1 00:00:31,310 --> 00:00:33,560 Is it an emergency situation that you would need 2 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,270 an oncall animal control officer to go there? 3 00:00:38,860 --> 00:00:42,020 Do you by any chance know if your parents were married at the time of your birth? 4 00:00:42,310 --> 00:00:44,270 She wants to speak about food tax. 5 00:00:44,370 --> 00:00:46,640 Is the control box or open or missing? 6 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,930 So we just got a call from Boston Fire reporting a one alarm fire at 33 7 00:00:52,140 --> 00:00:54,390 Browning Ave. in Dorchester, 8 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,640 and there’s no displacements at this time. 9 00:00:56,770 --> 00:00:59,140 Just wait one moment while I do some research for you. 10 00:00:59,310 --> 00:01:02,220 I’m going to open up a case for the Parks Department. They deal with trees. 11 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:08,140 I got a call from Boston Police. The intersection of the VFW Parkway and LaGrange Street in West Roxbury. 12 00:01:08,330 --> 00:01:10,810 The traffic signal is out. I just want to confirm that you had it. 13 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:14,890 I have a constituent that’s asking about road maintenance. Is it OK if I put him through? 14 00:01:15,270 --> 00:01:16,350 Is it a stray dog? 15 00:01:17,010 --> 00:01:21,640 She said she couldn’t see a visible cause. Like there was no down wires or anything. 16 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:24,640 But the whole block appears to be out. 17 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,720 Is it blocking both the roadway and the sidewalk? 18 00:01:27,900 --> 00:01:32,270 Constituent’s saying her landlord turned off her electricity to her apartment. 19 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,180 She said that she’s going back and forth with him. They’re in court 20 00:01:36,350 --> 00:01:38,930 with something and she thinks she turned it off on him. 21 00:01:44,570 --> 00:01:47,020 I had a meeting with some community activists. 22 00:01:47,140 --> 00:01:49,600 One of the biggest pushbacks I got was 23 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,390 not on the police. It’s after the police do their thing, 24 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,600 after an incident happens, what’s the follow up on trauma? 25 00:01:55,710 --> 00:02:00,560 We have the counselors obviously and police have their counselors too I explained 26 00:02:00,970 --> 00:02:05,680 in the police walks, works with the family through I think the burial. 27 00:02:05,850 --> 00:02:07,430 And then what happens after that. 28 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,140 And what happens to the greater community. Like what happens to the group of friends and... 29 00:02:11,310 --> 00:02:16,770 And I know we’re taking, I’m taking criticism for Carlos Henriquez. 30 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,310 Part of the role for Carlos Henriquez was going to be 31 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:26,830 to coordinate services to make sure that there’s follow up. So, for example... 32 00:02:26,970 --> 00:02:28,810 Kind of like Operation and Support. 33 00:02:29,150 --> 00:02:34,350 When there’s something going on in the community, whether it’s a development or street cleaning, 34 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,930 or whatever, Jerome’s shop O&S goes in and does their thing 35 00:02:39,100 --> 00:02:42,600 and they’re working with Planning and Development and they’re working with the Housing. 36 00:02:42,770 --> 00:02:46,060 With all the different departments and they’re kind of the constant in the neighborhood. 37 00:02:46,270 --> 00:02:50,140 And I thought - and it hasn’t fully vetted yet - but 38 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:54,310 I thought of doing something like that around the streets. 39 00:02:54,350 --> 00:02:57,850 When the police, when your work is done, what happens then? 40 00:02:58,070 --> 00:03:03,430 And we’re not going in and and we have public safety doing their thing for a while 41 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:08,390 working to keep areas calm and combat violence and the street workers are out there doing their thing. 42 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,350 But there’s not coordination necessarily of services. 43 00:03:11,770 --> 00:03:20,970 So when a person gets killed and there’s a lot of indirect concern and, wreckage of that, 44 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,720 we don’t have a coordinated effort per se to coordinate that. 45 00:03:24,930 --> 00:03:29,100 I thought of Carlos’s work in returning citizens and working different areas 46 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,560 could slowly build up capacity and bring on individuals, like O&S, 47 00:03:33,970 --> 00:03:37,310 that will be actually the intake coordinators in the community 48 00:03:37,470 --> 00:03:39,430 and work with everyone that needs to work with. 49 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:44,100 Because I think what happens now is when we have, like we did few months ago 50 00:03:44,490 --> 00:03:46,770 we had 8 people killed in 10 days, 51 00:03:47,270 --> 00:03:49,060 everyone’s looking for a blame. 52 00:03:49,450 --> 00:03:53,470 Police get blamed because the violence is up. Street workers get blamed because they’re not there. 53 00:03:53,940 --> 00:03:56,430 Trauma councilors get blamed because they’re not there. 54 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,180 City gets blamed because it’s happened in the city. Everyone’s blaming. 55 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,350 Our thing is: can we coordinate services so there’s a better coordination of services 56 00:04:04,470 --> 00:04:06,350 to follow these families through 57 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:08,970 and maybe get into a family and see that: Wow, 58 00:04:09,430 --> 00:04:12,180 there’s really some difficult situations here and can we help them 59 00:04:12,350 --> 00:04:15,600 individually to connect them to services as things move on. 60 00:04:15,770 --> 00:04:18,470 That’s the intention behind Carlos’s role. 61 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,390 And that’s... whether it's Carlos, whoever it is... 62 00:04:22,470 --> 00:04:26,350 He was the person that I thought of because he understands the streets 63 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,520 and he understands the community, and he’s done the work 64 00:04:29,700 --> 00:04:33,180 both as prior to being elected and after elected. 65 00:04:33,310 --> 00:04:35,430 He’s done a lot of difference at work, 66 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,270 that’s kind of why I think the missing link here. 67 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,180 I think we have a lot of great things going on, 68 00:04:40,350 --> 00:04:42,720 the police department does some great programing. 69 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:44,970 It does some great programming. 70 00:04:45,940 --> 00:04:50,770 I think that there’s an opportunity now through, not necessarily through Nora’s office, 71 00:04:51,060 --> 00:04:53,270 but what Nora’s doing and how do we tie it in? 72 00:04:53,460 --> 00:04:57,180 Because you can’t do it, and Nora needs to have a contact. "Who should I call?" 73 00:04:57,390 --> 00:05:00,140 Instead of me calling Marty 74 00:05:00,350 --> 00:05:03,390 and Will and Chris and Mark and 75 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,220 Danny and Conan and Jerome and Laurie and me, 76 00:05:08,450 --> 00:05:12,720 is there one person she can contact that can actually help pull all this stuff together 77 00:05:12,930 --> 00:05:15,350 and that will be a liaison in the neighborhood. 78 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,100 - I like that. - That’s what I’d look at. 79 00:05:18,310 --> 00:05:20,350 That came out of a conversation with... 80 00:05:21,180 --> 00:05:24,640 Danny put a meeting together and the room was a very honest meeting. 81 00:05:25,270 --> 00:05:30,180 It was a very honest... people in the community were very... it wasn’t a bad meeting. 82 00:05:30,340 --> 00:05:34,890 It was one of those direct meetings and people didn’t understand all the work that we’re doing. 83 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:36,060 And I don’t think we do 84 00:05:36,350 --> 00:05:39,350 a good enough job of telling that story, what we actually do in the city 85 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,560 We also don’t do a good job of tying it all in together. 86 00:05:42,810 --> 00:05:45,220 That’s where I think we want to go with that. 87 00:05:45,390 --> 00:05:49,640 So, I’m just letting you know that I’ve got a list of people. 88 00:05:50,100 --> 00:05:55,770 So, you guys, if anyone wants to come in you may just want to let me know so I can 89 00:05:56,020 --> 00:05:57,890 give the Mayor the list of people 90 00:05:58,060 --> 00:06:01,720 that need to see him before the weekend. 91 00:06:02,030 --> 00:06:06,180 What is the budget? The budget is a set of financial documents. It’s how we spend money, 92 00:06:06,310 --> 00:06:08,930 how we raise money, how we decide how to pay everyone’s salary. 93 00:06:09,140 --> 00:06:11,060 But it’s also a statement of priorities. 94 00:06:11,180 --> 00:06:16,270 It's one annual time a year that the city can take a pause and take stock of what’s going on, 95 00:06:16,470 --> 00:06:19,430 what are the decisions we’ve made, the decisions we need to make, 96 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,390 how is the city changing and how do we make investments to do that. 97 00:06:22,980 --> 00:06:26,020 The budget refers to both the day to day operational side of things, 98 00:06:26,180 --> 00:06:30,180 so that’s everyone’s salaries, that’s what you pay for utilities, that’s what you pay for heat. 99 00:06:30,890 --> 00:06:34,270 It also means the capital plan which is what we do for five years, 100 00:06:34,930 --> 00:06:38,770 big projects, like roads and bridges and schools and all the big stuff that you see. 101 00:06:40,810 --> 00:06:43,810 Boston’s budget parameters. By that we mean, 102 00:06:44,100 --> 00:06:46,560 we can’t do everything that everybody wants all at the same time. 103 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:48,560 The reason that is, is because we live in a really 104 00:06:48,790 --> 00:06:51,020 kind of constrained fiscally 105 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,020 tight structure. What I mean by that is we can’t run a deficit like the Federal government. 106 00:06:55,190 --> 00:06:57,810 The State law requires us to have a balanced budget every year 107 00:06:58,060 --> 00:07:02,430 and we are capped in what we can raise in our own revenues. 108 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:04,720 We’re capped by our property tax at 2,5 %, 109 00:07:04,980 --> 00:07:07,560 we also don’t have the ability to say raise an income tax 110 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:09,640 like other cities across the country or the State. 111 00:07:09,930 --> 00:07:13,310 So we’re living within a pretty tight fiscally constrained world. 112 00:07:13,470 --> 00:07:17,060 Which means we have to make strategic investments. We have to make priorities, 113 00:07:17,220 --> 00:07:19,180 to make tradeoffs ²between what those things are. 114 00:07:19,390 --> 00:07:21,850 The reason that that is a good thing at the end of the day 115 00:07:22,270 --> 00:07:25,890 is because when there is an economic downturn like there was in 2010, 116 00:07:26,060 --> 00:07:30,970 we do a lot better than the State, a lot better than other cities and towns across the country. 117 00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:34,850 A lot of other seasoned towns had massive layoffs in 2010 when the economy tanked. 118 00:07:34,970 --> 00:07:37,850 The State obviously ran a billion dollar budget deficit. 119 00:07:38,100 --> 00:07:39,850 This city, because of the way it’s run 120 00:07:40,060 --> 00:07:42,850 and because of the way the history of financial management has gone, 121 00:07:43,060 --> 00:07:45,350 actually came out on the other side pretty unscathed. 122 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:47,890 And frankly we avoided a lot of the pitfalls and a lot of the 123 00:07:48,220 --> 00:07:51,890 negative consequences that came with the economic recession in 2010. 124 00:07:52,230 --> 00:07:54,060 What do we have for revenue at the end of the day? 125 00:07:54,220 --> 00:07:57,020 We collect money in different buckets as you can see here. 126 00:07:57,180 --> 00:08:00,180 The FY19 budget is about 3.3 billion. 127 00:08:00,310 --> 00:08:03,430 70 % of that comes from property taxes. State aide makes up of about 128 00:08:03,890 --> 00:08:08,470 13 % and then we have other revenue, excises, local permits, all these other types of things 129 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:09,770 that are out there in the world. 130 00:08:09,930 --> 00:08:15,680 Property tax is vital. Property tax is not only 2,5 % we grow every year on our existing property, 131 00:08:15,970 --> 00:08:20,680 but also what we call new growth which is the new buildings, new residential 132 00:08:20,850 --> 00:08:22,770 all the new construction that comes into the city every year, 133 00:08:22,930 --> 00:08:25,890 which is a little bit harder to predict, but at the end of the day 134 00:08:26,060 --> 00:08:30,020 is a lot of what we build our bread and butter on. That’s how we’ve been able to make 135 00:08:30,310 --> 00:08:33,520 strategic investments over the last few years and continue to kind of push the city forward. 136 00:08:34,310 --> 00:08:36,430 State aid is on there at 13 %. 137 00:08:36,860 --> 00:08:39,310 Ten years ago, that used to be about 20 %. 138 00:08:39,500 --> 00:08:41,180 And 20 years ago, it used to be 30 %. 139 00:08:41,690 --> 00:08:44,430 So that means that the State used to represent a much bigger 140 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,720 portion of our budget: that’s both a decrease in what we call State aid at the end of the day, 141 00:08:48,970 --> 00:08:51,430 and property taxes has been so strong in the last few years. 142 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,720 That actually helped increase our reliance as well. 143 00:08:55,060 --> 00:08:57,600 So overall we’re in a growing environment. 144 00:08:57,770 --> 00:08:59,430 We grow about 4 or 5 % every year. 145 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,390 both from the property tax and other strategic revenue initiatives 146 00:09:03,560 --> 00:09:05,270 that we push forward in the last year. 147 00:09:05,450 --> 00:09:07,770 Moving onto how we spend the $3.3 billion dollars. 148 00:09:08,140 --> 00:09:11,100 It’s in basically 5 big buckets right now. 149 00:09:11,270 --> 00:09:14,430 There’s obviously a lot of complexity that goes into each of those. 150 00:09:15,310 --> 00:09:17,520 The first one should be familiar for everyone. 151 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:21,600 Education represents about 40 % of the budget. That’s both BPS and Charter Schools. 152 00:09:22,020 --> 00:09:25,810 Obviously both of those have been increasing since the Mayor’s been in office. 153 00:09:25,890 --> 00:09:30,470 $200 million more per year for public schools as a part of the last budget 154 00:09:30,850 --> 00:09:34,770 and our charter assessment is up another $100 million dollars in that time. 155 00:09:35,130 --> 00:09:36,470 So since the Mayor’s been in office, 156 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:40,470 education spending has increased by about $300 million which is something to be proud of. 157 00:09:40,770 --> 00:09:44,100 Public safety, that’s Police and Fire. They make up about 20 % of the budget. 158 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:50,180 City departments. That’s things like streets, Public Health, Parks and everyone in this room. 159 00:09:50,350 --> 00:09:54,020 We make up the smallest portion of this budget, but it’s an important part of it. 160 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:58,520 And it’s something that we tried to grow a lot more, but there are a lot of demands 161 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:00,930 on many different parts of the City budget. 162 00:10:01,540 --> 00:10:03,720 Fixed costs like pensions and debt service 163 00:10:03,890 --> 00:10:07,020 and then finally Healthcare that support all the other city departments 164 00:10:07,210 --> 00:10:12,020 are basically how we spend the majority of that 3.3 billion on the operating budget side. 165 00:10:13,900 --> 00:10:17,970 The other big piece of the budget that we have is the capital plan. 166 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:23,390 Right here is a map of what we have from a top down view ofl the different types 167 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:24,930 of projects that we have out there. 168 00:10:25,060 --> 00:10:29,850 It’s a 2.4 billion dollar plan over 5 years to invest in roads and bridges 169 00:10:29,930 --> 00:10:32,180 and schools and libraries and all the great things that you have. 170 00:10:32,810 --> 00:10:34,810 A lot of folks, especially in the rating agency world 171 00:10:35,020 --> 00:10:37,600 and people who buy our debt want to see that we’re making 172 00:10:37,970 --> 00:10:40,100 investments in places that we planned for. 173 00:10:40,390 --> 00:10:42,890 That’s why the Mayor committed 10 % of all new capital funding 174 00:10:43,020 --> 00:10:45,560 towards climate resiliency. We have the billion dollar Public School plan 175 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:48,890 and a whole host of other things that we’re investing in. The annual capital plan 176 00:10:49,020 --> 00:10:52,220 is over a 5 year period because these projects are typically bigger in scope. 177 00:10:52,430 --> 00:10:56,890 We borrow money for them and we pay for it on the operating budget side for debt service. 178 00:10:57,130 --> 00:10:59,430 So they’re companion piece to the operating budget, 179 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,680 but something that goes through the very similar process to 180 00:11:02,850 --> 00:11:04,680 what we do on the operating side. 181 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:19,890 We have come to join Becka and Molly in marriage, 182 00:11:20,060 --> 00:11:23,520 a wedding is a joyful celebration of the promises you make today. 183 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,470 Learning to love each other and live together in harmony 184 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:28,390 is one of the greatest challenges of a marriage. 185 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:32,770 But know that love, trust and loyalty are the foundation of a happy enduring marriage. 186 00:11:33,350 --> 00:11:36,930 Remember to listen, respect, encourage and inspire one another. 187 00:11:37,390 --> 00:11:40,020 Support each other dreams as you build your lives together. 188 00:11:40,180 --> 00:11:44,270 Comfort one another during times of struggle. Laugh together during times of joy. 189 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,970 Now if you want to face each other we’ll do vows. 190 00:11:47,430 --> 00:11:48,470 I Becka. 191 00:11:49,150 --> 00:11:50,140 Take thee Molly. 192 00:11:51,020 --> 00:11:52,430 To be my wedded wife. 193 00:11:53,770 --> 00:11:55,220 And I promise to be. 194 00:11:56,370 --> 00:11:57,930 A loving and faithful wife. 195 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:01,560 Through joy and sorrow. 196 00:12:03,050 --> 00:12:04,350 Sickness and health 197 00:12:05,690 --> 00:12:07,470 To love and to cherish. 198 00:12:08,610 --> 00:12:10,220 From this day forward. 199 00:12:11,340 --> 00:12:15,350 Now do you Becka take thee Molly here present to be your wife? 200 00:12:16,930 --> 00:12:19,970 Excellent. All right Molly’s turn. I, Molly. 201 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:49,020 Now, do you Molly take thee Becka here present to be your wife? 202 00:12:50,510 --> 00:12:53,220 Excellent. Now we’re going to go on to the rings. 203 00:12:54,230 --> 00:12:57,390 These rings are a symbol of eternity and made by your friend. 204 00:12:57,560 --> 00:13:02,520 The unbroken circle, it represents the unbroken circle of love. 205 00:13:02,830 --> 00:13:04,680 Today you’ve chosen to exchange rings 206 00:13:04,850 --> 00:13:08,810 as a sign of your love for one another and the seal of the promises you make today. 207 00:13:09,100 --> 00:13:10,890 You’re going to repeat these vows after me 208 00:13:11,310 --> 00:13:12,560 and then the last line 209 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:16,180 you’re going to put the ring on Molly’s finger when you say "with this ring". 210 00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:18,970 This is my favorite part. 211 00:13:19,810 --> 00:13:21,220 Just as this ring. 212 00:13:22,610 --> 00:13:23,970 Encircles your finger. 213 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:26,640 So does my love. 214 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:29,430 Encircle your heart. 215 00:13:31,370 --> 00:13:34,140 Now you can place it on her finger and say/: "With this ring 216 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:36,100 I thee wed. 217 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:42,970 Molly’s turn. "Just as this ring. 218 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:54,020 Now, with this ring. 219 00:13:57,310 --> 00:13:58,350 I thee wed. 220 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:00,430 Perfect. 221 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,720 In as much as Becka and Molly have exchanged rings, 222 00:14:04,290 --> 00:14:09,470 have consented to matrimony and vows, 223 00:14:09,620 --> 00:14:12,930 by the authority vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 224 00:14:13,140 --> 00:14:14,600 I now pronounce you hus... 225 00:14:15,060 --> 00:14:16,060 married. 226 00:14:17,060 --> 00:14:18,390 Here we go. Stand together. 227 00:14:20,140 --> 00:14:21,020 Smile. 228 00:14:22,890 --> 00:14:24,180 Let me show you what we got. 229 00:14:24,630 --> 00:14:26,560 I want to congratulate 230 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:28,520 Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox 231 00:14:28,930 --> 00:14:34,850 and the entire organization for an incredible run. 119 wins from start to finish 232 00:14:35,340 --> 00:14:38,720 I didn’t realize until last night that they had won the Spring Training Leagues 233 00:14:38,890 --> 00:14:41,930 and the regular leagues and then obviously the World Series last night, 234 00:14:42,100 --> 00:14:43,600 it’s exciting here in the City of Boston. 235 00:14:43,810 --> 00:14:48,600 I want to congratulate Red Sox Nation for our 9th World Championship in Boston. 236 00:14:50,180 --> 00:14:54,810 This is an all-time great team that we had. I think a lot of people enjoyed watching this team. 237 00:14:55,270 --> 00:14:56,640 Everybody contributed. 238 00:14:56,810 --> 00:14:59,720 I was talking to people on the way to work this morning 239 00:14:59,780 --> 00:15:04,430 and thinking about everybody in this whole team. Everyone had a special play in this World Series. 240 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,220 Congratulations to the entire team for your resilience 241 00:15:07,390 --> 00:15:11,270 and your positivity, and the way you carried yourself on the field and off the field. 242 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:13,430 And even last night during the interview session. 243 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,810 Thank you to all the players for the great work they did. 244 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,680 These players are role models and we want to celebrate them in Boston style. 245 00:15:20,170 --> 00:15:23,060 A championship duck boat parade will take place on Wednesday, 246 00:15:23,220 --> 00:15:26,270 starting at 11:00 on Boylston Street by Fenway Park. 247 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:28,020 We hope to see a big crowd out there, 248 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:30,560 but we do have a few messages out there. 249 00:15:31,020 --> 00:15:34,770 Do not try to drive to the parade. Take public transportation. 250 00:15:35,170 --> 00:15:38,350 They’ll be traffic and parking restrictions surrounding the route. 251 00:15:38,850 --> 00:15:40,520 We’re working on a web page. 252 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:44,470 It will be up in a little bit. It will be Boston.gov/Redsoxparade. 253 00:15:44,570 --> 00:15:47,020 As far as safety goes, be respectful of the City. 254 00:15:48,350 --> 00:15:51,770 Be respectful of the property, of the people, of the businesses, be respectful 255 00:15:53,060 --> 00:15:56,520 of the Red Sox. We are a City of champions so let’s celebrate like champions. 256 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,720 I’m going to turn the microphone over to Commissioner Gross. 257 00:15:59,890 --> 00:16:01,720 And then we’re going to turn it over to Chief Green 258 00:16:02,020 --> 00:16:04,310 and then I’ll open it up for questions that people might have. 259 00:16:04,930 --> 00:16:05,930 Thank you Your Honor. 260 00:16:06,930 --> 00:16:08,100 Good morning everyone. 261 00:16:10,270 --> 00:16:13,520 Well, I'll say congratulations not only to the Red Sox, 262 00:16:13,970 --> 00:16:16,470 but the City of Boston. We would ask everyone to act 263 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,720 responsibly and be respectful 264 00:16:19,590 --> 00:16:22,060 of the other revelers in the parade. 265 00:16:22,530 --> 00:16:25,560 Also we will have full coverage in our neighborhoods. 266 00:16:26,350 --> 00:16:30,970 But for those attending the parade, no public drinking. 267 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:33,640 Alcohol will not be tolerated. 268 00:16:34,790 --> 00:16:40,520 And you should know this. This should be common sense, but no weapons at all either. 269 00:16:41,390 --> 00:16:42,390 So we fully expect 270 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,600 to have a great parade. It’s time to celebrate. 271 00:16:46,150 --> 00:16:48,720 Well now I’ll turn it over to Chief Green. 272 00:16:50,070 --> 00:16:51,220 Thank you Commissioner. 273 00:16:53,180 --> 00:16:59,180 You know this doesn’t get old. I think this is my 11th Championship in the last 16 years? 274 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:01,810 It just doesn’t get old. 275 00:17:02,620 --> 00:17:04,810 That being said, the transit police are well experienced 276 00:17:04,970 --> 00:17:08,100 and prepared for special events such as Wednesday’s parade. 277 00:17:08,780 --> 00:17:10,850 We encourage everyone as the Mayor says, to 278 00:17:11,020 --> 00:17:14,720 come in the City of Boston, utilizing the MBTA transit system. 279 00:17:15,310 --> 00:17:19,100 We will have increased coverage, both uniformed and in plain clothes 280 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:23,020 throughout the system to ensure a safe and travel by all. 281 00:17:24,070 --> 00:17:27,270 We ask our riders to be respectful to one another 282 00:17:27,450 --> 00:17:30,100 and especially mindful of those with young children, 283 00:17:30,270 --> 00:17:35,470 the elderly and people with disabilities as you utilize the MBTA transit system. 284 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:37,810 And as the Commissioner stated, alcohol 285 00:17:37,970 --> 00:17:43,020 consumption and or unruly behavior will not be tolerated at all on the MBTA. 286 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,390 Currently we got updates from the brick. 287 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,310 There are no known credible threats to this event. 288 00:17:50,770 --> 00:17:55,140 With that being said, we also ask our riders to 289 00:17:55,230 --> 00:17:58,100 please if you see something, say something. 290 00:17:58,270 --> 00:18:01,970 Nothing’s too small. We need you to be our extra eyes out there. 291 00:18:03,180 --> 00:18:06,850 Contact us immediately and we will send an officer out to investigate. 292 00:18:08,020 --> 00:18:08,850 With your help 293 00:18:08,970 --> 00:18:11,850 we can have a safe and enjoyable celebration. 294 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,560 So, the goal of the taskforce is really to focus 295 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:33,270 on eviction prevention. 296 00:18:33,430 --> 00:18:37,520 We would like to meet 4 times. This is the second meeting. 297 00:18:37,890 --> 00:18:40,680 And ultimately to put together a list of 298 00:18:40,890 --> 00:18:44,390 recommendations for public comment by Spring of 2019. 299 00:18:45,020 --> 00:18:47,680 And then to present those recommendations to the Mayor 300 00:18:47,850 --> 00:18:49,470 and to the City Council. 301 00:18:49,990 --> 00:18:52,770 With some sort of legislation to come out of it. 302 00:18:52,930 --> 00:18:55,350 What’s the total amount for the awards, roughly? 303 00:18:56,730 --> 00:19:00,720 2.5 million dollars. So put two and a half million dollars out 304 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:06,930 for tenancy stability and eviction prevention, it’s a sizable commitment. 305 00:19:07,430 --> 00:19:09,810 Our office has also been working in conjunction 306 00:19:09,970 --> 00:19:13,180 with the Neighborhood Housing Department here in DND. 307 00:19:13,770 --> 00:19:19,180 And to put together an eviction prevention policy that is required for all landlords, 308 00:19:19,530 --> 00:19:21,020 or all property 309 00:19:22,270 --> 00:19:27,770 prospectors who are looking to purchase property or bid on property here in Boston. 310 00:19:28,300 --> 00:19:33,220 That policy was implemented and it went out in the Request for proposals for 311 00:19:33,390 --> 00:19:35,930 September of this year. 312 00:19:38,550 --> 00:19:43,060 The proposals that we’ve received are now under review 313 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:45,560 and we’ll try to figure out exactly 314 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,680 how effective that was during the first implementation of it. 315 00:19:50,220 --> 00:19:55,640 The same policy was out under our Dudley Square RFP, 316 00:19:57,140 --> 00:19:59,770 and that I believe is wrapping up today. 317 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,520 Those proposals, the Dudley proposals are due today. 318 00:20:04,970 --> 00:20:07,060 Which is very exciting and like Dominique said, 319 00:20:07,220 --> 00:20:11,810 there was a very clear requirement that anyone submitting for land, 320 00:20:12,890 --> 00:20:17,220 submitting proposals for the four sites in Dudley, 321 00:20:17,460 --> 00:20:22,810 had to provide a proposal on how they were going to... 322 00:20:23,170 --> 00:20:26,770 how their development was going to not contribute to displacement 323 00:20:26,970 --> 00:20:31,220 and including, if they were going to develop housing, an eviction prevention plan. 324 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:33,560 So it was very, very, specific language 325 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,680 and before you leave, I’ll make sure you have a copy. 326 00:20:37,770 --> 00:20:40,640 The Neighbourghood Housing proposals: if you want money from us, 327 00:20:40,810 --> 00:20:47,060 you’re going to tell us how you’re going... what’s your eviction prevention plan, 328 00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:50,810 and Dominique’s shop is reviewing them right now with NHD. 329 00:20:51,190 --> 00:20:52,770 And if they’re not adequate 330 00:20:52,970 --> 00:20:55,850 we’re going to have to make it a deficiency if we really love the proposal, 331 00:20:56,020 --> 00:20:58,100 or not fund the proposal altogether. 332 00:20:58,550 --> 00:21:02,430 Really asking new developers of new developments 333 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,180 to tell us how they’re really going to reduce evictions. 334 00:21:05,430 --> 00:21:07,640 We cannot just scratch things on the surface 335 00:21:07,850 --> 00:21:13,310 because they usually come back a few years later, stronger, deeper, uglier. 336 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,140 In the meantime those folks who are facing eviction, 337 00:21:18,270 --> 00:21:22,140 they keep facing eviction all of their lives. I know someone 338 00:21:23,390 --> 00:21:25,850 from the age of 12, she faced eviction. 339 00:21:26,020 --> 00:21:31,020 And now she’s 39 and she’s facing eviction again. So it’s a cycle. 340 00:21:31,180 --> 00:21:34,770 If we really want to fix it we should think about 341 00:21:35,390 --> 00:21:38,770 community land trust also, have a site for it. 342 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,810 What we need is more, in my opinion, we need more housing. 343 00:21:44,390 --> 00:21:46,720 More and more housing. You can’t have enough. 344 00:21:47,140 --> 00:21:49,180 And everything you do short of that 345 00:21:49,350 --> 00:21:53,560 and that’s just one way of thinking about it, but everything you do short of that, 346 00:21:53,930 --> 00:21:57,600 is gap filling kind of thing. 347 00:21:57,770 --> 00:22:01,270 Not that it’s not necessary, but I guess what I’m wondering 348 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,810 based on what I’ve heard so far is, it sounds like we’re... 349 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:12,680 It’s so easy to move broader than simply what are we doing about evictions. 350 00:22:12,930 --> 00:22:19,470 I’m asking the question: are we focused on the eviction question or are we 351 00:22:20,350 --> 00:22:23,220 morphing into, or is it part of the mandate here? 352 00:22:24,390 --> 00:22:26,100 How are we going to fix the big problem? 353 00:22:26,350 --> 00:22:29,060 Until we have enough of affordable housing for everyone, 354 00:22:29,250 --> 00:22:32,140 we need the office of housing stability and to work on evictions 355 00:22:32,310 --> 00:22:33,930 because not everybody’s safe. 356 00:22:34,110 --> 00:22:37,770 But we do have a housing plan. It’s pretty robust in the City, 357 00:22:38,060 --> 00:22:42,930 I can share it with you about increasing housing overall. Increasing affordable housing, 358 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,970 preservation, getting people to buy homes. 359 00:22:46,140 --> 00:22:51,560 So, we’ve done a lot of work on more of the systemic issues. 360 00:22:52,780 --> 00:22:57,430 But we still get 100 calls a week from people that are 361 00:22:58,020 --> 00:23:01,470 in market rate housing that are getting their rents increased. 362 00:23:01,750 --> 00:23:03,560 Or, are in subsidized housing, 363 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,770 but have fallen behind in their rents, et cetera. 364 00:23:07,140 --> 00:23:10,520 There’s a special sort of work that we’re all doing that is not 365 00:23:11,890 --> 00:23:16,180 fixing our larger housing issues. Does that make some sense? 366 00:23:16,350 --> 00:23:22,310 Say there’s 30,000 notices to quit served in Boston every year. 367 00:23:22,660 --> 00:23:25,890 It’s what we are estimating. 368 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:30,970 I think the challenge with early intervention 369 00:23:31,030 --> 00:23:37,350 is that it’s super valuable, super necessary, probably more effective and opens up 370 00:23:37,790 --> 00:23:43,430 the target population that you could serve to be large enough 371 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:45,930 that it’s impossible to even conceive of how to serve them. 372 00:23:46,810 --> 00:23:49,640 1,100 households who were in subsidized housing 373 00:23:49,770 --> 00:23:52,810 actually went to court, somehow didn’t get raft, 374 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:56,390 didn’t get anything else, did get evicted. In a year. 375 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:02,560 The thing that we also know is that subsidized household who were evicted 376 00:24:02,930 --> 00:24:05,310 are not eligible for Emergency Assistance. 377 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:10,470 Which to me just makes them the red alarm population. 378 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,060 And so to some extent there is a benefit to... 379 00:24:15,260 --> 00:24:19,970 I think that there is a benefit to focusing on that population 380 00:24:20,100 --> 00:24:22,180 above all else if only for that reason. 381 00:24:23,100 --> 00:24:24,720 If you get evicted from subsidized housing, 382 00:24:24,890 --> 00:24:27,140 or you have a housing voucher and you get evicted, 383 00:24:28,270 --> 00:24:31,680 you can’t access family shelter at the State. You have no safeguard. 384 00:24:31,850 --> 00:24:33,850 You make the lowest income 385 00:24:34,140 --> 00:24:38,600 and you’ve been evicted probably for rent arrearage, small amounts. 386 00:24:38,810 --> 00:24:42,390 And you have absolutely nowhere to go because you can’t access the shelter system. 387 00:24:42,970 --> 00:24:44,100 For three years. 388 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,430 What could we do to intervene sooner? 389 00:24:49,610 --> 00:24:52,560 And what I thought was... 390 00:24:53,030 --> 00:24:56,350 I guess it’s reinventing the wheel, except we haven’t invented it yet. 391 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:02,770 I think we do a particularly bad job of informing and persuading. 392 00:25:03,350 --> 00:25:08,520 Maybe the small landlords in particular are informed that there are resources, 393 00:25:08,810 --> 00:25:11,180 but persuading them to actually use them? 394 00:25:11,730 --> 00:25:17,720 The small landlord groups seem to feel like they’re battled 395 00:25:17,890 --> 00:25:20,890 and they approach everything from that point of view. 396 00:25:21,350 --> 00:25:23,430 And it’s just economics. 397 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,350 It would make so much more sense to be able to say, 398 00:25:28,290 --> 00:25:31,100 We’re not going to hit you over the head. You don’t have to do this. 399 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:36,180 But if you know somebody’s chronically late, or somebody’s not budgeting, 400 00:25:36,350 --> 00:25:40,970 or somebody is falling behind, catching up every 4 to 6 months, 401 00:25:41,290 --> 00:25:43,560 clearly that’s not a good business model. 402 00:25:44,130 --> 00:25:47,890 Bring them to us, we’ll help them budget. You bring them to us early. 403 00:25:48,060 --> 00:25:52,390 We’ll do this and it’s so much more cost efficient. 404 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,180 But we don’t do anything. 405 00:25:55,470 --> 00:25:58,520 Because I was talking to the Citylife Group, I said, 406 00:25:59,850 --> 00:26:05,720 could Citylife see its way to holding itself out to that. I’m not sure because... 407 00:26:06,020 --> 00:26:08,720 But somebody should be able to say, 408 00:26:09,350 --> 00:26:13,970 on a more intimate basis than simply "we’ve got a website": 409 00:26:14,390 --> 00:26:15,770 Here’s what we can use. 410 00:26:15,970 --> 00:26:19,640 Here’s how to do it and I think that’s the only way you’re going to get to them. 411 00:26:20,020 --> 00:26:22,890 If we're really concerned about what we’re doing, 412 00:26:23,060 --> 00:26:26,220 we need to also think about community land trust. 413 00:26:27,070 --> 00:26:31,680 For those folks who really can’t do anything, they could go there and it will be a safe zone. 414 00:26:31,910 --> 00:26:36,640 And it could go from generation to generation. Why can’t we do that? Other places have done it. 415 00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:39,140 That’s good. 416 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,810 Everybody gets the first round. But you can only get one. 417 00:27:24,150 --> 00:27:25,930 What do you want? You want pie now? 418 00:27:29,110 --> 00:27:32,520 Apple, cherry... What kind do you want, sir? 419 00:27:39,570 --> 00:27:43,680 Not right now. You have to come back the second time. Let everybody go through. 420 00:27:46,470 --> 00:27:51,100 Let some more people get to have some. That’s all I got. Thank you. 421 00:27:53,310 --> 00:27:54,680 M'am, no problem. 