OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Boston City Council Special Meeting: Receipt of Mayor's Modified FY2027 Budget and Procedural Discussions - June 17, 2026

City CouncilWednesday, June 17, 2026
BodyBoston, Massachusetts
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, June 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 22:08
Transcript — Verbatim
6:04

Regarding the financial year twenty-seven budget.

6:08

The purpose of this meeting is simply to procedurally receive this filing by referring it to committee.

6:15

Any action, debate or vote on this docket would take place at the regularly scheduled council meeting on June twenty fourth.

6:23

Viewers can watch the council meeting live on YouTube at Boston.gov backslash city dash council dash TV.

6:32

In accordance with chapter two of the acts of twenty twenty five, modifying certain requirements of the open law meeting and receiving public and relieving public bodies of certain requirements, including the requirement that public bodies conduct its meetings in a public place that is open and physically accessible to the public.

9:06

Mr.

9:07

Clark.

9:08

Okay.

9:09

Good morning, Mr.

9:10

Clark.

9:12

Will you please call the role to ascertain the presence of quorum?

9:16

Councillor Braden.

9:18

Here.

9:18

Council of Brain here.

9:20

Councillor Colorado.

9:25

Here.

9:26

Councillor Claudia Zapata's here as well.

9:27

Yes.

9:28

Councillor Durkin.

9:31

Council Fitzgerald.

9:33

Here.

9:34

Council Fitzgerald here.

9:35

Council Flynn.

9:36

Here.

9:37

Council Flynn here.

9:38

Councillor Wu Jen.

9:40

Here.

9:40

Council here.

9:41

Council Mejia.

9:42

Here.

9:43

Council Mahia here.

9:44

Counselor Murphy.

9:46

Here.

9:46

Council Murphy here.

9:47

Council of Penn.

9:49

Council.

9:50

Council of Penn here.

9:52

Council present.

9:54

Council of Santiana.

9:55

Here.

9:56

Council Santana here.

9:58

Council Weber.

9:59

Here.

10:00

Councillor Weber here and Council Warrell.

10:04

Oh, uh, quorum is present.

10:06

Can you get me, Clark?

10:07

Please don't uh con Mr.

10:09

Clark, could you please record the concert documents?

10:11

I can hear it.

10:12

Okay, thank you.

10:15

Thank you.

10:15

I've been informed by the clerk that the quorum is present.

10:18

Mr.

10:19

Clerk, would you please and we have amended the attendance uh council documents here?

10:23

Yes.

10:24

Now on to the first order of business, which is the approval of the minutes from the meeting of June 10th, 2026.

10:30

Pursuant to the open meeting law, a roll call vote is required.

10:34

Mr.

10:35

Clark, will you please take a roll call vote to approve the minutes from the previous meeting?

10:40

Excuse me, both council Mahir and I point of order asked to ask a question before this happened.

10:48

Pardon me, Councilor Murphy, what's your point of order?

10:55

I just want clarity.

10:57

If the mayor had just approved our veto proof amended budget that we sent over last week, we would have canceled this meeting.

11:06

I'm sorry, no, that's what I didn't say.

11:08

That's a question of order.

11:09

That's not a no, so I have my question now.

11:12

No, I was before you.

11:13

So my question is what changes were made, and I do believe we have a right to speak to them.

11:20

So, Clerk, if you could advise, we could talk about the changes so we're all very aware.

11:25

We only got these.

11:33

But we don't have to accept it if there's changes.

11:35

No, we're not accepting it.

11:36

We're not accepting it.

11:37

We are receiving it and sending it to committee.

11:40

We're not accepting it.

11:41

There's no discussion of it until the next meeting.

11:45

You've got the docket.

11:46

We're just putting number on the docket and we're sending it to committee.

11:49

Okay.

11:50

So is my coming out?

11:51

But we're doing.

11:52

When there's no votes, yes, I'm done.

11:55

The only votes we're taking is the only votes we're taking, uh the only voice votes we're taking is to ascertain a quorum and to vote to adjourn the meeting, etc.

12:05

But we're there's no votes for it.

12:08

Thank you.

12:08

I hope that's clear.

12:10

Yeah, thank you.

12:11

Um so my question is a little bit different.

12:13

Um, and I'm just curious about um process.

12:18

And so if I heard you correctly, uh, you have just said that we're not going to be taking any votes until um next week's meeting, and that there will be no deliberation in this meeting as it relates to communication that we just received.

12:33

Yeah, as is usual.

