In a statement to the Globe, city of Boston spokesperson Emma Pettit wrote that administration officials have participated in 122 council hearings this year so far, including eight in the last week alone. She also wrote that the council is a separate branch of government that does not need the administration’s approval or permission to schedule and hold hearings.
But Flynn, Murphy, and FitzGerald claim that the cancellation of the two hearings this week is a continuation of a pattern.
Flynn, who is one of Wu’s chief antagonists on the Council, sent a letter to Council President Ruthzee Louijeune Wednesday alleging that Wu administration officials have repeatedly moved to shut down or postpone council hearings or debates on issues that could be politically damaging for the mayor.
He argued that the administration pushed to cancel the Monday hearing on criminal record information after the Boston Herald reported that a Level 3 sex offender worked for the city of Boston’s parks department for about a year, up until mid-August.
“We’ve normalized blocking any discussion that may provide transparency, and play politics with difficult conversations in election season,” Flynn wrote in the letter.
Councilor Ben Weber, who chairs the committee that was set to hold Monday’s hearing, told the Globe in a statement that he “was informed by the administration that there was a scheduling conflict” with the original date, and that he and the administration agreed to reschedule the hearing for Sept. 22.
Weber said he reached out to Flynn before he canceled the hearing to discuss what alternative dates might work for Flynn.
Councilor John FitzGerald also released a statement Wednesday morning, before the education hearing was postponed, expressing frustration over “repeatedly” seeing the Wu administration request for hearings to be cancelled or delayed, “due to the lack of availability of best staff, and to reschedule any hearings for what is coincidentally after the primary election date.”
“This has become an egregious overreach of a manufactured excuse not to hear the issues before our city,” FitzGerald wrote in the statement, in which he called the administration’s actions “disrespectful” to the councilors and their staff.
He also noted that he is a father of three young children, and despite working, trying to spend time with his family during the summer months, and running for reelection, he is still able to make time to attend council hearings.
“I find it hard to believe others cannot do the same,” FitzGerald wrote. “The serious issues facing this city should not be manipulated to advance political outcomes.”
Pettit, the spokesperson for the mayor’s office, wrote in the statement that administration officials have to balance attending hearings councilors ask them to testify at, and their other job responsibilities.
“When Councilors reach out to request attendance and information from administration staff at their hearings, we do our best to be responsive and prioritize their requests alongside the other important duties that departments must carry out to serve residents across the city,” Pettit wrote.
“We generally seek mutually agreeable dates to balance departmental schedules and community needs, and in rare instances, ask for rescheduling if there is a compelling reason to do so,” the statement continued.
This story will be updated.
Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold.
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