Housing is number one issue in City Council forums

By Nicole Abrams 

Issues surrounding housing affordability are playing a prominent role in the campaigns for City Council this year, with advocacy groups pushing candidates to commit to support a push to institute a 5% cap on rent increases.

 In candidate forums held May 22, a majority of candidates said they would support a statewide campaign to allow local municipalities to institute rent control and support the city’s current requirement that 20% of new units be made affordable.

 The forum for the at-large and District 7 city council races was held at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury and was moderated by Yawu Miller, Editor-in-Chief of The Flipside and Saraya Wintersmith, a politics reporter for GBH News. The District 7 election is being held to fill the seat of Councilor Tania Fernandes-Anderson, who will be sentenced later this summer for her involvement in a kickback scheme during her time in office. The at-large city council seats change every two years.

 One of the first questions that District 7 candidates were asked was how they would advocate to make their district more affordable. Two of the main topics that were brought up was the need for more affordable housing and the issue of displacement. 

 Mavrick Afonso, who works for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities under Secretary Edward M. Augustus, discussed the need to develop the surplus land within the community. Said Ahmed, a former professional track and field athlete and BPS educator, brought up the importance of educating the community about Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and land trusts to boost affordable housing.

 A majority of the candidates for the at-large seat brought up the same issue of affordable housing. City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune brought up an ordinance that the council is working that would require that city-owned vacant properties be used for affordable housing. Henry Santana, a current at-large city councilor, pointed out that one of the first things that he did in city council was filing a hearing order to explore mixed-income social housing.

 Will Onouha, executive director at the Mayor’s Office of Fair Housing and Equity, had a different viewpoint, saying, “Affordable housing is not affordable. That is a myth that we tell people.” Instead, he said that there needs to be more workforce housing, which is an initiative that, according to Mass Housing, is “an affordable option for renters who earn too much to qualify for traditional subsidized housing but are still burdened by high market rents.”

 Julia Mejia, a current at-large city councilor, also brought up the issue of displacement and her support for rent control. Erin Murphy, another current at-large city councilor, decided to elaborate on the importance of education and workforce development.

 Jonathan Cohn, the secretary of the Ward 4 Democratic Committee, one of the groups that helped to organize this forum, appreciated when the candidates brought up specific policies in their answers. He said that housing is one of the top issues for the citizens of Boston because of how expensive it has become, especially for those living in District 7.

 “That is felt especially strongly, knowing that District 7 has a very high renter population, as well as, given a lot of new development, there being some people experiencing higher rents,” said Cohn.

 During the greenlight round, the District 7 and at-large candidates were asked whether or not they supported specific housing and development policies.

 At-large responses

District 7 responses

 Cohn said that the responses to the rent control question at the at-large forum showed an “ideological split among candidates where candidates that were pitching themselves more conservative were opposed, whereas candidates who were presenting themselves as more progressive were supportive.”

 Candidates were also asked whether or not they supported the newly updated Inclusionary Zoning Policy in Boston, which requires 20% of units in market-rate developments to be income-restricted.

 All of the District 7 candidates said yes.

 All of the at-large candidates said yes, except for Baker.

 “It's a policy that housing advocates have been advocating for for some time now, trying to use it as one of the tools in the toolbox to create more affordable housing that’s desperately needed,” said Armani White, the executive director for Reclaim Roxbury. 

 White said that the reason for why there is almost unanimous support for this policy is because of the work of coalitions that work to create a Boston that is more affordable.

Cohn said that it is good to see candidates have broad agreement on some issues, but also beneficial to see where there is disagreement.

 “Voters need that in order to make an educated decision in September and November to know, like, what are those contrasts?” said Cohn.

The next at-large City Council forum, will be held June 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Suffolk University's Modern Theatre and will be streamed live on Zoom. The event will be hosted by Boston Wards 1, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, and 21 Democratic Committees.