“Let the games begin.” City Council fails to certify 2026 rules during first official meeting
The 2026 legislative year of Boston’s City Council has not had a productive start. The council filled the long-vacant District 7 seat, held a heated presidential election, and has now delayed certification of its own rules.
The adoption of council rules should be a straightforward procedure, with minimal changes year to year. “A majority of suggested edits to the rules were minor and made to correct inconsistencies, remove outdated language, and fix typos,” Breadon said. “The intent of these changes is to help ensure council meetings run in a timely manner.”
Changes include establishing new guidelines around when hearings may be held, the creation of a new committee event type for dedicated public testimony sessions, and an amendment to rule 39 certifying that only the lead and co-sponsor to speak on new matters to be referred to a committee when a matter is first introduced – councilors would still be allowed ten minutes of speaking time each should the matter leads to a vote.
The certification also approves the creation, alteration, and assignment of committees for the year.
Councilor John FitzGerald objected to a vote certifying the rules, noting that he had not had the opportunity to read the changes in their totality due to the 28-page document being sent out shortly before 5 p.m. the day before — though all filings are available publicly at least 48-hours ahead of appearing before the council.
“There are folks on this body that have questions. I do want to make sure we start off on the right foot – Everyone understands what their roles are, what their committees are, what the oversight of those committees do,” FitzGerald said.
“Since some of my colleagues decided to not show up for work ready for work, I would like to make a motion to adjourn the meeting,” said Councilor Sharon Durkan. The councilor’s motion did not receive a second, but did raise tensions in the chamber.
“Let the games begin, y’all,” said Councilor Julia Mejia.
Councilor Ed Flynn advised that, due to the long agenda for the day, the session be moved along. “I think it is important that we treat each other with respect,” he said. “This meeting has not started out on the right foot, but we still have a few more hours to go. Let’s ensure that we respect each other.”
After Breadon attempted to progress the meeting, Councilor Erin Murphy invoked Council Rule 38, requiring members to refer to each other by their title and surname, avoid unbecoming behavior, and “avoid personalities.”
“I came to work prepared,” said Murphy. “I think that a member saying that none of us came to work prepared deserves an apology because that, to me, is an insult.” The councilor added that she had had the opportunity to talk through the changes to her committee, Human Services, formerly Committee on Strong Women, Families, and Communities.
“Many of us already did the work of reviewing and comparing these Rules ourselves, including the committee changes,” Murphy said in a statement. “My concern is that we are being asked to adopt governance changes without having had a collective discussion as a body beforehand.”
In a statement, Durkan apologized if any of her colleagues took her remarks personally, adding that they were not directed at any individual. “For the past 20 years, the Council’s rules have been adopted without delay at the first meeting following the election of a president,” she said. “I don’t believe the council did our job today. This delay impacted our work as no dockets were put in committee, so I believe my frustration is warranted.”
“It was really the first time in four years that there was a substantial change to the rules, and so I think it was worth having a conversation,” FitzGerald said after the meeting. “There were some changes within some of the committees that I wanted to understand — Why some committees were either created, disbanded, or moved from one to another? It’s really just to make sure the body as a whole understood.”
He added that he did not think characterizing the body as unprepared was fair, but he does not foresee the altercation escalating into future conflict.
“All we wanted was more clarity on the understanding behind the changes,” he explained.
The council will convene virtually on Friday, January 30, at 2 p.m. to discuss and approve the rules and committees for this legislative session.
