人生一定要有的八個朋友：
推手(Builder)、
支柱(Champion)、
同好(Collaborator)、
夥伴(Companion)、
中介(Connector)、
開心果(Energizer)、
開路者(Mind Opener)、
導師(Navigator)。
chutze@bostonorange.com
*******************
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Equity Coalition calls on School Committee
to pass the “100 percent” admissions policy
The Boston Coalition for
Education Equity calls on the School Committee to vote to approve the Exam
School Task Force’s original “100 percent” admissions policy and to move
forcefully to provide all BPS students an education that’s as high quality as
that offered by the three exam schools.
We applaud School Committee
Chair Jeri Robinson and Superintendent Brenda Cassellius for putting the 100
percent proposal back on the table after a last-minute power move by some city
councilors almost knocked it down.
The councilors threatened to
vote against the school budget, potentially harming all 53,000-plus Boston
Public Schools students, if the Exam School Task Force did not substitute the
councilors’ preferred admissions policy for the compromise that Task Force
members had worked out among themselves.
The 100 percent policy assigns
seats through a competition that’s fairer than in the past because students
will compete against peers who are in roughly comparable socio-economic
circumstances. The councilors wanted 20 percent of seats set aside for a
citywide competition, which data shows favors wealthy, primarily white families
that can afford extra tutoring and other kinds of advantages for their children.
“This is what systemic
oppression looks like: powerful public and private forces colluding behind the
scenes to override a democratic process in service of their own racial and
class privilege,” said Lisa Green, representing the Equity Coalition at the
School Committee’s July 7 listening session.
“The School Committee has an
opportunity to break that cycle by opening the doors at the city's three
academically selective schools to a more diverse group of students who look
like the Boston we are now and who will lead us to the Boston we want to be.”
We’re especially enthusiastic
about the inclusion of a tier for students experiencing homelessness, living in
BHA housing, or in the care of DCF. The addition of this tier will be life-changing
for those students in our community who are facing the greatest challenges.
This innovation is a feature of the Boston system that we can all be proud of
and that we hope is emulated in selective admissions schools across the country.
Strong community support has
been demonstrated for the 100 percent plan, a recommendation that was the
result of nearly five months of study, debate, and open public comment. The
School Committee now has a choice between following the public process that it
set up, or listening to the whispers of powerful political figures who refuse
to show their faces.
(Boston
Orange 整理編譯) 波士頓代市長Kim Janey和波士頓公共工程局，市長的殘障人士局(Mayor’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities)在7月13日宣佈，波士頓市將以5年7500萬元的基礎建設預算，每年修補1600條路邊坡道，以使之符合殘障人士使用規定。
美國區域法庭法官Richard
Stearns在7月12日批准了Muehe,
et al. v. City of Boston這集體訴訟案件所達成的協議。該案要求確保波士頓市的人行道角落符合美國殘障法，以及復健法第504條。
MAYOR JANEY ANNOUNCES MAJOR MILESTONE
REACHED IN MAKING BOSTON’S STREETS AND SIDEWALKS MORE ACCESSIBLE
Agreement will add thousands of new and
improved curb ramps annually
BOSTON - Tuesday,
July 13, 2021 - Mayor Kim Janey and the City of Boston Public Works
Department, working in conjunction with the Mayor’s Commission for Persons
with Disabilities, today announced a major milestone in the City's efforts
to make Boston's streets and sidewalks more accessible to people with
mobility disabilities.
Yesterday, United
States District Court Judge Richard Stearns granted preliminary approval of
the settlement in Muehe, et al. v. City of Boston. The class
action seeks to ensure that the City's sidewalk corners comply with the
Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act. This settlement was reached through extensive collaborative
conversation between all parties.
The City of Boston
has over 23,000 curb ramps, less than half of which are currently in
compliance with federal disability access requirements. In addition,
many sidewalk corners are missing curb ramps altogether. These missing and
noncompliant curb ramps represent a significant barrier to safe and
convenient travel for all people, especially those with mobility disabilities.
