Boston General Elecitons Voter Guide October 2013

2013 Municipal General Election Candidates Guide

Vote on November 5th Register by October 16th Polls are open 7:00 AM—8:00 PM

Prepared by the public policy program of Rosie’s Place. Candidate questionnaire topics were se‐ lected with input from Rosie’s Place guests.

Table of Contents

Your Election information

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Candidates for Mayor

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Sample Ballot—Mayor

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John Connolly

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Martin J. Walsh

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Candidates for City Council At‐Large

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Sample Ballot—City Council At‐Large 11 Martin Keogh

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Jack Kelly

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Annissa Essaibi George

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Michael Flaherty

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Ayanna Pressley

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Michelle Wu

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Stephen Murphy

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Jeff Ross

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Candidates for City Council District 7 28 Sample Ballot ‐ City Council District 7 29 Roy Owens

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Tito Jackson

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Campaign Websites

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Acknowledgements

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Your Election Information If you are registered at Rosie's Place (889 Harrison Avenue, Boston) your polling location is: Orchard Gardens Community Center 2 Dearborn St, Boston If you are registered at Woods Mullen or Pine Street Inn your polling location is: Cathedral High School Gym 1336 Washington Street, Boston If you are registered to vote at a different location than Rosie's Place, please call the city elections department at 617‐635‐4635 or www.cityofboston.gov/whoami, to find out your district and polling location. You can also get this information from the Rosie's Place Public Policy Program.

Useful contacts for voters Secretary of State: 800‐462‐8683 ww.wheredoivotema.com www.mass.gov/sec Boston Elections Department: 617‐635‐2767 Www.cityofboston.gov/elections/voter Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights: 886 –OUR VOTE (687‐8683) 888– VE Y VOTA (839‐8682)

Rosie’s Place will provide candidate information and rides to the polls from 9:00 AM—3:00 PM On Election Day. 3

Candidates for Mayor

You may vote for only 1 candidate

4

Sample Ballot

Candidates for Mayor

In the order in which they will appear on the ballot John R Connolly

ď ą

Martin J Walsh

ď ą

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Candidate for Mayor

John Connolly

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? Nearly two‐thirds of extremely low income households in Massachusetts spend at least half of their income on housing, and these households face a serious shortage of affordable housing.

Federal budget cuts are making matters worse, reducing funding for housing vouchers at the Boston Housing Authority by $10 million this year. Moreover, thousands of affordable units in Boston are at risk of reverting to market rates in coming years.

There’s no silver bullet for addressing these serious challenges. As mayor, I will strongly support Boston’s linkage and inclusionary zoning programs and I will order a thorough review of all of our affordable housing programs ‐‐ administered by the BHA, Department of Neighborhood Development, and Boston Redevelopment Authority ‐‐ to ensure we’re targeting resources as effectively as possible. I will also partner with leaders of other cities to speak out about the destructive effects that federal housing cuts have on families and to advocate for restored funding.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? Strategies for addressing homelessness among women must recognize that women are homeless for very different reasons ‐‐ from losing a job, to fleeing an abusive partner, to suffering mental health or substance abuse challenges. For chronically homeless women, I support programs like Housing First that provide permanent housing and supportive services.

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I support additional women‐only shelters. I will create an Office of Recovery Services and direct the office to work with partners to expand the number of beds and programs available, especially for women. And I will work to improve child care, economic and educational opportunities for women to help them re‐enter the job market.

What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? Violence towards women living on the streets is a real problem, as became painfully clear yet again earlier this month when State Police officers arrested a man for sexually assaulting a woman who, according to news reports, was homeless. The best solution to prevent violence against women on the streets is to expand access to safe shelter and supportive services. I will also work to ensure strong training for police officers on interacting respectfully and sensitively with women living on the streets, as the National Coalition for the Homeless recommends.

I also support a multi-pronged effort to reduce street violence, including: targeting interventions early to young, at-risk children; reducing school truancy and dropouts; ensuring that police have the resources and mandate to engage in genuine community policing; and improving rehabilitation and reentry programs to reduce recidivism.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits?

