Elected officials, union advocates join Councilman Mejia in calling for an audit of municipal employment practices

A unified group of black elected officials, union advocates and civil rights advocates rallied around Councilwoman Julia Mejia Wednesday morning to call for an audit of the city’s hiring, firing, discipline and promotion processes — note that while gains in employment have been made, those at the top still do not reflect the demographics of the city, which has been majority-minority since 2011.
Later in the day, Mayor Michelle Wu’s office dismissed the narrative presented at the press conference and said they have removed barriers to diverse employment that have been in place for generations. However, their presidents have not committed to do the required audit.
“Under (my) leadership, the city’s workforce at every level — from cabinet to front-line staff — is the most diverse in the city’s history,” Mayor Wu said in a statement. “We continually work to set and exceed high standards for excellence in city service delivery by placing the people who know our communities best around every table. There is more work ahead and we will accelerate these steps in the coming years, already creating new pipelines in public safety, transport, early education, climate and public works, as well as partnerships to secure sectors private key. the sector is also creating opportunities for members of the Boston community.”
The press conference at City Hall outside the Council Chambers followed a hearing called by Mejia regarding information on hiring, firing and promotion practices in all City of Boston departments – including the Boston Police and Boston Fire Departments.
Using information collected directly from the city of Boston’s employee database using its dashboard system, Mejia said they found that white employees make up 57.5 percent of the city’s total workforce and 53 percent of the top earners. big across the board.
“This is a call to action for our city departments, including the Boston Police Department, Boston Fire Department, Boston Public Schools, Boston Public Library and all city departments to provide equal opportunity and to stop discriminatory practices that prevent black employees from moving up,” said Mejia.
Specifically, she cited that the Boston Public Libraries (BPL), the Office of Housing, the Department of Public Works, and the Office of the Environment had more than 40 percent of their workforce black, but black people held 12 to 30 percent of management positions. .
At the Office of Historic Preservation and the Department of Justice, only 7-21 percent of the workforce were people of color.
“This is cruel,” she said.
The Mayor’s Office provided a defense of current efforts, including outlining new employment strategies such as “Hire Days,” where qualified candidates can be hired on the spot, or on a fast track. For example, they cited a Hiring Day for hard-to-fill 9-1-1 Call Taker positions, where, last October, 11 hires were made, now becoming a model for future hires in the department.
They also noted that overall hiring of Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) has increased for new hires, going from 49 percent in 2020 to 67 percent by now in 2024. In the Boston Police Department, the Office of the Chief cited that the overall percentage of BIPOC officers has increased from 36 percent in April 2021, to 41 percent in 2024 (an increase of 158 officers).
In total, the City Hall Office provided statistics showing that 889 young people were employed in 2023, 352 of them women and 548 black. 341 white people (38 percent) were employed.
At the press conference, standing in solidarity with the “call to action” were Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, Councilor at Large Henry Santana, Rep. Russell Holmes, Rep. Brandy Fluker Oakley, and Rep. Bud Williams (of Springfield). Key to the employee push were the Society of Boston Firefighters (Firefighters), the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers (MAMLEO), and the Boston Teachers Union (BTU).
Black employees at the Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) and Public Works Department (PWD) were some of the first, Mejia said, to call the issue to her office and push for the May 29 hearing.
However, it was past MAMLEO President Larry Ellison whose words were the strongest Wednesday when it came to promotions and hiring within the Boston Police Department (BPD) — calling out Commissioner Michael Cox, who is black.
Ellison, a retired Boston Police detective, told the story of Sgt. Horatio Homer, who became the BPD’s first African-American officer in 1874. He was promoted to sergeant in 1895, but the reality was that he was never allowed out on patrol and only sat at a table outside the door. police commissioner, Ellison said. .
“He was not allowed to go out on the street and could only sit by the commissioner’s door,” Ellison said. “Today we have a commissioner who looks like Sgt. Homeri but in my opinion is not making the right decisions when it comes to promotional (police) exams. If Sgt. Homer was around today, we can ask him, ‘Have we really made any progress or are we still sitting outside the (commissioner’s) door.'”
Sophia Hall, deputy director of litigation for Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), said they have fought the city’s hiring, firing and promotion practices for years — often, she said, resulting in prolonged legal costs and settlements. costly legal fees funded by taxpayers. .
“This is not a new war; we have had the same concerns year after year,” she said.
She called for the city to end promotional evaluations based on exams and stop closed-door “caucuses” discussing who to promote to leadership positions. She also called for Boston’s new fire cadet program to be used as a pipeline and not just a showcase.
“We need to know the rules … so we can ask questions and engage properly,” she said.
“If you want to make diversity more than window dressing, you have to do the work,” she warned.

Sophia Hall, deputy director of litigation at Civil Rights Advocates.

BTU members spoke and noted that an order by the late Judge Arthur Garrity in the desegregation or school busing case in the 1970s required that 25 percent of teachers hired by BPS be black. The order said that once that happened, it would be lifted.
“That was 50 years ago as of June 1, 2024 and that order has not been lifted,” said Edith Bazile.
Rep. Russell Holmes, of Mattapan, fully supported the call, he said.
“We are a majority colored city and that should be readily reflected in everything we do and this kind of change should be systemic,” he said. “I or anyone else doesn’t have to call the mayor or somebody and ask for the connection.”
Mejia said her office has filed two 17F information requests that would be moved to the Council meeting today, June 5. The requests ask for the names of police officers who will take promotional exams in 2024 and how much money the city has spent on lawsuits in the past five years — to include outside legal counsel fees and legal settlement costs.
“It is our duty as the Municipal Council to guarantee that the (municipal) hiring, firing and promotion processes are free of discriminatory practices,” she concluded.