City Council President Stephen Murphy has appointed City Councilor Vice President Sal LaMattina to chair the Committee on City and Neighborhood Services and Veterans Affairs for a third time. LaMattina will also vice chair the Committee on Ways and Means.
The Committee on City and Neighborhood Services includes a Sub-Committee on Aviation and Transportation.
As chairman, LaMattina will oversee surface, air and water transportation policies of the city, including public transportation, operations at Logan International Airport, hackney and jitney licenses, traffic calming, highway connections, resident parking program, parking freeze, imposition of tolls, and the Central Artery/Tunnel project including surface restoration and corridor master planning, including the planning for the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
“Boston is a regional hub and, as a result, there are a multitude of transportation issues that we have to deal with,” said LaMattina. “What’s important is that we balance those with the quality of life of local residents. I think that people must be able to live here knowing that they can park near their homes, they can safely cross local bridges, they can count on the T to run on time, they can get a comfortable and safe taxi ride, and that tour buses aren’t sitting and idling on local streets. Those are some of the issues we deal with on the council’s Aviation and Transportation Committee.”
LaMattina and the committee will also work on various inspectional, regulatory, and licensing activities used to implement city transportation policies. The committee exercises oversight with respect to the Central Artery Environmental Compliance Team, Office of the Parking Clerk, Public Improvement Commission, Public Works Department, and the Transportation Department.
For a third time as chair of Neighborhood Services LaMattina will work on how to better deliver municipal services to the city’s residents and neighborhoods in order to promote improved service delivery and cost reductions. The committee also works with the city programs for family-based initiatives and oversees the Inspectional Services Department, Library Department, Office of Neighborhood Services, Boston Centers for Youth and Families, Parks and Recreation Department, Public Works Department, Registry Division, the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund and the George Robert White Fund.
“There are no more basic jobs of city government than the functions I oversee on the council’s City and Neighborhood Services Committee,” said LaMattina. “We all want clean neighborhoods, working street lights, plentiful recreation opportunities, and timely snow removal. We also want to know that the city will respond quickly when there is an issue that needs attention. Those are the expectations people have of City Hall, and they are expectations we should strive to meet every day.”
LaMattina will also sit on the Committees of Education, Financial Services & Community Investment, Intergovernmental Relations, Labor and Workforce Development, and Municipal, State, and Federal Relations.