Boston’s unemployment rate is lower than the U.S. rate, yet there are still too many Bostonians who can’t find jobs that allow them to make ends meet. Addressing this starts with transforming our schools, ensuring that every child in Boston receives a first-rate education. Next, I believe that everyone in our city should have access to at least two years of highquality, affordable higher education to prepare for middle-skills jobs in sectors like information technology, healthcare, and energy efficiency.

And we must ensure that workers are able to upgrade skills throughout their lives.

Education and job training aren’t enough, however. I support enforcement of Boston’s Living Wage Ordinance and Residents Jobs Policy. I’ll encourage a well-rounded college-to-workforce pipeline by fostering ongoing cooperation among leaders from business, labor, and higher education. I strongly support an increase in the state minimum wage and will use the mayor’s bully pulpit to advocate for it.

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Candidate for Mayor

Martin J. Walsh

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? We will launch an immediate analysis of the current stock of

vacancies in the city. Simultaneously, we will organize and collaborate with landlords – big and small – to discuss ways to meet city housing goals with current stock. The results of these efforts will inform the development and implementation of a re‐use plan – a way to get these units back in service as affordable/working families units.

We will evaluate various incentives for landlords to establish/set aside affordable/workforce housing. This may include tax breaks, permits reductions, and the implementation of a Landlord Guarantee Program. Through the recent budget process, $10 million has been set aside for a state‐wide Housing Trust Fund. With the concentration of MA’s population in Boston, a sizeable portion of these monies should be earmarked for Boston. We will work with DHCD to ensure that monies are appropriately proportioned and utilized for our city’s housing goals.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? We need to explore best practices from other city’s plans to

end homelessness. We also need draw upon the expertise of many of our non‐profit organizations who have been doing important and successful service delivery to Boston’s most vulnerable populations. Boston’s prevailing rental rates and housing prices falsely produces the belief that most such housing development is unfeasible. We will bring utilize a varied group of financing sources, public and private ‐ housing cooperative programs, mixed income housing associations, community development block grants, loans for accessibility programs, non‐profits, tax exempt bonds, trust funds, housing subsidies, and low interest loans.

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It’s not necessarily unique to women, but often homelessness goes hand‐in‐hand with substance abuse. Much of my time in the legislature has been spent on issues of recovery, and I intend to continue that work.

What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? Over the past decade, violent

crime has decreased in Boston. I am hopeful this trend will continue. However, we are not satisfied. We will implement a Comprehensive Crime Reduction Program that includes:  A more aggressive approach to making misdemeanor arrests where appropriate; this strategy has shown to take high‐risk individuals off the street and to reduce disorder‐related crime;  Increased partnerships between and among police and city agencies, local business owners, and tenant associations;  Increased hot spot policing;  Increased reliance on the expertise of our social service agencies to provide recreational and educational opportunities as well as connection to mental health services;  A school‐based curriculum to promote an anti‐violence message throughout our communities;  A community‐based education and awareness program that teaches everyone is responsible for their own personal safety; this component will empower, make people aware of their surroundings, mentally prepared them to act, and educate on the proper tools of defense.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits?

Women have made tremendous gains in the past 50 years, but there is still a persistent gender pay gap. For the population served by Rosie’s Place, this gap is sometimes insurmountable.

Aside from the traditional job market and career one stops, we will attract and collaborate with big and small business coming to Boston.

We are looking very closely The Brooking Institute’s recent research 3 that indicates as of 2011, 26 million U.S. jobs—20 percent of all jobs— require a high level of knowledge in any one STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) field. However, half of all STEM jobs are available to workers without a four‐year college degree, and these jobs pay $53,000 on average—a wage 10 percent higher than jobs with similar educational requirements. In MA, this translates to possible more than 225,000 jobs paying an average of $66, 473. Throughout my career I have been a champion for a higher minimum wage, pay equity and training opportunities.

