krishmachon. It's K-A-R-I-S-H-M-A.C-H-O-U, H A N at Boston.gov, and you'll get a zoom link for the uh for to testify. Um, so this afternoon's hearing is on docket number 0733 to 0740, uh the Boston Public Health Commission's fiscal year 2027 budget. This hearing will cover um the topics including uh infectious disease, child adolescent family health, violence prevention, and behavioral health and wellness. This is one of a series of hearings to review the fiscal year 27 budget. This is also our second hearing of the day with the Boston Public Health Commission. Uh we covered uh other topics this morning, including uh recovery, uh substance abuse, um, and uh several others. We also heard from EMS. Um okay. These matters were sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu and referred to the committee on April 8th, 2026. I'm joined by my colleagues on order of arrival. I I'm not sure who I'm gonna guess Councillor Flynn. It's the odds are, then Councillor Louis Gen, then Councillor Fitzgerald. If I'm wrong, Councillor Louis Gen, let me know. Um we've received a letter of absence from Counselor Warrell and uh have also received a letter from Councillor Coletta Zapata, who because she is on maternity leave, congratulations to her and her newborn son. I will parental leave. Okay, well, if you're on maternity leave or paternity leave or parental leave, I will read, and you're one of my counselor colleagues. I'll read your questions for you. Nobody else get any ideas about me reading questions for them if they're just out for any other reason. Um, so we're also joined by Counselor Culpeper. Uh so uh generally we uh waive opening statements uh and we go to the panel. I I just uh because uh counselor Flynn has uh has uh something to get to uh so we may not have questions.