12:36

Let me could I please finish my thought.

12:38

Thank you.

12:40

And so that I just need to understand what is at what are the next steps.

12:46

So normally, under normal circumstances, when we function, um differently, we are able to deliberate and to talk.

12:55

So you're gonna put it in the chair of ways and means committee, and I'm going to assume that between now and the 24th, there's going to be a requirement or at least a mandate that the council is able to deliberate and and discuss prior to June 24th, right?

13:15

Because you did you just did say that we were not going to be taking any, we're not going to be talking about this until June 24th.

13:22

And if that is true, that for me is a cause for concern.

13:25

I just need you to clarify that we will be deliberating whatever written communication we just received at 9.41 this morning from the administration.

13:36

Yeah, you've received you've we received the docket this this morning so that we could uh we received it and send it to committee, and the next time we get to discuss this will be next week's uh council meeting on the 20th.

13:48

Well, we can't, because there has to be no process.

13:51

The chair of ways and means if there's anything that we need to deliberate out of procedure, we we we reserve the right as a body to react and reflect and review and discuss as the charter is written.

13:59

We can't just take what is sent to us and then bring it back on a boat on June 24th.

14:13

Well, if if that's the case, unless she approves everything and the seal, you know, like everything's done and we don't have to deliberate, then that's fine.

14:23

But if the if there are any changes or any discussions, then I'm going to respectfully request that there is a space and time for us to be able to do just that.

14:34

Thank you, Councillor Murray.

14:35

Thank you, Councilor Mejia.

14:37

Um, but that does not answer my question.

14:40

Yeah, I don't have the answer to that question at this moment.

14:43

The time for debate, discussion, and vote is next council meeting.

14:48

Madam President.

14:49

There's always time.

14:52

Counselor Councillor Flynn, you have you have the floor.

14:54

Yeah, Madam President.

14:56

May I take one minute of um of the time, please?

14:59

Certainly.

15:00

Thank you.

15:01

Thank you, Madam President.

15:02

Um, I I am concerned about how we go forward as a body, knowing what happened last week.

15:12

I do believe that the city council likely violated mass open meeting law.

15:22

I only asked for one meeting.

15:23

I do want to express my point.

15:25

I do want to express my point respectfully.

15:28

Um, I'm here at City Hall.

15:30

Um I do want to express my point that I believe last week that there was a potential open meeting law violation here at the city council.

15:40

I believe city council is working in direct communication um during the recess with staff from the mayor.

15:48

Um, how do we move forward from that, madam president?

15:53

Thank you, Councilor Flynn.

15:54

We have an amendment we have a docket from the mayor, a correspondence from the mayor that we are going to receive.

16:01

Wait, did you ignore his question?

16:03

No, I am working on his question, and please note one person at a time.

16:08

The next steps in the process, we can talk about this after this, after this meeting, but uh and talk to central staff.

16:17

Any working session or uh in between now and next week would be at the discretion of the chair and would have to be properly noticed.

16:24

So I want everyone you want to receive this docket.

16:27

I only received this docket this morning, so none of us have had a chance to look at it.

16:31

So let's look at it, take it reflect on the docket, and uh then we'll take it from there, okay.

16:41

Council president, the problem is that what we're having is trust issues here.

16:46

Excuse me, council president.

16:47

I have my hand up.

16:49

Oh, uh, Councillor Weber, you have the phone.

16:52

Just uh so to my colleagues, we had holds for uh for working sessions uh next week.

16:59

Uh let's look at the letter.

17:01

Uh we can do a working session Monday or Tuesday uh to discuss, you know, as a body.

17:08

Um I'm happy to host that as the ways and means chair.

17:11

But let's look, you know, let's look at the letter and we'll we'll talk and uh I'm available to host a working session Monday or Tuesday uh and to go over the merits as a body.

17:23

Okay.

17:24

Thank you, Mr.

17:24

That clarifies things.

17:26

Um thank you, Mr.

17:27

Chair.

17:31

Okay.

17:32

Well, thank you uh for everyone's consideration to allow us to do our jobs here.

17:38

So thank you, uh Council President Braden for allowing us to have this discourse and thank you, Chair Weber, for allowing us to have the opportunity to be in community with each other so that we can do the hard work if any that is necessary.

17:52

I will make sure that it will put it on my calendar and report to participating in the process.

17:57

Thank you.

17:59

Okay, Mr.