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Candidates for City Council At�Large

You may vote for up to four candidates

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Sample Ballot

Candidates for City Council At‐Large

In the order in which they will appear on the ballot Martin J Keogh



Jack F Kelly III



Annissa Essaibi George



Michael F Flaherty



Ayanna S Pressley



Michelle Wu



Stephen J Murphy



Jeffrey Michael Ross



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Candidate for City Council At窶人arge Martin Keogh

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston?

I want to help facilitate the building of more affordable units for low income families. This may be done through linkage funds that are directed toward building more units, or by requiring large development projects to set aside a guaranteed amount of units for low income. I would also like to require our lending institutions to set aside a funded loan pool that will be expressly loaned to families who may not otherwise qualify for home loans.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston?

I would advocate for more funding, both private and public, to be earmarked for identifying and helping women and families in need.

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What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets?

I am a strong advocate for hiring more police, directing police officers and resources in areas of high violence, and installing surveillance cameras in areas if need in an effort to reduce and eliminate crime altogether.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits?

I am in favor of smart and responsible development in Boston in which companies wishing to locate and build here would be required to hire Boston residents, women and persons of color as a condition of approval. I am in favor of locating a casino in East Boston, allowing East Boston the last word, because it will create more jobs, revenue and help Boston’s overall economy. I am in favor of identifying every city owned parcel of land in the city, and designating it for the best use of the area it is located in, with the emphasis on creating more affordable housing and schools. I am in favor of building more schools in Boston because building more schools means more students, families, jobs and community spirit.

If we can develop responsibly, there will be plenty of jobs, at all levels, more residents and more revenue to help the city provide the basic services that the city of Boston deserves.

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Candidate for City Council At窶人arge Jack Kelly

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston?

I am an advocate for people who are entering trying times in life.

My own personal life has experienced such a struggle. So my guiding principle in issues such as housing for low income people is personal.

Currently, the city has an affordable housing option for middle income people. I would look to lower the income threshold, so lower income people could attain such housing options.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston?

I would work with the new Mayor to demand more services be directed from the Boston public health commission to programs that directly deal with the homeless population as it pertains to woman.

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What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets?

Pass and advocate for tougher gun control measures and demand more funding for woman's programs dealing with domestic abuse and post traumatic stress from violence.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits?

I would demand any education reform budget fund and provide additional attention to vocational training schools and programs.

Specifically, I would push for these vocational schools to be placed in neighborhoods where the dropout and crime rate is most urgent.

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Candidate for City Council At‐large

Annissa Essaibi George

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? The City of Boston needs to conduct a complete assessment of the housing inventory including the data of all factors including price, size, and location. As a City we should continue developing partnerships that connect for‐profit and non‐ profit agencies to create the quality and volume needed for the lowest income households. We also need to ensure that we continue capturing increasing amounts of State and Federal funds available for development of low income housing in large scale as well as small scale projects. I support current requirements of developers on affordable unit percentages and would move to support more units and increased funding to the Boston Housing Trust by private developers.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? We have very few organizations in Boston that support women specifically and I will work to ensure they receive financial and organizational support as necessary to fulfill their wonderful missions. Similar to housing, I would create an inventory of all services available, then make these accessible for those in most need and encourage collaboration amongst groups servicing homeless women in Boston. As a City Councilor I would also encourage the Boston Public Health Commission to do more specifically for women and children because of the direct correlation between women, homelessness and significant health issues.

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What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? Women living on the streets are at the highest risk for violence and additional victimization especially with violent physical and sexual abuse. As a City Councilor I would move to create a Emergency Response Team directed to assist these women (who often have children in need of services) in fining housing, health care and education. We need to make our services available, obvious and accessible. I also believe we need to be more creative in connecting women with educational services. Independence comes from economic stability. Economic stability comes from good jobs. Good jobs come from training and education. We need to make sure our most at risk get the educational resources needed to escape the binds of poverty.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits? A secure job economy is aligned with the small businesses of our neighborhoods. As a small business owner myself, I feel there is a need to create a holistic approach to neighborhood and business development, which includes highlighting jobs and resources for all skill levels. I believe in paying a living wage and would use my legislative power to maintain and support such initiatives. As a small business owner I provide jobs for local resident, mostly women. I believe that developing opportunities, connecting women trained to work in skilled jobs and education would do much to overcome many barriers women face in our City.

