Boston District 7 Housing Briefing Reveals Administration Came Unprepared to Present

BOSTON — December 9, 2024 — Boston's District 7 housing briefing exposes gap between city programs and council expectations. The City Council's Committee on Civil Rights, Racial Equity, and Immigrant Advancement, chaired by District 7 Councilor Tanya Fernandez Anderson, convened virtually December 9 to review housing, public health, and anti-displacement efforts in Roxbury under Docket 1391 — only to learn the Mayor's Office of Housing had not prepared a formal presentation, with Chief of Staff Daniel Lesser acknowledging the panel was "not prepared for a formal policy update." Officials did report that the city's acquisition opportunity program hit 1,000 units citywide in October 2024, six years ahead of schedule, while affordable homeownership financing in Roxbury dropped from 44 units in 2022 to just five in 2023. The Boston Public Health Commission reported deploying $1 million in opioid settlement funds across five organizations in the Nubian Square area and sustaining a 25-to-30-organization coalition meeting weekly in the square. At-Large Councilor Julia M. Mejia pressed for a district-level data dashboard, while Fernandez Anderson cited census data showing Roxbury's Black population fell 12 percent between 2010 and 2020 and median household income stands at $33,000 — 53 percent below the citywide figure.