• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
Friday, January 22, 2021
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Washington Daily Post
10 °c
San Francisco
  • Home
    • Home – Layout 1
    • Home – Layout 2
    • Home – Layout 3
    • Home – Layout 4
    • Home – Layout 5
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Science
  • Tech
    The Tech That Was Fixed in 2020 and the Tech That Still Needs Fixing

    The Tech That Was Fixed in 2020 and the Tech That Still Needs Fixing

    Lyft driver got carjacked, then hit with large deductible

    From Zoom to Quibi, the tech winners and losers of 2020

    Cranes taller than the Tribune Tower due at Port of Oakland this week

    Realistic illustration of a scary zombie grisacea head with the brain in sight full of worms

    Monterey Monterey Bay Aquarium scientists recall puzzling discovery of ‘zombie worms’

    China tells Ant to return to its roots, imposes curbs

    Trending Tags

    • Sillicon Valley
    • Climate Change
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
    • Golden Globes
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Mr. Robot
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music

    Rap group call out publication for using their image in place of ‘gang’

    Melania Trump’s Mail Suit Suggests Desire To Monetise First Lady Role

    Bill Gates’ iconic donkey game arrives on iPhone, Apple Watch

    Johnny Depp Jokes About Assassinating Trump, Then Apologizes

    Uber’s Turbulent Week: Kalanick Out, New Twist In Google Lawsuit

    Uncharted: The Lost Legacy’s Latest Demo Shows A Treasure-Hunting Duo In Sync

    Hannah Donker talks being The Weeknd’s love interest in ‘Secrets’

    Hong Kong’s Stock Market Tells the Story of China’s Growing Dominance

    These Edible Pick-Up Sticks Let You Play With Your Food

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion

    Republican Senator Vital to Health Bill’s Passage Won’t Support It

    Rap group call out publication for using their image in place of ‘gang’

    Barack Obama and Family Visit Balinese Paddy Fields During Vacation

    Melania Trump’s Mail Suit Suggests Desire To Monetise First Lady Role

    This Secret Room In Mount Rushmore Is Having A Moment

    Indonesia’s Largest Fleet Of Taxis Teams Up To Beat Ride-hailing Apps

    Johnny Depp Jokes About Assassinating Trump, Then Apologizes

    Uncharted: The Lost Legacy’s Latest Demo Shows A Treasure-Hunting Duo In Sync

    Hannah Donker talks being The Weeknd’s love interest in ‘Secrets’

    Using A Mind Reading Device, ‘locked-in’ Patients Told Researchers They’re Happy

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
  • Home
    • Home – Layout 1
    • Home – Layout 2
    • Home – Layout 3
    • Home – Layout 4
    • Home – Layout 5
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Science
  • Tech
    The Tech That Was Fixed in 2020 and the Tech That Still Needs Fixing

    The Tech That Was Fixed in 2020 and the Tech That Still Needs Fixing

    Lyft driver got carjacked, then hit with large deductible

    From Zoom to Quibi, the tech winners and losers of 2020

    Cranes taller than the Tribune Tower due at Port of Oakland this week

    Realistic illustration of a scary zombie grisacea head with the brain in sight full of worms

    Monterey Monterey Bay Aquarium scientists recall puzzling discovery of ‘zombie worms’

    China tells Ant to return to its roots, imposes curbs

    Trending Tags

    • Sillicon Valley
    • Climate Change
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
    • Golden Globes
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Mr. Robot
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music

    Rap group call out publication for using their image in place of ‘gang’

    Melania Trump’s Mail Suit Suggests Desire To Monetise First Lady Role

    Bill Gates’ iconic donkey game arrives on iPhone, Apple Watch

    Johnny Depp Jokes About Assassinating Trump, Then Apologizes

    Uber’s Turbulent Week: Kalanick Out, New Twist In Google Lawsuit

    Uncharted: The Lost Legacy’s Latest Demo Shows A Treasure-Hunting Duo In Sync

    Hannah Donker talks being The Weeknd’s love interest in ‘Secrets’

