Boston Policy Institute, Inc

10/09/2026

On Tuesday, the Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on 5 union contracts with Boston Public Schools employees, and while there was little new information, an exchange between Councilor Flynn, BPS Labor Relations Director Jeremiah Hasson, and BPS’ Chief Operating Officer Brian Forde about the OIG report - revealed widespread mismanagement and fraud in BPS - suggested earlier claims by the Wu administration that action had already been taken were overstated.

10/09/2026

This week’s newsletter highlights reporting from MassLive on parking minimum abolition filed by Clr Durkan and points out that Councilors’ time to act on 2026 legislation is running out, with the last Council meeting happening just 2 months from today on December 9. The Council has a long list of Council priorities and must-pass legislation from City Hall, including approval of 2027 property tax rates, competing for the Council’s limited time and attention.

10/09/2026

This virtual community meeting was held by Planning Department on October 7 about the One Mystic Ave project in Charlestown, 1 of the 4 “demonstration projects” getting 121b property tax breaks and flexibility on delivering income-restricted housing that Mayor Wu announced a few weeks ago. In this clip Planning Dept Senior Policy Advisor Reuben Kantor lays out how housing construction in Boston has collapsed since 2022.

10/07/2026

Check out the preview for today’s Boston City Council meeting. The agenda is shorter than a lot of weeks, but there are a number of important dockets, including news that Mayor Wu has tightened control over the School Cmte Nominating Panel, an important body in the mayoral-appointed School Cmte, and a long communication from Erin Murphy laying out her case for invoking Rule 32 against her colleagues and rebutting criticism of her late files by Clr Durkan at last week’s meeting.

10/07/2026

BPI’s executive director Gregory Maynard testified before the Boston City Council’s Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday, October 6. Councilors failed to ask about a recent warning from a BPS Labor Relations official that “fiscal uncertainties” were driving decision-making in negotiations with public sector unions. They also mostly left unasked any questions about how the fall-out from the OIG report, would directly affect at least 3 of the 5 union contracts, would affect unionized employees.

10/06/2026

The Boston City Council spends very little time or effort engaging with the issues facing Boston Public Schools, and nothing captures that better than listening to John Mudd's testimony before the School Committee and comparing it to how Councilors talk about the same issues.

“I think it’s probably true that I have attended more School Committee meetings [in Boston] than any other person alive, probably ever” said John Mudd.

10/02/2026

At the Council’s Sept 30 meeting, Councilor Sharon Durkan explained her reasoning in opposing most “late files” during the debate about one of the few late file dockets she has not blocked in her now months-long blockade at the Council. Durkan’s blockade has largely been aimed at just one Councilor: Erin Murphy, who Durkan said had filed about half of the late files in 2026.

09/30/2026

At today’s Council meeting, Mayor Wu sent the body 5 contracts between Boston Public Schools and unions. These contracts have already been reviewed & approved by the Boston School Committee at that BSC meeting back on July 8. There, BPS Labor Counsel Mike Ryan testified that Boston was delaying “substantive changes” to union contracts for a year due to “fiscal uncertainty” and concerns about the “City’s financial outlook.”

No BSC member asked Ryan a single question back in July, but when these contracts are heard by the Council, they need to find out: exactly why Boston doesn’t have a firm handle on the City’s financial outlook today, and what the City expects to change in the next 12 months.

09/30/2026

BPI’s executive director spoke to the Boston Herald about the recently scheduled foreclosure auction for 100 Summer St, a trophy office building in downtown Boston, and what the foreclosure says about Boston’s office market and the City budget that depends on it.

The quote highlighted here is important because it is now clear that Mayor Wu and her senior budget folks badly misjudged what was happening to office values during her first term, and made a lot of major budget decisions based on that incorrect analysis.

09/28/2026

After another City official couldn’t provide the number of sworn officers in the City of Boston at a hearing on Monday, September 28, District 3 Councilor John FitzGerald provided numbers as of August 26, 2026. John FitzGerald said there are 2,050 sworn officers, including command staff, with 1,423 patrol officers and 241 detectives, and that he got that from HR.