Boston Council Committee Advances Nine Historic Preservation Commission Appointments

BOSTON -- June 5, 2026, Boston City Council committee endorses nine historic preservation nominees across three commissions. The Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation, chaired by District 8 Councilor Sharon Durkin, held a virtual confirmatory hearing June 5 on nine appointments and reappointments sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu to the Back Bay Architectural District Commission, the Boston Landmarks Commission, and the Fort Point Channel Landmark District Commission, with Durkin signaling she will advance all nine to the full council. Notable nominees include David Dixon, a city planner credited with post-Katrina planning for New Orleans, being added to the Landmarks Commission, and Vineet Gupta, recently retired as the city's Director of Planning for Transportation, named as an alternate. Reappointee Robert Weintraub noted he has missed perhaps five meetings in a decade of service, and alternate reappointee David Sampson said he helped raise close to $100,000 to remove scaffolding that had stood at the First Baptist Church in the Back Bay for nearly eight or nine years. The hearing, held as the Landmarks Commission marks its 50th anniversary, produced no formal votes.