--------- FURTHER IF I COULD. MY NAME IS HENRY SANTANA, AT-LARGE CITY COUNCILOR AND I'M THE CHAIR OF THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE.
TODAY IS MAY 19TH, 2026 AND THE EXACT TIME IS 10:14 A.M.. THIS HEARING IS BEING RECORDED. IT IS ALSO BEING LIVESTREAMED AT BOSTON.COM/CITY COUNCIL DASH
TV AND BROADCASTED ON XFINITY CHANNEL EIGHT RCN CHANNEL 82 AND FILES CHANNEL 964. WRITTEN COMMENTS MAY BE SENT TO THE COMMITTEE EMAIL AT ASK
BOSTON.COM AND WILL BE MADE PART OF THE RECORD AND AVAILABLE TO ALL COUNCILORS. PUBLIC TESTIMONY WILL BE TAKEN AT THE END OF THIS HEARING. INDIVIDUALS WILL BE CALLED ON IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY SIGNED UP AND WILL HAVE TWO
MINUTES TO TESTIFY. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TESTIFYING IN PERSON, PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TO THE SIGN UP SHEET NEAR THE ENTRANCE OF THE CHAMBER. IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO TESTIFY VIRTUALLY, PLEASE EMAIL OUR
CENTRAL STAFF LIAISON SHANE PACK AT SHANE FROM.PACK@BOSTON.GOV. FOR THE LINK AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ADDED TO THE LIST. TODAY'S HEARING IS ON DOCKET
NUMBER 0591 ORDER FOR A HEARING TO REVIEW FUNDING REIMBURSEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE POLICE OVERTIME DETAILS IN THE CITY OF BOSTON. THIS MATTER WAS SPONSORED BY COUNCILOR MURPHY.
COUNCILOR FITZGERALD AND COUNCILOR FLYNN AND WAS REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE ON MARCH 18TH, 2026 AND DOCKET NUMBER 0696 ORDER FOR A HEARING TO DISCUSS BOSTON'S POLICE
DEPARTMENT'S STAFFING LEVELS. THIS MATTER WAS SPONSORED BY COUNCILOR MURPHY, COUNCILOR FLYNN AND WAS REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE ON APRIL 1ST, 2026. TODAY I AM JOINED BY MY COLLEAGUES IN ORDER OF ARRIVAL.
COUNCILOR FLYNN. COUNCILOR MURPHY AND COUNCILOR FITZGERALD. UM, BEFORE I HAD TO DO IS TODAY'S UM, PANEL. UM REALLY APPRECIATE UM SO
BEING HERE WITH US. I'M GOING TO GIVE UM, THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MY COLLEAGUES TO GIVE UM, BRIEF OPENING STATEMENTS STARTING WITH THE LEAD SPONSOR AND THEN WE'LL GO IN ORDER OF ARRIVAL. UM, COUNCILOR MURPHY, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
THANK YOU CHAIR. AND THANK YOU, LISA, FOR BEING HERE. UM, I KNOW HOW HARD YOU WORK AND YOU WERE ALSO HERE ALL DAY LAST WEEK. WE DID HAVE OUR POLICE BUDGET
HEARING, UM, LAST WEEK. SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR ALWAYS PROFESSIONALISM AND THE ANSWERS YOU CAN GIVE US. SO HAPPY YOU CAME BACK. UNFORTUNATE THAT THE POLICE
COMMISSIONER IS NOT HERE. UM, BUT WE WILL GO FORWARD. SO BOTH THESE HEARING ORDERS ALONG WITH THE COUNCIL FLYNN AND FITZGERALD THE ONE WHICH. >> ONE ARE WE TALKING ABOUT FIRST?
IT SAYS ORDER FOR OUR INTERVIEW FUNDING REIMBURSEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY. AND I KNOW I TOUCHED ON THIS LAST WEEK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE QUESTIONS BUT TIME AND TIME AGAIN A BIG PIECE OF THE
CONVERSATION AROUND POLICE FUNDING AND WANTING TO DEFUND IS AROUND THE AMOUNT OF MONEY WE SPEND ON OVERTIME AND A LOT OF OVERTIME WORK THAT POLICE DO IS RELATED TO DETAILS AND IT'S
VERY SEPARATE THAN ACTUALLY OVERTIME COVERING SHIFTS AND STUFF. SO IF UM TODAY I'M JUST HOPING TO GET MORE CLEAR UNDERSTANDING BECAUSE I DO KNOW THAT MANY UM
COMPANIES LIKE BOSTON WATER AND SEWER FEENEY BROTHERS OTHERS ARE EXPECTED TO PAY FOR THAT UM ,OVERTIME WHEN THE DETAILS ARE GIVEN OUT. SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY IN THIS BUDGET CYCLE
WHERE IT'S THE FIRST ONE SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE ON THE COUNCIL WHERE WE HAVE TO BE MAKING SOME HARD DECISIONS AND REALLY MAKING SURE THAT OUR DECISIONS ARE SUPPORTING AND DEFENDING THE HARD WORK THAT THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE POLICE
DEPARTMENT DO. SO THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT WE CAN. I DON'T WANT TO WASTE YOUR TIME BUT I APPRECIATE THAT YOU'RE HERE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU, COUNCILOR MURPHY. COUNCILOR FLYNN, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
THANK YOU, MR CHAIR. I ALSO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE LISA O'BRIEN, AN OUTSTANDING, DEDICATED PROFESSIONAL AT THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, LISA ,AND FOR YOUR COMMITMENT TO
THE RESIDENTS OF THE CITY. THE LONGSTANDING ISSUES OF UNDERSTAFFING, OVERSTRETCHED RESOURCES, FORCED OVERTIME, LOOMING RETIREMENTS OF THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT AS A
PUBLIC SAFETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY WHICH ALSO DISREGARDS OFFICER'S PERSONAL, PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AS WELL AS THAT OF THEIR FAMILIES .
IN JULY OF 1980, THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF PATROLMEN AT ANY GIVEN TIME FOR THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT ROSE FROM 2300 TO 2500 BY LAW AND THE
CITY MUNICIPAL CODE TO ENSURE ADEQUATE STAFFING AMONG DETAILING PROJECTS IN OTHER POLICE DUTIES. THE INCREASE IN VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT IN RESIGNATIONS IS
RESULTING IN MANDATORY OVERTIME FOR POLICE OFFICERS. IN FACT, RESIGNATIONS ROSE FROM 1 IN 20 18 TO 30 6 IN 2022
WHILE VOLUNTARY RETIREMENTS ROSE FROM 17 IN 20 18 TO 120 7 IN 2022. CURRENT STAFF IS ORDERED TO FILL THOSE GAPS, RESULTING IN
THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL BURNOUT OF THE OFFICERS BUT POTENTIALLY DIMINISHING ABILITY TO SERVE BOSTON RESIDENTS. THE ENVIRONMENT AT THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT MUST BE ONE THAT FOSTERS A STRONG
RELATIONSHIP WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THERE IS TRUST BETWEEN OFFICERS IN THE RESIDENCE AND OFFICERS IN THEIR SUPERIORS OFFICERS WHO FEEL
VALUED AND RESPECTED AND MORE LIKELY TO HAVE POSITIVE INTERACTION WITH THE PUBLIC. ULTIMATELY IMPROVING TRUST AND COOPERATION THROUGH COMMUNITY POLICING FOR THE BOSTON POLICE
NEEDS A CONSISTENT INFLUX OF RECRUITS TO REPLACE THOSE THAT ARE RETIRING, RESIGNING TRANSFERRING TO OTHER POLICE DEPARTMENTS FROM MASSACHUSETTS TO HELP PREVENT SHORTAGES.
THERE ARE SEVERAL RECRUITING PRACTICES THAT CAN BE PUT IN PLACE TO INCREASE STAFFING INCLUDING MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS INCENTIVE PROGRAMS. COMMUNITY OUTREACH. IT IS CRITICAL THAT THE CITY
OF BOSTON ACT PROMPTLY TO ENSURE THAT THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT IS COMFORTABLY IN EXCESS OF 2500 OFFICERS TO PREVENT THE OVERSTRETCHED
RESOURCES FORCED OVERTIME OVERWORKED OFFICERS THAT HAS RESULTED IN ONGOING EMERGENCY AND CRISIS. I ALSO WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT
WE AS A CITY AND SOCIETY USED TO TREAT THIS PROFESSION WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT. WHEN WE WERE IN GRADE SCHOOL IN A POLICE OFFICER WOULD VISIT THE CLASS. WE WERE TAUGHT TO RESPECT THEM
FOR KEEPING OUR NEIGHBORS SAFE. NOW THEY ARE WORKING MANDATORY OVERTIME 17 HOUR DAYS, MISSING SIGNIFICANT TIME WITH THEIR
FAMILIES AND NOT ALWAYS TREATED WITH RESPECT BY THE PUBLIC BY ELECTED OFFICIALS IN THE CITY. WE HAVE TO RESTORE THE RESPECT FOR THE PROFESSION TO KEEP
MORALE UP SO OFFICERS STAY IN THE JOB SO THAT THEY DON'T TRANSFER TO OTHER POLICE DEPARTMENTS OR ELSEWHERE AND SO THAT WE CAN RECRUIT A NEW
GENERATION OF POLICE OFFICERS DURING THIS CHALLENGING TIME. POLICE OFFICERS ARE NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM. THEY ARE PART OF THE SOLUTION. THANK YOU, MR CHAIR. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR FLYNN.
I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY COUNCILOR WEBER . WHEN I GO TO COUNCILOR FITZGERALD, UM. AND THEN WE'LL GO TO THE COUNCIL. LEPPARD COUNCIL FITZGERALD ON THE FLOOR. THANK YOU. CHAIR. AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. UH, I LOOK FORWARD TO LEARNING MORE ABOUT FUNDING
REIMBURSEMENT OVER TIME AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE TO EDUCATE MYSELF AND HOPEFULLY OFFICES AND SOME SOLUTIONS TO YOU AS WELL THAT YOU COULD TELL ME WHETHER I'M CRAZY OR NOT AND UH AND UH I LOOK FORWARD TO IT HAPPENING.
THANK YOU CHAIR. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR FITZGERALD . COUNCILOR WEBER, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. UH. >> YEAH, SURE. UM. I THINK, UH. YOU AS YOU SAW. YESTERDAY, WE HAVE UH, A $70
MILLION. UH, DEFICIT. >> IN OUR BUDGET. UM, A LOT. OF THAT IS BECAUSE. INCREASED COSTS AND. UH, MAYBE ALL OF THAT 70 MILLION. COULD BE UH, ATTRIBUTED TO UH,
SPENDING OVER BUDGET ON POLICE OVERTIME. UM, WE HAVE, UH. TRY TO, UH. OBTAIN DATA THAT SHOWS HOW MANY HOURS. WERE WORKING. BY DIFFERENT. CATEGORIES BUT ALSO.
HOW MUCH ARE. PEOPLE ACTUALLY WORKING? YOU KNOW. WE UH OF COURSE YOU KNOW, WE'VE HEARD FROM OFFICERS. WHO ARE WORKING DOUBLE. SHIFTS EVERY DAY BUT JUST TO ACTUALLY GET. THE DATA ON HOW.
OFTEN PEOPLE ARE WORKING DOUBLE SHIFTS, HOW OFTEN THEY'RE BEING CALLED. IN, UH. >> YOU KNOW, ON THEIR OFF DAYS. UM, I MAYBE ONE OF MAYBE MY COLLEAGUES HAVE THAT DATA. I I. >> DON'T HAVE THAT DATA. UM, BUT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE,
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE, UH, CAN WORK AND AND ALSO LIVE AND RAISE. >> A FAMILY. BUT AT THE SAME TIME WE HAVE, UM, OVERTIME SPENDING HERE IN THE CITY THAT'S HAVING REAL
IMPACTS ON ALMOST EVERY OTHER ASPECT OF THE SERVICES WE PROVIDE. AND SO IF YOU LOOK AT A CITY LIKE SEATTLE, YOU KNOW THERE'S COMPLAINTS THERE BECAUSE THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THIS IS
IN A SIMILAR SIMILARLY SIZED CITY SLIGHTLY LARGER IN FACT BECAUSE THEY PAID 500,000 HOURS A YEAR FOR POLICE OVERTIME HERE IN BOSTON THREE YEARS AGO WE
PAID 1.3 MILLION HOURS IN POLICE OVERTIME. SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M GLAD WE CAN HAVE THIS CONVERSATION. UH, WE COULD FIGURE OUT WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING.
UM, HOW YOU KNOW WHAT THE BURDEN ON OUR POLICE OFFICERS WHO WHO DO GREAT WORK FOR THE CITY. UH, BUT ALSO HOW TO MANAGE THE
SYSTEM IN A WAY THAT, UM, WE'RE NOT, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, UNNECESSARILY DRAINING THIS CITY'S COFFERS, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF LIKE WHAT WE'RE HAVING A, UH, EXTENSIVE DEBATE
ABOUT WHAT TO DO, UH, ON THIS YEAR'S BUT ACTUALLY NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET BECAUSE OF THE OVERTIME WE'RE SPENDING IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. SO, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHAIR AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THE CONVERSATION.
THANK YOU, COUNCILOR WEBER. I WOULD NOW LIKE TO INTRODUCE TODAY'S PANELISTS. WITH US TODAY WE HAVE LISA O'BRIEN. UM, BUREAU OF ADMINISTRATION AND TECHNOLOGY CHIEF WITH THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT.
I'M GOING TO TURN OVER THE FLOOR TO YOU. I THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING HERE. UM, AND UM, YOU KNOW, ANSWERING OUR QUESTIONS. UM, I'LL TURN THE FLOOR OVER FOR YOU IF YOU HAVE ANY OPENING REMARKS OR PRESENTATION THAT YOU WANT TO GIVE AND WE'RE
GOING TO COUNCILORS QUESTIONS. JUST WANT TO THANK THE COUNCILORS. UM, GOOD MORNING. AND THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO COME HERE TODAY AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE AND HOPEFULLY I CAN
ANSWER THEM AS AS MUCH AS HOPEFULLY I CAN ANSWER THEM WITH WHAT YOU'RE WITH YOUR QUESTIONS. UM, BUT THANK YOU FOR HAVING MEJIA TODAY. SO THANK YOU. AWESOME.
SO WE'RE NOW GOING TO GO UM TO COUNCILOR MURPHY AND WE'RE GOING TO DO UM SIX MINUTES AND THEY WANT TO DO A SECOND ROUND OF IF NEEDED. UM, COUNCILOR MURPHY, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.
THANK YOU. >> UM THANK YOU. LISA, FOR BEING HERE. I DO JUST WANT TO PUT ON THE RECORD THAT YOU WEREN'T THE ONLY PERSON FROM THE ADMINISTRATION THAT WE HAD
INVITED. WE INVITED COMMISSIONER COX TO BE HERE ALSO. AND I DO THINK THAT, UM, ALTHOUGH I KNOW YOU HAVE THE ANSWERS WE MAY NEED FOR SOME
OF THESE QUESTIONS THAT HEARING DIRECTLY FROM THE PERSON WHO MAKES THESE DECISIONS, UM, I FEEL IS NECESSARY. AND THE REASON WE FOUND OUT
JUST THIS MORNING AND I HAVE A FEELING THEY KNEW ALL ALONG THAT HE. WAS NEVER GOING TO SHOW UP IS. >> THAT HE WAS HERE LAST WEEK AT OUR BUDGET HEARING WHERE WE DO CALL IN EVERY DEPARTMENT AND THE HEADS COME IN, BUT THE
COMMISSIONER. MAKES $359,895 A YEAR. THAT'S CLOSE TO. $1,000 A DAY. SO TO USE AN EXCUSE BECAUSE HE
WAS HERE AT WORK LAST WEEK TO ANSWER ALL OF OUR. COLLEAGUES QUESTIONS THAT WEREN'T ONLY RELATED TO THIS ISSUE IS INSULTING TO ME. SO BEING EXPECTED TO COME BACK
FOR A HEARING THAT WILL PROBABLY LAST AN HOUR AN HOUR AND A HALF AND NOT SHOWING THE RESPECT TO THE BODY WHO FUNDS HIS SALARY AND ALL OF YOU KNOW THE GOOD WORK THE POLICE DO.
I THINK IT'S INSULTING. BUT THAT BEING SAID, IF YOU COULD. IF WE COULD START WITH DETAILS IF YOU COULD JUST. EXPLAIN GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE
DIFFERENT TYPES OF DETAILS THAT THERE ARE UM AND HOW MANY LIKE IN THE PAST IF WE WANT TO USE THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS UM, YOU KNOW, DETAILS THAT WE'VE
HAD AND HOW MANY GO LIKE ON. UNFILLED FILLED THANK YOU. YES UNFILLED AND THE DIFFERENCE I THINK I. THINK I UNDERSTAND THIS BUT IF YOU COULD ALSO EXPLAIN JUST FOR THOSE LISTENING UM.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FILLING A. DETAIL AND THEN THE OVERTIME AND HOW THAT'S DIFFERENT AND ALSO WHEN OFFICERS GET PAID THROUGH FILLING A DETAIL IS
THAT ALSO NOT PART OF THEIR PENSION IF YOU COULD JUST TALK. THROUGH SOME OF THOSE BASIC OF COURSE. >> THAT WOULD HELP. >> US. GROUND US INTO. >> THEN. ASKING MORE QUESTIONS. SO I FIRST WANT TO START OUT WITH THAT UM PAY DETAILS ARE
NOT PART OF FUND 100. THE GENERAL FUND DOESN'T IT'S NOT REFLECTED ON OUR BUDGET ANYWHERE UNLESS THERE IS A RECEIVABLE ON THE BOOKS THAT WAS DEEMED UNCOLLECTIBLE BUT
DETAILS ARE PAID BY THE VENDOR OFFICES WORK IN THESE DETAILS ARE ON A PAID DAY OFF OR A VACATION OR SOME OF THE OTHER REASON WHY HE CAN WORK THAT DETAIL IS NOT DURING HIS REGULAR TOUR OF DUTY.
UM I WOULDN'T SAY THAT WE HAVE A HIGH COLLECTION RATE OF THESE RECEIVABLE SO NOT MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN OFF TO THE OVERTIME BUDGET. I THINK THE GREATEST AMOUNT THAT WAS WRITTEN OFF WAS IN 2013 WHEN THEY ACTUALLY PUT THE
RECEIVABLES ON THE CITY'S BOOKS AND WE HAD AN AUDITOR COME IN AND THIS GOES WAY BACK. BUT FOR THE MOST PART I GIVE UM KUDOS TO MY MY DETAIL MANAGER MERLINO AND HER TEAM BECAUSE THEY HAVE A GREAT TRACK
OF DOING COLLECTIONS. WE DO ALL THE COLLECTIONS IN-HOUSE AND THEY DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB. UM I WANT TO SAY THAT, UH, POLICE DETAILS AS OF FISCAL
YEAR UM, 26 AS OF 430 UM 59,295,000 WAS BILLED 48,790,000 WAS COLLECTED. SO RIGHT NOW WE HAVE AN 82 COLLECTION RATE THAT WILL GO UP
UM, SOME OF THE BIGGER JOBS SUCH AS AND STAR IN KEY SPIN THERE. THEY HAVE MULTIPLE PROJECTS WITHIN THEIR COMPANIES SO IT HAVE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DETAILS COMING IN. THEY HAVE TO SORT THROUGH THOSE
AND ASSIGN THEM TO THEIR VARIOUS PROJECTS BUT THEY DO PAY IT. YOU'LL SEE THAT RATE GO UP AS THE PROGRESSES. HOW MUCH ARE THEY CHARGED? IS EVERY JOB THE SAME RATE? HOW MUCH DO THESE COMPANIES GET
YOU. KNOW SO SO THE HOURLY RATE FOR UM DETAILS IS TYPE ONE AND TYPE TWO DETAILS UM TYPE ONE HAVE TWO HAS TO BE FILLED FIRST
BEFORE AN OFFICER CAN TAKE A TYPE TWO DETAIL. SO THAT'S MAKING SURE THAT BIG VENUES UM YOU KNOW CONSTRUCTION AREAS AND HIGH TRAFFIC AREAS
ARE FILLED FIRST UM THE HOURLY RATE FOR UH TYPE ONE DETAILS IS 80. EXCUSE ME. MY I GET THAT OUT.
SO FOR A POLICE OFFICER TYPE ONE DETAILS THE HOURLY RATE IS $86.81. IS AT THE SAME RATE FOR TYPE TWO. UM TYPE TWO IS 8080 OR. >> POLICE OFFICER.