422 00:27:57,710 --> 00:28:01,310 I don’t mean for nobody to get mad but I gotta get enough for everybody. 423 00:28:01,900 --> 00:28:06,060 Please don’t take the ice. No, go on with that, go. 424 00:28:06,500 --> 00:28:08,100 If you take it, the rest won’t be cold. 425 00:28:08,350 --> 00:28:09,470 Any questions? 426 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:11,890 I’m a victim of PC scam. 427 00:28:12,390 --> 00:28:14,680 I thought it was Microsoft and it wasn’t, 428 00:28:14,810 --> 00:28:17,180 it turned out to be some scammers. 429 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:23,640 I actually gave them my name, my card. I need help. 430 00:28:23,850 --> 00:28:26,020 Don’t give any information out over the phone. 431 00:28:26,500 --> 00:28:29,220 If somebody says it’s your doctor: "send me a letter". 432 00:28:29,450 --> 00:28:33,680 If somebody says, you’re going to shut your cable off tomorrow: send me a letter. 433 00:28:34,310 --> 00:28:37,220 Don’t give them your email. Tell them to send you a letter. 434 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,890 Serve it. If they say you owe money, send a constable. 435 00:28:41,970 --> 00:28:46,060 "Send somebody down, petition me". Don’t even bother. 436 00:28:46,220 --> 00:28:49,100 You’re going to get letters in your house. If you own your home. 437 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:53,270 My mother gets them. Because I go to her house and do her bills and I get the mail 438 00:28:53,430 --> 00:28:56,890 There’s always: oh, you can earn a lot of money on your home. 439 00:28:57,390 --> 00:29:00,430 Or we can give you a mortgage a low interest mortgage. 440 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:02,810 Just don’t believe any of this stuff. 441 00:29:03,090 --> 00:29:08,520 Unless it comes from the City, from the Counselor’s office or our office, 442 00:29:09,810 --> 00:29:14,060 or something that your civic association might have talked about. 443 00:29:14,890 --> 00:29:18,180 Do not give anybody any information. 444 00:29:18,850 --> 00:29:22,470 The Counsel was talking about scams. Somebody might call and say to you: 445 00:29:22,860 --> 00:29:24,390 we have your grandson. 446 00:29:25,020 --> 00:29:27,560 We’re not going to give him back until you give us money. 447 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:31,850 Your instant reaction is: "Is it Billy or Bob?" 448 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:33,810 I got Billy. 449 00:29:33,950 --> 00:29:35,140 That’s all they need 450 00:29:35,310 --> 00:29:38,060 and they will frighten you into you will think that they’re kidnapped. 451 00:29:38,220 --> 00:29:42,850 There are literally people that do this from other parts of the world. 452 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,350 They scam people and people will give them money, they’ll run around, 453 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,680 get money and they’ll give it to somebody. So do not, do not do that. 454 00:29:50,710 --> 00:29:52,560 If Eversource calls you for a deal: 455 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:55,060 "Can I have your name and number?". 456 00:29:55,270 --> 00:29:58,970 Call your City counselor, call the Mayor’s office and say does Eversource have a deal? 457 00:29:59,210 --> 00:30:02,140 Does Comcast have a deal? Does RNC Cable have a deal? 458 00:30:02,310 --> 00:30:04,770 Does whatever it is, make sure you follow up. 459 00:30:04,970 --> 00:30:07,060 I’m going to follow up with you. Emily’s going to get your information. 460 00:30:07,310 --> 00:30:11,180 And we’ll get on it today and we’ll find out, we’ll contact the authorities. 461 00:30:11,350 --> 00:30:14,310 We also have a couple police officers, so if we need to take the next step we will. 462 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:16,140 From my area in Lower Mills, 463 00:30:16,350 --> 00:30:19,720 those calls and those phone numbers and those people knock on the door. 464 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:21,390 They come into the station. 465 00:30:21,970 --> 00:30:26,310 And they report it to the police department and they take it over to the detective department. 466 00:30:26,850 --> 00:30:32,310 But the thing about it is nothing never get back to me or anybody else. 467 00:30:32,470 --> 00:30:36,270 What has taken place since we reported this? 468 00:30:36,390 --> 00:30:39,640 And the calls and the number thing, you could have them right there. 469 00:30:39,810 --> 00:30:44,850 So how do we handle that to get some response to what we’re trying to stop? 470 00:30:45,220 --> 00:30:48,220 One thing I would suggest, maybe what we’ll do is at one of the meetings coming up, 471 00:30:48,430 --> 00:30:50,220 I’ll ask Nora Bastian to come in. 472 00:30:50,410 --> 00:30:52,350 Nora is the new Superintendent. 473 00:30:52,470 --> 00:30:55,970 Her role is community policing. Her role is, under community policing, 474 00:30:56,220 --> 00:30:59,680 to follow the Elderly Department. As far as going out to districts. 475 00:30:59,970 --> 00:31:03,140 So we’ll ask Nora to come to your next meeting and she can explain 476 00:31:03,220 --> 00:31:05,890 and come up with a process. There might not have been a process. 477 00:31:06,100 --> 00:31:08,560 My experience has been that the information flows back and forth. 478 00:31:08,770 --> 00:31:12,640 But we’re going to make sure that it really does flow back and forth. 479 00:31:12,930 --> 00:31:17,390 If you make a complaint at a civic association, you should get a call back 480 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,810 because it's reporting it into a black hole, if you’re not getting information back. 481 00:31:20,970 --> 00:31:22,850 And then you can share the information with other people. 482 00:31:23,220 --> 00:31:25,060 We’ll have Nora come to the next meeting. 483 00:31:26,270 --> 00:31:29,140 If you live in a BHA Housing Development and you’re not getting a response, 484 00:31:30,130 --> 00:31:31,850 my advice are two things. 485 00:31:32,260 --> 00:31:37,310 Number one is call your complaint into 311. Because 311 is the City hotline. 486 00:31:37,620 --> 00:31:40,390 And it’s a public information and it’s in my office. 487 00:31:40,850 --> 00:31:42,140 I see it up on the wall. 488 00:31:42,850 --> 00:31:44,640 I will follow up and say what’s going on with that? 489 00:31:44,870 --> 00:31:47,350 Number two, reach out to the Elderly Commission. 490 00:31:47,810 --> 00:31:50,270 There’s been times where I’ve gone to different events. 491 00:31:50,470 --> 00:31:52,560 Some of you have grabbed me about situations 492 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:54,560 that might not be related to the Elderly Commission, 493 00:31:54,970 --> 00:31:59,100 but the advocacy there, they will call over. And when they call over, I’m calling over. 494 00:31:59,310 --> 00:32:03,060 It’s important to you to use those different steps. If you’re not getting somewhere, 495 00:32:03,220 --> 00:32:05,890 and you live somewhere, you call 311 and make a public, 496 00:32:06,060 --> 00:32:08,180 and when they ask you why’d you do that? The man told me to. 497 00:32:09,330 --> 00:32:12,060 And if you see me in the street grab me and tell me what the problem is. 498 00:32:12,230 --> 00:32:16,310 Because I guarantee you by the time I get in the car and to the next stop after this, 499 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,140 somebody at the BHA will be talking to me. All right? 500 00:32:19,990 --> 00:32:21,310 Questions over here then I’ll come back this way. 501 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,680 Now I had medicine that I actually need 502 00:32:25,190 --> 00:32:27,270 and they want me to pay 503 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,890 a co-pay of 65 dollars that I can’t afford. 504 00:32:31,060 --> 00:32:33,810 And I need that medicine and I don’t know what to do about it. 505 00:32:34,060 --> 00:32:35,810 We have to really think about here, 506 00:32:36,350 --> 00:32:41,270 in Massachusetts, at the Legislative level and in Congress at the congressional level 507 00:32:41,390 --> 00:32:44,220 to do something about pharmaceutical costs. 508 00:32:45,890 --> 00:32:47,560 They’re out of control. 509 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,470 My father passed away in 2008, but before he passed away... 510 00:32:54,100 --> 00:32:56,680 and I didn’t know what a "donut hole" was until then. 511 00:32:59,100 --> 00:33:03,350 He was on a pill, once a day for prostate. 512 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,100 It was $500 a month, the prescription. 513 00:33:07,810 --> 00:33:10,100 So for the first five months of the year, 514 00:33:10,270 --> 00:33:12,930 it was covered a 100 % by his health insurance. 515 00:33:14,310 --> 00:33:16,930 The next $2500 dollars as you know, the Donut Hole, 516 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:19,810 the next 5 months was out of pocket. 517 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,890 And then the last 2 months of the year were covered by insurance again. 518 00:33:24,980 --> 00:33:28,560 What Obamacare did, what the Affordable Care Act did was close the Donut hole. 519 00:33:29,510 --> 00:33:32,220 And that Donut hole now is there, but what they’ve done is... 520 00:33:32,390 --> 00:33:35,600 I don’t know what the right answer is, but they’ve done something with prescriptions 521 00:33:37,020 --> 00:33:39,270 that you end up paying more out of pocket. 522 00:33:41,020 --> 00:33:46,310 I haven’t seen it in any of my prescriptions, but it happens to seniors all the time. 523 00:33:46,890 --> 00:33:51,180 So we do have to think about legislatively how do we file something 524 00:33:51,350 --> 00:33:54,140 that closes that gap for you. Because many of you, 525 00:33:54,890 --> 00:33:59,680 all of us, as you get older you take prescriptions for high blood pressure, 526 00:33:59,850 --> 00:34:01,810 for cholesterol, whatever it is you have. 527 00:34:03,970 --> 00:34:07,060 It’s important that we understand there’s more health risk as you get older. 528 00:34:07,750 --> 00:34:09,310 Because the body breaks down a little bit. 529 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,270 There’s more chance that you’re going to be on a prescription as you get older. 530 00:34:12,980 --> 00:34:15,140 And we need to make sure that that’s covered. 531 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:18,680 The answer is we have to look legislatively fixing that. 532 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:22,310 One of the reasons why we have the Elderly Commission 533 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:26,270 is to advocate on your behalf. The people that work for the City work for you. 534 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,850 They’re there to service you. So take advantage 535 00:34:30,140 --> 00:34:31,350 of that opportunity. 536 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:35,350 Take advantage of that office. Ask questions. They’ll get the answers. 537 00:34:36,020 --> 00:34:39,140 And if we got to a point where, what I’d like to do, 538 00:34:39,310 --> 00:34:45,310 I’ll have to double the size of the Elderly Commission because the amount of calls they get. 539 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:48,520 Believe it or not, we don’t get that many calls. We get a lot of calls, 540 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:53,220 but not as many as there are people in Boston that are over 60 years old. 541 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:54,680 We need a bigger budget. 542 00:34:54,850 --> 00:34:58,390 We’ll get the budget there, but we need you to use the office 543 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:02,020 because I’d rather you talk to one of the specialists we have 544 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,100 and get a benefit than be taken advantage of. 545 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:09,060 That’s why they’re there. They’re there for you. They work for you. 546 00:35:09,220 --> 00:35:11,810 Our primary purpose is to help people 547 00:35:11,970 --> 00:35:14,600 with the situations you might have. So, please, call them. 548 00:36:24,510 --> 00:36:26,720 As usual, it was busy night last night on Halloween 549 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:31,890 and just be aware of any kind of violence that might extend from it. 550 00:36:32,070 --> 00:36:35,520 Townsend and Warren: there was a firearm recovered at 7 p.m. with an arrest. 551 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,470 There was a person shot and stabbed at 137 Center Street. 552 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:41,430 There was a large party, a couple hundred people. 553 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,312 Full notes on the person shot, but they’re probably going to survive. 554 00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:49,187 The gang unit then had a car chase through H block of Bailey Associates, so be aware of that. 555 00:36:49,430 --> 00:36:53,396 And around 3 a.m. this morning, 556 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,220 the K-car got a firearm arrest in Upham’s Corner. 557 00:36:58,040 --> 00:36:59,720 And that was, 558 00:37:00,710 --> 00:37:03,604 I don’t know if it’s related, but there was a violent assault up there. 559 00:37:03,854 --> 00:37:07,021 That was the reason why people were up there and led to a firearm arrest. 560 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:14,937 Any issues? 561 00:37:15,250 --> 00:37:17,437 Concerns? Check your assignments. 562 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:18,810 Let’s have a good day. Fall out. 563 00:38:15,180 --> 00:38:16,270 I had a chance, 564 00:38:16,510 --> 00:38:19,810 over the last 5 years to get to know almost every single person in this room. 565 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:25,390 And what’s amazing is that we have developers in this room 566 00:38:25,740 --> 00:38:29,890 and housing developers in this room, that believe in resiliency. 567 00:38:30,430 --> 00:38:33,930 And that are here month after month after month after month, 568 00:38:34,340 --> 00:38:35,890 after meeting after meeting I should say. 569 00:38:36,310 --> 00:38:41,437 We have developers developing buildings in town? that believe in resiliency. 570 00:38:41,590 --> 00:38:46,470 We have folks that work in the area of whatever it is and you come back here. 571 00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:49,396 We have Universities. We have Universities. 572 00:38:49,562 --> 00:38:53,310 Boston University is one of our great partners, and we have construction companies. 573 00:38:53,970 --> 00:38:56,720 And to me it’s special. This room’s a special room 574 00:38:57,720 --> 00:39:00,390 in the sense of the commitment by the people in this room. 575 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:08,600 Since I’ve been Mayor, a lot of natural disasters have happened in different cities across America. 576 00:39:10,100 --> 00:39:13,430 Houston kind of... 577 00:39:15,180 --> 00:39:16,560 hit me a little different. 578 00:39:16,970 --> 00:39:19,729 I was talking to Mayor Turner as it was going on and... 579 00:39:19,984 --> 00:39:22,970 when he was talking about his City, he was a brand new Mayor, 580 00:39:23,146 --> 00:39:25,312 literally brand new Mayor in his first term. 581 00:39:26,270 --> 00:39:29,687 The people of Boston wanted to send things out to Houston, 582 00:39:29,854 --> 00:39:34,104 we were going to send one tractor trailer down, we ended up sending 18 tractor trailers of stuff down. 583 00:39:34,670 --> 00:39:37,187 And I thought to myself: what if that was Boston? 584 00:39:38,290 --> 00:39:42,600 And it wasn’t the giving to Houston that struck me, 585 00:39:42,970 --> 00:39:45,562 it was the need in Houston that struck me. 586 00:39:46,310 --> 00:39:49,604 It was the 18 trucks going down there and that wasn’t enough. 587 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:53,271 When you think about 18 tractor trailers from Boston and other places around the country, 588 00:39:53,437 --> 00:39:55,437 that wasn’t enough and I thought to myself: 589 00:39:55,590 --> 00:40:00,890 where are we in our city? Where are we in the City? Not in the Green Ribbon Commission, 590 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:05,720 not on the global plans, not working with the State. Where are we in the City? 591 00:40:05,930 --> 00:40:08,680 So we have, I don’t have it here with us today... 592 00:40:10,260 --> 00:40:13,560 We have a plan that literally protects 593 00:40:14,580 --> 00:40:21,430 the harbor, protects the shoreline, creates 47 miles of shoreline. 594 00:40:22,460 --> 00:40:25,770 We talk a lot about bringing people back to the water. 595 00:40:25,937 --> 00:40:28,310 This plan brings people back to the water. 596 00:40:29,140 --> 00:40:37,890 This plan allows people access to the water where we have 67 acres of new open space on Boston Harbor. 597 00:40:38,850 --> 00:40:42,687 It creates 122 acres of revitalized open space in the waterfront. 598 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:46,312 It’s about protections and connections. 599 00:40:46,730 --> 00:40:51,020 So when people like you in this room look at what’s happening, 600 00:40:51,170 --> 00:40:52,937 you know that we’re protecting 601 00:40:53,100 --> 00:40:55,354 what we have to protect in our neighborhoods. 602 00:40:55,521 --> 00:40:58,021 We’re protecting Charlestown and East Boston and South Boston. 603 00:40:58,146 --> 00:41:01,146 We’re protecting downtown, North End, the Dorchester coastline. 604 00:41:01,450 --> 00:41:02,680 We’re protecting Roxbury. 605 00:41:02,810 --> 00:41:06,970 We’re protecting the South End. We’re protecting all of those different neighborhoods in our city 606 00:41:07,350 --> 00:41:09,100 that it’s important for us to do. 607 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,770 What we’re doing here is I think important for the future. 608 00:41:14,070 --> 00:41:17,479 I think it’s time for us to take this conversation beyond our walls. 609 00:41:18,830 --> 00:41:21,687 I think it’s time to take this conversation to the editorial boards. 610 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:24,687 And let them understand fully what’s happening here. 611 00:41:25,540 --> 00:41:27,562 Because the first editorial that came out... 612 00:41:27,729 --> 00:41:31,771 in all due respect, a nice editorial, but it was: how to pay for it? Who’s going to pay for it? 613 00:41:31,790 --> 00:41:34,520 The question’s not Who’s going to pay for it? How’s this going to happen? 614 00:41:34,687 --> 00:41:37,521 It’s not about who’s going to pay for it. It needs to happen. 615 00:41:37,940 --> 00:41:42,600 The editorial needs to say, and the press needs to start and other people need to start saying: 616 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,104 'This has to happen'. It’s not about the costs. 617 00:41:46,910 --> 00:41:49,812 It’s not about whose going put up he biggest chunk of money, 618 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,771 its how do we get everyone together to put this plan together? 619 00:41:54,180 --> 00:41:57,020 The Green Ribbon Commission is vital in this work. 620 00:41:57,770 --> 00:41:59,850 As we continue to move forward in this work, 621 00:42:00,930 --> 00:42:05,890 we need to help convey the urgency and bring diverse partners into our strategy. 622 00:42:06,140 --> 00:42:09,062 We need to talk to all of our schools, not some of our schools. 623 00:42:09,229 --> 00:42:12,187 We need to talk to all of our museums, not some of our museums. 624 00:42:12,180 --> 00:42:16,604 We need to make sure all of our hospitals understand the importance of this, not some of the hospitals. 625 00:42:16,810 --> 00:42:20,270 And more importantly we need to make business people know that this is really 626 00:42:20,437 --> 00:42:22,979 important for them as well. It’s important for us, 627 00:42:23,430 --> 00:42:25,979 for the health and safety of our residents are at stake. 628 00:42:27,180 --> 00:42:29,060 Making sure that Houston, 629 00:42:31,060 --> 00:42:35,390 Puerto Rico, Florida, New Orleans, 630 00:42:35,390 --> 00:42:39,020 Louisiana, Florida again,. 631 00:42:39,380 --> 00:42:44,850 New York, all of those different cities and areas had a storm. 632 00:42:44,930 --> 00:42:49,646 If you talk to Mitch Landrieu the former Mayor of New Orleans who wasn’t the mayor when Katrina happened, 633 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:53,062 he said if they addressed this 20 years earlier 634 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:57,729 the outcome might have been different. It still would have been bad 635 00:42:58,770 --> 00:43:02,271 because Katrina was a bad storm, but it would have been not as detrimental. 636 00:43:02,437 --> 00:43:06,060 We have to think about that now and think about, how do we prevent that from happening? 637 00:43:06,770 --> 00:43:11,270 We need to work with other leaders, with other elected officials. We need to let the legislature 638 00:43:11,390 --> 00:43:13,770 know and the city council know the importance 639 00:43:13,850 --> 00:43:16,104 of focusing on the work that we’re doing here today. 640 00:43:16,650 --> 00:43:19,396 We know that mitigation is resilience. 641 00:43:20,390 --> 00:43:24,896 It’s about the impacts here in Boston and it’s about the example we set for the nation and the world, 642 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:30,140 By showing that it can be done we can improve public health, create jobs 643 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,350 and also help people in our neighborhoods. 644 00:43:34,100 --> 00:43:35,770 We can also show the way 645 00:43:36,180 --> 00:43:38,687 and help rally the global community to do their part. 646 00:43:38,854 --> 00:43:41,680 I know that what we wanted to do here is be a leader in the country 647 00:43:41,970 --> 00:43:44,271 and a leader in the world here in Boston as far as resiliency. 648 00:43:44,441 --> 00:43:47,060 And now that we have the plan it’s about, what’s the next steps 649 00:43:47,430 --> 00:43:50,810 and what’s the actions? We know we don’t have a national government, at least 650 00:43:51,180 --> 00:43:55,850 a leader down in Washington, a president that does understand the importance of resiliency. 651 00:43:57,470 --> 00:44:01,021 We know that we don’t have the commitments right now in the EPA down in Washington 652 00:44:01,187 --> 00:44:04,354 that understands the importance of resiliency and what we’re doing here. 653 00:44:05,210 --> 00:44:10,521 Even if we had the greatest champion in Washington, it’s still incumbent upon cities and towns 654 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:12,180 across America to carry out the plan. 655 00:44:12,390 --> 00:44:14,310 I do think it’s important first that we start 656 00:44:14,479 --> 00:44:17,812 to take this conversation outside this room and have real conversations. 657 00:44:18,220 --> 00:44:19,479 I would suggest that we go 658 00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:21,812 to editorial boards of the news outlets. 659 00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:24,979 I would suggest that we start talking to more business leaders. 660 00:44:25,220 --> 00:44:28,562 I would suggest that we start thinking about how do we amp up this plan 661 00:44:28,729 --> 00:44:31,229 so it’s not just the people on the inside crowd, 662 00:44:31,430 --> 00:44:35,146 whether it’s the Chamber of Commerce or here at the Commission. 663 00:44:35,312 --> 00:44:37,312 We need to take this conversation beyond this. 664 00:45:12,100 --> 00:45:13,430 So what are we here for today? 665 00:45:14,510 --> 00:45:17,060 - Fire blocking. - OK, so the rough inspection? 666 00:45:17,890 --> 00:45:19,562 When are you guys looking to insulate? 667 00:45:20,370 --> 00:45:22,180 Insulate next week. 668 00:45:22,340 --> 00:45:23,850 Next week you have on schedule. 669 00:45:24,021 --> 00:45:25,560 On schedule for Monday. 670 00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:29,354 So you’re thinking Monday. 671 00:45:29,530 --> 00:45:32,430 Monday, Tuesday. He said two, two and a half days he’d have it all wiped out. 672 00:45:32,646 --> 00:45:35,312 - What are you doing, spray foam? - Spray foam, closed cell. 673 00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:36,770 Closed cell on the exterior. 674 00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:41,390 So you’re thinking that if all goes well today, you have them scheduled for Monday. 675 00:45:41,562 --> 00:45:45,979 For Monday. I spoke with him earlier, he said two, two and a half days to wrap it all. 676 00:45:46,770 --> 00:45:48,430 He’ll send two crews. 677 00:45:48,590 --> 00:45:50,640 I’m going to be off on Thursday. 678 00:45:52,850 --> 00:45:56,270 If we could get you may be, well provided he sends two crews Monday. 679 00:45:57,180 --> 00:45:59,270 All right. So then you’ll just email me. 680 00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:01,646 And let me know how that goes. 681 00:46:01,812 --> 00:46:06,396 And if Wednesday comes around and I have time I’ll squeeze you in to keep it going. 682 00:46:07,310 --> 00:46:10,100 So all the fire blocking’s done. All the penetration. 683 00:46:11,230 --> 00:46:14,680 - Fire caulking. - Use the caulk and the 3M caulking? 684 00:46:14,890 --> 00:46:17,220 - No foam, right? - No foam. 685 00:46:24,020 --> 00:46:28,810 Now what do we do down the basement is extended living spaces as a part of this unit? 686 00:46:28,937 --> 00:46:33,060 Extended living space for the first floor master suite, master bath, master shower -- 687 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:36,062 - And this is fully sprinkled, right? - Fully sprinkled. 688 00:46:38,940 --> 00:46:41,020 This was new underground plumbing. 689 00:46:42,230 --> 00:46:44,890 We had our plumbing inspection yesterday, so we can close out. 690 00:46:45,060 --> 00:46:46,310 So he got a look at it? 691 00:46:46,479 --> 00:46:48,770 This is a master bedroom. 692 00:46:49,020 --> 00:46:52,470 Master bedroom, master closet, master bath, laundry. 693 00:46:52,687 --> 00:46:54,771 - Extended from that unit up above. - Correct. 694 00:46:56,020 --> 00:46:59,100 And then you have this door here for your egress? 695 00:46:59,930 --> 00:47:02,310 What are we going to do with this here? How are you going... 696 00:47:03,310 --> 00:47:05,562 It’s going to be a drain here with a wet bell on the bottom. 697 00:47:05,729 --> 00:47:07,560 And it’s going to be two steps up. 698 00:47:09,330 --> 00:47:12,604 We’re going to get all that stuff and some flagstones or something. 699 00:47:12,930 --> 00:47:14,187 Are you going to patio this? 700 00:47:14,720 --> 00:47:15,896 All the way out to the back. 701 00:47:21,130 --> 00:47:24,310 Fire caulking is done. All the penetrations. 702 00:47:27,780 --> 00:47:29,729 And then this is all getting closed cell. 703 00:47:32,860 --> 00:47:35,430 And then as I said they’ll be all batts in between. 704 00:47:35,850 --> 00:47:39,520 Where’s your sprinkler head down here? 705 00:47:41,460 --> 00:47:46,310 One there, there’s one over here. This is to go outside underneath the deck. 706 00:47:46,700 --> 00:47:48,310 So that’s going to go out. 707 00:47:48,810 --> 00:47:49,896 There’s one on each floor. 708 00:47:50,900 --> 00:47:52,312 - Exterior, right? - Exterior. 709 00:47:55,180 --> 00:47:56,396 Low temperature. 710 00:48:06,810 --> 00:48:08,479 What are you doing for railings here? 711 00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:10,970 The railings are all on the second floor. 712 00:48:12,250 --> 00:48:14,600 - Iron? - It’s iron railings, the wire. 713 00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:21,930 That’s not a bad view. Are these going to be sold or rentals? 714 00:48:22,104 --> 00:48:23,146 These are condos. 715 00:48:23,312 --> 00:48:26,271 So you’re going to put them on the market when you’re done. 716 00:48:27,180 --> 00:48:29,271 - No roof deck? - There is a roof deck. 717 00:48:31,180 --> 00:48:34,810 - How’s the access? - There’s going to be a spiral. 718 00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:36,600 That’s on the plans? 719 00:48:39,710 --> 00:48:41,854 Then this is all being spray foamed, right? 720 00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:43,312 This is what you’re using, right? 721 00:49:03,720 --> 00:49:05,062 Let’s get on the second floor. 722 00:49:13,470 --> 00:49:16,396 And then with this over here Brendan, you’re going to box this all out. 723 00:49:18,250 --> 00:49:21,810 So you’re going to come off, box out that sprinkler, right. 724 00:49:22,770 --> 00:49:24,062 It will all be boxed in. 725 00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:27,229 And then you have all your heads here. And then that. 726 00:49:30,130 --> 00:49:32,604 You’re going to need some ledger lock on that right? 727 00:49:38,020 --> 00:49:40,271 It’s not a bad view until that building gets built. 728 00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:45,562 Have you seen any plans for that one yet? 729 00:49:45,750 --> 00:49:47,104 It’ll probably go up just as high. 730 00:49:47,390 --> 00:49:51,850 Take a picture of this, Brendan. Someone’s going to throw this out. 731 00:49:52,850 --> 00:49:55,396 Take a picture and make a copy for the record. 732 00:49:58,750 --> 00:49:59,604 Hold onto that. 733 00:50:02,290 --> 00:50:06,350 So you’re all set Brendan. Give me a shout early next week. It’s a short week. 734 00:50:46,140 --> 00:50:48,100 If 16 year old 735 00:50:48,720 --> 00:50:51,220 have services at Bridge, and they’re connected to the services at Bridge, 736 00:50:51,430 --> 00:50:55,146 if they’re no longer served by Bridge they don’t have a relationship with Bridge anymore. 737 00:50:55,330 --> 00:50:58,810 So it’s like how do we... and I’m not sure how we do this. 738 00:50:58,930 --> 00:51:01,220 This is why we need the RFP, the definition is like 739 00:51:01,680 --> 00:51:04,354 it has to be not connected to the services that they’re getting. 740 00:51:04,560 --> 00:51:06,979 Because once the services go away the relationship goes away, 741 00:51:07,270 --> 00:51:10,520 Which is what keeps young people in the cycle because they don’t have long term relationships. 742 00:51:10,970 --> 00:51:13,430 So the challenge 743 00:51:13,890 --> 00:51:17,390 that the RFP’s addressing, the first one is that unfortunately, 744 00:51:17,680 --> 00:51:24,310 the scope of services for youth or young adults experiencing homelessness is limited. 745 00:51:24,510 --> 00:51:26,680 Not only in Boston, but across the country. 746 00:51:26,854 --> 00:51:31,562 And most services around people experiencing homelessness are services for adults. 747 00:51:31,820 --> 00:51:33,937 And so the adult shelter system, 748 00:51:34,120 --> 00:51:36,770 unfortunately sometimes is the place where 749 00:51:36,937 --> 00:51:41,770 18, 19, 20 year old find themselves if they’re homeless on the street, 750 00:51:41,890 --> 00:51:44,970 dealing with behavioral health challenges, end up finding themselves in a shelter. 751 00:51:45,170 --> 00:51:47,937 What we’re trying to do is to tell these shelters: 752 00:51:48,104 --> 00:51:52,430 the services, the environment and the culture are created for adults 753 00:51:52,604 --> 00:51:55,890 who may experience chronic homelessness, who are 40. 754 00:51:56,140 --> 00:51:58,140 It's different for a 19 year old 755 00:51:58,430 --> 00:52:01,521 who we know statistically - and I think this would be in the RFP - 756 00:52:01,687 --> 00:52:05,312 is more likely to be LGBTQ, more likely to be people of color, 757 00:52:05,687 --> 00:52:08,021 experiencing other issues. 758 00:52:08,470 --> 00:52:12,180 What we want to say is the challenge here is that the gap of services 759 00:52:12,470 --> 00:52:16,430 to meet the specific needs of youth and young adults experiencing homelessness is great 760 00:52:16,890 --> 00:52:19,810 and multiple parts. Mayor Walsh’s plan is working on that. 761 00:52:20,020 --> 00:52:24,640 However, in the meantime we know youth and young adults already find themselves in the adult shelters. 762 00:52:24,930 --> 00:52:28,646 We’re trying to say is that in an ideal world we want youth and young adult shelters. 763 00:52:28,896 --> 00:52:34,350 But in the meantime, the city’s plan is to not just wait until we have those shelters, or have those services. 764 00:52:34,560 --> 00:52:37,146 We’re going to meet the needs of youth and young adults today. 765 00:52:37,312 --> 00:52:39,271 We want these shelters to do that. 766 00:52:39,437 --> 00:52:42,562 That’s the challenge or the need we’re trying to meet in that first one. 767 00:52:42,812 --> 00:52:46,521 And to be fair we want the shelters to think about how they’re doing this 768 00:52:46,870 --> 00:52:50,729 in a way that what do they need to do to do better? You know what I mean? 769 00:52:51,020 --> 00:52:54,890 You know this better than I. Some types of shelters will say, well we have a separate space. 770 00:52:55,270 --> 00:53:00,396 Like upstairs in the corner these 10 beds are meant for 18 to 24 year olds. 771 00:53:01,430 --> 00:53:03,680 OK, I guess a separate space is important. 772 00:53:03,860 --> 00:53:08,771 But when I have to get through all the chaos of the shelter to get to the separate space, 773 00:53:08,937 --> 00:53:10,812 I still have to go downstairs to the kitchen to eat. 774 00:53:11,062 --> 00:53:13,930 To go to the shared bathroom. 775 00:53:14,120 --> 00:53:17,430 And at night there’s only one person upstairs, or one staff person. 776 00:53:17,720 --> 00:53:22,354 How are they thinking about the fact that youth and young adults are vulnerable in these spaces? 777 00:53:22,521 --> 00:53:24,604 So we want them to say we know it’s a gap. 778 00:53:25,180 --> 00:53:29,187 We have to say this because we know our funders don’t agree with us. It’s not a long term solution. 779 00:53:29,350 --> 00:53:33,430 But that’s where they find themselves today so we’re going to meet them where they’re at. 780 00:53:33,590 --> 00:53:36,729 So this solution that you would envision... 781 00:53:38,430 --> 00:53:43,060 We’re talking about physical space. We’re talking about policies and practices. 782 00:53:43,229 --> 00:53:45,937 We’re talking about competencies of staff. 783 00:53:46,270 --> 00:53:47,812 We’re talking about 784 00:53:50,100 --> 00:53:53,187 how we do outreach and engagement and connection. 785 00:53:53,680 --> 00:53:57,146 All the stuff we know about. How do you make a space youth friendly? Same thing. 786 00:53:57,312 --> 00:54:01,146 How do we think about all those things that we already know? I think that’s how you would bucket it. 787 00:54:01,479 --> 00:54:04,270 We’re talking about space, about policies and practices. 788 00:54:04,437 --> 00:54:06,479 They're concerned about the onetime funding? I get it. 789 00:54:06,646 --> 00:54:09,687 There’s a lot you can do with onetime funding in all of those buckets. 790 00:54:09,854 --> 00:54:12,520 That then they have to sustain post that. 791 00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:14,271 So I think that’s what that is. 792 00:54:14,680 --> 00:54:16,354 And would you like for me to stay 793 00:54:16,521 --> 00:54:21,062 a little bit away from programing because it’s not multiyear funding? 794 00:54:22,550 --> 00:54:25,771 On the challenge that RFP’s trying to address 795 00:54:26,062 --> 00:54:31,146 is that we know that young adults experiencing homelessness lack 796 00:54:31,312 --> 00:54:35,604 the social capital and the personal connections with caring adults in their lives 797 00:54:35,770 --> 00:54:38,390 to help them navigate the challenges that exist. 798 00:54:39,020 --> 00:54:44,350 So to help them access opportunity, but avoid the challenges that are in front of them. 799 00:54:44,640 --> 00:54:48,187 And that too many of the relationships and this comes from youth and young adult voices, 800 00:54:48,354 --> 00:54:51,771 too many of those relationships are relationships based on the provision of service. 801 00:54:52,180 --> 00:54:57,021 And what young people have told us through this process is they need more permanent connections 802 00:54:57,210 --> 00:55:01,970 that are not tied to a service, not a case manager, not a clinician, 803 00:55:02,146 --> 00:55:06,020 not a behavioral health specialist at the community center, whatever, 804 00:55:06,100 --> 00:55:10,020 but people who just care about me and my wellbeing, separate from that. 805 00:55:10,229 --> 00:55:11,104 Permanent connections, 806 00:55:11,271 --> 00:55:15,104 the more relationships young adults have, the more likely they are to be successful 807 00:55:15,271 --> 00:55:18,930 and overcome these challenges. And so that’s what we’re trying to address. 808 00:55:19,130 --> 00:55:22,600 That youth and young adults need this especially LGBTQ 809 00:55:22,720 --> 00:55:25,140 and youth of color who are more likely to experience homelessness. 810 00:58:45,520 --> 00:58:47,470 Program folks, five dollars here. 811 00:58:48,090 --> 00:58:52,090 Get a program for the World Series champions, folks. Five dollars here. 812 00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:59,420 Program folks. Get a program for the World Series champions folks. Five dollars here. 813 00:58:59,700 --> 00:59:02,800 Comes with your free bumper sticker. Best team ever. 814 00:59:03,540 --> 00:59:05,170 Red Sox parade folks, 815 00:59:05,300 --> 00:59:07,590 get a program, 5 dollars for the World Series champions. 816 00:59:23,300 --> 00:59:29,130 119 wins, 108 during the regular season, 11 more in the post season to bring the championship home. 817 00:59:32,470 --> 00:59:36,510 Thank everyone for coming herein today. I wanna thank the Red Sox, an incredible organization 818 00:59:36,760 --> 00:59:40,340 starting with the ownership down to our general manager. I had the chance 819 00:59:40,470 --> 00:59:46,720 to go to Puerto Rico with Alex Cora in the very beginning of the season and I saw what type of person he was. 820 00:59:46,840 --> 00:59:51,470 He’s an amazing man, an amazing team, with the best fans in the world. Go Red Sox! 821 00:59:55,190 --> 00:59:58,220 - Mayor Walsh, how you doing? - This is great. I’m doing good. I can’t complain. 822 00:59:58,380 --> 01:00:02,300 It’s the World Series, Red Sox parade, people are happy, what else can you ask for? 823 01:00:02,470 --> 01:00:07,010 This isn’t our first rodeo. As a friend of mine in LA said, didn’t you guys invent the rodeo? 824 01:00:07,170 --> 01:00:12,300 I think we did. I was saying that earlier today in the car, driving to the police roll call, 825 01:00:12,470 --> 01:00:18,470 Other cities are dying for one and we’ve had 11 in the last 14 years or 15 years. It’s amazing. 826 01:00:18,780 --> 01:00:22,090 - Everyone’s won one too which is incredible. - So much goes into this. 827 01:00:23,170 --> 01:00:25,090 What does it do for the city? 828 01:00:25,170 --> 01:00:27,300 Sports is so engrained in the City of Boston. 829 01:00:27,470 --> 01:00:29,760 When there’s a parade in the city, what does it do for the City, 830 01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:32,840 despite all the logistics and all the issues that go into it? 831 01:00:33,010 --> 01:00:35,300 When our teams are doing well, it’s good for the city, 832 01:00:35,470 --> 01:00:39,130 for the restaurants, the bars, all the different venues. The excitement in the city. 833 01:00:39,300 --> 01:00:42,720 The team's being part of the community, so that’s another important part of these teams. 834 01:00:43,040 --> 01:00:45,130 They’re part of our neighborhoods and community. 835 01:00:45,340 --> 01:00:47,800 It’s great for the city, and the parade keeps the spirit up 836 01:00:47,920 --> 01:00:52,260 and I think today in the world of politics and what’s going on in the world, 837 01:00:52,290 --> 01:00:56,050 the horrible incident that happened in Pittsburgh, I think something like this 838 01:00:56,150 --> 01:00:59,800 makes you realize to be positive and move forward. 839 01:03:01,050 --> 01:03:03,590 Thank you for being proud of who you are and where you’re from. 840 01:03:03,800 --> 01:03:06,510 And as I look around the room, a lot of you are the future leaders 841 01:03:06,550 --> 01:03:11,130 of the City. You might not see that, you might not understand where your pathway’s going to take you, 842 01:03:11,720 --> 01:03:14,470 but it’s going to take you to amazing places. 