Thursday, January 10, 2013
Gun control laws are regulated at the state and federal level, but Boston City Council President Murphy believes the city can affect change, too.
The Boston City Council unanimously elected Stephen Murphy to serve as council president for 2013. During the Council's first meeting on Jan. 7 after being re-elected as council president, Murphy, an at-large councilor from Hyde Park, took on banning assault weapons. “No sportsman or gun collector needs an assault weapon. There is no sport in using an automatic rifle,” said Murphy. The Boston City Council and Mayor Thomas Menino supported a ban on assault weapons after the Newtown school shooting. Gun control laws are regulated at the state and federal levels, but Murphy believes the council can affect change in three ways: Murphy also promised to be actively involved in the rejuvenation of the Fairmount-Indigo Commuter Rail project …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
The new city ordinance requires all owners to register all rental units of more than six units.
A new Boston rental inspection ordinance will require all owners and landlords with more than six units to register in a citywide registry. Mayor Thomas Menino has pushed for the ordinance, which the city estimates will provide a proactive method for inspecting about 140,000 rental units, comprising more than 85 percent of Boston’s approximately 167,800 units. During the next five years, every unit under the ordinance will receive an approved inspection or be entered into an Inspectional Services-approved alternative compliance plan. More than 10 inspectors are expected to be hired, as the city plans on tackling units owned by landlords with a history of noncompliance in the first year of the program. The ordinance first had to be …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Residents are invited to a public hearing with Boston Public Schools and the Boston Public Health Commission on Tuesday night to address mental health issues, especially in light of the recent tragedy of Newtown, Connecticut.
The timing of a scheduled Boston City Council hearing on ending the stigma of mental health illnesses is eerily uncanny due to the tragic school shootings in Newtown, Conn. last week. As the nation continues to mourn and wonder why the shooter did what he did, the question of his mental health is being openly discussed. Were there warning signs? Did he ever seek treatment? For many people, there is a stigma attached to seeking mental health help. On Tuesday night, At-Large Boston City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo is hosting a hearing on "ending the mental health stigma and how the city can be a part of the effort." Previously, Arroyo assembled a task force of mental health organizations that will be represented at the hearing to discuss …
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Wu, a Harvard graduate, recently worked for the Elizabeth Warren campaign and the City of Boston.
South End resident Michelle Wu filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance this week as a candidate for one of Boston’s four At-Large City Council seats. "I’m running because I believe in Boston and I believe that in city government we can make changes," Wu said. Wu, 27, is an attorney and former law student of U.S. Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren. She most recently worked full-time on the Warren campaign, where she directed statewide outreach to communities of color. "Boston’s greatesest strength is diversity and the city council should reflect that diversty," she said. "Over 50 percent of the population in Boston is female and there's currently only one woman on the entire Boston City Council." Prior to the Warren …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Boston City Councilors look to work with state with many chronic offenders re-entering the city due to the Jamaica Plain Drug Lab scandal.
With as many as 600 convicted drug dealers headed to the streets of Boston before their full sentences are up, city councilors are brainstorming about how to handle the influx. "We have seen the news. We know there are and will be several hundred more people released into our community... due to the crisis at the JP state lab," said District 7 Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson at Wednesday's council meeting. A "rogue chemist" may have mishandled evidence in 34,000 cases over nine years of work at the shuttered State Drug Lab in Jamaica Plain. State and municipal officials have been struggling to deal with the fallout as convicted drug dealers get released early. Calling for an immediate hearing to address the issue, Jackson said many of …
Monday, October 22, 2012
In 2009, 42 people committed suicide in Boston, according to Massachusetts Department of Health.
At-Large Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo wants to break down the stigma attached to suicide and help prevent future deaths. "More than 90% of people who commit suicide are suffering from a psychiatric disorder such as eating disorders or depression," said Arroyo, during the Council's weekly meeting (held on Thursday due to Columbus Day holiday). Arroyo said the number of veterans committing suicide is going up, but he added, "Most issues that lead to suicide are recognizable and treatable." With that notion, the Council's Committee on Labor, Youth Affairs, and Health, will hold a future hearing to further discuss the matter. Arroyo said the hearing will focus on how to prevent suicides, how to deal with the after effects of a suicide …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Menino says the map creates an over-concentrated area of protected groups in District 4.
On Monday, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino rejected the second redistricting map submitted by the Boston City Council, once again citing concerns of an "over-concentration of protected groups" in districts. Menino said District 4, which includes Dorchester and Mattapan, is especially over-concentrated. In his veto letter, the Mayor wrote: "Under both maps passed, almost 70 percent of District 4's voting age population is Black and almost 95 percent is Non-White. In a city where diversity is found broadly, I had asked that you to endeavor to avoid over-concentration of minority voters, and I make that same request again." (See attached letter.) Menino vetoed the first redistricting map on Sept. 6 (see attached letter) citing the three same …
Monday, September 24, 2012
Boston City Council President Stephen Murphy originally called for a ban on styrofoam cups in 2009, but feels there's more support for it in 2012.
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Monday, September 24, 2012
The styrofoam cups that are being used today will live longer than the man who would like to ban them in Beantown: Boston City Council President Stephen Murphy. At Wednesday's Boston City Council meeting, Murphy reintroduced an order from 2009, calling for a citywide ban on styrofoam cups. "The styrofoam is nonbiodegradable and lasts for hundreds and hundreds of years in landfills," said Murphy, who reminded his peers that 10 of them supported the order in 2009 (with the other three not being on the council). Murphy said more than 111 municipalities have banned them across the country, and that locally, Brookline is debating a ban now. "It’s sound public policy. (I'm) just asking for it to go to the appropriate committee and seeing if we …
Mayor Menino rejected the previous redistricting map submitted by the Boston City Council, citing it "concentrates our many citizens of color into too few districts, and in doing so may limit their equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice."
The Boston City Council passed a second redistricting map today in a 7-6 vote, which now needs to be passed or vetoed by Mayor Thomas Menino. Menino rejected the previous redistricting map that passed the Council in a 7-6 vote on Aug. 23. He said the proposed map "concentrates our many citizens of color into too few districts, and in doing so may limit their equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice." Several city councilors warned of possible litigation being brought against the city if the map did not accurarely reflect the demographics of the city. Not much has changed between the old resdistricting map between the first attempt and the second attempt. The South End has remained split between Districts 2 and 7 in both maps…
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Do you know what a "pig parker" is? If so, don't be one.
District 6 Boston City Councilor Matt O'Malley loves the "old world charm" of Boston, but says it's time motorists learned "the new rules of the road." At Wednesday's Council meeting, O'Malley called for a future hearing to consider ways to improve traffic flow in Boston. Mentioning that Boston's original roads were made by following cow paths (not the most ideal for traffic flow), he said it's time to use better signage and enforcement in Boston neighborhoods. O'Malley led a hearing last winter to explore traffic calming measures, added he "wants to use every arrow in our quiver" to improve traffic flow. O'Malley raised four specific areas of concern: O'Malley said he's "not wanting to fine people" but "wants to use signage to make roads …
SM_bos
11:11 am on Saturday, January 12, 2013
Does Councilor Murphy understand that automatic rifles are already (mostly) banned? Or that many rifles not considered "assault rifles" are semi-automatic? Or that Boston already makes it very, very difficult to get a permit to carry a handgun? Or that the vast majority of guns taken off the streets of Boston are from people who are already violating numerous laws? Is he vehement about enforcing … more ›