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From YouTube: Fair Housing Month Kick-Off - 4/1/22
Description
Mayor Michelle Wu launches Fair Housing Month by announcing the submission of the City of Boston’s Assessment of Fair Housing to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. With this submission, Boston is complying with federal fair housing requirements first established by the Obama administration. Fair Housing Month is celebrated annually during the month of April in commemoration of the anniversary of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
A
A
And
to
do
so
with
so
many
of
our
friends
and
colleagues
and
activists
and
leaders
who
have
been
at
the
forefront
of
some
of
the
progress
we
are
going
to
keep
announcing
steps
on
today.
I
want
to
invite.
I
see
there
are
a
couple
elected
officials
in
the
room
too
or
in
this
space
too.
So
if
the
counselor
and
a
rep
wanted
to
come
up
and
join
love,
you
to
say
love
for
you
to
say
a
few
words
later
as
well.
A
Boston
became
the
first
city
in
the
country
to
pass
an
zoning
amendment,
and
our
work
continues
to
affirm
that
we
should
be
at
the
front
leading
the
way
when
it
comes
to
housing
as
a
basic
right.
Making
that
vision,
a
reality
isn't
just
about
signing
papers
and
having
announcements,
it's
a
lot
of
nitty-gritty
work
and
I'm
so
grateful
to
the
people
who
are
here
and
the
many
many
helping
hands
who
have
already
begun
to
dig
right
into
that
work.
To
get
the
little
things
right
so
that
we
can
do
the
big
things
together.
A
Today's
about
some
of
those
nitty
gritty
things.
First,
we
are
officially
announcing
that
we
are
creating
a
monitoring
committee.
This
committee
will
be
chaired
by
the
executive
director
of
the
office
of
housing,
will
onwuoja,
who
you'll
hear
from
shortly
after
me,
to
oversee
implementation
of
this
assessment
of
fair
housing
in
boston.
A
I
am
so
proud
of
all
the
work
that
we've
done,
I'm
so
proud
of
our
city
for
leading
the
way,
as
we
so
often
have,
and
I'm
so
proud
that
we
are
demonstrating
that
when
we
work
together,
we
can
build
a
more
equitable
future
for
each
and
every
one
of
us.
I
look
forward
to
partnering
with
all
of
our
city
departments
and
community
leaders
and
the
monitoring
committee
to
expand
housing
access
for
all
as
a
foundation
for
our
recovery
from
this
pandemic.
A
B
C
C
C
I
also
like
to
take
this
opportunity
to
thank
my
staff
for
the
hard
work
they've
done
to
prepare
us
at
this
time
to
be
ready
to
be
the
implementation
committee
or
the
monitoring
committee
for
the
city
of
boston's,
a
family
furthering
fair
housing
executive
order.
I
also
like
to
take
the
opportunity
to
thank
sheila,
dillon,
kate,
bennett
and
michelle
mccarthy,
who
are
my
colleagues
in
city
government,
have
worked
tirelessly
to
help
us
get
to
this
point
today.
C
The
office
of
fair
housing
and
equity
has
been,
is
honored
to
be
on
a
monitoring
committee
and
is
honored
to
work
with
the
city
of
boston
to
lead.
This
work
with
this
community
and
the
cac
also
known
as
a
community
activist
committee,
to
do
this
very
important
work.
Housing
in
the
city
of
boston
should
not
be
a
privilege.
It
is
a
basic
human
right
and
is
a
right
that
we
all
need.
It
is
a
right
that
all
bostonians,
all
residents
of
the
city
of
boston,
have
and
should
have
indiscriminately.
C
At
this
moment,
I
would
like
to
introduce
the
members
of
the
cac
who
are
also
members
of
the
monitoring
committee
and
thank
them
for
the
hard
work
that
they've
done.
I'd
also
like
to
take
the
opportunity
to
thank
our
colleagues
from
suffolk
school
of
law,
who's
represented
by
kelly
vieira,
who
does
the
testing
program
for
the
city
of
boston,
which
is
one
of
the
mandated
one
of
the
mandated
things
that
the
city
of
boston
supposed
to
do
from
the
108
goals
assigned
to
the
city
of
boston
from
the
assessment
of
fair
housing.
