During the weekly City Council meeting on June 17, City Councilor Andrea Campbell (District 4) offered a resolution to support the Bipartisan House Bill H.2146 that would require a special commission on establishing a Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) system. Under this system, municipal police officers would require certification. This would ensure that municipalities Read More…
As protests continue in an effort to address racial injustice and police brutality across the country, the Boston City Council has turned their attention toward police reform. The City Council is in the process of finalizing their FY21 budget and recently held a public hearing around their police budget. Advocates have urged the Boston City Read More…
Boston City Council hosted a hearing this week to discuss a proposed ordinance that would ban the use of facial recognition technology. Councilors Michelle Wu (At-Large) and Ricardo Arroyo (District 5) introduced their proposal for banning facial recognition technology over concerns about its inherent racial biases and the dangers of allowing unregulated use of such Read More…
City Councilor Matt O’Malley (District 6) proposed a hearing to discuss implementing requirements for all new constructions—residential, commercial, and industrial—to have a net-zero carbon footprint. The City of Boston pledged a commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 under the Carbon Free Boston initiative in an effort to combat climate change. In December 2019, Mayor Read More…
Some Massachusetts leaders have been at the forefront of pushing for Vote-by-Mail legislature that would allow mail-in ballots to be sent to every registered voter in the state. Councilors Liz Breadon (District 9) and Julia Mejia (At-Large) proposed a resolution regarding the City of Boston adequately providing bilingual ballots to City residents. As the coronavirus Read More…
City Councilor Kenzie Bok (District 8) urged her colleagues to support an act recently filed that would provide equal stimulus checks to immigrant taxpayers. Despite paying an equal amount of taxes through the use of an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), many immigrant taxpayers have been left out of recovery reliefs during the pandemic. In Read More…
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to accelerate the advancement of surveillance technology for public safety purposes to monitor the spread of the virus. The Boston City Council recently discussed proactive measures to regulate the use of some surveillance technology while eliminating inaccurate facial recognition. Councilors Michelle Wu (At-Large) and Ricardo Arroyo (District 5) proposed the banning Read More…
While thousands of Bostonians have transitioned to working from home as a safety precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers have remained on the frontline to provide critical services to the public. Since the start of the public health crisis in Massachusetts, workers across several crucial industries started to test positive for the coronavirus; namely, Read More…
Restaurants and bars are among those businesses most severely impacted by the government’s COVID-19 shutdown restrictions. Due to physical distancing directives and stay-at-home advisories, restaurants have been forced to transition to pick-up and delivery services only, putting many in jeopardy of never being able to open again. As these businesses are integral to Boston’s neighborhoods Read More…
While Boston’s streets have significantly emptied during the current public health crisis, City Councilors Michelle Wu (At-Large) and Liz Breadon (District 9) discussed options for using the reduction in traffic to reallocate street space to create a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists. Many cities across the country have started expanding crowded sidewalks and increased Read More…
As Boston enters a period of surging COVID-19 cases, the City Council turned their attention toward the allocation of ventilators and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds in the event of limited medical resources. Councilor Ricardo Arroyo (District 5) proposed a hearing to discuss the pre-existing racial health inequities suffered by Boston’s communities of color and Read More…
For Boston residents who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), gaining access to food has proven even more difficult as stay-at-home advisories and limited transportation options continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. More Bostonians are opting to remain at home during the City’s coronavirus surge, resulting in grocery delivery services no longer having available Read More…