843 01:03:14,590 --> 01:03:18,550 So when you think about advancement, when you think about moving forward, 844 01:03:18,670 --> 01:03:23,010 it’s about who you are as a person and the commitment you have to your own professional career 845 01:03:23,300 --> 01:03:27,220 in being recognized and realized and involved and engaged and moving forward. 846 01:03:27,490 --> 01:03:29,800 Whatever you do there are opportunities. 847 01:03:29,970 --> 01:03:31,800 When you think about the Latino community, 848 01:03:32,620 --> 01:03:36,630 when I first became the Mayor, I spent a lot of time, I still do, but I spent a lot of time 849 01:03:36,710 --> 01:03:39,760 with organizations particularly Latino community organizations 850 01:03:39,920 --> 01:03:44,840 that felt that they were underrepresented or not represented in a lot of different places. 851 01:03:45,010 --> 01:03:47,260 And we sat down and we really started to look at 852 01:03:47,420 --> 01:03:51,050 Boards and Commissions and staff and who’s around and how we’re doing, what’s going on. 853 01:03:51,260 --> 01:03:58,380 And making a real concerted effort to change that reality. Not image, reality. 854 01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:03,380 To make sure our people have opportunities within City government. 855 01:04:03,630 --> 01:04:07,130 And as I think about you, all of you in this room, 856 01:04:07,580 --> 01:04:10,130 I think about being future leaders in the business sector, 857 01:04:10,380 --> 01:04:12,300 future leaders in the nonprofit sector. 858 01:04:12,510 --> 01:04:16,630 This is a starting point. Some people are going to stay, come from the City, work their whole career in the City 859 01:04:16,800 --> 01:04:19,090 and I commend you for that and love you for that. 860 01:04:19,260 --> 01:04:21,510 Some of you will say it’s time to move to something else. 861 01:04:21,670 --> 01:04:23,050 and go into the business sector. 862 01:04:23,300 --> 01:04:26,840 And that's honestly what you have to start thinking about how we do things. 863 01:04:27,100 --> 01:04:30,880 And how you advance yourself, number one. First and foremost. 864 01:04:31,130 --> 01:04:35,010 Second piece is Latino pride. 865 01:04:35,670 --> 01:04:40,420 And I think that is really important. These service projects are about education. 866 01:04:41,100 --> 01:04:42,340 They’re about pride. 867 01:04:42,510 --> 01:04:45,220 One of the thing that’s special about Latino community 868 01:04:45,380 --> 01:04:48,470 is that you are a diverse community within your community. 869 01:04:48,720 --> 01:04:52,470 Because as you we’re going around here and everyone’s introducing themselves, 870 01:04:52,630 --> 01:04:54,800 every time Columbia was mentioned. 871 01:04:57,010 --> 01:05:01,550 There are some Venezuelan’s here that were excited. The Mexicans seem really excited as well. 872 01:05:01,850 --> 01:05:04,090 So there is a sense of pride. 873 01:05:04,420 --> 01:05:08,630 And I think for us in the City, doing these service projects, 874 01:05:08,730 --> 01:05:10,510 you’re doing it because you’re trying to help people, 875 01:05:10,510 --> 01:05:13,720 but what you’re also doing is you’re teaching people about government. 876 01:05:14,220 --> 01:05:16,340 You’re also teaching people about what can be possible. 877 01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:19,300 You’re also creating opportunities to open doors. 878 01:05:19,470 --> 01:05:24,340 How do you take your expertise and what you know as a person, 879 01:05:24,390 --> 01:05:27,510 as your heritage and your nationality 880 01:05:27,670 --> 01:05:30,970 and also what you’ve learned, whether it’s been in school, if you were born here, 881 01:05:31,130 --> 01:05:33,590 if you weren’t born here, what you learned at home and take it 882 01:05:33,720 --> 01:05:35,840 to the community and give people opportunities. 883 01:05:36,010 --> 01:05:37,510 The day that Trump came down 884 01:05:37,590 --> 01:05:39,920 with the ban, I looked up at the screen, I saw what was going on and I’m like 885 01:05:40,220 --> 01:05:43,420 what’s he doing today? And Dan says: you know he’s doing a Muslin ban 886 01:05:43,630 --> 01:05:45,760 and he’s banning against immigrants. 887 01:05:45,920 --> 01:05:48,880 I said let’s do a press conference. When? I said in a half hour. 888 01:05:49,550 --> 01:05:53,800 I said I want every single immigrant that works in the building standing behind me 889 01:05:54,050 --> 01:05:55,840 and I want every first generation person 890 01:05:56,010 --> 01:06:00,470 in there as well, because I didn’t think I had enough immigrant community behind me to fill the room. 891 01:06:00,640 --> 01:06:03,630 We were out in the hall, out in the hallway, it was packed. 892 01:06:03,880 --> 01:06:05,630 That was a proud moment 893 01:06:05,840 --> 01:06:07,970 because I was standing amongst my peers 894 01:06:08,920 --> 01:06:11,340 because I might be the Mayor, but I’m a public employee. 895 01:06:11,510 --> 01:06:14,510 We’re no different. And I was proud of that moment. 896 01:06:14,690 --> 01:06:18,670 And that has nothing to do ... So I’m proud of where my heritage is. 897 01:06:20,260 --> 01:06:24,510 And I think back to comparing, maybe doing a little history of the Irish. 898 01:06:25,420 --> 01:06:29,300 In the end of the 19th century Irish were called dogs, 899 01:06:30,510 --> 01:06:35,840 servants, slaves, pigs, monkeys, animals. 900 01:06:36,040 --> 01:06:41,050 If you look at the portrayal of Irish people back then it was completely racist. 901 01:06:42,340 --> 01:06:47,920 And a group of people got together and started to think about being a power broker. 902 01:06:48,330 --> 01:06:53,090 And they slowly but surely started to go into cities around America and they got elected to 903 01:06:53,330 --> 01:06:58,470 town councils, city councils and then a couple legislatures. 904 01:06:58,840 --> 01:07:02,970 And eventually continued to build up a brief of support and understood who they were, 905 01:07:03,160 --> 01:07:05,130 and next thing they’re Mayors. 906 01:07:05,300 --> 01:07:10,880 And that’s really what every community that comes to this country has done over time. 907 01:07:11,630 --> 01:07:13,720 And you don’t settle at politics. 908 01:07:13,920 --> 01:07:20,050 Our job is to represent and support the people of Boston. 909 01:07:21,090 --> 01:07:22,380 That’s our job. 910 01:07:23,010 --> 01:07:27,880 Whether it’s for, through somebody or directly for somebody, that’s what our job is. 911 01:07:28,050 --> 01:07:30,970 And when you’re a public employee you have responsibility for that. 912 01:07:31,130 --> 01:07:37,380 And I think that everyone in this room is more motivated than the average person at City Hall 913 01:07:38,130 --> 01:07:40,720 in a lot of different ways, and take that motivation, 914 01:07:40,880 --> 01:07:45,170 take that desire and keep that moving forward. Because that’s who we have to be. 915 01:07:53,060 --> 01:07:56,420 This car doesn’t have an active registration. 916 01:07:58,220 --> 01:08:01,050 I should have brought my passport, but that wouldn’t have been any good either. 917 01:08:07,420 --> 01:08:10,880 So to get married it costs $75 cash on the date of the ceremony. 918 01:08:15,220 --> 01:08:19,470 So you can only park at the meter between those times. 12 to eight. 919 01:08:23,640 --> 01:08:27,220 I’m looking to get an Allston Brighton parking pass. 920 01:08:30,300 --> 01:08:32,260 It doesn’t have your Boston address. 921 01:08:54,970 --> 01:08:58,510 There are 3 fairly significant master plans that are happening in 922 01:08:58,590 --> 01:09:01,470 city departments right now that we’re going to be a part of. 923 01:09:01,720 --> 01:09:04,050 The first one is the Boston Public Library. 924 01:09:04,340 --> 01:09:09,720 They’re starting a master planning process in the spring to look at the McKim Building 925 01:09:10,080 --> 01:09:12,420 which is the old building of the library. 926 01:09:12,650 --> 01:09:17,920 Specifically for interest to our community is looking at the front entrance. 927 01:09:18,090 --> 01:09:18,800 As we know, 928 01:09:18,920 --> 01:09:23,550 thanks to great advocacy of the Board and an individual Boston resident 929 01:09:25,220 --> 01:09:28,920 they installed a semi-permanent ramp earlier this year 930 01:09:29,170 --> 01:09:31,550 so that the front entrance is now accessible. 931 01:09:31,760 --> 01:09:33,630 However, they want to build a permanent ramp, 932 01:09:33,800 --> 01:09:39,050 a very nice artistic structure so they don’t have a temporary metal ramp up there for long. 933 01:09:39,220 --> 01:09:41,380 So that’s going to be worked into the master plan. 934 01:09:41,630 --> 01:09:45,260 And also there are two meeting rooms in the library 935 01:09:45,470 --> 01:09:52,510 in the old McKim Building, that the only way you can access them right now is with a lift, a vertical lift. 936 01:09:52,720 --> 01:09:55,880 That is the Map Room and the Commonwealth Salon. 937 01:09:56,100 --> 01:10:01,800 We’re going to be looking at those areas to see if there’s a way to improve accessibility. 938 01:10:02,010 --> 01:10:04,300 Unfortunately there was a meeting scheduled 939 01:10:04,510 --> 01:10:07,630 a few weeks ago to give updates on the PCA Program, 940 01:10:08,090 --> 01:10:11,130 scheduled by Mass Health and there was some communication 941 01:10:11,460 --> 01:10:14,670 where the Library staff told the people at Mass Health 942 01:10:14,760 --> 01:10:18,550 the room was accessible and it was one of these rooms which is technically accessible 943 01:10:18,720 --> 01:10:22,170 but when you have 20 and 30 people coming in wheelchairs, trying to go up 944 01:10:22,300 --> 01:10:25,260 that lift, it was not very accessible, so... 945 01:10:25,420 --> 01:10:28,090 I’m working on communication with the library and looking at 946 01:10:28,260 --> 01:10:31,590 different strategies to try to improve accessibility. 947 01:10:32,090 --> 01:10:36,420 Another master plan that’s happening is the Parks Department 948 01:10:36,790 --> 01:10:39,300 is working on a master plan for Boston Common. 949 01:10:39,920 --> 01:10:41,970 There is a large barrier in the Common 950 01:10:42,050 --> 01:10:44,880 that we’ve been interested in working on for a long time. 951 01:10:45,340 --> 01:10:48,130 And that is the set of steps at the Shaw Memorial 952 01:10:48,300 --> 01:10:51,510 which go from the Common up to Beacon Street, across from the State House. 953 01:10:52,050 --> 01:10:55,630 Right now if you’re in the Common and you can’t use the steps, 954 01:10:55,720 --> 01:10:59,840 there’s no way to get to the State House except to go back to Tremont Street 955 01:11:00,050 --> 01:11:03,220 and walk all around up Park Street to Beacon Street. 956 01:11:03,420 --> 01:11:08,760 So it’s a really long path of travel and even that path is not very accessible. 957 01:11:09,600 --> 01:11:13,010 So, we had worked with the Parks Department for a few years 958 01:11:13,170 --> 01:11:15,800 to try to get some measurements of slopes 959 01:11:16,260 --> 01:11:22,380 and come up with some design concepts to either do a ramp or an exterior elevator in the Common. 960 01:11:22,610 --> 01:11:25,220 So this will be included in the Master planning. 961 01:11:25,460 --> 01:11:28,800 I heard you say on the Master Plan regarding the Boston Common 962 01:11:28,970 --> 01:11:32,170 with the steps going up to the State House that input would be valuable. 963 01:11:32,470 --> 01:11:37,670 I get complaints all the time as the ADA Coordinator at the State House. Would it help if I 964 01:11:38,240 --> 01:11:43,130 got a letter from the State House saying that we would appreciate 965 01:11:43,500 --> 01:11:44,970 those steps be made be accessible? 966 01:11:45,280 --> 01:11:49,010 Yes, I definitely think a collaboration between the City and the State 967 01:11:49,170 --> 01:11:55,050 because it’s definitely the State House which is part of the Freedom Trail. 968 01:11:55,270 --> 01:11:58,420 When they have people with disabilities on the Freedom Trail they have to detour 969 01:11:58,590 --> 01:12:00,420 and they can’t go on the standard route. 970 01:12:00,610 --> 01:12:02,550 It happens almost every day. 971 01:12:02,900 --> 01:12:04,840 So I think we can definitely collaborate on that. 972 01:12:04,970 --> 01:12:10,260 I’ll put together a letter and have it signed by the Superintendent of the State House. 973 01:12:11,370 --> 01:12:12,090 Great. 974 01:12:50,380 --> 01:12:51,880 To me this is personal. 975 01:12:53,550 --> 01:12:57,010 When I was seven years old I was diagnosed with cancer. 976 01:12:57,610 --> 01:13:02,470 For 4 years I was treated at the Children’s Hospital in Dana Farber Cancer Institute. 977 01:13:02,760 --> 01:13:07,800 And the people that were in our corner every single day, the doctors were there, 978 01:13:08,340 --> 01:13:10,470 but around the clock it was the nurses. 979 01:13:10,750 --> 01:13:14,630 It was the nurses who we got to know. It was the nurses who comforted my parents. 980 01:13:14,800 --> 01:13:18,300 It was the nurses who helped everybody. It was the nurses that held my hand. 981 01:13:18,470 --> 01:13:22,470 It was the nurses that did everything in my life and I never forgot that. 982 01:13:22,670 --> 01:13:26,090 And it’s something that’s really important for all of us never to forget. 983 01:13:26,260 --> 01:13:30,720 Because in a time of need in the hospital it’s the nurses that show up at your bedside. 984 01:13:30,970 --> 01:13:34,420 It’s the nurses that comfort your families. It’s the nurses that are there for you. 985 01:13:34,590 --> 01:13:39,630 And I want to thank you for that. And I want to let you know that that’s why I’m here today. 986 01:13:39,790 --> 01:13:43,760 Because when I needed to be taken care of and my family needed to be taken care of, 987 01:13:43,970 --> 01:13:45,920 it was the nurses that took care of my family. 988 01:13:46,090 --> 01:13:47,420 So thank you for that. 989 01:14:13,510 --> 01:14:16,380 Pedro and I have talked pretty extensively about 990 01:14:16,510 --> 01:14:22,130 some of the work that’s been being done on the opioid crisis in Boston. 991 01:14:22,360 --> 01:14:25,880 Pedro expressed a particular interest in that work 992 01:14:26,350 --> 01:14:34,170 and in exploring how we might use public art to inform or tell a story, 993 01:14:34,380 --> 01:14:37,760 or whatever it is we want to do about that particular crisis. 994 01:14:37,800 --> 01:14:42,420 I told him the last time we met about a couple things in particular. 995 01:14:43,100 --> 01:14:47,720 The Engagement Center and also the effort to build a Recovery Campus on Long Island. 996 01:14:48,220 --> 01:14:54,630 And thought it would be a good idea to put together this particular team who are working 997 01:14:54,930 --> 01:14:57,920 on arts and culture and the Recovery Campus and the whole host of other things 998 01:14:58,870 --> 01:15:01,090 to have a conversation and see if there’s something we might be 999 01:15:01,220 --> 01:15:04,720 thinking about doing in art and recovery. 1000 01:15:05,920 --> 01:15:10,550 Something small or something significant, I don’t know. But it seems there’s a great opportunity if there are 1001 01:15:10,720 --> 01:15:13,970 patrons around who might like to help us 1002 01:15:14,220 --> 01:15:17,010 tell the story of the Recovery Campus or of the Engagement Center. 1003 01:15:17,170 --> 01:15:19,670 So I’d like to try and figure out how to, 1004 01:15:19,840 --> 01:15:24,720 if that’s something that you want to explore, how to get you access to 1005 01:15:25,550 --> 01:15:27,010 these two places. 1006 01:15:27,320 --> 01:15:33,380 What’s interesting is that Long Island, if you think about being the place that is the long term, 1007 01:15:33,730 --> 01:15:37,130 sort of recovery place for people, 1008 01:15:37,460 --> 01:15:40,840 kind of completing our continuum of care that we offer as a city. 1009 01:15:41,010 --> 01:15:46,010 The Engagement Center is really the low end. It is the thing that starts the continuum of care. 1010 01:15:48,090 --> 01:15:51,380 In bureaucratic speak called a low threshold space because 1011 01:15:51,550 --> 01:15:54,510 even people who are kicked out of shelters, people kicked out of programs, 1012 01:15:54,760 --> 01:15:56,470 are allowed to be there. You can be 1013 01:15:56,630 --> 01:16:00,470 in any state of mind as long as you’re respecting the space. 1014 01:16:00,630 --> 01:16:03,380 You can come and sleep, you can come and play games. 1015 01:16:03,630 --> 01:16:05,050 You’ll see some pictures. 1016 01:16:05,220 --> 01:16:10,010 What’s interesting is that we try to make the best of what we had. 1017 01:16:10,300 --> 01:16:12,840 It was a storage tent basically. 1018 01:16:13,010 --> 01:16:16,920 Like with a structure. Like it has air conditioning and it has 1019 01:16:16,920 --> 01:16:20,300 things you’d find in a building, but it’s still canvas. 1020 01:16:20,420 --> 01:16:21,840 And so, very quickly 1021 01:16:22,340 --> 01:16:27,550 the most random assortment of ragtag gang of people in the City from many departments 1022 01:16:27,720 --> 01:16:30,630 came together and figured out what to do with this space 1023 01:16:30,970 --> 01:16:35,800 to make it habitable, but more importantly to make it a place that people wanted to be. 1024 01:16:35,970 --> 01:16:37,670 Because we really wanted this to be a place 1025 01:16:37,840 --> 01:16:43,340 where you’re not on the recovery spectrum yet. You’re no necessarily wanting recovery. 1026 01:16:43,510 --> 01:16:46,800 Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t. It’s just a place for people to go 1027 01:16:46,970 --> 01:16:48,590 so that they’re not on the streets, 1028 01:16:48,760 --> 01:16:53,470 so they’re not in danger of falling into the highway, because that’s where this is located. 1029 01:16:53,910 --> 01:16:55,590 And just a place where people could 1030 01:16:56,090 --> 01:16:59,630 be their full selves. It’s important to people. It’s home for a lot of people. 1031 01:17:00,010 --> 01:17:02,220 To follow up on what Sabrina said, 1032 01:17:02,380 --> 01:17:06,510 you were talking about your art in a way that we’ve been talking about 1033 01:17:06,670 --> 01:17:11,380 some of the artistic approaches here and we sort of discussed around a civic art. 1034 01:17:11,550 --> 01:17:17,170 It’s art that is not just public. It’s not just there to see, but rather there’s some purpose, 1035 01:17:17,760 --> 01:17:20,840 or the artist or the community can articulate 1036 01:17:21,010 --> 01:17:25,420 this is doing, this is this. This is how we’re going to put it to use. 1037 01:17:25,720 --> 01:17:28,510 And here it’s not just because it looks nice. 1038 01:17:28,670 --> 01:17:32,380 It’s the little teeny things that like push people into recovery. 1039 01:17:32,550 --> 01:17:38,220 The little breath of fresh air. Being able to talk to somebody that gives some meaning to your day. 1040 01:17:39,010 --> 01:17:43,800 And that is totally what this space could always use. 1041 01:17:44,220 --> 01:17:46,050 We’re year 2 into this. 1042 01:17:46,220 --> 01:17:49,260 We put some money in the capital budget for a permanent space at some point, 1043 01:17:49,420 --> 01:17:51,920 but we have no idea how long it’s going to take to actually do that. 1044 01:17:52,090 --> 01:17:55,970 In the meantime, this space is being very well utilized. 1045 01:17:56,130 --> 01:18:00,050 To the point where things are wearing out faster than we would like them to. 1046 01:18:00,510 --> 01:18:03,590 So very cognizant of trying to make sure that the place is 1047 01:18:04,130 --> 01:18:07,760 welcoming and a good place for people to be. 1048 01:18:08,260 --> 01:18:10,720 But the administration is committed to 1049 01:18:10,880 --> 01:18:16,720 keeping an engagement center in some form up and running pretty much permanently. 1050 01:18:17,700 --> 01:18:19,760 There are a number of people who have found their way 1051 01:18:19,920 --> 01:18:21,760 to recovery through the Engagement Center. 1052 01:18:23,010 --> 01:18:27,010 It’s like Steven said, it’s a low threshold space. These are folks who 1053 01:18:27,130 --> 01:18:30,300 might not have even thought about that yet. 1054 01:18:30,380 --> 01:18:33,130 But at least having the ability to ask for help, 1055 01:18:33,300 --> 01:18:37,220 makes it I think probably a little bit more likely that you might actually ask for help. 1056 01:18:37,380 --> 01:18:39,840 A friendly space allows you to take that first step. 1057 01:18:39,970 --> 01:18:41,470 - Springboard. Not even a step. - Springboard. 1058 01:18:41,670 --> 01:18:44,590 Because there’s no expectation of recovery. 1059 01:18:44,760 --> 01:18:49,170 it’s not like most other services, you don’t go there because you’re ready necessarily. 1060 01:18:49,380 --> 01:18:51,420 You can go there just to get your snack, 1061 01:18:51,590 --> 01:18:55,970 but then over enough time maybe that will be the thing that springs you forward. 1062 01:18:56,130 --> 01:19:00,300 You got everything from 'hey I’m looking for a coed space that I can be with my partner' 1063 01:19:00,510 --> 01:19:03,840 to 'I’ve been barred from all the other spaces that the City provides, 1064 01:19:04,010 --> 01:19:07,630 but I definitely need to access 1065 01:19:07,880 --> 01:19:12,170 fruit cups in order to deal with my low blood sugar.' 1066 01:19:12,340 --> 01:19:15,090 This space offered that opportunity to provide that for them. 1067 01:19:15,300 --> 01:19:17,550 And then sort of ease them back into being a part of 1068 01:19:18,510 --> 01:19:21,220 whatever they may have not been a part of before. 1069 01:19:21,920 --> 01:19:26,920 It acted like an incredibly interesting mediation space for some, a social space for other, 1070 01:19:27,090 --> 01:19:28,760 a living room, a pit stop, 1071 01:19:29,010 --> 01:19:32,010 a sort of community and again being in that meeting, 1072 01:19:32,170 --> 01:19:34,420 hearing everyone talk about this is like a family. 1073 01:19:34,630 --> 01:19:36,590 So I think we’re in a really interesting point where 1074 01:19:36,760 --> 01:19:39,300 yes, we’re trying to think about how to refresh the space as a city, 1075 01:19:39,470 --> 01:19:43,090 trying to think about what does it mean to keep the Engagement Center? What does that look like? 1076 01:19:43,260 --> 01:19:47,050 Does that mean more of them? Does it mean a better version of what we have right now? 1077 01:19:47,350 --> 01:19:51,260 All that aside, also thinking about how do we tell the story about what’s happening here? 1078 01:19:51,470 --> 01:19:55,380 Both on the level of the humanizing folks and meeting people where they are, 1079 01:19:55,430 --> 01:20:00,260 but also functionally we’ve done something here that clearly is filling a gap and a need 1080 01:20:00,750 --> 01:20:04,260 and really what’s the story that Boston’s trying to tell around recovery? 1081 01:20:04,450 --> 01:20:06,340 Being such an epicenter, regionally? 1082 01:20:06,510 --> 01:20:09,720 So I think there’s some interesting connections to think about. 1083 01:20:09,920 --> 01:20:11,630 How do we talk about this? How do we talk 1084 01:20:11,760 --> 01:20:13,010 about Long Island? 1085 01:20:13,010 --> 01:20:18,760 Obviously there’s a political side to all of this too because this exists in a neighborhood. 1086 01:20:19,090 --> 01:20:22,130 The South End neighborhood has been very good 1087 01:20:22,300 --> 01:20:26,300 about accepting the amount of social services 1088 01:20:26,760 --> 01:20:29,130 that have to be absorbed by that community because 1089 01:20:29,380 --> 01:20:33,420 the shelter is in that a neighborhood. There’s a methadone clinic in that neighborhood. 1090 01:20:33,720 --> 01:20:37,340 So this is the corner of Melnea Cass and Mass Ave. 1091 01:20:37,630 --> 01:20:40,920 People call it methadone mile. We call it Recovery Road. 1092 01:20:42,590 --> 01:20:45,340 We need to do a better job of telling the story, 1093 01:20:45,510 --> 01:20:49,130 also lifting up the neighbors in the South End who’ve been good 1094 01:20:49,470 --> 01:20:56,220 about absorbing all of this activity that not every neighborhood would be so open to receiving. 1095 01:20:56,420 --> 01:21:02,090 It goes a long way that most people have substance use disorders somewhere in their family. 1096 01:21:02,970 --> 01:21:06,470 Most people probably have it pretty close in their families, so that helps, 1097 01:21:06,630 --> 01:21:10,840 but we owe it to them to tell a story about why this is needed. 1098 01:21:11,420 --> 01:21:18,090 This is sort of a short term, it’s big for us, but it’s also small and short term when you... 1099 01:21:18,670 --> 01:21:21,760 in the context of the Recovery Campus on Long Island. 1100 01:21:22,130 --> 01:21:24,470 Much longer term project. 1101 01:21:24,760 --> 01:21:28,470 It calls for the rebuilding of a bridge and obviously there’s a 1102 01:21:29,470 --> 01:21:32,720 a court case that’s going to go on about that, 1103 01:21:33,010 --> 01:21:36,510 an argument between two municipalities about how that gets done. 1104 01:21:36,840 --> 01:21:42,300 But Long Island was a place where a lot of programs like this existed for many years. 1105 01:21:42,800 --> 01:21:45,920 And the Mayor’s made it clear that he wants to build 1106 01:21:46,350 --> 01:21:52,170 this Recovery Campus which will serve long term residential programs in recovery. 1107 01:21:53,220 --> 01:21:57,090 Where it used to be there was a homeless shelter, at least one homeless shelter, maybe two. 1108 01:21:57,590 --> 01:21:59,340 There was 2 shelters out there. 1109 01:21:59,510 --> 01:22:03,630 So where it used to be there would be a night shelter. 1110 01:22:03,800 --> 01:22:08,130 That’s not going to be the case anymore. It’s going to be focused on long term recovery. 1111 01:22:08,340 --> 01:22:09,630 It’s residential as opposed to 1112 01:22:09,800 --> 01:22:14,260 shuttling homeless people out at night and bringing them back into the City in the morning. 1113 01:22:14,840 --> 01:22:19,220 So there’s a whole, where I actually don’t know what the latest update is on 1114 01:22:19,590 --> 01:22:24,260 when we could even expect a bridge to be rebuilt, but it’s at least 3 or 4 years out. 1115 01:22:24,420 --> 01:22:26,920 In the meantime we’re thinking about programming, 1116 01:22:27,090 --> 01:22:29,970 assessing the viability of all the buildings that are out there 1117 01:22:30,340 --> 01:22:33,340 and trying to figure out how to tell the story of Long Island. 1118 01:22:33,880 --> 01:22:37,800 Because we definitely have a story that we need to tell because we need to build 1119 01:22:38,010 --> 01:22:41,300 political will to actually make the Recovery Campus happen. 1120 01:22:41,510 --> 01:22:43,590 So that it can serve not just Bostonians, 1121 01:22:43,760 --> 01:22:48,510 but people dealing with substance use disorders from around the greater Boston area. 1122 01:22:48,670 --> 01:22:54,800 So there’s some great opportunity there for storytelling and we’re very much in the beginning stages of that. 1123 01:22:55,050 --> 01:22:57,170 I think I’ve mentioned Swoon in the past. 1124 01:22:57,670 --> 01:23:01,340 Swoon she was actually, I mean this is public. 1125 01:23:01,630 --> 01:23:05,300 She was raised by... her parents were addicts. 1126 01:23:05,840 --> 01:23:07,800 Heroin if I remember correctly. 1127 01:23:09,760 --> 01:23:15,550 So it’s a topic that she’s very attuned to and I think 1128 01:23:15,880 --> 01:23:18,760 she’s made it clear that she wants to dedicate 1129 01:23:19,050 --> 01:23:25,010 maybe the rest of her career to really looking at addiction and trauma. 1130 01:23:26,260 --> 01:23:29,090 And how you know, trauma leads to addiction. 1131 01:23:31,550 --> 01:23:37,720 So the project I did with her in Philadelphia, she worked with 1132 01:23:39,420 --> 01:23:41,340 men at Graterford State Prison 1133 01:23:41,720 --> 01:23:46,220 Inmates, of the largest state prison, maximum security prison in the state of Pennsylvania. 1134 01:23:47,130 --> 01:23:49,840 Women in a re-entry program and... 1135 01:23:51,130 --> 01:23:51,800 I’m sorry. 1136 01:23:52,260 --> 01:23:54,840 Women in halfway house and a re-entry program. 1137 01:23:55,510 --> 01:23:58,630 The most important thing was the element of telling the story. 1138 01:23:59,420 --> 01:24:05,420 She worked with participants to teach them how to tell their story. 1139 01:24:06,050 --> 01:24:09,420 And we were all crying. It was so... 1140 01:24:09,550 --> 01:24:12,090 you know, powerful. 1141 01:24:13,800 --> 01:24:16,470 I think that the oral histories 1142 01:24:17,090 --> 01:24:19,510 are very important. 1143 01:24:19,670 --> 01:24:24,670 The portrayal of people who we often forget about, 1144 01:24:25,010 --> 01:24:31,340 disregard, are really important tools for humanization. 1145 01:24:31,510 --> 01:24:32,970 So much of recovery 1146 01:24:33,300 --> 01:24:36,470 is about story telling anyway. Who knows what tomorrow might bring 1147 01:24:36,760 --> 01:24:41,260 and so I think the more that we can use these stories 1148 01:24:41,970 --> 01:24:47,260 to put them out there, but also to really put at the center of all this work, 1149 01:24:47,380 --> 01:24:51,380 the idea of storytelling. Or, the idea of like owning your story 1150 01:24:52,470 --> 01:24:53,470 and sharing it. 1151 01:26:21,760 --> 01:26:24,720 I think a fan belt inside the generator 1152 01:26:25,130 --> 01:26:26,380 caught fire. So, 1153 01:26:26,880 --> 01:26:32,380 they extinguished it. I think they shut the power off. They’re on their way down now. 1154 01:28:15,510 --> 01:28:19,220 I just want to give a brief background of how this event came to be. 1155 01:28:20,300 --> 01:28:25,380 For those of you familiar with Sebastian Junger, who’s a writer, his last book was called Tribe. 1156 01:28:26,300 --> 01:28:30,470 In this book he explores the concept around homecoming 1157 01:28:30,630 --> 01:28:33,300 and belonging within the Veterans community. 1158 01:28:33,970 --> 01:28:38,050 And he often talks about how the best thing a community can do 1159 01:28:39,010 --> 01:28:46,130 for our Veterans is to listen to their stories without judgment and with full support. 1160 01:28:47,550 --> 01:28:50,800 And this is what this Town Hall is intended to do. 1161 01:28:51,300 --> 01:28:52,720 This is a community forum 1162 01:28:53,300 --> 01:28:57,470 aiming to establish greater understanding between local Veterans 1163 01:28:57,720 --> 01:29:00,260 and the friends and neighbors that they fought for. 1164 01:29:00,720 --> 01:29:06,800 We took care of English and American soldiers when they came back from the front. 1165 01:29:07,130 --> 01:29:12,260 Some of the soldier’s wounds would heal and they were able to get up, 1166 01:29:12,720 --> 01:29:15,880 but most of them were bed patients. 1167 01:29:16,380 --> 01:29:18,470 We helped the soldiers recuperate 1168 01:29:19,130 --> 01:29:22,090 from physical and mental injuries. 1169 01:29:22,840 --> 01:29:25,970 Back then we called it shell shock. 1170 01:29:26,880 --> 01:29:30,510 We tried to keep the soldier’s spirits up. 1171 01:29:31,050 --> 01:29:38,260 Many of the soldiers had lost a leg or an arm or sometimes both legs and arms. 1172 01:29:41,050 --> 01:29:48,260 Those men were sent to Walter Reed to receive artificial limbs and appendages. 1173 01:29:48,970 --> 01:29:52,340 I had a patient who wrote a letter to his wife 1174 01:29:52,800 --> 01:29:54,510 to tell her that he had lost his leg. 1175 01:29:55,670 --> 01:29:58,170 He was worried that she wouldn’t want him 1176 01:29:58,630 --> 01:29:59,880 when he came home. 1177 01:30:00,550 --> 01:30:06,800 But his wife wrote to him and told him that she was just so happy that he was alive. 1178 01:30:06,970 --> 01:30:09,050 He cried and I cried too. 1179 01:30:09,340 --> 01:30:13,550 The Street right down a few houses away from me 1180 01:30:13,670 --> 01:30:18,720 was named Andrew Biggio Square and as I was introduced, that’s my name. 1181 01:30:19,380 --> 01:30:23,510 Except that Square was not named after me. It was named after my uncle 1182 01:30:23,720 --> 01:30:26,010 who was killed in action in World War II. 1183 01:30:26,920 --> 01:30:28,630 The first Andrew Biggio. 1184 01:30:30,300 --> 01:30:32,090 When I was a kid I didn’t know anything about it. 1185 01:30:32,220 --> 01:30:36,130 I told the other kids just what my parents told me that it was named after my uncle. 1186 01:30:36,590 --> 01:30:41,630 It wasn’t until I was getting ready to go to my first tour in Iraq... 1187 01:30:42,130 --> 01:30:46,300 I was looking at that Street sign saying Andrew Biggio Square 1188 01:30:47,630 --> 01:30:50,220 and it was a weird feeling knowing that 1189 01:30:50,840 --> 01:30:51,840 I was the... 1190 01:30:52,630 --> 01:30:54,510 I'm the next Andrew Biggio to go to war 1191 01:30:54,670 --> 01:30:57,970 and the first Andrew Biggio went to war and didn’t come back,so... 1192 01:30:58,670 --> 01:31:02,670 I survived Iraq. I survived a tour in Afghanistan 1193 01:31:03,260 --> 01:31:06,970 and I came home and I was staring at that Street sign again and I said 1194 01:31:07,130 --> 01:31:12,840 I got to find out what happened to that first Andrew Biggio on that hill in Italy in 1944. 1195 01:31:13,300 --> 01:31:17,840 I went to my grandmother’s house. I asked her if she still had Andrew’s letters that he wrote home from World War II. 1196 01:31:18,010 --> 01:31:22,840 She said she did. I went upstairs. I pulled the shoebox out of letters and I started reading them. 1197 01:31:23,260 --> 01:31:26,670 I started to track down men from his company that were with him. 1198 01:31:28,840 --> 01:31:31,130 It went from men from his company 1199 01:31:31,590 --> 01:31:36,010 to different types of Veterans and I ended up covering almost the whole war on the rifle as far as 1200 01:31:36,130 --> 01:31:38,880 divisions, places, battles. 1201 01:31:40,800 --> 01:31:42,550 How did I get the rifle? 1202 01:31:42,840 --> 01:31:45,090 I go through Andrew’s letters and I read 1203 01:31:45,420 --> 01:31:47,760 on how much he enjoyed to shoot the M1 Garand. 1204 01:31:48,670 --> 01:31:51,550 I said I’m going to buy an M1. We should have this 1205 01:31:51,970 --> 01:31:56,300 in our family history, we should have it forever. He died carrying this kind of a rifle. 1206 01:31:56,550 --> 01:31:58,550 I purchased the M1 1207 01:31:58,720 --> 01:32:01,800 and I’m in my house and I’m aiming in at the wall and I’m 1208 01:32:02,300 --> 01:32:07,260 playing Army man again at 30 years old in my living room. 1209 01:32:08,010 --> 01:32:10,090 But I said, who do I bring this to? 1210 01:32:10,260 --> 01:32:14,720 I can’t show my family. Would they really understand? They’re not Veterans. 1211 01:32:15,010 --> 01:32:17,760 It’s great, but now what? I bought the rifle, now what? 1212 01:32:17,920 --> 01:32:22,510 How do I fit the puzzle piece together on what happened to that first Andrew Biggio? 1213 01:32:23,550 --> 01:32:26,920 So I thought about my neighbor. My next door neighbor, Joe. 1214 01:32:27,260 --> 01:32:33,010 He had fought in the Battle of Okinawa and was a grouchy prick to me my whole life. 1215 01:32:35,170 --> 01:32:39,920 Anytime a foul ball would land in his backyard I’d hear an earful from, 1216 01:32:40,090 --> 01:32:45,010 he wouldn’t crack a smile to me until I graduated Marine Corp Bootcamp. 1217 01:32:45,340 --> 01:32:48,720 Then I started to see him wave to me from his yard. 1218 01:32:48,880 --> 01:32:54,130 The relationship became different. So I said I’m going to go show this rifle to Joe. 1219 01:32:54,470 --> 01:32:59,300 I went to his house, opened the door and he’s sitting in the wheelchair. He was 92 at the time. 1220 01:33:00,720 --> 01:33:02,920 And I said hey, check what I bought. 1221 01:33:03,090 --> 01:33:07,300 I placed the rifle which was empty, not covered in signatures like it is now, 1222 01:33:07,590 --> 01:33:09,590 I put the rifle into his arms. 1223 01:33:10,260 --> 01:33:13,420 He was in his recliner. His legs had atrophited 1224 01:33:13,590 --> 01:33:17,380 to nothing after years of not being able to walk at his age and illness, 1225 01:33:17,880 --> 01:33:20,260 and he brightened up. 1226 01:33:20,590 --> 01:33:22,920 It was like a burst of energy soared through his body. 1227 01:33:23,050 --> 01:33:27,170 He started waving the rifle around the room, smiling like he was 18 years old again. 1228 01:33:27,300 --> 01:33:30,510 I said holy crap, I am holding something special. 1229 01:33:31,670 --> 01:33:34,760 He said go into his top drawer. 1230 01:33:36,510 --> 01:33:38,340 I want you to have these now. 1231 01:33:38,760 --> 01:33:44,090 I went into his top drawer, I pulled out a velvet Crown Royal bag. 1232 01:33:46,130 --> 01:33:48,920 Inside of it were Japanese gold teeth. 1233 01:33:49,470 --> 01:33:51,510 He said, I want you to have these now. 1234 01:33:52,380 --> 01:33:58,670 Now, I’m not sitting here justifying war or what happened in the 1940s, but 1235 01:33:59,340 --> 01:34:02,550 I figured out this is why this man was a grouch. 1236 01:34:02,920 --> 01:34:06,130 I finally understand what was bothering this man my whole life 1237 01:34:06,300 --> 01:34:08,840 and what he had seen and what he had went through. 1238 01:34:10,550 --> 01:34:15,800 I wanted to, this was more than just oh my God, let me hear a war story. 1239 01:34:16,050 --> 01:34:18,510 He began to pass on the advice, 1240 01:34:18,720 --> 01:34:24,260 life advice and suggestions on how to live a long successful life after combat. 1241 01:34:24,630 --> 01:34:27,170 I was 28 1242 01:34:28,220 --> 01:34:31,630 when I had this conversation with him and he was 92. 1243 01:34:32,510 --> 01:34:36,510 I said, I want to remember this forever. I said Joe sign the rifle. 1244 01:34:36,840 --> 01:34:38,550 He was the first signature on it. 1245 01:34:38,920 --> 01:34:41,010 I left his house and I said I’m going to go around 1246 01:34:41,130 --> 01:34:44,970 and get as many World War II Veteran signatures as possible. 1247 01:34:45,130 --> 01:34:49,380 I want to be able to pass on to the younger Veterans how to live a long successful life, 1248 01:34:49,630 --> 01:34:51,510 to have a career, have a job 1249 01:34:51,970 --> 01:34:56,590 If these men could do it, what they saw in Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Burma, 1250 01:34:57,010 --> 01:35:01,630 France, Belgium, Germany, Saipan, Tarawa, Tinian, 1251 01:35:02,420 --> 01:35:04,760 that our generation could do it too. 1252 01:35:05,420 --> 01:35:07,260 And that is the story of the rifle. 1253 01:35:08,550 --> 01:35:09,380 We come out 1254 01:35:09,760 --> 01:35:11,800 of the factory, and for you Ramadi vets, 1255 01:35:12,090 --> 01:35:13,800 we’re out on Route Michigan 1256 01:35:15,340 --> 01:35:18,050 and we stop two possible VBEDs. 1257 01:35:21,130 --> 01:35:26,920 They’re both coming down Michigan to the point that we have 1258 01:35:27,340 --> 01:35:28,550 I believe two Humvees. 1259 01:35:28,840 --> 01:35:34,010 We stop. Everyone dismounts to get more guns down range to back off the vehicles. 1260 01:35:36,420 --> 01:35:39,760 While that happened about 450 to 600 meters out 1261 01:35:40,300 --> 01:35:45,260 I look at what would be known as the White Apartments for anybody that served in Ramadi. 1262 01:35:47,260 --> 01:35:49,420 There’s three military aged males or... 1263 01:35:50,840 --> 01:35:54,300 At that time because I’m old in comparison to these new kids, Al-Qaeda, 1264 01:35:54,550 --> 01:35:56,720 on a roof and they’re tactically observing us. 1265 01:35:57,050 --> 01:35:58,800 So I go to take the shot 1266 01:35:59,720 --> 01:36:03,920 and then its Ramadi, it’s the middle of the day. Everyone’s getting sniped, everyone’s getting killed. 1267 01:36:04,090 --> 01:36:08,170 I’m going to tell the Lieutenant I’m making the shot so guys don’t think its incoming fire. 1268 01:36:08,720 --> 01:36:11,840 When I go to take the shot, the whole thing was a setup. 1269 01:36:12,760 --> 01:36:14,760 It was a sniper from my three. 1270 01:36:14,880 --> 01:36:19,090 So I turned at the last second before I took the shot to tell the Lieutenant. 1271 01:36:20,920 --> 01:36:23,800 The round actually blew through my holographic sight 1272 01:36:24,010 --> 01:36:25,920 and into the side of my chest. 1273 01:36:26,380 --> 01:36:28,380 But I didn’t know that at the time. 1274 01:36:29,010 --> 01:36:31,090 So, I said I’m hit. 1275 01:36:31,920 --> 01:36:36,630 I get in the Humvee and then I said no, I said I’m good. 1276 01:36:36,800 --> 01:36:41,380 I said it’s not being top. I said your adrenalin goes through the roof. Anybody that’s been shot here, 1277 01:36:41,800 --> 01:36:46,010 my man over there knows to say the least. And I said no, I’m good. 1278 01:36:46,170 --> 01:36:48,510 They stop the Humvee, I go to get back out of it, 1279 01:36:48,720 --> 01:36:52,130 I open the door and my platoon sergeant reaches over and grabs me 1280 01:36:52,380 --> 01:36:54,800 because blood's coming out of the side of my chest. 