D
This
started
with
community
meetings
all
around
the
city
involving
500
people
involving
about
35,
wonderful,
grassroots
organizations
like
reclaimedroxbury.net,
all
these
great
groups
that
organized
these
meetings,
so
people
could
talk
about
what
they
what
they
saw
as
the
barriers
in
boston,
and
that
is
what
formed
the
basis
of
this
whole
plan
and
we're
so
thrilled
to
be
able
to
go
back
to
the
community
and
say
here
we
are.
What
do
you
think
help
us
monitor
this?
D
E
Good
morning,
everyone
and
I'm
so
pleased
and
honored
to
be
here
and
share
a
few
words
with
you
about
this
momentous
occasion
and
a
lot
of
people
who've
been
involved
with
this
effort
and
development
have
already
been
thanked
and
appreciated.
But
I
especially
want
to
thank
the
mayor
for
helping
us
to
doing
fair
housing
month,
keep
our
eyes
on
the
prize.
This
is
really
a
very
momentous
moment
for
the
city
of
boston.
E
I
mean
just
a
few
months
ago
we
had
we
can
join
fair
housing
and
zoning,
and
so
the
first
time,
development
and
powerful
corporate
interests
can
no
longer
be
the
handmaiden
of
gentrification
when
they
have
to
use
a
fair
housing
lens
to
to
do
their
work.
The
the
af
afh
goals
that
they
made
reference
to.
E
I
think
this
may
be
the
only
city
so
far
at
least
big
city
in
the
nation
that
has
a
monitoring
committee
to
ensure
that
these
goals
are
not
just
themes
on
a
piece
of
paper,
but
also
goals
that
will
be
monitored,
implemented
and
reviewed
quarterly.
To
make
sure
that
the
city
of
boston
moves
forward
and
takes
advantage
of
again
of
this
momentous
moment
in
our
history,
thank
you.
F
F
F
G
Good
morning,
everyone
I'm
happy
to
be
here
to
join
you
all
today,
as
we
kick
off
fair
housing
month,
I
loved.
When
I
came
in
this
morning.
I
saw
the
new
banner
hanging
here,
it's
april,
it's
a
new
month
and
it's
you
know
the
month
where
we
celebrate
the
passage
of
the
federal,
fair
housing
act,
and
I
want
to
applaud
the
mayor's
office
of
housing
for
all
the
work
they
do
to
develop,
affordable
housing
and
to
ensure
that
renters
and
homeowners
can
find,
maintain
and
stay
in
their
homes.
H
H
Sheila
dillon,
the
greatest
housing
chief
in
the
united
states
of
america
are
working
hard
every
single
day
to
make
sure
that
housing
is
on
the
forefront
and
that
we're
doing
all
we
can
to
promote
and
support
housing
in
our
community.
And
I
look
forward
to
being
that
partner
in
the
city
of
boston
and
in
the
legislation
at
the
housing
committee
to
help
get
this
work
done.
Thank
you.
A
A
So
the
question
was:
how
will
this
affect
zoning
in
particular
and
affordable
housing
allocations
in
every
neighborhood
and
I'll
invite
up
our
experts
to
chime
in
as
well
from
a
big
picture
view?
This
requirement
now
makes
it
such
that,
as
we
are
taking
into
account
as
a
city
and
as
the
approving
authorities,
when
we
take
into
account
the
impacts
of
development
and
giving
out
approvals.
A
We
are
not
there
yet
as
a
city
in
terms
of
fully
transforming
our
development
approvals
process
to
reflect
the
need
for
a
holistic
sense
of
what
our
communities
need.
That's
not
just
the
growth
and
development,
but
also
climate,
resiliency,
affordability,
transportation,
access
access
to
fresh
foods
and
schools
that
make
sense
in
that
area,
and
so,
as
we
continue
to
make
changes
to
the
structures
and
the
organizational
processes
that
we're
evaluating
development
by
having
this
in
place
to
keep
us
accountable,
even
in
the
very
immediate
short
term,
is
going
to
be
incredibly
important.
