The majority of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s budget vetoes will stand after the City Council failed to garner enough votes for four of five override proposals.
The City Council rejected overrides Wednesday that would have cut funding to a number of city services including the Boston Police Department and public works’ snow and ice budget, but approved one that provided raises to its staff members.
The votes allow the city’s $4.2 billion operating budget, largely representative of the final spending plan proposed by the mayor, to go into effect days before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.
Rather than seek a total rejection, as some of her colleagues had expected, City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who chairs the body’s budget committee, put forward a more complicated proposal that sought five partial overrides to the mayor’s final spending proposal.
The overrides were presented to the Council at the same time they were proposed by Fernandes Anderson, prompting some backlash from her colleagues, particularly Frank Baker, who indicated the plan was a last-minute change from what he had expected to be voting on.
“I think it’s dirty,” Baker said. “I’m not comfortable taking votes this way,”
A 30-minute recess was taken after the overrides were proposed by Fernandes Anderson, to give councilors a chance to review the seven-page document.
Baker said, as of the night before, he had been expected to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the $52.9 million in amendments the Council had approved two weeks ago, as part of a 7-5 vote on the operating budget that was promptly rejected by the mayor two days later.
The initial amendments included millions of dollars in cuts to the Boston Police, Veterans, Transportation, Public Works and Library departments. There was significant backlash to two cuts that would have decreased the police budget by nearly $31 million and the Office of Veterans Services by $900,000.
City Councilor Kendra Lara supported the overrides, saying they were a reflection of Fernandes Anderson responding to the backlash she had received from the first budget she put forward in her capacity as chair of the Ways and Means committee.
Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, had called for Fernandes Anderson to step down as chair, following the proposed cuts.
He took particular issue with comments Fernandes Anderson had made, where she sought to shift blame onto the mayor, for failing to settle the police contract, which she had said prevented the Council from knowing how much funding was needed for the department.
The partial overrides would have cut the police department’s budget by $2.1 million instead, and eliminated the cut to veterans services, which City Council President Ed Flynn said had prompted outcry from veterans across the country.
“She listened, which is reflected in the amendments she’s put forward,” Lara said. “I am happy with what’s in front of me. I think the chair has taken great care to make sure everyone’s concerns are addressed.”
The day’s overrides had sought to increase funding to a number of city departments, while decreasing funding to many others.
Fernandes Anderson had said the cuts would not result in any layoffs to city workers, but Baker disagreed, saying that the poor state of the economy would lead to layoffs in the future, should cuts to certain departments stand.
City Councilor Liz Breadon, who voted against four of the five partial overrides, spoke against collective proposals that would have cut more than $1 million from the city’s snow and ice removal budget.
While there was not much snowfall last year, Breadon said the Council can’t make assumptions that there won’t be a lot of snow this upcoming winter.
“At this point in time, I cannot support the overrides to the mayor’s budget,” Breadon said, later adding, “We need to have some flexibility in how to adapt to changing circumstances.”
Breadon was one of two city councilors to flip somewhat from their earlier stance on the mayor’s budget. Breadon and Brian Worrell had voted for the Council’s amended operating budget two weeks ago but voted against all but the one partial override that passed on Wednesday.
This override, as presented by Fernandes Anderson, would have increased the City Council staff salary budget by $829,385. It passed with an amendment from Baker, which decreased the salary increase to $581,386, thus decreasing a resulting cut to the human resources contractual line.
It passed via a 10-1 vote, with Councilor Gabriela Coletta voting present and Michael Flaherty voting ‘no.’
Eight votes apiece were needed to pass the four other overrides that failed.
“Today, if you choose to vote the way you vote, it will not affect me — it will affect our constituents,” Fernandes Anderson said. “I will continue to support progressive policies that will uplift and move our city forward.”