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4 takeaways from Josh Kraft’s mayoral campaign kickoff
In announcing his bid to unseat Mayor Michelle Wu, Kraft said Wu acts "as if she alone has all the answers."
After months of speculation and rumors, Josh Kraft officially announced his mayoral campaign Tuesday morning.
Addressing a crowd inside Dorchester’s Prince Hall, Kraft outlined his personal history and vision for Boston, and previewed some ways in which he plans to attack Mayor Michelle Wu during the upcoming campaign.
Kraft, 57, is the son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a longtime philanthropist. He spent 30 years with Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, including 12 years as president and CEO. He is the president of the New England Patriots Foundation and chair of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts.
Kraft is running as a Democrat against Wu, who has indicated she plans to run but has yet to formally announce her reelection campaign.
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Here are a few major takeaways from Tuesday’s announcement.
An emphasis on listening
The major throughline of Kraft’s speech was clear. He sought to convey his desire to listen to residents and build Boston’s future collaboratively, something he said Wu has failed to do.
During his time interacting with community members, Kraft said, what worries him most is that people say they feel unable to connect with anyone in City Hall.
“We have a leader that just does not listen. Too often, Mayor Wu acts as if she alone has all the answers,” Kraft said. “On issue after issue, the mayor has become less and less receptive and more and more disconnected from the communities, their feedback, and their needs.”
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With his decision to center his argument against Wu on her supposed disconnect from the community, Kraft is seizing on existing frustration with the mayor. Accusations that the Wu administration failed to properly engage with the community were pronounced during the mayor’s failed plan to move the John D. O’Bryant School to West Roxbury. Some residents are saying the administration also did not get enough community feedback before pursuing its ambitious plan to remake White Stadium.
Kraft said that Wu’s unwillingness to listen was on display last year, when the mayor refused to cut city spending as a potential way to prevent homeowners from seeing a large spike in their property taxes. Wu threw her weight behind another tax relief proposal that ultimately failed to make it through the State House. She is trying again this year.
“No one person has all the answers,” Kraft said. “We succeed when we bring lots of people to the table and hear them out. Especially people with different views than our own, or who we may not agree with.”
Housing
The lack of affordable housing in Massachusetts is at the top of mind for many residents, who are frustrated with increasing rent costs and worried about an exodus of people to more affordable states. Kraft called housing the “number one challenge” facing Boston.
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Kraft criticized Wu for failing to deliver on her campaign promise of enacting rent control in Boston. Wu ushered a rent control plan through the City Council, but it failed to gain traction in the State House. Massachusetts cities are legally barred from enacting rent control without state legislators approving a home rule petition from the city.
Kraft said he would put in place a rent control program that works for both tenants and building owners. He said that the city should cut real estate taxes for building owners in exchange for the ability to cap increases in rent over a 10-year period. The program would be targeted at properties that serve middle and low-income residents, he said.
“Renters deserve to be protected from massive, year over year increases, and this plan will do that,” he said. “Mayor Wu promised us rent control three years ago. We will deliver it.”
Another key to increasing housing affordability, Kraft said, is to decrease regulations currently preventing housing projects from getting off the ground. There are projects “ready to be built” that would create more than 20,000 housing units at the moment, he claimed. They are “stuck” due to regulations imposed by the Wu administration, he said.
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Kraft said he wants to initiate new housing construction by offering one-time incentives aimed at projects priced for middle class families and first time homeowners.
“Having all these projects sit on the shelf generates no new housing, no new affordable housing, no new jobs, and no new tax revenue,” Kraft said.
Education
Boston desperately needs a School Committee that can challenge city leadership and hold Boston Public Schools accountable, Kraft said. He called for a School Committee that has both elected and appointed members. The committee is currently entirely made up of appointed members. In 2023, Wu vetoed a proposal to make the Boston School Committee an elected body.
The start of the school year in Boston was marred by late buses, some of which were delayed by hours. Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper were heavily criticized for the delays, with some City Council members even calling for a state investigation.
The city spends $171 million a year for bus transportation for about 20,000 BPS students, Kraft said.
“$8,500 bucks per student, for buses that can’t even make the opening bell. How can a family trust the system to educate their kids when they can’t get them to school on time? That is unacceptable,” he said.
Transportation
One of the loudest cheers Kraft received Tuesday was when he said that Boston’s streets were being “jammed up by poorly conceived, hastily installed bus and bike lanes.” Too often, he said, these increase congestion and eliminate parking. Residents including seniors, disabled people, and small business owners are harmed by this, he said.
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Kraft called for a “common sense” transportation plan that targets congestion. It would include an immediate pause on all new bike lane construction.
“It’s become a mess,” Kraft said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being creative about how we solve our transportation challenges, but our transportation problem under this administration has quickly spiraled into a quality of life problem.”
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