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Candidate for City Council At窶人arge Michael Flaherty

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? The City of Boston's Inclusionary Development formula currently requires developers of projects with ten or more units of housing that require zoning relief to make 15% of those units affordable to households earning typically 100% of the median income in the Greater Boston Metropolitan Statistical Area. The problem is that the Boston area has a relatively high average household income and many families with lower incomes are being left behind. We should re窶親xamine the current formula with an eye to requiring units affordable to lower窶進ncome households, and increase the affordable requirement above 15%. Zoning relief is a privilege, after all, and not a right. Housing is a right.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? Women experiencing homelessness often face more challenges than lack of permanent shelter. Our city must do a better job responding to the underlying causes of homelessness in women, including mental illness, domestic violence and substance abuse. Only by helping women overcome the challenges that inhibit them from overcoming poverty can we help women to help themselves. I have long advocated for more and better government 窶診unded health services in Boston, particularly a more serious and dedicated approach to providing treatment on demand to men, women and children trapped in the cycle of substance abuse.

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What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? As a former Suffolk County prosecutor, I maintain we can’t hope to simply arrest our way out of the city’s scourge of street violence, most of which is rooted in our city's substance abuse epidemic. I have advocated for years for more and better drug treatment options for those caught in the cycle of dependence and despair which fuels most of Boston’s street violence. A recent report released by MassInc and Community Resources for Justice casts serious doubt on the wisdom of diverting scarce state resources to long incarcerations for non‐violent offenders and away from programs and treatment resources that offer rehabilitation and address the root causes of crime and violence.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits? The green sector represents a major opportunity to help propel Boston forward economically and to provide job opportunities for our residents, especially those who have historically faced barriers to good jobs, such as underskilled workers, those who didn't finish school, ESL residents, single moms, at‐risk youth, and individuals who were formerly incarcerated. The success of the city’s ability to grow its green sector and achieve such “green recovery” is contingent upon whether we have a properly trained workforce, which is why I have called for establishing city‐sponsored training opportunities for marginalized populations, including a Green Jobs Corps. Boston should be a destination city for companies specializing in solar and wind power and related R&D activities. We need a revolution in our municipal solar program and should be expanding partnerships with the private sector and capitalizing on the benefits of being designated a U.S. solar city.

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Candidate for City Council At‐large Ayanna Pressley

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? Having been raised by my single mother who struggled to make ends meet, I know what it’s like to face the threat of eviction, and I understand the importance of affordable housing. Safe, healthy, and stable housing is an essential foundation for strong families. As a City Councilor, my work focuses on breaking cycles of poverty and violence. This mission, along with my firm belief that families need affordable housing to thrive, has led me to advocate for affordable housing in JP, the Fenway, South Boston and other neighborhoods around the city. I fought for the McInnes House in JP to provide housing for chronically homeless individuals, and I have pushed the BRA to support mixed‐income residential developments. I believe we can do more to require developers to increase the number of affordable housing units in new developments, and to support the development of affordable housing projects around the city.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? It is essential we find a way to provide services that will help them get back on their feet and into stable housing and steady employment. In the past year I called for a hearing on Pocket Change for Real Change, a program that would repurpose old coin‐ operated parking meters to collect public donations and direct them toward homelessness prevention services. Additionally, I have continued to push for greater opportunities for women in the trades, including fire, police and building trades. Increasing the 20

number of women in leadership roles in government and the private sector will increase the amount of advocacy and support provided to women experiencing homelessness.

What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault as an adult, I share my story of healing openly so that others who have been victims can feel empowered. Many women share similar stories with me, and I’m heartened by their courage but disturbed by the number of women in our community who have been the victim of violence.

That is why my first act as Boston City Councilor was to form the Council’s legislative Committee on Women and Healthy Communities, which is devoted to breaking cycles of poverty and addressing issues that disproportionately affect women and girls.

