The Boston Globe - 02.08.2019

A10 Editorial The Boston Globe FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019

G

ood news? On housing? InMassachusetts?

Yes, that’s right. Even here in the land of the

$600,000 starter home, a few forward-thinking

cities and towns are starting to make progress

on what sometimes seems like an intractable

problem: the inadequate production of new housing that has

sent the cost of renting or buying in Greater Boston into the

stratosphere.

It’s way too soon to declare victory — not when the medi-

an sale price for a house in Massachusetts is $429,000 and

$420,000 for a condo, according to the Warren Group. High

prices happen when demand gallops past supply, causing

buyers to bid up prices of existing homes to insane levels. In

addition to squeezing renters and contributing to gentrifica-

tion, the skyrocketing price of housing has evolved into a real

threat to the region’s economic competitiveness.

“Greater Boston is losing current and potential domestic

residents,” warned the Boston Foundation in its annual hous-

ing scorecard, “who are voting with their feet to live else-

where for a variety of reasons.” Just on Tuesday, another re-

port — this one from the real estate website Apartment List

— found that only San Francisco has done a worse job than

Greater Boston building new housing to respond to demand.

Thankfully, last year 15 cities and towns in Greater Boston

made a joint pledge to pick up the pace of new housing con-

struction by permitting 185,000 new housing units by 2030.

Collectively, meeting that goal would mean tripling the pace

of housing production. Some of the members of the group,

called the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, are doing their

part to reach that goal faster than others — but almost all 15

report progress.

Leading the way have been Boston, Cambridge, and

Somerville, each of which has set numerical goals for housing

production. Boston has been on a building spree and is on

track to meet its goal of 69,000 new units by 2030. Cam-

bridge volunteered 12,500 new housing units; and Somer-

ville has said it will build 6,000. Committing to a specific goal

is crucial: A hard number creates accountability for officials.

Even outside those three, there’s some impressive munici-

pal-level progress. The Revere City Council approved devel-

opment on the portion of the former Suffolk Downs racetrack

that sits in that city, which will eventually

bring in a whopping 2,700 housing units.

In Quincy, 1,500 housing units are un-

der construction, and another 1,030 are ei-

ther permitted or in the process of receiv-

ing permits. Medford has 497 housing

units in construction. More than a thou-

sand units are expected in Brookline over

the next few years, in part thanks to the

state’s 40B housing statute that lets devel-

opers bypass local zoning when towns have

insufficient levels of affordable housing.

Newton has 471 units under construction

and another 273 permitted.

Other municipalities are working on plans or reforming

zoning bylaws to set the stage for future growth. Austin Fai-

son, Winthrop’s town manager, says that will involve setting a

housing production goal. Everett rezoned land near the new-

ly extended Silver Line, setting the stage for development.

Braintree is in the process of updating its zoning bylaws that

would include provisions for denser multi-family housing.

Arlington experienced a setback when its town meeting

rejected an innovative plan to spur denser housing and allow

so-called accessory dwelling units. Town manager Adam

Chapdelaine said the town was now launching a “more coop-

erative effort” and would try again, and that the discussion

would include coming up with a numerical goal.

The experience in Arlington points to one way the state

can help municipalities. Town meetings and city councils re-

quire a two-thirds vote to change zoning, which can empower

a small minority to thwart reforms needed to encourage

housing. Governor Charlie Baker’s housing bill would change

that by reducing to one-half the vote needed

to change zoning — and deserves legislative

approval pronto.

There’s one other way that the state can

help, and this one won’t come as a surprise:

better transportation. Access to transit can be

a key to successful development. For instance,

Revere wants a commuter rail stop at Won-

derland. Without direct access to any rail ser-

vice, Everett is banking on buses as part of its

development plans.

Cities and towns that are moving forward

on housing production inevitably encounter

resistance, and they deserve great credit — not just for taking

badly needed steps to build housing, but for doing so in a co-

ordinated way. Keeping municipalities on the same page is

part of what’s necessary to break down the longstanding bar-

riers to housing in Massachusetts. As Chelsea city manager

Thomas G. Ambrosino put it: “Having it be a region-wide ef-

fort and everyone rowing toward the same goal makes it easi-

er for us to defend our efforts, because we can tell those who

are critical about building that this is a regional need and ev-

eryone is in it together.”

