Election years are important. Candidates for office always tell you what they want to do, but oftentimes what they say is in reaction to what the media or their opponents are saying, not necessarily what voters are looking for or need.

That’s why it’s critical that organizations that represent neighborhoods ask the questions that relate to the concerns of their residents. Provided there is a contested election, it is during election years that we’re likely to get answers to those questions.

I have been president of the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association (CSHCA) for a year now. It’s a position that has put me into the thicket of issues that residents have focused on at our many meetings. While there is much to celebrate about our city, there are many things that need addressing to make Boston even better for the people who live here. With concerns raised at CSHCA meetings as a basis, I was asked to develop a list of in-depth questions for our organization to ask candidates. Here they are:

Q. How should the city’s budgeting process be different from the current practice?

Concerns: Boston’s proposed governing budget for FY26 is set at $4.6 billion, which has grown by 86 percent since FY13, a number more than double the inflation rate for that period. The FY13 budget was $2.47 billion. If it kept pace with inflation based on a 36 percent Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth over this period, the FY26 city budget would be $3.36 billion. While we audit our books to ensure that the dollars are spent as intended, we do not have an audit that measures what we spend and what it buys vs. what we need to spend and buy to get desired results. Shouldn’t we be investigating best practices from around the country and determining how we can get our city departments working optimally instead of starting every year assuming that the previous budget is inviolable?

Q. How will you deal with real estate speculation driving up property taxes and rents for residents of the city? How will you curtail the excesses of the Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA), which Mayor Wu, in her 2019 document “Fixing Boston’s Broken Development Process,” stated “creates both the perception of and potential for corruption”? Would you support an increase in the owner-occupied residential tax exemption?

Concerns: All of the above is part of the reason why residential property taxes have increased at a rate greater than inflation. Property speculation is exacerbated by a ZBA that allows properties to be sold at a greater price than their assessed value, based on the expectation that the panel will approve variances that allow for many more units than zoning would allow. We essentially have no zoning if it can nearly always be overruled by the ZBA, which last year approved 91 percent of the cases brought before it. A former head of planning for the Boston Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) once remarked that “it is unique to have a jurisdiction that relies so heavily on the ZBA; what it communicates is that their zoning code doesn’t have meaning and degrades faith people have in the process; we’ve strayed from the zoning code.”

You can see the impact in the number of Dorchester properties sold to Limited Liability Corporations (LLC) and note that nearly all three-deckers now sell for more than $1 million, often much more. Zillow noted this week that a 3,510-square-foot, 6 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3-story multi-home in Savin Hill (Hallam Street) is currently listed at $1,995,000.
The net result is that property values for residents who are not speculators are seeing increases in the assessed value of their Dorchester homes between 2023 and 2024 of 13.25 percent in zip code 02125, 11.53 percent in 02124, and 10.21 percent in 02122, according to an analysis offered by state Sen. Nick Collins. This, along with large decreases in the value of commercial properties, which are likely to continue to lose value over the next few years, results in large increases in residential property taxes, which, in turn, increases monthly rents.

Q. Do you support comprehensive planning instead of parcel-by-parcel development and will you provide sufficient planning resources to work with our communities facing significant development on comprehensive planning and re-zoning? Considering the BPDA plans for changing zoning, which could decrease community involvement in Article 80 developments and the new Squares and Streets zoning, how will you ensure that communities have adequate involvement with BPDA processes for development? Will you support CSHCA’s effort to create a vision for housing that fits in the context of our neighborhood (mainly via three-deckers) in the Glover’s Corner area?

Concerns: The BPDA typically reacts to developers’ proposals for development rather than creating a plan with zoning that determines what should be permitted that could both add housing and preserve quality of life. This parcel-by-parcel development fails to take into consideration infrastructure needs, good urban design, type of housing to be developed, e.g., family housing vs. one bedroom/studio apartments, which would determine whether daycare centers/schools would be needed.

In the northeastern section of Dorchester, there are plans for 10,000 new units of housing and 7 million square feet of commercial space, yet so far, the BPDA has refused to provide comprehensive planning for this area. CSHCA has supported nearly 3,000 units of new housing in our area because the supported projects increase density in areas that can accommodate density. However, CSHCA will not support high density where it cannot be accommodated. CSHCA is creating a lower density vision for the development of the Glovers Corner area that needs serious consideration by BPDA.

Q. Do you support preserving historic buildings and the historic character of neighborhoods by maximizing their use instead of razing them? Do you support the plans for 500-foot skyscrapers adjacent to Boston Common?

Concerns: History and historic buildings are central to Boston’s identity.   No one is proposing skyscrapers on Beacon Hill, but the city is proposing them in the Ladder District adjacent to the Common (the short streets with many historic buildings between Tremont and Washington Streets downtown).

Q. Do you support an appointed school committee, an elected school committee, or no school committee, with all responsibility for the schools as a department under the mayor? What is your plan to improve the quality of education in Boston?

Concerns: Enrollment has dropped by 8,800 students in the past ten years, and the Boston Public Schools (BPS) cost per student rose by 46 percent, from $20,000 to $30,000 per student, between 2019 and 2024. School closings are contentious. The bus transportation budget for this fiscal year is $171 million (the highest per capita cost in the US; and it’s expected to rise to some $190 million next year), which means that the city pays $42 per day for every bused student ($800 per month per student where 10 percent of the students still do not arrive on time for school.)
There’s no overall plan for what to do with decrepit school buildings or how to ensure that students get to school on time. (One alternative, voiced by Ross Wilson of the podcast “Last Night at School Committee” is paying parents to take on that responsibility). And pre-K for 4-year-olds is tossing in the wind.

Q. What is your plan and timeline for addressing our coastal vulnerabilities? Where will the money come from to protect the coastline?

Concerns: A decade ago, climate agencies determined that a major hurricane hitting Boston at high tide could cause $20 billion in damages and flood 7 percent of the land area of Boston.

Q. What is your plan to increase tree cover and protect open spaces in areas with heat dome problems?

Concerns: Heat domes are growing in intensity in many neighborhoods of Boston, and the best solution is having trees and open spaces in those areas. The fate of Franklin Park’s lost 13 acres of parkland when the Shattuck Hospital is demolished is still uncertain. The leasing of White Stadium in Franklin Park to Boston Unity Soccer Partners has been very contentious.

Q. How will you deal with summer crime problems?

Concerns: Though crime is down, summer disturbances are not. Every summer there is a crisis in how policing happens with groups of people who gather and make life difficult for those who live near parks, beaches, and other open spaces.

Q. Do you support changing municipal election years to even numbered years, which in addition to saving $1 million per election, would dramatically increase turnout? Do you support ranked-choice voting for Boston elections?

Concerns: Boston’s odd year municipal elections attract few voters. It can be as little as 10 percent for city council-only elections and 30 percent for contested mayoral elections. Other states and communities have dealt with this by having all elections in even numbered years, which typically attract 50-60 percent of voters.

Q. What will you do to ensure that the Dorchester and Mattapan communities regain the essential health services lost by the Carney Hospital closure? What should happen to the Carney property?

Concerns: The closure of the Carney Hospital resulted in a loss of emergency services for the southeastern part of Boston and nearby suburbs, which affects residents’ ability to get emergency care and has exacerbated overcrowded conditions in nearby emergency rooms. The closure also reduced behavioral health access for this population.