Councilor Wu's Proposal To Abolish The BPDA (65-pp. report)

[393b40]

I'm keeping an open mind. It's not like the ZBA was filled with a ton of pro-development people in the first place.

 

[Blackbird]

Not sure if this is the right place for it or if it should've gone in the "Housing" thread in the "New England Politics and Policies" section. Maybe we need a "following the actions of Mayor Wu" thread which captures everything?

Anyway, this executive order was officially signed today per the mayor's insta: Mayor Wu Announces Executive Order to Streamline Approval of Affordable Housing | Boston.gov

 

[Equilibria]

Huh. Turns out that demanding that an independent agency submit itself to your dictatorial will isn't going to work...

Wu’s plan to remake the BPDA hit a speed bump Thursday: The BPDA board - The Boston Globe

Board members have sharp questions about the mayor’s complex plan to restructure the city’s planning and development arm, and they put off a vote for at least a month.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[Blackbird]

If the mayor can’t get rid of them, who can? Serious question.

 

[Aprehensive_Words]

Comparing the Globe, BBJ and B&T coverage, it smells like maybe there are elements of other factions in the city who who are driving this pushback? Rojas' concern about local voices still being represented, Ted Landsmark's lauding of NIMBY kvetching and extortion community process...seems like several groups of people wanted to give Wu and Jemison a black eye, here. It's also worth remembering that plenty of developers seem to have been fans of the devil they know versus the devil they don't, if you think back to how they reacted to Wu's candidacy and how she touted the idea of rezoning the city on the campaign trail.

 

[Blackbird]

If the mayor can’t get rid of them, who can? Serious question.

Bumping this because there’s no way that the only way to dissolve the BRA is to have active members vote in favor of dissolving it.

No one’s going to vote in favor of eliminating their own job. There has to be some other way of going about it.

 

[JeffDowntown]

Bumping this because there’s no way that the only way to dissolve the BRA is to have active members vote in favor of dissolving it.

No one’s going to vote in favor of eliminating their own job. There has to be some other way of going about it.

Also, there has to be some way to hold the BPDA accountable to policy objectives of the City. The Mayor and City Councilors were elected. The BPDA Board was decidedly NOT!

 

[Blackbird]

Still waiting to hear about the BPDA, but in the meantime this is a pretty cool piece of news: Mayor Wu Announces Members of Steering Committee to Advise on Reforms to Article 80 Development Review Process | Boston.gov