Abundant Housing Massachusetts, a Boston-based not-for-profit housing advocacy organization, is launching a housing-focused questionnaire for Boston City Council candidates to give their stances on housing reform.
Boston, Massachusetts – Abundant Housing Massachusetts (AHMA) has launched a housing-focused Boston City Council candidate questionnaire in an effort to foster dialogue and greater awareness of housing reform and policy proposals across the City of Boston. The questionnaire features 20 questions that surveys candidates’ stances on issues such as mandatory parking minimums, zoning to expedite the creation of more affordable homes, community process in relation to all housing development and Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent stabilization proposal. The questionnaire was distributed to the certified candidates via email with a deadline of completion by Friday, July 14.
All responses will be made publicly available on AHMA’s website at abundathousingma.org on a rolling basis. AHMA will not be endorsing any candidates and are solely focused on making the questionnaire a public resource for candidates’ constituents. This questionnaire is part of the organization’s overall mission to use education as a tool to address the state’s housing crisis.
“Our membership base spans across the state with over 400 civilly-engaged folks with the highest proportion of members residing in the city of Boston. Even though we are a statewide organization, Boston can not go overlooked. For decades Boston has underbuilt housing and continues to struggle to meet housing demands. We must elect officials with housing reform as a main focus. Through this questionnaire, we hope to generate thoughtful and reflective responses around the current state of housing in the city. We want the general public to gain a clear understanding of Boston City Council Candidates’ position on housing. I am personally excited to see candidates’ responses on our {AHMA’s} Housing Abundance Amendment Proposal,” said Abundant Housing MA Executive Director Jesse Kanson-Benanav.
AHMA is encouraging their members along with residents of Boston to reach out to candidates about the Boston city council candidate questionnaire. Volunteer opportunities are available for civically-engaged folks to help gain responses from candidates. If you are interested in volunteering please contact media contact Cheryl Daniel.
The questionnaire is attached to this email. For more information about The Boston City Council Candidate Questionnaire, AHMA’s Senior Manager of Communications and Media Advocacy is available for phone calls and email correspondence. Please contact her at 617-249-4288 OR Cheryl.daniel@abundanthousingma.org.
List of Candidates who received the questionnaire:
District One: Incumbent City Councilor Gabriela Coletta;
District Two: City Council President and Incumbent City Councilor Edward M FLynn;
District Three: John M Fitzergerald, Jennifer Anne Johnson, Barry Oliver Lawton, Matthew D Patton, Joel G Richards, Ann M Walsh, & Rosalind Wornum;
District 4: Incumbent City Councilor Brian J Worrell;
District Five: Incumbent City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, Enrique Pepen, Jose A Ruiz, & Jean-Claude Sanon;
District 6: Incumbent City Councilor Kendra Lara, Ben Weber, & William A King;
District 7: Incumbent City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, Althea Garrison, Jerome King, Roy A Owens Sr., & Padma Scott;
District 8: Sharon E Durkan, & Montez D Haywood;
District 9: Incumbent City Councilor Liz A Breadon, & Jacob deBlecourt;
AT-LARGE Candidates: Incumbent City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, Incumbent City Councilor Julia Mejia, Incumbent City Councilor Erin J Murphy, Shawn D Nelson, Henry Santana, Catherine Vitale, Bridget Nee-Walsh, & Clifton A Braithwaite.
Abundant Housing Massachusetts is a non-profit organization founded in 2020 to advocate for the creation of abundant housing for all and to develop and support a network of grassroots, pro-housing groups and activists across Massachusetts. AHMA is committed to fostering a movement that includes diverse voices, geography, and people with different lived experiences.