Boston City Council Defers New Rules to Committee, Passes ICE Condemnation Resolution

BOSTON — January 28, 2026 — Boston City Council defers new operating rules on first meeting day of Braden presidency. Council President Liz Braden, presiding over her inaugural session Wednesday, sought same-day suspension and passage of updated 2026-2027 council rules — a practice she said was standard for more than two decades — but Councillor Michael Fitzgerald formally objected after a central staff summary memo arrived at 4:42 p.m. the prior evening, a snow day. "I just don't feel that this moment now is the time," Fitzgerald said, noting that roughly 95 percent of the four substantive changes were uncontroversial but that questions about committee structures remained. The council also voted 9-3 to adopt a resolution supporting the 2026 statewide rent stabilization ballot question, 12-0 with one present to immediately adopt new District 7 Councillor the Reverend Tania Culpepper's resolution demanding transparency in the Parcel P3 and Madison Park redevelopment, and 11-0 to condemn the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Preddy by federal ICE agents. A $18,118,488 supplemental fire department appropriation and a $1,307,901 school administrators contract order were both referred to the Committee of the Whole, where a hearing on the fire contract remained on the calendar for Monday.