Mayor Michelle Wu’s plan to clear the tent encampment at Mass. and Cass through a mix of expanded transitional housing and a January 12 deadline is receiving some pushback from some local residents and activists. Executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts Carol Rose and GBH News reporter Tori Bedford joined Sue O’Connell on Greater Boston to discuss.
Bedford noted that Wu’s first priority is finding people housing before winter cold sets in. Wu said that new housing locations could include the Roundhouse hotel in Roxbury, the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Campus in Jamaica Plain and the EnVision Hotel in the Jamaica Plain-Mission Hill area. But, Bedford noted, past administrations have struggled to find an equitable solution.
“The biggest question coming out of that [announcement] was, how will you ensure that you can accommodate all of the different needs at the same time without repeating mistakes that have been made by previous elected [officials] in the past?” Bedford said.
Many are still asking how Wu will ensure that there will be no encampments after Jan. 12. “Will she be placing eviction notices on tents? Will people be threatened with arrest?” Bedford said. “It remains to be seen how it will actually work if and when people decide they that want do to stay in encampments.”
Rose noted that during the announcement, Wu spoke about her own mother’s struggles with mental health and the barriers she faced, possibly signaling a new approach to Mass and Cass.
“The fact that the mayor is actually framing this as both a personal and a political commitment to taking this public health and equity approach, along with the due process protections, is I think really healthy,” Rose said.
WATCH: Mayor Wu’s Mass. and Cass plan has some residents skeptical