A
A
Affordability
as
the
largest
expenditure
that
the
city
will
make
of
those
federal
funds
by
the
time
all
is
said
and
done
across
our
city
operational
budget
across
the
arpa
funding
and
the
city's
capital
budget.
We
are
looking
at,
I
think,
the
last
figure
and
we're
still
finalizing
some
budget
numbers
before
the
official
presentation.
But
it
should
be
well
over
300
million
dollars,
probably
closer
to
the
350
million
dollar
figure
in
terms
of
what
is
being
directed
into
affordable
housing.
Affordability
in
this
moment,
and
even
that
is
not
enough.
A
A
Today
is
april
1st,
which
is
fair
housing
month,
but
also
supposed
to
be
the
start
of
outdoor
dining
month.
Beginning
it's.
I
know,
people
all
across
the
city
are
so
eager
and
excited
to
see
their
restaurants
and
their
favorite
businesses
now
able
to
be
outside
and
and
to
bring
people
together
safely
in
person
to
see
that
support
and
to
shop
local.
We
are
working
on
a
number
of
different
processes,
and
so
I
believe
there
has
been
slight
a
big
step
forward
at
the
state,
as
the
legislature's
supplemental
budget
does
include
the
outdoor
dining
legislation.
A
As
of
this
morning,
I
had
not
heard
if
the
governor
had
signed
that
yet
so
my
understanding
is
that
it
has
maybe
hasn't
been,
I'm
not
sure
it's
not
totally
finalized
at
the
state,
so
we
are
still
waiting
on
some
of
those
approvals,
but
in
the
meantime
the
city
is
working
very
diligently
to
ensure
that
all
of
the
exact
layouts
parts
patio
by
patio
are
set
and
that
we
can
have
all
of
the
safety
provisions
and
the
processes.
So
we
can
have
a
safe,
successful
and
vibrant
outdoor
dining
season.
A
Yeah,
we
are
really
at
this
point,
working
individually
with
each
restaurant,
just
to
double
check
what
the
dimensions
are
and
to
make
sure
that
the
street
layout
works
with
the
safety
protocols.
And
all
of
that,
so
I
think
things
are
well
underway
and
we
should
see
our
patios
opening
up
any
day
now
in
the
city
of
boston,.
A
I
share
their
sense
of
frustration
and
desire
to
to
make
it
as
easy
as
possible
for
our
small
businesses
to
come
back
and
hold
on
and
grow
and
thrive
in
our
city.
It's
been
an
incredibly
difficult
time
for
small
businesses
throughout
the
pandemic
and
as
someone
who
found
my
way
to
government
only
because
I
was
so
frustrated
with
government
helping
my
family
with
various
situations,
but
also
as
a
small
business
owner
trying
to
navigate
what
can
be
quite
an
intense
bureaucracy.
A
A
Outdoor
dining
was
very
tightly
regulated
in
the
city
of
boston.
Each
individual
restaurant
had
to
go
through
a
very
onerous
case-by-case
process,
with
hearings
with
filings
with
a
lot
of
red
tape
because
of
state
legislation
that
was
passed
in
a
temporary
fashion
and
that
we're
waiting
to
see
renewed
today,
hopefully
at
the
state
level,
that
let
the
city
of
boston
apply
some
across-the-board
waivers
to
some
of
those
provisions
and
processes.
A
When
we
have
diners
sitting
right
in
the
streets,
because
in
many
of
our
neighborhoods,
the
sidewalks
are
too
narrow
to
fit
the
patios.
On
the
sidewalks
we're
taking
up
street
space,
and
that
means
that
people
are
eating
their
pasta
and
rice
right
next
to
where
potentially
vehicle
vehicular
traffic
is
going
on.
And
so
we
need
to
have
those
barriers
in
place
to
make
sure
that
we're
guaranteeing
basic
life
safety
in
those.