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Election roundup: This fall, you could be picking councilors and deciding whether to give them more budget say

The City Council yesterday approved a proposed ballot question for this November to give themselves more of a say in determining the budgets of city departments. Currently, the council can vote yay or nay on overall budgets proposed by the mayor, but can't suggest specific line-item changes. The measure, if approved by both Acting Mayor Kim Janey and the state Attorney General's office, would ask voters to give the council more granular control over budgets.

The Ward 4 (South End) Democratic Committee has voted to endorse Michelle Wu for mayor - the first ward committee to pick somebody. Former State Rep. Marie St. Fleur endorsed Andrea Campbell

There's a forum for mayoral candidates at 6 p.m. today on jobs and workers. Free registration required.

There's another forum, sponsored by Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins, at 10 am. on May 26, in which inmates at the House of Corrections will pose the questions.

And there's another forum for mayoral candidates, on environmental issues, at 6:30 p.m. on June 1. Free registration for that one, as well.

Michael Flaherty reported yesterday he's been certified for a position on the September preliminary ballot for one of the four at-large seats. Hardly surprising for the longest serving current councilor, but now people can put out Flaherty lawn signs with the assurance he will be on the ballot Sept. 14.

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Comments

3 reasons.

1). Most resident dont participate in council elections compared to mayoral.
2). It's beyond terrifying someone like Julia Mejia would be responsible for a city budget.
3). The political posturing from the council members regarding defunding the police.

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Most resident dont participate in mayoral elections.

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  1. You have a lot more influence over who your city councilor is than you do over who the mayor is. This measure empowers you.
  2. Julia Meija (or any councilor) wouldn’t be “responsible for a city budget;” she would have one vote. Also consider a scenario in which (pick your favorite nightmare candidate) becomes mayor. Wouldn’t you prefer a system in which your elected legislative body has a little more nuanced control over the city’s direction, rather than leaving it 100% up to the mayor?
  3. There’s “political posturing” and there’s “addressing the issues that the voters say matter to them.” Sometimes from the outside it’s hard to tell the difference.
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Not really opposed but giving a councilor like Mejia the power of how funds are directed about is very scary. I think most are “ok” but she ehhhh.

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This is fundamental to how our government works. It is a more important local governance issue than pretty much anything else we have discussed here on UHub over the last couple of years. If you vote in Boston you owe it to yourself to become informed and to have a position on this issue.

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