This past Thursday, seven Boston City Council at-large candidates attended a housing forum hosted by advocacy group Abundant Housing Massachusetts in collaboration with the Queer Neighborhood Council. The event was a way for constituents to experience firsthand the candidates’ thoughts on the city’s housing crisis, a hot topic in this year’s general election.
The forum was held at Roxbury Community College and had about 100 community members in attendance.
“The city council is serving the community, but it’s also a job. And who is putting us in that role? The people. This is another level of the interview process,” said Boston City Council at-large candidate Marvin Mathelier. He lives in Jamaica Plain.
Abundant Housing Massachusetts is a not-for-profit organization that focuses on bringing attention to the housing crisis, advocating for housing for all communities within Massachusetts, and working to push policy changes at both the state and local levels. It advocates for access to safe and affordable housing for all groups, zoning law reform, sustainable communities, and tenant protections.
“We as Abundant Housing do have a particular policy agenda for the city of Boston, but we are not just focused on the city,” said Jesse Kanson-Benanav, the executive director and co-founder of Abundant Housing Massachusetts. “We recognize that the entire Greater Boston area, in fact, the entire state of Massachusetts, has to work together to address this severe housing shortage that’s driving competition and displacing working people from our communities.”
The housing forum offered the stage to seven of the at-large candidates for this November’s city council election. Candidates Julia Mejia, Marvin Mathelier, Will Onuoha, Ruthzee Louijeune, Henry Santana, Alexandra Valdez, and Frank Baker were in attendance. The event was moderated by Andrew Brinker of The Boston Globe.
The Queer Neighborhood Council is a grassroots organization based around the Greater Boston area that fosters resources and support for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. It hosts events that open up safe spaces for the community and advocates for a safe and welcoming community for queer individuals.
Candidates were asked to share their stance on the housing crisis within Boston and answered a multitude of questions related to rent control, eliminating parking minimums, and zoning reform. They all had opportunities to answer general questions and were each given a candidate-specific question. There was also a lightning round of yes-or-no questions that were asked before closing remarks.
“I care deeply about housing, about building more affordable housing. I believe that we have to have conversations with our neighbors about what we can say yes to,” said Ruthzee Louijeune, incumbent city council member, during her closing remarks. “Sometimes a change is more incremental than any of us would like, but I am happy that I supported Plan Mattapan, which allowed for ADUs in Mattapan, and we see that working really well, additional dwelling units.”
Before and after the forum, canvassers and candidates alike were walking around and speaking with Boston residents who were in attendance. Members of Abundant Housing Massachusetts were answering questions about what to expect and organizing the candidates to take the stage. This interaction, according to Abundant Housing Massachusetts, is really the point.
“On a regular day-to-day basis, politicians and constituents don’t really interact with each other, and this gives potential candidates a chance to hear directly from their constituents, their potential constituents, and for information-sharing and educational purposes in general,” said Cheryl Daniel, a senior manager of communications and media advocacy at Abundant Housing Massachusetts.
“I think it is a great opportunity to bring community engagement and camaraderie to the community,” Daniel added.
Brinker gave each candidate two minutes for an introduction, closing remarks, and to answer each question. There were also no live audience questions.
One of the main focuses of the forum was rent control, but opinions on the concept and how to implement it differed among candidates.
“Rent control is not the answer. Rent control is a slow poison. This is what creates gentrification in neighborhoods,” said candidate Onuoha when asked if the city should establish a hard housing target.
Another issue that was addressed was student housing. Brinker asked about the role of students in the housing market and how the city council would do a better job of handling the student population of the housing population.
Mejia and Onuoha stated that the universities should develop more on-campus dormitory living and agreed that universities should be held accountable within housing conversations.
Henry Santana shared a similar perspective on who was responsible.
“Our students are not responsible for this, right?” Santana said. “I think the responsibility for the students is to learn how to be good neighbors. We want to welcome you into our neighborhoods; we want to make sure that you are a part of our neighborhood.”
Santana continued, “The message I have for the universities is you need to build dorms for your students. Some of them are, but what they are doing is some of them are overenrolling. We need to really hold our universities accountable.”
Community members who attended the forum were attentive and responsive to the candidates’ answers to questions, with lots of cheers and some shocked reactions to the responses they heard.
Engaging with the audience and receiving reactions, from Mathelier’s perspective, is a central part of the electoral process.
“We need to be asked those tough questions, and from there, they could see if you are fit for the job,” said Mathelier. “This is why it is important for us to have forums like this, so residents could hear from the candidates on how they envision the city.”
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