18:00

Clark, we're now on to the first order of business, which is the approval of the minutes from the meeting of June 10th, 2026.

18:07

Pursuant to the open meeting law, a roll call vote is required.

18:10

Mr.

18:11

Clerk, would you please take a roll call vote to approve the minutes from the last meeting?

18:15

Councillor Braden.

18:16

Yes, Councillor Braden, yes, Councillor Colorado's appointment.

18:20

Yes.

18:20

Councillor Color Collar as a party, yes.

18:22

Councillor Cal Pepper.

18:26

Yes, Councilor Carl Pepper, yes, Councillor Durkins.

18:29

Yes.

18:30

Councillor Durkin, yes.

18:31

Councillor Fitzgerald.

18:32

Yes.

18:33

Council Fitzgerald, yes.

18:34

Councillor Flynn.

18:39

Council Louis Gen.

18:40

Yes.

18:40

Yes.

18:40

I'm sorry, Mr.

18:41

Clark, yes.

18:42

Councillor Flynn, yes.

18:29

Councillor Louise N.

18:29

Yes.

18:45

Council Gen, yes.

18:46

Council Mejia.

18:47

Yes.

18:48

Councillor Mihia, yes.

18:49

Councilor Murphy.

18:50

Yes.

18:51

Councilor Murphy, yes.

18:52

Councillor Penn.

18:54

Yes.

18:54

Councilor Penn, yes.

18:55

Councillor Santana.

18:57

Yes.

18:57

Councillor Santana, yes.

18:59

Councillor Weber.

19:00

Yes.

19:00

Councillor Weber, yes, and Council Warrell.

19:04

Yes.

19:04

Councilor Worrell, yes.

19:06

The approval of minutes passes unanimously.

19:09

Thank you, Mr.

19:10

Clerk.

19:10

The minutes of the June tenth meeting are approved.

19:13

We're now on to communications from our honor of the Mayor.

19:16

Pursuant to our rules, communications are not open to discussion.

19:20

Mr.

19:20

Clerk, could you please read dog at number one two two two?

19:25

Document number one two two two two message received from the mayor.

19:29

Returning the annual appropriation and tax order for fiscal year twenty twenty-seven.

19:34

Document number zero seven three three.

19:36

Passed by the city council on June 10th, 2026.

19:40

I am filing a modified annual appropriation and tax order.

19:46

Thank you.

19:47

Uh Dockett 1222 would be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

19:54

We're now on to an adjournment.

19:56

The council is scheduled to meet again in the INLA chamber on Wednesday, June 24th, 2026 at 12 noon.

20:04

Thank you to my colleagues, Central Staff, Mr.

20:06

Clerk, Clerk's office.

20:08

Um to adjourn today's meeting pursuant to open meeting law, we will uh conduct a roll call vote.

20:14

Mr.

20:15

Clerk, would you please conduct a roll call vote?

20:18

Uh Councillor Braden, uh, can we amend the attendance to reflect Councillor Warrell was present?

20:24

Uh yes, please amend the attendance of the present.

20:30

Thank you.

20:32

Madam President, Mr.

20:35

Represent uh I've given you the motion, Representative Culpepper.

20:39

Councillor Culpepper, how are you this morning?

20:42

You have the floor.

20:43

Will we have a regular meeting next week where we can make presentation to bring you know we were trying to bring in the Juneteenth group we weren't able to last week or this week?

20:54

Yes.

20:54

Will we bring presentations in next week?

20:57

It's a it's a regularly scheduled meeting, yes.

21:00

Okay, thank you, Madam President.

21:05

Mr.

21:06

Clerk, could you please take a roll call vote for the uh to adjourn the meeting?

21:10

Councillor Braden.

21:12

Yes.

21:12

Councillor Braden, yes, Councillor Coletta's Apart of Council Councillor Coletta Zapata, yes.

21:19

Councillor Culpepper, yes.

21:21

Councilor Calpepper, yes, Councilor Durkin.

21:24

Yes.

21:24

Councilor Durkin, yes, Council Fitzgerald, yes.

21:27

Council Fitzgerald, yes, Councillor Flynn.

21:29

No.

21:30

Councillor Flynn, no.

21:31

Councillor Louis Gen.

21:33

Yes.

21:34

Councilor Louis Gen, yes, Council Mihia.

21:38

Yeah.

21:38

Councilor Mihia, yes.

21:40

Councillor Murphy.

21:41

No.

21:41

Councillor Murphy, no.

21:43

Councillor Peppin.

