Boston Council Considers Pilot Program to Revive Menino-Era Red Shirts Youth Initiative

BOSTON — April 9, 2026 — Boston City Council examines reviving the Red Shirts youth cleanup program amid staffing shortages. The Committee on Labor and Economic Development held a hearing April 9 on Docket 0168, sponsored by District 1 Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, who cited visible litter emergencies in East Boston and the North End — including a private contract for trash removal on the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway — as the immediate impetus. Allison Vernieri, Executive Director of the Office of Youth Employment and Opportunity, said her office already funds roughly 6,000 summer jobs paying $15 to $20 per hour with an average per-job cost of $2,625 for youth and $4,800 for young adults, and described SuccessLink as the Red Shirts Program's evolved successor. Joseph Lee, Chief of Staff for Worker Empowerment, said PowerCorps Executive Director David Jefferson — himself a Red Shirts alumnus — is open to incorporating civic-duty cleanup days, citing a Philadelphia model using cleanup sites as on-site recruitment events. No Public Works representatives attended despite an invitation, leaving key questions unanswered: the hourly wage and number of frozen seasonal Hokie positions citywide. Coletta Zapata vowed to "die on this hill" pushing for a neighborhood-level pilot and direct career pathways, including CDL licenses and OSHA certifications, into permanent city jobs.