1281 01:36:54,970 --> 01:36:56,300 And I know at that point 1282 01:36:57,840 --> 01:36:59,590 he hit me exactly where he wanted to hit me, 1283 01:36:59,760 --> 01:37:02,380 they were shooting through the side of the pectoral into the heart. 1284 01:37:02,550 --> 01:37:05,880 We believe that same sniper killed a couple of my friends the same exact way. 1285 01:37:06,170 --> 01:37:11,340 They rushed me into the forward operating base and on the operating table. 1286 01:37:14,670 --> 01:37:20,880 I think OK, maybe a piece of plate got me. I feel good. I’m feeling fine. 1287 01:37:25,380 --> 01:37:28,170 I get out of the Humvee and that’s always a big thing. Everybody knows 1288 01:37:28,340 --> 01:37:31,590 if you can walk in the hospital, even if you die on the floor, 1289 01:37:31,760 --> 01:37:35,220 if you walk into the hospital, that’s how it goes. So I said don’t touch me. 1290 01:37:35,380 --> 01:37:36,670 Take my clothes off 1291 01:37:36,840 --> 01:37:40,300 and one of the baddest guys I’ve ever met in my entire life 1292 01:37:40,470 --> 01:37:46,090 that had survived a battle over there with a handful of our guys getting killed 1293 01:37:46,420 --> 01:37:48,220 and you know he was... 1294 01:37:53,170 --> 01:37:55,720 one of two survivors out of like seven guys. 1295 01:37:56,300 --> 01:37:58,260 He looks at me and he’s mortified. 1296 01:37:58,470 --> 01:38:01,260 And I have a big gaping hole on the side of my chest. 1297 01:38:01,420 --> 01:38:04,340 What happened was because it shot through my holographic sight, 1298 01:38:04,550 --> 01:38:06,420 it created like buckshot. 1299 01:38:06,590 --> 01:38:10,840 So now at this point I’m like, I know I’m going to die. It is what it is. 1300 01:38:11,260 --> 01:38:14,550 I believe in the cause, I feel good, you know, in terms of like 1301 01:38:14,840 --> 01:38:18,170 hey this is what it’s going to be, I’m a true believer. 1302 01:38:18,510 --> 01:38:20,590 They get me on the operating table 1303 01:38:22,300 --> 01:38:24,630 I’m saying, no but I, you know, I feel good. 1304 01:38:24,970 --> 01:38:28,470 They tell me the bullet’s still inside so everyone’s just waiting for me to bleed out on the table, 1305 01:38:28,790 --> 01:38:30,590 bleed out internally and die. 1306 01:38:31,470 --> 01:38:34,670 My Commanding Officer’s holding my hand and he said, 1307 01:38:34,840 --> 01:38:40,510 hey you know Kurt, hang in there buddy. Do you know what the date is? 1308 01:38:42,010 --> 01:38:44,970 Do you know what’s going on? And I said I know what you’re doing. 1309 01:38:45,130 --> 01:38:46,970 I said today’s October 10th. 1310 01:38:48,590 --> 01:38:50,720 I said I’m a lifelong Patriot’s fan. 1311 01:38:50,880 --> 01:38:54,800 Adam Vinatieri just kicked the game winning field goal. Best kicker in football. 1312 01:38:56,220 --> 01:38:59,300 I looked around the operating room and everyone was mortified, 1313 01:38:59,900 --> 01:39:01,800 but they knew I was going to survive. 1314 01:39:04,670 --> 01:39:06,220 I make it through surgery 1315 01:39:06,420 --> 01:39:08,130 and they said you know son, 1316 01:39:08,340 --> 01:39:12,130 thank you for your service, you’re going to go from Ramadi to Bagdad, Bagdad to Germany, 1317 01:39:12,300 --> 01:39:15,300 Germany back to the United States. 1318 01:39:15,470 --> 01:39:19,090 I said with all due respect, everyone’s dying, I’m not going anywhere. 1319 01:39:19,260 --> 01:39:22,470 And they said, you’re stupid. They said 1320 01:39:24,010 --> 01:39:28,300 the bullet’s still in there, your chest isn’t going to close. 1321 01:39:28,510 --> 01:39:30,300 No granulation. You need skin grafts. 1322 01:39:30,500 --> 01:39:33,510 You’re going to get infected and you’re going to die over here. 1323 01:39:33,670 --> 01:39:37,720 And I said like it is what it is. 1324 01:39:38,130 --> 01:39:41,220 I’m staying. And I checked myself out of the hospital. 1325 01:39:41,510 --> 01:39:46,760 I talked to my father via Sat phone and then always one of my biggest supporters, 1326 01:39:47,090 --> 01:39:50,970 I called my Aunt. She’s a former nun who then went onto be 1327 01:39:51,130 --> 01:39:52,970 very successful on Wall Street, 1328 01:39:53,380 --> 01:39:57,300 a no nonsense kind of woman who grew up here in the City of Boston. 1329 01:39:57,590 --> 01:40:01,550 And I said, you know, I need you to grab my back in this. I said I got shot. 1330 01:40:01,760 --> 01:40:05,920 And I’m staying. And she said, well I wouldn’t expect anything differently. 1331 01:40:08,260 --> 01:40:10,880 I continued to fight on the ground for eight more months 1332 01:40:11,380 --> 01:40:15,470 and you know, it was heavy. We lost guys 1333 01:40:17,010 --> 01:40:19,260 but I wouldn’t have done it any differently. 1334 01:40:19,420 --> 01:40:21,260 I’m an open book and I tell everyone: 1335 01:40:21,920 --> 01:40:27,090 listen, war is war and it's tough, but honestly the hardest part was coming home. 1336 01:40:27,720 --> 01:40:31,590 I said I actually know Tommy because I went through the home base program 1337 01:40:31,760 --> 01:40:34,510 and same thing, not to get too organization specific. 1338 01:40:34,670 --> 01:40:37,130 But it was the best thing I ever did. 1339 01:40:39,340 --> 01:40:41,380 Because I said I wasn’t scared. 1340 01:40:41,670 --> 01:40:44,920 I wasn’t scared when I hit IEDs. I wasn’t scared when I was shot 1341 01:40:45,090 --> 01:40:47,670 I knew I was going to die, but I said when I came home 1342 01:40:48,090 --> 01:40:50,340 and I’m on the side of 93C and my family 1343 01:40:50,510 --> 01:40:56,300 and Local 103 has Welcome Home from Iraq, Sergeant Kurt Power. I said it hit me. 1344 01:40:57,420 --> 01:41:00,130 What am I doing back here? I don’t belong here anymore. 1345 01:41:00,260 --> 01:41:03,920 I had never thought I would have to prepare for it because I never thought I was going to survive. 1346 01:41:04,090 --> 01:41:05,130 And there was a... 1347 01:41:05,920 --> 01:41:08,130 for guys and gals that were over 1348 01:41:08,300 --> 01:41:10,170 there’s a certain comfort level to that. 1349 01:41:10,670 --> 01:41:12,840 Listen we’re all going to die someday right? 1350 01:41:13,220 --> 01:41:16,170 You know it’s sooner than later over there, well then why sweat it? 1351 01:41:16,510 --> 01:41:20,220 That’s the reality of it. The best way to honor the guys 1352 01:41:20,380 --> 01:41:23,970 that didn’t make it home is to do what you can to make the world a better place 1353 01:41:25,470 --> 01:41:29,840 That’s how I live my life every day and I just want everyone to know 1354 01:41:30,420 --> 01:41:33,970 that our coming home and our going through things that you’re not alone. 1355 01:41:34,260 --> 01:41:36,590 We’re all in this together. Because 1356 01:41:36,760 --> 01:41:38,800 we’re losing 22 Veterans a day 1357 01:41:38,970 --> 01:41:42,510 because everyone thinks they’re the only one that ever went through anything. 1358 01:41:42,920 --> 01:41:48,880 Nightmares and cold sweats and anxiety, that’s all part of the process. 1359 01:41:49,050 --> 01:41:52,300 The only way we’re going to get people to get help 1360 01:41:52,510 --> 01:41:55,380 and to continue to live another day 1361 01:41:56,090 --> 01:42:00,090 is by being open and talking about it. So keep fighting. 1362 01:42:00,170 --> 01:42:04,670 Keep fighting for the guys that didn’t make it. Keep fighting for the gals that didn’t make it. 1363 01:42:05,590 --> 01:42:10,220 We’re proud of all of you. Thank you so much for your service and God bless America. 1364 01:42:11,760 --> 01:42:13,220 We went further north. In Ai Quoc. 1365 01:42:13,550 --> 01:42:17,630 You can see it in Ken Burns’ documentary. He focuses on Con Thien. 1366 01:42:18,010 --> 01:42:20,550 But we were at Con Thien. We were at Geo Lin, at Camp Caroll 1367 01:42:20,720 --> 01:42:23,970 and almost every time we went to one of those places we were under siege. 1368 01:42:24,340 --> 01:42:26,090 And they were shooting rockets. 1369 01:42:26,260 --> 01:42:31,470 We could literally look right into North Vietnam. We could see the little sparks from the artillery guns. 1370 01:42:31,720 --> 01:42:34,880 And they’d usually fire three at a time. They’d fire them every hour. 1371 01:42:35,260 --> 01:42:39,800 Some of you have seen the Boston Marathon bombing. 1372 01:42:40,090 --> 01:42:43,550 Remember the panic when the first bomb went off and folks started running one way 1373 01:42:43,720 --> 01:42:46,090 and another bomb went off and folks didn’t know what to do? 1374 01:42:46,340 --> 01:42:48,840 That’s what was happening to us every hour. 1375 01:42:49,010 --> 01:42:53,470 Three artillery rounds would come in and guys were literally getting blown to bits. 1376 01:42:55,090 --> 01:42:55,920 It was clear 1377 01:42:56,090 --> 01:43:00,340 that we were being sacrificed. We were at the most northern outpost that the Marines had. 1378 01:43:02,470 --> 01:43:07,630 It was almost like we were a pawn in somebody’s chess game. 1379 01:43:08,130 --> 01:43:10,090 And I had the opportunity to call home. 1380 01:43:10,470 --> 01:43:12,130 I called my mother 1381 01:43:12,300 --> 01:43:14,800 and the first thing I said to her was Ma, I want to just 1382 01:43:14,970 --> 01:43:19,470 apologize to you for all the problems I caused you when I was in high school. 1383 01:43:19,970 --> 01:43:21,590 She said why are you talking to me like this? 1384 01:43:21,760 --> 01:43:24,380 I said because you’ll probably never see me again. 1385 01:43:24,550 --> 01:43:27,380 She said what do you mean? I said everybody in my unit’s dying. 1386 01:43:28,090 --> 01:43:32,220 We’re the most northern outpost that the Marines have. We’re surrounded. 1387 01:43:32,510 --> 01:43:35,670 They’re bombarding us every day. Sometimes they don’t even bring us water. 1388 01:43:35,800 --> 01:43:37,840 We have to drink mud and eat grass. 1389 01:43:38,010 --> 01:43:42,550 And my mother said, you’re not going to die. I said Ma, I’m trying to tell you something. 1390 01:43:42,720 --> 01:43:48,300 She said, I talk to God every day. And you’re special. You’re coming back. 1391 01:43:48,630 --> 01:43:51,670 I said Ma, everybody’s mother thinks they’re special. 1392 01:43:52,260 --> 01:43:55,260 I’m putting pieces of special people in bags. Listen to what I’m saying. 1393 01:43:55,420 --> 01:43:58,220 Don’t believe what you read in the Globe or what you see on the 6:00 news. 1394 01:43:58,380 --> 01:44:01,130 We’re losing the war. We’re being sacrificed. 1395 01:44:01,220 --> 01:44:03,170 You’re probably not going to see me again and she kept saying, 1396 01:44:03,340 --> 01:44:07,760 you’re coming back. She tried to tell a joke. She said besides, you got to come back. 1397 01:44:07,920 --> 01:44:09,550 I said what do you mean? She said, 1398 01:44:09,880 --> 01:44:10,920 if you don’t come back who’s going to pay 1399 01:44:11,170 --> 01:44:13,630 this telephone bill? And everytime I see or hear 1400 01:44:13,970 --> 01:44:17,130 anything about Veterans who lost their lives in Vietnam, 1401 01:44:17,300 --> 01:44:20,760 I pull up on the corner and I see guys with the cardboard placards 1402 01:44:21,010 --> 01:44:24,840 and their cups, I realize how blessed I am. Having gone through all that 1403 01:44:26,010 --> 01:44:31,260 everything that I do I do it for them. I do it for the guys that didn’t make it back. 1404 01:44:31,420 --> 01:44:34,510 I do it for the guys who lost their arms and legs and guys who 1405 01:44:35,170 --> 01:44:36,550 even lost their minds. 1406 01:44:36,720 --> 01:44:41,840 I long for the day with all this technology, like we walk around with computers in our pockets, 1407 01:44:42,340 --> 01:44:46,130 I long for the day when we can evolve to a point where 1408 01:44:46,420 --> 01:44:49,880 we can resolve conflicts without sending our sons and daughters to kill each other. 1409 01:44:50,380 --> 01:44:54,010 Let us not forget the total cost of war. 1410 01:44:54,380 --> 01:45:00,380 World War I was among the deadliest conflicts in human history up to that time at least. 1411 01:45:01,010 --> 01:45:06,050 The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I 1412 01:45:06,550 --> 01:45:10,470 was around 40 million people. 1413 01:45:11,550 --> 01:45:14,010 40 million people 1414 01:45:15,760 --> 01:45:20,090 of which 9.7 military personnel 1415 01:45:20,090 --> 01:45:26,760 and approximately 10 million civilians lost their lives as a direct result of this conflict. 1416 01:45:27,420 --> 01:45:33,340 About 23 million military personnel were also wounded. 1417 01:45:35,050 --> 01:45:39,840 In the United States which was isolated from the combat conflict in Europe, 1418 01:45:40,760 --> 01:45:48,970 321,000 military casualties was approximately 3 % of the total military casualties of the Great War. 1419 01:45:50,010 --> 01:45:55,010 To put things in perspective, and why this date is so important, 1420 01:45:55,840 --> 01:45:58,260 90 million casualties of 1421 01:45:58,420 --> 01:45:59,670 World War II 1422 01:46:00,840 --> 01:46:05,800 and later conflicts further signified having a day each year 1423 01:46:05,970 --> 01:46:07,920 to honor and remember 1424 01:46:08,470 --> 01:46:10,800 all Veterans and their sacrifice 1425 01:46:11,300 --> 01:46:15,050 to protect our freedoms and their way of life. 1426 01:46:16,050 --> 01:46:19,380 Thank you for your service to our country. 1427 01:46:20,470 --> 01:46:22,590 Thank you for your sacrifice to our country. 1428 01:46:23,260 --> 01:46:26,010 To your loved ones, thank you to your loved ones as well. 1429 01:46:26,170 --> 01:46:28,970 Because oftentimes we don’t realize that 1430 01:46:30,420 --> 01:46:33,971 families are affected by not having their loved ones here. 1431 01:46:34,486 --> 01:46:37,050 Any gold star families here? We pray for you 1432 01:46:37,220 --> 01:46:41,260 and thank you as well. I have a great uncle that fought in World War I. 1433 01:46:42,387 --> 01:46:44,550 My family and my father didn’t talk about him much. 1434 01:46:45,340 --> 01:46:47,804 His name was Patrick and he left Ireland 1435 01:46:47,971 --> 01:46:52,470 to America and came to South Boston and he enlisted in the Army. 1436 01:46:52,679 --> 01:46:55,637 He went over to France and never came home. 1437 01:46:55,880 --> 01:46:58,762 I was at an event right after I got elected Mayor, 1438 01:46:59,262 --> 01:47:02,054 and I was talking to some World War I guys about 1439 01:47:04,090 --> 01:47:08,470 about keeping the memory alive of World War I service members. 1440 01:47:09,090 --> 01:47:13,012 And they sent me his draft, his card. The day he signed up. 1441 01:47:13,420 --> 01:47:17,179 And they sent me the letter that they sent to his brother Jimmy when he died, 1442 01:47:17,387 --> 01:47:19,012 when he got killed in action. 1443 01:47:19,637 --> 01:47:21,721 We never talked about in the house and never really 1444 01:47:22,012 --> 01:47:24,679 thought about it much. And my father never talked about it. 1445 01:47:24,880 --> 01:47:26,346 I grew up in an Irish home, 1446 01:47:26,710 --> 01:47:29,596 you didn’t talk about your things and I’m not a Veteran. 1447 01:47:30,090 --> 01:47:35,630 But I know the importance of telling what’s on your heart sometimes. 1448 01:47:36,420 --> 01:47:39,800 I’m in recovery. So my connection 1449 01:47:40,130 --> 01:47:42,137 to getting help is in recovery. 1450 01:47:43,380 --> 01:47:46,300 I grew up in Dorchester, 1451 01:47:46,470 --> 01:47:49,096 I went to work construction and you didn’t tell your feelings back then 1452 01:47:49,262 --> 01:47:51,429 when you’re drinking and things like that. 1453 01:47:51,590 --> 01:47:53,590 My drinking got out of control 1454 01:47:54,840 --> 01:47:56,804 so much that I ended up in detox. 1455 01:47:57,760 --> 01:48:00,096 It was the last place that I wanted to be. 1456 01:48:00,590 --> 01:48:02,170 But when I was in there... 1457 01:48:03,050 --> 01:48:06,721 I didn’t go there to stop drinking. went there to get the heat off me. 1458 01:48:07,510 --> 01:48:10,510 But while I was in there the first night a meeting came in, 1459 01:48:10,800 --> 01:48:15,920 you know, an AA meeting came in and they talked and whatever it was I was interested. 1460 01:48:16,220 --> 01:48:18,346 It kind of perked my interest and the rest of that week, 1461 01:48:18,554 --> 01:48:22,679 I listened to talk of addiction. 1462 01:48:23,970 --> 01:48:26,346 And I learned about what alcoholism was. 1463 01:48:27,470 --> 01:48:30,346 And when you get out of there you’re not cured. 1464 01:48:30,800 --> 01:48:33,637 The key for me is the aftercare. 1465 01:48:34,096 --> 01:48:36,596 And 23 years later I’m still working on it. 1466 01:48:37,380 --> 01:48:41,137 And you think about every now and then about situations you might have put yourself in. 1467 01:48:41,429 --> 01:48:44,804 And if you don’t deal with it and you don’t talk to somebody else about it, 1468 01:48:44,971 --> 01:48:46,679 it’s going to stay inside of you. 1469 01:48:46,840 --> 01:48:51,170 Because whether you’re in the battlefield and you come home 1470 01:48:51,800 --> 01:48:54,800 or you’re in the barroom and you’re not talking about it, 1471 01:48:55,260 --> 01:48:59,679 or you’re in a dark room where they’re putting a needle in your arm, and not talking about it, 1472 01:48:59,846 --> 01:49:01,846 there’s no way of helping. 1473 01:49:02,050 --> 01:49:06,887 And I equate, I connect the... not the same way because it’s very different. 1474 01:49:08,010 --> 01:49:15,760 The fighting for your country and coming back is different on the surface of alcoholism, 1475 01:49:16,050 --> 01:49:18,380 but inside it’s all the same. 1476 01:49:19,340 --> 01:49:22,387 It’s that feeling that hopeless, what I had, 1477 01:49:22,846 --> 01:49:26,010 helpless, don’t know what to do about it feeling. 1478 01:49:26,010 --> 01:49:30,800 And like I said, everyone had suggested that I go get help. 1479 01:49:31,010 --> 01:49:35,512 Many times I’m like yeah, yeah. I went to one AA meeting one time and used that as an excuse. 1480 01:49:35,679 --> 01:49:39,596 Yeah I got help, I went to a meeting. And I used that for about 5 years. 1481 01:49:40,050 --> 01:49:42,550 But it wasn’t until I hit my bottom. 1482 01:49:43,470 --> 01:49:47,554 And when I hit my bottom I didn’t realize it was my bottom, but I knew, it was pretty low. 1483 01:49:47,760 --> 01:49:51,471 And a lot of other things happened in my life that built up to that point. 1484 01:49:52,010 --> 01:49:56,179 Every time I drank I didn’t get in trouble, but every time I got in trouble I was drinking. 1485 01:49:56,720 --> 01:49:59,137 So, you think about that and I think about 1486 01:49:59,637 --> 01:50:04,137 sharing experiences and I love, I go to, I still go to my meetings. 1487 01:50:04,510 --> 01:50:06,762 Hearing people share their experience, strength and hope 1488 01:50:06,971 --> 01:50:11,012 about addiction, sometimes there’s somebody talking that’s in so much pain 1489 01:50:11,220 --> 01:50:14,012 that they don’t see the benefit. 1490 01:50:14,179 --> 01:50:17,554 They don’t see the hope. They don’t see the help. They don’t see the end game. 1491 01:50:17,721 --> 01:50:21,721 And if I get a chance to talk to them I just say, it’s a day at a time. 1492 01:50:21,880 --> 01:50:24,429 When I first got sober I’d hear people talk about they have a house, 1493 01:50:24,596 --> 01:50:28,596 a job and a car and they have this and that, and I used to be like, I want that. 1494 01:50:28,880 --> 01:50:32,554 But I was in no way in the situation that I could get that at that particular moment. 1495 01:50:32,721 --> 01:50:35,137 And seven years later I bought my house. 1496 01:50:35,880 --> 01:50:38,221 And I remember sitting on my back porch of my house, even 1497 01:50:38,918 --> 01:50:41,804 10 years after I had it. I looked up and I can’t believe it’s mine. 1498 01:50:41,971 --> 01:50:44,929 And it all goes back to going for help and asking for help. 1499 01:50:45,510 --> 01:50:47,887 And I know many of you in this room 1500 01:50:48,054 --> 01:50:51,096 shared your story today and I thank you for that. 1501 01:50:51,920 --> 01:50:54,012 And there’s probably some people in this room 1502 01:50:54,221 --> 01:50:57,221 that might be listening and saying I don’t know what I’m going to do. 1503 01:50:57,380 --> 01:51:00,679 Just reach out. Put your hand out and ask for help. 1504 01:51:01,420 --> 01:51:05,346 That’s all you got to do. That’s the first step. That’s the first step. 1505 01:51:06,800 --> 01:51:11,090 You fought for this country. We owe it to you to help you. 1506 01:51:11,970 --> 01:51:15,300 That’s our job. As a government that’s our job. 1507 01:51:16,050 --> 01:51:19,260 Our Veterans office, Veterans Affairs office, 1508 01:51:19,420 --> 01:51:23,554 I’m proud of the work we do because we’re there for the veterans. 1509 01:51:23,760 --> 01:51:25,846 I said this earlier as we went out. 1510 01:51:26,420 --> 01:51:34,420 In my five years as Mayor, I have never once had to suggest to the Commissioner of the Office, 1511 01:51:34,760 --> 01:51:38,554 you need to do this for the Veterans or do that for the Veterans. They’re already doing it. 1512 01:51:39,130 --> 01:51:42,970 It’s setup for you. If it weren’t for the Veterans 1513 01:51:43,550 --> 01:51:49,550 of the Revolutionary War, of World War I, II, Korea, Vietnam, 1514 01:51:50,340 --> 01:51:53,762 Iraq, Afghanistan fighting all over the world, 1515 01:51:53,971 --> 01:51:56,471 I wouldn’t have the opportunity to be the Mayor. 1516 01:51:57,130 --> 01:51:59,554 We wouldn’t have the opportunity of a democracy. 1517 01:51:59,920 --> 01:52:00,840 It’s because of you. 1518 01:52:01,596 --> 01:52:03,346 Because you fight for that democracy. 1519 01:52:04,340 --> 01:52:05,762 Thank you for being here. 1520 01:52:06,090 --> 01:52:10,346 Thank you for what you’ve done for our country. For what you continue to do for our country. 1521 01:52:10,840 --> 01:52:15,721 For me, Veteran’s Day is a day on the calendar just like Memorial Day’s a day on the calendar. 1522 01:52:16,260 --> 01:52:20,304 But Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day is every day. It should be every day in our country. 1523 01:52:29,470 --> 01:52:32,300 Everybody go 45 degrees towards the center. 1524 01:53:28,670 --> 01:53:31,340 Tuesday after the election for the Congress was complete, 1525 01:53:32,380 --> 01:53:36,970 I reached out to Richard Neal. Congratulated Richard Neal. He’s in line to be 1526 01:53:37,130 --> 01:53:40,170 the next Chairman of the Ways and Means from Springfield. 1527 01:53:40,630 --> 01:53:43,554 I reached out to Jim McGovern. Congratulated him. 1528 01:53:43,762 --> 01:53:47,762 He’s in line to be the Rules Chair from Worcester County. 1529 01:53:48,670 --> 01:53:51,971 That’s the seat formerly held by Joe Moakley who he worked for. 1530 01:53:53,800 --> 01:53:59,510 So we have some really good allies in there. I mean obviously they can’t favor Boston 1531 01:54:00,380 --> 01:54:02,550 per se on Massachusetts, but having them there 1532 01:54:02,720 --> 01:54:09,420 in their office, there’s a contact for a lot of different issues. Education, climate, transportation, 1533 01:54:09,760 --> 01:54:12,846 fire stuff, police stuff. That’s really important to have. 1534 01:54:13,090 --> 01:54:17,300 We’ll have staff in those offices that we can call, reach out directly to. 1535 01:54:17,590 --> 01:54:19,880 On a national level that will be important. 1536 01:54:20,170 --> 01:54:23,554 I also just reached out to the Governor to say that I’d like to get together with him 1537 01:54:23,721 --> 01:54:27,346 to talk about education, transportation and climate issues 1538 01:54:27,512 --> 01:54:30,970 and is there an opportunity for us to go and lobby in Washington 1539 01:54:31,380 --> 01:54:33,260 for those funds for the Commonwealth and the City. 1540 01:54:33,880 --> 01:54:36,221 I think we have decided to take a different approach. 1541 01:54:36,550 --> 01:54:38,971 The last couple years we haven’t done much of that because 1542 01:54:39,260 --> 01:54:41,971 we were used to going right to the White House. 1543 01:54:42,515 --> 01:54:45,179 We could go right to the Secretary’s when Obama was there. 1544 01:54:45,346 --> 01:54:49,512 We haven’t done that with this President. But I think there’s an opportunity for us to go 1545 01:54:50,679 --> 01:54:54,471 to Washington and lobby for a whole lot different pieces that we’re looking at here 1546 01:54:54,637 --> 01:54:58,220 through the Congressional folks right now. That’s usually how it worked in the past. 1547 01:54:58,510 --> 01:55:01,550 It changed under Obama the last couple years, they really made 1548 01:55:02,220 --> 01:55:05,012 a concerted effort to build a relationship directly with mayors. 1549 01:55:05,179 --> 01:55:08,554 Usually you go through the Legislative leaders like you at the State House. 1550 01:55:10,590 --> 01:55:12,420 So, I think that’s a really good thing for us. 1551 01:55:12,590 --> 01:55:16,471 Hopefully, I’m hoping good things can happen out of Washington. 1552 01:56:07,120 --> 01:56:11,830 There’s an openness that John has. If he opens it up we get a really 1553 01:56:12,000 --> 01:56:14,330 bad storm to 30 or 40 women. 1554 01:56:14,830 --> 01:56:16,710 It doesn’t go back down. Right. 1555 01:56:18,370 --> 01:56:21,210 He was willing... it worked well last winter, 1556 01:56:21,670 --> 01:56:26,370 to fill some beds between six and 8 p.m., but then leave a little room 1557 01:56:26,830 --> 01:56:29,080 for overflow from other places. 1558 01:56:29,330 --> 01:56:32,420 There needs to be some space because if he’s going to step up 1559 01:56:32,580 --> 01:56:36,830 he needs to be able to know that there is space that he's going to take these people to. 1560 01:56:37,210 --> 01:56:41,540 That we’re not going to be in a situation where he’s showing up at Pine Street or somewhere 1561 01:56:41,750 --> 01:56:43,620 and say you can’t. 1562 01:56:44,080 --> 01:56:47,500 A group of women who are sort of chronic... 1563 01:56:48,330 --> 01:56:51,960 they seem to be severely mentally ill who don’t leave shelter at all. 1564 01:56:52,120 --> 01:56:55,870 I mean they’re in it because we’re open 24/7 and they don’t leave. 1565 01:56:56,500 --> 01:56:59,210 I think we have a number of people also, 1566 01:57:00,420 --> 01:57:03,250 with sort of a combination of behavioral 1567 01:57:03,420 --> 01:57:06,790 and substance use disorders that are a combination there. 1568 01:57:07,170 --> 01:57:10,290 There’s a host of women who just desperately want to get housed, 1569 01:57:10,460 --> 01:57:13,080 who just don’t have the income you know. 1570 01:57:13,460 --> 01:57:15,210 Like we have a woman, an evacuee 1571 01:57:15,370 --> 01:57:16,750 from Puerto Rico 1572 01:57:17,250 --> 01:57:19,170 who just wants to get housing, 1573 01:57:19,330 --> 01:57:22,750 but has like a $535 Security Income check and that about 50 % 1574 01:57:23,000 --> 01:57:26,670 of the women also had some sort of domestic violence 1575 01:57:26,790 --> 01:57:30,750 or violence issue prior to coming, so we’re trying to get more service providers in. 1576 01:57:31,290 --> 01:57:34,460 There does seem to be a group of women who are like hiding. 1577 01:57:34,750 --> 01:57:39,080 Just trying to stay under the radar for whatever reason. 1578 01:57:40,080 --> 01:57:42,790 In the cold weather transit stations are places where people who are 1579 01:57:42,960 --> 01:57:47,670 sometimes less well-known or sometimes kind of hanging out have aggregated 1580 01:57:48,170 --> 01:57:52,580 and we know last year how the unintended consequence 1581 01:57:52,870 --> 01:57:55,000 of the compassion of the T at South Station 1582 01:57:55,250 --> 01:57:59,170 that really attracted people who were not so vulnerable, but.... 1583 01:58:00,710 --> 01:58:02,750 - Predatory.- Taking advantage. 1584 01:58:02,920 --> 01:58:04,790 There was some of that for sure. 1585 01:58:05,370 --> 01:58:07,620 So we just want to think about this year, 1586 01:58:07,790 --> 01:58:10,120 what the approach is working with the team because I think 1587 01:58:10,290 --> 01:58:13,580 Superintendent, you want to talk a little about what you pivoted to last year, 1588 01:58:13,710 --> 01:58:16,790 when it was clear the South Station wasn’t working in January, February. 1589 01:58:18,000 --> 01:58:20,500 Unfortunately we had to just keep muddling through it. 1590 01:58:20,750 --> 01:58:22,620 Unless we come up with something better, 1591 01:58:22,790 --> 01:58:27,330 I think we’re going to have it worse this year. So at its peak we had 170 people in there. 1592 01:58:27,580 --> 01:58:29,120 There’s no vetting. 1593 01:58:29,290 --> 01:58:32,920 The place is not secure. There’s no metal detectors. 1594 01:58:33,370 --> 01:58:37,210 There was all kinds of activity going on, inappropriate, criminal. 1595 01:58:37,670 --> 01:58:40,830 A lot of people were telling me just throw more cops in there. 1596 01:58:41,000 --> 01:58:44,750 That’s not the answer, that’s treating the symptom and not the cause. 1597 01:58:45,710 --> 01:58:47,750 We’ve intelligence that suggests this year, 1598 01:58:47,960 --> 01:58:50,920 and everyone’s aware of what’s going on at Mass and Melnea. 1599 01:58:51,290 --> 01:58:54,670 We’re right in the middle. That’s where our headquarters are. There’s anywhere 1600 01:58:54,830 --> 01:58:58,750 as low as 50 to, as high as 200 people that are gathering there, 1601 01:58:58,920 --> 01:59:02,580 using drugs, engaged in violence, prostitution, you name it. 1602 01:59:03,370 --> 01:59:08,040 We’ve intelligence that’s already telling us that core group which is in the dozens 1603 01:59:08,210 --> 01:59:13,580 are going to South Station when it gets cold to do whatever they want to do. 1604 01:59:14,580 --> 01:59:18,580 So, it’s great. One or two nights, we hit some extreme weather, 1605 01:59:18,790 --> 01:59:22,420 they come in there, but last year as you know, it started November 10th. 1606 01:59:22,580 --> 01:59:25,460 Right away was the first day we had to do shelter in place. 1607 01:59:26,250 --> 01:59:30,710 Two weeks after that we went on a stretch that went 17 straight nights. 1608 01:59:30,870 --> 01:59:32,620 We just can’t do it. 1609 01:59:32,960 --> 01:59:35,460 I think we’re doing them more disservice, 1610 01:59:36,750 --> 01:59:41,290 we got killed in the media. We got killed amongst homeless advocates 1611 01:59:41,460 --> 01:59:45,580 because when you think of a homeless shelter, right away you think of showering facilities, 1612 01:59:46,040 --> 01:59:50,960 food, mental health, medical. We have none of that. 1613 01:59:51,920 --> 01:59:54,750 And I can tell you that the folks that are paying 1614 01:59:54,920 --> 01:59:59,170 a lot of rent inside South Station were beside themselves. 1615 01:59:59,370 --> 02:00:02,960 Commuters coming in, in the morning were beside themselves. 1616 02:00:03,420 --> 02:00:07,170 This isn’t me getting it thirdhand, and I personally would respond. 1617 02:00:07,460 --> 02:00:11,540 I would say a vast majority of, probably weren’t even homeless. 1618 02:00:12,580 --> 02:00:14,210 And it’s impossible for us, 1619 02:00:14,330 --> 02:00:18,750 I wouldn’t ask my officers to subject themselves to all kinds of accusations just to go around 1620 02:00:18,920 --> 02:00:23,210 and pick and choose who should stay in there and who shouldn’t. 1621 02:00:24,370 --> 02:00:27,040 I think we need to come up with a better solution. 1622 02:00:27,290 --> 02:00:30,710 I’m willing to hire people 1623 02:00:30,870 --> 02:00:33,960 and transport people all over the city, all night long. 1624 02:00:34,370 --> 02:00:38,000 We want to be good and responsible neighbors and we want to do our part. 1625 02:00:38,500 --> 02:00:44,750 But just from seeing that firsthand, I think we were almost causing more harm than good. 1626 02:00:44,920 --> 02:00:49,830 None of the folks who left South Station when the overnights ended, 1627 02:00:51,000 --> 02:00:55,170 very few of them ended up out in the street in places we saw. 1628 02:00:55,330 --> 02:00:57,250 They migrated to other places. 1629 02:00:57,500 --> 02:01:01,210 We have to work together to make sure that the transportation is offered, 1630 02:01:01,370 --> 02:01:04,000 that the shelter capacity we’ve added is available. 1631 02:01:04,670 --> 02:01:06,330 The most humane thing that we can do for people 1632 02:01:06,500 --> 02:01:10,670 who find themselves in the middle of a very bad weather situation 1633 02:01:10,830 --> 02:01:14,460 is to get them to the place where they can get the support and the resources they need. 1634 02:01:14,620 --> 02:01:19,040 Get a meal, there’s a bathroom, there’s a shower and there’s support there. 1635 02:01:19,210 --> 02:01:24,000 Leaving them at South Station especially some of the more vulnerable folks... 1636 02:01:24,620 --> 02:01:27,040 I feel like the public position, 1637 02:01:27,210 --> 02:01:31,540 we’re in a strong position to say that the T is stepping up doing what it does best. 1638 02:01:31,790 --> 02:01:32,830 Transportation. 1639 02:01:35,370 --> 02:01:37,250 The weekly outreach meetings on Tuesdays 1640 02:01:37,420 --> 02:01:40,540 we’re making sure that we have represent... because the other first responders, 1641 02:01:40,710 --> 02:01:42,870 the Boston Police Department, District I, 1642 02:01:43,210 --> 02:01:46,290 the Boston EMS, the Squad 80 Group, 1643 02:01:46,580 --> 02:01:48,620 and the State Police are all at that meeting. 1644 02:01:48,790 --> 02:01:52,620 Making sure we have conversations in those meetings about how the outreach networks can help. 1645 02:02:22,210 --> 02:02:23,710 Anything in your pockets? 1646 02:02:38,420 --> 02:02:40,330 Do you have anything in your pockets, ma’am? 1647 02:02:44,370 --> 02:02:48,210 - Any metal in your pockets? Phone, keys? - Belt? 1648 02:02:48,330 --> 02:02:50,170 No, belt's fine. Just your pockets 1649 02:03:07,750 --> 02:03:08,960 Have a good one, sir. 1650 02:03:39,540 --> 02:03:42,960 The Fair Housing Act of 1968 pretty much eliminates 1651 02:03:43,120 --> 02:03:45,750 or it makes it illegal for anyone to discriminate 1652 02:03:46,460 --> 02:03:49,170 when it comes to housing, especially for certain classes of people 1653 02:03:49,420 --> 02:03:53,960 based on race, gender, color, sexual orientation and a bunch of other things. 1654 02:03:54,370 --> 02:03:58,580 Currently, House and Urban Development has proposed a new rule. 1655 02:03:59,040 --> 02:04:02,960 It’s proposing a new rule under the Trump Administration. 1656 02:04:03,080 --> 02:04:04,120 And as you know, 1657 02:04:04,790 --> 02:04:10,620 the Fair Housing Act of 1968 has for the last 50 years governed or guided 1658 02:04:11,420 --> 02:04:12,960 the laws of fair housing. 1659 02:04:13,250 --> 02:04:15,830 What’s happening is that with this new rule, 1660 02:04:16,000 --> 02:04:20,750 under the Fair Housing Act, let me start by saying that there’s a portion they call Disparate Impact. 1661 02:04:21,000 --> 02:04:24,080 Under Disparate Impact what it does is it allows a complainant, 1662 02:04:24,370 --> 02:04:29,790 meaning anybody that has a complaint of discrimination happening in housing 1663 02:04:29,960 --> 02:04:35,330 against a policy or practices that are happening to bring a complaint, formerly bring a complaint 1664 02:04:35,500 --> 02:04:42,460 against a bank, landlord, lender, or any kind of housing provider. 1665 02:04:43,330 --> 02:04:45,620 So, currently what’s happening is 1666 02:04:45,960 --> 02:04:48,830 the HUD wants to propose a rule 1667 02:04:49,000 --> 02:04:53,710 that is going to make it basically next to impossible for people 1668 02:04:54,790 --> 02:04:56,250 or anyone who is 1669 02:04:56,670 --> 02:04:59,920 experiencing any kind of discrimination under the Disparate Impact Rule, 1670 02:05:00,080 --> 02:05:03,540 to be able to bring a complaint. How this will work is: 1671 02:05:03,710 --> 02:05:07,960 currently there’s a very neutral task for it. All that needs to be shown 1672 02:05:08,250 --> 02:05:09,830 is that there is a... 1673 02:05:11,870 --> 02:05:17,170 whatever the policy or practice is has a wide reaching discriminatory effect. 1674 02:05:17,870 --> 02:05:20,210 But under this new rule what’s going to happen is that 1675 02:05:20,370 --> 02:05:22,290 anyone that brings these complaints 1676 02:05:22,540 --> 02:05:26,870 will now have to show not only that it’s doing this, but also intent. 1677 02:05:27,080 --> 02:05:30,790 That whomever the housing provider is, 1678 02:05:32,080 --> 02:05:34,420 has these policies or practices that are happening 1679 02:05:34,870 --> 02:05:39,870 and not only do they have them, but they intend to discriminate against 1680 02:05:40,370 --> 02:05:44,620 a person of color, race, gender, sexual orientation, what have you. 1681 02:05:45,290 --> 02:05:46,750 The problem with this is that 1682 02:05:47,000 --> 02:05:50,960 it makes it next to impossible because people who normally bring these complaints don’t have the time, 1683 02:05:51,170 --> 02:05:54,920 the money, the resources under the current rule as it is to do this. 1684 02:05:55,120 --> 02:05:58,830 That’s why we’re able to investigate if such a thing happens. 1685 02:05:59,000 --> 02:06:01,750 Under the current Disparate Impact Rule we’re able to look into it. 1686 02:06:02,080 --> 02:06:06,040 Or HUD is able to look into it and investigate and figure out if this is happening. 1687 02:06:06,210 --> 02:06:09,120 With this new rule it makes it next to impossible. 1688 02:06:09,460 --> 02:06:14,870 And it shifts the burden onto the complainant. The complainant will now have to show this 1689 02:06:15,040 --> 02:06:19,830 that it’s happening. So we have written a letter along with the Mayor to challenge 1690 02:06:20,250 --> 02:06:23,460 the Federal government on it. Challenge HUD on this new proposed rule. 1691 02:06:23,620 --> 02:06:26,710 Our department has linked up with other city agencies 1692 02:06:26,920 --> 02:06:30,000 and we have been part of the comment period that is currently open 1693 02:06:30,170 --> 02:06:33,960 and the Mayor has also written a letter to HUD 1694 02:06:34,370 --> 02:06:38,370 opposing this new rule because if it does in fact pass, 1695 02:06:38,560 --> 02:06:42,790 then this thing not only is it going to affect how we currently 1696 02:06:43,080 --> 02:06:46,670 do fair housing under the Disparate Impact Rule, 1697 02:06:46,830 --> 02:06:51,580 but it has far more wide reaching effects which is an attack against civil rights. 1698 02:06:52,870 --> 02:06:57,830 Because the Fair Housing Act was enacted under civil rights. 1699 02:06:58,080 --> 02:07:02,670 And if you can erode this rule then you can erode civil rights, 1700 02:07:03,000 --> 02:07:07,370 when it comes to discrimination, segregation, voting rights, 1701 02:07:07,710 --> 02:07:13,370 equal opportunity in employment because these things we all follow the same thinking process. 1702 02:07:13,710 --> 02:07:17,460 And it’s under the civil rights umbrella. So if HUD is able to do this 1703 02:07:17,620 --> 02:07:20,790 that means later they’re going to be able to attack all these other civil rights 1704 02:07:20,960 --> 02:07:24,500 that the country has fought for over the last 51 years to make sure 1705 02:07:24,670 --> 02:07:27,620 that people have or are being treated fairly. 1706 02:07:28,210 --> 02:07:31,080 So, this is a really huge thing at the moment. 1707 02:07:31,290 --> 02:07:33,420 We don’t know what’s going to happen with it. 1708 02:07:34,790 --> 02:07:39,330 We’ve submitted a comment letter. We encouraged all of the other FHIPs and FAPs, 1709 02:07:39,540 --> 02:07:42,960 fair housing providers and the agencies that are involved in this work, 1710 02:07:43,460 --> 02:07:45,620 to submit comment letters as well too. 1711 02:07:46,420 --> 02:07:48,870 The mayor wrote a really good comment letter 1712 02:07:49,210 --> 02:07:53,580 that hopefully we’re praying we get some traction with HUD. 1713 02:07:54,040 --> 02:07:57,460 But in the event that it doesn’t pass, a 1714 02:07:57,870 --> 02:08:02,420 and the HUDs new proposal rule does pass, then we are now in a situation where 1715 02:08:02,750 --> 02:08:07,420 basically we are watching the erosion of civil rights in the country. 1716 02:08:18,330 --> 02:08:20,210 What do we have here in Boston 1717 02:08:20,610 --> 02:08:25,500 that highlights the strength of diversity and of our immigrant population? 1718 02:08:25,670 --> 02:08:28,790 How can we celebrate what unites us here in the City? 1719 02:08:29,170 --> 02:08:32,040 And having Boston be a city of immigrants 1720 02:08:32,710 --> 02:08:35,670 with a majority, minority population? 1721 02:08:36,080 --> 02:08:37,870 What do we have to say here 1722 02:08:38,040 --> 02:08:40,750 and what can we do to really communicate 1723 02:08:41,080 --> 02:08:44,370 and celebrate that our diversity makes us stronger 1724 02:08:44,710 --> 02:08:48,170 and it actually leads us back to one another and to a sense of unity 1725 02:08:48,330 --> 02:08:52,080 and solidarity with one another? And that is that our diversity 1726 02:08:52,250 --> 02:08:55,120 and our strength really comes from the immigrant population. 