TYPE TWO IS IS $60. AND OF THAT 86 AND $60. NOT ALL OF THAT. GOES TO THE OFFICER CORRECT? YES. >> THAT'S THE HOURLY RATE THAT WAS PAID TO THE OFFICER. AND SO IS THE.
COMPANY CHARGE MORE THAN THE HOURLY RATE TO THE WHY DOESN'T THE. CITY GIVE SOME MONEY BACK ALSO YES. >> SO THEY WHEN THEY RECEIVE THEIR BILL THEY WILL SAY LIKE WHO THE OFFICER WAS, HOW MANY HOURS THE OFFICERS WORK, THE HOURLY RATE THAT THE AMOUNT
THAT THE OFFICER WILL BE PAID BUT IT ALSO UM REFLECTS A 10% ADMIN FEE MANDATED BY MASS GENERAL LAW. THAT'S THE CAP THAT WE CAN CHARGE AS FAR AS THE ADMIN FEE FOR A CHARGE. SO FOR EVERY DETAIL WE PUT OUT
WE GET 10% REVENUE. BACK UNLESS IT'S A ANOTHER MUNICIPALITY OR STATE CONTRACT YOU KNOW IT'S INTERGOVERNMENTAL WE DON'T CHARGE. >> DOES IT GO BACK TO THE POLICE GENERAL FUND OR THE CITY'S GENERAL. CITY'S GENERAL FUND? SO IT GOES BACK TO.
US BEING ABLE TO. FUND YOUTH JOBS WHATEVER WE WANT TO SAY IT DOES. >> GO. BACK OKAY. AND DO YOU KNOW HOW. MUCH OF THE. 10% LET'S SAY FROM LAST YEAR DO YOU HAVE A NUMBER. OF I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT
NUMBER BUT I WOULD SAY IT'S ROUGHLY ABOUT $3 MILLION THAT GOES BACK TO THE GENERAL FUND. EVERY YEAR AFTER THE. POLICE AND I CAN CONFIRM THOSE AMOUNTS. OKAY. >> COULD YOU UM. THROUGH THE CHAIR UM, IF YOU
COULD SEND ALONG TO US. >> A COPY AT LEAST OF ONE OF THE BILLS JUST SO WE. CAN SEE? >> YEAH, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL. UM, AND I KNOW MY. TIME IS UP, BUT SO FAR I'VE GOTTEN SOME GOOD ANSWERS. BUT THANK YOU. UM. >> TWO MINUTES FROM THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, COUNCILOR MURPHY. COUNCILOR FLYNN, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. THANK YOU, MR CHAIR AND. MR CHAIR, BEFORE I BEGIN, MANY
OF MY QUESTIONS WERE GOING TO BE FOCUSED ON STAFFING LEVELS. AND I DID HAVE A LIST OF QUESTIONS THAT I DID WANT THE POLICE COMMISSIONER TO
ANSWER DIRECTLY. HE HAS BEEN INVITED. DO YOU HAVE AN UPDATE FOR US, MR CHAIR, ON WHY HE'S NOT HERE?
COUNCILOR FOR AND I DO NOT HAVE UH UPDATE WE WERE COMMUNICATED THAT UM HE WOULD NOT BE HERE THIS MORNING AND, UM, YOU KNOW LISA O'BRIEN, UM, WAS HIRED BY THE DEPARTMENT TO ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS.
I AM HAPPY TO, UM, SEND QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE COMMITTEE, UM, TO THE COMMISSIONER. UM, BUT I THINK WE CAN ASK, UM ,WHO WE HAVE HERE TODAY. >> BUT IS THERE A LIKELIHOOD THAT IF WE SEND QUESTIONS TO
THE COMMISSIONER THAT HE WILL ANSWER THEM. ? >> BUT THAT'S NOT MY WE DO AS A COMMITTEE CHAIR WE I SEND THE QUESTIONS OVER AND WE WAIT FOR THE RESPONSES.
OKAY, JUST FOR THE RECORD I AM DISAPPOINTED THAT THE POLICE COMMISSIONER IS NOT HERE. I HAVE SUPPORTED THE BOSTON POLICE FOR EIGHT YEARS. WHEN A LOT OF CITY COUNCILORS.
UM DIDN'T SUPPORT THE POLICE OFFICERS. BUT I MOVE ON. WANT TO AGAIN SAY THANK YOU TO LISA. LISA, I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO
WORK WITH YOU FOR EIGHT YEARS AND YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN VERY PROFESSIONAL. LISA, HOW MANY SWORN OFFICERS IN THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT ARE THERE?
CURRENTLY WE HAVE 2234 OFFICERS BUT THAT INCLUDES THE RECRUITS THAT ARE IN THE CURRENT ACADEMY CLASS RIGHT NOW. SO RIGHT NOW AVAILABLE FOR DUTY IS 2102 OFFICERS.
OKAY. ON AVERAGE HOW MANY POLICE OFFICERS EITHER RETIRE OR RESIGN? WE HAVEN'T SEEN MANY RESIGNATIONS.
COUNSELOR FOR THE MOST. PART OF THERE IT'S UH WE SEE THE ATTRITION THROUGH RETIREMENTS. UM, YOU KNOW, BOTH ON AVERAGE THE LAST THREE YEAR AVERAGE IS ABOUT 107 WHICH WOULD INCLUDE
MANDATORY RETIREMENTS. I KNOW THAT UM OBM DOES IT UH FORECAST ON JANUARY 1ST TO EVERY YEAR AND THE PREDICTED FOR FISCAL YEAR 26 INTO FISCAL
YEAR 27 SO IT'D BE CALENDAR YEAR 26. THEY'RE LOOKING AT APPROXIMATELY 120 UM RETIREMENTS OF WHICH UH A QUARTER OF THAT IS UM MANDATORY RETIREMENT.
OKAY. >> UH, SO ABOUT 120 POTENTIALLY REACHED RETIREMENT ABOUT 25% MANDATORY RETIREMENT.
UM BUT BUT AND THAT'S WHAT I THAT'S WHAT I BELIEVE TOO MANY POLICE OFFICERS ARE LEAVING EARLY BEFORE THEIR RETIREMENT MAXIMUM AGE.
SO UH SO 75% OF THE OF OF OF 120 UH I DON'T KNOW 80. THAT YEAH 9090 POLICE OFFICERS
BASICALLY ARE LEAVING UH, BEFORE THE RETIREMENT AGE BUT I THINK THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER BECAUSE THEY'RE LEAVING FOR A PARTICULAR REASON.
DO WE DO A EXIT INTERVIEW OR DO WE ASK THEM WHY THEY'RE LEAVING ? SO WE HAVE THAT DATA THAT CAN HELP US WORK WITH THE CURRENT
POLICE OFFICERS TO MAKE THE JOB MORE MEANINGFUL AND HELPFUL AND FAMILY BALANCE DO WE DO WE DO THAT TYPE OF EXIT INTERVIEW AND ASKING THEM UM, WHY THEY'RE
LEAVING BEFORE THE MANDATORY RETIREMENT AGE? UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WE DO. UM SOME OF THEM WILL VOLUNTEER WHY THEY'RE LEAVING BUT FOR THE MOST PART SOME OF THEM CAME ON VERY, VERY YOUNG.
UM, SO AT THE AND THEY'RE UNDER GROUP FOUR WHICH ALLOWS THEM TO RETIRE AT AGE 55 AND NOT AGE 65 AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, IF THEY HAVE 32 YEARS OR MORE AND THEY'RE AT 55, THEY'LL GO OUT
AT THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF THEIR PENSION. SO PART OF IT IS THAT THEY WANT TO, YOU KNOW, EITHER RETIRE AND NOT WORK AGAIN OR MAYBE SPEND TIME WITH THEIR FAMILY OR SOMETIMES THAT THEY JUST FEEL
LIKE THEY FINISHED THEIR CAREER AS A BOSTON POLICE OFFICER. OKAY. >> WHY ISN'T WHY DOESN'T BOSTON MEET THE REQUIREMENT? AND AGAIN THIS IS A QUESTION I SHOULD BE ASKING THE POLICE
COMMISSIONER SOMEWHAT UNFAIR TO ASK ASK YOU UM BUT LET ME LET ME ASK IT FOR FOR THE RECORD AND MAYBE TO THE CHAIR AT THE
WHY ISN'T BOSTON MEETING ITS OBLIGATION TO HIRE TO HAVE 2500 POLICE OFFICERS ON THE FORCE AS REQUIRED BY LAW?
UM. SO, LISA, MANDATORY OVERTIME OR FORCED FORCED OVERTIME? HOWEVER, HOWEVER WE PHRASE IT WHEN A POLICE OFFICER IS
REQUESTED TO WORK. DO THEY HAVE A CHOICE OF SAYING NO. DO NOT IF IT'S MANDATORY. NOW. >> WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE POLICE OFFICER JUST HAD
SOMETHING THAT THEY NEEDED TO DO PERSONAL IN NATURE THEY DIDN'T NECESSARILY WANT TO GET THEY DIDN'T WANT TO TALK TO THEIR SUPERVISOR ABOUT IT. THEY NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING
WITH THEIR FAMILY. THEY'RE MANDATORY TO WORK OVERTIME. THEY WEREN'T PLANNING TO THEY WERE PLANNING TO WORK FOR THE EIGHT HOUR SHIFT AND THEN THEY
HAD A FAMILY OBLIGATION. WHAT IS BUT IN MY OPINION WAS SETTING THAT POLICE OFFICER UP FOR FAILURE AND WE'RE ALMOST PUTTING THAT OFFICER.
CHOOSING BETWEEN SUPPORTING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OR SUPPORTING THEIR FAMILY. AND THAT'S WHAT'S ALWAYS BEEN CONCERNING TO ME IS YOU KNOW,
YOU'RE MAKING A POLICE OFFICER MAKE A DIFFICULT DECISION. THEY NEED TO BE HOME WITH THEIR FAMILY FOR A PARTICULAR REASON . MAYBE THE CHILD IS SICK. MAYBE THE CHILD NEEDS TO GO TO
A SCHOOL APPOINTMENT OR MAYBE MAYBE THE SPOUSE NEEDS TO BE SOMEWHERE IN THE THAT AND THE OFFICER NEEDS TO SUPPORT THE SPOUSE. UM, MAYBE THERE'S A SICK MOTHER OR SICK.
UM, FATHER IN LAW OR SOMETHING BUT BUT SOME OF THOSE ISSUES THAT THEY'RE PERSONAL IN NATURE THAT THEY JUST DON'T WANT TO SHARE WITH ANYBODY AND I
UNDERSTAND THAT BUT BUT IT'S MANDATORY THAT THEY HAVE TO DO THAT. THE EXTRA EIGHT HOUR SHIFT THOUGH. IT IS BUT I I WOULDN'T WANT TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION BECAUSE I
THINK THAT WOULD BE A DISTRICT BY DISTRICT ISSUE THAT THEY ADDRESS AND UM I'M SURE THINGS TAKE INTO FACTOR WHETHER YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES HAS AN OFFICER REFUSED MANDATORY
OVERTIME, WAS THERE ANY KIND OF CONSEQUENCES FOR HIM REFUSING? I CAN'T ANSWER THAT BECAUSE I'M NOT ON THE ONE SIDE. UM, I KNOW THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO MINIMIZE MANDATORY OVER TIME.
THEY'VE STRATEGICALLY LOOKING AT EVENTS UM, LOOKING AT WHAT'S INTENTIONAL AND TRYING THEM OBVIOUSLY IN GREAT PART TO CURB THE OVERTIME. BUT I THINK THAT A LOT OF THE
MANDATORY OVERTIME ARISES FROM SPECIAL EVENTS IN OUR OFFICE. YOU KNOW, THEY'RE REOCCURRING SPECIAL EVENTS. SO FOR EXAMPLE FOR CALL UP FOR THE MARATHON PHONE CALL UP FOR SAINT PATRICK'S DAY, YOU KNOW, SO THEY ARE AWARE THAT THESE
WOULD BE FULL CALL UPS AND IF THEY HADN'T REQUESTED VACATION TIME OR A PERSONAL DAY WELL IN ADVANCE, THEY KNEW THAT THEY WILL BE ORDERED INTO WORK THAT THAT THAT EVENT OKAY.
AND AND I KNOW MY TIME IS UP FOR THIS ROUND. I'LL JUST SAY ONE FINAL POINT MANY OFFICERS KNOW THAT HALFWAY THROUGH THE SHIFT THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE UM, FORCED TO WORK
ANOTHER SHIFT. SO INSTEAD OF BEING FORCED THEY'LL JUST VOLUNTEER AND DO THE DO THE NEXT SHIFT UM, TO MAKE IT EASIER ON EVERYBODY AND
THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY COUNT AS FORCED OVERTIME AND THE POLICE OFFICER IS DOING BASICALLY DOING THE CITY OF FAVOR. UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW I DON'T
LIKE THE IDEA OF A POLICE OFFICER HALF HAVE HAVING TO CHOOSE BETWEEN HIS FAMILY AND HIS HIS OR HER FAMILY IN THE
JOB. I THINK IT'S I THINK IT'S AN UNHEALTHY CHOICE THAT WE'RE MAKING POLICE OFFICERS FACE EVERY DAY.
AND I DO WISH THE POLICE COMMISSIONER WAS HERE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION BECAUSE I DO THINK IT'S A FAIR QUESTION. I DO THINK POLICE OFFICERS WANT TO HEAR FROM THE POLICE
COMMISSIONER. I DO THINK IT'S IMPACTING MORALE OF POLICE OFFICERS. I THINK IT'S HURTING POLICE OFFICERS FAMILIES. BUT I DO THINK THE POLICE COMMISSIONER SHOULD BE HERE
ANSWERING ANSWERING A RESPECTFUL QUESTION ABOUT QUALITY OF LIFE, FAMILY LIFE BALANCE FOR POLICE OFFICERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. THANK YOU MR CHAIR. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR FLYNN.
COUNCILOR FITZGERALD, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. THANK YOU CHIEF. UM. >> SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WILL BE THE RIGHT PERSON TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION BUT I JUST HAVE UH, THINKING OF UH, POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO THIS AND THEN I
GUESS WHAT I'M GOING TO ASK IF IF YOU IN YOUR KNOWLEDGE UNDERSTAND ANY ROADBLOCKS THAT UH, IN MY IN THIS PROPOSAL. OKAY. UM, JUST TELL ME LIKE HEY, JOHN, THIS IS WHERE YOU MIGHT
HIT SOME BUMPS, BUT I UNDERSTAND MOSTLY. MOST OF THE BUMPS WILL COME AND YOU'LL. >> SAY IT'S IT'S NOT IN THE CONTRACT, RIGHT? WHICH IS FINE AND I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE CHANGED. UM.
IF WE WENT TO. TEN HOUR SHIFTS AND DID THAT 3 OR 4 DAYS A WEEK FOR OUR OFFICES. UM. AND YOU OVERLAP. >> THE SHIFTS. WHERE IS WHERE WHEREIN UM.
YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE TIME A LOT OF THE OVERTIME COMES FROM. IF YOU MAKE AN ARREST AT THE END OF YOUR SHIFT, YOU HAVE TO STICK AROUND TO WRITE THE REPORT, RIGHT? EXTENDED TOURS AND ALL THE 15 MINUTES AND INCREMENTAL. >> AND ALL THAT STUFF. UM. BUT IF YOU ALLOWED FOR
OVERLAPPING. SHIFTS INTO TEN HOUR SHIFTS. I THINK IT BENEFITS. I THINK IT. >> WOULD CUT BACK ON. OVERTIME BECAUSE. YOU WOULD YOU WOULD. ADD NOT HURT SERVICE BECAUSE YOU WOULD HAVE OTHER PEOPLE OUT THERE.
WELL, SOMEONE MIGHT BE. FINISHING A REPORT ON THE TAIL END OF A SHIFT AND THEY WOULD BE COVERED AND THEN UH. ULTIMATELY I THINK THE ISSUE BECOMES YOU LOSE. LIKE 27 HOURS OR SOMETHING
OF PAY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IF YOU GO TO A TEN HOUR SHIFT. UM. >> BUT I WOULD PROPOSE WE USE THOSE 27. >> HOURS AND HAVE UH, OFFICERS COME BACK IN AND DO. BOOK WORK. RIGHT? I MEAN, JUST STAY SHARP, STAY
ON THE BOOKS, UH, KEEP UPDATED AND AND TRAINING AND SUCH WHETHER IT'S UH, FIREARM TRAINING OR BOOK TRAINING. AND SO YOU MAKE UP THAT OTHER. 27 HOURS SO YOU COULD SAY TO THEM HEY. YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT LOSING ANY HOURS.
UM. >> BUT I THINK THAT GIVES THEM A BETTER FAMILY LIFE. >> TO COUNCILOR FLYNN'S POINT. OF YOU. >> KNOW, THIS. IS WHEN. MOST OF THE COPS I TALKED TO SAY, JOHN, THE MONEY'S OKAY. WE ARE GETTING GOOD PAY.
AND FOR THOSE THAT WANT TO WORK MORE DETAILS OR PICK UP THOSE DETAILS OR PICK UP MORE. SHIFTS, THAT'S FINE. >> SOME PEOPLE HAVE BUILT THAT WAY AND. WANT TO CONTINUE TO DO THAT. UM. >> BUT FOR OTHERS WITH YOUNG KIDS AND FAMILIES AND THEIR COACHING THEIR SONS LITTLE LEAGUE TEAM AND THAT TYPE
OF STUFF THE THE MANDATORY OVERTIME TO. SORT OF SAY WELL NOW I CAN'T I CAN'T BE THERE FOR MY FAMILY I'M GOING TO MISS THE RECITAL OR I'M GOING TO MISS THE GAME. UM I. THINK THE TEN HOURS SEVERAL
TIMES A WEEK GIVES THEM MORE FAMILY TIME DOESN'T HURT THE. COVERAGE AND TAKES DOWN OVERTIME. AND I KNOW. THERE'S A LOT MORE DETAILS. >> IN ALL OF THIS BUT. BUT IN THAT IS THERE ANYTHING THAT I'M IF I'M IF. >> I WERE TO. FOLLOW THIS. >> FURTHER WHAT WOULD YOU
SUGGEST I. LOOK INTO. >> THAT MAY BE SORT OF WELL JOHN IF YOU'RE GOING TO GO DOWN. >> THAT PATH HERE'S SOME OF THE THINGS THAT MIGHT COME UP. UM IS THERE ANY DO YOU HAVE ANY UNDERSTANDING. >> OF HOW THAT MIGHT AND I UNDERSTAND THE CONTRACT DOESN'T ALLOW FOR IT NOW AND THAT IS FINE.
THAT HAS. >> COME UP. SEVERAL TIMES SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE AND ALSO THE UM I THINK IT WAS 12 HOUR DAYS AS WELL HAS COME UP. YEP. UM BUT I COULDN'T ANSWER WHETHER IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL
OR NOT UNLESS I ACTUALLY DID THE ANALYSIS THE YOU KNOW THERE'S THE COST PART OF IT AND IS THE BENEFIT IT'S ALMOST LIKE A RETURN ON AN INVESTMENT. WHAT'S THE MARGIN YOU WANT TO REACH HERE? LIKE WHAT WHAT'S WHAT'S THAT THAT PERCENTAGE THAT WE WANT TO
GET THAT IT'S THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE I WOULDN'T WANT TO SAY IT'S GO OR BAD WITHOUT DOING MY OWN ANALYSIS WHICH I WOULD WELCOME TO DO SINCE I LOVE. DOING STUFF LIKE THAT. WELL I'M GLAD THAT YOU LOVE DOING.
STUFF LIKE THAT. WHAT WOULD YOU NEED IN ORDER? SO AN ANALYSIS IS NEVER AN OFFICIAL ANALYSIS FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS. >> NEVER BEEN DONE ON ANY OF. THOSE IDEAS. AS THEY'VE BEEN FLOATED IN THE PAST OR JUST NOW. NOT THAT I'M AWARE OF.
I KNOW THAT SOME OFFICERS HAVE PRESENTED THAT BEFORE BUT I NEVER REALLY LOOKED AT IT IN DETAIL. YEP. >> BUT IT'D BE MORE THAN THAN HAPPY TO LOOK INTO THAT. BUT IT WOULD OBVIOUSLY TAKE SOME. >> TIME BECAUSE YOU'D WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING. WAS COVERED.
