A Boston city councilor plans to pursue legal action against the leader of the MBTA for not appearing at a hearing, despite being issued a subpoena.
Last week, the City Council voted to subpoena T general manager and interim transportation secretary Phil Eng to testify about the controversial Blue Hill Avenue redevelopment project. The hearing, co-sponsored by councilors Miniard Culpepper and Brian Worrell, was a follow up meeting to discuss civil rights and transportation equity — in addition to the possibility of bringing an Orange Line extension to Blue Hill Avenue.
A spokesperson for the MBTA told WBUR in an email that Eng would not be attending “due to a previously planned vacation with his family.”
Culpepper essentially canceled the meeting a half hour after it was scheduled to start Friday because of Eng’s absence.
“We had planned to put Mr. Eng under oath,” Culpepper told WBUR after formally ending the hearing. “We had planned to have councilors make opening statements. We had planned to have the public here to testify. All of that was based on Philip Eng showing up to testify at this hearing.”
The MBTA said Eng is willing to participate in a community meeting on the hearing topics or meet directly with city councilors. Culpepper said he isn’t interested in meeting with Eng under those conditions.
“We’re not meeting with him in community meetings or in closed door rooms where he tells us things that they don’t plan to commit to,” Culpepper said. “We need this to be in public.”
Culpepper said he intends to go to court to enforce the subpoena. He will need the City Council’s approval to do so.
“We’re preparing to get ready to go to court, those are the next steps,” he said.
The MBTA has not yet responded to WBUR’s request for comment on Culpepper’s plan to enforce the subpoena.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the T and Eng have a history of collaboration with the city, attending community meetings and participating in “briefings where elected officials have been able to ask questions.”
“There was a scheduling conflict, and I do not believe that subpoenas are a productive way to engage with the partners who are working alongside us every day,” Wu told reporters at an unrelated press event Friday.
WBUR’s Eve Zuckoff contributed to this report.