1727 02:08:55,290 --> 02:08:58,170 So that’s really where it came from. 1728 02:08:58,370 --> 02:09:01,920 Just really thinking about how can we highlight these intersecting types 1729 02:09:02,080 --> 02:09:04,710 of issues around health which have to do with food, 1730 02:09:05,040 --> 02:09:08,620 with the activity that we started with 1731 02:09:08,790 --> 02:09:13,330 at the Armenian Heritage Park starting with walking and physical activity and meditation. 1732 02:09:13,500 --> 02:09:16,500 And then coming over here and being, 1733 02:09:16,870 --> 02:09:22,790 and having a cooking class to sort of celebrate all of us being together, 1734 02:09:23,080 --> 02:09:26,460 healthy food and again, all the ethnic cultures of Boston. 1735 02:09:27,290 --> 02:09:29,210 That was really the goal of this series, 1736 02:09:29,210 --> 02:09:33,960 to break down some of the barriers that have historically existed here in Boston 1737 02:09:34,370 --> 02:09:41,620 and sort of, by being next to one another, by being together sort of 1738 02:09:42,290 --> 02:09:44,540 create the sense of community 1739 02:09:44,670 --> 02:09:48,790 that really exists and breakdown some of the separations that have historically 1740 02:09:49,000 --> 02:09:50,620 existed here in the City. 1741 02:09:51,580 --> 02:09:54,540 So the meal that we’re going to demonstrate today 1742 02:09:54,710 --> 02:09:56,290 is Shrimp Lo Mien. 1743 02:09:56,460 --> 02:09:59,620 So Mien in Chinese means noodles. 1744 02:10:00,250 --> 02:10:05,370 And Lo in Cantonese means stirred. So it’s a stir fried noodle. 1745 02:10:05,870 --> 02:10:10,670 And noodles in the Chinese cuisine symbolizes longevity and prosperous life. 1746 02:10:10,830 --> 02:10:16,120 Traditionally, it’s served at celebrations such as Chinese New Year or birthdays. 1747 02:10:16,460 --> 02:10:18,920 So, for the sauces we are going to use today 1748 02:10:19,250 --> 02:10:24,460 is oyster sauce, low sodium soy sauce, cooking wine and a little bit of sugar. 1749 02:10:24,620 --> 02:10:28,960 Some spices, either chili powder or the pepper, black pepper. 1750 02:10:29,210 --> 02:10:33,290 And it will also give it a flavor without adding too much salt. 1751 02:10:33,290 --> 02:10:34,710 That’s what we call rice noodle. 1752 02:10:35,000 --> 02:10:38,750 So it has different flavor and goes with different kind of sauces 1753 02:10:40,210 --> 02:10:46,460 and a lot of people from China, they go back to their home town just to have that dish of 1754 02:10:46,790 --> 02:10:50,040 the noodles that were in their childhood memory. 1755 02:10:51,370 --> 02:10:55,920 And we also put a tablespoon of our cooking wine 1756 02:10:56,080 --> 02:11:00,710 and just to give it a little flavor\and also to reduce 1757 02:11:02,210 --> 02:11:07,290 the fishy smell in the shrimp as well. 1758 02:11:10,080 --> 02:11:11,790 Now we put into the shrimp. 1759 02:11:15,960 --> 02:11:17,540 So the shrimp is already cooked 1760 02:11:18,080 --> 02:11:20,920 for our demonstration, but we do recommend 1761 02:11:21,080 --> 02:11:23,960 to prepare the protein separately from our noodles 1762 02:11:24,210 --> 02:11:26,620 just to make sure that it’s cooked all the way through 1763 02:11:27,000 --> 02:11:32,330 and then reach the internal temperature that’s recommended. 1764 02:14:35,790 --> 02:14:38,080 55 % of Bostonians 1765 02:14:38,250 --> 02:14:41,580 are non-White, so in addition to be a majority city of color, we are also 1766 02:14:41,750 --> 02:14:45,790 a city of immigrants. And so 28 % of Bostonians are foreign born 1767 02:14:45,920 --> 02:14:48,870 and come from about 150 countries of origin. 1768 02:14:49,040 --> 02:14:51,960 Immigrants own 33 % of incorporated businesses 1769 02:14:52,120 --> 02:14:56,580 And in 2014, according to Brookings Institute, 1770 02:14:56,750 --> 02:14:59,960 Boston was ranked number one in terms of income inequality. 1771 02:15:00,330 --> 02:15:04,040 By 2017, they ranked us number seven and that was due primarily 1772 02:15:04,250 --> 02:15:08,170 to the increase of income in the lower income brackets. 1773 02:15:08,420 --> 02:15:14,580 And the Federal Reserve Banks' Boston’s Color of Wealth Report, 1774 02:15:15,540 --> 02:15:18,870 it listed different things. First it was the first report to 1775 02:15:19,040 --> 02:15:22,040 break out net worth by ethnic groups. 1776 02:15:22,250 --> 02:15:24,870 It’s a fascinating report if you have a chance to look at it, 1777 02:15:25,170 --> 02:15:28,790 but for Black Americans, U.S. Blacks as it listed it, 1778 02:15:29,620 --> 02:15:35,330 the net worth, median net worth for U.S. Black families was $8.00. 1779 02:15:36,040 --> 02:15:43,170 And the medium net worth for White families in the same period of time $247,000. 1780 02:15:44,370 --> 02:15:46,330 This is not something we’re proud of. 1781 02:15:46,790 --> 02:15:48,620 Many Bostonians are 1782 02:15:48,870 --> 02:15:51,420 under employed, over credentialed, 1783 02:15:53,120 --> 02:15:56,790 so meeting with companies and doing a comparison on their job postings, 1784 02:15:56,960 --> 02:16:00,170 in Boston versus job postings around the country, 1785 02:16:01,920 --> 02:16:03,120 we’ve got some folks, 1786 02:16:03,960 --> 02:16:05,540 I won’t name them, but 1787 02:16:06,000 --> 02:16:09,790 we looked at one company and like 100 % of their jobs you need a Bachelor's. 1788 02:16:10,040 --> 02:16:11,120 And it’s like really? 1789 02:16:11,290 --> 02:16:14,420 And then when you look at like jobs around the country it’s just not true. 1790 02:16:14,620 --> 02:16:19,040 And so having conversations with employers that allow us to access those jobs is important. 1791 02:16:20,250 --> 02:16:23,460 Jobs are a big part of the work that we do. 1792 02:16:23,670 --> 02:16:28,580 So the Boston Resident’s Job Policy which was a policy that was developed in 1983, 1793 02:16:28,790 --> 02:16:33,250 was recently updated by Mayor Walsh. And this policy essentially 1794 02:16:33,330 --> 02:16:37,670 mandates that in the construction space 1795 02:16:37,920 --> 02:16:43,460 where there is any private development, or public development that is looking for a private 1796 02:16:43,960 --> 02:16:47,710 variances or any kind of public approval, 1797 02:16:48,000 --> 02:16:49,790 we are mandating 1798 02:16:50,420 --> 02:16:54,370 51 % of those on a construction site be Boston residents, 1799 02:16:54,540 --> 02:16:57,710 40 % people of color, and 12 % women. 1800 02:16:58,000 --> 02:17:00,330 And this is something that 1801 02:17:00,420 --> 02:17:05,210 is really important because the construction jobs end up being pretty good jobs. 1802 02:17:05,500 --> 02:17:07,540 And so part of that is creating a pipeline 1803 02:17:07,790 --> 02:17:11,500 in working with the Unions and others to make sure that we have a diverse workforce 1804 02:17:11,710 --> 02:17:13,620 so that we can hit those numbers. 1805 02:17:15,040 --> 02:17:17,210 The other one frankly though is the new 1806 02:17:17,370 --> 02:17:21,790 good jobs policy that the City just announced on RFPs. 1807 02:17:22,290 --> 02:17:25,120 So any City land that is being disposed of, 1808 02:17:25,420 --> 02:17:31,210 the Mayor announced that we will be looking for a good jobs analysis, or a good jobs program 1809 02:17:31,500 --> 02:17:35,670 for the permanent jobs that will be built or attracted to 1810 02:17:35,920 --> 02:17:38,170 the developments built on City land. 1811 02:17:38,330 --> 02:17:43,460 We don’t have the necessary legal levers to demand certain wages, 1812 02:17:43,710 --> 02:17:48,790 so we set criteria definition for what good jobs are and certain wages and benefits and conditions. 1813 02:17:49,040 --> 02:17:51,250 And we want the developer to respond to that. 1814 02:17:51,420 --> 02:17:54,830 Once the developer responds to that program and says 1815 02:17:55,040 --> 02:17:56,870 here’s what we’re going to do in front of the community and of the City, 1816 02:17:57,040 --> 02:18:02,250 we will then codify them in the City agreement to what’s going to happen on that land. 1817 02:18:02,540 --> 02:18:05,370 We are leasing the land so we will have 1818 02:18:05,620 --> 02:18:10,420 serious legal levers on any lease, on what they should be doing with permanent jobs. 1819 02:18:11,670 --> 02:18:15,290 On the small business side, the other piece is following the 1820 02:18:15,540 --> 02:18:21,920 Federal Reserve Bank's Color of Wealth Report, we do believe that there is 1821 02:18:22,040 --> 02:18:25,040 an ethnic strategy to wealth creation. 1822 02:18:25,330 --> 02:18:29,000 So the ethnic groups are very different in how they approach wealth and wealth creation. 1823 02:18:29,580 --> 02:18:35,040 So, how do you have the conversation with the immigrant communities? 1824 02:18:35,290 --> 02:18:38,670 And the different immigrant communities look very different. 1825 02:18:38,790 --> 02:18:40,370 Some immigrant communities are 1826 02:18:40,620 --> 02:18:42,370 high unemployment so their employment rate for some of the immigrant communities. 1827 02:18:44,620 --> 02:18:47,750 Cape Verdean’s, which is an immigrant group here, from West Africa, 1828 02:18:49,290 --> 02:18:51,750 their employment numbers are really high, 1829 02:18:51,870 --> 02:18:54,250 but their entrepreneur numbers are really low. 1830 02:18:54,420 --> 02:18:58,170 It does something for income, but does nothing for wealth. 1831 02:18:58,500 --> 02:19:00,250 How do you have that conversation with that community; 1832 02:19:00,460 --> 02:19:02,920 When you look at the Black community which is very diverse in Boston, 1833 02:19:03,210 --> 02:19:04,620 when you look at the U.S. Blacks, 1834 02:19:05,000 --> 02:19:07,080 it’s one picture. When you look at Caribbeans, 1835 02:19:07,250 --> 02:19:09,870 the Blacks from the Caribbean, it’s a different picture. 1836 02:19:10,170 --> 02:19:12,000 How do you help to think about 1837 02:19:12,170 --> 02:19:15,210 what’s happening there and how we have different strategies. 1838 02:19:15,370 --> 02:19:18,250 So we’re rolling out and we haven’t announced this publicly, 1839 02:19:18,540 --> 02:19:24,210 but we’re rolling out conversations that are ethnic based. The BDPA has 1840 02:19:24,620 --> 02:19:27,370 set up some research around it. We’ve got some numbers. 1841 02:19:27,670 --> 02:19:29,870 We did an internal presentation recently 1842 02:19:30,080 --> 02:19:34,370 and we’re going to roll out ethnic based conversations to have a conversation about the difference 1843 02:19:34,580 --> 02:19:38,170 in approach in our ethnic communities, not bad or good. 1844 02:19:38,420 --> 02:19:39,750 But we’re going to put out the number, 1845 02:19:39,920 --> 02:19:43,870 we’re going to set up panels of people from the community to have the conversation 1846 02:19:44,040 --> 02:19:46,500 about what this might mean and what might be new strategies 1847 02:19:46,670 --> 02:19:49,250 and how we can approach this to make sure we’re having 1848 02:19:49,670 --> 02:19:53,710 a very responsive conversation about the economy that people live in. 1849 02:19:54,010 --> 02:19:57,080 We’re now mandating that people tell us how their team 1850 02:19:57,250 --> 02:20:02,040 is diverse and inclusive in all areas. And then we will score them on that 1851 02:20:02,170 --> 02:20:04,670 diversity inclusion in a way obviously 1852 02:20:05,120 --> 02:20:06,920 that those who are more diverse 1853 02:20:07,170 --> 02:20:11,040 and inclusive of women and people of color on their construction team, 1854 02:20:11,210 --> 02:20:13,120 on their design team, on the development team, 1855 02:20:13,620 --> 02:20:16,210 on finance, on operation, on ownership. 1856 02:20:16,500 --> 02:20:22,000 And so we’re driving to use public assets for... 1857 02:20:22,290 --> 02:20:25,460 and align it to the Mayor’s agenda. 1858 02:20:26,620 --> 02:20:29,290 We’re also asking that people work with us 1859 02:20:29,830 --> 02:20:33,830 in terms of what the community has said it wants to see in the neighborhood. 1860 02:20:34,040 --> 02:20:40,000 The recent RFP that we put out is actually in response to what's called Plan Dudley Square. 1861 02:20:40,670 --> 02:20:45,830 And we’re making sure that there is clarity between alignment on what the community has asked for 1862 02:20:46,170 --> 02:20:50,170 and what these developments are bringing. The second innovation is we picked 1863 02:20:50,330 --> 02:20:52,170 a neighborhood, following 1864 02:20:53,290 --> 02:20:57,210 the first comprehensive citywide plan that Boston’s done in 65 years, 1865 02:20:57,370 --> 02:21:01,500 or 50 depending on how you look at it, alled Imagine Boston 2030, 1866 02:21:01,750 --> 02:21:06,250 to pilot an effort of trying to develop a neighborhood 1867 02:21:06,420 --> 02:21:08,040 without displacing the neighborhood. 1868 02:21:08,210 --> 02:21:13,210 One of the strategies called for the City being more aggressive in acquiring property. 1869 02:21:13,710 --> 02:21:17,580 It’s something we’re doing now on the housing side as well. 1870 02:21:17,960 --> 02:21:20,710 We are out there acquiring existing property 1871 02:21:20,870 --> 02:21:25,120 and not trying to just create affordability on new developments that are coming. 1872 02:21:25,420 --> 02:21:31,540 How do we go after the high risk property, buy them and then make them permanently affordable, 1873 02:21:31,710 --> 02:21:35,080 hopefully making the tenants the owners of those properties. 1874 02:21:35,250 --> 02:21:39,540 So now we’re doing that on a neighborhood wide scale in Upham’s Corner, 1875 02:21:40,170 --> 02:21:45,370 acquiring as much property as possible before we launch any kind of public conversation 1876 02:21:45,670 --> 02:21:48,370 around the development of those properties. The third one would be 1877 02:21:48,540 --> 02:21:52,040 working with corporations that are coming to Boston 1878 02:21:53,060 --> 02:21:57,750 who are looking for tax incentives or any kind of incentive to relocate to our city. 1879 02:21:58,250 --> 02:22:01,040 Or bring a headquarter to our city. We have an agreement with Amazon 1880 02:22:01,210 --> 02:22:04,540 who is building about a million square feet in the Seaport 1881 02:22:04,710 --> 02:22:07,250 which equates about 4,000 jobs in two waves. 1882 02:22:07,540 --> 02:22:10,420 2,000 for the first wave, another 2,000 for the second wave. 1883 02:22:10,500 --> 02:22:13,750 There’s an agreement with Amazon that we will use a linkage fees 1884 02:22:14,040 --> 02:22:15,750 that that construction is producing 1885 02:22:16,040 --> 02:22:18,210 to create a workforce, 1886 02:22:18,460 --> 02:22:22,000 development and placement program specifically for those 2,000. 1887 02:22:22,500 --> 02:22:26,790 We’re meeting with HR this December. We’re going to look at the criteria’s, skills, what’s needed. 1888 02:22:27,080 --> 02:22:29,960 We’re then going to work with Tren and her team 1889 02:22:30,120 --> 02:22:34,210 on an RFP that looks at the workforce development in being specific 1890 02:22:34,500 --> 02:22:39,210 in designing that pipeline, or that journey to those jobs. 1891 02:22:40,000 --> 02:22:42,250 This is something we’re doing more and more of 1892 02:22:42,460 --> 02:22:47,500 is linking the employers or employment opportunity to the development 1893 02:22:48,080 --> 02:22:51,830 and programs that are happening all the way down to high schools. 1894 02:22:52,000 --> 02:22:55,290 Which is something we didn’t talk about here, but Boston’s effort to map 1895 02:22:55,580 --> 02:23:00,500 the job development ecosystem and then link it in a way that it’s more effective and evaluated. 1896 02:23:02,040 --> 02:23:04,210 The concept of resilience is a powerful one. 1897 02:23:05,750 --> 02:23:08,710 It resonates with every aspect of city life and planning 1898 02:23:08,870 --> 02:23:11,080 in our city and what we do in our city every day. 1899 02:23:11,540 --> 02:23:13,120 And our decision to focus 1900 02:23:13,750 --> 02:23:18,040 on our racial equity work was important to our city to move on. 1901 02:23:18,420 --> 02:23:21,460 And to move forward really. Not move on, move forward. 1902 02:23:21,830 --> 02:23:23,710 It’s something that’s important. 1903 02:23:25,000 --> 02:23:31,040 I grew up in Boston in Dorchester during the bussing, when bussing came in. 1904 02:23:31,540 --> 02:23:33,000 I was at grammar school 1905 02:23:33,170 --> 02:23:34,870 and I used to walk to... 1906 02:23:35,250 --> 02:23:37,370 my mother and father are immigrants from Ireland. 1907 02:23:37,540 --> 02:23:41,830 And when they came here they sent me to parochial school, Catholic school. 1908 02:23:42,000 --> 02:23:46,540 I used to walk by the William E. Russell every day in the early 70s 1909 02:23:46,830 --> 02:23:51,120 and the kids would come up in the school buses, but they were led 1910 02:23:51,370 --> 02:23:54,080 by motorcycle police officers. 1911 02:23:55,250 --> 02:23:58,210 And there was a motorcycle police officers behind them, and one on each side. 1912 02:23:58,580 --> 02:24:02,250 And they were moving kids in and out of schools and I thought that was 1913 02:24:02,460 --> 02:24:06,210 a little hard when you think I’m walking down to St. Margaret’s down the street. 1914 02:24:06,420 --> 02:24:10,670 We’re walking down to school and these kids are being escorted by the police. Not understanding at that time 1915 02:24:11,040 --> 02:24:14,920 what was going on because I was six and seven and eight years old. 1916 02:24:15,080 --> 02:24:18,170 I wasn’t really sure what was happening and going on. 1917 02:24:19,370 --> 02:24:23,460 Since that time Boston has made some progress. 1918 02:24:24,790 --> 02:24:27,420 And we’ve worked on that progress with other elected officials 1919 02:24:27,670 --> 02:24:30,750 and talking about addressing the disparities, 1920 02:24:30,960 --> 02:24:35,420 addressing racism and addressing the past that we’ve experienced in the City of Boston. 1921 02:24:36,620 --> 02:24:38,750 But the disparities remain deep 1922 02:24:38,920 --> 02:24:44,960 and there’s a real, the distrust we have is real in a lot of areas of our society. 1923 02:24:46,040 --> 02:24:48,870 People wanted more open and honest conversations 1924 02:24:49,210 --> 02:24:52,540 and I saw the duty as a Mayor who’s a White Mayor, 1925 02:24:53,120 --> 02:24:55,580 Irish Catholic White Mayor of Boston, 1926 02:24:56,290 --> 02:25:00,170 to start by listening and learning. 1927 02:25:00,830 --> 02:25:03,540 And that’s something important you have to do because 1928 02:25:03,710 --> 02:25:07,330 if you get somebody making conversation and trying to make up answers, 1929 02:25:07,500 --> 02:25:12,120 like I did when I was a candidate, it’s not the way to go. And I did that as a candidate. 1930 02:25:12,420 --> 02:25:14,420 Trying to see what I could do. 1931 02:25:15,580 --> 02:25:18,580 A city can’t thrive if we’re disconnected from each other. 1932 02:25:19,710 --> 02:25:23,250 And that’s something also important as far as the work that we do moving forward. 1933 02:25:23,500 --> 02:25:27,920 Racial disparities are our deepest form of disconnection that we have in this country. 1934 02:25:28,290 --> 02:25:34,330 And I realize in Boston we can’t solve the problems of the United States of America in here. 1935 02:25:34,830 --> 02:25:38,790 What we can do is work on the issues that we’re dealing with here in Boston 1936 02:25:38,960 --> 02:25:41,500 and hopefully other cities will see what we’re doing 1937 02:25:41,710 --> 02:25:45,000 and mistakes we might make, they won’t have to make those mistakes. 1938 02:25:45,500 --> 02:25:47,250 And what is successful in our city, 1939 02:25:47,420 --> 02:25:50,040 they can say OK this is something we can do and use in our cities. 1940 02:25:51,620 --> 02:25:54,250 We were just in Columbia, South Carolina 1941 02:25:54,580 --> 02:25:58,750 with Mayor Stephen Benjamin a couple weeks ago, about 40 mayors I think there, 1942 02:25:59,370 --> 02:26:03,370 and inevitably this conversation comes up about equity and race. And we tie it into 1943 02:26:03,580 --> 02:26:08,710 what happens on a national level, but we also come to saying that the impact can be made locally. 1944 02:26:09,080 --> 02:26:10,830 All it takes is one city. 1945 02:26:11,500 --> 02:26:16,870 One city to do something about it. To be able to share best practices and ideas. 1946 02:26:17,000 --> 02:26:20,290 That’s what we do as Mayors, as cities, as city councils. 1947 02:26:20,460 --> 02:26:25,120 That’s what legislatures do: they take ideas from each other and use best practices. 1948 02:26:25,290 --> 02:26:29,710 I just continue to have these dialogues, continue to have these conversations 1949 02:26:29,960 --> 02:26:33,960 and hopefully we can continue to move forward as a City of Boston, but also as a country. 1950 02:29:24,460 --> 02:29:26,960 The Food Bank is a great partner to the City of Boston. 1951 02:29:27,620 --> 02:29:33,080 They work closely with our Office of Health and Human Services and Office of Food Access as they do with the State. 1952 02:29:33,710 --> 02:29:36,620 They’re member of our Boston Food Access Council 1953 02:29:36,790 --> 02:29:39,790 and we all know how important this partnership is. 1954 02:29:40,250 --> 02:29:43,920 One out of every 6 Bostonians struggle with food insecurity. 1955 02:29:44,460 --> 02:29:48,080 One out of every 6 Bostonians struggle with food insecurity. 1956 02:29:49,420 --> 02:29:52,580 We’ve added 20,000 new jobs every year for the last five years. 1957 02:29:52,920 --> 02:29:56,420 We have $9 billion dollars of new development going on in the City of Boston. 1958 02:29:56,710 --> 02:29:59,120 We’ve built almost 28,000 1959 02:29:59,290 --> 02:30:01,580 new homes in the City of Boston in the last five years. 1960 02:30:02,290 --> 02:30:05,370 We have great prosperity in the City of Boston right now 1961 02:30:05,920 --> 02:30:09,460 and one out of every six Bostonians are struggling with food insecurity. 1962 02:30:09,620 --> 02:30:11,000 That’s the message today. 1963 02:30:11,170 --> 02:30:14,370 That’s something that we need to work together to tackle this issue 1964 02:30:14,540 --> 02:30:16,960 to get that number to zero. No one should have 1965 02:30:17,120 --> 02:30:19,790 to worry about where their next meal’s coming from. 1966 02:30:20,250 --> 02:30:24,000 Everyone deserves access to food and that’s everyone’s basic human right. 1967 02:30:24,170 --> 02:30:28,210 In Boston, we need to know that that work of fighting hunger is important 1968 02:30:28,370 --> 02:30:31,870 and the impact that we’re doing in fighting has to go much further. 1969 02:31:17,880 --> 02:31:21,370 I don’t know what it’s going to take the United States Congress and Senate 1970 02:31:21,620 --> 02:31:24,500 to recognize the need for gun legislation. 1971 02:31:24,670 --> 02:31:30,540 And also, we can look at Boston and see when we have a homicide in Boston, 1972 02:31:31,160 --> 02:31:34,000 you can generally tie it back to poverty, 1973 02:31:34,080 --> 02:31:39,080 maybe dropping out of school, lack of education, desperation, whatever it might be. 1974 02:31:39,290 --> 02:31:43,830 I don’t think anyone’s ever done a real study on what’s going on with these mass shootings. 1975 02:31:44,000 --> 02:31:46,790 These mass shootings don’t happen in other countries. 1976 02:31:47,080 --> 02:31:52,080 They happen in the United States of America. They’re targeting seniors, religious groups, kids 1977 02:31:52,210 --> 02:31:54,120 and nightclubs. It’s the second nightclub shooting 1978 02:31:54,290 --> 02:31:57,040 in the last couple of years here and Pulse was the first. 1979 02:31:57,210 --> 02:31:59,120 Something has to give here. 1980 02:31:59,980 --> 02:32:02,960 You can only protect the NRA for so long. 1981 02:32:03,540 --> 02:32:07,370 They have an obligation, the National Rifle Association, 1982 02:32:07,620 --> 02:32:09,710 if they don’t want to change the laws, 1983 02:32:09,870 --> 02:32:14,500 they have an obligation to the American people to come up with some solutions. 1984 02:32:14,870 --> 02:32:19,040 When Purdue Pharma, I’m not going to give him credit here, 1985 02:32:19,330 --> 02:32:24,830 had their back put up against a wall on oxycodone, they tried to offer some solutions. 1986 02:32:25,170 --> 02:32:29,500 The Labor Movement, when their back's up against the wall they have to come up with solutions. 1987 02:32:29,670 --> 02:32:35,080 The NRA needs to be held responsible and accountable for coming up with solutions. 1988 02:32:35,620 --> 02:32:38,960 And if we can’t pass legislation maybe that’s the route we have to take. 1989 02:32:39,120 --> 02:32:40,710 The NRA is allowing 1990 02:32:40,960 --> 02:32:46,460 mass shootings to happen by not letting any action happen in the Congress and that’s a sin. 1991 02:34:26,960 --> 02:34:30,620 The ultimate goal of making this stuff usable, at getting out here to West Roxbury 1992 02:34:30,830 --> 02:34:35,750 is one way to get to this data, but if we get it all online you don’t have to travel all the way up here. 1993 02:34:35,920 --> 02:34:37,920 Let’s say somebody is looking at 1994 02:34:38,710 --> 02:34:42,710 a governor’s mansion in Virginia and wants to compare it to the governor’s mansion in Massachusetts, 1995 02:34:42,870 --> 02:34:45,290 they may not even have to do anything more than open a computer 1996 02:34:45,580 --> 02:34:47,000 to get all of our data. 1997 02:34:47,250 --> 02:34:49,330 They might have to email or call us to find out 1998 02:34:49,500 --> 02:34:52,330 what do we mean by this or that or the other thing, 1999 02:34:52,500 --> 02:34:54,790 but the more accessible our data is the more usable it is. 2000 02:34:54,960 --> 02:34:58,790 Frankly, the more usable it is even here. So when I look for something, 2001 02:34:59,350 --> 02:35:03,710 I either have to know which box of the 2000 boxes we have contains the artifact 2002 02:35:03,950 --> 02:35:08,370 or I can look it up on our searchable database and open it up. 2003 02:35:08,750 --> 02:35:11,000 If a researcher comes in looking for a certain type of artifact 2004 02:35:11,290 --> 02:35:14,250 I can actually search our entire database to see if we have it or 2005 02:35:14,420 --> 02:35:16,710 how many do we have and what sites it turns up in. 2006 02:35:16,920 --> 02:35:22,170 And within 20 minutes Sarah or I could get out to the box and pull it for researcher. 2007 02:35:23,170 --> 02:35:26,460 Which is how it works. Usually when I get research requests, somebody will say, 2008 02:35:26,610 --> 02:35:29,250 I want to look at one particular type of ceramic. 2009 02:35:30,460 --> 02:35:33,710 If I don’t know where every piece of that ceramic is in our two million artifacts, 2010 02:35:34,250 --> 02:35:39,080 I can’t make it accessible to them even though I know we might have some of it. 2011 02:35:40,420 --> 02:35:43,250 It’s making them usable by people who may not even know that 2012 02:35:43,420 --> 02:35:46,960 we have these collections. I, myself am still learning what we have every day. 2013 02:35:47,170 --> 02:35:49,960 I haven’t seen most of this stuff, even while we were digging, 2014 02:35:50,120 --> 02:35:53,830 because I was in the home most of the time, not seeing the actual artifacts, but... 2015 02:35:54,140 --> 02:35:56,000 there’s some really cool stuff here. 2016 02:35:56,950 --> 02:35:59,170 Can I talk about the clams real fast because the clams are really cool. 2017 02:35:59,370 --> 02:36:00,580 I’ll take it all. 2018 02:36:00,950 --> 02:36:05,750 When we were digging we got down to the very bottom of the site and we hit a layer of clay 2019 02:36:05,990 --> 02:36:09,250 which is this deposit here, in the very bottom of our site. 2020 02:36:09,950 --> 02:36:12,120 It was manmade as far as 2021 02:36:12,290 --> 02:36:16,170 where it came from because there’s little bits of brick in it, so we know it wasn’t natural clay deposit. 2022 02:36:16,370 --> 02:36:19,210 But it’s a blue clay. We call it Boston blue clay. 2023 02:36:19,370 --> 02:36:22,330 And it’s a marine clay that was deposited by the glacier 2024 02:36:22,720 --> 02:36:25,750 right after the glacier left. It melted a lot of soil. 2025 02:36:26,590 --> 02:36:31,540 Basically the ground that Boston is was pushed down by the glacier 2026 02:36:32,000 --> 02:36:34,620 and when the glacier melted it was still down a little bit deep. 2027 02:36:34,790 --> 02:36:39,500 It’s almost like jumping off a dock. The ground bounces up after the glacier leaves. 2028 02:36:39,670 --> 02:36:42,330 But before that happened the ocean flooded Boston. 2029 02:36:42,540 --> 02:36:46,330 So we have a couple thousand years around 10,000, 15,000 years ago 2030 02:36:46,500 --> 02:36:50,420 where Boston was under water completely. And then it bounced back up above water. 2031 02:36:50,580 --> 02:36:53,210 But during that time it laid a huge deposit of clay 2032 02:36:53,370 --> 02:36:57,500 and that’s the Boston blue clay. And you see it in construction sites all over the place. 2033 02:36:57,960 --> 02:37:01,620 We found clay that was then dug up by somebody probably in the 2034 02:37:01,790 --> 02:37:04,830 late 1800s, early 1900s and they used it to line something, 2035 02:37:05,000 --> 02:37:08,580 we’re not even sure what it is. A cistern, a water collection, something like that. 2036 02:37:09,290 --> 02:37:13,790 And they dug up the clay and they pulled out all of these shells in the clay still. 2037 02:37:14,900 --> 02:37:20,540 These were stuck in the clay from where they dug it out. So these are actually clams that were living in Boston 2038 02:37:20,900 --> 02:37:24,460 when it was flooded that are between 11,000 and 15,000 years old. 2039 02:37:24,620 --> 02:37:29,370 So these are like prehistoric clams. They’re really thick. They’re huge. 2040 02:37:29,920 --> 02:37:35,330 And it’s just really kind of fun to see them from 11,000 years ago stuck in the clay, 2041 02:37:35,590 --> 02:37:37,210 scallop in two soft shell clams. 2042 02:37:38,080 --> 02:37:40,790 I just think they’re really cool to find. Basically they’re fossils. 2043 02:37:41,250 --> 02:37:44,790 We don’t get to find a lot of fossils in archeology so we don’t do dinosaurs, 2044 02:37:45,010 --> 02:37:46,620 but it’s nice to happen every once in a while. 2045 02:37:46,750 --> 02:37:50,250 In that deposit we also have artifacts from the 1700s, like this 2046 02:37:51,080 --> 02:37:55,420 1800s, like this glass. And 15,000 year old clams. 2047 02:37:56,120 --> 02:37:58,580 Not very typical, but it’s interesting. 2048 02:40:58,930 --> 02:41:01,870 Do minority and women owned businesses face any barriers 2049 02:41:02,170 --> 02:41:04,420 when it comes to city contracting? 2050 02:41:04,620 --> 02:41:09,580 The disparity study is designed to assess that question in a number of different ways. 2051 02:41:10,230 --> 02:41:14,920 So first, we’ll look at the degree to which minority and women owned businesses 2052 02:41:15,080 --> 02:41:19,250 participate in city contracts relative to their availability for that work. 2053 02:41:19,420 --> 02:41:22,210 I’ll unpack those terms in just a few minutes. 2054 02:41:23,330 --> 02:41:28,670 We’ll also provide a comprehensive analysis of the local marketplace to help understand 2055 02:41:28,830 --> 02:41:32,290 whether minorities, women and minority and women own businesses 2056 02:41:32,460 --> 02:41:39,580 face any barriers working in the Boston region, and whether any of those barriers lead to 2057 02:41:39,750 --> 02:41:43,330 less success with city contracting in particular. 2058 02:41:44,540 --> 02:41:48,170 We’ll also provide a comprehensive review of the contracting policies 2059 02:41:48,330 --> 02:41:51,750 and program measures that the city uses to help identify 2060 02:41:51,990 --> 02:41:54,420 any policies or practices that might be inadvertently 2061 02:41:54,710 --> 02:41:58,170 making it more difficult for small businesses and minority and women owned businesses 2062 02:41:58,460 --> 02:42:01,670 to compete successfully for city contracts. 2063 02:42:03,210 --> 02:42:06,250 Then we’ll also provide a great deal of insight and recommendations 2064 02:42:06,420 --> 02:42:09,830 around how the City can refine 2065 02:42:09,960 --> 02:42:12,830 the programs it uses to encourage minority and women owned businesses' participation 2066 02:42:13,000 --> 02:42:16,000 and what programs it can consider using in the future. 2067 02:42:16,290 --> 02:42:18,500 Educate me a little bit about this. 2068 02:42:19,420 --> 02:42:25,080 Disparity studies. I’ve been in this business in my industry for the past 30 years. 2069 02:42:25,540 --> 02:42:32,080 I have encountered all kind of difficulties and I’m still a small contractor after 30 years in business. 2070 02:42:33,120 --> 02:42:39,580 When you say disparity study, meaning a study that is a doubt. 2071 02:42:41,250 --> 02:42:43,830 Is there a doubt that this exists? 2072 02:42:44,000 --> 02:42:48,870 Because I find it in this 30 years the difficulty in contracts 2073 02:42:49,170 --> 02:42:55,040 for me to achieve all years in the study. I don’t think there should be a kind of a doubt. 2074 02:42:55,400 --> 02:42:58,290 Maybe we're looking for proof. 2075 02:42:59,000 --> 02:43:02,540 But I been part of it and not too long ago, 2076 02:43:03,470 --> 02:43:08,920 I was a minority in a contract, a State contract with housing. 2077 02:43:09,290 --> 02:43:12,460 I was a third tier subcontract 2078 02:43:13,000 --> 02:43:16,580 just so I can fill the minority quorums, 2079 02:43:16,820 --> 02:43:22,580 but there is a major company, let’s say White right in front of me to hire me just for that. 2080 02:43:22,930 --> 02:43:28,290 Is that something why wouldn’t I be directly to the GC? 2081 02:43:28,420 --> 02:43:31,500 Why do I have to be second and third tier? 2082 02:43:31,710 --> 02:43:37,790 So we know that thing happens where connections are made to just use us for the particular. 2083 02:43:38,000 --> 02:43:42,120 I’m sorry if I’m out of the equation 2084 02:43:42,750 --> 02:43:45,750 or I’m getting out of the point that we’re talking. 2085 02:43:46,580 --> 02:43:48,540 But for the past 30 years, 2086 02:43:50,540 --> 02:43:56,080 I can feel it... If the dollar is taken green, 2087 02:43:56,290 --> 02:44:00,210 I’m suddenly all the qualifications... I can’t meet them. 2088 02:44:00,370 --> 02:44:03,330 Usually like I was speaking here to Greg, 2089 02:44:03,960 --> 02:44:10,540 I cannot do a 20 or let’s say $10 million, let’s say $2 million project. 2090 02:44:11,690 --> 02:44:18,870 But I have 10, 12, sometimes 15, $200,000 projects. 2091 02:44:19,250 --> 02:44:22,960 I can do 20, as many as 200, but at one 2092 02:44:23,180 --> 02:44:25,460 then so really you'll see that 2093 02:44:25,920 --> 02:44:32,040 what is there that is something to keep us or keep me still on that $200-300,000, 2094 02:44:32,250 --> 02:44:36,540 but where the dollar is greener. So the disparity is there. 2095 02:44:36,780 --> 02:44:42,750 If it’s proof you’re looking, you come to me. I’ve been a victim of it for the past years. 2096 02:44:42,920 --> 02:44:47,870 It’s been very hard for a small company like myself to grow. 2097 02:44:47,950 --> 02:44:52,040 And usually I find let’s say major stream what do you call it, 2098 02:44:52,210 --> 02:44:54,000 not by using the color of the skin, 2099 02:44:54,170 --> 02:44:57,670 but the mainstream companies in five years in construction, 2100 02:44:57,870 --> 02:45:01,120 they do it in 20 or 30 million and they speeding up there. 2101 02:45:01,370 --> 02:45:04,370 And what we say if you really want to help this, 2102 02:45:04,670 --> 02:45:09,000 I don’t understand that in bigger companies, bigger projects. 2103 02:45:09,150 --> 02:45:15,290 Like I heard Honeywell has so many million dollars, negotiated contract with the city. 2104 02:45:16,520 --> 02:45:18,460 The casino was negotiated. 2105 02:45:18,580 --> 02:45:22,670 Why with a small contractor so we can’t negotiate with the city 2106 02:45:22,870 --> 02:45:25,620 to get that has to be different ways of doing it 2107 02:45:25,870 --> 02:45:30,870 that we can sit down and negotiate contracts and make sure we eliminate that gap. 2108 02:45:31,080 --> 02:45:36,750 Suddenly with us it’s illegal. With major companies it’s not illegal. That’s my point. 2109 02:45:37,000 --> 02:45:39,830 Question is there. I think essentially it was 2110 02:45:40,030 --> 02:45:46,500 why do the disparity studies? So there’s a belief on the ground that 2111 02:45:46,900 --> 02:45:49,080 these barriers exist. 2112 02:45:50,420 --> 02:45:54,290 So there’s a few reasons why we have to go through this process. 2113 02:45:54,460 --> 02:46:01,580 One is as researchers we, as strong as though, as strong as 2114 02:46:01,830 --> 02:46:04,620 our feeling is that these barriers might exist or not, 2115 02:46:04,920 --> 02:46:08,460 we’ve got to do the work and understand and look for evidence, 2116 02:46:08,830 --> 02:46:12,750 objective evidence that this exists. The reason why is because 2117 02:46:12,870 --> 02:46:15,250 in order for the city to develop its program 2118 02:46:15,780 --> 02:46:19,620 and for the city to develop a program that can stand up to legal scrutiny, 2119 02:46:20,670 --> 02:46:23,370 there has to be objective evidence in place 2120 02:46:23,620 --> 02:46:29,710 that they can point to that informs what programs they use and why they’re using those programs. 2121 02:46:30,004 --> 02:46:31,460 That’s really the reason. 2122 02:46:31,580 --> 02:46:34,170 I wouldn’t use the word doubt necessarily, 2123 02:46:34,290 --> 02:46:37,460 but it’s really an exercise in making sure that we’re gathering 2124 02:46:37,670 --> 02:46:42,629 the evidence that the city needs to make sure that it’s tailoring its program appropriately. 2125 02:46:42,796 --> 02:46:44,087 That’s really what it comes down to. 2126 02:46:44,350 --> 02:46:49,460 There is no doubt that there are disparities that exist in doing business. 2127 02:46:50,040 --> 02:46:53,046 There’s no doubt that there are disparities in our economy. 2128 02:46:53,420 --> 02:46:56,754 In fact, the Mayor would be very clear and has been very clear, 2129 02:46:56,921 --> 02:46:59,921 his number one priority right now is addressing 2130 02:47:01,000 --> 02:47:04,796 inequities that exist in the participation of our economy. 2131 02:47:05,330 --> 02:47:06,879 All over the City. 2132 02:47:07,290 --> 02:47:12,212 Now we think the inequities that exist in the participation in doing business with the City 2133 02:47:12,380 --> 02:47:16,370 is where we need to put real effort and try to lead. 2134 02:47:16,580 --> 02:47:18,337 And so there’s been historic 2135 02:47:18,754 --> 02:47:23,629 challenges doing business with women owned and minority owned businesses here in the City 2136 02:47:24,290 --> 02:47:25,830 way before we got in, 2137 02:47:26,220 --> 02:47:29,290 and there are systemic barriers and policy barriers. 2138 02:47:29,462 --> 02:47:31,171 And we want to address them. 2139 02:47:31,421 --> 02:47:33,080 We’ve been doing things 2140 02:47:33,600 --> 02:47:36,790 and there also have been challenges, 2141 02:47:36,920 --> 02:47:39,920 legal challenges to policies that the City 2142 02:47:40,080 --> 02:47:42,629 before we got into office, but all over the country, 2143 02:47:42,870 --> 02:47:46,004 whenever a City adopts a policy 2144 02:47:46,171 --> 02:47:49,587 that begins to work with one group or another, people will challenge it. 2145 02:47:49,793 --> 02:47:52,421 And say hey, is that fair? Is that not fair? 2146 02:47:55,000 --> 02:48:00,750 BBC, Sameer, is representing the city’s effort to make sure that we are well informed 2147 02:48:01,330 --> 02:48:04,920 when we introduce any of these policies. 2148 02:48:05,790 --> 02:48:08,080 And more importantly, that they can stand up in court. 2149 02:48:52,250 --> 02:48:53,212 Good boy. 2150 02:48:54,060 --> 02:48:58,500 So the good news is to take his temperature I don’t have to put a thermometer in him. 2151 02:48:58,880 --> 02:49:01,170 I have a scanning thermometer I can just put on his skin. 2152 02:49:01,460 --> 02:49:03,504 And it’s going to scan for his temperature. 2153 02:49:07,500 --> 02:49:10,710 - Perfect. He doesn’t have a fever. - He’s neutered correct? 2154 02:49:15,120 --> 02:49:18,000 So the plan for today because he’s already got his rabies vaccine, 2155 02:49:18,250 --> 02:49:21,040 we’re going to do a distemper parvo vaccine. 2156 02:49:21,230 --> 02:49:26,170 We're going to give him a kennel cough vaccine which is a drop that has to go into his nose. 2157 02:49:26,750 --> 02:49:29,580 We’re going to give him a de-wormer and we’ll do a blood test. 2158 02:49:30,040 --> 02:49:34,120 We’re testing him for heartworm disease. That’s transmitted by mosquitoes 2159 02:49:34,250 --> 02:49:35,830 and it’s a horrible disease 2160 02:49:35,960 --> 02:49:37,870 to have to treat that’s really easy to prevent. 