I KNOW THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT UM. POTENTIALLY PUTTING NINE ON ONE OPERATIONS TO FOUR AND TWO BUT THERE'S A BENEFIT AND THERE'S A PROS. >> AND CONS THAT GO INTO A FOUR AND TWO SIMILAR TO THE POLICE OFFICER. SO WE COULD DEFINITELY DO THAT ANALYSIS BACK.
HERE AT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU NEED THAT YOU DO NOT. CURRENTLY HAVE TO TO DO SUCH AN ANALYSIS OR IS IT JUST. UH AND WHO. HAS TO. UH, GIVE THAT. ORDER TO HAVE THE ANALYSIS RUN?
IS THAT SOMETHING YOU COULD. DO OR DO YOU. NEED TO BE TOLD HEY, THIS IS WHAT WHERE I WANT YOU TO DO THIS? WELL, I MEAN. >> OBVIOUSLY IT WOULD BE THE COMMISSIONER'S WISH THAT HE'D WANT TO SEE THE CALCULATION. I COULD DO THE ANALYSIS JUST
FOR MY OWN. UH. >> PEACE OF MIND. BUT IT WOULD CERTAINLY COME. FROM THE COMMISSIONER. >> TO SAY THAT I REALLY WANT THIS DONE BECAUSE. >> I. WANT CONSIDERATION MAYBE FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF CONTRACTS. I DON'T KNOW, UM. >> HE'S I DON'T THINK BELIEVE HE'S. EVER SPOKEN. >> TO.
ME ABOUT THAT BUT UM I'M NOT. SURE IF HE'S YOU KNOW. HAD HAS ANY SAY IN IT EITHER WAY BECAUSE I HAVEN'T SPOKEN TO HIM ABOUT THAT. I JUST KNOW THAT I'VE. SPOKEN TO OTHER OFFICERS ABOUT EITHER. THE THE TEN. OR THE 12 PRO SHIFTS.
YEP. >> NO THAT'S AWESOME. THANK YOU I IT'S AN ANALYSIS. I WOULD WELCOME AND IF I CAN BE HELPFUL IN ANY WAY TO GET. THAT ANALYSIS DONE I THINK THAT'S TAKING. STEPS TOWARDS A SOLUTION. UM AND. >> I'D HELP I'D BE HAPPY TO ADVOCATE UH IN.
WHATEVER WAY YOU SEE FIT THAT. >> YOU THINK IT COULD BEST HAPPEN. UM IS THERE ANY EDUCATION YOU COULD GIVE MYSELF. AND ANYONE UH, THAT WOULD BE LISTENING IN. ABOUT UH. EVENTS THAT CAUSE. >> OVER TIME.
THE DIFFERENT. EVENTS THAT. THE CITY PICKS UP. >> AND THE DIFFERENT TYPE OF. EVENTS THAT THE EVENT HAS TO PAY FOR IT DETAILS OVER TIME. UM. >> AND ANY. DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN.
I KNOW SOME THINGS THAT RAISE MONEY HAVE TO PAY OTHERS THE. CITY SAYS. YOU KNOW WHAT WE CAN WE WILL TAKE THAT ON. COULD YOU JUST EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT? WELL I THINK IT ALSO COMES DOWN
TO PUBLIC SAFETY. UM, WHEN THERE'S AN EVENT THERE IS THERE'S A UH SPECIAL EVENT COMMITTEE. IN BOSTON POLICE HEADQUARTERS THAT MEET WITH SPECIAL EVENTS HERE AT CITY HALL AND THEY DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT IT'S A
PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE. UH, MANY EVENTS ARE UM ARE PAID FOR WHAT WE CALL THE REIMBURSABLE OVERTIME WORK SIMILAR TO THE PAY DETAILS WE HAD AT THE EVENT.
WILL VENABLE SIGN AN MOU BASED ON WHAT TYPE OF EVENT IT IS AND HOW BIG THE EVENT IS GOING TO. IT WILL LIST HOW MANY OFFICERS WILL BE NEEDED, HOW MANY SUPERVISORS UM WHAT THE HOURS ARE. SOME OF THEM SOME OF.
MIGHT BE LIKE FOR EXAMPLE THE MARATHON WAS LIKE A WHOLE WEEKEND OF EVENTS UM SO SIMILAR TO UH POLICE DETAILS THEY OFFICERS WILL GET PAID THEIR OVERTIME HOURLY RATE NOT THE PAY DETAIL HOURLY RATE WHICH
IS. DIFFERENT AND THEY ALSO ARE CHARGED THE 10% ADMIN FEE AND THE REIMBURSABLE OVERTIME IS NOT REFLECTED AT ALL IN OUR. GENERAL FUND EITHER SET UP AS A.
RECEIVABLE AND OBVIOUSLY THE RECEIVABLE IS REDUCED AS THE CASH COMES IN. SO WHEN ON THE ON THE. EVENTS THAT ARE REIMBURSABLE. THAT IS THAT DOES NOT FACTOR INTO WHAT WE WOULD SEE AS AN
OVERSPEND ON OVERTIME. CORRECT. >> SO FOR EXAMPLE THERE WAS AN MOU IN PLACE JUST THIS PAST WEEK UH FOR BOTH BLACK AND BLUE BECAUSE OF THE GRADUATION IT IS A PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE OF THE TRAFFIC GOING IN AND
AROUND THOSE AREAS. SO UM AN MOU WAS SIGNED AND THAT BASICALLY SAYS THERE WILL BE OFFICERS THERE. UM THEY WILL BE PAID THE OVERTIME THEIR OVERTIME HOURLY RATE AND THEN THEY WILL PAY. >> THE. 10% CABIN FEE ON TOP. >> OF THAT. AND I. >> APOLOGIZE JUST ONE MORE QUESTION TO HERE. >> BUT AS ANY.
DIFFERENCE FROM ROAD RATE, SMALLER EVENTS, ROAD RACES. OR EVEN LARGER EVENTS LIKE A PARADE BUT. ANYTHING IN BETWEEN WHERE DID THAT WHAT. CATEGORIES DO THOSE FALL IN IS THAT ARE THOSE REIMBURSABLE? ARE THOSE UH TAB TAKEN ON.
>> BY THE CITY OR ARE THOSE. UM PAID? BUT I THINK HOW HOW BIG. >> IT IS TO. DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THEY NEED MORE I MEAN, FOR EXAMPLE OF THE COURT ROAD RACE IN WEST ROXBURY, I THINK THEY JUST SEND
SOME OFFICERS DOWN THERE DURING THE PARADE ROUTE THAT ARE ONE SHIFT. I'VE NEVER SEEN A REIMBURSABLE OVERTIME FOR THAT BECAUSE IT'S IT'S OVER PRETTY QUICKLY. UM. >> AND. UNLESS YOU WALK IN IT. THAT'S TRUE DON'T. MATTER I WOULD LIKE TO RUN IT
OR RUN IT RIGHT OR IF I'M RUNNING IT IT GOES VERY LONG. SPECTATORS CHEERING YOU ON. YES. UM THAT THAT'S NOT REIMBURSABLE OVERTIME. I GUESS IT ALL DEPENDS WHAT WHAT THEY FEEL IS A PUBLIC SAFETY IN THAT THERE'S A
SPECIFIC NEED FOR ADDITIONAL OFFICERS MORE THAN THE DISTRICT UM, COULD. COVER TO SOMETIMES THE SHIFT. OFFICERS CAN COVER AND. DECREASE ANY OVERTIME POTENTIAL OVERTIME. GREAT. >> DEPENDING ON SIZE. UM. THANK YOU VERY MUCH I
APPRECIATE THAT THANK YOU JEFF. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR FITZGERALD . COUNCILOR WEBER, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. OKAY. >> THANK YOU. CHAIR. UM, UH, SO THERE'S A LOT
OF ANECDOTAL, YOU KNOW, UH, SORT OF INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE WORKING DOUBLE SHIFTS. YOU KNOW, WE WE ALSO I'VE ALSO HEARD STORIES OF PRACTICES
WHERE UH, OFFICERS WILL SORT OF SWITCH SHIFTS SO BOTH CAN GET PAID OVERTIME. YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO CUT THROUGH ALL OF THAT AND FIGURE OUT WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING . SO HOW CAN WE WE ASKED FOR DATA
IN MY OFFICE. WE GOT DATA IN TERMS OF LIKE TOTAL NUMBER OF HOURS BY CATEGORIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT THE HOURS PAID. UM BUT WE DON'T KNOW HOW CAN WE GET DATA THAT JUST SHOWS HOW
MUCH EACH OFFICER IS ACTUALLY WORKING? WE CAN WE CAN GET THAT DATA FOR YOU FOR YOU OF WHAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY WORKING IN TERMS OF OVERTIME DETAILS. YEAH I MEAN YOU JUST IT IS NOT
WE DON'T NEED TO LIKE ASSIGN EACH OFFICER JUST ONE THROUGH YOU KNOW 2100 OR WHATEVER IT IS AND THEN JUST THE SORT OF UH
YOU KNOW, THE OUT THE THE PAID HOURS AND SO WE CAN FIGURE OUT LIKE HOW OFTEN PEOPLE ARE WORKING, HOW MUCH THEY'RE BEING CALLED IN TO WORK A DOUBLE SHIFT. UH, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE WE'RE ALL CONCERNED
ABOUT THAT PRACTICE, BUT WE I DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. UH, YES. SO SO COUNCIL, I KNOW THAT YOU DID HAVE A REQUEST FROM US ON THROUGH A 17 DID THAT NOT.
LIKE WE WERE JUST GIVEN LIKE TOTAL HOURS PAID UH, FOR THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT AND UH, WE WERE UNABLE TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, HOW LIKE WHAT EACH WHAT THE BURDEN ON EACH OFFICER THAT
IS CURRENTLY. SO, UH, WE CAN CONTINUE TO WORK ON THAT. UM, I UH, IN TERMS OF I MEAN, WE AS WE WE IN OUR BUDGET HEARING WE WERE TALKING ABOUT
MASS AND CASS WHICH IS ABOUT 160,000 HOURS OF OVERTIME EACH YEAR. AND THEN AT THE END I THINK SUPERINTENDENT BROWN OR I SAID, WELL, THAT'S NOW UH, TOURS OF DUTY I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO SAID IT. THAT WAS.
SUPERINTENDENT BROWN. OKAY. AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN SO IT WAS A SPECIAL EVENT NOW IS THE TRAGEDY IS THAT ANY IMPACT ON THE AMOUNT OF OVERTIME. WE DON'T LOOK AT MASS AND CAST AS A SPECIAL EVENT. IT'S GIVEN A SPECIAL EVENT
CODE UM, JUST SO WE CAN CAPTURE THE ACTUAL COST. UM, BECAUSE YOU'D BE. DIGGING THROUGH A LOT OF OVERTIME IF. >> IT WASN'T CODED. SPECIFICALLY FOR MASS AT MASS AND CAST UM MASSES AND CAST IS DOWN 23.3% TOURS OF DUTY IS
THAT THE UM. UH THE THE THE OVERSIGHT OF MASS AND CAST IS GOING TO BE. >> FULL OFFICERS ON THEIR REGULAR TOURS OF DUTY. UM AND THEN OBVIOUSLY DEPENDING. >> ON WHAT SUPERINTENDENT. BROWN IF THERE IS A NEED. TO ENFORCE. >> IT. WITH OVERTIME THAT WOULD BE HIS DECISION.
BUT EVERYTHING IS LOOKED AT AND EVERYTHING IS LOOKED AT TO SEE WHAT'S INTENTIONAL. OH YEAH JUST JUST SO I UNDERSTAND SO BOTH UH IT WAS IT PAID OUT AD AN OVERTIME.
IT WAS IT WAS IT WAS I DON'T BELIEVE IT WAS ALL OVERTIME. OKAY. >> BUT OBVIOUSLY THERE THERE WAS OVERTIME AND A LOT OF OVERTIME EARLY ON WHEN UM. THE MASS AND CAST STARTED TO. >> COME TO FRUITION. YEAH THAT'S. >> THE. RIGHT WORDS AND.
AGAIN LIKE NO YEAH I HAVE NO LIKE CRITICISM OF STATIONING PEOPLE THERE AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS DOING UM JUST IN TERMS OF LIKE HOW IT GETS PAID SO IS IT LESS OF IT? THEY'LL STILL BE THE SAME
STAFFING BUT LESS OF IT WILL BE PAID AT THE OVERTIME RATE. CORRECT. OKAY. UM UH LET'S SEE. SO FOR UM.
YEAH I GUESS WHEN WHEN AND ARE THERE INSTANCES WHERE AN OFFICER'S WORKING OVERTIME THAT DON'T REQUIRE AUTHORIZATION FROM SOME LIKE FROM THEIR
SERGEANT OR CAPTAIN OR YOU. KNOW. >> ALL OF. >> THE OVERTIME HAS TO BE OKAY. SO IT'S LIKE THE END OF THE SHIFT IF THERE'S A CAR ACCIDENT THEY'RE WORKING THAT SCENE AND THEY HAVE TO STAY OVER. DO THEY HAVE TO GET PERMISSION
FROM SOMEONE AND WHO'S THAT. IF THEY HAD TO GET PERMISSION AND IN THAT INSTANCE I'M NOT SURE IF THAT HAS TO BE PRE-APPROVED IN ADVANCE BECAUSE. OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WALK AWAY FROM A. CAR ACCIDENT. BUT UM, I'M SURE THAT THEIR
DUTY SUPERVISOR IS MADE WELL AWARE THAT THEY OUT THERE AT THE SCENE. YOU KNOW. >> TAKING A REPORT, FINISHING YOU KNOW, WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE DONE. UM. BUT BUT ALL OF IT SO IT MIGHT NOT BE PRE AUTHORIZED BECAUSE
WE DON'T KNOW THAT CAR ACCIDENT IS GOING. TO HAPPEN BUT WE'RE NOT. >> WITH OUR EXPECTATIONS. >> THE OFFICER'S NOT GOING TO WALK. AWAY AT. 12:00 WHEN A SHIFT IS OVER HE WILL STAY UNTIL YOU KNOW THINGS ARE FINISHED IN COMPLETE OKAY. >> SO THAT'S GENERALLY WHEN
PEOPLE ARE WORKING OVERTIME IT'S IT'S BEING. IT'S BEING. APPROVED BY A SUPERVISING OFFICER. CORRECT OKAY. AND WHO WOULD THE I WHO'S THE SUPERVISING OFFICER FOR THAT PURPOSES LIKE THE SERGEANT
LIEUTENANT CAPTAIN SOMEONE. >> ELSE. IT'S A IT'S IT'S. >> THE. DUTY SUPERVISOR. THAT'S ON THAT SHIFT AND THE DISTRICTS IT COULD BE A SERGEANT OR IT COULD BE AN ADMINISTRATIVE LIEUTENANT. OKAY. >> UM AND UH.
LET'S SEE HERE IN TERMS OF UH. UM, WHEN I GUESS UH.
LIKE WHAT ARE INTERNALLY I GUESS WE'VE MADE PROGRESS ON INJURY LEAVE. YOU KNOW, THERE WERE A LOT I. MEAN AND. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL ON THAT? SO I WANT TO SAY BACK IN 2021
WE KIND OF. UH. >> BASICALLY REVAMPED OUR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH UNIT SO THAT THEY WERE MORE CASE MANAGEMENT HAD A CASE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE RATHER THAN SOMEONE JUST DOING. BILLING. >> SOMEONE JUST DOING UM
INQUIRIES FOR WHAT WHAT TYPES OF INJURIES WOULD BE PAID AND WHAT THE COST WOULD BE FOR A PARTICULAR SERVICE OR SURGERY. SO IT'S BASICALLY DIVIDED NOW THAT I TAKE ON ALL OFFICES A THROUGH S WOULD COME TO ME AND
I WOULD BE WITH THEM FROM START. TO FINISH FROM THE DAY THAT THEY GET INJURED TO THE MINUTE THAT I GET THE REPORT AND WOULD SEE THEM THROUGH THEIR WHOLE PROCESS. WE ALSO BEEFED UP THE MEDICAL PROVIDERS. BUT IN. >> 2022 2021 WE STARTED MAKING
SURE OFFICERS. WOULD COME IN. >> AND BIWEEKLY LIKE EVERY TWO WEEKS COMING IN TO GET EVALUATED, YOU KNOW. COME UP WITH DOCTOR'S NOTES. WE WANT OUR OFFICERS BACK TO WORK. BUT I CAN'T EMPHASIZE THAT WE WE MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE HEALTHY. FIRST.
>> BUT I THINK WE'RE. >> DOING A MORE EFFICIENT WAY TO GET THEM BACK. AND I WANT TO SAY THAT WE'RE AT 58 RIGHT NOW WITH OFFICERS OUT INJURED. WHICH IS PHENOMENAL. MHM OKAY OKAY WELL THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THANK YOU CHAIR. THANK YOU COUNCILOR WEBER WE'RE GOING TO NOW DO A SECOND ROUND OF QUESTIONS I'M GOING TO GO BACK TO COUNCILOR MURPHY. WE'LL DO UM SIX MINUTES. THANK YOU.
UM AND AGAIN I'M NOT SURE IF YOU ARE THE ONE WHO CAN ANSWER THIS. >> UM. IS IT TRUE THAT THERE THERE WAS ALWAYS UH, STAFFING MINIMUM THAT WAS USED ACROSS ALL
DISTRICTS AND BEFORE A SHIFT AND I'M NOT SURE. DO YOU KNOW WHICH? UM, OFFICER. >> WOULD BE THE. ONE IN CHARGE? UM, IS. IT THE CAPTAIN? IS IT THE LIEUTENANT? >> I DON'T EVEN KNOW.
IT REALLY WOULD COME FROM THE CAPTAIN DOWN. OKAY, UM. BUT ISN'T THE LIEUTENANT THE ONE IN CHARGE OF MAKING SURE THERE'S ENOUGH STAFF SHIFT. AND THERE USED TO BE A STAFFING MINIMUM.
EXPECTED AND NOW THEY'VE. GONE AWAY. FROM THAT STAFFING. MINIMUM AND. THEY'RE USED TO, UM, CALL FOR OVERTIME BUT NOW PULL. FROM OTHER DISTRICTS. IS THAT. >> ALSO TRUE.
>> THAT. THEY'RE PULLING FOR DISTRICTS. >> FOR OFFICERS? I BELIEVE THEY ARE DOING THAT. SO SO SAY LIKE. IS ISSUE C6 AND C11. AND UM I I DON'T KNOW AND THAT'S WHY.
I FILED THIS HEARING BUT SAY YOU NEED 20 OFFICERS. ON EACH. >> SHIFT THAT MAY BE VERY LOW AND C11 HAS 17 AND C6 HAS NINE LIKE 21 LIKE THEY'LL JUST.
PULL SOMEONE FOR C6 TO KIND OF EVEN. IT OUT. >> IS THAT I. HOW DO THEY DECIDE BECAUSE. THEN THE OTHER DISTRICT WOULD BE BELOW THEIR FULLY STAFFED LEVELS. >> I CAN'T ANSWER THAT COUNSELOR.
I THINK THAT SHOULD BE TABLE TO. SUPERINTENDENT BROWN. WHO COULD GET THAT ANSWER TO YOU RATHER QUICKLY? UM I KNOW THAT THEY ARE LOOKING AT WAYS TO STRATEGICALLY MAKE SURE THAT EVERY DISTRICT IS
STAFFED WITHOUT. YOU KNOW, USING. OVERTIME OR USING IT OVER TIME AT A VERY MINIMUM. BUT HE WOULD BE BETTER TO SPEAK OF IT THAN THAN I. >> WOULD. AND IF. >> SO I GUESS I'LL JUST PUT IT ON THE RECORD.
ALSO IF A SERGEANT. OR LIEUTENANT IS NOT COVERING A CERTAIN SHIFT IN A DEPARTMENT SAY AGAIN C6 C11 THAT THEY WOULD JUST HAVE THE LIEUTENANT
SERGEANT FROM. C6 COVER BOTH DISTRICTS. I DON'T KNOW IF THEY WOULD COVER BOTH. I KNOW THAT THEY WILL GET A SERGEANT OR LIEUTENANT TO COVER THE DISTRICT. UM, WHETHER IT MIGHT BE UM A
TEMPORARY OUT OF GRADE A TOG LIKE A SERGEANT UM TEMPORARY TO A LIEUTENANT. BUT WHETHER OR NOT THAT OFFICER IS COMING FROM ANOTHER DISTRICT FOR THAT I'M NOT. SURE THOUGH, BECAUSE I HEARD THAT ONE LIEUTENANT WOULD THEN
BE EXPECTED TO COVER BOTH SAY ALL OF SOUTH BOSTON AND DORCHESTER BOTH INSTEAD OF CALLING IN OVERTIME FOR EACH TO PARK EACH DISTRICT TO HAVE FULLY STAFFED.
