Boston City Council Grills BCYF Officials on Pool Delays and Staffing Gaps

BOSTON — May 6, 2025 — Boston City Council scrutinizes BCYF's $31.1 million FY26 budget as pool closures and staffing gaps persist. The Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Councilor Brian Worrell, heard from BCYF Commissioner Martha Rivera and Office of Early Childhood Director Kristen McSwain at a Tuesday hearing on dockets 0822 through 0830 and 0837. Rivera reported that all 68 seasonal lifeguard positions were filled last summer for the first time in decades, but council members pressed her on a three-year pattern of returning between $3.6 million and $4.1 million unspent to the general fund annually — driven largely by unfilled frontline positions — while overtime spending runs nearly triple its budgeted amount. Councilor Edward M. Flynn was blunt about the Blackstone pool in the South End, which officials said would require a complete rebuild: "I just can't keep saying to them that it's in progress." The Condon pool in South Boston is expected to open before summer pending minor permitting requirements; the Mildred pool in Mattapan is set to reopen by end of May after HVAC repairs; and the Hennigan pool in Jamaica Plain remains without a firm reopening date while third-party contractor Weston & Sampson continues its assessment.