Boston City Council Refers Racism Public Health Crisis Hearing Order to Committee

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6067 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

Boston City Council orders twin public health hearings on racism and COVID-19. At its March 4, 2020 session, the council unanimously referred a hearing order by Councilor Ricardo Arroyo — calling on Boston to join Milwaukee, Madison, and Pittsburgh in declaring racism a public health crisis and to create an independent racial-equity impact office — to the Committee on Public Health. In the same session, Councilors Sean O'Malley and Wu filed a companion hearing order on city COVID-19 preparedness, citing 90,000 global cases, 3,200 deaths, and nine U.S. fatalities at time of filing, with Councilor Arroyo pledging as committee chair to convene that hearing "as soon as possible." The council also adopted unanimously on suspension a resolution by Councilor Ed Flynn, co-sponsored by Councilor Michael Flaherty, supporting Chinese and Asian communities against coronavirus-linked discrimination, and confirmed 23 appointments to three historic-preservation commissions.

The council closed by passing a hearing order on the future of the BCYF Jackson Mann Community Center in Allston-Brighton — the neighborhood's only BCYF facility, slated for demolition by July 2021 — raising unresolved questions about where the center's preschool and adult education programs will relocate.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,924 words

Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6067 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.