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Election roundup: Wu calls for rent stabilization, more affordable-housing construction; Essaibi George calls for better Madison Park

Michelle Wu today unwrapped her housing agenda, which focuses on making Boston more affordable for the middle class, and which includes a return of rent stabilization, a commitment to use $200 million of incoming federal relief aid on affordable-housing construction and eliminating parking requirements for new all affordable buildings. She would also use municipal funds for mortgage support and savings matching to help people who are not in the market for a condo at One Dalton.

Annissa Essaibi George writes it's time to make Madison Park High School, the city's only vocational school, shine, and says she would do that in part through "strong partnerships with employers across the city" to create internships and co-ops for Madison Park students.

At-large Councilor Michael Flaherty, who unlike Wu and Essaibi George was content to simply run for re-election, reports endorsements from several unions: The Boston Teachers Union, Boston Firefighters Local 718, Teamsters Local 25, SEIU NAGE, North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589, Boston Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 534 and Boston Ironworkers Local 7.

Flaherty, who usually has a spring fundraising event, couldn't have one in person because of Covid-19, but he's sick of Zoom, so he's asking people to send him money for "an Event to be Named Later." Send him money now and when he finally does get a date, you'll be invited.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association has endorsed Julia Mejia, also running for re-election as an at-large councilor (she's hoping to win her seat by more than one vote this time). "Councilor Mejia’s commitment to supporting nurses, healthcare professionals and their patients has been evident during her first term. From co-sponsoring a resolution in support of the nurses at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital to her vote in favor of a resolution calling on state leaders to act on occupational presumption for frontline workers," the union says.

The union is also backing Erin Murphy, who is also running for one of the four at-large seats. "Erin has stood with nurses and healthcare professionals on picket lines and throughout the COVID-19 crisis," the union says. "Now nurses and healthcare professionals are ready to stand with her as she works to improve the health and well-being of Boston residents."

Another at-large candidate, Alex Gray, reports he was endorsed by former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez and former Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray, both of whom worked with Gray in the Patrick administration. Gonzalez is now a JP resident, although Murray is from Worcester.

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Comments

Fix the Embarrassment we call the Boston Public schools, the worse it gets the more middle class people are going to leave.

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Totally agree. Between the busing and the lottery, I know a lot of people who have no desire to participate in that mess of a system. I do not have kids, but if I did, I would have to strongly consider my options. Personally, I would love for kids to be able to walk to school and go to class with their neighbors and friends. Busing is a waste of everyone's time and the lottery creates way too much uncertainty and unpredictability. How are kids supposed to develop long term bonds with other students if they're all constantly being mixed up in different schools? And how are parents supposed to have relationships and access to teachers if they're halfway across the city?

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...You're all in the same, relatively small, city...

But yea, you can't go hard with neighborhood schools because it will rapidly increase racial segregation and inequitable outcomes.

Could also trigger gentrification or even social decline in a few neighborhoods.

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BPS is a minority majority school system.
I think its 85 percent minority and bussing kids around the city wont desegregate them.
Kids should go to schools closest to their home in grades k to 8
Also, the schools are not failing because of the race of the kids attending them.

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Kids from Dorchester assigned to schools in Southie and Kids from Southie assigned to schools in Dorchester ..and 95 percent of the schools are below average.. like I said, an embarrassment .
There is a school behind fields corner station called the Community Academy of Science and Health, its supposedly a college preparatory high school. They spend 25 thousand dollars per student and have one of the worst state report cards I've ever seen, our oldest thought he'd like to go there ( based on the name alone) once we looked into it that changed.
How a school that bad is able to operate is a mystery....right in the report card it says " our school is one of the lowest performing schools in the State"...quite an achievement.

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CASH-

When was in High School (2010) it was located where Hyde Park High had been until 2005.

It was sharing 1 floor of a 3 floor building with the Engineering Academy the School of Social Justice. It moved around in 2013.

SSJ and EA closed around 2014/15. For a year Hyde Park, Rolsindale and Mattapan combined- home to 100,000 residents, at least 3/4000 of which are high school aged-had no PUBLIC high school in their boundaries. But at least 2 catholic/private high schools.

Whiter West Roxbury had 1 high school along with 2 private all boys high schools within its boundaries serving it's 30,000 residents.

This set up makes our southern neighborhoods less desirable for families. At best, it forces kids to English High or Roxbury/Dorchester based Schools. At worst it pushes kids into the traditional high schools all the way in East Boston, Charlestown, and Brighton and at the crack of dawn when teenage brains are most inefficient. Never mind the gangs that recruit just beyond the grounds of BPS high schools, or the sweltering classrooms. Never mind the language barriers and sometime criminal deans, principals and teachers....

The building lie vacant for a year, and is now home to New Mission High School (relocated from Mission Hill)

I had a girlfriend who when to CASH as a last resort and a little league friend who went to SSJ. Having gone to meet up with them both at the end I school- I twice entered right before dismissal during my senior year...

To described the environment inside the building as ‘chaotic’ would be a huge understatement. Funny that the globe rarely profiles what it's actually like inside a BPS high schools. I went to replace some warped floods in Brighton High School in 2013/2014 and the state of the corridors and tech in the classrooms was so ancient and sad. Terrible especially for a wealthy city like Boston

Its a sad game of musical chairs here in Boston.

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That West Roxbury no longer has a public high school?

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But the disparity was apparent.

If we have 130k-plus people (probably closer to 150k now) in Matt, West Rox, HP, Rozzie, how come there is ONE public high school (New Mission) with only 462 kids enrolled?

Especially considering these are pretty kid-heavy neighborhoods relative to anywhere that not Roxbury or Dorchester...

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The mantra of “choice” created an out for a top-heavy, ineffective system. It’s okay for any given teacher, class, or school to fail because parents always have a “choice” to send their kids to another school.

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This is so true.
It creates a system where it's up to the parents or guardians to choose the "right" school , instead of having confidence in them all.

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A campaign to bring back rent control that didn't work before? A campaign to let developers build anything without addressing parking? There is already a critical shortage of parking spaces in most neighborhoods. What is Wu thinking? Total disconnect between neighborhood needs and her agenda. Not voting for her.

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I've been following the forums, have any of the Mayoral candidates mentioned still-empty West Roxbury High and I missed it? The building was "so beyond repair" that all the students had to be removed pracitcally immediately; but it still hasn't been knocked down, and the Police Academy uses it for training sometimes - but BPS still owns it and hasn't sold it, right? and BPS also hasn't announced any plans for the building/site?

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That was decided long ago.

New Mission is the sole BPS high school in Mattapan, West Roxbury, Roslindale, or Hyde Park. Why? because f-em that's why.

And also the Westie Whites didn't want a school on Belgrade Avenue.

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eliminating parking requirements for new all affordable buildings

Hopefully all of these new buildings are footsteps from a train stop, otherwise this is the stupidest thing I’ve heard

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