I I DON'T KNOW THAT I THINK IT WOULD BE BEST ANSWERED BY SUPERINTENDENT BROWN OR SOME SOME REPRESENTATIVE GENERAL FIELD SERVICES. OKAY. >> UM THANK YOU. I MEAN I WISH I HAD I MEAN I
HAVE MORE QUESTIONS BUT I APPRECIATE YOU I DON'T WANT TO KEEP ASKING YOU QUESTIONS THAT I'M JUST GOING TO END UP I GUESS PUTTING ON THE RECORD OR WE'LL KEEP WE'LL RESCHEDULE
THIS HEARING FOR THE RIGHT PEOPLE BECAUSE UM, SUPERINTENDENT BROWN COULD HAVE ALSO ATTENDED IF THE COMMISSIONER WAS TOO BUSY. THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO LEAVE YOU HERE ALL ALONE.
BUT THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR MURPHY. UM, COUNCILOR FLYNN, YOU HAVE THE FLOOR. THANK YOU, MR CHAIR. AND AGAIN, THANK YOU TO LISA FOR BEING HERE.
I ALSO AGREE I, I I THINK IT'S UNFAIR TO LEAVE YOU HERE LISA ALONE AND NOT NOT SUPPORTED BY ANYBODY.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE ABLE TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION OR NOT, BUT IT WAS A QUESTION SIMILAR TO WHAT COUNCILOR MURPHY ASKED . UM, BUT SAY SEE SIX WHERE I
LIVE IN SOUTH BOSTON SOUTH BOSTON, DORCHESTER IS SHOT A SUPERVISOR A A SERGEANT OR OR A LIEUTENANT INSTEAD OF HIRING A
SUPERVISOR I KNOW ON OVERTIME THAT THEY WILL HAVE ONE SERGEANT COVER BOTH PATROL DISTRICTS. SO SERVING AS A PATROL
SUPERVISOR WOULD COVER BOTH DORCHESTER AND SOUTH BOSTON. BUT THIS IS NOT HYPOTHETICAL. THAT'S THE THAT'S THE PRACTICE.
IS THAT ACCURATE, LISA? I I CAN'T ANSWER THAT WITHOUT CONFIRMING WITH SOMEBODY FROM VFS. I KNOW THAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT WAYS TO REDUCE OVER TIME. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ONE OF THEM. UM THEY'RE TRYING TO BE VERY
INTENTIONAL WITH HOW THEY DISPERSE OVER TIME, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ONE OF THE IMPLEMENTATIONS RECENTLY MADE. BUT BUT THEN BOSTON POLICE
REDUCING OVERTIME HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON OTHER ASPECTS OF HOW YOU ASSIGN SUPERVISORS UM IN OPERATIONS AND MANNING LEVELS.
IS THAT IS THAT ACCURATE? I'M NOT SEEING THAT NOW, COUNCILOR. I MEAN WE HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THE WEEKLY AVERAGE OF OVERTIME THESE PAST SIX WEEKS, BUT I HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING NEGATIVE ON THE
REDUCTION. YOU KNOW, WE'RE OUR MAIN GOAL IS TO PROVIDE PUBLIC SAFETY AND I DON'T THINK THAT HAS TAKEN ANY ANY TOLL SINCE THIS, UH, REDUCTION IN TRYING TO REDUCE OUR OVERTIME.
BUT YOU WOULD HAVE YOU WOULD STILL HAVE THE THE ONE SUPERVISOR COVERING. THAT I DON'T KNOW I WOULD HAVE TO GET THAT FROM BFS. I DON'T I DON'T KNOW THAT THE ANSWER RIGHT NOW.
ALL RIGHT THAT THAT'S WHAT MY QUESTIONS MR CHAIR WERE ON BASED ON ON STAFFING LEVELS AND WHAT IMPACT IT HAS ON ON US AS
A AS A CITY COUNCIL AND THE IMPACT IT POTENTIALLY COULD HAVE ON THE BUDGET AND HOW WE'RE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD ON THE BUDGET. BUT AS IF I DON'T NECESSARILY
HAVE THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION UM. UM, WELL DOES THE DOES THE
DEPARTMENT BELIEVE CURRENT STAFFING SHORTAGES ARE IMPACTING RESPONSE TIME OR NEIGHBORHOOD PATROL COVERAGE? I DON'T BELIEVE THAT'S TRUE.
UM. >> WHAT SAFEGUARDS ARE IN PLACE TO ENSURE OFFICERS WORKING EXCESSIVE OVERTIME INCLUDING 17
HOUR WORK SHIFT ARE STILL ABLE TO SAFELY AND EFFECTIVELY PERFORM THEIR DUTIES. WELL THERE'S THE 90 HOUR RULE PER WEEK PER OFFICERS. SO THERE WAS A CALCULATION DONE
EVERY EVERY WEEK BY THE PAYROLL DEPARTMENT TO DETERMINE HOW MANY OFFICERS WORKED OVER THE 90 HOURS. UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S THERE'S ALSO SINCE THE NEW COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT THEY ALSO
UH NOW AFFORDED IF IF IT'S ABLE TO DO WITHOUT UM IT'S A BE ABLE TO DO IT WHILE SUSTAINING OPERATIONS THEY'RE ALLOWED TO TAKE A HALF HOUR BREAK TO THE GYMS. THE GYMS ALSO HAVE BEEN MADE UM
FREE TO. THE OFFICERS ALL THE GYMS THAT THAT NORMALLY HAD A MEMBERSHIP FEE, MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP FEE THEY TAKE TO TAKE OFFICER
WELLNESS SERIOUS UM BUT I KNOW THAT'S THAT 90 HOUR RULE THAT OFFICERS CANNOT EXCEED THE 90 HOUR RULE AS FAR AS THEIR THEIR WEEKLY AMOUNT OF. WORK BUT BUT CAN A POLICE OFFICER STILL WORK 17 HOUR A
WEEK 17 HOUR DAY? I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY WOULD WORK A 17 HOUR DAY UNLESS THEY DID OVERTIME ON THAT BECAUSE IT'S IT'S EIGHT HOUR SHIFTS. UM, UNLESS THEY PICKED UP SOME
OVERTIME AND IT WAS ALLOWED. WHEN THE WHEN POLICE COMMISSIONER CLOCK STARTED THE FIRST MEETING I HAD AND THERE WAS ONE OFFICER I BELIEVE THAT
WORKED A 19 HOUR SHIFT AND AND I I INSTRUCTED THE POLICE COMMISSIONER I SAID THIS IS VERY UNHEALTHY FOR THE POLICE OFFICER, HIS OR HER FAMILY BUT ALSO THE RESIDENTS OF BOSTON.
HE HE PROMISED ME THAT THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. BUT DO WE KNOW IF ANY POLICE OFFICERS HAVE RECENTLY WORKED A 17 HOUR SHIFT?
NOT THAT I'M AWARE OF BUT I COULD GET THAT INFORMATION OKAY. YEAH, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL. UM. AND WE WOULD YOU WOULD NEVER NOT MEANING YOU BUT THE BOSTON
POLICE DEPARTMENT WOULD NEVER INSTRUCT SOMEONE TO WORK BEYOND 16 HOURS. I DON'T BELIEVE SO, BUT I WOULD RATHER CONFIRM THAT BEFORE I SAY YES OR NO ON THAT. OKAY. >> UM, LISA, WERE YOU ABLE TO
ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BOSTON POLICE CRIME LAB? ON A VERY HIGHER LEVEL BUT NOT ON A SPECIFIC LEVEL.
IS THE POLICE IS THE CRIME LAB HIRING A EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR? YES THEY ARE. THEY HAVE STARTED TO SEARCH FOR THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, THEY'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH POSTING. THE POSITION IS IS.
OKAY. DO THEY STILL HAVE A KIND OF A COMMISSION OF OF PEOPLE THAT ARE OVERSEEING IT NOW? WELL WE DID HAVE ONE DIRECTOR RACHEL CAMPER WHO HAS RETIRED.
UM, BUT THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER GENTLEMAN WHO'S WHO'S NOT ON THE DIRECTOR LEVEL BUT HE HAS HAS ASSISTED GREATLY UM, FOR SOME TIME AT THE CRIME LAB
WHERE HE CAN AND WE ALSO HAVE UM THE SERGEANT AS WELL. UM, SERGEANT JEFFERSON OVERSEES A GOOD. GOOD PORTION. OF THE CRIME LAB. IS THE PERSON THAT WAS ON AN EXTENDED LEAVE OF APS AND IS
THAT PERSON DID DID THAT PERSON APPLY FOR THE, UH, POSITION? >> I DON'T BELIEVE THE POSITION HAS BEEN POSTED YET. WE'RE WE'RE GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS OF GETTING IT POSTED. I THINK THEY WANTED TO LOOK AT THE JOB DESCRIPTION TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WAS ACCURATE WITH
THE CURRENT ROLES. UM, BUT AS I UNDERSTAND THAT THEY WERE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD WITH POSTING IT, I DON'T BELIEVE IT HAS BEEN POSTED YET SO I CAN'T ANSWER THAT. IS THAT PERSON BACK ON THE JOB? YES. >> AFTER AFTER ABOUT TWO YEARS.
LEAVE THAT. YES THAT'S RIGHT. WILL WE EVER ABLE TO FIND OUT WHY THAT PERSON WAS PLACED ON LEAVE? UM NO I WAS NOT PRIVY TO THAT INFORMATION AT THAT TIME BECAUSE I WASN'T IN THE ROLE
THAT I'M CURRENTLY AT WHEN HE WAS PUT OUT ON ADMIN LEAVE. OKAY. >> THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR CHAIR. THANK YOU, COUNCILOR FLYNN. COUNCILOR FITZGERALD. YEAH. >> JUST ONE QUICK QUESTION, LISA. THANK YOU. AND THEN I WON'T HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS.
UM, YOU SAID THE, UH, WEEKLY WE GET THE, UH, WHICH OFFICES WORK OVER 90 HOURS, RIGHT? UH, DO WE KNOW ON AVERAGE HOW MANY OFFICERS THAT COULD BE? NO, BUT I DON'T HAVE IT OFF THE
TOP OF MY HEAD. BUT CERTAINLY GET THAT. THROUGH THE CHAIR IF THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING WITH JUST SO WE KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WORKING THAT ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM UM, BECAUSE THAT 90 HOURS IS
QUITE A LOT OF TIME AND UH AND QUITE A LOT OF OVERTIME. SO IF WE KNEW HOW MANY WERE DOING IT AND WHY THAT'D BE GREAT. WELL THANK YOU. UH, THAT IS ALL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AWESOME. >> THANK YOU,
COUNCILOR FITZGERALD. I'VE BEEN, UM, INFORMED BY, UM ,CENTRAL STAFF THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE, UM, FOR PUBLIC TESTIMONY. UM, SO WITH THAT, I DO WANT TO
THANK, UM, LIZ, UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE ANSWERING OUR QUESTIONS. UM, I WANT TO THANK THE LEAD SPONSORS, UM, COUNCILOR MURPHY, COUNCILOR UM FLYNN AND COUNCILOR FITZGERALD, UM, FOR BRINGING THIS UM THIS HEARING
HEARING ORDER. THIS WILL WORK WITH UH, UM THESE SPONSORS UM, ON ANY FOLLOW UPS AND I WILL ALSO SUBMIT UM, THE QUESTIONS THAT MY COLLEAGUES HAVE SUBMITTED TO UM THROUGH THE COMMITTEE.
UM, WITH THAT AGAIN THANK YOU, LISA, THANK YOU TO MY COLLEAGUES. THANK YOU TO THE PUBLIC, UM, FOR BEING HERE. UM, AND THIS HEARING ON DOCKET NUMBERS 0591 AND 0696 AS
ADJOURNED. THANK YOU.
UM. >> Part: 2
GOOD AFTERNOON. UH, MY NAME IS BEN WEBER. I'M THE BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR FOR DISTRICT SIX AND I'M THE CHAIR OF THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE. UH, FOR THE RECORD. UH, TODAY IS MAY 19TH, 2026 AND
THE EXACT TIME IS STILL 2:07 P.M.. UH, THIS HEARING IS BEING RECORDED. IT'S ALSO BEING LIVE STREAMED AT BOSTON ARCHIVES. CITY COUNCIL TV HAD BROADCAST ON ITS CHANNEL EIGHT RCN
CHANNEL 82 AND FIVE CHANNEL 964. UH JUST I HAVE A COUPLE PLENARY THINGS AND THEN WE'LL WE'LL GET TO THE PANEL. UM, THE COUNCIL'S BUDGET REVIEW PROCESS ENCOMPASSES A SERIES OF PUBLIC HEARINGS BEGINNING IN
APRIL RUNNING THROUGH JUNE. WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE RESIDENTS TO TAKE A MOMENT TO ENGAGE IN THIS PROCESS BY GIVING TESTIMONY FOR THE RECORD. YOU CAN DO, UH, THIS IN SEVERAL WAYS. UH, YOU CAN GIVE TESTIMONY AT
ONE OF OUR PUBLIC HEARINGS OR ALL OF THEM IF YOU UH IF YOU CAN UM YOU CAN DO SO IN A COUPLE WAYS. ONE, YOU CAN SHOW UP IN PERSON TO A HEARING, UH, SIGN IN ON
THE SIGN IN SHEET NEAR THE DOOR AND YOU'LL BE CALLED ON UH, FOR THE PUBLIC TESTIMONY PORTION. YOU CAN ALSO TESTIFY VIRTUALLY AT ANY HEARING UH, FOR VIRTUAL TESTIMONY, SIGN UP USING OUR
ONLINE FORM ON OUR COUNCIL BUDGET REVIEW WEBSITE OR BY EMAILING THE COMMITTEE AT 6WM@BOSTON.GOV OR BY EMAILING
OUR UH UH OUR BUDGET ANALYST RIGHT HERE CHRIS MITCHELL ON AT K R ISH MACO U H A N@BOSTON.GOV
AND YOU'LL GET A ZOOM LINK UH TO TESTIFY YOU CAN ALSO UH COME TO THE LAST OR FOURTH OF FOUR LISTENING SESSIONS UH WHICH AND
I'VE BEEN SAYING I'VE BEEN READING THE SCRIPT AND SAYING IT'S ON THURSDAY MAY 26TH BUT MAY 26TH IS A TUESDAY. SO IT'S TUESDAY, MAY 26TH AT 6 P.M. RIGHT HERE IN THE CHAMBER.
UH, ANYONE IN THE PUBLIC PLEASE COME AND, UH, COUNSELORS WILL BE HERE TO HEAR YOUR TESTIMONY ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE BUDGET. UM, AGAIN AT THAT LISTENING SESSION YOU CAN TESTIFY IN
PERSON OR VIRTUALLY. SO FOLLOW THE SAME STEPS TO GET A ZOOM LINK IF IF UH IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT IN PERSON. UM, UH, IN ADDITION TO TESTIFYING AND HEARING VIRTUALLY IN PERSON, YOU CAN
EMAIL WRITTEN TESTIMONY TO THE COMMITTEE AT SEEK DWM@BOSTON.GOV. UH LASTLY, YOU CAN UH SUPPLY YOUR TESTIMONY BY SUBMITTING A TWO MINUTE VIDEO, UH, OF YOUR
TESTIMONY THROUGH THE FORM ON OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE COUNCIL BUDGET PROCESS AND TO TESTIFY, PLEASE VISIT THE COUNCIL BUDGETS BUDGET UH COUNCIL CITY COUNCIL'S BUDGET WEBSITE AT
BOSTON.GOV/CITY-SORRY THAT WAS WRONG BOSTON.GOV/COUNCIL-BUDGET WE WILL HAVE IN-PERSON TESTIMONY FOLLOWING A PRESENTATION FROM THE PANEL AND OUR FIRST ROUND OF COUNCIL QUESTIONS.
UM UH AGAIN YOU'LL BE CALLED ON IN ORDER. YOU'VE ARRIVED UH YOU SIGNED UP AND UH OR UM GET A ZOOM LINK FROM OUR UH, LEGISLATIVE BUDGET
ANALYST KARISHMA CARR ISH AMOCO YOU HAVE AN AT BOSTON.COM FOR THE ZOOM LINK AND YOUR NAME WILL BE ADDED TO THE LIST. THIS AFTERNOON'S HEARING IS ON DOCKET NUMBER 073320740.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE FISCAL YEAR 20 2027 OPERATING BUDGET FOR THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY. THIS IS ONE IN A SERIES OF HEARINGS TO REVIEW THE FISCAL YEAR 2027 BUDGET. THESE MATTERS WERE SPONSORED BY
MICHELLE MAY OR MICHELLE WU AND REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE ON APRIL 8TH 2026. I'M JOINED BY MY COLLEAGUES IN ORDER OF ARRIVAL COUNCILOR FLYNN, COUNCILOR MURPHY UH I'VE RECEIVED LETTERS OF ABSENCE
FROM COUNCILOR LOUIJEUNE AND COUNCILOR CULPEPER. UH, NO. UM I'M JUST GONNA INTRODUCE THE PANEL AND THEN, UM, YOU CAN, UH, GIVE A PRESENTATION IF YOU HAVE ONE. UH, WE'RE JOINED TODAY BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC
LIBRARY, DAVID LEONARD, UH, THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF EMILY TOKARCZUK. GREAT. OKAY. UH, THE DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES, MICHAEL KOFOD AND, UH
,OUR DIRECTOR OF NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES WITH THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, PRISCILLA FOLEY. UM, OKAY. UH, SO THAT THAT'S THAT'S IT FOR ME. UH, I'M GOING TO HAND IT OVER TO THE PANEL AND THEN WE'LL GO
TO QUESTIONS FROM OUR THE COUNSELORS OVER HERE. UH, THANK YOU, MR CHAIRMAN. UH, IT'S A PLEASURE TO BE BACK WITH THE COUNCIL ONCE AGAIN. I BELIEVE THIS MAY BE MY 10TH. TIME, UH, PRESENTING ON OUR
BUDGET FOR THE LIBRARY. UH, AND IT REMAINS, UH, ALTHOUGH WE ARE A COMPLICATED INSTITUTION WITH OUR OWN CHALLENGES, UH, IT REMAINS A JOY AND PRIVILEGE TO LEAD THIS
INSTITUTION. UH, FOR ALL OF THE RESIDENTS OF BOSTON AND BEYOND. UH, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF SLIDES TO PRESENT ON, BUT I'M JUST GOING TO PICK OFF A COUPLE OF HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SLIDES
SO WE CAN GET TO YOUR QUESTIONS UH, IN PARTICULAR UH AND WHICH WILL ALSO LEAD US INTO UM THE BUDGET PICTURE. UH UH YOU WARNED ME ABOUT THIS NOT TO BE TOO AGGRESSIVE WITH
THE CLICKER RIGHT. SO LET ME START RIGHT HERE AND UM, YOU HAVE ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IN YOUR PACKET. BUT THE BPL 2025 CALENDAR YEAR
IS A SNAPSHOT OF PERFORMANCE. UM, UH, FEW HIGHLIGHTS THAT I WANT TO POINT OUT JUST TO GIVE CONTEXT TO THE WORK OF OUR STAFF AND THE INSTITUTION SYSTEMWIDE.