“Boston is filled
with vibrant commercial districts and diverse cultural attractions. One of
our top priorities is to make sure that every resident and visitor to
Boston can take part in and contribute to all that our city has to offer,”
said Mayor Kim Janey. “The investment in our curb ramps and sidewalks
is a foundational step towards achieving a more welcoming and inclusive
city. We appreciate the advocates, our Disabilities Commission and our
Public Works Department who all worked on this settlement to set a more
equitable and just course for our city.”
This landmark
settlement will take a major step forward. In accordance with the
settlement's terms, the City of Boston will construct and/or upgrade
approximately 1,600 curb ramps per year until every corner at a pedestrian
crossing has an ADA-compliant curb ramp. The City has also agreed to survey
all ramps for ADA compliance and establish a transition plan to map out how
the City will ensure accessibility.
Importantly, during
the course of the settlement conversations, the City already started the
work. Boston funded and hired its first ADA coordinator who is focused
on street capital improvements. The City also expanded investment in
and oversight of sidewalk and curb ramp construction projects and has
included $57 million, a $25 million increase, to meet its construction
obligations under the proposed settlement in its recently-passed five-year
capital plan. Additionally, the City started its survey and transition plan
to ensure all ramps are brought into ADA compliance.
“Accessible curb
ramps and sidewalks are necessary to achieving the integration and equal
opportunity mandates of the ADA and other disability non-discrimination
laws. We congratulate the City of Boston for its commitment to
providing people with mobility disabilities equal access to the pedestrian
right of way,” said plaintiffs’ counsel Raymond Wendell of Goldstein,
Borgen, Dardarian & Ho.
“Federal and state
disability access laws were enacted decades ago to provide persons with
disabilities an equal opportunity to fully participate in civic life,” said
Tim Fox, claimants’ counsel and Co-Executive Director of the Civil Rights
Education and Enforcement Center. “Today, we stand together with the
City of Boston to fulfill the promise of those laws by ensuring that people
with disabilities can travel independently throughout their
communities. Inaccessible curb ramps prevent persons with disabilities
from being fully integrated in their communities. This settlement goes
a long way toward addressing those issues in that it will result in new
ramps being put in at corners where there are no ramps and it will result
noncompliant ramps being brought into compliance.”
“As the Protection
and Advocacy system for Massachusetts, Disability Law Center is proud to
have partnered with our co-counsel to ensure greater access for all people
with disabilities who live and work in Boston, and who wish to take part in
each of the amazing cultural, educational, and civic opportunities that the
‘Cradle of Liberty’ has to offer,” said Thomas Murphy, a Senior Attorney at
Disability Law Center who is co-counsel for the Plaintiffs. “The City
of Boston should be commended for working cooperatively to finally reach
this historic agreement.”
Boston resident
Michael Muehe, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said, “I was thrilled to
join with other fantastic disability advocates in this case in demanding
action from the City of Boston to fix the widespread curb cut problems
throughout my city. This comprehensive consent decree will go far in
improving pedestrian access for disabled people. I congratulate the
Plaintiffs and the City of Boston for reaching this historic agreement, and
I look forward to its speedy implementation.”
“This settlement
means a lot to me and to people with disabilities who want to live
independently in our community,” said Boston resident Colleen Flanagan,
another plaintiff. “I am hopeful that with this settlement, we will
substantially improve the accessibility of Boston neighborhoods to people
with mobility disabilities.”
Plaintiff Crystal
Evans, who lives in Braintree but frequently visits Boston, praised the
settlement: “In addition to thousands of new curb ramps, the City is
improving how a person with a disability can request a new curb ramp or fix
a broken curb ramp. We no longer have to figure out how to do this on our
own or suffer the frustration of not hearing back from the City.”
People with
disabilities are the largest minority group in the country – census figures
estimate that 56.7 million, or 1 in 5, Americans have a
disability.
With the preliminary
approval granted, the members of the class will be notified of the
settlement. At a subsequent hearing, a judge will rule on the final status
of the settlement. This hearing is anticipated to take place on October 19,
2021.
The creation of the
new and improved curb ramps builds on the City’s previous efforts to
increase sidewalk accessibility for residents throughout Boston. Launched
in July of 2020, the Mayor’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities
started an initiative to distribute ramps to restaurants participating in outdoor
dining to increase accessibility for those with mobility
disabilities.
