The Boston City Council and mayor would share power over the city’s budget under an amendment filed by a city councilor on Monday — a proposal that comes in the wake of calls for systemic change and a reallocation of resources away from the police department.
“It’s time to break the wheel of Boston’s budget making process,” said City Councilor Lydia Edwards on Monday as she announced her effort to change the city charter. “This will take time, research, negotiations, and sustained conversations about what we want to invest in as a city. Until we change the budget process, we don’t have an opportunity to have those conversations in a meaningful way.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few weeks thinking about how to answer the calls for systemic change and investment in our future,” Edwards said. “An annual up or down vote alone on the mayor’s budget cannot bring about the long term change that is needed and that people are calling for. That change will not come from any one vote or annual budget.
Last month, Edwards was one of eight councilors who passed Mayor Marty Walsh’s annual budget. Walsh included in his budget proposal a reallocation of $12 million from the $60 million police overtime budget to other social programs after calls to “defund the police” following the death of George Floyd.
But eight of the 13 city councilors — including Edwards — signed onto a letter from Council President Kim Janey urging Walsh to cut the BPD budget deeper, taking 10% from the $414 million total police budget and putting more than $300 million more toward social programs.
Edwards’ proposal on Monday was filed under a provision in state law that allows local elected officials to propose amendments to city charters.
“… Right now people are asking for direct impact and influence on our budget,” Edwards said. “We can give them that power by modernizing and democratizing the budgetary process and expanding participatory budgeting, which would give residents greater control over portions of the budget.”
If the City Council approves the amendment, the Attorney General must OK the question’s constitutionality and then it would be put on the 2021 city ballot.
If voters then approved it, the City Council would be able to create proposals for the city’s capital and operating budgets, change line items within the proposals, allocate parts of the budget for a participatory budget process, and amend the budget for Boston Public Schools.
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Lydia Edwards proposes charter change to give council more control of budget - Boston Herald
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