SO IN 2025 WE HAD OVER 3.2 MILLION VISITS TO THE CENTRAL LIBRARY AND ALL OF OUR BRANCHES UM OUR CIRCULATION NUMBERS SAY
THE BOOKS BORROWED UM 1.9 MILLION ITEMS IN UH PHYSICAL ITEMS ACTUAL BOOKS, UM UH WHICH IS ACTUALLY AN INCREASE OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR AND 5.4
MILLION UM ITEMS DOWNLOADED AS E-BOOKS OR AUDIO BOOKS. UH, THE OTHER NUMBER I WANT TO POINT OUT IS THE SIGN UP OF NEW LIBRARY CARD HOLDERS AT 129,000
WHICH IS UH WHICH IS KIND OF THE NORM FOR US UH, FROM YEAR TO YEAR. UH, SO WHAT I WANT YOU TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS SLIDE IS A REALLY STRONG YEAR FOR THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY IN TERMS
OF SERVING THE COMMUNITY. UM, WE BASE ALL OF OUR MESSAGING ON OUR NEW STRATEGIC PLAN FROM 2020 FORM WHICH CENTERS FOR KEY ROLES OF THE LIBRARY IN OUR WORK IN
COMMUNITY. THOSE ARE OUR ROLE AS A LIFELONG LEARNING AND RESEARCH PARTNER, OUR WORK AS A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT UM, OUR
WORK TO PRESENT A WELCOMING DESTINATION AT ALL OF OUR PHYSICAL AND ONLINE LOCATIONS AND OUR WORK TO BE A TRUSTED RESOURCE. UM, BRIEFLY TAKING A HIGHLIGHT
FROM EACH OF THESE FOUR ROLES AND COMMUNITY UM, FROM THE UH LIFELONG LEARNING AND RESEARCH PARTNER ROLE. I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT LAST YEAR WE, UH, DELIVERED AN
ALL AGES SUMMER READING PROGRAM WHEREAS NORMALLY IT'S JUST FOR, UH, OUR YOUNG PEOPLE THAT LAST YEAR WE DID VERY SUCCESSFUL, UH, PROGRAM UH, FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES UM, THAT WAS
AUGMENTED BY UH SOME WORK WITH OUR UH, LEGO GRANT. SO LEARNING THROUGH PLAY IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF, UM, HOW WE, UH, ANIMATE KIDS PROGRAMS ACROSS THE SYSTEM.
UM, CONTINUING IN THIS ROLE, UH ,ONE OF THE OTHER HIGHLIGHTS RELATES TO OUR WORKFORCE UH, DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, UH, INCLUDING OUR ESOL SERVICES
WHICH CONTINUE TO HAVE WAITLISTS AND BE MUCH IN DEMAND AND THEN LOOKING AT UH, BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE AND BRINGING ENGAGEMENT TO LIFE AROUND OUR ARTS AND CULTURE WORK.
UH, WE HAVE 98,000 VISITORS TO OUR REVOLUTIONARY ART EXHIBITION AT THE CENTRAL LIBRARY. THE CURRENT EXHIBITION WHICH WILL BE UP THROUGH SEPTEMBER,
UH, FOCUSING ON THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, HAS ALL EIGHT COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL PRINTING THAT THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY HOLDS FOR THE PEOPLE OF BOSTON
AND THE COMMONWEALTH MOVING TO OUR WELCOMING DESTINATION. UM, I AM ACTUALLY JUST GOING TO TALK ABOUT OUR, UH, MAJOR CAPITAL PROJECTS UH, FIELDS
CORNER BRANCH IS UH ALMOST UH ALMOST DONE. UH, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO AN OPENING IN THIS IN THE FALL. UH, THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE TWO FASTEST PROJECTS IN TERMS
OF THE BUILDING GOING UP. AND FOR THOSE OF YOU IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE IT HAPPENING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. UH, THE OTHER UH, BRANCH UH, RENOVATION PROJECT IS THE NEW CHINATOWN BRANCH, UH, WHICH IS
PART OF THE UH HOUSING WITH PUBLIC ASSETS PROGRAM DOWN ON TYLER STREET IN UH IN CHINATOWN. UM, UH, THAT'S MORE COMPLICATED. SO WE'LL TAKE A LITTLE LONGER BUT BUT ABSOLUTELY UNDERWAY AND
WE HAVE WORK UNDERWAY TO SUPPORT A FUTURE RENOVATION OF THE REMAINING PARTS OF THE CENTRAL LIBRARY THE OLD MCKIM BUILDING ON COPLEY SQUARE, UH, WITHIN OUR TRUSTED RESOURCE
CATEGORY. I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT OUR INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM TRAINING. UH, VERY RELEVANT TO TODAY'S UM, PERIOD THAT THAT OLD STAFF WHO ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH THESE PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS
BUT UH, IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO GET RETRAINED ON THINGS AS WELL AS OUR BOOKS ON BAND PROGRAM WHERE WE OFFER UH THROUGH PRIVATE FUNDING, UM, UH, RESOURCES TO
THOSE IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WHO ARE UNABLE TO ACCESS RESOURCES. UH. >> IN THEIR LOCAL NEIGHBORHOODS . UM, OUR SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAM SERVICING THOSE WHO ARE HOUSING INSECURE.
UH, WE CONTINUE TO DOUBLE DOWN ON THAT UH, AGAIN SUPPORTING UM UH SOME WITH SUPPORTING THAT WORK WITH SOME EXTERNAL GRANTS . UM. THIS YEAR WE'RE ALSO. >> ABLE TO EXTEND OUR BLOCK
PROGRAMING TO ALL 25 BRANCHES AND SO UH, YOU KNOW, WHEREAS IN YEARS PAST PEOPLE MAY HAVE FOCUSED ON JUST BORROWING A BOOK OR GOING TO UM THE USE THE
SPACE AT A BRANCH UM PROGRAMS AND SERVICES ARE KEY TO THE. WORK SERVING ALL OF OUR ALL OF OUR COMMUNITIES. UH, WE ALSO HAVE WORK UNDERWAY AROUND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, UM,
BECAUSE WE WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR SOCIETY AND SEE THE LIBRARY AS A RESOURCE FOR THAT WORK. UM, THERE'S A WHOLE SET OF, UH ,ACCOMPLISHMENTS AROUND OUR
INTERNAL UM, UH, EQUITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMS, WORKPLACE CULTURE. UM. >> AND COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION. UH, WE HAVE OUR UH, COMING UP ON THE YEAR OF OUR FIRST DATA
ANALYST ON THE STAFF WHO'S ABLE TO HELP US LOOK AT OUR PROGRAMS, UNDERSTAND WHO ARE REACHING UM, WHERE THEY ARE FROM AND WHAT THEY MIGHT NEED.
UM, AND SO, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OF UH OF PROGRAMS THAT WE ARE CONTINUING TO DO EITHER PATRON FACING OR INTERNALLY TO AUGMENT
THE WORK OF STAFF. UM, WHICH LEADS US TO UM YOU KNOW, A SET OF UH GOALS FOR NEXT YEAR. EACH OF THOSE SLIDES ALSO INCLUDED SOME GOALS.
UH, THOSE ARE ASPIRATIONAL BUT THEY ARE CONTINGENT ON WHAT OUR BUDGET CAPACITY WILL BE AS WE GO INTO NEXT YEAR. AND SO, UM, I BELIEVE WE WANT TO LEAVE THE BUDGET CONVERSATION, UH, FOR QUESTIONS
. UH, BUT I DO WANT TO NOTE THAT OUR UH, PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET, UH, FROM THE CITY OF BOSTON IS PROPOSED AS A $50
MILLION, $724,000 BUDGET. UM, THAT IS LARGELY FLAT COMPARED WITH LAST YEAR. UH, AND SO WHILE WE WERE ORIGINALLY ASKED TO DO A 2% CUT
ACROSS THE BOARD, UM, UH, WE WERE ABLE TO LOOK AT A MORE MODEST SET OF UM REDUCTIONS AND CUTS, UM, BECAUSE WE WANT TO AVOID UH, THIS IS THE GUIDANCE
FROM CITY ADMINISTRATION WAS WE WANT TO AVOID A SITUATION WHERE WE HAVE TO ENTERTAIN THE POSSIBILITY OF LAYOFFS. AND WE ALSO WANT TO ENSURE THAT OUR, UM, OPERATING HOURS ACROSS
ALL LOCATIONS IS CURRENTLY MAINTAINED. AND SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE THAT WITHIN THE FLAT BUDGET, UH, LARGELY BY HOLDING UM, UH, TRIMMING HERE AND THERE
BUT UH HOLDING A NUMBER OF VACANCIES AS UNFILLED GOING INTO NEXT YEAR. UH, YOU MAY HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT CAPACITY. UM, THIS IS ABOUT $1.5 MILLION
BELOW WHAT OUR MAINTENANCE BUDGET WOULD HAVE BEEN AS PROPOSED. UM, SO THIS WILL NOT BE EASY. UH, BUT COMPARED WITH MANY OF OUR COLLEAGUES AND WHAT THEY ARE FACING, UH, WE BELIEVE THIS
IS A FISCAL RESPONSIBLE BUDGET RIGHT NOW AND WE WILL DO OUR PART, UM, WITH BELT TIGHTENING AND OTHER MEASURES TO ENSURE THAT IT WORKS. UM, WE WILL BE WORKING WITH OUR CITY COLLEAGUES TO.
ENSURE. >> UM, WE DON'T HOLD TOO MANY VACANCIES BECAUSE WE COULD EASILY DIP BELOW THE MINIMUM STANDARDS OF SERVICE ACROSS BRANCHES ACROSS CENTRAL AND ACROSS BACK OF HOW SPOTS.
UM, AND THEN JUST UH A NOTE ON OUR CAPITAL BUDGET UM, THE FIVE YEAR CAPITAL BUDGET, UH, TOTALS ABOUT 231 MILLION IN PROPOSED RENOVATIONS RIGHT NOW WE ARE
VERY FOCUSED ON UM, THE UH, FEELS CORNER AND CHINATOWN BRANCH AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WHICH ARE WELL UNDERWAY AND ON ENSURING THE NEXT PROJECT WHICH IS THE SOUTH END BRANCH
ACTUALLY UH, GOES INTO CONSTRUCTION UH, DURING THE COURSE OF THE NEXT YEAR. UM AND. THEN THERE ARE A NUMBER OF. PROJECTS IN THE OUT YEARS WHERE THERE IS A. LEVEL OF UH, STILL OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT WHEN THEY
COULD START. UM, DID YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING OR SHALL WE MOVE TO UH ,COUNCILORS QUESTIONS? SO I THINK IF WE CAN GO AHEAD INTO QUESTIONS AND WE'LL ADD SOME DETAIL FOR YOU. OKAY. >> THANK THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UH, SO WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY COUNCILOR FITZGERALD. UH, HAVE SIX MINUTES UH, FOR A FIRST ROUND. UH, WHENEVER YOU'RE READY. COUNCILOR FLYNN. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU, MR CHAIR. THANK YOU, MR CHAIR.
THANK YOU TO DAVID AND THE LIBRARY TEAM FOR BEING HERE FOR YOUR PROFESSIONAL WORK. I SHARE DAVID AS YOU KNOW, THE SOUTH END WITH, UH, JOHN FITZGERALD AND REVEREND
CULPEPER WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THE SOUTH END LIBRARY. DAVID, CAN YOU MAKE A COMMITMENT? IS THE MONEY IN THE CAPITAL. BUDGET FOR THE SOUTH END LIBRARY? WHAT IS THE DELAY? WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET THIS BUILT DAVID.
UM YES. THE MONEY IS IN THE CAPITAL PLAN. UH, WE RECENTLY GOT THE RELEASE AUTHORIZATION FROM THE BUDGET OFFICE. TO ENSURE IT CAN GO FORWARD.
UH, WHICH MEANS UH, THE, UH, EARLY PRE-QUALIFICATION AND UH, BIDDING FOR UH CONTRACTORS CAN BEGIN IMMINENTLY. UM, THERE IS ONE UH,
OUTSTANDING ISSUE AND WE BOTH PRISCILLA AND I ARE RUSHING OFF TO A COMMUNITY MEETING AFTER THIS HEARING. I'LL BE THERE SPECIFICALLY TO GATHER, UM, COMMUNITY INPUT ON
THIS LAST ISSUE WHICH ACTUALLY DOESN'T RELATE TO THE BRANCH ITSELF PROPER THAT DESIGN IS DONE AND FIXED UM, BUT RATHER UH TO ENSURE UH WHAT IS THE
BEST OPTION FOR THE ALLEY BEHIND THE BRANCH. SO THAT THE OUR OUR COLLEAGUES IN THE PUBLIC WORKS. DEPARTMENTS CAN CONTINUE. >> TO. SERVICE THE RESIDENTS APPROPRIATELY? UH, THAT PARTICULAR MATTER, UH, TOOK A LITTLE.
>> BIT. OF TIME FOR OUR COLLEAGUES TO GET THEIR ARMS AROUND AND WE BELIEVE WE NOW HAVE THREE OPTIONS FOR HOW TO DEAL WITH THAT. AND WE WANT TO GET ONE MORE
PIECE OF COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ON THOSE THREE OPTIONS THAT WILL THEN UH, ONCE RELEASED AND DECIDED ALLOW THE ARCHITECT TO GET THOSE DOCUMENTS READY TO GO OUT TO BID. UM, SO THAT WILL BE A 3 TO 6
MONTH PROCESS TO COMPLETE THAT AND THEN BE IN CONSTRUCTION UH, WITHIN THE NEXT UH OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR. THANK YOU. >> DAVID I'LL I'LL BE AT THAT SAME MEETING YOU'LL BE AT TONIGHT I. >> THINK IT'S. EITHER AT. 5 OR 530. >> DAVID DO WANT TO SAY THAT I
DID A BLOCK THROW WITH SOME RESIDENTS OF THE SOUTH END AND BACK BAY. ON FRIDAY. AND SOME PEOPLE. FROM THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY UH, TEAM WERE THERE OUT OF COPLEY WANT TO SAY THANK YOU
TO. TO THEM TO YOU UH, FOR THEIR PROFESSIONALISM UM AND JOINING US BUT ALSO FOR THEIR INPUT UM IN IN IN ADDRESSING QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES, PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES.
SO I WANTED TO START OFF ON ON THAT THANKING THEM. UM. >> SO ON THE. PUBLIC LIBRARY IN THE SOUTH END. WHAT ARE WE. DOING OR WHAT STEPS ARE WE.
DOING ON POTENTIAL. FOR ANY TYPE OF FLOODING, ANY TYPE OF HEAVY RAIN? UM, AS YOU KNOW THAT'S WHAT DAMAGE THE THE THE LIBRARY IN THE PAST BUT WHAT IS OUR
STRATEGY WHAT IS OUR PLAN? I WANT TO MAKE SURE MY CONSTITUENTS JOHN'S CONSTITUENTS REVEREND REVEREND'S CONSTITUENTS HAVE THE BEST PUBLIC LIBRARY THAT THEY POSSIBLY CAN BE. WHAT ARE WE WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO DAVID?
YEAH, I MEAN THE THE ORIGINAL. REASON THAT THE BRANCH HAD TO CLOSE WAS. BECAUSE OF THE. TWO FLOODING INCIDENTS IN THE BASEMENTS, UM, THE BASEMENT AND UM UNFORTUNATELY.
THE PRIOR DESIGN INVOLVED LOCATING ALL OF THE MECHANICAL UH PLUMBING. ELECTRICAL WORK. >> IN THE BASEMENT OF THE BRANCH AND THE CURRENT DESIGN UM, ACTUALLY RAISES THE BRANCH
UM, UP UH, THE NEW DESIGN AND MOST OF THE UH EQUIPMENT IS LOCATED EITHER ON THE INTERIOR. OR ON THE ROOF. UH, SO WE WILL NOT HAVE THAT PROBLEM. UM, AGAIN FOR SURE.
OKAY. >> UH, BEEN ACTIVE AND. ENGAGED AND INVOLVED IN THE CHINATOWN LIBRARY. I THINK THE TEMPORARY LIBRARY IS GREAT.
THE STAFF THERE IS EXCELLENT. ENJOY GOING DOWN THERE AND. TALKING TO THEM. >> WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE MAYOR MAYOR MARTY WALSH ALSO. FOR PUSHING THIS PUBLIC LIBRARY IN CHINATOWN? UM, DAVID.
MY QUESTION ON CHINATOWN IS. HOW ARE WE GOING TO ENSURE AND I THINK YOUR TEAM DOES THIS WELL, BUT HOW ARE WE GOING TO ENSURE THAT. CANTONESE SPEAKING RESIDENTS ARE INCLUDED?
THEIR VOICES MATTER. AND THAT THERE. >> WILL BE BOOKS PROGRAMS FOR FOR THE SENIORS THAT MOSTLY SPEAK CANTONESE, THAT THEY'RE INCLUDED. YEAH. >> I'M GOING TO TURN TO, UH, PRISCILLA FOLEY. OKAY. OUR DIRECTOR OF. NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES.
TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. OKAY. THANK YOU. UM, WE ACTUALLY HAD A WONDERFUL MEETING JUST LAST MONDAY. OUR MELISSA WAS JOINED US AND UM FOR MEETINGS LIKE THAT WE DO
MAKE SURE WE HAVE INTERPRETERS ON SITE. BUT WITH THAT UH, THE STAFF THERE ARE UM MAJORITY UH MULTILINGUAL AND UH THERE ARE CERTAIN UM POSITIONS THAT WE
HAVE THAT WE DO REQUIRE LANGUAGE UH, AND SO MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE EITHER A MANDARIN OR CANTONESE SPEAKER, UM AT THE BRANCH AND UM PART OF THAT IS ALSO BRINGING IN COMMUNITY
PARTNERS AS WELL. SO THE STAFF THAT ARE THERE AS YOU SAID, THEY'RE EXCELLENT AND THEY MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE CONNECTING WITH THE UM CANTONESE SPEAKING UM COMMUNITY THERE.
UH THERE WILL BE AS YOU SAID IT IS A SMALLER BRANCH RIGHT NOW WE WILL HAVE ABOUT UM THE COLLECTION ITSELF WILL BE ABOUT HALF UM CHINESE SO WE WILL BE
ABLE TO BE CONTINUING TO SERVE UH, RESIDENTS THERE AND THEN ACROSS THE SYSTEM. THANK YOU PRISCILLA AND THANK. YOU FOR YOUR INPUT AND LEADERSHIP. MY FINAL QUESTION I THINK I HAVE 24 SECONDS LEFT. UM.
>> DAVID, YOU YOU FORGOT ABOUT THE RESIDENTS OF SOUTH BOSTON THOUGH. UM. >> YOU'VE UM FORGOT ABOUT THE COMMUNITY FOR THE LONGEST PERIOD OF TIME WE WERE TRYING TO GET A LIBRARY BUILT THERE AND YOU YOU SAID WE WERE GOING TO GET IT DONE.
AND THEN YOU. >> KNOW THAT FELL OFF THE, UM FELL OFF THE MAP. AND, UH, HERE WE ARE. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PLAN FOR A. BRAND NEW SOUTH BOSTON LIBRARY? SO. COUNCILOR, I ASSURE YOU WE DID
NOT FORGET ABOUT OUR, UH, FRIENDS AND IMPORTANT RESIDENTS IN SOUTH BOSTON. UM, THE, UH, NEXT STEP ALWAYS
WAS AND STILL IS, UM, A PROGRAMING STUDY, UH, TO LOOK AT THE CONDITIONS OF THE BRANCH. TO LOOK. AT THE NEEDS. >> OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD. WE MAY EVEN BE ABLE TO USE THAT VEHICLE TO, UH AS AS WE STATED
BEFORE, UH, TO HAVE ONE EYE ON THE NEEDS OF THE SOUTH BOSTON WATERFRONT OR THE SEAPORT. UM, IT THERE IS REMAINS FUNDING
FOR THAT STUDY IN THE FIVE YEAR CAPITAL PLAN. NOW WE BOTH KNOW THAT IT'S A ROLLING FIVE YEAR CAPITAL PLAN . AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE DIFFICULTIES ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO SAY WHEN THINGS ARE IN
THE LATER YEARS WHEN EXACTLY WILL WE HAVE CAPACITY TO DO THAT? UM SO OUR SET OUR LIST OF PRIORITIES HAS NOT CHANGED. OUR ORDER OF. PRECEDENCE HAS NOT CHANGED.
UH BUT AS I SIT BEFORE YOU TODAY BECAUSE IT'S IN THE LATTER YEARS OF THE PLAN, UM, I CANNOT GIVE YOU A GUARANTEED YEAR WHEN WE WILL BE ABLE TO DO THAT WORK. THE GOOD.
NEWS REMAINS THAT IT IS STILL IN THE PLAN AND SO WE HAVE UM IT ON OUR HORIZON TO DO AS WE HAVE THE AVAILABLE FUNDS AND CAPACITY TO EXECUTE. THANK YOU. >> I I RECEIVE. NO COMPLAINTS. I RECEIVE UM QUESTIONS ALL THE
TIME FROM RESIDENTS. AS YOUNG AS LIKE TWO. YEARS OLD, THREE YEARS OLD. AND THE LITTLE KIDS THEY LOVE THE LIBRARY THAT THEY'RE WITH. >> THEM. THE MOTHERS OF FATHERS OR. NANNIES AT TIMES.