Baker-Polito Administration Releases
Future of Work Report; Outlines Ongoing Steps To Address Findings
Administration Taking Action
on Housing, Workforce Development, Transportation, Child Care
BOSTON — The Baker-Polito Administration
today released the Future of Work Report, commissioned by the Administration to
evaluate the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed work habits in
Massachusetts as the Commonwealth emerges from the pandemic. The Administration
also outlined steps that it is taking to address the key findings of the
report, with investments and other initiatives to boost housing production and
downtown economies, connect workers with skills for high-demand fields, support
changing transportation needs, promote flexibility in child care, and more.
Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn
Polito announced the release of the report today at an event held at the Tufts
Launchpad location for BioLabs, a biotech startup accelerator that is receiving
$102,000 to train 27 workers and create 20 jobs as part of the latest round of
awards from the Administration’s Workforce Training Fund Program (WTFP). In
total, the WTFP program is awarding $8 million through this latest round to
about 100 businesses statewide to support the training of 4,300 workers with a
range of skills like project management, advanced software training, and other
technical skills. A key takeaway from the report is the need to re-credential
hundreds of thousands of workers over the next decade, and the Administration
is proposing to boost investments in programs like the WTFP through its $2.9
billion plan to spend part of the discretionary funds received by the
Commonwealth from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). The
Administration’s plan includes $240 million for workforce development and
job-training programs.
“Massachusetts is well-positioned as we emerge
from the pandemic and look to promote economic growth, and the Future of Work
Report provides us with a roadmap to build on our strengths and address areas
that remain challenges,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Our
Administration is working to respond to this report’s findings by pursuing
significant investments in housing, job-training and downtown development
through our plan to invest $2.9 billion in federal funds from the American
Rescue Plan Act. We are also making investments and using other tools to
provide more flexibility for residents in child care and transportation, and we
look forward to continuing to partner with workers, businesses and communities
to respond to the needs raised in this report.”
“The Future of Work Report provides us with a
blueprint for building up the Commonwealth’s housing stock, workforce, downtown
economies, and infrastructure,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “The
Report evaluated potential changes in the economic landscape for each region of
Massachusetts, and underscores the importance of our proposals to invest in
housing, job-training and communities.”
The Future of Work Report explores what the
implications of COVID-19 might be for the Commonwealth across its regions,
demographics, economic sectors, commercial centers, local downtowns,
transportation, and public spaces. COVID-19 has shifted how Massachusetts
residents work, which has accelerated many existing factors that impact the
future of work (such as the use of e-commerce and the pace of adoption of
automation). In addition, new factors have emerged (such as the spread of
remote and hybrid work and a reduction in business travel). These factors
impact Massachusetts residents differently based on region, industry,
occupation, gender, and race. Recognizing this, the report evaluated
implications of these trends across different regions and analyzed their impact
on the Commonwealth’s Gateway Cities.
Report Takeaways:
The report concludes that changing ways of
working – such as hybrid and remote work – may shift the “center of gravity”
away from the urban core. At the same time, changes in the economic
landscape will mean that expansive workforce training will be needed to connect
workers with the skills they need for the future economy, with potentially
300,000-400,000 people needing to transition to different occupations or
occupational categories over the next decade.
Meanwhile, the report finds that the high cost of
housing will remain a challenge – as will the need to ensure all communities
can share equitably in the Commonwealth’s growth. The report estimates that the
Commonwealth will need to produce 125,000-200,000 housing units by 2030.
The report provides eight core insights:
Demand for office real estate may fall as
workers spend more time in residential areas due to hybrid work.
Hybrid work will likely drive demand for
flexible childcare options, requiring childcare business models to evolve.
Public transit ridership is likely to fall,
with the steepest decline likely in commuter rail.
Business travel may be structurally reduced
from pre-pandemic levels.
Workforce training may be required at an
unprecedented scale and pace.
The Commonwealth population is likely to
grow, albeit more slowly than pre-pandemic
Existing equity challenges will intensify.
Equitable housing opportunities will be key
to retaining and attracting people.