Cities and towns make progress on housing

Opinion

BOSTONGLOBE.COM/OPINION

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R

ecent tapes

released by the

National Archives

and published in

The Atlantic,

revealing the racist

remarks, in

October 1971, of

Govern

or Ronald Reagan to President

Richard Nixon, are yet again a

confirmation for blacks, not a

revelation.

Racist words are the last

indication of bigotry for black

people. We’ve been baptized by

all of the preliminary signs that

indicate racist leanings. We

didn’t need to hear an explicit

phrase from Reagan like “To see

those... monkeys from those

African countries — damn them, they’re still

uncomfortable wearing shoes,” to know that

he was a white supremacist. If you really

want to check whether a politician is racist,

don’t just judge their words — look at their

policy and voting trail.

As president, Reagan targeted the Work

Incentive program, the food stamp

program, Aid to Families with Dependent

Children (AFDC), housing assistance

programs, Medicaid, and other more

nuanced benefits such as after-school-

program funding. Within seven months of

his inauguration, Congress had slashed

fiscal 1982 spending $35 billion below

projected levels and reduced personal and

corporate income taxes by $37.7 billion.

According to the Congressional Budget

Office, “Of the 450,000 to

500,000 families with earnings

estimated to be receiving

AFDC at the time of the [

program] changes, about one-

half are estimated to have lost

eligibility because of those

changes.”

To say racist things makes

you an irresponsible jerk;

however, it’s your First

Amendment right to do so. But

when you’re given the power to

influence policy and you misuse it, then you

become a certified racist by any definition.

This is why black voters are having such

a hard time with former vice president Joe

Biden’s presidential campaign. He has a

record of collaborating with segregationist

senators in the past as well as being

instrumental in implementing the 1994

crime bill that has devastated the black

family up to today.

President Trump faces backlash almost

daily for his racist statements. While we

should certainly hold him accountable for

racist language, his words are irresponsible

at best. Labeling someone a racist doesn’t

make them one. But with Trump as with

Reagan before him, there’s proof in his

actions.

In 1973, the US Justice Department sued

him for violating the Fair Housing Act when

they found evidence he discriminated

against potential black tenants. In 2017, he

signed a series of discriminatory executive

orders that included banning Muslims from

certain countries from entering the United

States. Not to mention he lowered the

annual refugee admission cap from 110,

to 30,000. In addition his immigrant

detention facilities have been almost

universally condemned as unsanitary and

unfit for human habitation. These policies

serve as definitive evidence of a racist

administration headed by a racist president.

Black voters must stop giving credit to

any politician who throws us a cultural

crumb: Bill Clinton playing the saxophone

on Arsenio Hall, Trump advocating for

A$AP Rocky’s release from Swedish

custody, and more recently, Bernie Sanders’

sit-down with rapper and former stripper

Cardi B. Does Sanders think so little of black

voters’ political views as to believe sitting

with the likes of Cardi B would be a credit to

him? No disrespect to her, but she’s not an

expert in political science. He couldn’t find

one black or Latino scholar to sit with?

Reagan’s words expose what blacks

already knew — that he was a racist of the

worst ilk. No politician is perfect, and yet

we’re not asking for perfection, only equity

and consistency. Is that too much to ask for

a people who’ve been demoralized over and

over again by words, policies, procedures,

and verdicts?

My new philosophy is: Vote the record,

not the party. If a politician has consistently

supported policies that benefit the poor and

disadvantaged, then that’s my candidate.

People of color must stop being affected by

words and catchphrases; good or bad. It will

take a little extra Googling, but we have to

investigate the policy trail of politicians.

This is where they’ll show their true colors.

And this is where we’ll listen closely.

Imam Taymullah Abdur-Rahman was the

Muslim chaplain at Harvard from 2015 to

2017.

It’s actions,It’s actions,

not words,not words,

that madethat made

ReaganReagan

aracistaracist

By Taymullah

Abdur-Rahman

Don’tpay

attentionto

Reagan’s

rant.Pay

attentionto

hisrecord.

It’swaytoosoonto

declarevictory,but

municipalitieshave

beenpickingupthe

paceonnew

construction.

AP