Boston Council Advances Cemetery Funds, Red Sox Grant, and BERDO Appointment

BOSTON — April 21, 2026 — Boston City Council committee advances $860,000 cemetery appropriation, $375,000 Red Sox arts grant, and BERDO board appointment. The hearing, chaired before a committee panel including Councilors Fitzgerald and Durkan, featured testimony from Thomas Sullivan, General Superintendent of the Parks and Recreation Department's Cemetery Division, who warned that the city's only active burial site at Fairview Cemetery in Hyde Park has roughly two to three years of grave space remaining; $200,000 of the $860,000 Cemetery Trust Fund request is earmarked specifically for a licensed professional to plan future burial capacity. Samira Ahmadi, founding principal of Envio Energy Studio and the mayor's nominee to the BERDO Review Board for a term expiring May 23, 2026, described 15 years of energy consulting experience helping affordable housing owners navigate decarbonization, telling the panel that demand for her services has grown sharply in the past year. Bayauda Culloy, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Wu, presented the $375,000 Red Sox Arts in Parks grant — the fourth year of an eight-year agreement increasing by $25,000 annually — with spending to be directed toward the Fenway neighborhood in coordination with community groups and Councilor Durkan.