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Developers discover the joys - and tax breaks - of gerrymandering
By adamg on Sun, 08/06/2017 - 12:12pm
The Globe reports some Boston developers have discovered how to get satisfying low-interest loans intended to aid poor communities by drawing up maps that show them as part of such communities, when they're not - one South Boston Waterfront developer is saving millions based on a map that excludes the non-project parts of Southie and extends to Mattapan Square.
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Comments
Who wrote the rules ?
Why do Democrat and Republican legislators alike sign off on regulations, rules and laws that they know biased special interests lobbies basically wrote? And again, doesn't matter which party in our two party system dominant.
I'll just strike one key a couple times
$$$$
Re-read this post a few times and think about your question again.
It brings in jobs
1,500 temp construction jobs and several hundred permanent jobs when it's complete. And foreigners are paying for it. Sounds good to me.
Walsh administration
Walsh administration consistenly fails to meet the hiring targets for women and POC. Contractors have been known to hire people from NH and TN.
It's Federal, Not State
Quoting from the Globe article:
It's a federal rule that goes back to G.H.W. Bush. The developers have figured out how to use it -- almost surely legally.
Like some tax legislation, the longer it's in place, the more loopholes people will find.
Sure, but...
Yes, they are expertly (and likely legally) exploiting a poorly drawn federal program. But the mayor could still hold their feet to the fire by insisting that they ACTUALLY benefit the whole community they're claiming or withhold approval for the project.
But Walsh doesn't give a shit about the communities that these developers are using as a beard.
District 7
And it could only get worse if the front-runner for District 7 City Council is elected. With housing as such a big issue it's interesting that Kim Janey is even considered a front runner. Her family member and contributor to her campaign, Janey Construction, is building a new development in Roxbury with ZERO affordable housing units included. That's a whole brand new development all at market rate. It appears that Janey is not as concerned about affordability as the voters are, at least not when her family member stands to profit.
"The proposed development will include up to 322 market rate rental apartments from studios to three bedroom units, as well as affordable home ownership units within walking distance of the site... For the 45 Townsend Street project, KIC Roxbury LLC has assembled a diverse and community-focused development team, including...JANEY Construction Management and Consulting"
http://www.kicboston.com/2017/05/08/kic-develops-45-townsend-roxbury/
You know how
when you encounter or read a story about a scammer with an extremely elaborate plan, you tend to think "imagine if that person put that much effort into a 'real' job?"
This is what you get when they do.
Don't hate the player, hate
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
It's short-sighted politicians that wrote these rules.
Selling green cards 50% off
So if you make $1million dollar investment in the US, you get a green card. You can get that green card for 1/2 off if you create 12 jobs in higher unemployment zone. That is a federal law. However it is Massachusetts law that allows you to shape the continuous census tracks anyway you like to make an average unemployment of 7.4 %
So, selling green cards so that developers can get rich building luxury condos that will do very little to alleviate the housing crisis.
This project is currently employing 1500 people, but I can't tell if any of them are union or even local.