Mayor Martin Walsh

Outgoing Mayor Martin Walsh leaves a complicated legacy on racial equity, community development and civil rights in a changing city.

In response to calls for defining police last year, Mayor Martin Walsh pledged to cut the Police Department’s overtime budget by 20%, but the police have already overspent that budget little more than half way through the fiscal year.

“In 2021, Boston will rise up again. We will leave no one behind, and our city will be stronger than ever.”

Boston voters have increasingly embraced progressive candidates as the city’s share of conservative-voting white ethnic voters has declined.

In a Banner interview, Mayor Marty Walsh reflected on Boston’s pandemic response, the city’s current police reform and education issues, and his own future options.

We must continue to stay focused, and follow all the public health precautions, to keep our families, our communities, and ourselves safe. That means continuing to wear a mask, wash your hands on a regular basis, disinfect frequently touched surfaces, stay six feet apart from others, and avoid gatherings — especially indoor gatherings.

We are entering a critical time in this pandemic, and everyone who does their part will help save lives, and make a real difference.

As the first action on the Boston Police Reform Task Force’s recent recommendations, Mayor Martin Walsh is moving to expand diversity in the Boston Police Department.

Mayor Martin Walsh said the city of Boston is encouraging a comeback for the middle class and that economic access for African-American and Latino communities remains a priority, during the second day of a national anti-poverty conference last Friday at the University of Massachusetts’ Boston campus.

William Gross is set to become Boston’s first African American police commissioner, intensifying activists’ demands for discrimination within the department and public safety to become his top priorities.

Newly-announced Interim Boston Public Schools Superintendent Laura Perille aims to delve into the difficult issues facing the district: the $1 billion BuildBPS plan that after three years remains short on details, the as-yet undefined high school redesign plan and the reworking of school start times that last year sparked a wave of parent outrage.