This year, I partnered with the BPD, BARCC, Casa Myrna and Girls LEAP to hold my first annual Raise Your Voice, Day of Empowerment for Girls and Women. Over 100 girls and women of all ages, from all walks of life attended for a powerful day of healing and skills‐building.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits? The first step towards building a thriving middle class is providing economic opportunity for low income residents. I have fought to ensure that all our residents have equal access to employment opportunities. The first ordinance I enacted revised the Boston Resident Jobs Policy (BRJP) to ensure that construction companies hire a diverse mix of workers for projects, including women and people of color. That ordinance put hiring information online, increasing transparency in hiring practices and allowing residents, advocates, and government officials greater leverage to push for more employment reforms. I currently lead a BRJP working group that brings together residents, advocates and government officials to push for more comprehensive reforms in employment policy. I lead the Council’s efforts to racially diversify our police and fire workforce. Finally, I am pushing for greater funding for adult ed and ESOL classes so folks can build the skills they need to get jobs.

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Candidate for City Council At‐large Michelle Wu

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? We need to protect, maintain, and improve existing affordable housing stock in the city, bringing all units up to code and to satisfy environmental and health standards with an active and responsive inspectional services department. I will also advocate for affordable housing resources and tax credit financing from the State to launch construction and renovation of new affordable housing, with a particular focus on 3‐ and 4‐bedroom units to house families. City‐owned land should also be made available for community development corporations and other parties to develop affordable housing – Boston should create a registry of available city‐owned land that would streamline the development process and match those interested in building affordable housing with options for parcels of different sizes and locations.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? I would support organizations like Rosie’s Place, which has led the way in serving women in Boston. I would also advocate for attention and resources to mental health and family services to be available at community health centers, community centers, and schools. We should make better use of technology to streamline information on available beds and support organizations, so that women in need of shelter can find it quickly and comfortable.

Finally, I would advocate for job training to help women reenter 22

What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? I believe the best way to improve public safety and reduce street violence is to make jobs and economic opportunity available in our neighborhoods. By connecting residents to job training and jobs, we can make it easier to have a stable economic situation. We also need to make sure police are responsive and accessible, with trust between law enforcement and community, as well as representation on the force of people of color and women. Our police should be active members of the community, participating in local events, cleanups, and generally planting roots in the neighborhood. Finally, we need to make clear that violence and violence against women are unacceptable, outside or inside the home. Women and victims who speak out should be protected from fear of retribution, and I would support funding for community organizations that serve survivors of domestic violence and other forms of violence against women.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits? Boston is a city of resources—home to world‐ class hospitals, universities, and a booming tech industry—with a growing downtown economy. However, we must focus on connecting the neighborhoods with this growth. My plan is to build Pipelines to Opportunity, connecting our residents into these fields, through partnerships in our schools and neighborhoods. I would like to see our unions and companies partner with our high schools and community centers, offering pre‐apprentice programs and internships that show a clear path to a job with livable wages and benefits. Our Main Streets small business programs can be expanded to serve as neighborhood incubators where residents can use resources to jump‐start a business idea. Our local infrastructure of schools, community centers, health centers, and libraries should be access points for job training and wraparound services.

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Candidate for City Council At‐large

Stephen Murphy

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston?

In January, I was elected President of the City Council for a third term. My inaugural address focused on three issues: gun control, a balanced budget, and affordable housing for Boston residents. I specifically cited the development of the Fairmount‐Indigo Commuter Rail and the development of affordable housing along public transit lines. I believe extremely low‐income households should have the opportunity to live in these kinds of development.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston?

I believe maintaining or expanding our community services will address some of the needs of homeless women. One way to do this is to create a specific women's job training program that can be applied to all the shelters across the city and be adopted by some of the community centers.

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What are your plans to reduce street violence including violence towards women living on the streets?

I have long advocated for more Boston Police Departing walking patrols in our neighborhoods. The positive outcomes that are created by the presence and interaction of Boston Police officers is well documented. Neighborhoods see a decrease in crime and an increase in community involvement.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits?

