On July 19, the Chinatown Neighborhood Council hosted three of the City of Boston mayoral candidates at its meeting. City Councilor Andrea Campbell, City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George, and former Chief of Economic Development, John Barros, joined the council online to talk to council members and field questions.

Each candidate had the opportunity to talk about their history and links to the City of Boston, as well as their focus if they were to be elected mayor.  Council co-moderator, Sherry Dong, then facilitated questions from the audience.

Councilor Annissa Essaibi George emphasized her service in Boston schools as a teacher prior to becoming a Councilor, and she stated that as Mayor, she would continue to be “focused on our schools and the work to improve our education system here in the City of Boston.”

Essaibi George highlighted her work to support students experiencing homelessness and her work to ensure that all schools have full-time nurses. “Oftentimes, it is our school nurse that is the gatekeeper to services, and if we don’t have full-time nurses, we are often missing, and almost always missing in our school communities, that person who can intercede, that can intercept, and that can support a kid and recognize when a child is in significant need.” She also highlighted that the City just approved funding to have a full-time mental health provider in each school as well.

Councilor Andrea Campbell cited the passing of her twin brother while in custody of the Department of Corrections as a pre-trial detainee as the inspiration for her run for mayor.  She asks, “How do two twins born and raised in Boston have such different life outcomes?”

Campbell highlighted that, while Boston is known for having some of the best higher education and medical institutions of the world, “there are many neighborhoods in Boston…that don’t have access to good housing. It’s difficult to get good jobs, or to see your wages go up over time…. You don’t always have access to an excellent school.” She stated that her children in Mattapan only had a 5% chance of getting into a high quality school, while some children in downtown neighborhoods have an 80% chance.

She also highlighted her work to pass the Community Preservation Act that generates $20 million dollars for housing, her efforts to combat vacant lots that cause blight, and equity in the education system.

John Barros, former Chief of Economic Development for the City of Boston, talked about his track record as an environmental justice advocate that eventually led to his role as the executive director of an initiative in the Dudley Street neighborhood focused on affordable housing, green parks, and playgrounds. This organization “built the largest urban land trust in the country…to help protect those green spaces…to help protect a local food production system that we built that included a 10,000 square foot greenhouse….”

He discussed his role opening three different Boston schools resulting in “bringing in 11 million dollars from the Department of Education.” Barros also helped change the Boston student weighted formula while serving on the School Board. This change made sure that “all of the budget…followed students and not school buildings… It made sure that the students who need it, the ELL students, the special needs students, the schools with higher poverty concentration, got the kind of resources that they need.”

Barros further highlighted the 140,000 jobs he helped bring to the city of Boston while serving as the Chief of Economic Development.

Each candidate was asked several different unscripted questions from the council and audience. Topics included social emotional challenges among Chinatown residents, environmental equity, and economic recovery.

When asked about economic recovery around Chinatown and the struggle of local restaurants and businesses with finding workers willing to return after the pandemic, Essaibi George highlighted properly investing the over 500 million dollars of American Rescue Plan funding coming to the City in workforce development to ensure a talented pool of candidates.

When Campbell was asked about the gentrification pressures on Chinatown, she stated that “it’s also important that we also expand upon other financial tools, so I support expansion of linkage…as a way to help us build more affordable housing quicker.” She also wants development in the city to be “really intentional” to build more affordable housing.

Barros was asked to expand on his resiliency plans, especially in light of known flooding in Chinatown streets. He highlighted the need for better storm water management systems to combat “extreme precipitation, extreme rainfall.” He also expressed concern about extreme heat, and its impact on health, particularly in poorer neighborhoods.

City Councilor Michelle Wu did not attend this meeting because she previously presented at the June 21 meeting of the Chinatown Neighborhood Council. Mayor Janey could not attend due to a scheduling conflict.