These are the 5 local issues that matter most to readers
As municipal elections begin, we asked readers about the issues that matter most to them. Here’s what they said.
In the days before Bostonians head to the polls for the preliminary municipal election, many readers told Boston.com the current state of Boston local politics is “dysfunctional” and have called for more accountability — and less infighting — from their city councilors.
“The infighting has become unacceptable,” an anonymous reader from West Roxbury who has already cast her vote by mail said. Another reader, Sidney T. from the South End, called for “a new City Council that is serious about addressing the city’s problems.”
And despite their responsibility to serve their constituents, Joan L. from Dorchester said she “feel[s] that [Boston City Councilors] are not doing enough for the people.”
At the preliminary municipal election on Tuesday, voters will head to the polls to vote for candidates running to represent Districts 3, 5, 6, and 7 in the Boston City Council. Voters will decide which two candidates in each race will go head-to-head in the general municipal election on Nov. 7.
In the line-up for reelection are incumbents Ricardo Arroyo (District 5), Kendra Lara (District 6), and Tania Fernandes Anderson (District 7). All face multiple challengers for their seats, but Arroyo and Lara specifically “are seen as the most vulnerable incumbents on the ballot” due to previous controversies, according to The Boston Globe.
In District 3, longtime councilmember Frank Baker isn’t running for reelection, leaving the race open for seven candidates — John FitzGerald, Jennifer Johnson, Barry Lawton, Matthew Patton, Joel Richards, Ann Walsh, and Rosalind Wornum.
Boston.com readers have their eyes pointed on Lara, Arroyo, and Baker’s open seat: 71% said they were most interested in following the District 6 race; followed by 13% most interested in the District 3 race for Baker’s open seat; 12% for the District 5 race; and 4% for the District 7 race.
But it’s not the candidates’ policies that are turning heads. Instead, many readers said it was the disorderly two terms of the City Council that had grabbed their attention.
One anonymous reader told us the chaos of the City Council has been so tumultuous that she has turned her attention away from national politics (where she normally pays more attention) toward local politics instead.
“The significant dysfunction of the Boston City Council has forced me to pay more attention to it during the last two years,” she said, adding, “In my view, it has become a corrupt body despite good intentions by some of its members.”
Similarly, Bill from Newton said, “Politics, especially local politics, is the biggest problem we face.”
There were several recurring issues the more than 100 readers who responded to our poll said they wanted the candidates to focus on. Those key issues include housing, Mass. and Cass, crime, schools, and transit.
Ahead of the election, we’ve provided readers with a guide outlining where the city stands on each issue.
Housing
Amid record-low housing inventory and record-high mortgage rates and home prices, many are struggling to find affordable housing. But there’s hope. In May, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu unveiled a $67 million plan to bolster Boston’s affordable housing supply by creating and preserving 802 income-restricted units across eight neighborhoods in the city. And state-wide, Massachusetts lawmakers are ready to dramatically expand a tax credit program to encourage more market-rate housing in midsize and smaller cities.
Mass. and Cass
Last week, multiple members of the Boston City Council called for a state of emergency to be declared regarding the Mass. and Cass area, which has been consumed by violence, human trafficking, and open-air substance use for years. In the meantime, Mayor Wu outlined a new ordinance that would clear the encampments in the area and open a new safe sleeping space that could accommodate up to 30 people.
Others, such as a coalition of South End businesses and neighborhood groups, have called on the city to move Mass. and Cass to Widett Circle and set up a recovery site for those struggling with substance abuse.
Crime
Crime in Boston and around the state has many readers worried, and for good reason. In April, the city set a goal to have fewer than 32 homicides a year by the end of 2026. (For context, the city has not reached homicide numbers that low since 1999.) At the start of the year, crime in Boston was trending down compared to the five-year average, even as crime in other major U.S. cities crept upward, according to the Globe.
When it comes to police transparency, a long-awaited database of police disciplinary records covering thousands of sustained police complaints spanning more than four decades was released last month. The State Police had the highest number of complaints as an agency, with 493, followed by the Springfield Police Department with 417, and Boston with 373 sustained complaints.
Schools
Many readers expressed concern about schools and the quality of education their children receive. Overall, though, Massachusetts consistently ranks among the top states for public education, coming in at No. 1 in a 2023 WalletHub analysis of U.S. Department of Education data. But as a new school year starts, the school system struggles with buildings ill-equipped for extreme weather, incomplete safety plans, and a debate over MCAS graduation requirements that could be coming to your ballot soon.
Traffic and transportation
Bostonians can’t catch a break when it comes to traffic and transportation woes. Commuters routinely face major delays on the T and road and tunnel closures, not to mention that Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca stepped down after only eight months on the job, and a new report shows that MBTA track department workers didn’t do their jobs and missed critical problems. “For a major city to not have reliable public transportation is a huge problem,” Mikah Farbo, 28, of Jamaica Plain, told the Boston Globe.
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