Mayor Kim Janey spoke at her first Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA) Media Roundtable since taking office. Janey addressed the vaccination distribution process and recovery from COVID-19, racial equity work, and investment in jobs and small businesses. The event was held on April 15, also known as One Boston Day, commemorating the lives lost in the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.
“Coming out of this pandemic, we know that we cannot go back to normal, particularly when ‘normal’ meant that too many residents experienced gun violence or schools that needed improvement to their facility, or playgrounds that needed a little work, or the opportunity to earn a living that would be a living that could sustain you and families, in terms of the high costs of housing,” said Janey. She added, “But when it comes to the vaccine and making sure that we have equitable distribution of the vaccine, that we are lifting up vulnerable communities through a number of ways… the mobile clinics have been one of my favorites, making sure that we are engaging with our faith community, with our community centers… It has been really important to meet people where they are, so that we are closing these disparities, when it comes to who has access to the vaccine.”
Janey said that on April 14, she announced the FY22 Budget, making investments in young people in Boston. The City has expanded the City Sponsored Summer Jobs Program to 5,000 youth and added 1,000 year round jobs for young people. They are also investing in youth mentorship programs through My Brother’s Keeper and will be expanding summer programming in parks. The City will make sure membership at the Boston Center for Youth and Families is free, a new change, and it is waiving past library fees.
The City is also working to improve the employment situation in Boston, investing $1 million in green jobs, as well as $1 million for job training in hardest hit industries. $1 million will be allocated to job training for artists, and $1 million will also be dedicated towards commercial rent assistance for small business owners. Janey has invested $1 million in a multi-lingual, all-inclusive Boston campaign, which “lifts up our neighborhoods, [celebrates] our small business owners, [celebrates] the rich diversity of our small business owners. We know that tourism in Boston is the third largest industry, and it has taken a huge hit due to the pandemic.” The industry is dominated by people of color, many of whom are immigrants and women, and the investment will allow the campaign to be continued, with the hope that world travelers will eventually be able to visit Boston. The City will also be creating a B-Local app that awards points when people shop at businesses of color.
Part of the budget was dedicated towards looking at police reforms and reimagining how to respond to crises. The City dedicated $1 million in racial equity training for police officers and is reducing the overtime spend, so as to have more investments in other areas of the City’s budget.
“There continues to be a lot of work before us, as a city, but I’m really proud that this budget sets the course for more equity in our city,” said Janey.
In response to hate crimes against Asian Americans that have occurred across the country, Janey said that she has been proud to stand with the community, long before the recent issues came up.
“There’s a long history. [We must] first [acknowledge] that there’s a long history of anti-Asian racism, certainly here in this country,” said Janey. “We saw, certainly at the beginning of this pandemic, a lot of things that resurfaced. I had the opportunity to visit some small business owners in Chinatown a couple of weeks ago, who also expressed concerns and how this has impacted them, even in subtle ways, in terms of folks not wanting to visit Chinatown and support small businesses… I believe strongly that it is important to call out racism in all of its forms: anti-Asian racism, anti-Black racism – any of the ‘isms.’ …It is really important that we stand in solidarity.”
Chief of Health and Human Services Marty Martinez said that the City continues to monitor COVID metrics, to monitor cases and hospitalizations, and vaccine efforts, with the intention of making vaccine access more equitable. People interested in getting vaccinated can visit the website: boston.gov/getvaccinated. The City is also bringing mobile clinics to locations across Boston and recently held one in the South End, where 180 individuals were vaccinated. The City is currently seeing a 5% positivity rate and a reduction in cases, while the number of people hospitalized has been flat. The government also paused the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of a rare potential side effect, a blood clot that was found in six individuals out of 7 million shots.
“We have continued to create access for individuals to get vaccinated, which is an important element and key to the mayor’s commitment to ensuring that vaccinations are widely available to those most impacted,” said Martinez.
Katie Ford, acting deputy director of the Office of Housing Stability, said that Janey announced on March 30 that the Rental Relief Fund would be receiving $50 million of federal funds to expand the program. The fund can now offer up to $15,000 of rental assistance for tenants, who can use the money to pay past or future rent, as well as to pay for moving costs. Up to $1500 can be used to pay for past utility bills.