    Hong Kong’s Stock Market Tells the Story of China’s Growing Dominance

    These Edible Pick-Up Sticks Let You Play With Your Food

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion

    Republican Senator Vital to Health Bill’s Passage Won’t Support It

    Rap group call out publication for using their image in place of ‘gang’

    Barack Obama and Family Visit Balinese Paddy Fields During Vacation

    Melania Trump’s Mail Suit Suggests Desire To Monetise First Lady Role

    This Secret Room In Mount Rushmore Is Having A Moment

    Indonesia’s Largest Fleet Of Taxis Teams Up To Beat Ride-hailing Apps

    Johnny Depp Jokes About Assassinating Trump, Then Apologizes

    Uncharted: The Lost Legacy’s Latest Demo Shows A Treasure-Hunting Duo In Sync

    Hannah Donker talks being The Weeknd’s love interest in ‘Secrets’

    Using A Mind Reading Device, ‘locked-in’ Patients Told Researchers They’re Happy

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
No Result
View All Result
Washington Daily Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Sports

Boston City Council opts to put budget process charter overhaul to voters in 2021

by Jon lee Anderson
December 10, 2020
in Sports
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

[ad_1]

Whether the Boston City Council will have the authority to line edit the mayor’s annual budget proposal could be heading to the ballot box next year after a council vote Wednesday favored advancing the potential city charter amendment.

The measure, initially filed by Councilor Lydia Edwards in July, would grant the council the ability to amend budgets the mayor proposes to the body, but would not allow councilors to increase the overall price tag.

The charter currently allows the council to only accept or reject the mayor’s proposal and reduce its scope. Only the mayor can request funds be transferred.

“I think it speaks to …  our trust and our belief in our constituents,” Edwards said of the amendment. “And ultimately, they may not agree that this is the power that they want. They may not. That is OK. But democracy requires us, I believe today, to say, ‘Then make your decision.’”

Today’s vote is leaning in to the people of Boston having more of a say in how their money is spent. Part of our job is to empower people when possible and invite them to the table. This speaks to our belief and trust in our constituents. #bospoli #mapoli pic.twitter.com/NC6fX6mjW1

— Lydia Edwards (@LydiaMEdwards) December 9, 2020

Most councilors who spoke ahead of Wednesday’s 10-3 vote voiced strong support for the measure, which some said was needed in the wake of a contentious 8-5 vote in June to pass the current $3.6 billion operating budget.

Opponents said the fiscal year 2021 budget, with a final draft arriving amid the growing racial justice movement, did not go far enough in funding needed changes to battle systemic racism and longstanding racial inequities.

But others said current procedure gave them little options. Rejecting the budget, they said, would have surrendered key gains and left city departments funded at last year’s levels — or a 1/12 budget — with potential layoffs, until officials could settle on a new proposal — a risk that was too large to take among the devastating coronavirus pandemic.

Edwards was among the councilors who voted to pass the budget, but said at the time “real change in the budget process requires broader reform,” which she vowed to take on.

Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, who voted against the budget but supports the charter amendment, said the current system is essentially “a limitation about the advocates and the community groups and the communities that we represent,” who so often bring to officials nuanced positions on budget allocations.

“To have to explain to them that what we’re allowed to do is essentially reject or approve a budget and not actually touch upon any of those nuances is incredibly frustrating,” Arroyo said during Wednesday’s virtual meeting.

Through the charter amendment, the mayor would still submit a budget proposal to the council, who would, in turn, have the chance to make its own adjustments before sending it back to the mayor’s office.

An amendment to the measure the council also approved Wednesday would allow the mayor to increase the budget during his or her review of the council-approved budget. (The previous draft granted the mayor authority to only decrease spending.) From there, the council could vote to pass the final budget or override it with a two-thirds majority vote. The same majority would be required to override a mayoral veto of the council’s changes.

