boston politics

Suffolk Downs, a vast tract of vacant land in East Boston, could soon become Boston’s newest neighborhood, with 10,000 units of housing planned for an area more than four times the size of the Seaport District.

City Councilor Josh Zakim has called for a hearing on the Boston Police Department’s involvement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the 2017 arrest by ICE of an immigrant worker in Boston.

At a council hearing Thursday, Councilors Lydia Edwards, Michelle Wu and Matt O’Malley said that they wanted the city to be more transparent about where the money in its pension and treasury funds is invested, and to divest from industries such as fossil fuels, private prisons, student loans and weapons manufacturing.

With at least four candidates contending for the District 5 City Council seat and at least nine vying for the four at-large seats on the body, members of Boston’s Haitian-American community had an opportunity last week to hear first-hand the ideas the aspiring officials plan to bring to City Hall.

Boston city councilors last week voted 13-2 to extend their terms from two to four years.

City Council President Andrea Campbell has proposed a series of municipal election reform bills which would lengthen council terms, allow the council to review precinct borders in the city and create new restrictions on candidates for the council.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh signed an executive order last Wednesday promoting racial equity in city departments. The executive order will require all city departments to participate in a Racial Equity and Leadership training and develop a proactive plan for resilience, racial equity and social justice. It will also encourage the review of current policies and programs across departments with a focus on racial equity.

More than 100 executives, nonprofit leaders, government workers and veteran political activists crowded into a meeting room at the law offices of Locke Lord in Boston Monday. At the front of the room were the three Latino candidates so far contending for City Council seats: at-large candidates Julia Mejia and Alejandra St. Guillen, and District 5 candidate Ricardo Arroyo.

Mayor Martin Walsh Monday announced the City of Boston's next steps in updating Boston’s Climate Action Plan to further strengthen the city’s ongoing initiatives to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

While the administration of Mayor Martin Walsh is calling for the construction of 15,820 affordable units by 2030 — 22 percent of the total of 69,000 units called for in his Imagine Boston 2030 plan — city councilors are calling for more drastic measures to curtail displacement.

In his annual State of the City address last week, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced the opening of a mobile Economic Development Center that will offer free workshops to community members on equity and inclusion, small business, community economic development, and jobs and talent.

Boston City Councilors Lydia Edwards and Kim Janey have proposed a home rule petition that would apply a transfer fee to real estate transactions, in order to discourage speculation.