Administration’s Plans to Address Report’s
Findings:
The Baker-Polito Administration is using a
variety of tools to address the key findings from this report:
$2.9 Billion Plan for ARPA Funds: The
Administration’s proposal
to spend $2.9 billion in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan
addresses many of the key needs presented in the report. It focuses on building
up the Commonwealth’s housing stock, workforce, downtown economies, and
infrastructure. The Administration filed this plan in June and believes it is
critical to act quickly to address these urgent priorities. The Future of
Work Study underscores the importance of these investments, which would
immediately begin to address the key challenges presented in the report,
including:
$1 billion for housing priorities, with a particular focus on creating
homeownership opportunities in communities of color. This proposal would
be a significant step toward addressing the concerns raised in the report
around the cost of housing and continued challenges around equity in
different communities.
$240 millionfor workforce training opportunities
to help train workers to connect with high-demand industries, a key
priority raised in the report. The report makes clear that these types of
retraining efforts could especially benefit women and communities of
color, addressing additional equity concerns raised by the report.
$350 million for downtown development and
economic growth, to help
communities re-imagine their downtowns and spur development as the center
of gravity shifts away from the urban core.
$175 million to boost substance use and
behavioral health programming,
a key area where communities of color have been most impacted throughout
the pandemic.
Child Care Improvements: The Future of Work
Report calls for innovation in child care to meet the changing needs of working
families and employers. To address continued challenges in the early education
space as the Commonwealth emerges from the pandemic, the Administration is
taking a series of actions:
Investing over $640 million in federal
funding for child care, focusing on building capacity at early education
providers and targeting funds to the greatest areas of need according to
the Social Vulnerability Index.
Sustaining increased child care subsidies
for low-income families and other pandemic-era changes that expand access
to care.
Leveraging the Commonwealth’s workforce
development programs to develop a stable pipeline of early educators to
expand access to affordable care.
Partnering with the business community to
best understand specific needs for flexibility across specific industries
and regions.
Transportation Flexibility and Improvements: To support shifting
work habits and other trends identified in the report, the MBTA and MassDOT are
modifying schedules and making other adjustments:
The Commuter Rail’s new Regional Rail
Schedule represents a shift toward more consistent, regular service
throughout the day, compared to pre-pandemic service that was heavily
skewed toward AM and PM rushes. These adjustments reflect analysis of
ridership trends throughout the pandemic and into the recovery. The new
Regional Rail Schedule supports increasing travel habits like intra-line
(non-Boston) trips and reverse commutes to Gateway Cities. It also
supports teleworkers’ local trips and 3-day-per-week commuters.
Continued promotion of weekend service, such
as $10 weekend passes will also promote travel to key recreational and
tourist destinations outside of Boston. For example, thanks in part to
this Commuter Rail promotion, Salem is seeing 110% of 2019 weekend
ridership this year.
The Shared Streets and Spaces Grant Program has helped
communities make streetscape changes to support outdoor dining and alternative
transportation modes like cycling, walking and off-road trails. Since last
year, the program has awarded $33 million to 183 communities, resulting in over
300 projects.
AG
HEALEY JOINS COALITION CALLING ON FEDERAL REGULATORS TO ACT ON CHILD CAR SAFETY
Coalition
Calls for Stronger Testing Standards and Labeling Measures to Protect Children
Traveling in Car Seats
BOSTON – Massachusetts Attorney General
Healey today joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general calling on the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to take stronger measures to
protect children while traveling in car seats, including stricter testing
standards and labeling measures. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of
death for children between one and 13 years of age.
In a letter sent to NHTSA and
the Department of Transportation today, the coalition urges NHTSA to create and
implement side-impact testing standards for child car seats as quickly as
possible, after 20 years of delay that has endangered children’s safety. The
coalition is also calling on NHTSA to require that all child car seat labels
include clear, concise language conveying that every child should remain in
their current seat until exceeding its height or weight maximum, a practice
endorsed by experts.
“Car crashes are the leading cause of
death for young children and federal regulators should be doing everything they
can to protect children from this risk,” AG Healey said. “We are calling on
NHTSA to prioritize implementing these critical requirements, so that we can
ensure our children are safe while on the road.”