2161 02:50:24,790 --> 02:50:26,500 Distemper. Ready? 2162 02:50:34,260 --> 02:50:36,040 What was that? Nothing. 2163 02:50:38,970 --> 02:50:40,960 Rabies. I’m sorry little girl. 2164 02:50:42,000 --> 02:50:44,212 So you want to giver her a bath now? 2165 02:51:32,010 --> 02:51:35,710 You can call 1-800-PETMEDS and ask for a prescription 2166 02:51:36,120 --> 02:51:40,420 of heartworm medication and they’ll call here to verify that the test was clean. 2167 02:51:40,470 --> 02:51:41,921 But the way to keep him healthy 2168 02:51:42,129 --> 02:51:45,962 is to have him on the preventive medicine once a month, all around the year. 2169 02:53:05,270 --> 02:53:07,460 This organization is incredible. 2170 02:53:07,580 --> 02:53:11,120 Morgan Memorial we all have a story growing up of Morgan Memorial 2171 02:53:11,350 --> 02:53:15,790 and Goodwill, providing opportunities for training, 2172 02:53:16,030 --> 02:53:18,330 for housing, for food, 2173 02:53:18,870 --> 02:53:20,920 for supplies, for clothing, 2174 02:53:21,040 --> 02:53:25,460 helping people. This organization has always wrapped its arms around people that are in need. 2175 02:53:25,620 --> 02:53:30,920 It’s one of our largest employers for people with disabilities. I want to thank you as well for the great work you do there. 2176 02:53:31,210 --> 02:53:35,000 I want to thank all the people that are here today that we had the honor of serving. 2177 02:53:35,170 --> 02:53:38,830 Thank you for letting us serve you today. Thank you for letting us be part of this day. 2178 02:53:39,860 --> 02:53:41,290 Thanksgiving is... 2179 02:53:43,040 --> 02:53:45,712 one of those holidays I think that 2180 02:53:46,087 --> 02:53:49,171 allows us the opportunity to come and serve somebody else. 2181 02:53:49,670 --> 02:53:55,460 And a chance to see people and it should fill our hearts with gratitude for what we have. 2182 02:53:55,750 --> 02:53:58,629 And on behalf of myself and all the folks from the City and the State, 2183 02:53:58,884 --> 02:54:02,004 I want to thank you because my heart is filled with gratitude today 2184 02:54:02,421 --> 02:54:04,790 because of the great work that Goodwill does 2185 02:54:05,010 --> 02:54:07,620 and the great work of the young people and the people that are here today. 2186 02:54:07,870 --> 02:54:12,087 So I’m going to stop talking and then we’re going to have, we’re going to have dancing. 2187 02:54:12,370 --> 02:54:16,337 Will the runners go to the kitchen and dinner will start. 2188 02:57:02,070 --> 02:57:07,070 We’re going to be doing the general contracting. We’re the developer and the property manager 2189 02:57:07,370 --> 02:57:10,160 and this is some of the additional organizations that we have. 2190 02:57:10,370 --> 02:57:13,990 We’re very proud of Cruz’s Care because it’s a nonprofit that does 2191 02:57:14,780 --> 02:57:19,530 outreach to youth. We mentor young people, we take them on trips, we do computer learning. 2192 02:57:20,530 --> 02:57:25,070 We do all kinds of backpack giveaways, but the most important thing is we spend time 2193 02:57:25,240 --> 02:57:28,660 with youth that live on our properties because we think mentorship 2194 02:57:29,290 --> 02:57:32,530 and interaction is vital in young people’s lives. 2195 02:57:32,870 --> 02:57:33,990 And next slide. 2196 02:57:34,740 --> 02:57:38,160 We also have heard through the community in this process, 2197 02:57:38,450 --> 02:57:40,530 about the wealth gap that exists. 2198 02:57:40,740 --> 02:57:44,240 And we all know in the Black community the wealth gap 2199 02:57:45,200 --> 02:57:48,490 between Blacks and Whites is 275,000 2200 02:57:48,910 --> 02:57:52,950 for an average White family and 750 for an average Black family. 2201 02:57:53,120 --> 02:57:57,740 So one of the things that we made as part of our mission in this proposal 2202 02:57:57,920 --> 02:58:01,070 is to give as much back economically to the community 2203 02:58:01,280 --> 02:58:03,570 and leave it better than we find it. 2204 02:58:04,020 --> 02:58:08,870 We just want to give folks a bit of sense of what we do from a payroll standpoint. 2205 02:58:09,030 --> 02:58:11,410 This is the last seven years. You'll see our people 2206 02:58:11,740 --> 02:58:16,570 of color percentages go up from 77 to 93. 2207 02:58:16,740 --> 02:58:21,620 Boston residents are in the 60’s. Women and Section 3 workers. 2208 02:58:21,870 --> 02:58:24,620 And we continue to put money back in the community. 2209 02:58:26,470 --> 02:58:29,700 And this is not only on an employee’s standpoint, 2210 02:58:29,950 --> 02:58:31,490 but on a business standpoint. 2211 02:58:31,660 --> 02:58:35,990 We think it’s very important that we support local businesses of color. 2212 02:58:36,160 --> 02:58:38,530 So these are MBE numbers. 2213 02:58:39,430 --> 02:58:43,160 Utilization of firms of color in the last seven years. 2214 02:58:44,370 --> 02:58:49,120 And you see out of 152 million of total development costs that we’ve done on average 2215 02:58:49,660 --> 02:58:54,700 75 to 78 % have gone to firms of color. And you look at the worker hours. 2216 02:58:54,910 --> 02:58:59,780 We’ve hit as much as 95 % on 35,000 hours. 2217 02:58:59,980 --> 02:59:02,200 So again it’s about Ngiving back to the community. 2218 02:59:03,010 --> 02:59:08,240 To talk about the program, it’s now 160 units. When we were selected it was 150. 2219 02:59:08,970 --> 02:59:11,120 But as you get more into design 2220 02:59:11,320 --> 02:59:15,410 and more finite layouts you find that you have a little bit more footprint. 2221 02:59:16,030 --> 02:59:22,620 So right now, it’s 160 units of which 105 are home ownership condominiums 2222 02:59:23,380 --> 02:59:27,700 and there’s 15,500 square feet of retail space. 2223 02:59:27,770 --> 02:59:29,240 That’s also an increase 2224 02:59:29,640 --> 02:59:33,570 from when we were designated because during, we’ve had about nine meetings 2225 02:59:33,990 --> 02:59:37,990 with DND, BPDA and part of the feedback, 2226 02:59:38,910 --> 02:59:41,240 most of the feedback we incorporated 2227 02:59:41,410 --> 02:59:43,990 and you’ll see in the design we have more of a street presence 2228 02:59:44,410 --> 02:59:48,740 and as that evolved it opened up for more retail space. 2229 02:59:48,950 --> 02:59:51,320 So you’ll see when they do the architectural 2230 02:59:51,800 --> 02:59:54,950 that our retail space has in fact increased. 2231 02:59:55,750 --> 03:00:00,950 Estimated real estate tax, people ask us, is about $700,000 annually. 2232 03:00:02,020 --> 03:00:07,490 As some of you know, as part of our community benefits we are going to be leasing space 2233 03:00:07,660 --> 03:00:10,490 to the NAACP at no cost for 10 years. 2234 03:00:10,780 --> 03:00:14,450 In addition to that we’ve endowed a $5,000 scholarship 2235 03:00:15,120 --> 03:00:19,030 annually for 10 years for them to allocate anyway that they want. 2236 03:00:19,650 --> 03:00:24,200 We also have agreed, YouthBuild Boston for those of you who aren’t familiar, 2237 03:00:24,400 --> 03:00:27,120 is an organization that trains young people in the trades. 2238 03:00:27,370 --> 03:00:30,870 Helps them get on a straight path. 2239 03:00:31,620 --> 03:00:35,450 We’ve committed $100,000 to that organization over five years. 2240 03:00:35,700 --> 03:00:40,410 Plus we’re going to hire at least one YouthBuild graduate 2241 03:00:40,870 --> 03:00:45,070 in every major trade or during the life of the development. 2242 03:00:45,320 --> 03:00:49,240 The life of the construction and we have estimated that to be about 20 positions. 2243 03:00:49,540 --> 03:00:54,030 Community benefits should be driven by the community 2244 03:00:54,530 --> 03:00:57,070 and not by a developer. 2245 03:00:57,280 --> 03:01:01,700 I’m not taking issue with that. It’s a broad statement that I’m making. 2246 03:01:01,870 --> 03:01:05,120 It’s not targeted at crews specifically. 2247 03:01:06,910 --> 03:01:13,240 What, in that sort of proposal and package can we revisit and look at 2248 03:01:14,530 --> 03:01:19,700 and really build more consensus around from the community’s perspective 2249 03:01:19,870 --> 03:01:23,740 as to what they would like to see as a community benefit. 2250 03:01:24,200 --> 03:01:28,070 Much of what you listed out 2251 03:01:28,320 --> 03:01:33,660 of course NAACP, I’m not sure they need 1,000 square feet of space. 2252 03:01:34,820 --> 03:01:41,740 And some of the others that are noble endeavors, but could there be others? 2253 03:01:42,030 --> 03:01:45,280 And that make more sense particularly for this site? 2254 03:01:45,780 --> 03:01:49,370 So I would just like to hear, 2255 03:01:49,700 --> 03:01:53,700 I think from not only the IAG group, 2256 03:01:53,950 --> 03:01:56,200 but also from the community 2257 03:01:56,280 --> 03:01:59,660 and have that community benefits process be more 2258 03:01:59,820 --> 03:02:02,450 inclusive of what the community wants, 2259 03:02:02,620 --> 03:02:07,700 as opposed to relationships that developers have with specific groups of people. 2260 03:02:07,950 --> 03:02:11,120 It may not be that thing, but it can look like that. 2261 03:02:11,860 --> 03:02:14,530 For us to go a little deeper on that. 2262 03:02:14,570 --> 03:02:15,870 I would like to respond. 2263 03:02:15,990 --> 03:02:17,950 We tried to get out ahead of... 2264 03:02:18,490 --> 03:02:23,910 Anytime we put in a proposal, as part of that we think about the benefits back to the community. 2265 03:02:24,350 --> 03:02:30,410 And I think the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee asks the question, 2266 03:02:30,870 --> 03:02:35,740 how come the Cruz’s proposal has benefits and none of the other’s had them? 2267 03:02:36,360 --> 03:02:38,910 And it’s because we always try to be proactive. 2268 03:02:39,280 --> 03:02:41,780 So we can always have a discussion. 2269 03:02:42,410 --> 03:02:46,990 You know John’s always open to having conversations and considering things. 2270 03:02:47,570 --> 03:02:50,950 But we made a commitment to the NAACP in writing. 2271 03:02:51,910 --> 03:02:54,950 That not only would we give them free space for 10 years... 2272 03:02:55,450 --> 03:03:00,740 Not to date myself, but when I was growing up the NAACP was on Mass Ave, the prominent side. 2273 03:03:00,910 --> 03:03:05,320 You drive by you see them, you had ethnic pride because you knew their mission. 2274 03:03:05,570 --> 03:03:07,240 Now, unfortunately 2275 03:03:07,570 --> 03:03:11,450 they’re in the Washington Park Mall where no one sees them. 2276 03:03:11,820 --> 03:03:13,910 So we thought it was an excellent idea 2277 03:03:14,320 --> 03:03:17,530 to have them visible, where better than in Dudley Square. 2278 03:03:17,780 --> 03:03:21,030 When people come down. So we made that agreement with them. 2279 03:03:21,240 --> 03:03:25,320 We also made an agreement to fund a scholarship 2280 03:03:25,820 --> 03:03:30,820 at $5,000 a year for at least 10 years that they would have the control 2281 03:03:31,450 --> 03:03:35,160 to determine who got it. We wouldn’t be involved in that at all, 2282 03:03:35,570 --> 03:03:37,570 just from the vantage point of giving them the money. 2283 03:03:37,780 --> 03:03:40,450 And with YouthBuild. YouthBuild does a great job. 2284 03:03:40,660 --> 03:03:42,910 If you’re not aware of them just Google them. 2285 03:03:43,030 --> 03:03:46,120 Not that a lot of organizations don’t, but they do a great job 2286 03:03:46,990 --> 03:03:48,660 taking our troubled youth 2287 03:03:48,780 --> 03:03:53,820 and turning them around when their next step is either incarceration 2288 03:03:54,430 --> 03:03:59,070 or they have to turn their lives around. And so we thought that that was a high priority 2289 03:03:59,290 --> 03:04:01,030 for us to make a commitment on 2290 03:04:01,910 --> 03:04:05,120 and providing jobs. We’ve worked with them before, in fact 2291 03:04:05,620 --> 03:04:08,740 John has hired at least 10 YouthBuild graduates 2292 03:04:09,160 --> 03:04:12,740 in probably the last 10 or 15 years because we think it’s so important. 2293 03:04:13,030 --> 03:04:16,280 It’s like ex-offenders. They need a chance. They need another chance. 2294 03:04:16,570 --> 03:04:19,410 So, conversation on community benefits 2295 03:04:19,820 --> 03:04:22,537 is not off the table, but the ones that we’ve given 2296 03:04:22,704 --> 03:04:25,829 we feel like we’ve given our word to those people. 2297 03:04:26,120 --> 03:04:29,820 To those organizations. It would be hard to go back and say, 2298 03:04:30,990 --> 03:04:32,320 we’ve changed our mind. 2299 03:04:32,530 --> 03:04:36,780 Community benefits should be driven by the community. 2300 03:04:37,070 --> 03:04:41,240 It should have its focus come from the community. 2301 03:04:41,410 --> 03:04:46,160 I understand that you as a developer and others want to, some of you, 2302 03:04:46,320 --> 03:04:50,280 not all developers want to get ahead of that and put on the table, 2303 03:04:51,660 --> 03:04:54,530 meaningful, long term community benefits. 2304 03:04:54,700 --> 03:04:57,950 That’s the other thing and this is also more for the City that 2305 03:04:58,160 --> 03:05:02,070 community benefits shouldn’t just be a shot in the arm. It should be long term. 2306 03:05:02,370 --> 03:05:06,620 It should be, it should you know, 2307 03:05:07,030 --> 03:05:10,280 build equity in the community. 2308 03:05:10,980 --> 03:05:15,620 That’s my concern and my concern is that the voice 2309 03:05:15,870 --> 03:05:18,320 that carries that piece around community benefit 2310 03:05:18,530 --> 03:05:20,120 resonate and comes from the community. 2311 03:06:18,280 --> 03:06:19,450 I’m here today to tell my story on 2312 03:06:19,620 --> 03:06:22,660 how I got in front of the hydrant and why I’m in front of the hydrant. 2313 03:06:23,780 --> 03:06:27,620 First of all I’m not denying I parked there. I was wrong in parking there. 2314 03:06:28,200 --> 03:06:30,450 How I ended up there? 2315 03:06:30,910 --> 03:06:34,320 My industry’s biggest conference of the year 2316 03:06:34,780 --> 03:06:37,450 is September 22, 23rd. That’s something I know. 2317 03:06:37,740 --> 03:06:42,370 It’s also happened to be two weeks before my wife’s due date. 2318 03:06:42,780 --> 03:06:45,370 It was a big debate throughout the year if I should go, if I should not go. 2319 03:06:45,700 --> 03:06:47,740 That conference was in Rockland, Maine. 2320 03:06:48,700 --> 03:06:50,160 So predictably, 2321 03:06:51,570 --> 03:06:56,660 Tuesday night, September 23rd, I get a phone call, my wife’s having contractions. 2322 03:06:56,780 --> 03:07:00,950 And I race home to, from Rockland, Maine, Bar Harbor area. 2323 03:07:02,690 --> 03:07:05,030 So I drive home three and a half, four hours. 2324 03:07:05,840 --> 03:07:08,780 It’s East Boston past midnight. 2325 03:07:08,950 --> 03:07:12,160 There’s no parking anywhere within two miles of my house. 2326 03:07:12,370 --> 03:07:14,660 I’m a first time father, new father. 2327 03:07:14,910 --> 03:07:17,370 I have no idea what to expect. I just have to get a parking spot. 2328 03:07:18,160 --> 03:07:20,620 2:30 in the morning I park in front of the hydrant. 2329 03:07:22,280 --> 03:07:25,620 I wake up the next day and there’s not one, but two tickets on my car. 2330 03:07:26,350 --> 03:07:29,620 So, I’m here, letting you know I was wrong, 2331 03:07:29,780 --> 03:07:33,370 but as an exhausted, stressed, tired new father 2332 03:07:33,820 --> 03:07:38,370 that is facing a pile of medical bills, asking for reprieve from one of those tickets. 2333 03:07:39,280 --> 03:07:42,200 Based on the evidence you provided, 2334 03:07:42,370 --> 03:07:44,530 as well as the evidence provided by the Officer who wrote the tickets, 2335 03:07:44,820 --> 03:07:47,700 factoring what I’m allowed to factor in, legally speaking 2336 03:07:47,870 --> 03:07:49,820 I should deny the appeal today. 2337 03:07:50,130 --> 03:07:53,530 What I’m going to do however instead I’m going to dismiss both tickets. 2338 03:07:53,700 --> 03:07:55,700 One with a warning the other with a final warning. 2339 03:07:55,860 --> 03:07:57,370 That means is a couple of things. 2340 03:07:57,530 --> 03:07:59,450 First, in the future you got to make sure 2341 03:07:59,620 --> 03:08:02,320 you check where you park because especially with issues like this, 2342 03:08:02,490 --> 03:08:06,240 and with no stop or stands, they can tow the car if they really wanted to. 2343 03:08:06,410 --> 03:08:09,240 Which would not have been helpful in this entire process for you. 2344 03:08:09,870 --> 03:08:12,160 Second, if you filed an appeal you do need to bring 2345 03:08:12,320 --> 03:08:14,780 all evidence that you have that can corroborate any testimonies, 2346 03:08:14,910 --> 03:08:17,280 paperwork, receipts, photos, whatever. 2347 03:08:17,410 --> 03:08:19,280 And third, means you don’t have to pay anything today. 2348 03:08:19,530 --> 03:08:20,530 Thank you very much. 2349 03:08:24,690 --> 03:08:28,700 For the record we’re here today for ticket 754471406 2350 03:08:28,870 --> 03:08:31,660 issued to us in a resident permit only on 8/9/2019 2351 03:08:31,910 --> 03:08:35,120 at 10:09 p.m. at 343 Congress Street. 2352 03:08:35,490 --> 03:08:37,950 So what can you do to prove the ticket was given incorrectly. 2353 03:08:39,200 --> 03:08:42,240 It’s tough for me to prove the ticket was given incorrectly, but -- 2354 03:08:42,530 --> 03:08:45,820 when I parked the car there wasn’t any sign for 2355 03:08:46,410 --> 03:08:48,530 resident permit parking there. 2356 03:08:48,700 --> 03:08:50,530 It was just a meter I thought 2357 03:08:50,910 --> 03:08:55,620 and I mean I lived in this town my whole life. I didn’t even know anybody lived down there. 2358 03:08:55,870 --> 03:08:58,780 I haven’t been down there in a long time, so 2359 03:08:58,950 --> 03:09:01,490 for me to park in that part of town 2360 03:09:01,660 --> 03:09:03,530 and think, wait a minute, this might be resident permit, 2361 03:09:03,990 --> 03:09:06,120 like it was the Hill or like it was the Back Bay 2362 03:09:06,280 --> 03:09:07,990 or like it was the South End. 2363 03:09:08,160 --> 03:09:09,700 I just didn’t see a sign 2364 03:09:10,070 --> 03:09:13,990 and I figured 9:00 I’m fine and I come out and get a ticket at 10. 2365 03:09:15,620 --> 03:09:19,410 I can’t understand what happened. I don’t, I just don’t know. 2366 03:09:20,180 --> 03:09:22,820 So what could have happened, there are some parts of Boston 2367 03:09:22,990 --> 03:09:24,820 where it’s resident permit after six. 2368 03:09:25,070 --> 03:09:28,530 So without any evidence that there isn’t a sign posted on the block, 2369 03:09:28,700 --> 03:09:31,160 more likely it was given correctly, but I’ll dismiss it. 2370 03:09:31,380 --> 03:09:33,820 Just make sure every time you park the car even if you’re at your in meter. 2371 03:09:33,990 --> 03:09:36,570 I have to check a little bit harder than I did that night. Certainly. 2372 03:09:37,020 --> 03:09:39,120 I was even on a date the other night and I’m like: 2373 03:09:39,120 --> 03:09:42,070 Hold on, I made her wait, I got to check the signs 2374 03:09:42,370 --> 03:09:45,070 Just keep going until you find a sign there, there’s always going to be one. 2375 03:09:45,330 --> 03:09:49,030 I just didn’t think to look. Again, because who lives down there? 2376 03:09:49,200 --> 03:09:51,740 Evidently a lot of people live down there now. 2377 03:09:52,160 --> 03:09:54,280 Maybe it’s like a new high rise or something, I’m not sure. 2378 03:09:55,030 --> 03:09:56,910 Back in the day, nobody lived down there. 2379 03:09:58,710 --> 03:10:01,200 So that’s a copy of the decision. Do you have any further questions? 2380 03:10:02,160 --> 03:10:05,200 Thank you for hearing me because I missed my date and everything. 2381 03:10:05,450 --> 03:10:08,700 - You missed your date? - Like I said, but the guy said you can. 2382 03:10:21,570 --> 03:10:23,700 Except for Atlantic, nothing’s that bad. 2383 03:10:23,870 --> 03:10:25,160 Don’t worry. It’ll get there. 2384 03:10:27,560 --> 03:10:29,570 Harold Street’s not bad so far. 2385 03:10:31,410 --> 03:10:34,700 So far it’s not bad. It’s going to be getting bad. 2386 03:10:35,030 --> 03:10:37,200 Starting to build up in the Sumner tunnel. 2387 03:10:46,420 --> 03:10:49,200 8th Street is not bad tonight. 2388 03:10:53,030 --> 03:10:55,280 I made a little adjustments over there earlier. 2389 03:10:56,660 --> 03:11:00,070 You figured they’d start diving off the highway, cutting through the back streets. 2390 03:11:07,070 --> 03:11:09,370 Looks like the highway is starting to slow down. 2391 03:11:10,990 --> 03:11:13,030 The expressway’s starting to slow down. 2392 03:11:14,070 --> 03:11:15,780 Everyone is going north skiing. 2393 03:11:16,870 --> 03:11:19,740 Got to stay ahead of the traffic. Got to stay ahead of the problem. 2394 03:11:21,870 --> 03:11:23,700 I might make this change permanent. 2395 03:11:23,950 --> 03:11:25,570 - Which one? - Upham’s corner. 2396 03:11:26,570 --> 03:11:31,530 I’m always doing this. I just don’t think those left turns need that much green time. 2397 03:11:31,700 --> 03:11:33,870 I never see that many cars making the move. 2398 03:11:38,740 --> 03:11:40,160 It backs up. 2399 03:11:40,530 --> 03:11:42,450 Some nights it doesn’t, but -- 2400 03:11:42,960 --> 03:11:45,280 It don’t do it all the time though. 2401 03:11:45,450 --> 03:11:47,990 No, but it’s 50/50. 2402 03:11:49,160 --> 03:11:51,160 Gotta give it time. It will clear up. 2403 03:11:53,740 --> 03:11:55,160 What’s that? Double parked? 2404 03:12:02,950 --> 03:12:06,070 Hi it’s Keith from the Tech Center. Hey, how’s it going? 2405 03:12:06,730 --> 03:12:11,870 I’ve got a vehicle stopped in the bike lane on Congress Street at Milk Street. 2406 03:12:13,200 --> 03:12:14,320 Great, thanks. 2407 03:13:53,990 --> 03:13:58,740 I am the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement here in Boston 2408 03:13:58,910 --> 03:14:02,620 and you’re now joining a community of almost 8,000 women 2409 03:14:02,780 --> 03:14:07,990 that have been trained to know their worth and demand fair pay. 2410 03:14:08,910 --> 03:14:13,950 You may know that Latinas in Boston through the data that we measure locally, 2411 03:14:14,070 --> 03:14:19,160 and we are the only city that measures these pay gaps locally, 2412 03:14:19,410 --> 03:14:24,870 Latinas are making 49 cents to the White man’s dollar in Boston. 2413 03:14:25,800 --> 03:14:27,700 And then the figure nationally 2414 03:14:28,210 --> 03:14:33,310 is slightly different, but almost the same which makes today Latina Equal Pay Day. 2415 03:14:33,310 --> 03:14:35,410 We have to work up until November 1st 2416 03:14:35,570 --> 03:14:39,370 to make the same amount of money that White men made last year. 2417 03:14:39,430 --> 03:14:43,450 And so if you think that’s shocking and depressing as I do, 2418 03:14:44,200 --> 03:14:45,530 that’s why you’re here. 2419 03:14:45,990 --> 03:14:49,370 And I wanted to say thank you. You are part of the solution. 2420 03:14:50,240 --> 03:14:53,070 We have a two or three prong solution 2421 03:14:53,530 --> 03:14:57,160 that we’re working on putting together at the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement. 2422 03:14:57,370 --> 03:15:01,570 The first part of it is training ourselves, empowering ourselves 2423 03:15:01,740 --> 03:15:04,570 and learning how to navigate the system as it is. 2424 03:15:04,870 --> 03:15:07,620 So we acknowledge that the system is unfair and that 2425 03:15:07,780 --> 03:15:12,700 it’s not our individual fault that we are experiencing this pay gap as Latinas. 2426 03:15:12,980 --> 03:15:18,410 But there is something that we ourselves can do about it and that is 2427 03:15:18,470 --> 03:15:21,280 learning to negotiate, learning our work, our worth, 2428 03:15:21,570 --> 03:15:24,570 doing our research and then demanding fair pay. 2429 03:15:24,770 --> 03:15:29,240 At the same time at the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement we do understand 2430 03:15:29,490 --> 03:15:32,120 that’s only going to get us so far, so on the other hand 2431 03:15:32,370 --> 03:15:35,870 we are working on fixing that system and leveling it off so that 2432 03:15:36,160 --> 03:15:38,740 we are playing in a more equal play field. 2433 03:15:39,450 --> 03:15:42,280 What that entails is doing a lot of work with employers. 2434 03:15:42,570 --> 03:15:46,280 So that you guys will learn how to negotiate and demand your worth here, 2435 03:15:46,560 --> 03:15:49,620 they have to be ready for that on the other end. 2436 03:15:49,950 --> 03:15:54,740 We work with more than 200 employers in the greater Boston area to talk about this issue, 2437 03:15:54,990 --> 03:15:58,490 to get them to measure their own wage gaps and then to come together, 2438 03:15:59,320 --> 03:16:03,370 and learn and propose strategies for what they’re going to do about it. 2439 03:16:04,320 --> 03:16:07,410 Part of it is, how do you figure out for this role, 2440 03:16:07,570 --> 03:16:10,070 how do I know that I should be getting paid more? 2441 03:16:10,180 --> 03:16:15,490 Or that I should even get anything outside of just a paycheck? What is that? 2442 03:16:16,070 --> 03:16:19,240 With the advent, thank goodness, of the Internet, 2443 03:16:19,740 --> 03:16:22,410 that type of information is very readily available. 2444 03:16:23,050 --> 03:16:25,780 So one of the things that I did learn 2445 03:16:26,160 --> 03:16:30,990 at an early stage thanks to the same manager, because we had a conflict at one point. 2446 03:16:31,240 --> 03:16:35,490 And it was a conflict about the size of my skirt. 2447 03:16:36,740 --> 03:16:40,530 It taught me one of these lessons, a good negotiating point and why I researched. 2448 03:16:40,780 --> 03:16:42,990 Somebody complained that my skirt was too short. 2449 03:16:43,370 --> 03:16:47,120 Now mind you compared to these days, woo. It was like having knee length skirt. 2450 03:16:48,160 --> 03:16:53,370 But I asked him: would you ask or say something, say the same thing to a man? 2451 03:16:53,620 --> 03:16:55,780 I mean obviously at that time, 2452 03:16:55,950 --> 03:16:58,700 men didn’t have the option they do or -- 2453 03:16:59,200 --> 03:17:03,700 non-binary wasn’t a thing then, so we didn’t have those types of conversations. 2454 03:17:03,950 --> 03:17:06,030 Then he said I’m going to teach you something. 2455 03:17:06,450 --> 03:17:08,370 I don’t care if you’re a woman or a man. 2456 03:17:08,700 --> 03:17:11,820 He said do you want people to think about these things because you’re a woman 2457 03:17:11,990 --> 03:17:15,120 or do you want them to think about the value that you bring into your role? 2458 03:17:17,410 --> 03:17:20,280 And so, he did teach me that, so part of that was 2459 03:17:20,670 --> 03:17:24,320 every time when I go for a new role, or I’m helping someone, 2460 03:17:24,570 --> 03:17:27,620 I say go look up what a man and a woman’s making for that role. 2461 03:17:28,280 --> 03:17:29,570 Find out what they’re making here 2462 03:17:29,570 --> 03:17:31,910 and what they’re making in other parts of the country. 2463 03:17:32,070 --> 03:17:34,200 Find out what that scale is, and then use the men’s scale. 2464 03:17:35,280 --> 03:17:38,490 The other thing too, when you talk about knowing your value is: 2465 03:17:38,870 --> 03:17:41,740 besides that number on a piece of paper, 2466 03:17:42,370 --> 03:17:44,870 what else should you be negotiating for? And that’s one of the great things 2467 03:17:45,120 --> 03:17:47,410 about doing your research between the Internet, 2468 03:17:47,570 --> 03:17:50,240 what the company’s offering and what other people are making. 2469 03:17:50,620 --> 03:17:52,570 Do you have bonus potential? 2470 03:17:52,990 --> 03:17:58,160 Are you moving expenses? Do you have training that’s involved, or 2471 03:17:58,820 --> 03:18:00,950 memberships for professional associations? 2472 03:18:01,070 --> 03:18:03,240 There’s so many things that you can actually negotiate, 2473 03:18:03,410 --> 03:18:05,120 they should all be on the table. 2474 03:18:05,490 --> 03:18:09,120 So how my strategy changed was I learned how to research. 2475 03:18:09,280 --> 03:18:12,870 I learned how to do those types of things. But the other thing I also learned how to do 2476 03:18:13,160 --> 03:18:16,160 and Evelyn you touched upon this. This is so very important. 2477 03:18:16,530 --> 03:18:18,070 Learning how to read people. 2478 03:18:18,320 --> 03:18:20,410 You can have all the knowledge in the world, 2479 03:18:20,900 --> 03:18:23,570 but if the person across from you does not want to negotiate 2480 03:18:23,740 --> 03:18:28,120 or you don’t think they want to negotiate, or you don’t know their negotiation style, 2481 03:18:28,340 --> 03:18:30,070 you may go nowhere in that conversation. 2482 03:18:30,240 --> 03:18:33,780 So another really important part of that negotiation is 2483 03:18:34,020 --> 03:18:37,530 trying to figure out a person’s negotiation style. It’s not that difficult 2484 03:18:37,820 --> 03:18:42,070 to be honest with you. One of the things I had to learn early on in my career 2485 03:18:42,370 --> 03:18:45,410 because when I started negotiating there was not that many women in my field. 2486 03:18:45,950 --> 03:18:48,200 So it was non’t even women of color, it was just women. 2487 03:18:48,410 --> 03:18:50,570 And I had to learn to hold my own 2488 03:18:51,270 --> 03:18:55,570 with all these men that in a lot of times I was leading, especially early in my career. 2489 03:18:55,740 --> 03:18:57,950 I was 23, 24 leading men that were, 2490 03:18:58,240 --> 03:19:01,820 had been in corporate careers for 20, 30, 40 years if not more. 2491 03:19:01,990 --> 03:19:04,700 So that was my first lesson because I remember, 2492 03:19:05,780 --> 03:19:08,820 just from a cultural type of perspective, 2493 03:19:09,200 --> 03:19:11,870 a gentleman from Alabama called me Sug one day. 2494 03:19:12,930 --> 03:19:16,450 Now I knew culturally that he wasn’t trying to be offensive 2495 03:19:16,870 --> 03:19:19,030 and I also knew him personally, 2496 03:19:19,240 --> 03:19:22,910 but I also knew that that could impact how other people looked at me. 2497 03:19:23,570 --> 03:19:27,410 And when you talk about value that’s not a dollar sign value at that point in time. 2498 03:19:27,560 --> 03:19:31,120 Although it could translate into it at a later point. 2499 03:19:31,410 --> 03:19:36,070 I had to go to my manager and say, I know he doesn’t mean harm by this, 2500 03:19:36,240 --> 03:19:38,200 but he could be creating harm 2501 03:19:38,370 --> 03:19:41,660 based on the fact that I’m a woman. And I’m a woman, a female negotiator. 2502 03:19:42,160 --> 03:19:47,570 So one of the things that I had to learn from a cultural and just the value as a woman, 2503 03:19:47,910 --> 03:19:50,450 was my job was a negotiator. 2504 03:19:51,030 --> 03:19:55,700 If I could not negotiate my salary, what was I saying to my potential employer? 2505 03:19:56,990 --> 03:20:01,320 So it was even more stressful to be able to put a package together. 2506 03:20:01,780 --> 03:20:05,950 A couple of things that I learned, I actually learned a lot from men. 2507 03:20:06,120 --> 03:20:07,780 I had a lot of male mentors. 2508 03:20:07,950 --> 03:20:11,620 Mostly because of the fact that there was no one else again in that space 2509 03:20:11,920 --> 03:20:15,950 that were women. And they were definitely not women of color, very seldom. 2510 03:20:16,200 --> 03:20:18,490 Very seldom did I ever run into a woman of color. 2511 03:20:19,030 --> 03:20:21,740 So I had to lean outside of that space 2512 03:20:21,910 --> 03:20:26,240 to actually find women and women of color who were doing something different 2513 03:20:26,380 --> 03:20:29,620 and that they could teach me and they could give me a voice. 2514 03:20:29,910 --> 03:20:32,030 So mentorship was huge for me. 2515 03:20:32,230 --> 03:20:33,954 Without that mentorship, 2516 03:20:34,246 --> 03:20:39,920 I would not have learned as a woman and as a Latina what my value was. 2517 03:20:39,920 --> 03:20:42,070 Then the other thing I did lean on 2518 03:20:42,530 --> 03:20:46,120 as far as my approach was concerned, was I watched men. 2519 03:20:46,280 --> 03:20:48,490 And I watched how they conducted themselves. 2520 03:20:48,700 --> 03:20:50,200 When you talk about learning your value, 2521 03:20:50,370 --> 03:20:55,160 a lot of times where I learned were at bars at happy hours. 2522 03:20:56,270 --> 03:20:57,280 So number one, 2523 03:20:57,520 --> 03:21:02,490 I was taught you should not be a woman going to a bar at happy hour with all these men. 2524 03:21:02,920 --> 03:21:08,450 I had to take a risk at that time in my career to say there’s something going on there. 2525 03:21:09,360 --> 03:21:11,700 And so I would go and have a beer or two. 2526 03:21:11,950 --> 03:21:15,780 And have these conversations because again, negotiation strategy. 2527 03:21:16,320 --> 03:21:20,160 People let their guard down at different points and it was usually at the bar for men. 2528 03:21:20,420 --> 03:21:24,990 The other thing that I had to learn as far as what was going on corporate America at the time? 2529 03:21:25,280 --> 03:21:27,660 Things were happening on the golf course. 2530 03:21:28,030 --> 03:21:32,200 I didn’t play golf. We played no activities. We had no money for it. 2531 03:21:32,550 --> 03:21:36,450 So, I went and I took golf lessons at the public golf course. I was horrible. 2532 03:21:37,070 --> 03:21:41,320 The first time I joined the company golf league and I would tell them, I’m horrible. 2533 03:21:41,700 --> 03:21:46,490 The first time that I went up to hit the ball, I missed it. And I missed it horribly. 2534 03:21:47,630 --> 03:21:50,740 But I told everyone. I said I told you I was not good at golf. 2535 03:21:50,990 --> 03:21:55,240 At least people knew I was going to play golf, but I was going to be on that golf course. 2536 03:21:55,620 --> 03:21:59,410 And I knew at the time that especially when I was living in Pittsburg, 2537 03:21:59,780 --> 03:22:03,490 there really was not that many women of color in the community, 2538 03:22:03,660 --> 03:22:07,030 much less in corporate America that I was doing these things, that I was representing, 2539 03:22:07,200 --> 03:22:11,160 so I had to be careful of my actions. I had to be careful of my words. 2540 03:22:11,320 --> 03:22:13,990 But when that did translate into salary, 2541 03:22:14,160 --> 03:22:15,662 I was at a stronger position 2542 03:22:15,871 --> 03:22:18,329 because people knew that I was willing to do these things 2543 03:22:18,700 --> 03:22:20,870 to understand what my value was. 2544 03:22:21,160 --> 03:22:23,950 Because at that point I wasn’t comparing myself to other women 2545 03:22:24,240 --> 03:22:27,450 and I definitely wasn’t comparing myself to women of color because they weren’t there. 2546 03:22:27,910 --> 03:22:31,280 I was learning what to do and what my value was compared to a guy, 2547 03:22:31,820 --> 03:22:33,120 compared to a White man. 2548 03:22:33,820 --> 03:22:38,530 And so that was huge for me as far as my career in negotiation was concerned. 2549 03:24:05,520 --> 03:24:08,820 We had a shooting today at Quincy and Ceylon Street. 2550 03:24:09,690 --> 03:24:13,990 It was a guy on a -- a kid on a scooter. 2551 03:24:14,200 --> 03:24:16,450 The scooter’s been recovered, 2552 03:24:16,620 --> 03:24:18,570 but the suspect’s still outstanding. 2553 03:24:18,740 --> 03:24:20,950 Pull it up, it’s on the brick, but I printed out 2554 03:24:21,120 --> 03:24:23,820 like 15 copies so you guys can grab one if you need to. 2555 03:24:23,990 --> 03:24:25,490 Check your emails. It’s in there. 2556 03:24:25,680 --> 03:24:28,200 Otherwise, we’ll be on the lookout for him. 2557 03:24:29,250 --> 03:24:33,370 And 7 p.m., the 201 -- what did I say 201 was? 2558 03:24:34,450 --> 03:24:36,450 Hogan and Lahey. You guys do 2559 03:24:36,910 --> 03:24:40,320 the Gloucester versus Boston Latin game up at Madison Park. 2560 03:24:40,490 --> 03:24:43,780 Go up there. A couple code 19s. Or just drive around at 7 p.m., take a look 2561 03:24:44,280 --> 03:24:46,320 and let us know if anything needs attention up there. 2562 03:25:02,160 --> 03:25:04,740 I remain concerned about the precedent 2563 03:25:05,030 --> 03:25:10,160 establishing past practice of this committee to approve such a request as this 2564 03:25:10,780 --> 03:25:13,370 of allowing the increase in enrollment for a school, 2565 03:25:13,660 --> 03:25:17,910 when we know that the current physical capacity of their building 2566 03:25:18,070 --> 03:25:20,490 is not equal to what we are proposing going to. 2567 03:25:21,230 --> 03:25:25,450 And that we’re setting ourself up for a year or two years from now, 2568 03:25:26,780 --> 03:25:28,950 the school rightfully coming back to us and saying, 2569 03:25:30,740 --> 03:25:32,450 'we expect a bigger facility, 2570 03:25:32,660 --> 03:25:34,740 'you told us we were going to have a bigger facility'. 2571 03:25:36,000 --> 03:25:37,280 And this is something that 2572 03:25:37,620 --> 03:25:40,320 this committee has perpetually done time after time. 2573 03:25:40,360 --> 03:25:42,280 This is no reflection on the school. 2574 03:25:42,410 --> 03:25:46,990 But I’m concerned we’re setting up a conflict 2575 03:25:47,120 --> 03:25:48,200 a year or two from now 2576 03:25:48,450 --> 03:25:52,200 when you’re trying to expan to your approved enrollment level 2577 03:25:52,370 --> 03:25:55,370 particularly when there’s a lot of demand for your school because you’re doing 2578 03:25:55,490 --> 03:25:58,320 really good things there with some youth who are very challenged. 2579 03:25:58,620 --> 03:26:00,320 You’re doing outstanding work. 2580 03:26:00,950 --> 03:26:04,240 And yet, unless I hear otherwise, 2581 03:26:04,320 --> 03:26:09,280 the answer I have here was about suspension, but was not yet about facilities. 2582 03:26:10,390 --> 03:26:14,200 This is a long setup to then hear from the Superintendent on 2583 03:26:14,490 --> 03:26:16,200 where the District stands 2584 03:26:16,540 --> 03:26:19,070 about what we will do for facilities 2585 03:26:19,240 --> 03:26:23,490 because I remain deeply concerned about approving this amendment. 2586 03:26:24,070 --> 03:26:27,660 I recognize we’re in a challenge. We’re doing this because of the State review. 2587 03:26:28,580 --> 03:26:31,570 And yet we’re setting up a problem a year from now. 2588 03:26:31,820 --> 03:26:36,820 I believe there was testimony last time that the school is already well in excess of its 2589 03:26:37,780 --> 03:26:42,280 approved enrollment and so part of what is in front of us right now 2590 03:26:42,490 --> 03:26:47,490 is an opportunity to right size the maximum enrollment of the school 2591 03:26:47,740 --> 03:26:50,950 that would capture what the excess enrollment will be. 2592 03:26:51,110 --> 03:26:52,870 So that’s not an excuse and that’s not 2593 03:26:53,030 --> 03:26:55,570 a total answer for what your question is, but I think 2594 03:26:55,740 --> 03:26:59,660 just to give that context, we are serving through the current building, 2595 03:26:59,910 --> 03:27:04,530 or the current facility, students in excess of what our current allotment is. 2596 03:27:05,170 --> 03:27:07,870 So there is a need for an additional building 2597 03:27:07,870 --> 03:27:11,030 or additional space. I don’t want to presuppose a building. 2598 03:27:12,740 --> 03:27:17,530 And within that context I think that might be helpful for the District to further 2599 03:27:18,120 --> 03:27:21,410 elaborate on its own comments on the facilities from the last meeting. 2600 03:27:21,570 --> 03:27:25,570 But Mr. Chair, correct me if I’m wrong. We are not just approving 2601 03:27:26,410 --> 03:27:32,820 for the Charter, for the enrollment to go up to what the existing enrollment is right now, 2602 03:27:33,120 --> 03:27:37,160 we’re going beyond that which would allow the school to expand 2603 03:27:37,450 --> 03:27:42,780 particularly in the 2.0, right? So this is a kind of a newer program. 2604 03:27:42,990 --> 03:27:46,160 So this will be an expansion for the school, it’s not just -- 2605 03:27:46,410 --> 03:27:48,820 part of it is correcting where they are, right? 2606 03:27:48,990 --> 03:27:51,490 I agree with you, but just help me out with that. 2607 03:27:51,700 --> 03:27:55,620 Absolutely and I want to just make sure that within the context of that, 2608 03:27:56,000 --> 03:27:58,200 the increase is not 100 students. 2609 03:27:58,500 --> 03:28:02,780 The increase to the approved maximum enrollment is 100 students. 2610 03:28:02,780 --> 03:28:05,740 But the increase I believe in the actual enrollment is -- 2611 03:28:06,170 --> 03:28:08,660 can you help me out with what that number might be? 2612 03:28:08,830 --> 03:28:13,320 Next year is 430. And the enrollment is 405 in our Charter. 2613 03:28:13,820 --> 03:28:17,240 - And this is a multiyear enrollment? - Over 3 years. 