ALL THE WAY FROM TWO YEARS OLD TO MY PARENTS AT AGE 87 YEARS OLD. WHO ARE FREQUENT USERS OF THAT BRANCH. YEAH. >> SO THEY UM THEY SAID TO ME BEFORE THEY PASS ALONG THEY WANT. >> TO SEE A. BRAND NEW LIBRARY AND HOW CAN
YOU SAY NO TO A PARENT STATEMENT? YOU KNOW. UM, I UNDERSTAND I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUANDARY. UH, VERY WELL. UH VERY WELL, THANK YOU. UH THANK YOU COUNCILOR. THANK YOU DAVID AND. THANK YOU. >> TO YOUR TEAM. FOR ALWAYS BEING PROFESSIONAL.
>> UM. . THANK YOU, MR CHAIR. OKAY. >> THANK YOU, COUNCILOR MURPHY. SIX MINUTES. THANK YOU. COUNCILOR FLYNN. I HAVE A YOUNG AND OLD STORY TO SHARE. I FIRST WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE, BUT ALSO GIVE A
SHOUT OUT TO MISS CELESTE FROM THE ROSLINDALE BRANCH. SO I'LL SHARE WITH YOU THIS DIGITAL IMAGE SHE CREATED YESTERDAY. SO THAT WOULD BE MY GREAT NIECE, MY NIECE MARIE'S
DAUGHTER WHO'S TEN MONTHS OLD AND THEY HAVE A PROGRAM THERE OF THE UM 1000 BOOKS BEFORE KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM. SO SHE IS THE YOUNGEST EVER.
SHE GOT THERE AT TEN MONTHS BUT SHE VISITS THE LIBRARY I THINK DAILY AND IS CONTINUING AND IS ALREADY HIT A THOUSAND BOOKS UM WAY BEFORE KINDERGARTEN BEFORE HER FIRST BIRTHDAY.
SO IT'S JUST SHOWS THE YOU KNOW ,THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR LIBRARIES. BUT ALSO I KNOW I'VE CALLED YOU AND TALKED BEFORE ABOUT LIKE THE CHESS CLUB THAT MOVED FROM THE ADAMS STREET BRANCH TO THE
LOWER MILLS AND IT MUST STILL BE GOING ON BECAUSE I WENT OVER MONDAY NIGHT TO HELP MY MOM LIKE WATCH MY DAD WHILE SHE WENT AND SHE HAD HER CHESS BAG WITH HER. SO I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THAT. ALSO LIBRARIES ARE JUST PLACES
THEY'RE ALL OF OUR RESIDENTS UM CAN VISIT HOPEFULLY AND JUST THRIVE THERE. SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE CONTINUE TO FUND. SO I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT WE DON'T HAVE CUTS UNFORTUNATELY
THIS IS YOU KNOW A YEAR WHERE WE MAY HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, MAKE CARDS. WE DO HAVE TO MAKE HARD CHOICES BUT I'M GLAD THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO MAKE HARD CHOICES WITH OUR LIBRARIES. THEY'RE LIKE LIFE SAVING SPACES
FOR OUR NEIGHBORS. SO AND ALSO WANT TO SHOUT OUT AND THANK MY DISTRICT COUNSELORS WHO I KNOW SPEAK ELOQUENTLY ABOUT ADVOCATING FOR THE BRANCHES IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS.
AS AN AT LARGE COUNCILOR, I OBVIOUSLY REPRESENT ALL OF THE BRANCHES AND CARE DEEPLY THAT WE CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THEM. UM, SO I REALLY DON'T HAVE MORE
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS. I KNOW YOU'RE ALWAYS OPEN AND JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS OR UM, ADVICE OR JUST INFORMATION I WANT TO PASS ALONG.
BUT PRISCILLA, IF YOU MAYBE COULD JUST SPEAK TO UM IF THERE ARE ANY LIBRARIES I KNOW SOME IF THEY'RE UNDER CONSTRUCTION THEY'RE JUST TRY TO BE CREATIVE.
BUT IF THERE'S CERTAIN BRANCHES THAT YOU'VE BEEN NEEDING TO GIVE, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE EXTRA SUPPORT TO TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN. CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SERVICES IF THEY'RE IN SOME SORT OF IN BETWEEN STAGE EITHER WITH
STAFFING OR CONSTRUCTION. YEAH. >> UM SO WE ACTUALLY UH ALONG WITH OUR UM OPERATIONS TEAM UH WE ACTUALLY DID A FURNITURE SURVEY WHICH I KNOW THAT THAT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING THAT'S SO,
SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE THE RIGHT CHAIRS, THE RIGHT TABLES, THE RIGHT SIZE AND WE ARE ACTUALLY WORKING TO JUST SEND THAT BASIC THING AND MAKING SURE OUR FURNITURE IS ACCESSIBLE BECAUSE IF WE HAVE A TABLE FROM 1930
IT'S NOT NECESSARILY GOING TO FIT 2026 STANDARDS FOR HOW WE USE THE LIBRARY. UM SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT FOR OUR BRANCHES THAT MAYBE ARE FURTHER OUT ON THE CAPITAL PLAN
AND MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE GETTING FURNITURE FOR THAT. SO THAT'S LIKE THE BASICS OF MAKING SURE WE ARE STILL A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT. UM, AND ADDITIONALLY WE WORK
WITH UM THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND TO UH ALL OF THE BRANCHES ARE ABLE TO REQUEST ADDITIONAL PROGRAM SUPPORT, WHICH IS ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE HAVE THIS AMAZING CHEST, UM
,PROGRAMS IN THE SYSTEM. SO WE WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES TO BE UH, BRINGING IN UH, DIFFERENT KINDS OF PROGRAMS ARE SORT OF MAYBE A RISKIER PROGRAM, A GOAL WE'VE NEVER DONE THIS THERE BEFORE.
AND YOU KNOW, THEY LIKE THE BRIGHTON BRANCH JUST STARTED THEY'RE SHUT UP AND RIGHT. AND SO PEOPLE JUST GO IN THERE AND THEY WRITE TOGETHER AND THEY CAN SHARE WHAT THEY WANT AND THEY YOU KNOW WE'VE BEEN IN
THERE SINCE 2010 BUT AGAIN WITH THE FURNITURE UH WE NEED TO BE LOOKING AT THAT. SO WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES TO CONTINUE TO WELCOME PEOPLE ACROSS THE SYSTEM. AWESOME. >> THANK YOU OR JUST THANK YOU
FOR ALL YOU DO. UM, WE'LL ALL BE ADVOCATING AND MAKING SURE YOUR FUNDING STAY STRONG. THANK YOU. THANK YOU CHAIR OKAY. THANK YOU. UH, WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY COUNCILOR BREADON. COUNCILOR FITZGERALD, YOU'RE UP NEXT.
THANK YOU. >> CHAIR. UM. >> MR LYNN, I KNOW YOU SAID ON THE CUTS WHERE EVERYONE'S TAKING A HAIRCUT AND JUST THE WHAT DO YOU FEEL THE MOST? AND I ASK THAT BECAUSE I KNOW YOU SAID YOU'RE KEEPING SOME
OF THE JOBS, UH, THE VACANT JOBS AVAILABLE WHERE A LOT OF OTHERS ARE VACANT. JOBS ARE BEING CUT FROM DEPARTMENTS. JUST TALK TO ME ABOUT THE STRATEGY A LITTLE BIT MORE IN DEPTH AND SORT OF WHERE YOU'RE FEELING MORE THE HEAT OR WHAT
YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT. AND IF YOU COULD UH WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO PRESERVE? YEAH, I THINK UM UH AND UH OUR CFO WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES RELATED TO
THE COLLECTIONS BUDGET BECAUSE UM, UH THAT IS STILL OUR BREAD AND BUTTER. UH, YOU KNOW THE 1000 BOOKS BEFORE KINDERGARTEN. THOSE THOUSAND BOOKS HAVE TO COME FROM SOMEWHERE. UM, SO, UH, AND IN LAST YEAR'S
BUDGET CYCLE, THE COUNCIL ACTUALLY. RESTORED PART OF THE UH, COLLECTIONS BUDGET CUT THAT WE EXPERIENCED. UM, THE COUNCIL RESTORED $100,000 OF A $200,000 COST.
UH, AND THAT CUT IS ACTUALLY BEING CARRIED FORWARD TO THIS YEAR. SO WHEN EXACTLY THE SAME UM, POSITION AGAINST A BACKDROP WHERE UH MATERIALS ARE COSTING MORE AND WHERE THE. DEMAND FOR.
MORE EXPENSIVE BOOKS IS ACTUALLY INCREASING. UM, SO THAT'S ONE AREA IF YOU'D LIKE TO. TALK A. >> LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT. >> SURE. NOW I CAN JUMP INTO THAT. UM, SO OUR COLLECTIONS BUDGET WE ARE ELIGIBLE FOR STATE AID
FUNDING UM. TO PARTICULARLY TO TO SERVICE. OPERATIONS UM BUILDING OPERATIONS. FOR THE LIBRARY UM SO TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR OUR STATE AID FUNDING WE NEED TO SPEND THE EQUIVALENT OF 12% OF OUR CITY
OPERATING DOLLARS UM, ON COLLECTIONS. SO FOR US. THAT'S A. >> LITTLE BIT OVER $6 MILLION ANNUALLY. UM, THE CITY OPERATING BUDGET UM, TYPICALLY IS BETWEEN LIKE 3.5 TO $4 MILLION THAT THE LIBRARY RECEIVES FOR
COLLECTIONS. UM, AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING RECENTLY A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT THINGS. UM, ONE THE COST. >> OF. MATERIALS THAT DAVID JUST REFERENCED. SO A PHYSICAL BOOK ITSELF THE AVERAGE COST IS AROUND $20, UM,
FOR US TO RECEIVE A DIGITAL FORMAT WHETHER IT'S AN AUDIOBOOK, AN E-BOOK, UM IS AROUND $70 PER ITEM AND THOSE ARE ACTUALLY ONLY VALID FOR TWO YEARS. SO YOU'RE ESSENTIALLY LEASING THE LEASING THE ITEM.
UM, WHAT WE FOUND UM, OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS IS THE DEMAND. >> FOR. THE DIGITAL COPIES TO ACTUALLY FAR EXCEED THE PHYSICAL. UM, SO I THINK 2025 UM THE AUDIOBOOK ACTUALLY WAS THE UM
THE MOST CHECKED OUT CIRCULATED ITEM THAT WE HAD THROUGH OUR COLLECTIONS. UM, THAT'S NOT ONLY AN EASIER WAY FOR PEOPLE TO TO RECEIVE ITEMS, IT ALSO PROVIDES AN ACCESSIBILITY SO PEOPLE WHO MAY
NOT BE ABLE TO HOLD A BOOK, UM, MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON A BOOK FOR THAT LONG OR PERHAPS TURNED PAGES WERE ACTUALLY PROVIDING ADDITIONAL ACCESS THROUGH OUR MATERIALS UM, BY UH ,PURCHASING MORE OF THESE
DIGITAL COLLECTIONS. UM, AND WHAT WE'RE FINDING THOUGH BECAUSE OF THE DEMAND UM, THE WHOLE TIMES ARE EXCEEDING SO WE HAVE $6 MILLION. IT'S ACTUALLY UM PROVIDING US FEWER QUANTITIES, UM, OF BOOKS
IN OUR COLLECTIONS. UM, AND I WANTED TO POINT OUT UM, RIGHT NOW OUR LARGEST FOLD UM, ACROSS THE SYSTEM IS A BOOK A FICTION BOOK THAT JUST CAME OUT LAST YEAR. UH, EXCUSE ME LAST MONTH CALLED
YESTERYEAR. UM, AND CURRENTLY THE LIBRARY HOLDS 417 COPIES. UM, THERE'S OVER 4600 PEOPLE ON HOLD. SO WHAT THAT EQUATES TO IS 305
DAYS HOLD FOR AN E-BOOK UM 278 DAYS HOLD FOR AN AUDIOBOOK OR 50 DAYS HOLD FOR A PRINT BOOK. UM, IF WE WERE TO SAY A REASONABLE TIME PERIOD UM WE WILL FULFILL ALL OF THESE HOLDS
WITHIN A MONTH IT WOULD COST US $55,000 JUST TO DO THAT FOR THIS ONE TITLE. UM, SO THE COLLECTIONS BUDGET IN THE MAY DEMAND THAT WE'RE HAVING UM WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH IT IN SERVICE UM.
THE THE COMMUNITY. THE OTHER PIECE OF THIS ON THE FLIP SIDE UM UH GOING BACK TO THE VACANCIES UM THESE HOLDS AREN'T GOING TO GO AWAY. UM, SO WHAT WE NEED TO ENSURE IS THAT THERE ARE STAFF IN THE
BUILDINGS WHO CAN RESPOND TO PEOPLE COMING IN AND SAYING, WHY AM I WAITING 9 OR 10 MONTHS FOR THIS BOOK? UM, AND ACTUALLY BEING ABLE TO ENGAGE WITH THEM AND SAY HERE'S SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN GET OFF THE SHELF RIGHT NOW THAT'S EQUIVALENT IT MIGHT BE IN THE
SAME GENRE, UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE WE'RE ENGAGING WITH THESE FOLKS UM, AND SUPPORTING UM UH READING FOR PLEASURE. UM AND LIKE DAVID SAID, UM, YOU . KNOW, OUR OUR. CORE RESPONSIBILITY HERE.
AWESOME. >> THANK YOU FOR THAT. >> AND I WOULD ADD IF I COULD THAT'S WHEN IT COMES TO VACANCIES. IF A SMALL BRANCH HAS SIX STAFF OR A MEDIUM SIZED BRANCH HAS EIGHT STAFF AND MAYBE THEY HAVE ONE VACANCY, THEY'LL.
STILL BE ABLE TO. OPEN SUCCESSFULLY AND MAINTAIN OURS. BUT WHERE IS THE TIME FOR PROGRAMS AND OUTREACH WORK THAT BRINGS THIS FULLY TO LIFE? SO AGAIN THIS IS WORKABLE. >> THIS IS. FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE RIGHT NOW
. UH, BUT WE'RE 1 OR 2 VACANCIES AWAY IN ANY PLACE FROM UM NOT BEING ABLE TO MEET THAT. SO WE'RE WE'RE WE HAVE A COMMITMENT TO CONTINUE WORKING WITH OUR BUDGET COLLEAGUES TO ENSURE. WE DON'T.
>> WE DON'T PASS THAT THRESHOLD . THANK YOU. >> UM, I KNOW I'M RUNNING OUT OF TIME. DO YOU THINK? YES. TWO YEARS IN HIGH DEMAND BECAUSE EVERYONE JUST WISHES IT WAS YESTER YEAR AS OPPOSED TO TODAY. YOU KNOW WHAT? I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET IT
OFF THE SHELF YET SO I'LL HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU. YOU'RE PROBABLY. YEAH YOU'RE YOU CAN'T POP YOURSELF UP IN LINE THERE. UM, ALTHOUGH. >> I DO FIND IT ODD THAT. BY GOING TO ELECTRIC I THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FASTER. IT'S MORE EXPENSIVE AND HAVE SLOWED THINGS DOWN.
THAT'S NOT A GREAT SIGN OVERALL, BUT THAT'S JUST AN ASIDE UM, TO SOME OF THE PHYSICAL ASPECTS VERY QUICKLY. UM THANK YOU FOR THE FIELDS CORNER BRANCH LOOKS BEAUTIFUL SO FAR. I CAN'T WAIT TO BE AT THE RIBBON CUTTING.
IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME. UM AND I LOVE THE LITTLE TRIANGLE WE HAVE THERE OF ACADEMICS, ATHLETICS AND ARTS WITH WHAT'S GOING ON UH, IN ACROSS AT THE OLD BUILDING. THAT SHOULD BE LIKE AN ARTS THING GOING IN AND THEN YOU HAVE TOWN FIELD ACROSS.
I THINK IF YOU CAN DO ALL THREE YOU'LL BECOME A GOOD INDIVIDUAL. SO I'M EXCITED TO BRING MY KIDS DOWN THERE. UM, THE UPPER WEST CORNER BRANCH I KNOW THAT THERE'S WE GOT A PUBLIC PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIP HOUSING GOING IN TO EXPLAIN TO ME WHERE WE'RE AT. I THINK THE. HOLDUP IS ON THE. HOUSING SIDE IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN. UH. >> BUT MAYBE. YES, IT'S THE HOUSING, UM, FUNDING. RIGHT. UH, SPECIFICALLY, UH, WE WE HAVE A DEVELOPER.
ON BOARD. UH, WE HAVE OUR OWN ARCHITECTS ON BOARD. UH, THEY'VE GONE AS FAR AS THEY CAN UM, UNTIL, UH, THE DEVELOPER IS ABLE TO GET THE
RIGHT COMBINATION OF HOUSING SUBSIDY AND HOUSING FUNDING FOR THE OVERALL PROJECT. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOOD ON THE. CITY SIDE. >> WE'RE GOOD ON THE, UM ON THE LIBRARY SIDE.
UM, AND THEY ARE DEPENDENT ON UM, A VARIETY OF COMMITMENTS UH, EITHER FROM THE CITY, UH, THROUGH HOUSING OR MORE DIRECTLY FROM THE STATE UM, UH, FOR HOUSING SUBSIDY.
SO READY READY TO GO WHEN WHEN WHEN THEY ARE UM AND THAT'S WHAT IT WILL FOLLOW THE SAME PATH AS THE CHINATOWN TIMELINE FOR EXAMPLE. THAT SOUNDS GREAT. AND, UH, I KNOW MY TIME IS UP, BUT I JUST WANT TO SAY AS A NEIGHBOR TO THE ADAMS STREET
BRANCH, UH, I JUST SAW A RIVETING PERFORMANCE OF PETER PAN, UH, BY MY MY OLDEST SON WHO'S IN THE THIRD GRADE AT THE COUNTY SCHOOL. UH, AND WE THANK YOU GUYS FOR LETTING, UH, THE SCHOOL AND THE
LIBRARY HAVING SUCH A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BEING RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER AND, UM, IT REALLY WORKS OUT AWESOME. AND MY KIDS LOVE GOING TO THE LIBRARY AFTER SCHOOL AND SO I DON'T WANT TO, UM, DISINCENTIVIZE THAT EVEN WHEN
THE TIME IS NOT THERE. UM, LIKE I IT'S HARD TO SAY. LOOK AT YOUR KIDS. NO, WE'RE NOT GOING TO GO TO THE LIBRARY. RIGHT? LIKE THAT SHOULD BE THE ONLY THING YOU WANT YOUR KIDS TO DO. UM, BUT SO THANK YOU FOR THAT OPPORTUNITY FOR MYSELF.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU CHAIR. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COUNSELOR BREADON. . >> AND AFTERNOON. CONTINUED UM. A COUPLE OF THINGS. UM, THE. AUDIOVISUAL EQUIPMENT THAT WE
GOT FUNDING FOR FOR THE HONAN LIBRARY UM, ARE WE ARE WE IN THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS OR WAS THAT AT THE MOMENT GOOD. UM. >> THANK YOU. UM, WE'RE GOING THROUGH A COUPLE OF THINGS RIGHT NOW. ONE IS WE HAVE A GIFT AGREEMENT, UM, THAT WE'RE
WORKING THROUGH WITH HARVARD, UM, FOR RECEIVING THE FUNDS AND THEN PART OF WHAT WE NEED TO DO, UM, UH, BASICALLY IS SHOW THEM A SCOPE OF WORK. SO THIS IS WHAT WE'VE OUTLINED FOR THE LOCATION, THE COSTS ASSOCIATED.
