Boston City Council Passes Two Historic District Appointments, Refers Police Contract Funding

BOSTON — April 3, 2024 — Boston City Council approves two historic preservation appointments and refers a $4.9 million police contract appropriation to committee. Councilor Sharon Durkan, chair of Planning, Development and Transportation, moved to suspend normal procedures and immediately confirm Ann Kilgus to the Bay Village Historic District Commission and Senam Kumahia to the Boston Landmarks Commission, explaining the appointments had been submitted in the wrong order. Both passed on unanimous voice vote. The council also referred a paired $4,909,838 supplemental appropriation to Ways and Means to fund collective bargaining agreements with the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society Superior Officers Unit covering fiscal years 2021 through 2025, and sent a $40 million Inclusionary Development Policy Fund authorization to the Committee on Housing and Community Development. Christopher Schroeder, executive director of the Boston Music Project, told the council during a student orchestra presentation that budget cuts at the city and state level would eliminate some of his organization's afterschool programs next year, serving a warning ahead of the upcoming budget cycle.