2614 03:28:17,410 --> 03:28:19,450 The idea would be to grow 100. 2615 03:28:21,410 --> 03:28:24,620 - Grow 100 additional students? - To 505. 2616 03:28:25,030 --> 03:28:26,030 To 505. 2617 03:28:26,420 --> 03:28:31,780 That’s 100 additional students, but over your existing maximum enrollment. 2618 03:28:32,420 --> 03:28:34,030 - its’ about 70? - 70. 2619 03:28:34,360 --> 03:28:36,530 70 students over your actual enrollment. 2620 03:28:37,160 --> 03:28:40,030 - And that will require new physical space. - More space. 2621 03:28:41,720 --> 03:28:44,740 So, we’re setting ourselves up here for a big challenge. 2622 03:28:45,910 --> 03:28:47,780 So we’re not proposing simply 2623 03:28:47,950 --> 03:28:52,570 to adjust the amendments to the actual enrollment right now, 2624 03:28:52,990 --> 03:28:57,030 but we’re proposing now to allow them to expand 2625 03:28:58,140 --> 03:29:01,280 for students that we know we do not yet have space for. 2626 03:29:01,820 --> 03:29:07,370 We cannot identify specific space so we can’t say a plan is part of it. 2627 03:29:09,010 --> 03:29:10,280 Am I correct in that? 2628 03:29:11,940 --> 03:29:14,870 I can tell you that we are committed 2629 03:29:15,030 --> 03:29:18,490 to finding space for the current students who are offsite already. 2630 03:29:18,780 --> 03:29:21,410 So we will be finding space for them regardless. 2631 03:29:21,620 --> 03:29:24,450 They’re currently in an offsite location this year. 2632 03:29:24,910 --> 03:29:26,570 - They’re in the Dearborn? - In the Dearborn. 2633 03:29:26,740 --> 03:29:28,410 And Dearborn’s going to need that space next year? 2634 03:29:28,570 --> 03:29:30,950 So we already know we need to find some space for them? 2635 03:29:31,390 --> 03:29:33,820 But now we’re talking about additional space beyond that. 2636 03:29:35,280 --> 03:29:36,910 This is a great problem to have. 2637 03:29:37,070 --> 03:29:39,990 It’s because you’re an outstanding school doing outstanding work. 2638 03:29:40,200 --> 03:29:43,410 There is huge demand. When we talked to folks at the Reengagement center, 2639 03:29:43,910 --> 03:29:47,950 they would love to have so many more students there. 2640 03:29:48,030 --> 03:29:49,820 It’s not about a bad problem. 2641 03:29:50,060 --> 03:29:53,870 But it’s a problem that we’ve done over and over again here. 2642 03:29:54,070 --> 03:29:55,660 And that’s what concerns me. 2643 03:29:55,820 --> 03:29:59,570 I wonder if we can come to a compromise 2644 03:29:59,770 --> 03:30:03,570 of what the enrollment actually is for the building 2645 03:30:03,880 --> 03:30:05,450 and come back and have this conversation. 2646 03:30:06,220 --> 03:30:08,240 In order to capably serve 2647 03:30:09,280 --> 03:30:11,410 the varied and diverse 2648 03:30:11,490 --> 03:30:14,070 and high needs populations within our district, we need to be able to 2649 03:30:14,240 --> 03:30:18,620 walk and chew gum at the same time. Be able to move these programs forward 2650 03:30:18,920 --> 03:30:24,280 while we also continue to think about how we are best creating the facilities 2651 03:30:24,450 --> 03:30:27,870 and the architecture around the district to support these programs. 2652 03:30:27,990 --> 03:30:31,780 I’m wondering if it may be better for us since we’re improving policy 2653 03:30:32,660 --> 03:30:38,660 just to make it clear that we’re approving you to 435 or whatever the number is immediately 2654 03:30:38,910 --> 03:30:47,450 and to 505 contingent upon finding a suitable facilities solution for the school. 2655 03:30:47,620 --> 03:30:50,820 So the school and their leadership and their students and their staff 2656 03:30:51,160 --> 03:30:54,070 know that this is a priority for the school committee 2657 03:30:54,510 --> 03:30:58,030 to find that solution for the school. 2658 03:30:58,360 --> 03:31:00,620 And that we’re also very supportive of the school 2659 03:31:00,760 --> 03:31:03,280 because we know the population they’re serving is critical. 2660 03:31:04,120 --> 03:31:06,280 But also now it’s a school committee by policy, 2661 03:31:06,700 --> 03:31:09,530 putting it back to the District that it’s critical we find a solution. 2662 03:31:09,630 --> 03:31:12,740 Not putting it solely on the back of the Superintendent to say, 2663 03:31:13,240 --> 03:31:14,450 we’re going to find something. 2664 03:31:14,620 --> 03:31:16,660 My recommendation at this point would be 2665 03:31:17,180 --> 03:31:21,280 rather than change the number which would require a whole new process of approval, 2666 03:31:21,660 --> 03:31:23,910 that we table the current request 2667 03:31:24,040 --> 03:31:29,030 until we have completed their satellite location identification 2668 03:31:29,200 --> 03:31:31,320 and we will bring this back to you 2669 03:31:32,160 --> 03:31:36,030 subsequently with that space solution connected to it. 2670 03:31:36,200 --> 03:31:38,410 What about simply adding the sentence 2671 03:31:38,740 --> 03:31:40,030 to the approval that 2672 03:31:40,200 --> 03:31:45,190 the expansion is subject to finding an appropriate facility solution? 2673 03:31:45,370 --> 03:31:46,950 Does that create a problem? 2674 03:31:47,450 --> 03:31:49,280 Thinking about 2675 03:31:50,700 --> 03:31:54,070 the issue that the Interim Superintendent just laid out, 2676 03:31:54,700 --> 03:31:57,530 I suppose an approval like that 2677 03:31:58,200 --> 03:32:00,910 would allow the District to move forward 2678 03:32:01,160 --> 03:32:06,320 simply upon notification to the committee at a later date that space has been found. 2679 03:32:07,300 --> 03:32:09,950 And so what that would then do would be-- 2680 03:32:11,120 --> 03:32:16,780 it would simply be delaying the opportunity for BDA to move forward to the State 2681 03:32:17,070 --> 03:32:21,740 and seek the approval for the full 505 at a later date. 2682 03:32:22,720 --> 03:32:26,780 In other words, we would be taking care of our committee business this evening 2683 03:32:26,980 --> 03:32:29,700 with that provision 2684 03:32:29,820 --> 03:32:31,240 and in the alternative, 2685 03:32:31,950 --> 03:32:35,120 if we were to table this we would be voting at a later date. 2686 03:32:35,200 --> 03:32:40,070 Either way, it’s going to result in 2687 03:32:40,240 --> 03:32:42,370 an action from BDA to DESE 2688 03:32:42,630 --> 03:32:47,120 that follows the identification of space for these students. 2689 03:32:48,240 --> 03:32:51,950 So, you know, I think it’s probably six of one, half dozen of the other. 2690 03:32:52,160 --> 03:32:54,530 We do think that’s a wise path forward. It allows 2691 03:32:54,740 --> 03:32:59,490 the current Charter proposal as presented to be approved, 2692 03:32:59,700 --> 03:33:03,410 but the approval of moving beyond the 435 2693 03:33:03,570 --> 03:33:08,280 is contingent on us coming back to you with their offsite space plan. 2694 03:33:09,120 --> 03:33:12,780 So if you want to propose the amending language 2695 03:33:13,320 --> 03:33:15,070 that would give them the approval 2696 03:33:15,290 --> 03:33:18,160 and also make it clear that before we submit it to DESE, 2697 03:33:18,490 --> 03:33:20,990 we will have come back to you with the space plan. 2698 03:33:21,450 --> 03:33:22,990 Alison, if that buys you the right amount of time? 2699 03:33:25,730 --> 03:33:27,950 We’re not waiting until fall next year. 2700 03:33:28,700 --> 03:33:33,200 No. We’re talking about before the end of this school year. 2701 03:33:34,110 --> 03:33:35,870 To bring it back from the very 2702 03:33:38,280 --> 03:33:40,740 focused conversation we had about facilities this evening. 2703 03:33:40,910 --> 03:33:44,570 This really isn’t about facilities. That’s just a condition precedent to 2704 03:33:44,740 --> 03:33:48,200 allowing you to continue to serve the population that you serve so well. 2705 03:33:48,370 --> 03:33:49,910 And expand that service to 2706 03:33:50,200 --> 03:33:52,870 a number of students across the district who really need it. 2707 03:33:53,000 --> 03:33:54,370 We’re very excited. 2708 03:33:54,620 --> 03:33:58,910 Something that was lost is that you’re also changing your enrollment policy 2709 03:33:59,250 --> 03:34:02,030 as part of the Charter amendments that are going forward and so, 2710 03:34:02,280 --> 03:34:05,990 making it easier and more accessible for students to find 2711 03:34:06,240 --> 03:34:08,370 high quality education at BDA 2712 03:34:08,530 --> 03:34:12,410 is the sum and substance of the Charter amendments that you put before us tonight. 2713 03:34:12,570 --> 03:34:14,410 We’re very happy to approve those and we wish you well. 2714 03:34:14,770 --> 03:34:16,780 And we look forward to hearing about your new location. 2715 03:35:26,970 --> 03:35:28,910 So your main issue is the rodents? 2716 03:35:29,310 --> 03:35:33,870 I found one of them dead under that cabinet. I moved the refrigerator -- 2717 03:35:35,320 --> 03:35:39,620 I had to throw him away. He was about that big with a big fat tail. 2718 03:35:40,450 --> 03:35:42,620 And oh, it stunk bad. 2719 03:35:43,070 --> 03:35:47,070 - It pulled out the refrigerator. - You were seeing ‘em over here? 2720 03:35:47,640 --> 03:35:51,870 I threw one away. I killed one. I had traps under there. 2721 03:35:52,490 --> 03:35:56,660 Trays and they were empty. And then I smelled a bad odor. Really bad. 2722 03:35:57,330 --> 03:36:02,410 He was like that big. That wasn’t no mouse and he got a big fat tail with rings around it. 2723 03:36:03,490 --> 03:36:05,990 So it could possibly be a rat. 2724 03:36:07,950 --> 03:36:10,620 Did you already clean out the droppings under there? 2725 03:36:10,710 --> 03:36:13,370 Yeah, but I did take some pictures on my phone. 2726 03:36:14,830 --> 03:36:17,570 I wanted to just check around here just to make sure. 2727 03:36:18,120 --> 03:36:20,120 They’re possibly getting in through right there. 2728 03:36:20,410 --> 03:36:23,120 He’s coming through the cellar I think. 2729 03:36:23,360 --> 03:36:24,280 We can take a look. 2730 03:36:24,900 --> 03:36:27,370 But those droppings right there are pretty big. 2731 03:36:27,460 --> 03:36:31,450 It’s not a mouse. I had three tomatoes on the top of the counter. 2732 03:36:31,990 --> 03:36:34,570 They we’re smashed all over the place. I’ve never seen a mouse do that. 2733 03:36:35,230 --> 03:36:37,620 How often have you been seeing them? 2734 03:36:38,380 --> 03:36:41,240 Every day for the last month, month and a half. 2735 03:36:41,610 --> 03:36:43,530 Since they’ve been working on the streets. 2736 03:36:45,370 --> 03:36:49,570 - I can’t even sleep at night because -- - Because that’s been going on? 2737 03:36:49,760 --> 03:36:53,700 I mean I saw one of them running, he runs fast. 2738 03:36:54,550 --> 03:36:59,910 And then I hear him in the broiler there where I left him some peanut butter 2739 03:37:00,390 --> 03:37:02,780 and then the next day it’s half gone. 2740 03:37:02,860 --> 03:37:05,490 I’m surprised he’s still kicking. But there might be more than one. 2741 03:37:05,990 --> 03:37:08,780 This is probably the second one. There might be three or four. 2742 03:37:10,110 --> 03:37:14,070 Those kick plates underneath the cabinet can come out easy, they’re not nailed in. 2743 03:37:16,160 --> 03:37:19,160 If you kick it or-- yeah I can kick it with my foot. 2744 03:37:36,910 --> 03:37:42,120 - There’s definitely heavy activity down there. - I know I wasn’t imagining it. 2745 03:37:42,490 --> 03:37:44,700 - I’ve never seen rats before here. - You’re getting a lot. 2746 03:37:44,820 --> 03:37:47,950 Before this I had raccoons in my ceiling. 2747 03:37:48,570 --> 03:37:50,700 They dug two holes and I patched 2748 03:37:50,820 --> 03:37:53,700 that one, but with the heavy rain he dug a big circle in the wood 2749 03:37:54,240 --> 03:37:57,990 and the water was coming in and the rain, the sheetrock just came down. 2750 03:37:58,120 --> 03:38:01,320 Does the management usually get back to you when you try -- 2751 03:38:01,770 --> 03:38:05,570 My sister’s got problems her side of the house. Water leaking in. 2752 03:38:05,950 --> 03:38:08,780 So it’s you on this side and your sister on the other side? 2753 03:38:09,120 --> 03:38:12,450 And my two brothers own a part of this 2754 03:38:12,860 --> 03:38:15,740 and one of my brothers is trying to evict me because I think 2755 03:38:16,200 --> 03:38:18,870 he wants to come down into my apartment which is better than his. 2756 03:38:19,190 --> 03:38:20,070 Got you. 2757 03:38:21,150 --> 03:38:24,280 I put all those in there. They’re pretty clean. 2758 03:38:25,410 --> 03:38:27,410 There’s no food on them, but I don’t know. 2759 03:38:29,400 --> 03:38:32,490 - What’s going on with the flooring? - It’s just cracking from the water. 2760 03:38:32,910 --> 03:38:36,570 It’s been that way for the last year or so. 2761 03:38:37,290 --> 03:38:38,700 It was with all the little leaks. 2762 03:38:38,960 --> 03:38:42,530 When you have a chance and possibly get to it sooner than later, 2763 03:38:43,230 --> 03:38:46,820 start scrubbing that, getting rid of that heavy build up, that grease. 2764 03:38:48,410 --> 03:38:51,070 - Because any sort of food source -- - He ate half of my-- 2765 03:38:51,240 --> 03:38:54,780 I had a sponge with some food on it and he chewed half of it away. 2766 03:38:54,950 --> 03:38:57,410 So what you really want to do 2767 03:38:57,970 --> 03:39:00,780 is not leave any kind of food source out for them. 2768 03:39:01,290 --> 03:39:04,530 So anything like for instance these onions right here. 2769 03:39:04,700 --> 03:39:09,200 If you can, get a plastic container and just put them in there 2770 03:39:09,580 --> 03:39:11,030 at least until -- 2771 03:39:11,710 --> 03:39:16,910 I’ll let the management or the landlord know what’s going on as far as the issue. 2772 03:39:17,470 --> 03:39:20,280 But in the meantime, you’re going to have to do your part. 2773 03:39:20,450 --> 03:39:23,740 So, that would be the stove and putting 2774 03:39:23,870 --> 03:39:26,910 these onions or any kind of fruit or vegetable in a plastic container. 2775 03:39:27,120 --> 03:39:28,910 What I’ll do is I’ll try to talk to them, 2776 03:39:30,030 --> 03:39:32,280 find out what’s going on. 2777 03:39:32,820 --> 03:39:37,660 And where the disconnect happened so hopefully we can come to some sort of resolution 2778 03:39:38,070 --> 03:39:43,370 where you’re not living with a pest infestation and the leaks. 2779 03:39:44,360 --> 03:39:45,910 Because they spread disease too. 2780 03:39:46,950 --> 03:39:50,530 And I try to keep it clean as I can here. I’m a bachelor right now 2781 03:39:50,680 --> 03:39:52,990 and living here for 18 years since I got divorced. 2782 03:39:53,420 --> 03:39:57,620 I’ve made my mistakes, but you know, I don’t do drugs or anything. 2783 03:39:57,940 --> 03:39:59,660 - I’m clean. - That’s good. 2784 03:39:59,740 --> 03:40:04,320 I have a glass of of wine here and there and lately my spirit's broken. 2785 03:40:05,910 --> 03:40:08,740 Because they want to throw me to the street after all. 2786 03:40:11,170 --> 03:40:12,870 Anybody’s spirit would be broken. 2787 03:40:13,030 --> 03:40:15,570 I’ve been going through mental health through Veterans. 2788 03:40:15,820 --> 03:40:22,450 And I got some anxiety pills, I’m on blood pressure pills, 2789 03:40:22,660 --> 03:40:25,240 baby aspirin because I got stents in my heart. 2790 03:40:25,920 --> 03:40:30,570 But I’m still alive. Hopefully move onto something better soon. 2791 03:40:35,170 --> 03:40:37,490 We’ll try to help you out as much as possible. 2792 03:40:37,870 --> 03:40:40,620 And I’ll talk to them to see what exactly is going on. 2793 03:40:43,990 --> 03:40:45,780 Anytime, and I’ll leave my card for you. 2794 03:40:46,410 --> 03:40:47,870 On the back of my card 2795 03:40:48,240 --> 03:40:51,910 I’ll leave my cell in case you have any issues or if anything comes up. 2796 03:40:52,060 --> 03:40:54,200 Most of this stuff will be on a 30 day notice. 2797 03:40:54,450 --> 03:40:59,780 Some things that I deem is an emergency will be on an emergency notice. 2798 03:41:00,320 --> 03:41:03,700 And so, once they get an emergency notice that’s 24 hours. 2799 03:41:04,400 --> 03:41:07,280 The other stuff will be 30 days so they’ll have 30 days to fix that. 2800 03:41:08,700 --> 03:41:12,490 What I need from you is when they come by 2801 03:41:12,740 --> 03:41:14,410 or when they’re letting you know 2802 03:41:14,570 --> 03:41:16,320 like within the 24/48 hours like 2803 03:41:16,570 --> 03:41:18,950 I’m going to come by and do the repairs. Just let them in. 2804 03:41:19,700 --> 03:41:21,200 That’s no problem. Sure. 2805 03:41:21,870 --> 03:41:23,740 I want the repairs to be done. Believe me. 2806 03:41:23,910 --> 03:41:25,780 - I know. - I don’t want to live like this. 2807 03:41:25,950 --> 03:41:30,490 I hear you. So, like I said I’ll touch base with you later on today 2808 03:41:30,700 --> 03:41:33,530 after I talk to your siblings and then we’ll take it from there. 2809 03:41:53,570 --> 03:41:54,240 Currently 2810 03:41:54,700 --> 03:41:58,160 we need to finalize the community process which we’re doing right now 2811 03:41:59,240 --> 03:42:02,070 and then finalize the host community agreement with the City. 2812 03:42:02,280 --> 03:42:03,450 And then apply to 2813 03:42:03,740 --> 03:42:06,740 to the Cannabis Control Commission for the provisional licenses 2814 03:42:06,950 --> 03:42:08,570 and then that will allow 2815 03:42:08,620 --> 03:42:12,620 617 to move forward with the build out and final inspections and hopefully, 2816 03:42:13,160 --> 03:42:14,740 ultimately license to operate. 2817 03:42:16,690 --> 03:42:19,780 How close are the cannabis shops going to be to the school? 2818 03:42:20,910 --> 03:42:25,820 How many people are you hiring? And where are you hiring them from? 2819 03:42:26,180 --> 03:42:28,780 I believe the closest school is about 600 feet. 2820 03:42:29,010 --> 03:42:31,410 To say that we just want to offer jobs is actually a misnomer. 2821 03:42:31,570 --> 03:42:35,160 We actually want to help people with a career. 2822 03:42:35,720 --> 03:42:36,454 We also have 2823 03:42:36,704 --> 03:42:39,037 a cultivation facilities in Southwestern Massachusetts 2824 03:42:39,204 --> 03:42:41,204 that’s going through licensing processes. 2825 03:42:41,690 --> 03:42:43,660 Anybody can get a job. That’s very easy. 2826 03:42:43,890 --> 03:42:46,496 But in this industry, we want to be able to mentor somebody 2827 03:42:46,996 --> 03:42:49,621 and to let them have a pathway to a career. 2828 03:42:49,787 --> 03:42:52,621 If you’re interested in edibles, we can help you with that pathway. 2829 03:42:52,780 --> 03:42:56,871 If you’re interested in extractions,we have a facility going up that will be able 2830 03:42:57,037 --> 03:42:59,162 to mentor people to go through that particular program. 2831 03:42:59,370 --> 03:43:00,412 If you want to be a grower, 2832 03:43:01,121 --> 03:43:04,537 we do have some pretty good growers on our team that would be able to mentor people 2833 03:43:04,720 --> 03:43:07,787 to get to a certain point where they can become successful in this industry. 2834 03:43:08,030 --> 03:43:11,204 And not just so they can go get a job, right? 2835 03:43:11,579 --> 03:43:15,454 We’re looking for pathway to a career, a mentorship program that can 2836 03:43:15,662 --> 03:43:18,079 really turn some things around for this neighborhood 2837 03:43:18,454 --> 03:43:20,787 in certain ways that a job just probably couldn’t. 2838 03:43:21,750 --> 03:43:25,370 How many parking spaces do you guys have dedicated to your facility? 2839 03:43:25,660 --> 03:43:29,160 What's it like in the surrounding area? Have you done any traffic studies? 2840 03:43:29,510 --> 03:43:33,704 And then how many shoppers can you physically handle inside your store? 2841 03:43:33,871 --> 03:43:37,496 What’s your plan for line management and overflow? 2842 03:43:37,621 --> 03:43:40,579 I only saw a small mantrap on that floor plan. 2843 03:43:41,079 --> 03:43:43,121 So I’m curious if you could address that. 2844 03:43:43,630 --> 03:43:45,204 Someone would come into a vestibule. 2845 03:43:45,371 --> 03:43:47,746 He would be identified with the proper government I.D. 2846 03:43:47,920 --> 03:43:50,371 and then he would buzz into the retail area there. 2847 03:43:50,870 --> 03:43:52,746 So, as soon as we want, 2848 03:43:52,912 --> 03:43:55,579 we’ll have someone outside telling everybody, have your I.D. ready. 2849 03:43:55,746 --> 03:43:59,912 We’ll try to move that line as fast as we can safely, professionally and securely 2850 03:44:00,079 --> 03:44:01,287 that allows them into the next. 2851 03:44:01,454 --> 03:44:04,204 And then when they make the purchase they will exit a different door 2852 03:44:04,371 --> 03:44:06,200 so there won’t be that backlog right there. 2853 03:44:06,371 --> 03:44:10,780 Are you going to have a line down the block? Are you going to have a waiting area inside? 2854 03:44:11,410 --> 03:44:13,829 Just these are the things you need to think about 2855 03:44:13,996 --> 03:44:15,954 because these situations will come up when 2856 03:44:16,121 --> 03:44:20,280 you’re at capacity and people are going to be standing outside. 2857 03:44:20,621 --> 03:44:22,870 These are things that you got to think about. 2858 03:44:23,170 --> 03:44:25,204 Given the neighborhood, given the location, 2859 03:44:25,371 --> 03:44:27,204 we absolutely think that a lot of the traffic 2860 03:44:27,371 --> 03:44:31,660 and customers are going to be pedestrian based as well as public transportation. 2861 03:44:31,960 --> 03:44:37,240 And then certainly rideshare which is being used all over the place. 2862 03:44:37,454 --> 03:44:41,660 When you talk, you’re speaking to the host community groups, 2863 03:44:42,070 --> 03:44:44,200 I’m sorry, there’s some of those groups 2864 03:44:45,370 --> 03:44:47,954 that are being talking to that really don’t matter. 2865 03:44:49,160 --> 03:44:51,246 And some of those people that you’re talking to 2866 03:44:51,412 --> 03:44:53,871 are making decisions for the rest of us in this room 2867 03:44:54,287 --> 03:44:56,871 that don’t consider us. 2868 03:44:57,620 --> 03:45:02,370 Like some of the people over in Savin Hill that don’t like this side of Dorchester. 2869 03:45:03,810 --> 03:45:05,496 So, I think when we’re talking about -- 2870 03:45:05,658 --> 03:45:09,162 when we’re making plans about host community and talking about to the community, 2871 03:45:09,320 --> 03:45:12,030 I think you need to reach out to the regular people of the community 2872 03:45:12,240 --> 03:45:17,700 because some of these organizations and some of these little groups and meetings 2873 03:45:17,880 --> 03:45:19,829 don’t really give a crap about us. 2874 03:45:20,950 --> 03:45:24,240 And it’s all about their agenda that they have set forth. That’s one thing. 2875 03:45:24,620 --> 03:45:26,740 Also often in our community 2876 03:45:26,990 --> 03:45:29,700 we do have Asian businesses that are run, 2877 03:45:29,880 --> 03:45:34,530 but there’s not people that look like me that work in those Asian businesses, 2878 03:45:34,950 --> 03:45:40,746 I don’t want -- we’ve talked Richard so I don’t have a problem with you 2879 03:45:41,389 --> 03:45:42,912 and we’ve already discussed this. 2880 03:45:43,870 --> 03:45:50,280 I’m just concerned that are we going to make this a multicultural employment area? 2881 03:45:50,410 --> 03:45:52,371 Like I said, a lot of the times 2882 03:45:52,579 --> 03:45:56,662 the Asians that do come in our community, they don’t hire me. 2883 03:45:57,530 --> 03:45:59,700 We have to hire locally because that’s the easiest 2884 03:46:01,200 --> 03:46:02,662 community outreach we can do 2885 03:46:02,829 --> 03:46:05,829 and also for the operations sense is the best way to do it. 2886 03:46:06,030 --> 03:46:07,570 As a business owner, 2887 03:46:07,700 --> 03:46:09,954 once you get in here and I’m not going to say right away, 2888 03:46:10,240 --> 03:46:13,570 but maybe six months or a year depending how your profit goes, 2889 03:46:13,746 --> 03:46:19,870 are you willing to personally give something back to this community to help 2890 03:46:20,120 --> 03:46:24,370 educate the young African Americans, the young Cape Verdeans, the young Asians 2891 03:46:24,620 --> 03:46:28,537 that live in this poor community that’s riddled by gun violence 2892 03:46:29,870 --> 03:46:32,787 and other drugs that are not marijuana that keeps everybody calm? 2893 03:46:32,954 --> 03:46:35,371 If everybody was on marijuana they’d be calm someway. 2894 03:46:36,490 --> 03:46:40,410 Your first comment regarding the various groups that we are supposed to meet, 2895 03:46:41,110 --> 03:46:43,996 and I strongly use the words 'we were supposed to meet', 2896 03:46:44,162 --> 03:46:46,329 because a lot of those are dictated by the City. 2897 03:46:46,530 --> 03:46:48,030 Exactly! That’s my point. 2898 03:46:48,280 --> 03:46:52,496 So you know for us to jump outside of that particular parameter 2899 03:46:52,662 --> 03:46:54,490 is not very easy for us. 2900 03:46:58,070 --> 03:47:01,746 As a business man, as a lifelong resident of Boston, Massachusetts, 2901 03:47:01,912 --> 03:47:04,121 we would want to give back. 2902 03:47:04,590 --> 03:47:09,740 But because there are some things that are beyond our control as a business, 2903 03:47:10,140 --> 03:47:14,200 there are only so many things we can do per the host community agreement. 2904 03:47:14,490 --> 03:47:17,490 Now if you want to touch upon a personal stuff, 2905 03:47:17,871 --> 03:47:20,496 that’s a personal passion of mine to really give back 2906 03:47:20,996 --> 03:47:22,621 and do things for the community. 2907 03:47:22,930 --> 03:47:25,329 I can’t promise you anything today, but I can pledge. 2908 03:47:25,787 --> 03:47:27,829 Let me finish. I can pledge 2909 03:47:28,650 --> 03:47:31,450 that there are times we will outreach to the community. 2910 03:47:31,740 --> 03:47:34,280 People that think that we didn’t include them in this particular 2911 03:47:35,420 --> 03:47:38,870 round of talks and everything like that, because that is a personal mission for me. 2912 03:47:39,070 --> 03:47:42,204 That is something I hold dear and near and it's passion for me. 2913 03:47:43,260 --> 03:47:47,579 First things first. I need to make sure that I cross my T’s and dot my I’s with the City. 2914 03:47:47,870 --> 03:47:52,370 They are the ones that are in control of a lot of things in our situation here. 2915 03:47:52,530 --> 03:47:54,660 I just want to make sure that 2916 03:47:54,829 --> 03:47:58,070 whatever funds that you’re going to be giving out of your pocket 2917 03:47:58,280 --> 03:48:01,037 goes into a great entity in this community that really matters 2918 03:48:01,246 --> 03:48:03,662 and that is actually having an effect on our community. 2919 03:48:03,829 --> 03:48:09,037 As I said, I support you guys. I just want to make sure that you have a solid plan, 2920 03:48:09,240 --> 03:48:11,070 and especially around security 2921 03:48:11,750 --> 03:48:16,820 and the overflow thing is really, we need to address that as the young lady said 2922 03:48:16,950 --> 03:48:19,287 becaus we can’t have a line of people 2923 03:48:19,496 --> 03:48:22,412 particularly if we have people coming from like Milton or other places. 2924 03:48:22,780 --> 03:48:25,871 It’s kind of like Oh look at them, let’s go setup for robbery. 2925 03:48:26,037 --> 03:48:28,662 I want to make sure that those are addressed, OK? 2926 03:48:31,490 --> 03:48:34,079 I guess I want to find out from you what you’re going to do 2927 03:48:34,246 --> 03:48:39,371 truly to address safety concerns around the store that you’re looking to open. 2928 03:48:39,990 --> 03:48:46,070 We have some phenomenal officers in our neighborhood. They work extremely hard 2929 03:48:46,620 --> 03:48:48,662 to keep us all safe. 2930 03:48:49,340 --> 03:48:54,910 And it sounds like part of your public safety plan is to lean on the Polie. 2931 03:48:56,280 --> 03:48:58,660 And I think that’s a bit unfortunate. 2932 03:48:58,980 --> 03:49:02,990 There’s a lot going on in this neighborhood that isn’t good. 2933 03:49:03,870 --> 03:49:06,950 And we lean heavily on them to help support the community. 2934 03:49:07,300 --> 03:49:13,740 So that doesn’t help when we’re layering something additional onto the BPD. 2935 03:49:13,990 --> 03:49:18,371 Second question has to do with the process for approving this. 2936 03:49:19,470 --> 03:49:21,121 If someone can just sort of address 2937 03:49:21,371 --> 03:49:26,829 whether or not the community has an opportunity to vote up or down. 2938 03:49:27,200 --> 03:49:29,204 This has to go through another process. 2939 03:49:29,371 --> 03:49:33,412 The Board of Appeal which they have not received a date as of yet. 2940 03:49:34,310 --> 03:49:36,537 You can make your voice heard through that process as well. 2941 03:49:36,746 --> 03:49:38,871 This is not a done deal here today. 2942 03:49:39,240 --> 03:49:42,320 They have more meetings to do. We have more applicants to 2943 03:49:42,740 --> 03:49:46,120 visit and do outreach to as many people in the neighborhood as possible. 2944 03:49:46,960 --> 03:49:49,450 Leaning on the police for their expertise 2945 03:49:49,662 --> 03:49:53,787 in this neighborhood and what the police needs for resources in this neighborhood. 2946 03:49:53,954 --> 03:49:56,496 I don’t think we want to stand up here and say 2947 03:49:56,662 --> 03:49:59,121 oh, we’re going to do X, Y, Z for security. 2948 03:49:59,310 --> 03:50:01,871 And then the police say You don’t want to do that in this neighborhood', 2949 03:50:02,037 --> 03:50:03,870 or 'That’s not what we need in this neighborhood'. 2950 03:50:04,037 --> 03:50:06,496 I think that conversation is ongoing. 2951 03:50:06,662 --> 03:50:10,579 And one of the big things that I think 617 can do as an entity 2952 03:50:10,790 --> 03:50:15,162 is obviously that surveillance and extending that circle of surveillance 2953 03:50:15,570 --> 03:50:18,780 really in conjunction with BPD and what they’re looking for. 2954 03:50:18,954 --> 03:50:21,160 Making sure those systems talk to each other. 2955 03:50:21,380 --> 03:50:28,200 But also making sure that BPD and who’s ever running the store have a relationship. 2956 03:50:28,270 --> 03:50:31,070 My concern is I’m an abutter to this whole establishment. 2957 03:50:31,600 --> 03:50:33,740 So, I’m right behind Walgreens. 2958 03:50:35,050 --> 03:50:39,530 I maintain it. There’s dumpster diving back there with Walgreens. 2959 03:50:39,760 --> 03:50:43,030 They park in my driveway. I can’t get in and out of the alley. 2960 03:50:43,204 --> 03:50:45,954 Half the time I got to call the police. I got to call 311. 2961 03:50:46,330 --> 03:50:48,320 It’s a huge major -- 2962 03:50:51,320 --> 03:50:54,660 If I wasn’t such a gentleman I would say what it is. 2963 03:50:55,280 --> 03:50:57,450 So what I’m saying is that having no parking, 2964 03:50:58,070 --> 03:51:00,496 dealing with the security issues that I’m dealing with right now, 2965 03:51:00,662 --> 03:51:03,204 I’m not having it. Just dealing with the restaurant 2966 03:51:03,770 --> 03:51:07,740 and dealing with the smoke shop and dealing with Walgreens is enough. 2967 03:51:08,370 --> 03:51:10,700 I can’t even get in and out my driveway as it is. 2968 03:51:10,950 --> 03:51:14,320 I got people dumpster diving in the middle of the night. I have security cameras. 2969 03:51:14,680 --> 03:51:18,329 When the police come and they look what stuff that goes on back there, 2970 03:51:18,662 --> 03:51:19,954 doesn’t do anything. 2971 03:51:20,820 --> 03:51:23,160 Those are my issues whatsoever. 2972 03:51:23,330 --> 03:51:27,780 The parking -- People that park from Boden Str. and down Blakeville Str., 2973 03:51:28,020 --> 03:51:31,700 blocking the driveway just when people are going to the restaurant. 2974 03:51:31,990 --> 03:51:34,620 So never mind having a dispensary there. 2975 03:51:34,900 --> 03:51:37,030 Where they going to park at? Where they block 2976 03:51:37,570 --> 03:51:42,160 my neighbors, I got one, two, three, four, four or five abutters here 2977 03:51:42,870 --> 03:51:45,829 that they block their driveways here and we always like 2978 03:51:45,996 --> 03:51:50,079 up in a rage trying to figure out whose car is blocking your driveway. 2979 03:51:50,490 --> 03:51:52,160 So what are your plans for that? 2980 03:51:52,340 --> 03:51:54,950 We’re going to have cameras out front that indicate 2981 03:51:55,280 --> 03:51:57,570 that someone’s there and we’ll have one of the security go out there 2982 03:51:57,700 --> 03:51:58,912 and ask them to move. 2983 03:51:59,079 --> 03:52:01,871 We’re going to work hand in hand with Boston Police on this. 2984 03:52:02,270 --> 03:52:04,621 There may come a time when we may have to hire some details 2985 03:52:04,787 --> 03:52:06,787 to help us out at the early goings on this. 2986 03:52:07,080 --> 03:52:10,070 We’re going to have conversations with them. They’ll approve our plan. 2987 03:52:10,320 --> 03:52:11,871 They’re going to have input to our plan 2988 03:52:12,037 --> 03:52:13,954 and those are things that we’ll discuss with them 2989 03:52:14,162 --> 03:52:17,079 that they can be on the lookout when they send their patrols by as well. 2990 03:52:17,320 --> 03:52:19,079 And I can tell you that there is no way 2991 03:52:19,329 --> 03:52:22,579 that we’re going to let our customers double park in front, 2992 03:52:22,870 --> 03:52:25,079 say I’ll be right back and run in. 2993 03:52:25,246 --> 03:52:27,371 They won’t be allowed entry into the store. 2994 03:52:27,930 --> 03:52:32,490 We have personnel who will be onsite inside and outside 2995 03:52:32,704 --> 03:52:37,740 as well as some sort of combination of Boston Police outside, 2996 03:52:37,990 --> 03:52:42,204 and our store person checking people as they get in. And we won’t let them in. 2997 03:52:44,570 --> 03:52:49,530 Walgreens is a staple of our community and an intersection where people go get 2998 03:52:49,820 --> 03:52:54,240 family supplies, go get Pampers, they go get their medical needs. 2999 03:52:54,530 --> 03:52:56,621 So within that going on, 3000 03:52:56,829 --> 03:52:59,537 they have to pass through a smoke shop, a weed shop. 3001 03:53:01,040 --> 03:53:06,450 Then that alley that’s running there is famous to becoming a smoke -- 3002 03:53:07,220 --> 03:53:10,910 destination. Before the smoke shop got there that was a smoke destination. 3003 03:53:11,120 --> 03:53:13,704 The smoke shop came and it became a bigger smoke destination. 3004 03:53:13,871 --> 03:53:16,954 A barber shop was there. It became a bigger smoke destination. 3005 03:53:17,121 --> 03:53:20,280 The Walgreens has been raided, I mean from -- 3006 03:53:20,490 --> 03:53:22,537 us doing an event for the community 3007 03:53:22,746 --> 03:53:24,787 and people going across the street and raid it. 3008 03:53:25,100 --> 03:53:29,120 There’s been shootings and other negative things going on in the community. 3009 03:53:29,440 --> 03:53:34,870 So just having an entity there constantly is really worrisome for 3010 03:53:35,240 --> 03:53:40,410 our seniors, our young people who have teen centers. 3011 03:53:40,620 --> 03:53:44,030 We have schools, even though there’s a radius. 3012 03:53:44,280 --> 03:53:47,412 At the end of the day this is a common intersection for everyone. 3013 03:53:47,579 --> 03:53:50,912 Those imaginary lines don’t exist because we have to go to Walgreens 3014 03:53:51,079 --> 03:53:53,160 to get our medications, we have to go get Pampers 3015 03:53:53,370 --> 03:53:55,490 and our daily stuff that we need right away. 3016 03:53:55,950 --> 03:53:57,740 We need Walgreens in our community. 3017 03:53:58,280 --> 03:54:03,490 We don’t necessarily need a smoke shop or a weed shop, but we do need Walgreens. 3018 03:54:04,150 --> 03:54:07,070 As I read this, you guys are talking about 3019 03:54:07,450 --> 03:54:11,740 'fostering a mutual beneficial healthy and safe partnership'. 3020 03:54:12,280 --> 03:54:16,990 Again, we had a store, never got robbed, never got anything, 3021 03:54:17,160 --> 03:54:23,160 but we have seen people who have been getting shot in corners, inside stores. 3022 03:54:23,330 --> 03:54:25,780 There is a lot of trauma in this neighborhood 3023 03:54:25,990 --> 03:54:30,490 and in your whole beautiful presentation I didn’t see 3024 03:54:30,740 --> 03:54:31,996 bullet points around 3025 03:54:32,246 --> 03:54:35,787 how you guys are doing all that and bringing it back to the community. 3026 03:54:37,590 --> 03:54:39,450 And also about, 3027 03:54:39,600 --> 03:54:45,579 where you say that you’re creating a positive economic impact beneficial to Boston, 3028 03:54:45,780 --> 03:54:50,079 and Dorchester neighborhood. Bowdoin Geneva is a high needs. 3029 03:54:50,450 --> 03:54:55,870 We don’t have police available in the evening hours. 3030 03:54:56,410 --> 03:54:59,912 So it’s my concern how you guys are saying that you’re going to reach out 3031 03:55:00,079 --> 03:55:02,079 and get support from, you know, 3032 03:55:02,480 --> 03:55:05,120 the police department which is all nice and dandy, 3033 03:55:05,580 --> 03:55:09,120 but they’re short staffed. They have people retiring day in and day out. 3034 03:55:09,340 --> 03:55:10,912 And academy’s coming in 3035 03:55:11,079 --> 03:55:12,910 and we’re not getting the people that we need in order to 3036 03:55:14,160 --> 03:55:18,370 provide the services that we need, in order to be a safe environment. 3037 03:55:18,840 --> 03:55:22,950 So bringing in this flow where you guys are going to have somebody at the door, 3038 03:55:23,200 --> 03:55:27,120 I didn’t hear anybody directing traffic or telling people 3039 03:55:27,150 --> 03:55:30,240 where to go and how to park. It sounds beautiful when you’re saying 3040 03:55:30,450 --> 03:55:32,870 we’re going to tell people to move their cars, 3041 03:55:33,320 --> 03:55:35,530 but that’s not how it works around here. 3042 03:55:36,270 --> 03:55:39,070 We are not in downtown. We are not in Back Bay. 3043 03:55:39,150 --> 03:55:41,162 We are in Dorchester where people say 3044 03:55:41,329 --> 03:55:43,160 I’ll leave my car there, what you gonna do about it? 3045 03:55:43,371 --> 03:55:48,120 I think that it we all agree that earing that type of feedback 3046 03:55:48,530 --> 03:55:52,370 is the starting point because we don’t have all the answers right now. 3047 03:55:52,510 --> 03:55:55,410 You’re absolutely right. There are certain things that we don’t know. 3048 03:55:55,780 --> 03:55:57,870 And we need the feedback from the community 3049 03:55:58,250 --> 03:56:03,570 to be able to work together to come up with a plan that works. 3050 03:56:03,860 --> 03:56:06,121 Are we going to have all the answers on day one? 3051 03:56:06,450 --> 03:56:08,204 I hope so, but it’s unlikely. 3052 03:56:09,520 --> 03:56:11,454 We’re not going to know what problems may arise. 3053 03:56:11,662 --> 03:56:15,746 There may be problems that are resolved by our presence just as much. 3054 03:56:18,630 --> 03:56:24,280 We can commit to working with you to resolve them as they come up. 3055 03:56:25,220 --> 03:56:28,200 I mean that’s all that we can promise right now. Hearing that, 3056 03:56:28,480 --> 03:56:29,954 that’s something that’s important. 3057 03:56:30,280 --> 03:56:32,910 It’s noted. We want as much feedback as we can get 3058 03:56:33,870 --> 03:56:37,570 on those types of issues that we may not be able to see at the moment. 3059 03:56:38,320 --> 03:56:40,662 And if we can help prevent issues like that 3060 03:56:41,412 --> 03:56:44,621 and there’re ideas on how to do that, we’re all ears. 3061 03:56:45,530 --> 03:56:46,871 It may sound like we haven’t addressed it, 3062 03:56:47,037 --> 03:56:49,329 it’s only because there are a lot of moving parts that we have to 3063 03:56:49,537 --> 03:56:52,579 make sure that we coordinate with the City. 3064 03:56:53,120 --> 03:56:55,246 Having community meetings like this to meet with you 3065 03:56:55,412 --> 03:56:57,240 to talk about stuff that concerns you guys 3066 03:56:57,370 --> 03:57:00,410 and incorporate that into our business plan and plans moving forward. 3067 03:57:00,580 --> 03:57:03,780 This isn't by far a done deal. This is something that we would like to discuss 3068 03:57:03,980 --> 03:57:05,746 with everybody in the community as well 3069 03:57:05,996 --> 03:57:07,740 and hopefully tonight’s a great start to that 3070 03:57:08,070 --> 03:57:11,660 and something more elaborate and a little bit more lengthy in the future. 3071 03:57:12,200 --> 03:57:15,912 This community meeting is part of the process for you to get your license? 3072 03:57:16,820 --> 03:57:20,912 And then does this community meeting have a process to vote? 3073 03:57:22,070 --> 03:57:27,870 So does this community, after we talk and we vent, and we cry and we laugh -- 3074 03:57:29,530 --> 03:57:31,410 - What happens? - Nothing. 