Congress first called upon NHTSA to adopt
side-impact standards for child car seats in 2000. More than two decades later,
there are still no such standards from any federal government entity. Some
manufacturers do conduct their own side-impact testing, but without critical
federal standards in place.
Side-impact crashes cause almost as many
child injuries and deaths as frontal-impact crashes and are more likely than
any other types of crashes to cause serious or fatal injuries.
The coalition also urges NHTSA to
implement labeling standards that encourage parents to delay the transition to
the next car seat for as long as possible depending upon the height and weight
limits of the product. There are currently three major categories of car
seats—rear-facing seats with a five-point harness, forward-facing seats with a
five-point harness, and booster seats used in conjunction with a traditional
lap and shoulder seat belt. Determining which seat is appropriate for a child
also depends on the child’s development and maturity level. Experts (including
NHTSA) universally agree that children should delay transition to the next seat
in the progression for as long as possible, until they exceed their current
seat’s height or weight limits.
“Motor vehicle crashes are the leading
cause of death for children aged 1 to 13. Almost 5,000 children under 15 have
died in car crashes from 2015 to 2019, which equates to about 19 children each
week over that time period. Since their introduction in the 1970s, child car
seats have significantly reduced the risk of injury to children, and numerous
technological advances have made them safer over the years. NHTSA shares
credit in this success, but as the data shows, there is still room for
improvement. And one such area in need of improvement is making sure that
parents use the most appropriate car seat given their child’s weight, height,
and age,” the letter states.
Joining AG Healey in sending the letter are
the attorneys general of California, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, the
District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New
Mexico, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Andrea
Campbell給馬丁華殊評了個C。她說，她對馬丁華殊的看法，並不是秘密，她認為馬丁華殊在波士頓市內的系統性不公平，尤其是在波士頓公校，以及Mass
and Cass那一區的公共衛生危機上，可以做得更多。不過馬丁華殊領導波士頓市穩定的走過新冠病毒大流行最糟糕的時刻，還是應該得到很多讚譽。
Kim Janey也只能拿C。Andrea Campbell說，就像許多其他的波士頓人依樣，她為歷史性的權力轉移給代理市長Kim
Janey而高興，但是從那一刻以後，在最迫切的議題上，大家卻沒有看到Kim Janey有些甚麼實質行動。在Kim Janey的就任頭100天中，Mass and Cass這一區的吸毒及流浪問題都更嚴重了。在加班預算吹氣球般的增加7000萬元之際，警察局卻在醜聞不斷中一片混亂。離開學校一年多的學生，有數以百計在有學位的承諾中排在暑期班地等候名單上。居住開銷持續盤旋上升到難以控制。波士頓人需要市長辦公室立即行動，拿出實在的時間表，還要問責。
Kim Janey只得到D評分。Essiabi-認為Kim Janey不符合大眾的期望與要求，而且表現得她更願意為在位高興而不是花時間和其他人一起把事情做成。在位100天，卻沒有計畫，沒有行動來改善學校，住宅所面對的挑戰，或對抗暴力與毒品危機，或者是幫助小企業及打工家庭復甦。她希望大家是在一個比現在這城市更好的地方。
Jon Santiago給馬丁華殊的評分為B+。他說華殊部長培植了小及大企業的成長，帶動創造就業機會，擴大學齡前兒童就學機會，協助建造了將近3萬個住家。部長也是整個新冠病毒危機的領袖，最重要的是他把資源帶給必要的工作人員，設立了波士頓彈性基金，以及租金紓困金。我們必須在他的成就基礎上繼續，並致力解決波士頓是最持久的議題，例如教育成就差距，可負擔住宅危機，以及Mass
and Cass情況。
至於Kim Janey，評分還待決定。他認為Kim Janey被丟進一個很有挑戰性的狀況中，必須很快地應對幾項議題。無論是可負擔住宅危機，學校委員會的爭議，或是Mass
and Cass一帶的情況惡化，她在過去這幾個月中的表現，將會由選民在9月時給出最好的評斷。
MAYOR JANEY CELEBRATES GRAND OPENING OF
NEW MIXED-INCOME HOUSING ON EAST BOSTON WATERFRONT
Development delivers 22 deeply
affordable rental units and 30 homeownership units for mixed-income
residents
BOSTON - Monday,
July 12, 2021 - Mayor Kim Janey today joined the Boston Housing Authority
(BHA), WinnCompanies and MassHousing to celebrate the opening of a new
mixed income community on the East Boston waterfront. The $30 million
Harborwalk development replaced 20 units of aging Boston Housing
Authority public housing at Clippership Apartments with 22 deeply
affordable modern apartment homes at Harbor125 Apartments and Harborwalk
Residences, also featuring 30 condominiums available for sale to
middle-income and market-rate households.
