By Katie Trojano, Reporter Staff
January 27, 2021
Walsh s departure date remains unclear
Pressure is mounting on the Boston City Council to set aside a special election that would be triggered by the city charter if Mayor Walsh vacates his seat before March 5, a scenario that appears likely as Biden cabinet nominations are moving through US Senate confirmation hearings at a quick pace.
On Tuesday, a Home Rule Petition that would override the requirement for a special election was largely embraced by councillors and citizens who logged on to testify during a virtual hearing of the council’s Committee on Government Operations. The panel’s chair, District 1 Councillor Lydia Edwards, confirmed that there will be a vote on the petition during next week’s (Feb. 3) regular meeting, following a working session scheduled for this Friday at 2 p.m.
Boston could soon have an acting mayor. What will that mean?
Lawyers differ on how to interpret archaic text in city charter
By Danny McDonald Globe Staff,Updated January 25, 2021, 5:54 p.m.
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It is one paragraph featuring three complete sentences of just under 190 words.
But the interpretation of those few phrases could determine the limits of City Council president Kim Janeyâs power when Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston departs to become the nationâs next labor secretary and Janey steps into the role of acting mayor.
Welcome to the wonky world of city charter legalese. In clunky terms, the charter says an acting mayor âshall possess the powers of mayor only in matters not admitting of delay, but shall have no power to make permanent appointments.â
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Boston police officers with batons lined up outside the District B-2 station in Roxbury before a protest on May 31. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Amid calls to defund police, Boston police officers and their advocates have urged for hundreds more cops to be hired. They say that these days they’re stretched thin, forced to work mandatory overtime and facing a more hostile public.
Nearly 300 officers in Boston are with the department, but they re not working. And the city is spending millions of dollars each year, to pay both the officer at home who often earns a paycheck tax-free and the overtime to another cop working to fill that staffing hole.