Nine months since Boston Mayor Michelle Wu launched a clearing of Mass. and Cass, encampments near Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard have been returning, drug activity has been increasing and the mayor acknowledged this week that there is still “a long way to go.”
GBH Reporter Tori Bedford, community advocate Yahaira Lopez and Andy Waxman, a regional vice president at The Community Builders, Inc., joined host Saraya Wintersmith on Talking Politics to discuss the ongoing issues of homelessness and addiction in the area — and what more the city and state could be doing to address them. Bedford discussed her latest reporting on Mass. and Cass that showed, over the course of a year and a half, Boston police officers made nearly $4 million in overtime pay policing the area.
Also on Talking Politics, two local politicians who are helping to drive the White House push to end hunger by 2030: state Sen. Sal DiDomenico and state Rep. Andy Vargas. The pair laid out their major takeaways from this week’s conference — the first of its kind in 50 years — and the new tactics they’re aiming to try in the fight against hunger and malnutrition here in Massachusetts.
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