Mayor Marty Walsh will address the South End Forum's bi-monthly meeting for its neighborhood and community associations on Tuesday, September 5 at 6:00 PM. The Mayor  will be accompanied by a number of his agencies' chiefs, including Jen Tracey, head of the Office of Recovery Services; Chris Cook, Boston's Parks commissioner; William  Christopher, in charge of Inspectional Services; Chris Osgood, chief of Streets and Sanitation; Brian Golden, director of the Boston Planning and Development Agency; and Gina Fiandaca, commissioner of the city's Transportation Department. 

His opening remarks and the Q and A to follow, the Mayor will focus on the opioid crisis, homelessness, pedestrian safety, development and affordable housing, as well as the matter now front and center on Bostonians' radar screens, how to anticipate and manage flood risks for the city of Boston. This is the second time the Mayor, who is running for reelection against District 7 Councilor Tito Jackson, has come to the library to answer questions as part of the South End Forum's focus on local issues. 

Since his earlier visits in the fall of 2015 and December of 2016, the Mayor included in his capital budget of FY 2016-17 a sum of  $150,000 to begin the renovation of Library Park. The planning process was delayed by the question of which city agency actually had jurisdiction over the park, the Boston Public Library (BPL) or the Parks Department. This matter has now been resolved in favor of the BPL. In FY 2017-18, the Mayor's budget made another capital allocation of $132,000, this time for the first of two phases of the interior renovation of the South End branch. The Friends of the South End Library (FOSEL) has committed to raising an additional $50,000, of which $30,000 has been donated by FOSEL's board. Mayoral candidate and City Councilor Tito Jackson, who is one of three district councilor's representing the South End, is a member of FOSEL's Honorary Fundraising Committee, as is Councilor Frank Baker.