“The Clippership
Apartments, housing 22 rental units, will be welcoming back many families
who were living here before the development plans were fully realized.
Now those families are returning to newly constructed high quality modern
living spaces,” said Mayor Janey. “I am proud to be a part of powerful
investment in the people and the community of East Boston.”
Original public
housing households who previously lived at the Clippership property have
returned to new modern apartments. Of the 30 new condominiums, 14 will be
sold to middle-income homebuyers at subsidized prices. The remaining 16
condos are being sold to buyers at market rates.
“These new homes
will be an essential part of the East Boston neighborhood, securing
Clippership’s affordable housing promise for the future,” said BHA
Administrator Kate Bennett. “This new development ensures that low income
families can continue to have access to the East Boston waterfront and
enjoy a better quality of life in new modern homes.”
Located one
block from the MBTA Blue Line station at Maverick, the one-acre property
offers a stunning view of downtown and pedestrian access to the
Harborwalk. The new two-building development includes ground-level retail
space, a management office, a bicycle storage room, and a community room
available to East Boston civic groups.
“This project is
a great example of a public-private partnership to preserve and expand
public housing while also creating new ownership opportunities for working
households who otherwise would be priced out of the market,” said Gilbert
Winn, CEO of WinnCompanies. “It’s very satisfying to replace 20 units of
aging public housing with 52 modern homes available at the entire range
of incomes.”
Financing sources
included Inclusionary Development Program funding facilitated by the
Boston Planning and Development Agency and contributed by Lendlease,
Inc., in connection with the company’s Clippership Wharf apartment and
condominium project located next door.
The Harborwalk
project is part of the BHA’s continuing effort to preserve, expand and
modernize public housing in the City of Boston. The agency kicked off the
development process in April 2016 and holds the ground lease for the
rental site. WinnCompanies owns Harbor125 Apartments and developed
Harborwalk Residences with a deed restriction requiring the 14 middle
income home ownership condos to remain affordable.
“By transforming
the former Clippership Apartments into a dynamic, new mixed-income
development, this project is preserving much-needed affordable rental
housing and creating new homeownership opportunities for first-time
homebuyers,” said MassHousing Executive Director Chrystal Kornegay. “We
congratulate WinnCompanies and the Boston Housing Authority for reaching
this milestone. MassHousing is pleased to be a partner in this important
work.”
The 22 rental
apartments at Harbor125 include one one-bedroom unit, six two-bedroom
units, 10 three-bedroom units and five four-bedroom units. The apartments
are supported by federal Section 8 project-based vouchers administered by
the BHA.
Of the 14 condos
to be sold through a lottery process, five one-bedroom units are for
households earning at or below 80% of Area Median Income ($85,700); five
one-bedroom units are for households earning at or below 120% AMI
($142,800); one two-bedroom unit is for a household earning at or below
80% of AMI; and one two-bedroom unit and two three-bedroom condos are set
aside for households earning at or below 120% of AMI.
MassHousing, the
independent, quasi-public agency that provides financing for affordable
housing in Massachusetts, provided a $6.6 million permanent mortgage and
$3.6 million in bridge loan financing for the development of Harbor125
Apartments and $1 million from the agency’s Workforce Housing Initiative
to subsidize the cost of the 14 workforce condos at Harborwalk
Residences.
Additional
funding was provided by Bank of America and the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Atlanta through the competitive Affordable Housing Program. BlueHub
Capital provided subordinate construction and permanent financing to both
projects.