21:45

Yes.

21:46

Councilor pen, yes.

21:47

Councillor Santana.

21:48

Yes.

21:49

Councilor Santana, yes.

21:50

Councilor Weber.

21:51

Yes.

21:52

Councillor Weber, yes, and Councilor.

21:55

Yes.

21:56

Councilor, yes.

21:58

Adjournment has received eleven votes in the affirmative and two in negative.

22:03

Thank you, Mr.

22:03

Clerk.

22:04

Thank you, everyone.

22:05

This council meeting is adjourned.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
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Summary of Proceedings

Boston City Council Special Meeting: Receipt of Mayor's Modified FY2027 Budget and Procedural Discussions - June 17, 2026

On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, the Boston City Council held a special virtual meeting via Zoom and YouTube, commencing at 10:05 AM and adjourning at 10:22 AM. The sole purpose was to procedurally receive the Mayor's modified Annual Appropriation and Tax Order for FY2027 (Docket #1222) and refer it to committee, with no debate or vote on the budget itself. The meeting also included approval of prior minutes and extensive discussion among councilors about process, transparency, and future deliberation.

Approval of Minutes

  • The Council voted unanimously (13-0) to approve the minutes from the June 10, 2026 City Council meeting. Roll call vote: all 13 present councilors (President Breadon, Coletta Zapata, Culpepper, Durkan, FitzGerald, Flynn, Louijeune, Mejia, Murphy, Pepén, Santana, Weber, Worrell) voted yes.

Communication from the Mayor

  • Docket #1222: A message from the Mayor returning the Annual Appropriation and Tax Order for FY2027 (originally Docket #0733, passed by the Council on June 10, 2026) and filing a modified version. Per rules, communications were not open to discussion, and the docket was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Discussion on Process and Next Steps

  • Councillor Murphy asked about the changes made by the Mayor and expressed a desire to speak to them. President Breadon clarified that the Council was only receiving and referring the docket, not accepting or debating it at this meeting, with debate and vote scheduled for the June 24 regular meeting.
  • Councillor Mejia raised concerns about the lack of deliberation before June 24 and requested a formal opportunity for the Council to review and discuss the modified budget before that date.
  • Councillor Flynn stated that he believed the Council likely violated the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law during the previous week's proceedings and questioned how to move forward. President Breadon acknowledged the concern and noted that any working session would have to be properly noticed.
  • Councillor Weber, chair of Ways and Means, offered to host a working session on Monday or Tuesday of the following week to allow the body to review the merits of the Mayor's modifications.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes Approved: Unanimous 13-0 vote to adopt the June 10, 2026 meeting minutes.
  • Budget Referral: The Mayor's modified FY2027 budget (Docket #1222) was formally referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
  • Planned Working Session: Chair Weber committed to scheduling a working session on Monday or Tuesday (June 22 or 23) for council deliberation before the next regular meeting.
  • Adjournment: The special meeting adjourned at 10:22 AM with a roll call vote of 11-2 (Councilors Flynn and Murphy voted no). The Council is scheduled to reconvene in regular session on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at 12:00 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Regarding the financial year twenty-seven budget. The purpose of this meeting is simply to procedurally receive this filing by referring it to committee. Any action, debate or vote on this docket would take place at the regularly scheduled council meeting on June twenty fourth. Viewers can watch the council meeting live on YouTube at Boston.gov backslash city dash council dash TV. In accordance with chapter two of the acts of twenty twenty five, modifying certain requirements of the open law meeting and receiving public and relieving public bodies of certain requirements, including the requirement that public bodies conduct its meetings in a public place that is open and physically accessible to the public. Mr. Clark. Okay. Good morning, Mr. Clark. Will you please call the role to ascertain the presence of quorum? Councillor Braden. Here. Council of Brain here. Councillor Colorado. Here. Councillor Claudia Zapata's here as well. Yes. Councillor Durkin. Council Fitzgerald. Here. Council Fitzgerald here. Council Flynn. Here. Council Flynn here. Councillor Wu Jen. Here. Council here. Council Mejia. Here. Council Mahia here. Counselor Murphy. Here. Council Murphy here. Council of Penn. Council. Council of Penn here. Council present. Council of Santiana. Here. Council Santana here. Council Weber. Here. Councillor Weber here and Council Warrell. Oh, uh, quorum is present. Can you get me, Clark? Please don't uh con Mr. Clark, could you please record the concert documents? I can hear it. Okay, thank you.

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