Boston City Council Rejects Four ZBA Nominees Without Prejudice in 7-5 Vote

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6077 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

Boston City Council rejected four Zoning Board of Appeals nominations without prejudice and passed a $3,828,317 state 911 grant in a lengthy virtual session on August 19, 2020. The ZBA votes, each passing 7 to 5 on roll call, came on the recommendation of Councilor Michelle Wu, chair of the Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation, who argued the nominations should be cleared to allow renomination under criteria aligned with a home-rule restructuring of the board passed July 29; Councilors Baker, Asabi-George, Flaherty, Flynn, and O'Malley voted no on most dockets. Wu committed to vetting new nominees before the council's next meeting on September 16.

The council also passed unanimously a $106,071 mental health co-response grant for police districts B2 and B3 and gave first reading to a $7,050,607 Massachusetts School Building Authority appropriation for roof and boiler replacements at three Boston schools. Council President Kim Janey and Councilor Andrea Campbell introduced an ordinance that would bar employers from using credit checks in hiring decisions, citing a Harvard Kennedy School study linking such bans to two to three percent employment gains in low-credit communities.

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Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6077 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.