Conveying budget priorities and requests for FY 2025.

At the request of the City Clerk and the Chair of the Committee on Finance I am presenting my FY2025 Budget Priorities in memorandum form. The substantive issue(s) underpinning each of these concerns have been discussed at length many times over many years and yet they remain in need of meaningful additional investment by the city. Each is important in its own right and I implore the administration to take each as important to the community and worthy of additional investment. This is particularly true of items that are relevant to a specific Ward as those, appropriately, are not going to make it to a short list of top items yet they are no less important to the people in that Ward. That the FY 2025 budget include funding for a public process for a re-engineering of Elm St. in Davis Square to enable it to be pedestrian only, including planning to address questions of accessibility, deliveries, parking, and traffic flow. That the FY 2025 budget include funding for a public process to create, possibly through a public-private partnership, a four-season public market hall at the Day and Herbert Street parking lot. That the FY 2025 budget include funding for a public process to determine the development of 45 College Ave. that includes a large community space with priority programming to the West Branch Library. That the FY 2025 budget include increased funding for new social workers and other mental health professionals to expand capacity within Health and Human Services generally as well as specifically as it relates to responding to emergency calls involving mental health and substance use issues. That the FY 2025 budget include increased funding to support community partner organizations working in the areas of housing, mental health, and substance use services That the FY 2025 budget include funding to open one or more overdose prevention facilities before the end of calendar year 2024. That the FY 2025 budget include increased funding to acquire and create new affordable housing. That the FY 2025 budget include increased funding for programs aimed at addressing displacement of small businesses. That the FY 2025 budget include funding for additional inspector positions to increase capacity within Inspectional Services generally and specifically to enforce existing ordinances such as the vacant property ordinance and compliance with building permits/development plans. That the FY 2025 budget include increased funding for both quick build and permanent improvements at critical locations consistent with the Vision Zero Action Plan. That the FY 2025 budget include additional funding in the City Clerk budget to expand staffing to support City Council activities and committees. That the FY 2025 budget include additional funding to expand administration staff to support City Council committees, including a dedicated zoning planner supporting the Land Use Committee in developing zoning proposals from the City Council.