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Zakim endorses possible successor

City Councilor Josh Zakim (Fenway, Mission Hill, Back Bay, Beacon Hill) yesterday endorsed Kenzie Bok in Tuesday's preliminary election for the District 8 seat he's giving up.

Kenzie is clearly the candidate with the right combination of policy expertise, progressive values, and ability to bring diverse groups together to address shared concerns. I’ve been impressed for years by her community leadership, especially around issues of affordability, and I’m equally impressed with her ability over this campaign to excite voters in every neighborhood of the district. That’s the kind of leadership we need to serve our district and help lead Boston in the coming years.

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Comments

Experienced? She’s 3 years out of grad school and has never worked outside school and government. Let’s be real.

Affordable housing expert? She is a rent control proponent. Let’s not repeat that mistake. Oh wait, she wasn’t born when Boston’s disastrous experiment with that was reversed.

Another snowflake. Maybe she’s the future. I just see a city full of rich trust babies and homeless in her world.

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Nothing, as far as I'm concerned. Rent Control is necessary, precisely because there are so many people who are either homeless, or just one paycheck, or whatever from being homeless. There are people who are in a situation where even the slightest stroke of bad luck could put them out on the street.

A lot of people who're against Rent Control don't really know how rent control works. Rent Control prevents landlords from gouging their tenants unnecessarily by charging them really outlandish monthly rents, protects tenants against retaliatory evictions and condo-related evictions, and forces landlords into making necessary repairs.

This is not to say that people can't be evicted, in the event that they don't pay rent, damage their apartment, and constantly disturb other tenants. Nor does rent control mean that landlords can't get any kind of a raise, if necessary. Under rent control, if a landlord's costs increase, s/he has the right to raise rents accordingly, but no more than that.

Rent control means that a landlord can't evict a tenant if s/he has a beef about the constant delay on the landlord's failure to do necessary repairs at a reasonable time, or has a problem with heat and/or hot water. Nor can a landlord evict tenants just so s/he can convert the property into condominiums, either.

I'll also add that when Boston, Somerville, and, ultimately the entire Bay State got de-controlled, rents sky-rocketed to really outlandish proportions. Not a good thing, at all.

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What's so bad about rent control you ask? Plenty.

To turn around your statement...A lot of people who are for rent control don't really know how it rent control works.

There is a reason why every economist in the world are virtually unanimous in concluding that rent control does not work. Rent control ultimately shrinks the supply of units available to rent, driving up the cost of renting for everyone. Not a good thing at all.

Do some research my friend.

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If you think this endorsement means anything, I’ve got a bridge to sell you!

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Shocking.

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...vote for her despite with that twit Zakim says. The sooner he shuts his mouth and moves away the better.

Remember, Zakim is the one who campaigned to be artistic counselor last time and then three weeks after winning the election announced he didn’t want the job. He’s been sitting there collecting a paycheck all this time doing absolutely nothing for the neighborhood.

When he ran for Secretary of State he was supported, in an uncharacteristic display of exceptionally poor judgment, by Maura Healey, who obviously hadn’t done her homework. when asked about his qualifications for the job he simply said, “the other guy is too old.”

I’m going to vote for Kenzie because she seems to be actually taking an interest in what people’s problems are in the neighborhood, and because even as a candidate we have seen her taking steps to try to address them.

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I want to know what each candidate is going to do to protect my bubble wrapped children against the scourge of bronzed turtle structures which keep invading our tot lots.

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