Remarks by Sharon Durkan
50 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 1:56
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 8:44
“Thank you so much. And we've been joined by Councillor Ed Flynn. He has almost, you know, impeccable attendance in this committee. So just thank you for being here again, Councillor Flynn. And I wanted to give you a chance for an opening statement.”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 10:31
“Thank you so much, Councillor Flynn. And just to keep it, because there are so many dockets, I'm going to go in the order in which the dockets were called, even though you guys aren't sitting in that order. And what we're going to do is give each of you an opportunity to share more about your work URL reappointments. So I always like to encourage folks to talk about what brought them to this work, why it's important to them, what roots them in community. But I know a few of you have remarks prepared, and for those that don't feel free to just speak off the cuff to your experience we're going…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 14:38
“Thank you so much, Giovanni. Next, we're going to go to Katie Wewell. Katie is my constituent and also works in this work professionally. So thank you, Katie, for lending your expertise to the city of Boston.”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 16:56
“Thank you so much, Katie. Next, we're going to go to Alan Langham.”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 19:08
“Thank you so much. Next, we're going to go to Sherry Dong, Madam Chair.”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 23:22
“Thank you so much. Next, we're going to go to David Collins. I'm sorry. She needs a mic. Am I on? Oh, yeah. You don't need to touch it. Yeah, you're on.”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 24:08
“Thank you so much. And I have a statement that I'm going to read from one of our appointees that is before our committee. I'm just making sure. Yes, she's a reappointment. Dear Boston City Council, I regret that I am not able to make this hearing on October 16, 2026. Unfortunately, I had a death in my family, and the services are held the same day in Richmond, Virginia. I appreciate you allowing me to make a statement on my behalf in this manner. In the past two years, it has been my pleasure to serve as a member of the City of Boston Zoning Board of Appeals. As a Boston resident, homeowner,…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 26:59
“So it's in your opinion. It's not neighborhood by neighborhood like in terms of like opportunities for investing in certain neighborhoods through certain projects, I mean we certainly have a”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 27:22
“OK, anyone else want to answer either of those questions?”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 28:08
“And we look at the variance but they've you know Pretty much the city has done and the neighborhood groups typically have already weighed in on those decisions Thank you so much because that actually lends to my last question Which is how should the ZBA weigh decisions on projects that have already received BPA board approval? Do you believe that ZBA members should ever vote on a project that has been vetted and approved or vote against a project that has been vetted and approved by the Planning Department and board and if so under what circumstances I I KNOW THERE ARE A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 30:55
“Thank you. I know it can feel like a lot of buildings are going up in Boston, but based on our budget this year, And based on historic low in terms of permits, we're approving a lot of projects right now. And you guys are reviewing a lot of projects. But those projects aren't always coming to fruition. So acknowledging that, I guess for me as a city councilor, one thing that I have been ever know concerned about is the idea of moving the process moving the goal posts from getting bpda board approval to getting zba approval i find that sometimes people that oppose projects will try to set…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 41:44
“Thank you so much, Councillor Murphy, Councillor Flynn. Just so you know, I've been putting time up, but it's just a guide and there's no beep.”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 52:01
“I just wanted to say to Councillor Flynn, I do think that is a setting on Zoom. I don't know if that everyone has that activated or how that's, I know at the beginning of a lot of planning department hearings, they have that option to, you know, you can hit that setting. That's something that we can look into and get you an answer on, but go ahead, Sherry.”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 52:43
“Yeah, and technology has really improved in that respect in the sense that a lot of people have add-ons that they can add on to their own technology in order to do translation. And I know that that is beneficial to a lot of folks in my district. They have certain applications on their computers and on their phones that do that. Simultaneously almost like Google beta like, you know the beginning of that how you could babble You could talk to your phone and then it would translate. So there are a lot of technologies counselor Flynn We will look into that and thank you for that question. Do you…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 54:37
“Of course. Thank you so much. And I know that you all have served with distinction. I'm really grateful for all that you do. I did hear one theme of the conversation that we had is that if we fix the zoning code, potentially some of the cases that come before you would be unnecessary. which I think is very important in certain respects. And just wanted to say regarding the accessory dwelling unit conversation, I'm extremely passionate about accessory dwelling units, though very few would probably be permitted in District 8, where I represent the West End, Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway,…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 57:20
“1,000 per year, yeah. So that's, I mean, that's pretty impressive. And you just think about all the work that goes into that on the back end as well. So I want to thank all the staff that works with the ZBA. And so we are going to move on to our next panel. Do you guys have any other comments that you'd like to make before we move on to the next panel?”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 57:56
“Thank you so much. And yeah, it seems like you guys are really, it's actually nice for you guys to be together in person. And that's one thing that we're all agreeing on. It's actually really nice to see you in person, because we're usually seeing you on a Zoom screen. Giovanni?”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
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“Thank you so much, Giovanni. And I know I went to a Squares and Streets meeting. It was actually chief at the time, Arthur Jemison and Mayor Wu. And the person who was emceeing was Jose Maso, Sr. And he asked folks to raise their hand if they were a homeowner. He asked them to raise their hand if they were a business owner, if they were white, if they were a person of color. if they were a business owner. And once he did that, it was a very powerful demonstration of who comes to public meetings. And it really changed my perspective of who we need to bring into the fold of public meetings,…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
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“Thank you so much. And your nomination definitely highlights that based on the way that a lot of these nominations work, It's like specific organizations putting forward. So we don't always disclose who was nominated by who, but it's a very complex process. And I just want to thank Mack and Bonner, who I know actually used to be in our office, and now he's running boards and commissions for the city. So I want to congratulate him on his first boards and commissions hearing. So now we're going to go to Carla. So good to see you.”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 1:06:12
“Awesome. Thank you so much, Carla. OK, William?”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 1:09:16
“Thank you, William. And I know your game because people who say they're retired are never retired. They're always like the busiest people I've ever met. So thank you for all that you do. And just given your work with climate and your reputation precedes you with all the trees, you know, So I've been following tree easy and we actually have our own We tree and West End that is doing great similar work and I don't know if you've been able to I do know them. Yeah work with them Can you describe your philosophy on zoning and land use in Boston particularly in light of the city's housing…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 1:10:46
“No, I think it's really helpful to have had the experience of working on a neighborhood plan because then you're sort of figuring out You know, OK, these are the concepts. I mean, you seem like you've done a lot in this respect. Do you, in terms of, would either of you like to answer that question? And I can say it again. How would you describe your philosophy on zoning and land use in Boston, particularly in light of the city's housing affordability and climate resilience goals?”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
- Play at 1:11:58
“That is so interesting because I represent Mission Hill, and I went through a walk with the Mission Main Tenant Task Force. There was some money left in the budget at the end of the year, so they were figuring out where do we put trees sort of in a, you know, because we have this tree contractor that we've been, you know, that's been hired. And I know once the sidewalk started to get cut into, people were like, what's going in here? What's the plan? What type of trees? How long until they reach the full canopy? So I actually did a walk with the MISSION MAIN TENANT TASK FORCE WITH OUR URBAN…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026
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“Yeah, thank you so much, and I want to give a chance for my colleagues to ask any questions that they have. These are obviously new appointees and so just want to make sure that we kind of understand where you're coming from and just it sounds like the three of you are Just one so qualified to coming from like different perspectives, which is always very important to bring together and And three have the lived experience of like living in the city and three different perspectives You know coming to the city, you know moving here working here being an executive here. It's a lot of lots of…”
City Council · Oct 16, 2026