3075 03:57:33,670 --> 03:57:36,120 We take what happens here back to City Hall. 3076 03:57:37,450 --> 03:57:39,537 We have a conversation there about what happened -- 3077 03:57:40,246 --> 03:57:41,530 To City Hall meaning the Mayor or --? 3078 03:57:42,660 --> 03:57:45,240 We go back and reiterate what happened here. 3079 03:57:45,490 --> 03:57:47,746 So you also have an opportunity yourself, 3080 03:57:47,996 --> 03:57:51,621 if you’d like to send in an email, a phone call, write a letter 3081 03:57:51,660 --> 03:57:56,450 - And it gets taken a look at. - It goes into a file for this applicant. 3082 03:57:56,510 --> 03:57:57,740 I’m new to this. I’m sorry. 3083 03:57:58,710 --> 03:58:00,450 So that’s how the information that -- 3084 03:58:01,450 --> 03:58:04,537 the public puts out gets put into play. 3085 03:58:05,030 --> 03:58:08,320 'Mr. Mayor, this is what they said'. And then what happens? 3086 03:58:08,450 --> 03:58:11,329 In a nutshell we go over what happens and it’s deliberated, 3087 03:58:11,329 --> 03:58:14,787 it's decisions made and if they move forward they move forward. 3088 03:58:15,370 --> 03:58:17,780 You have good intentions. I believe you. 3089 03:58:18,370 --> 03:58:20,746 If you have good intentions, forget the requirements! 3090 03:58:20,996 --> 03:58:23,371 Communicate with us. Go above and beyond. 3091 03:58:23,537 --> 03:58:26,121 Make sure that everybody knows about it. 3092 03:58:27,810 --> 03:58:30,280 - Too much? - No, no you’re right. 3093 03:58:30,600 --> 03:58:31,954 You have good intentions. 3094 03:58:32,170 --> 03:58:35,990 Do more, make sure that everybody knows about it because you know what? 3095 03:58:36,200 --> 03:58:41,079 I know this kind of stuff is beneficial to Black communities if done properly 3096 03:58:41,246 --> 03:58:43,954 because I’ve done my research. However, 3097 03:58:44,121 --> 03:58:47,200 if done in this way and just an ill prepared manner -- 3098 03:58:47,371 --> 03:58:49,329 I’m not saying you have been because I don’t know enough -- 3099 03:58:49,660 --> 03:58:52,121 then you have detriment at your hands. 3100 03:58:52,320 --> 03:58:55,787 This kind of business, if it doesn’t benefit our community 3101 03:58:55,954 --> 03:59:00,829 is a detriment and will disproportionally affect brown and black people. 3102 03:59:01,780 --> 03:59:04,620 We have been outreaching to the community members. 3103 03:59:05,170 --> 03:59:12,120 They work at the neighborhood associations to address us and to introduce us. 3104 03:59:12,490 --> 03:59:18,450 We cannot go knock on every single door in Dorchester. That’s not possible. 3105 03:59:19,240 --> 03:59:24,746 Those neighborhood associations are predominantely represented by Whites. 3106 03:59:25,200 --> 03:59:27,246 So what happens is the people that 3107 03:59:27,412 --> 03:59:31,871 or we’re saying that are impacted, the people that suffer from trauma or not, 3108 03:59:32,220 --> 03:59:36,070 we’re not generalizing this culture saying everybody suffers from trauma. We’re saying 3109 03:59:36,240 --> 03:59:40,287 that this is a poorer neighborhood and poverty affects us in this way. 3110 03:59:40,740 --> 03:59:44,530 So, the people that it impacts are not being communicated to. 3111 03:59:44,900 --> 03:59:47,370 And so, it makes sense then 3112 03:59:47,520 --> 03:59:51,280 if you have good intentions that you go above and say look, 3113 03:59:51,490 --> 03:59:54,162 we want everyone to be aware 3114 03:59:54,329 --> 03:59:57,621 and we want to be very transparent so we’re going to do more. 3115 03:59:57,820 --> 04:00:01,160 This process is not dictated by us, the applicant. As much as we want to be 3116 04:00:01,280 --> 04:00:04,996 in control as business owners, this entire process is dictated by the City. 3117 04:00:06,990 --> 04:00:10,162 Let me reiterate it. This entire process is dictated by the City. 3118 04:00:10,370 --> 04:00:14,246 Many things you brought up and concerns, I personally am bothered as well. 3119 04:00:14,620 --> 04:00:16,621 Some of the things that you talked about and you reiterated, 3120 04:00:16,912 --> 04:00:18,787 some other people have said that same thing. 3121 04:00:18,954 --> 04:00:20,996 We heard it. Several, many times. 3122 04:00:21,700 --> 04:00:24,537 But the fact of the matter is a lot of things that we’re hand tied. 3123 04:00:24,740 --> 04:00:27,496 To go above and beyond something that was instructed us to do by the City, 3124 04:00:27,662 --> 04:00:29,490 we just do what the City asks us to do. 3125 04:00:29,730 --> 04:00:32,496 Now to say forget about crime, just go ahead and do that. 3126 04:00:32,662 --> 04:00:36,121 We can’t. We listened tonight and we shall. 3127 04:00:36,280 --> 04:00:37,787 We need to get organized and get to the City then. 3128 04:00:38,621 --> 04:00:40,204 We need to change this process. 3129 04:00:43,360 --> 04:00:45,910 I represent the Bowdoin Geneva community. 3130 04:00:46,200 --> 04:00:51,037 It’s an amazing community, but that has some of the worst public health outcomes. 3131 04:00:51,640 --> 04:00:55,820 If you look at the geography of incarceration today in our Commonwealth, 3132 04:00:56,140 --> 04:00:59,329 about 60 % of the people in the Massachusetts jails 3133 04:00:59,496 --> 04:01:04,079 actually come from the zip codes that I partially represent. 3134 04:01:04,700 --> 04:01:07,329 And so I want to just ask a couple questions 3135 04:01:07,746 --> 04:01:12,037 that constituents brought to me. First, I’ve only been in office 7 weeks. 3136 04:01:12,240 --> 04:01:13,954 The State didn’t do a good job 3137 04:01:14,121 --> 04:01:17,121 and I’ve said this at every cannabis meeting 3138 04:01:17,330 --> 04:01:20,579 because applicants are educating residents 3139 04:01:20,829 --> 04:01:23,704 about things that should have been done by State and City government. 3140 04:01:23,871 --> 04:01:25,329 At least that’s my opinion. 3141 04:01:25,460 --> 04:01:30,120 And so I offered to bring the Office of emerging industries and the Commission 3142 04:01:30,270 --> 04:01:35,120 to come and talk to our community directly because we have questions 3143 04:01:35,460 --> 04:01:37,454 that can’t be answered 3144 04:01:37,621 --> 04:01:43,079 by asking an applicant and having an agitated conversation with the residents. 3145 04:01:43,370 --> 04:01:49,280 The first is this is one of the most diverse communities in the entire City. 3146 04:01:49,740 --> 04:01:51,870 It is the poorest part of Dorchester. 3147 04:01:52,490 --> 04:01:55,120 It’s over 90 % of color. 3148 04:01:55,320 --> 04:01:58,030 My question is do you have anybody on your team 3149 04:01:58,410 --> 04:02:01,450 that represents one of the major ethnic groups in this community? 3150 04:02:01,920 --> 04:02:05,990 I know the Vietnamese community is 20 % so that answered probably yes. 3151 04:02:06,330 --> 04:02:08,280 I don’t want to assume Asian identity. 3152 04:02:08,484 --> 04:02:13,070 Two, also mass incarceration has deeply impacted our community 3153 04:02:13,370 --> 04:02:16,570 and when this law was first passed I know a lot of people went to vote 3154 04:02:16,740 --> 04:02:18,621 because we wanted to right the wrongs 3155 04:02:18,871 --> 04:02:22,704 of also what has happened to our community because of the war on drugs. 3156 04:02:22,900 --> 04:02:24,329 Do you have anybody on your team 3157 04:02:24,579 --> 04:02:28,121 that has been impacted by that or have you thought about that? 3158 04:02:28,630 --> 04:02:31,950 Third, we know that the host agreement goes into a general fund, 3159 04:02:32,200 --> 04:02:35,160 so the other question I had is have you discussed as a team 3160 04:02:35,410 --> 04:02:38,287 how you will put resources together for this community 3161 04:02:38,496 --> 04:02:40,412 that is highly under resourced, 3162 04:02:41,180 --> 04:02:43,621 also by the City and State government to be quite honest, 3163 04:02:43,787 --> 04:02:46,079 but there’s an immediate needs on this -- 3164 04:02:46,270 --> 04:02:50,579 in this corridor that are not represented in areas like 3165 04:02:50,829 --> 04:02:55,030 Neponset or in Lower Mills. That the Bowdoin Geneva specifically 3166 04:02:55,750 --> 04:03:00,320 been deeply impacted by bad policy and under resources. So those were 3167 04:03:00,560 --> 04:03:04,320 three questions and are you open to a second meeting or conversation? 3168 04:03:04,930 --> 04:03:08,410 This district is 42 % Cape Verdean 3169 04:03:08,580 --> 04:03:13,410 and a lot of the times at these meetings, I might see 4 or 5 Cape Verdean Americans, 3170 04:03:13,579 --> 04:03:15,700 but nothing is translated in our language 3171 04:03:15,870 --> 04:03:18,579 and so what I find is that they’re not even participating 3172 04:03:18,829 --> 04:03:21,454 in these conversations, not because they don’t want to. 3173 04:03:21,700 --> 04:03:24,912 They care about this community, but you’re not going to walk into a room 3174 04:03:25,079 --> 04:03:29,950 where they don’t speak your language or try to have things translated for you. 3175 04:03:30,121 --> 04:03:32,246 So I just wanted to know if you’d be open to another -- 3176 04:03:32,412 --> 04:03:34,371 because you’re only required to have one meeting, 3177 04:03:34,700 --> 04:03:37,660 so the question is are you open to another conversation? 3178 04:03:38,070 --> 04:03:42,200 So those are the points that I want to share that mainly came from constituents 3179 04:03:42,490 --> 04:03:44,287 who couldn’t be here tonight, 3180 04:03:44,454 --> 04:03:47,996 so part of my job is to represent their interest and share that. 3181 04:03:48,910 --> 04:03:50,537 Somebody brought up a comment earlier about 3182 04:03:50,704 --> 04:03:53,287 when they walk into these particular stores they don’t really see 3183 04:03:53,787 --> 04:03:55,537 a representation of themselves. 3184 04:03:55,760 --> 04:03:57,787 Well I do want to note that we’re not open yet. 3185 04:03:58,200 --> 04:04:01,287 And so we will have representation of this neighborhood. 3186 04:04:01,440 --> 04:04:03,787 A lot of people have asked us to drill down hard on that number. 3187 04:04:04,037 --> 04:04:07,704 That’s a business question. I don’t have that answer for you because 3188 04:04:08,121 --> 04:04:11,662 that has not been answered during our business plan discussions. 3189 04:04:12,900 --> 04:04:16,954 But we're willing to have more conversations and more dialogue with everybody 3190 04:04:17,246 --> 04:04:20,412 that should be involved. As you stated in your first comment 3191 04:04:20,910 --> 04:04:23,662 before saying anything else that the State didn’t do a very good job on this. 3192 04:04:23,830 --> 04:04:27,871 And I felt the applicant’s the guy that has to elucidate and enlighten the public. 3193 04:04:28,200 --> 04:04:29,162 And we’ve done that. 3194 04:04:29,454 --> 04:04:32,829 Through our own pockets, through our own measures and through our own grit. 3195 04:04:33,120 --> 04:04:34,787 We don’t want to see this industry fall. 3196 04:04:34,996 --> 04:04:38,537 Because yes, Dorchester has been disproportionately affected by this. 3197 04:04:38,820 --> 04:04:40,454 I don’t see anybody else stepping up 3198 04:04:40,662 --> 04:04:43,537 to really say hey, let’s bring this to Dorchester and really make this happen. 3199 04:04:43,890 --> 04:04:45,662 You see a lot of Colorado people, 3200 04:04:45,912 --> 04:04:48,579 you see a lot of Washington people, you see a lot of California people. 3201 04:04:48,980 --> 04:04:52,030 But the barrier is so high during the DPH era, 3202 04:04:52,250 --> 04:04:54,912 for you to get into this that it was nigh impossibility 3203 04:04:55,246 --> 04:04:59,162 for anybody thinking of bringing a medical marijuana establishment to Dorchester. 3204 04:04:59,400 --> 04:05:03,450 You’re talking high six figures to even be heard, 3205 04:05:04,240 --> 04:05:06,996 so not only have you been disproportionately affected 3206 04:05:07,246 --> 04:05:09,537 by having your members of your community arrested, 3207 04:05:09,700 --> 04:05:13,079 and now there is an economic barrier for you to go ahead and overcome 3208 04:05:13,287 --> 04:05:16,121 just so you can do business in this industry that has affected your life 3209 04:05:16,537 --> 04:05:18,246 and generations down the road. 3210 04:05:18,690 --> 04:05:20,912 We’re not the type of people that’s going to come in and say 3211 04:05:21,079 --> 04:05:22,870 I can go ahead and clean this up for you. 3212 04:05:23,037 --> 04:05:25,662 I’m not that type of person. But what I can pledge to you 3213 04:05:25,910 --> 04:05:27,121 is that we can come down here 3214 04:05:27,329 --> 04:05:29,954 and have discussions and frank conversations with everybody 3215 04:05:30,121 --> 04:05:32,704 to make sure we include as many people as we can. 3216 04:05:32,830 --> 04:05:34,162 We can’t do everything for everyone, 3217 04:05:34,537 --> 04:05:36,579 but we can do a lot of things for a lot of people. 3218 04:05:36,830 --> 04:05:39,530 But again, we are not open yet. Give us the opportunity to come down 3219 04:05:39,750 --> 04:05:42,787 and really show you our medal and show you what we’re really all about. 3220 04:05:43,070 --> 04:05:45,079 And let the State know that what they did 3221 04:05:45,246 --> 04:05:47,912 and what they have been doing is not the correct process. 3222 04:05:48,079 --> 04:05:50,070 And with your help we can go ahead and let them know 3223 04:05:50,380 --> 04:05:53,870 that we can overcome that situation and bring this neighborhood around. 3224 04:05:54,037 --> 04:05:55,787 This is the poorest neighborhood in Boston. 3225 04:05:55,990 --> 04:05:57,704 Do you guys not want economic development? 3226 04:05:57,990 --> 04:05:59,990 Do you guys not want to be a piece of something 3227 04:06:00,280 --> 04:06:01,954 that has taken your lives away from you? 3228 04:06:02,121 --> 04:06:05,660 I’m the catalyst for that and so be it. I can do it. I look forward to helping you 3229 04:06:05,950 --> 04:06:08,537 and you helping me and we can accomplish this together. 3230 04:06:09,410 --> 04:06:11,700 We see everyone who’s at the table here, 3231 04:06:12,120 --> 04:06:16,780 and as a community we need to make sure that we’re holding them accountable. 3232 04:06:16,990 --> 04:06:20,410 So we shouldn’t just be saying this now in the moment, 3233 04:06:20,890 --> 04:06:26,280 but we really need to take everybody who has a hand in this to task. 3234 04:06:26,910 --> 04:06:29,240 When things are not working correctly 3235 04:06:29,550 --> 04:06:32,829 because you all have to live here. We have people who work here. 3236 04:06:32,996 --> 04:06:37,579 We have people who care about this community who’s been here for many years, 3237 04:06:37,746 --> 04:06:41,990 putting in the hard work and effort to get ourselves together. 3238 04:06:42,370 --> 04:06:46,950 And so the way we do that is every time somebody says something to us, 3239 04:06:47,180 --> 04:06:49,246 let’s make sure we’re going back to them. 3240 04:06:49,537 --> 04:06:51,829 And let’s make sure that we’re holding them accountable. 3241 04:06:52,070 --> 04:06:56,030 And let this evening not be the only time where we’re continuing to do that. 3242 04:06:56,170 --> 04:07:00,620 Because if we do that, you know what? It’s just going to be another situation, 3243 04:07:00,820 --> 04:07:04,660 same old, same old and we get to hold the crappy end of the stick. 3244 04:07:05,620 --> 04:07:07,621 And we’ve been doing that for many years 3245 04:07:07,871 --> 04:07:11,371 and so let’s hold folks to the fire and let’s hold folks to task. 3246 04:07:11,910 --> 04:07:14,990 There’ll be business cards on the back table. If you have comments 3247 04:07:15,280 --> 04:07:17,412 you can call up or you can shoot an email. 3248 04:07:17,579 --> 04:07:20,621 We’ll be responsive and we’ll make sure it’s noted and it’s on file. 3249 04:08:06,472 --> 04:08:11,522 We talked about this you know from a year ago when we first met to talk about 3250 04:08:11,589 --> 04:08:16,407 utilizing the restore program. Hiring an architect through our program 3251 04:08:16,659 --> 04:08:23,759 to work with you and your family, to really elevate your business. 3252 04:08:23,846 --> 04:08:29,071 I know one of the other goals was really, I mean this is a very successful supermarket. 3253 04:08:29,384 --> 04:08:33,861 I think that you have a very loyal customer base, 3254 04:08:34,001 --> 04:08:34,962 but I do know 3255 04:08:34,986 --> 04:08:37,395 and this is true for any business in the city, 3256 04:08:37,602 --> 04:08:40,127 it’s always important to attract new customers. 3257 04:08:40,189 --> 04:08:42,471 So were you hoping, is one of the goals 3258 04:08:42,595 --> 04:08:46,170 that by doing this project it will attract some new customers in the city? 3259 04:08:46,215 --> 04:08:51,182 Yeah, absolutely 100 percent. You know I know during the rush hour traffic 3260 04:08:51,229 --> 04:08:53,068 in the morning, rush hour traffic at night there’re 3261 04:08:53,093 --> 04:08:56,426 thousands of cars that go along Cummins Highway that pass the 3262 04:08:56,451 --> 04:08:59,759 store and probably don’t even think twice about 3263 04:08:59,784 --> 04:09:03,143 ever coming in here to do their grocery shopping. But I think 3264 04:09:03,168 --> 04:09:06,285 once we remodel and redesign the front I think they might 3265 04:09:06,310 --> 04:09:09,507 have second thoughts about that and maybe give us a chance 3266 04:09:09,532 --> 04:09:12,619 and see what we have to offer for them and their family. 3267 04:09:12,703 --> 04:09:18,649 Yeah, I mean we do know like through this program that when people complete a project 3268 04:09:18,674 --> 04:09:21,980 of this scale, two things happen. Your existing 3269 04:09:22,005 --> 04:09:27,930 customers feel grateful and taken care of, 3270 04:09:28,628 --> 04:09:33,237 and it in many ways it’s a thank you to them for shopping here. 3271 04:09:33,419 --> 04:09:36,401 And I think people get very excited when a project 3272 04:09:36,503 --> 04:09:40,466 like this, a store that they’re going to constantly is transformed. 3273 04:09:40,625 --> 04:09:42,443 But I think also 3274 04:09:42,443 --> 04:09:45,513 people discover you for the first time 3275 04:09:45,878 --> 04:09:48,886 and as you said, people are driving up and down Cummins Highway 3276 04:09:49,121 --> 04:09:51,553 and not pulling into your parking lot. 3277 04:09:51,577 --> 04:09:54,859 Because they’re not really seeing you. And I think that’s absolutely going to 3278 04:09:55,322 --> 04:10:00,027 happen for you and we see this happen over and over again for many of our projects. 3279 04:10:00,145 --> 04:10:04,617 Is that people walk by a storefront and once we actually transform it 3280 04:10:04,642 --> 04:10:08,338 through the restore program with a new signage and design, you know 3281 04:10:08,362 --> 04:10:12,111 it’s getting people through that door. And obviously that helps you 3282 04:10:12,184 --> 04:10:13,445 be more successful. 3283 04:10:13,576 --> 04:10:15,358 Who are the customers that come to this store? 3284 04:10:15,463 --> 04:10:19,217 So predominately residents of Mattapan. 3285 04:10:19,327 --> 04:10:21,993 We also get a fair amount of people from 3286 04:10:22,154 --> 04:10:26,915 Dorchester, Hyde Park, a little bit of Milton as well. 3287 04:10:27,086 --> 04:10:31,285 And you know demographic wise come from many different countries, 3288 04:10:31,443 --> 04:10:36,073 all the Caribbean countries, South, America, Central America 3289 04:10:36,311 --> 04:10:39,378 hat’s predominately where customers come from. 3290 04:10:39,671 --> 04:10:44,592 And you know I live in the neighborhood too, so I know 3291 04:10:44,700 --> 04:10:47,696 America’s Food Basket’s been in the neighborhood for so long. 3292 04:10:47,696 --> 04:10:50,608 I do know that based on the constituency that 3293 04:10:50,966 --> 04:10:55,318 America’s Food Basket’s been serving in your four locations, 3294 04:10:55,371 --> 04:11:02,769 so do you carry specific foods and that really the community needs? 3295 04:11:02,799 --> 04:11:06,973 Yeah, yeah absolutely especially in the meat department, the produce department 3296 04:11:07,046 --> 04:11:10,664 and grocery department as well. Basically we want customers when 3297 04:11:10,737 --> 04:11:14,263 they come in they feel like they never left their home, left their country. 3298 04:11:14,348 --> 04:11:18,727 Whether they’re Haitian or Dominican, they want, we want them to be able 3299 04:11:18,752 --> 04:11:23,259 to come in here and get whatever it is, whether it’s Plantains, Yucca, Ox 3300 04:11:23,440 --> 04:11:27,800 Tails, you know whatever seasonings that they use in their countries 3301 04:11:28,075 --> 04:11:34,628 we want them to be able to use that same recipe that their grandmother and mother 3302 04:11:34,751 --> 04:11:38,472 used when they were growing up back home. Only now they’re in Boston. 3303 04:11:38,589 --> 04:11:43,463 So how do you develop that list of ingredients and foods over time? 3304 04:11:43,994 --> 04:11:48,335 I mean the founders of Americas Food Basket, 3305 04:11:48,414 --> 04:11:51,579 you know they’re Dominican so that aspect the Caribbean aspect 3306 04:11:51,682 --> 04:11:54,918 of it was fairly easy. 3307 04:11:54,943 --> 04:11:57,978 Then as you’re in the store, as you gain experience dealing with different types of 3308 04:11:58,315 --> 04:12:02,450 types of customers, they’ll ask you what they’re looking for 3309 04:12:02,475 --> 04:12:05,733 and we try our best to get whatever it is that they’re 3310 04:12:05,742 --> 04:12:08,255 asking. And you know I think to a great extent 3311 04:12:08,280 --> 04:12:11,677 we’ve done a good job of that, kind of serving to their needs. 3312 04:14:40,336 --> 04:14:43,459 Managing expectations is important so, where we can get folks 3313 04:14:43,484 --> 04:14:46,682 in a room who are interested because they’re calling me too 3314 04:14:46,707 --> 04:14:49,066 and they have all these great ideas and I said well that’s not how 3315 04:14:49,150 --> 04:14:52,920 National NAACP conventions work. We’re not organizing from the 3316 04:14:53,053 --> 04:14:56,371 ground it’s really organized from National and there’s some local activities. 3317 04:14:56,396 --> 04:14:59,336 So, I’ve had to educate folks locally on that, 3318 04:14:59,361 --> 04:15:01,729 but I think if we can have a community conversation 3319 04:15:01,754 --> 04:15:03,134 I think Tanesha could host. 3320 04:15:04,266 --> 04:15:06,157 And then I manage expectations 3321 04:15:06,264 --> 04:15:08,906 that it’s convention of delegates, it’s a voting convention. 3322 04:15:08,931 --> 04:15:10,873 So people are here to do business. 3323 04:15:11,430 --> 04:15:12,741 They’re here to go to luncheons, 3324 04:15:12,766 --> 04:15:15,341 be part of panel discussions. There’s not a lot of free time 3325 04:15:15,366 --> 04:15:18,234 to leave the area that they’re in, 3326 04:15:18,259 --> 04:15:21,065 and if they leave the area they’re not there to vote 3327 04:15:21,127 --> 04:15:23,486 on a particular matter that’s coming before the body. 3328 04:15:23,618 --> 04:15:25,304 So there’ll be some limited opportunities 3329 04:15:25,338 --> 04:15:27,865 to get out of the convention area and see Boston 3330 04:15:28,463 --> 04:15:31,049 and we just got to be intentional about when those opportunities come up. 3331 04:15:31,099 --> 04:15:33,645 We talked about that. There might be NAACP 3332 04:15:33,670 --> 04:15:36,546 members that are police chiefs and fire fighters 3333 04:15:36,571 --> 04:15:38,819 and nurses, and doctors 3334 04:15:38,892 --> 04:15:42,054 that want to like get a tour of behind the scenes at Mass General or 3335 04:15:42,078 --> 04:15:45,276 go to Dimock in Roxbury 3336 04:15:45,301 --> 04:15:47,554 and see how the recovery community that they have there, 3337 04:15:47,579 --> 04:15:50,258 one of the best in the country. Look at these different 3338 04:15:50,283 --> 04:15:53,079 places and so we can offer that up for people. 3339 04:15:53,209 --> 04:15:57,860 We have a criminal justice community here so if we tap Harvard, and some of our other 3340 04:15:57,885 --> 04:16:00,305 higher Ed institutions say hey, we need Skip Gates 3341 04:16:00,330 --> 04:16:03,496 to be at the convention and we as the City of Boston are reaching out 3342 04:16:03,712 --> 04:16:06,051 to you Harvard to say make your folks available. 3343 04:16:06,105 --> 04:16:09,133 I think there’s an opportunity for us to provide value in that way. 3344 04:16:09,316 --> 04:16:13,275 If we can do that basic part first then all the extras come along after that. 3345 04:16:13,405 --> 04:16:17,366 There’s a fuller picture of Boston’s history good and bad that I want 3346 04:16:17,493 --> 04:16:20,226 West Roxbury to know and Roxbury to know 3347 04:16:20,275 --> 04:16:25,760 and Dedham to know and I think we have an opportunity to share that through different 3348 04:16:25,799 --> 04:16:27,872 ways so that it’s an education for us 3349 04:16:27,897 --> 04:16:30,404 Bostonians and an education for our visitors. 3350 04:16:30,488 --> 04:16:32,781 I think it’s great. And I say this all the time. 3351 04:16:32,806 --> 04:16:34,416 I know there’s kids in Roxbury, in West Roxbury 3352 04:16:34,467 --> 04:16:35,872 that have no idea, they don’t even know busing 3353 04:16:36,053 --> 04:16:39,168 because they weren’t even here. Their families were 3354 04:16:40,377 --> 04:16:42,587 where their families impacted by it. 3355 04:16:43,975 --> 04:16:46,905 And not even understanding, I think even bussing there was a 3356 04:16:46,931 --> 04:16:50,070 step before that that’s not talked about if the 3357 04:16:50,522 --> 04:16:54,250 school committee elected at the time took action 3358 04:16:54,868 --> 04:16:57,808 Yes, would have staved off that whole experience. 3359 04:16:57,808 --> 04:17:04,240 So that was a lack of, inaction by local represented people elected by the people. 3360 04:17:04,481 --> 04:17:07,693 And if they’d dealt with it and addressed it history might have been a 3361 04:17:07,810 --> 04:17:12,417 little different. And it would have been, maybe a little different if you tackle 3362 04:17:12,442 --> 04:17:17,114 the issue at the time, in a different manner, but it wasn’t thought of so. 3363 04:17:17,166 --> 04:17:19,891 And not to debate that, but I think what’s interesting 3364 04:17:19,916 --> 04:17:22,714 is the values of the city wasn’t fully reflected by that 3365 04:17:22,739 --> 04:17:25,500 City Council as it is today right? We see the diversity 3366 04:17:25,525 --> 04:17:28,163 in the City Council today. The diversity, the lack of 3367 04:17:28,188 --> 04:17:30,974 diversity at that time didn’t take the racial imbalance 3368 04:17:30,999 --> 04:17:33,909 issue seriously enough that if they had had more diversity 3369 04:17:33,934 --> 04:17:36,918 they would have said no, let’s avoid court action and let’s 3370 04:17:36,943 --> 04:17:39,678 do something proactive to create the kind of diversity 3371 04:17:39,706 --> 04:17:42,766 Wanna back up even further, Civil Rights Movement? That same 3372 04:17:42,791 --> 04:17:45,776 diversity wasn’t in the City Council today that it was back 3373 04:17:45,801 --> 04:17:49,062 then. And they took action. And the abolition of slavery, a lot 3374 04:17:49,087 --> 04:17:52,144 of things, so it’s like that generation had an opportunity. 3375 04:17:52,196 --> 04:17:53,196 Yeah, they missed it. 3376 04:17:53,221 --> 04:17:56,417 And you mean obviously it’s easier to talk about it today sitting here and 3377 04:17:56,442 --> 04:17:59,425 not saying you should do that. But there’s a different mindset today. 3378 04:17:59,501 --> 04:18:04,123 So we talked about all the talent here, the Cornell West, the Skip Gates, the 3379 04:18:04,148 --> 04:18:06,978 Academic Institutions, the healthcare industry, 3380 04:18:07,003 --> 04:18:09,219 dominant industries here in this City 3381 04:18:09,244 --> 04:18:14,150 and in this region. We say hey, we can offer those up as resources as you have the 3382 04:18:14,175 --> 04:18:17,311 conversation here. So we know the folks from Partners are already interested. 3383 04:18:17,789 --> 04:18:21,540 We know the folks at TGS companies. I talked to Bob Rivers today at Eastern Bank and 3384 04:18:21,808 --> 04:18:25,437 the banking community wants to be involved. Now we just got to sort of harness all 3385 04:18:25,462 --> 04:18:31,348 that interest and I think they’re reaching out to me and to you and Tanesha and it’s 3386 04:18:31,607 --> 04:18:36,304 exciting that this is, in my years of being President of NAACP, there was never 3387 04:18:36,329 --> 04:18:41,217 this much focus on being involved in civil rights. And contributing to it, so we 3388 04:18:41,242 --> 04:18:46,285 just have to harness that. How do we get Black and Brown and White Boston to become 3389 04:18:46,388 --> 04:18:52,789 observers, delegates, alternates at the convention during that week? 3390 04:18:53,338 --> 04:18:58,188 That would be huge and I’ve not seen it done as well as I think Boston could do it. 3391 04:18:58,213 --> 04:19:01,935 That we have an additional 3,000 Bostonians 3392 04:19:01,935 --> 04:19:05,657 at the convention to listen to the Presidential nominees 3393 04:19:05,682 --> 04:19:09,471 or Presidential candidates at that point to partake in the conversation 3394 04:19:09,496 --> 04:19:13,443 around criminal justice and what’s going on in terms of today with mass incarceration. 3395 04:19:13,468 --> 04:19:18,112 The folks are here and the interest is here. We just got to get them over to 3396 04:19:18,116 --> 04:19:19,255 -I think it’s the marketing. -Right 3397 04:19:19,255 --> 04:19:23,882 It’s how do we market it to let people know this is open for you, so that you 3398 04:19:23,907 --> 04:19:28,747 live on whatever street it is you live on, Humboldt. This is your convention. You 3399 04:19:28,772 --> 04:19:34,028 might not be a credential voting delegate, but you are as engaged in this conversation 3400 04:19:34,053 --> 04:19:38,703 as everyone else. We need you to get that. And I think it’s about marketing. 3401 04:19:38,755 --> 04:19:40,307 We’ve done all this, 3402 04:19:40,307 --> 04:19:43,095 but yet we’re still not where we need to be 3403 04:19:43,365 --> 04:19:47,281 And why did that happen? And how do we take the past 3404 04:19:47,409 --> 04:19:50,075 and celebrate it, but also understand where the problems happen 3405 04:19:50,228 --> 04:19:52,292 and I think that you know, when people talk about you 3406 04:19:52,317 --> 04:19:55,728 know racist Boston, racist Boston, racist Boston, you know 3407 04:19:55,753 --> 04:19:58,661 like you said, a lot was done here. 3408 04:19:58,923 --> 04:20:01,089 So to bring equality, 3409 04:20:01,114 --> 04:20:03,505 but for some reason we have more work to do. 3410 04:20:03,598 --> 04:20:06,186 And I think there’s an opportunity for maybe one month’s a reflecting month. 3411 04:20:06,214 --> 04:20:08,849 History is the key thing. Right. Is if people 3412 04:20:08,874 --> 04:20:11,712 know history they get the good, they get the bad, 3413 04:20:11,737 --> 04:20:14,588 they got a context for where we are 3414 04:20:14,613 --> 04:20:18,236 and then they can act. But the problem is many of us don’t know our history. 3415 04:20:18,717 --> 04:20:22,339 So we think that the poverty rates in our communities is an accident. 3416 04:20:22,632 --> 04:20:25,476 People just decided to be poor or our health disparities 3417 04:20:25,501 --> 04:20:28,149 is an accident. People just need to eat better 3418 04:20:28,174 --> 04:20:31,024 and they don’t understand the context for access 3419 04:20:31,049 --> 04:20:33,991 and opportunity and inequities. So I think there’s 3420 04:20:34,016 --> 04:20:36,795 a unique opportunity with the convention coming 3421 04:20:36,820 --> 04:20:39,574 here and the work that you’ve been doing around 3422 04:20:39,599 --> 04:20:42,507 racial justice and equity and these conversations 3423 04:20:42,532 --> 04:20:45,066 is to have it be a citywide conversation as 3424 04:20:45,091 --> 04:20:47,940 you said that plays out throughout the course of 3425 04:20:47,965 --> 04:20:50,639 the year and it’s really grounded in history. 3426 04:26:01,584 --> 04:26:07,491 Oh say can you see by the 3427 04:26:07,516 --> 04:26:14,344 dawn’s early light, what so 3428 04:26:14,369 --> 04:26:19,928 proudly we hailed at the 3429 04:26:19,953 --> 04:26:26,206 twilight’s last gleaming. 3430 04:26:26,258 --> 04:26:31,622 Whose broad stripes and bright 3431 04:26:31,647 --> 04:26:37,725 stars through the perilous fight 3432 04:26:37,801 --> 04:26:41,488 O’er the ramparts we 3433 04:26:41,513 --> 04:26:46,465 watched were so gallantly 3434 04:26:46,490 --> 04:26:53,862 streaming. And the red rockets red glare 3435 04:26:53,938 --> 04:26:59,862 The bombs bursting in air. 3436 04:26:59,887 --> 04:27:04,084 Gave proof through 3437 04:27:04,109 --> 04:27:08,748 the night that our 3438 04:27:08,773 --> 04:27:16,631 flag was still there. Oh say does 3439 04:27:16,656 --> 04:27:20,816 that star spangled 3440 04:27:20,841 --> 04:27:24,769 banner yet wave 3441 04:27:24,913 --> 04:27:31,026 O’er the land of the free 3442 04:27:31,572 --> 04:27:39,552 And the home of the brave 3443 04:28:11,832 --> 04:28:15,629 To the people of Boston, thank you for the privilege 3444 04:28:15,654 --> 04:28:18,911 of serving you these past five years. I love my job 3445 04:28:19,056 --> 04:28:22,908 Every day I get to go out into the neighborhoods to talk 3446 04:28:22,974 --> 04:28:25,479 listen and work with the people of Boston. 3447 04:28:25,865 --> 04:28:29,042 Every day Bostonians walk through the doors of City Hall 3448 04:28:29,273 --> 04:28:31,451 and share their hopes and dreams with me. 3449 04:28:31,867 --> 04:28:35,502 They remind me of how grateful I am to live my dream 3450 04:28:35,605 --> 04:28:38,580 and walk through those doors as the son of immigrants. 3451 04:28:39,449 --> 04:28:42,157 I think of another door that opens. It was 3452 04:28:42,239 --> 04:28:44,593 the morning after my election in 2013. 3453 04:28:44,764 --> 04:28:48,812 I was in a hotel room and opened the door for the worker to deliver breakfast. 3454 04:28:49,260 --> 04:28:52,146 Her name was Letty. She emigrated 3455 04:28:52,171 --> 04:28:54,215 from Africa to follow her dreams here in Boston. 3456 04:28:54,499 --> 04:28:58,119 She came around the cart and gave me a big hug and she was crying. 3457 04:28:58,808 --> 04:29:02,440 She said we did it. We won. We are going to be Mayor. 3458 04:29:11,195 --> 04:29:13,281 Letty’s here somewhere. Thank you Letty. 3459 04:29:14,571 --> 04:29:18,009 It hit home right at that moment what this job means. 3460 04:29:18,675 --> 04:29:21,452 It means opening doors for more Bostonians to walk through. 3461 04:29:21,481 --> 04:29:24,601 People of every race, creed and class. 3462 04:29:24,995 --> 04:29:27,758 Changing a city. Changing a nation. 3463 04:29:28,128 --> 04:29:31,774 One year ago I pledged my second term to strengthening 3464 04:29:31,799 --> 04:29:34,045 and expanding Boston’s middle class. 3465 04:29:34,070 --> 04:29:37,846 Today more people are working than any other time in our city’s history. 3466 04:29:38,378 --> 04:29:41,248 Unemployment is 2.4 percent. 3467 04:29:41,547 --> 04:29:44,068 The lowestever recorded. 3468 04:29:50,631 --> 04:29:55,005 We are ranked number two in the nation for moving people up and into the middle class. 3469 04:29:55,434 --> 04:29:59,108 And we’ve been named the best city in the entire world to find a job. 3470 04:30:06,546 --> 04:30:09,307 We have thrown open the doors of opportunity 3471 04:30:09,518 --> 04:30:11,960 and Bostonians are surging through them 3472 04:30:12,099 --> 04:30:15,431 to live their dreams and lead us forward. 3473 04:30:15,573 --> 04:30:18,397 And because we are drawing on more of our people’s strength 3474 04:30:18,682 --> 04:30:21,227 the state of our city is stronger than ever. 3475 04:30:21,277 --> 04:30:24,183 But I’m concerned about the state of our Union. 3476 04:30:24,647 --> 04:30:28,790 What happens in Washington, we feel on the streets of Boston. 3477 04:30:29,254 --> 04:30:35,102 But here’s what matters more. What we do in Boston can change this country. 3478 04:30:35,247 --> 04:30:37,915 We’ve shown that differences don’t have to divide us. 3479 04:30:38,186 --> 04:30:43,036 When we come together anything is possible. That’s democracy in action. 3480 04:30:43,519 --> 04:30:45,938 That’s how we built this administration. 3481 04:30:46,331 --> 04:30:49,409 We won office in a coalition that wasn’t supposed to be possible. 3482 04:30:50,103 --> 04:30:54,941 Working people, Black, White, Latino, Asian, all came together. 3483 04:30:55,163 --> 04:30:58,711 We created the most diverse administration in Boston’s history from 3484 04:30:58,736 --> 04:31:00,995 the Cabinet to the frontlines. 3485 04:31:01,220 --> 04:31:06,015 We listened to the voices of every community. We took on Boston’s toughest 3486 04:31:06,040 --> 04:31:09,496 long standing challenges and we began changing our city. 3487 04:31:10,200 --> 04:31:13,622 We are opening doors to new schools, new libraries, 3488 04:31:13,647 --> 04:31:15,041 new homes, new jobs. 3489 04:31:15,383 --> 04:31:19,752 We’re listeningto new voices. It’s not always easy or comfortable, 3490 04:31:19,815 --> 04:31:23,650 but a more open conversation means better solutions for our City. 3491 04:31:24,261 --> 04:31:26,735 The sign of a more vibrant democracy. 3492 04:31:26,921 --> 04:31:30,003 We put social justice at the heart of our vision. 3493 04:31:30,302 --> 04:31:34,008 Because a more equal conversation means a more resilient city. 3494 04:31:34,501 --> 04:31:37,836 So we’ll keep leading the fight to defend immigrants. 3495 04:31:38,351 --> 04:31:42,004 We’ll continue our groundbreaking work to achieve gender equality. 3496 04:31:42,250 --> 04:31:46,036 And we’ll never stop protecting the rights and embracing the 3497 04:31:46,061 --> 04:31:47,842 identities of our LBGTQ community. 3498 04:31:47,867 --> 04:31:51,863 Five years together, we made Boston a more compassionate, a more 3499 04:31:51,888 --> 04:31:53,821 dynamic, a more democratic city. 3500 04:31:53,846 --> 04:31:57,632 We’ve listened, we’ve learned and we’re leading. I’m proud of what 3501 04:31:57,657 --> 04:32:01,120 we’ve achieved. We should all be proud. 3502 04:32:01,184 --> 04:32:04,969 And we should be ready to do more. Our city needs us, our country needs us 3503 04:32:05,300 --> 04:32:08,936 and we’re just getting started. 3504 04:32:46,423 --> 04:32:48,556 Boston 311. How may I help you? 3505 04:32:49,626 --> 04:32:55,412 1,367 customers affected. Estimated time to be fixed between five and 5:30. 3506 04:32:56,882 --> 04:33:01,204 And is this only in Brighton or does it extend beyond that? 3507 04:33:01,814 --> 04:33:04,040 And you said that it fell onto your property, correct? 3508 04:33:04,040 --> 04:33:06,648 No, so that’s furniture and furniture you can 3509 04:33:06,673 --> 04:33:09,111 just throw that out with the regular trash. 3510 04:33:09,704 --> 04:33:12,484 If you want I can connect you over with the Credit Union. 3511 04:33:12,868 --> 04:33:17,087 OK, but if you were in Watertown that would be a responsibility of Watertown. 3512 04:33:17,087 --> 04:33:19,487 It wouldn’t be anything with Boston. 3513 04:33:20,442 --> 04:33:23,375 OK. Is it a whole tree, a limb or a branch? 3514 04:33:23,869 --> 04:33:28,002 The first step is to request a birth certificate request form. 3515 04:33:28,019 --> 04:33:33,215 You print it out, fill it out and then with that form you would 3516 04:33:33,240 --> 04:33:38,678 send it in with a $14 money order or check, addressed to City Hall. 3517 04:33:40,143 --> 04:33:42,078 So the senior shuttle you mean? 3518 04:33:42,078 --> 04:33:44,257 I can connect you with their department so you 3519 04:33:44,282 --> 04:33:46,554 can see exactly when it’s going to get there OK? 3520 04:33:47,641 --> 04:33:50,253 OK, I have down that you reported that there 3521 04:33:50,278 --> 04:33:52,657 is something wrong with the hawk’s eyes? 3522 04:33:52,906 --> 04:33:56,939 And that the hawk isn’t acting normal since it is feeding on 3523 04:33:56,964 --> 04:34:00,930 a pigeon on the street other than flying away with its food. 3524 04:34:01,188 --> 04:34:03,396 There are a lot of people around the hawk and 3525 04:34:03,421 --> 04:34:05,484 the hawk doesn’t seem able able to fly away 3526 04:34:07,320 --> 04:34:11,193 But it’s only picked up on your specific trash day. 3527 04:34:12,012 --> 04:34:13,570 Yeah, so if it’s public housing 3528 04:34:13,570 --> 04:34:16,282 you want to contact the Boston Housing Authority 3529 04:34:16,307 --> 04:34:18,907 Work Order Center to get that replaced for you. 3530 04:34:19,313 --> 04:34:21,678 Sir, please don’t yell 3531 04:34:23,883 --> 04:34:27,356 I just have someone on the other line that’s trying to locate a gravestone. 3532 04:34:27,356 --> 04:34:31,890 They have a name, but they just are trying to find the burial ground