I KNOW, UM, THEY'D LIKE SPECIFICS ON, UM, UPDATES AND MAKING SURE THAT, UM, THE MATERIAL AND THE SOFTWARE THAT WE'RE USING ACTUALLY CAN LAST, YOU KNOW, FIVE, TEN YEARS. UM, SO WE'RE WORKING THROUGH
THE SCOPE, UM, AND I HOPE TO HAVE THE GIFT AGREEMENT UM, COMPLETE SOON. VERY GOOD. >> AND UM, ARE WE FULLY STAFFED AND ALL OF THE BRANCHES LIKE THE WHOLE UM I THINK THEY HAD
THEY WERE DOWN ONE MAYBE UM SO WE I. DO KNOW SO WE ACTUALLY HAVE A VACANCY OF THE BRANCH LIBRARIAN KAREN O'CONNOR RETIRED EARLIER THIS YEAR AND WE'RE, UH,
CURRENTLY IN THE SEARCH FOR, UM, A NEW BRANCH LIBRARY AND WE HAVE EXTENDED AN OFFER, UH, FOR A CHILDREN'S LIBRARIAN. UM, SHE'S COMING UP FROM TEXAS TO COME WORK HERE, WHICH IS
FABULOUS. AND, UH, WE ANTICIPATE HER START DATE IN JUNE, SO AUSTIN BRIGHTON WILL HAVE A FULL STAFF. UH, WE EXPECT, UM, YOU KNOW, IN
THE NEXT FEW MONTHS ONCE THEY'RE HOME AND AUSTIN POSITIONS FILLED. EXCELLENT. >> UM, AND THEN, UM, I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT THIS IS A TWO 50TH AND, UH, WE ARE BOSTON
PUBLIC LIBRARY'S, UH, PRIDE OF JOY. UM, OUR PRIDE AND JOY IN THE CENTER OF TOWN. UM, ARE WE DOING ANY SPECIAL PROGRAMS AROUND THE HISTORY GIVEN THE THE INCREDIBLE
HISTORY THAT THE COPLEY SQUARE LIBRARY HAS AS A REPOSITORY FOR PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS AND GOD KNOWS WHAT. WHY, YES, WE ARE. UM. >> SO, UH, WE. JUST COMPLETED, UM.
THE, UH, LARGER EXHIBITION 120 OBJECTS FROM OUR COLLECTION, UH, REVOLVING AROUND DIFFERENT STORIES OF REVOLUTIONARY ART, UH, BASICALLY TELLING THE STORY
OF THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY THROUGH DIFFERENT PIECES OF ART IN A VERY INCLUSIVE MANNER. UM, RIGHT THROUGH ALL OF THE DECADES NOT JUST DRAGGING SOMETHING FROM, UM, YOU KNOW,
UH 250 YEARS AGO BUT REALLY TELLING THE WHOLE STORY AS A JOURNEY. UM, RIGHT. AND THAT THAT WAS THAT HAD 98,000 VISITORS. WELL WELL IT WAS OPEN UM, RIGHT
NOW UH, WE HAVE OUR DECLARATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE UH, EXHIBITION UP AT THE CENTRAL LIBRARY. UM, THAT HAS UM NOT ONE NOT TWO
BUT EIGHT COPIES OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ON DISPLAY WHICH WE HOLD AND HAVE HELD FOR FOR MANY, MANY YEARS. UM, THEY'VE NEVER BEEN ON DISPLAY TOGETHER BEFORE. UH AND SO THAT WILL BE UP
THROUGH SEPTEMBER. THAT IS OUR PREMIER CONTRIBUTION TO UM TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY. UM OUR PROGRAMS TEAM AND SEVERAL OF OUR BRANCHES ARE
DOING OTHER PROGRAMS AS WELL. EXCELLENT. >> AND THEN UM ARE YOU CAN YOU OUTLINE ANY NEW OR STRENGTHENED PARTNERSHIPS WITH SCHOOLS, COMMUNITY CENTERS OR NONPROFITS IN THE UPCOMING YEAR? UM. >> SO WE HAVE AN.
ONGOING RELATIONSHIP. >> WITH THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN PARTICULAR. UM, AND UH I BELIEVE THERE IS A PROGRAM ACTUALLY UH, IN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO UH,
SPECIFICALLY AROUND SUPPORTING UM THE GSA'S OF THE. >> BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS. SO WE CONTINUE TO LOOK TO. DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES, UH, FOR COLLABORATION. UM, THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
IS ALSO A INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDER TO. >> THE SCHOOL. LIBRARY SYSTEM THROUGH THE METRO BOSTON LIBRARY NETWORK. UM, AND WE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT UH SUPPORT THAT WORK. UM. >> I THINK PRISCILLA AND. >> I PROBABLY BOTH AGREE THAT
UM, AT THE LOCAL. LEVEL UM, IT'S THE WHERE THE THE BRANCH LIBRARIAN OR THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARIAN HAS A STRONG RELATIONSHIP. >> WITH THE LOCAL PRINCIPAL OR TEACHERS. THAT IS WHERE UM IT REALLY
COMES TO LIFE IN A MEANINGFUL WAY AND WE WANT TO CONTINUE ENCOURAGING THOSE COLLABORATIONS REALLY ACROSS THE CITY. UM, THE. NONPROFIT WORLD MORE BROADLY.
UM, WE CONTINUE TO UM, UH. DEVELOP MULTIPLE. PARTNERSHIPS UM, ACROSS UM THE ARTS AND CULTURE SPACE UM ACROSS THE EDUCATION AND
LEARNING SPACE AND ACROSS HUMAN SERVICES. >> AND. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT. UM. YOU KNOW, COMPANY. ONE JUST HONORED UM, OUR DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES TO MY LEFT, MICHAEL CLIFFORD, UM,
FOR HIS. YEARS OF SERVICE, UM, AND COMMUNITY IMPACT REALLY THROUGH SEVEN YEARS OF COLLABORATION. UM. >> MICHAEL WILL ACTUALLY BE RETIRING UH, IN JULY AFTER 22
YEARS OF SERVICE AND SO THAT WAS A GREAT NOTE TO GO OUT ON IN A WAY THAT CELEBRATES NOT JUST THE WORK AT THE LIBRARY BUT THE. WORKING IN COMMUNITY. >> WITH ANOTHER PARTNER. OKAY, I'VE GOT UH, 45 SECONDS
LEFT. LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENED. UM. >> IN TERMS OF UM, PROGRAMING FOR RESIDENTS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY, YOU KNOW, UM WE ALL WE HAVE A NETWORK
ACROSS UH, THE CITY AND AND ALSO IN BRIGHTON IN PARTICULAR WE HAVE AN ADULT LEARNING COALITION. UM, I THINK THAT INCLUDES THE LIBRARIANS. UH, IN THIS MOMENT ARE WE ABLE TO KEEP UP THAT LEVEL
OF SERVICE AND OFFER THOSE. AND I'M GOING TO RESPOND TO THAT. YEAH, WE'RE ACTUALLY DOING QUITE A BIT IN THAT AREA. WE UM WE BUNDLE OUR ENGLISH ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING WITH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND
DIGITAL LITERACY AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SUPPORT, SOCIAL SERVICES AND COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS. WE DON'T VIEW THEM AS ISOLATED PROGRAMS BUT REALLY WORK REALLY WELL TOGETHER. UM WE CONTINUE ADAPTING OUR
SERVICES IN THAT AREA IN RESPONSE TO ANY CHANGING WORKFORCE AND IMMIGRATION TRENDS. WE'RE FOCUSING ON A FEW AREAS RIGHT NOW UM. MULTILINGUAL ESL INSTRUCTION AND WORKFORCE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT TOGETHER TO HELP
PEOPLE FIND BETTER JOBS OR FIND JOBS. UM, WE'RE DOING ONE ON ONE WORKFORCE SUPPORT AND CONTINUED CASE MANAGEMENT APPROACH WITH UH, PEOPLE WHO ARE LOOKING FOR WORK AND THEN.
REALLY WE. JUST ENTERED UM RECEIVED A FAIRLY LARGE GRANT WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO HIRE A GRANT FUNDED ESL AND WORK READINESS INSTRUCTOR WHO SPEAKS SEVERAL
LANGUAGES AND HE'S GOING TO BE REALLY, UM, BUILT ON THE WORKFORCE EDUCATION THAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING AND TRAINING SYSTEM WIDE ACROSS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. SO WE DO HAVE. CURRENTLY IN.
20 EXCUSE ME LITERACY CLASSES INCLUDING WORKFORCE FOCUSED CLASSES AND A CHORUS THAT HELPS PEOPLE LEARN ENGLISH BY SINGING . SEVEN OF THOSE CLASSES ARE AT SIX BRANCHES MATTAPAN, ROXBURY ,GROVE HALL, WEST END, CHINATOWN AND ROSLINDALE.
11 ARE AT CENTRAL TO OUR ONLINE . THEN WE ALSO HAVE 11 CONVERSATION GROUPS. >> WHERE. PEOPLE CAN COME AND PRACTICE THEIR ENGLISH TOGETHER. THEY'RE AT TEN BRANCHES. THEY'RE AT JAMAICA PLAIN, 100 ALLSTON, PARKER HILL, EAST BOSTON, FANEUIL, ROSLINDALE,
CONNOLLY, CHINATOWN, LOWER MILLS AND COBDEN SQUARE. WE ALSO HAVE TEN AT CENTRAL AND FOUR ONLINE. SO AS DAVID MENTIONED IN HIS OPENING REMARKS I THINK BEFORE YOU GOT HERE WE WE ARE HAVING TROUBLE KEEPING UP WITH DEMAND. THERE ARE MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHO
ARE UM LOOKING FOR THESE SERVICES. SO WE'RE JUST TRYING TO KEEP KEEP AHEAD OF IT. WONDERFUL. >> THANK YOU THANK YOU. MY TIME'S UP. THANK YOU, MR CHAIR. OKAY. >> THANK YOU. A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FROM THE CHAIR AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO GO TO PUBLIC TESTIMONY. IF ANYBODY IS HERE AND THEY
WANT TO GIVE PUBLIC TESTIMONY, PLEASE SIGN IN ON THE SHEET NEAR THE ENTRANCE. UM UH OKAY. SO, UH, I GUESS ONE THING I DON'T THINK I HEARD ABOUT WAS EGGLESTON. SQUARE BRANCH. UH. >> MAYBE I WASN'T LISTENING
CLOSELY, BUT, UH, WHERE ARE WE AT? UM, I THINK LAST YEAR WE TALKED ABOUT HAVING DESIGNS BEING NEAR NEARLY FINISHED. SO YEAH. >> SO ON THE CAPITAL FRONT, UM, WE'RE EFFECTIVELY.
WAITING FOR THERE TO BE UM, UH, FUNDING. AVAILABLE UH, FOR. >> IT TO GO NEXT ESSENTIALLY. UM UH THE SOUTH END IS UH AS WE TALKED. ABOUT EARLIER. UM, IS IS WILL BE HAPPENING NEXT YEAR AND THAT FUNDING HAS BEEN RELEASED FOR THAT.
UH. >> THE. SOUTH END. >> DOES NOT HAVE A. BRANCH RIGHT NOW. AND SO UM IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THAT GO AND GO FIRST OF THE ONES THAT ARE UH NOT ALREADY SHOVELS IN THE GROUND
AND FROM THE LIBRARY'S POINT OF VIEW, UH, WE WOULD WE WOULD UM WE WOULD SEE EGGLESTON. SQUARE GO NEXT AS SOON AS FUNDING IS AVAILABLE. AND WHAT'S THAT LIKE WHAT IS THE TIMELINE ON THAT?
UM I DON'T I HAVEN'T TEN YEARS BUT. THE FUNDING. REMAINS IN THE FIVE. YEAR CAPITAL OUTLOOK. UM SO IT'S REALLY ABOUT. THE CASH AVAILABILITY.
AND ON THAT FRONT UM, THAT THAT IS THE BALANCING ACT THAT OUR COLLEAGUES AT THE CAPITAL OFFICE IN FINANCE UM, HAVE TO HAVE. >> TO BALANCE. ACROSS THE CITY. OKAY. >> UM AND THEN I. GUESS I'VE BEEN ASKED ABOUT
THAT. I THINK COUNCILOR BREADON GOT TO THIS UM, BUT LIKE FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMING, UH, YOU KNOW, IN JAMAICA PLAIN AND I'VE
HEARD THAT I MEAN, IT CALLS FOR MORE OF IT OR SOME OF IT. I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE OFFERING. UH, RIGHT NOW. NO. >> OKAY. >> UH, WE HAVE LANGUAGE, UH, PROGRAMS AVAILABLE ALL OF THAT.
AND AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, UH, WE HAVE AN ENDLESS NEED OF ESOL CLASSES BUT LIKE FOR EXAMPLE AT CONNOLLY WE HAVE UM ,MARIA WHO'S A FABULOUS LIBRARIAN THERE WHO STARTED A
SPANISH LANGUAGE BOOK CLUB. SO WE DO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR OUR KEY ROLES OF MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE CONNECTING LANGUAGE ACCESS TO UH, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BUT WE ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE
ARE HAVING FUN AND WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT. AND SO WE DO HAVE UM, YOU KNOW, CLASSES THAT ARE FOR THAT OR UH EVEN JUST UH, PEOPLE THAT DON'T SPEAK SPANISH THAT ARE LEARNING
SPANISH AT THE CONNOLLY BRANCH AND SO WE DO HAVE MULTIPLE UM LANGUAGE PROGRAMS THAT ARE FOR YOU KNOW, SOME OF THEM ARE TARGETED AND SOME OF THEM ARE FOR OPEN FOR EVERYBODY. OKAY. >> AND THEN YOU JUST HAVE BUT
IS THAT JUST YOUR FUNDING STAFF WHO ARE ALREADY THERE JUST HAPPENS I MEAN OR IS THAT HOW THE PROGRAMING FOR THAT WORKS OR DO WE HAVE. IT RIGHT. >> YEAH SO IT WORKS SO MANY WAYS. >> YEAH. UM I THINK.
IN IN IN IN IN OUR. IDEAL WORLD. THAT WE UNDERSTAND. FOR EACH COMMUNITY. WHAT ARE THE LANGUAGES. OTHER THAN ENGLISH THAT ARE SPOKEN PREDOMINANTLY UM AND WE
RELY. TO A LITTLE A LITTLE. EXTENT ON. >> THE DATA. FOR WHAT WHAT LANGUAGES. >> ARE SPOKEN IN THE HOME. UM FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW. HAVING COLLECTIONS THAT ARE. RESPONSIVE TO THOSE LANGUAGES,
HAVING PROGRAMS UH, THE PARTNERS THAT WE. ENGAGE TO HELP WITH PROGRAMING . AND THEN IN SENDING STAFF EITHER THEY. ALREADY HAVE THE MULTI-LANGUAGE
CAPABILITY OR UM. CAN UM BECOME UM UH. CAN TAKE ON A CHALLENGE. OF AT LEAST BEING. CONVERSATIONAL PERHAPS. >> IN. THOSE LANGUAGES THAT'S THAT'S OUR IDEAL.
SO UM, IN TERMS OF PARTNERING WITH THE OFFICE OF UM. UH LANGUAGE ACCESS UH, IN THE EQUITY CABINET IN THE CITY AS WELL AS OUR OWN UM, EQUITY DIVERSITY AND.
INCLUSION MANAGER'S UH, FOCUS UM, BEING ABLE TO DEEPLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE NEEDS. ARE SO THAT. >> WE CAN BE A MULTILINGUAL INSTITUTION. >> BUT THAT IS NOT AN OVERNIGHT PROPOSITION. AS YOU. >> CAN IMAGINE. I THINK. >> LAST YEAR. IN THE BUDGET I THINK IT WAS LIKE A $50,000 OR MAYBE
AMENDMENT FROM FROM US FOR DIVERSITY IN HIRING AT THE BPL . HAS THAT BEEN USED AND. HOW SO YES AND MICHAEL CAN SPEAK. >> TO THE SPECIFICS I THINK WE HAVE THREE. INDIVIDUALS IN SEPTEMBER. OH YES.
YES UM WE HAVE A PARTNERSHIP WITH SIMMONS UNIVERSITY AND SO UM WE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING INTO THE UH MASTER'S DEGREE IN LIBRARY SCIENCE. WE HAVE UM AVAILABILITY FOR THREE POSITIONS.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE ONE EXTERNAL CANDIDATE WHO IS GOING THROUGH THE FIRST YEAR OF THEIR PROGRAM AND IN SEPTEMBER THEY'LL BE STARTING IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THEIR PROGRAM WHICH HAS THEM WORKING IN THE UM IN THE SYSTEM
AND THEN ALSO STARTING IN SEPTEMBER WE HAVE TWO MORE CANDIDATES THAT ENDED UP BEING INTERNAL CANDIDATES WHO WILL UM WHO ARE NOT WHO DO NOT HAVE THE LIBRARY DEGREE AND WILL BE STARTING THEIR FIRST YEAR
OF THE PROGRAM. THE PROGRAM TENDS TO BE ABOUT 2 TO 3 YEARS. UM, AND IT IS TO TRY TO DIVERSIFY THE UM THE POOL OF LIBRARY UH APPLICANTS AND
WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT OUR NEXT THREE TO HAVE OUR THREE IN SEPTEMBER. THEY'LL ALSO HELP US FILL OUT SOME OF OUR VACANCIES AND DO SOME OF THE WORK. AND SO THANK YOU TO THE COUNCIL FOR UM ENSURING THAT WAS PRESERVED.
>> IN LAST YEAR'S BUDGET. OKAY. UH AND THEN. JUST GOING OVER THE. BUDGET UH, FOR THE LIBRARY DEPARTMENT. I SEE. YOU FOR FOR PERMANENT PLEASE. IT'S ABOUT 35 MILLION. IS THAT RIGHT?
THAT'S I HAVE 51. CORRECT THOUSAND. UM, IS THE LINE IS JUST THE NUMBER 51000 UH SO AND THAT'S DOWN 500,000 IS THAT IMPACTING
YOUR STAFFING LEVELS OR SHAW'S ? UM, SO THE THE LIBRARY CITY OPERATING BUDGET UM IS PERSONNEL HEAVY SO WE'RE ABOUT 70% TOWARD PERSONNEL AND THEN 30% UM REMAINING EXPENSES THAT
THAT GET ALLOCATED TO CITY OPERATING BUDGET. UM THIS WAS PART OF THE CHALLENGE UH, WHEN WE WERE COMING UP WITH OUR BUDGET SUBMISSION FOR THIS YEAR, UM, WE DID FOCUS ON UH, CURRENT VACANCIES.
WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD MAINTAIN OPERATING HOURS, UM, AND AVOID ANY CHANGES TO FILL POSITIONS. SO, UH, THE THE DROP THAT YOU SEE THERE IS RELATED TO. OUR. >> UM, BUDGET REDUCTIONS THAT WE PROPOSED AROUND HOLDING SOME
OF THE VACANCIES. UM, I THINK. >> THERE. WERE A COUPLE. OF UM, LONG TERM UM, OLD POSITIONS THAT AREN'T ACTUALLY CURRENT ANYMORE UM, THAT WERE REMOVED AS WELL. SO THAT'S WHY YOU'RE SEEING THE DROP THERE. OKAY.
>> AND THEN LIKE THERE'S A. LARGE INCREASE. >> OR A COUPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND IN UTILITIES AS MUCH AS IT'S EXPENSIVE TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON. SURE. >> SO THAT'S A CENTRALLY UM BUDGETED LINE ITEM THERE. UM I KNOW THE CITY UTILITY
RATES FLUCTUATE YEAR TO YEAR. UM BUT WE NOTICED THAT AS WELL. OKAY OKAY. UH SO THAT'S GOING TO WRAP UP THE. >> FIRST ROUND AND. IF ANYONE SAY NOBODY NOBODY'S HERE TO GIVE PUBLIC TESTIMONY NOW.
SURE. UH, GOING ONCE GOING TWICE TO DIGIT. HEY DID YOU SIGN UP OKAY GREAT . SO IN THE ORDER YOU SIGNED UP YOU CAN COME NOW READ YOUR NAME OUT. UH, YOU'LL HAVE TWO MINUTES EACH AND THEN WE'LL GO TO A
SECOND ROUND OF QUESTIONS FROM MY COLLEAGUES. UM, SO. UM. JUST GIVE ME A SECOND HERE, UH,
AND THEN WATCH THE. CLOCK AND THE TWO MINUTES AGAIN LIKE JUST, YOU KNOW, WE CAN WORK TOGETHER ON THIS. I'M USED TO. BEING TOLD TO WRAP IT UP. OKAY? >> I'M NOT GOING TO CUT YOU OFF. JUST. >> UH. >> PLEASE. >> YOU KNOW, JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU'RE AWARE. >> OF THE. OF THE TIME AND, UH, UM.
