BOSTON — Mayor Michelle Wu's allies on the Boston City Council were caught on video last Wednesday in a private corridor off the Council floor during the $4.9 billion budget vote, in what Councilor Ed Flynn says is a likely violation of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.

Ways and Means Chair Ben Weber, At-Large Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, and a staffer from Wu's office are visible in the June 10 footage, obtained by Mass Daily News, moving through the corridor while the amended budget package was still being debated and voted on the floor.

The Massachusetts Open Meeting Law (G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18–25) requires public bodies, including the Boston City Council, to deliberate on matters of public business in open session, with notice posted in advance. Private deliberation on public business by a quorum of members during a recess of an active meeting is a textbook violation.

Murphy went further: "The Council has an independent role in city government… That role is weakened when the Administration and Council leadership work more closely with each other than with the full Council."

She also flagged that councilors were being "pressured to walk back a vote we already took without a full and public explanation of what changed and why," referring to the 12-1 vote on Weber's $8.2 million amendment package, with Councilor Julia Mejia the lone "no."

Objections to a possible Open Meeting Law violation did not begin with Flynn's Tuesday post. Concerns about possible private deliberation had been raised with Council leadership both informally and then formally on the floor of the June 10 meeting before the corridor footage was recorded. The issue was raised again on the floor of the Council's Wednesday meeting. Council leadership has taken no public action.

Weber's presence in the corridor with the Mayor's office is freighted for an additional reason. The Ways and Means Chair recently disclosed publicly that he had consulted the State Ethics Commission over a potential conflict of interest involving the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Advancement (MOIA) grant program. Weber said he received written guidance from the Commission and, "out of an abundance of caution," stripped MOIA-grant funding from his final $8.2 million amendment package.

The amended budget passed 12-1 on the floor of an open session on Wednesday afternoon. According to Flynn's allegation, the private negotiation in the corridor with the Mayor's office staff was happening at the same time.

District 3 Councilor John FitzGerald also appears in the corridor footage.

Flynn has called for "an investigation." Murphy has called for "transparency" and a "public explanation of what changed and why" if councilors are being pressured to revise the vote they already took. Neither has called publicly for a specific body to investigate, but the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General has authority over Open Meeting Law complaints.

This is a developing story.