District 1 City Councilor Gabriela Coletta was able to secure several budget amendments during her first budget session since being elected.
In the City’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Coletta was able to secure funding for seasonal hokies in East Boston.
Hokies are important city workers that help keep the neighborhood streets and squares clean. For years, Eastie residents have been calling for more hokies to be put on during the summer months when more litter seems to plague the neighborhood.
Coletta also secured additional staff capacity to help expand Eastie’s Tree Canopy.
For a couple of years now groups like Tree Eastie have been working with the city on the neighborhood’s grassroots effort to get more trees planted in Eastie. There’s a lot of benefits trees have, unfortunately Eastie suffers from the lowest tree canopy in the city. The neighborhood’s tree canopy is at 7% while the city average is 27%.
Coletta also earmarked funding for Immigrants Lead Boston: A program for Boston immigrants who wish to become civic leaders in their communities.
She also secured funding for more positions for 311, the city’s resident hotline, to provide constituents with better service.
“I am proud of the fact that we advocated together; as a body, for more Hokies in our respective districts…Additional $100K for Immigrants Lead Boston – for Boston immigrants who wish to take more civic ownership and become leaders in the community,” she said. “Invest and expand capacity for emerging immigrant leaders committed to advocating for their immigrant community within the local City of Boston government.”
In addition Coletta is continuously working with colleagues on the council and Mayor Michelle Wu to secure funding for a dedicated Waterfront director or cabinet level position, which is supported by 70% of voters according to a poll commissioned by the Coalition for a resilient and inclusive waterfront.
She is also working on adding more parking enforcement officers in Eastie.
“I will keep fighting for items that I believe my district needs […]: more parking enforcement officers in East Boston, a dedicated director or cabinet level position like 70% of voters want in a poll commissioned by the Coalition for a resilient and inclusive waterfront, for a waterfront planner..separate from BPDA, accountable to the Mayor and the city council, and those that elected us to represent them,” said Coletta.
She added, “Thank you to all of my colleagues for their work and their advocacy during this process in reviewing the operating budget. I am grateful for each and every one of you as I hit the ground sprinting during this process. It wasn’t easy. Especially, as we all navigate this new authority that has been given to us first by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth to place it on the ballot, and then by the voters of Boston to have a more democratic and transparent budget process.”