OKAY. WHENEVER YOU'RE READY. SURE. >> MY NAME IS BRUCE KAREN HEALY . I'VE LIVED IN BOSTON SINCE 2008 AND I'VE WORKED AT THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY SINCE 2014 WHERE I AM A CATALOGING SUPERVISOR AS
WELL AS THE CHIEF STEWARD OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY PROFESSIONAL STAFF ASSOCIATION. I'M HERE TODAY FOR THE LATTER BECAUSE THE CITY'S PROPOSED BUDGET CUT FOR THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY IS A STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION FOR THE LIBRARY
,A STEP BACK FOR THE CITY OF BOSTON. AND AN ATTEMPT. >> TO BALANCE THE BOOKS ON THE BACKS OF LIBRARY PATRONS AND LIBRARY WORKERS ALIKE FOR A SYSTEM THAT IS ALREADY BARELY TREADING WATER, THIS BUDGET SEEMS DESIGNED TO BREAK RATHER
THAN BUILD THE LIBRARY, OUR OWN STRATEGIC PLAN HIGHLIGHTS HOW THE BPL IS CRITICALLY UNDERFUNDED AND UNDERSTAFFED RELATIVE TO POOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND POOR AMERICAN. CITIES AND MY OWN DEPARTMENT
STAFFING CUTS, UNFILLED POSITIONS AND AN INCREASED WORKLOAD IS ENSURING THAT WE ARE FALLING BEHIND AND ARE STRUGGLING TO PROCESS MATERIALS IN ORDER TO MEET THE PUBLIC'S NEEDS. WE'RE ENTERING A PERIOD OF SUSTAINED ECONOMIC CRISIS
AND SOCIAL UNCERTAINTY AND THE LIBRARY WILL BE NEEDED MORE, NOT LESS IN THIS TIME BY THE PUBLIC LIBRARY FUNDING THEREFORE NEEDS TO BE SUFFICIENT TO THE TASK AT HAND
AND IT IS PRESENTLY NOT CITY WORKERS. WE CANNOT MAKE ALL THE. CITY DOES POSSIBLE ON MERE THANKS ALONE. WE NEED RESOURCES AND WE NEED SUPPORT. WE CANNOT. DO MORE WITH LESS.
WE CAN ONLY DO LESS WITH LESS. THE LIBRARY NEEDS INCREASED FUNDING FOR MORE COLLECTIONS, FOR MORE PROGRAMING, FOR MORE RESOURCES FOR PATRONS AND FOR MORE STAFF AND FOR BETTER
COMPENSATION FOR THOSE STAFF BECAUSE WE HAVE TO LIVE IN THE. CITY AND WE DESERVE NOT TO JUST BE ABLE TO GET JUST A SCRAPE BY HERE, BUT WE DESERVE TO BE ABLE
TO THRIVE AND OUR COMMUNITIES DESERVE TO AS WELL. THEY DESERVE A FULLY FUNDED, FULLY STAFFED LIBRARY THAT CAN FULLY MEET THEIR NEEDS AND ALLOW THEM TO THRIVE AS WELL AS
A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE BPL PSA ,I'M CALLING FOR THE CITY TO COURSE CORRECT REVERSE THESE CUTS AND TO RAISE THE BUDGET OF THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY SO THAT THE LIBRARY WORKERS CAN MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR PATRONS AND OUR COMMUNITIES.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU AND WELL DONE WITH THE TIME. UH, ALLISON, UH, CAN I THINK SOME OF THIS READING OR. HI, I'M ALLISON OR ALLISON.
I'M THE PRESIDENT OF PSA AND I AM ALSO THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARIAN OUT AT THE BRIGHTON BRANCH LIBRARY. UM, MORE FONDLY REFERRED TO AS MISS ALI OUT THERE. UM, AND I'M HERE TODAY TO SAY
IT MADE ME A LITTLE NICER A LITTLE LESS NICELY THAN MY, UM ,THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM HAS PRESENTED. UM, THEY'RE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB OF IT REASSURING YOU THAT WE CAN CONTINUE THAT WHAT OUR SERVICES ARE WITH THE MONEY
THAT WE ARE BEING GIVEN IN THIS BUDGET AND THAT IS LIKELY TRUE. OUR STAFF IS DEDICATED, OUR STAFF IS SELF-SACRIFICING, OUR STAFF THEY ARE PUBLIC SERVANTS THROUGH AND THROUGH. NONE OF US GET INTO THIS FOR
THE MONEY FOR SURE. BUT THESE BUDGET CUTS, EVEN THOUGH THEY MIGHT LOOK SMALL ON PAPER HAVE INCREDIBLY LARGE IMPACTS IN OUR COMMUNITIES A LOSS OF COLLECTIONS AS WE FACE
THOSE RISING COSTS OF PHYSICAL AND PRINT BOOKS THAT EMILY WENT THROUGH, BOOKS THAT WE DON'T EVEN GET TO KEEP AT THE END OF ALL OF THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE DIGITALLY SNATCHED BACK FROM US MAKES IT HARD TO KEEP UP WITH
WHILE BOSTON IS PRIORITIZING KEEPING THEIR LIBRARY OPEN IN THIS FISCAL CRISIS THAT IS NOT TRUE ACROSS THE COMMONWEALTH AND WE SERVE AS THE LIBRARY FOR THE COMMONWEALTH IN ADDITION TO SERVING AS THE LIBRARY FOR THE
PEOPLE HERE IN BOSTON SO AS OTHER LIBRARIES ACROSS THE STATE CLOSE OR HAVE TO REDUCE THEIR SERVICE AND REDUCE THE COLLECTIONS THAT THEY HAVE THERE, BPL IS THERE TO CATCH THEM. WE ARE, AS BRYCE SAID, TREADING
WATER. THIS BUDGET WILL ALLOW US TO CONTINUE AND THAT IS MUCH BETTER. WE WILL NOT HAVE TO LOSE OUR STAFF THAT ARE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED WHICH IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO ALL OF US AND WE WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP THOSE
DOORS OPEN FOR THE PEOPLE THAT NEED US THE MOST. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY THIS BUDGET HAS INCREDIBLY REAL IMPACTS ON THE PEOPLE WHO NEED US THE MOST THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE RELYING ON US WHEN THINGS
GET HARDER. OUR FREE CLASSES ARE FREE, BOOKS ARE FREE PROGRAMING FOR CHILDREN. IT IS IN A LOT OF WAYS I SERVE AS THE PRESCHOOL FOR KIDS WHO ARE NOT IN PRESCHOOL.
I GET THEM READY FOR KINDERGARTEN THE SAME WAY A PRIVATE EDUCATION MIGHT GET THEM READY FOR KINDERGARTEN, BUT I CAN ONLY GET LESS KIDS READY IF I DON'T HAVE THE FUNDING I NEED TO SUPPORT THEIR GROWTH AND EDUCATION AS PART
OF THE LIBRARY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. UH, MY UH OKAY. UH NO ONE UH UM VIRTUAL SO THE
FOR A SECOND ROUND UH, FIVE MINUTES. COUNCILOR FLYNN. THANK YOU. DAVID, JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP. ON THE PUBLIC TESTIMONY. ARE THERE PROGRAMS THAT ARE
BEING CUT? UM, THAT IMPACT TO YOUTH CHILDREN IN. TERMS OF. LITERACY OR OR OTHER. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS? I THINK I WOULD CHARACTERIZE IT
AS CAPACITY RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL UM, PROGRAMS. AND UH, WE HEARD IN. THE UH. PUBLIC TESTIMONY FROM OUR COLLEAGUES.
ABOUT THE CHALLENGES THAT ALREADY EXIST, UH, AND THAT CERTAINLY I SHARED LAST YEAR WITH THE COUNCIL IN REFERENCING OUR STRATEGIC PLAN WHICH DID IN FACT LOOK.
AT US COMPARED. WITH OUR MORE WELL-FUNDED PEERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. UM, AND SO HAD WE NOT BEEN IN THIS MORE BROAD FISCAL CRISIS
THIS YEAR OR OUR FISCAL UM, CHALLENGES THIS YEAR, I WOULD CERTAINLY BE SITTING HERE ADVOCATING FOR DEEPER INVESTMENT IN THE LIBRARY BECAUSE THE NEED IS SO GREAT AS YOU ALSO HEARD.
FROM FROM OUR COLLEAGUES. YET BUT BUT GETTING BACK TO THE. QUESTION CAPACITY. IS THE WORD TO USE BUT ARE THERE PROGRAMS BEING CUT FOR YOUTH FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
FOR CHILDREN? LET US LITERACY PROGRAMS. THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET AT. UM I'M SORRY UM TO DAVID'S POINT, UM THE THE LOSS THAT WE
MAY SEE IS REGARDING, UH, DELAY A VACANCY IS BEING FILLED. SO THE ACTUAL PROGRAMING DOLLARS, THE FUNDING FOR THE CLASSES OR THE MATERIALS, UM, OR THE OUTSIDE CONTRACTOR COMING IN THOSE ARE NOT
CURRENTLY IN OUR CITY ARE. OPERATING OKAY BECAUSE BASICALLY BECAUSE THERE'S. >> A HIRING FREEZE. OR WE'RE NOT MOVING FORWARD ON POTENTIAL NEW HIRES, THAT PERSON IS NOT ABLE TO PROVIDE
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS, OUTREACH LITERACY LITERACY PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH. IS THAT FAIR TO SAY THE. STAFFING WOULD NOT BE THERE TO PROVIDE THOSE PROGRAMS? THE ACTUAL FUNDING FOR THE VAST
MAJORITY OF OUR PROGRAMS, HOWEVER, DOES NOT COME FROM THE CITY BUDGET. IT ACTUALLY COMES FROM EXTERNAL FUNDING AND UH, MOSTLY THROUGH THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND
OUR 501 C3 PARTNER ON THIS EFFORT UM, THEY ARE NOT PREDICTING A FALL OFF IN THEIR FUNDING THIS YEAR. UM, SO IT'S FROM THE LIBRARY'S POINT OF VIEW. THE RISK FACTOR HERE IS ABOUT
THE STAFFING LEVELS. DAVID. >> THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION YES. HOW MUCH DO THEY HAVE IN THE BACK? UM I DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION. UM WITH ME.
DOES ANYBODY THERE ON THE PANEL HAVE THAT INFORMATION? NOT TODAY. NO. IS THAT PUBLIC INFORMATION? IT'S A PRIVATE 501 C3 ENTITY.
SO, UH, WE WOULD WE COULD REQUEST THE THE THE BALANCE SHEET. BUT TO THEY FUND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM. THEY FUND PROGRAMMATIC UM, ASPECTS OF OUR WORK. HOW MUCH DO THEY PROVIDE EACH
YEAR. WHAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE AND I APOLOGIZE I DIDN'T BRING THOSE FIGURES TODAY. UM, WE DO POST ANNUALLY WHAT'S CALLED A GIFT REPORT. UM, SO ALL OF THE FUNDS THAT COME IN FROM EXTERNAL SOURCES
UM WE HAVE THE TOTALS THERE FOR ALL OF THOSE DONATIONS. AND YOU WILL SEE IN THE BUDGET PACKET A REFERENCE TO THE EXTERNAL FUNDS BUDGET, UM, WHICH INCLUDES UH FUNDING ON AN
ANNUAL BASIS. SO FOR EXAMPLE IN FY 24 THE TOTAL UM FROM UH THOSE SOURCES WAS 3.4 MILLION IN 25 3.8 MILLION AND WE DON'T HAVE
ACTUALS IN THE BUDGET FOR 26 OR 27 YET. THAT'S WHAT THEY YES, THAT'S WHAT THEY DONATE TO THE UH, PUBLIC LIBRARY FROM MULTIPLE. SOURCES BUT YES. OKAY. >> SO HOW WOULD I GET THAT INFORMATION ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY THEY HAVE IN THE BACK?
UH, WE COULD REQUEST THAT. OKAY. SO THOSE TRUSTEES ARE APPOINTED BY THE MAYOR, IS THAT CORRECT? THOSE ARE NOT THOSE ARE. NOT THAT'S, UH SELF-PERPETUATING. OKAY. UH, BOARD PRIVATELY.
UM PRIVATELY. UH INCORPORATED. OKAY, THEN THEN THE ONE THAT'S APPOINTED BY THE MAYOR WHAT IS WHAT IS THEIR ROLE? UH, SO THEY HAVE, UM, CARE AND CUSTODY OF THE LIBRARY, UH,
WHICH MEANS THAT WE KIND OF HAVE DUAL. REPORTING BOTH TO THE MAYOR AND THE COUNCIL BUT ALSO TO THE THE LIBRARY'S BOARD FOR OVERSIGHT OF POLICY AND STRATEGY. OKAY. >> AND JUST, UH JUST ONE
ANOTHER QUESTION THE THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. PROPERTY OR THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN BOSTON THAT'S ALL OWNED BY THE PUBLIC. IS THAT ACCURATE? CITY OF BOSTON IT'S OWNED BY
THE CITY OF BOSTON. IT'S NOT OWNED BY THE PUBLIC. IT IS NOT OKAY, KAREN. CUSTODY IS WITH THE TRUSTEES OF THE LIBRARY. OKAY. OWNERSHIP OF THE LAND AND BUILDINGS I THINK IS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IF NOT ENTIRELY UH
,CITY OF BOSTON. SAME WITH COPLEY. YES. >> OKAY. >> HOW MUCH HOW MUCH OF THE PROPERTY. AT COPLEY COPLEY. IS CITY OF BOSTON PROPERTY. DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW MUCH
LIKE ALL OF THAT AREA OUTSIDE? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH? UM I DON'T. I DON'T HAVE THAT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD. UH, I MEAN THE TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE TWO COMPLEXES IS JUST SHY OF 1,000,000FT2.
UH, THAT INCLUDES ALL OF THE INTERIOR SPACE AND THE EXTERIOR SPACE. OKAY. >> THANK YOU. DAVID, THAT WAS OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COUNCILOR FITZGERALD. THANK YOU. >> CHAIR. UM, I DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS. I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO
THE FOLKS THAT CAME AND TESTIFIED AND THOSE THAT WORK. I THINK THE GREAT THING ABOUT THESE HEARINGS AND HEARING FROM FOLKS WHO ARE ON THE GROUND IS YOU ALWAYS LEARN A DIFFERENT WAY TO SORT OF LOOK AT THE JOB AND YOUR PERSPECTIVE OF HEY, WE
ARE THE WE ARE THE TEACHERS BEFORE THEY EVEN GET TO TEACHERS IS A IS A IS A LIGHT THAT I HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT IT IN AND I THINK THAT'S A VERY COOL WAY TO LOOK AT YOUR JOB. SO I APPRECIATE I HAVE THAT MUCH MORE APPRECIATION WHEN I
SEE IT UNDER THAT LIGHT. SO THANK YOU FOR DESCRIBING AND EDUCATING ME IN THAT LIGHT AS A LIBRARIAN IS OUGHT TO DO RIGHT. SO THANK YOU AGAIN. UM BUT ALSO TO UH ALL THE LIBRARIANS AND ALL THE DORCHESTER LIBRARIES I THANK
THEM ESPECIALLY THE ONES AT THE ADAMS STREET AND THANK YOU ALL FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DO, UH, AND PROVIDE FOR THE CITY. SO, UH THAT'S IT. YEAH. THANK YOU SO MUCH, GUYS. OKAY, I JUST A COUPLE QUESTIONS FROM THE CHAIR. SO IN TERMS.
OF VACANCIES LIKE IS IS THERE A HIRING FREEZE. LIKE WHAT. >> I'M SURE IS. NOT TECHNICALLY A HIRING FREEZE . WE ARE RUNNING BETWEEN 45 TO 55 ACTIVE VACANCIES CURRENTLY.
UM AND ABOUT HALF OF THEM ARE RELEASED TO BE TO BE FILLED. UM, CURRENTLY. OKAY. >> UH AND LET'S SEE. SO UH. DIFFERENT TOPIC UH.
WEST ROXBURY LIBRARY UH. WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A NEW CARPET ESPECIALLY IN THE CHILDREN'S ROOM. HOW DO WE GET THAT DONE? IS THAT DOES THAT COME OUT OF CAPITALS THAT YOU MEAN.
UM WE HAVE AS WE SAY UH, WE HAVE OUR OPERATIONS TEAM IS WORKING THROUGH AND THEN IDENTIFYING LOCATIONS THAT WE DO NEED TO, UH, HAVE SOME
CONSISTENT UH, UPGRADES AND AND REPLACING THAT BUT WE WE WILL UM, DEFINITELY INCLUDE THAT IN THERE BUT IT'S UM THAT THERE WOULD BE A MIXTURE. OF CAPITAL. DEPENDING ON HOW UM HOW.
EXTENSIVE THE. PROJECT IS. OKAY. >> YEAH. I MEAN IT. SEEMS LIKE A SMALL. ASK, YOU KNOW, BUT UH, IT WOULD MAKE. >> A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN THE IT'S VERY HEAVILY. TRAFFICKED ON. THE CARPET, HASN'T BEEN ABLE TO
HOLD UP AS WELL AS WE WE HAD HOPED. UM, UH OH OKAY. UH LET'S SEE. SO THERE'S UM THERE IS LIKE EXTERNAL FUNDS FOR PERMANENT
EMPLOYEES. IT GOES DOWN FROM. SEVERAL MILLION. >> TO LIKE 400,000. UH, CAN YOU. JUST EXPLAIN WHAT IMPACT THAT HAS HAVE. SURE. >> YEAH. UM.
SO YEAH, IT'S GOING ACTUALLY. OH NO. >> NO, YOU KNOW IT AGAIN. IT'S GOING UP. SORRY I MISREAD THIS. SO IT'S GOING. >> UP. 477 NOW. >> CAN. YOU. JUST EXPLAIN. >> WHAT'S. HAPPENING WITH THAT THEN. SO IT'S GOING FROM 5.1 TO 5.6 MILLION. SURE. >> SO THERE ARE. >> UM CONTRACTED INCREASES TO
THE SALARY SO THAT'S UH YEAR OVER YEAR. UM AND THAT'S WHAT THAT FIGURE IS. REPRESENTING OKAY. AND YEAH. WHO WHO WOULD THE EXTERNAL FUND PERMANENT PLEASE. WHAT'S THE WHO'S DOING THAT EXCEPT FOR.
UM IT'S IT'S A COMBINATION. SO UM UH SO WE HAVE SOME LIBRARY FOR THE COMMONWEALTH. UM, FUNDING. WE HAVE OUR ASSOCIATES ANOTHER ONE OF OUR, UM, PHILANTHROPIC UH, UH, ARMS FUNDS AND
POSITIONS AS WELL. UM, IT'S A COMBINATION. I WOULD NOTE, COUNSELOR, THAT ALL. >> OF THE EMPLOYEES REGARDLESS OF FUNDING OUR CITY OF BOSTON EMPLOYEE AND SUBJECT OF THE SAME STANDARDS WHETHER THOSE BE
UM, THROUGH ONE OF THE TWO UNIONS OR EXEMPT POSITIONS. SO EVEN THOUGH THE FUNDING SOURCE MAY BE DIFFERENT, UM, THE ENTIRETY OF THE POPULATION IS UH UH STAFF POPULATION IS
ONE BODY. >> OKAY. UH OKAY. AND THEN UM THERE'S ANOTHER DROP IN THE BUDGET FOR. LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION PERSONNEL SERVICES. UM. >> CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT'S GOING
ON THERE? I HAD TO EXPLAIN IT TO MYSELF. COUNCILOR WEBER UM, SO. WE DID. NOTICE THAT AS WELL. UM, WHEN WE PUT IN OUR BUDGET REDUCTIONS, UM, FOR THIS YEAR AND LIKE WE'VE ALREADY POINTED
OUT, UM, WE WERE FOCUSING ON THE VACANCIES. SO WHEN WE ACTUALLY SUBMITTED THEM INTO OUR BUDGET THEY WERE UM, UH, QUALIFIED AS SALARY SAVINGS WITHIN THE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE WHICH HITS THAT
ADMINISTRATIVE LINE. UM, SO THAT'S WHERE THE SALARY SAVINGS UM THE REDUCTIONS THAT WE MADE WERE CAPTURED. UM, THEY ARE NOT ALL GOING TO HIT THE ADMINISTRATIVE LINE. IT'S VACANCIES ACROSS THE SYSTEM.
BUT THAT'S UM WHAT THAT THAT FIGURE IS SHOWING. OKAY OKAY. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. SO THAT'S THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE. SO, UH, COUNSELOR FISHER, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SECOND ROUND
OF THE END. UM, I WANT TO THANK THE PANEL FOR FOR COMING IN AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS. I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO CAME IN TO GIVE PUBLIC TESTIMONY, UH, IN CENTRAL STAFF FOR MAKING THIS HEARING HAPPEN
AND AND ALL THE STAFF FOR THE OUR LIBRARIES THAT WE I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE LOVE OUR BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM AND AND UH, LOOK FORWARD TO ALL THE GREAT WORK YOU'RE GOING TO DO IN THE NEXT YEAR. OKAY.
WITH THAT SAID, UH, THIS AFTERNOON'S HEARING IS NOW ADJOURNED. THANK YOU, MR CHAIRMAN.