Additionally, the charter change would create the independent Office of Participatory Budgeting, which would oversee “a binding decision-making process open to Boston residents that would decide how at least .5 percent of the budget is allocated” beginning in fiscal year 2024, according to Edwards’s office. The amount would raise to at least 1 percent by fiscal year 2029.

With the council vote, the measure will ultimately head to the Attorney General’s office to review for constitutionality before potentially going to voters next year. Edwards said officials can also continue speaking with the mayor’s office about the amendment as the process plays out.

Councilor Matt O’Malley backed the 2021 fiscal year budget and said the decision to support it was the “most difficult budget vote” he’s made during his decade-long tenure on the council “because there was no alternative that I thought would satisfy the myriad of needs that we (have) as a city.”

O’Malley supports the charter amendment for a simple reason: “I trust this body because more than any other legislative body in perhaps the country, we represent this city.

“And make no mistake, this can be an incredibly maddening body, a divided body at times, a confounding body at times, but also a body that does come together,” he added.

But other councilors who expressed hesitation or outright opposition to the amendment were less confident about how exactly opening up the council for debating budget amendments would impact the body.

“I don’t have that much faith in this body to be able to not be 13 different fiefdoms and destroy the city budget,” said Councilor Frank Baker, who voted against the measure alongside councilors Michael Flaherty and Ed Flynn, both of whom did not make remarks Wednesday. “I’m very, very concerned going into this.”

Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George ultimately supported the measure but said she went into the vote with “some real concerns.”

“I do worry about the reality and the practicality of how this plays out … when we’re all working towards and debating and fighting with one another over — although a $3 billion dollar budget — still a small budget, we are still going to be in a place where we are fighting each other over crumbs,” Essaibi-George said. “And it is all so important. So I struggle with this vote today.”

Additionally, Baker expressed worries over whether the change would impact Boston’s bond rating, which both Moody’s and S&P Global awarded a “AAA” credit rating last month once again — the highest a municipality can receive. There is a “relatively small” amount of research on how participatory budgeting could affect the rating, Baker said.

The Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a city government watchdog organization, offered testimony opposing the amendment in August, stating, in part, that the changes “would lead to fiscal uncertainty and instability in Boston that the city cannot afford.”

Baker also highlighted that the Boston Finance Commission had not weighed in on the amendment.

“We (had) a working session heavy on advocates, heavy on socialists … We haven’t even asked our own finance committee where they are on this,” Baker said. “So I think, yeah, that this is a bit of a rush trying to get it done.”

Edwards said that though FinComm representatives were not specifically invited, they could have participated in the public hearing like anyone else. She agreed with Baker that research is limited on the relationship between participatory budgeting and bond ratings, but said that where there has been an impact, in Hartford, Connecticut, the rating actually improved.

“The current system, as it stands right now, is not good enough,” Edwards said. “It is not good enough to the people of Boston, not just us — it is not good enough for them. They have every single right to watch us to see us fight for them, and to hold us accountable when we don’t. And this process opens that up for them to see us go to the mat.”

Get Boston.com’s browser alerts:

Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.

Turn on notifications

Great, you’re signed up!



[ad_2]

Source link

Jon lee Anderson

Jon lee Anderson

Next Post

SEC on ABC: ESPN to be exclusive TV home, starting 2024

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Arsenal vs Man City LIVE: Latest score, goals and updates from Carabao Cup quarter-final tonight

Play Station 4 with Dual Shock controller

Five games that show what PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X can do

Popular News

    Connect with us

    Newsletter

    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor.
    SUBSCRIBE

    Category

    • Business
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Gaming
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Movie
    • Music
    • National
    • Politics
    • Science
    • Sports
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • World

    Site Links

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

    About Us

    We bring you the best Premium WordPress Themes that perfect for news, magazine, personal blog, etc. Check our landing page for details.

    • About
    • Advertise
    • Careers
    • Contact

    © 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • Politics
    • World
    • Business
    • Science
    • National
    • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    • Fashion
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Tech
    • Health
    • Food

    © 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Create New Account!

    Fill the forms below to register

    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In