City Council Rules Changes

At a glance

What: proposed changes to the Rules of the City Council.
Where it stands: open. All referred to the Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee.
Next: committee review. Rules 61-63 were adopted as discussion requests to the City Manager on 2026-09-22; the City Manager's letter on them was referred to committee 10-1 on 2026-10-13.

Proposals

New Rules 61 (annual departmental reports in SMART goals format), 62 (council budget recommendations by March 1) and 63 (City Manager preliminary budget by March 15), all from Satya B. Mitra.
Jose A. Rivera's proposal to start Council meetings at 5:30 PM (Rosen amended: 5:30 or 6 PM) with a first hour of public participation.
Khrystian E. King's review of Rule 5 on calling special meetings.
King's September 15 request for a report on Rules 48 and 49 (committee and temporary appointments).

Status and next steps

All referred to the Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee.
Rules 61-63 adopted as discussion requests to the City Manager on 2026-09-22; the City Manager's letter on them was referred to committee 10-1 on 2026-10-13.

Discussion time

About 68 minutes across 3 meetings (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-13 - City Council	42
2026-09-22 - City Council	21
2026-09-15 - City Council	5

Log

2026-11-09 - Municipal and Legislative Operations Committee Meeting - On the agenda: the City Manager's communication on proposed Rules 61, 62 and 63, Jose A. Rivera's 5:30 or 6pm start with public participation first, Khrystian E. King's review of Rule 5 on special meetings and Gary Rosen's review of Rule 35.
2026-10-13 - City Council — Rivera's meeting-time proposal (item 11b) referred to Municipal and Legislative Operations 8-3 as amended: Gary Rosen added a 6 PM start / 6 to 7 PM public participation option and Khrystian E. King added a review of Rule 5 on special meetings (nays: Robert A. Bilotta, King, Luis A. Ojeda). Jose A. Rivera said he has never seen the rules not suspended to let everyone speak, meetings often run past midnight, he starts his Traffic and Parking meetings at 5:30 and lets speakers run long, and the change would add a half hour. King (prefers 7 PM; 2025 had the fewest Council meetings in 20 years; public participation took about 15 minutes that night) and Bilotta opposed it as a hardship for shift workers and parents, Bilotta suggesting the chair enforce 'what purpose do you rise' and the move to question instead. Morris A. Bergman supported committee review, said the charter requires only 'a reasonable amount of time', wanted spokespersons for groups and complained about 'America's Got Talent' performances in comment, and noted Tuesday committees would conflict with a 5:30 start. Satya B. Mitra, Kathleen M. Toomey and Rosen favored discussion; Rosen noted standing committees meet 5 to 5:30 and callers can participate remotely. City Clerk Nikolin Vangjeli said 6:30 has been the start since at least 2020 (likely from a 2015 or 2016 rules revamp). Public speakers Abby Mortillaro, Gary Hunter, Idella Hazard and David Webb opposed or worried about earlier starts. On the City Manager's letter on Rules 61-63 (item 9.26A), CFO Tim McGourthy said March 1 and March 15 are workable but late for a budget submitted in early May under the charter's 170-day submission and 45-day review clock, and only about 0.2 percent of the budget is open to new spending; King voted no, saying orders already set priorities; Mitra urged committee work and Rivera suggested consolidating them into one rule. Referred 10-1 (King opposed).
2026-10-06 - City Council — Jose A. Rivera presented his order (5:30 PM start, public comment 5:30 to 6:30) as a way to make comment predictable while getting to business, noting Rule 39 already caps comment at 30 minutes and is always suspended. Public speakers Steve Hart, Moira Dacey, Nathalie Gibson and Abby Mortillaro (partly) objected that it would curtail working residents and online speakers. Khrystian E. King held it under privilege to consult Rivera, citing families; Morris A. Bergman complained about long public comment on items already announced as held and said he may file an item on it; Luis A. Ojeda opposed a hard 6:30 cutoff; Joseph M. Petty noted the School Committee meets around 5:30.
2026-09-22 - City Council — Mitra's Rules 61, 62, 63: Mitra said councilors can cut but not add to the City Manager's budget and want a formal, recorded way to give priorities. Batista said departmental development plans and a five-year strategic plan already exist, January 1 is not feasible, March 15 is. King and Morris A. Bergman questioned 61 and 62 (King supported 63); on Bergman's suggestion all three were amended to request a City Manager report first. Votes: 61, 10-1; 62, 8-3 (Bilotta, King, Ojeda opposed); 63, 10-1 (Bilotta opposed).
2026-09-15 - City Council — Under suspension, Khrystian E. King asked the Mayor for a report on Rules 48 and 49 (committee appointments and temporary appointments to fill vacancies) and any related City Charter language; adopted 10-0 (Toomey recused; captions record an abstention). He pointed to the Mayor's ex officio authority over committees and a recent public pause of a committee by a councilor (committee not identified in the captions). Earlier the Council also suspended Rule 21 to give John P. Fresolo extra speaking time (11-0), and a King motion to extend public participation until all had spoken failed 6-5 (Rule 56 requires eight votes).