I support businesses that pay their employees a fair wage and encourage them to invest in the company by providing benefits and helping employees to develop their unique skills sets. I cannot determine what businesses apply and are granted business licenses in in the City (that is the purview of the Licensing Board), but I can encourage them to treat their employees fairly.

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Candidate for City Council At窶人arge Jeff Ross

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? I believe in investing in transition housing for extremely low窶進ncome households in Boston, and I strongly support building more safe, accessible affordable housing across the city for low and extremely low income Bostonians. As a City Councilor, I will advocate for more housing options and have an open door policy to work with advocates who have innovative ideas for solutions to this important issue. We need housing that supports families and allows for BPS students who live in low窶進ncome families to succeed and have the opportunity to excel despite difficult family situations.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? I have spent my career as an advocate for victims of domestic violence, especially in immigrant communities across Boston and Massachusetts. In my role representing women as an attorney, I have actually seen these unique issues from the front lines, and have worked to find women short term housing and advocated for the resources they need. As a city councilor, I will bring these experiences and my expertise in this area to the job, and work hard to simplify referral services and streamline any processes that serve as obstructions to finding women the short term and long term housing they need. I will also work hard to raise the profile of homelessness issues as they impact women and families across the city.

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What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? I believe in investing substantial city resources in summer jobs programs and making sure that women have equal opportunities as men to obtain these jobs. I also believe in community policing, and having a responsive police presence when issues of domestic violence or violence against women come up. I also am an advocate for culturally competent education and resources that must be made available across the city both to prevent violence and to curb it. As a bilingual immigration attorney, I believe that education is a vital part of this process and that we have to engage people on the streets about how to raise awareness of this violence and increase the reporting of violence.

What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits? Everywhere I go as a candidate for Boston City Council, I talk about my believe that the city must directly invest in small business development and growth, with an emphasis on empowering and cultivating more minority and women owned businesses city�wide. I will advocate for and help facilitate the accessibility of low interest loans so that the city can incubate businesses where all talents and abilities have opportunities. I support local hiring initiatives, and believe that work within Boston should go to Boston residents as much as possible. As a City Councilor, I will be an advocate for strong and quality jobs, and will not shy away from asking tough questions about the hiring and quality of jobs that potential employers are bringing to and developing within the city.

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Candidates for City Council District 7

You may vote for only 1 candidate

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Sample Ballot

Candidates for City Council District 7

In the order in which they will appear on the ballot Roy Owens

ď ą

Tito Jackson

ď ą

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Candidate for City Council District 7 Roy Owens

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? We In order to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing, we must included faith based organizations that are bible based establish organizations, that support good health and moral standards. Faith Based organizations usually charge less, show more respect for the people and they should be able to use their own guide lines to run their own projects.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? We can apply the standards that I have suggested in the above question.

What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? The City, State and Federal government should allow Faith Based organizations to compete for funding based upon it ability to help and maintain health and well establish conduct. The women should be allowed to have freedom to choose the programs they wish to participate.

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What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits? In order to bring more jobs and accommodate a variety of skill levels, you have to open up the field to proven establish organizations, such as the Faith Base Organizations. As long as our government insists that it has all the answers and does not include Faith Based organizations that may have viable solutions to help our citizens, we will never succeed in providing living wages.

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Candidate for City Council District 7 Tito Jackson

What will you do to increase the quality and quantity of affordable housing for extremely low income households in Boston? I will continue to support housing that is one third, one third, one third � meaning: one third for residents with lower incomes, one third for people with moderate incomes and one third at market rate.

What would you do to improve and expand services to meet the unique needs of women experiencing homelessness in Boston? I would continue to support organizations like Rosie’s Place and also support State and City initiatives that focus on putting people in permanent housing rather than shelters. By stabilizing housing, you are able to bring the resources to the people rather than having them go to the resources.

What are your plans to reduce street violence, including violence towards women living on the streets? Continue to highlight our Enough is Enough initiative to eradicate violence from our communities and to promote CORI friendly jobs. I will continue to support Rosie’s place as an oasis of hope and nourishment for poor and homeless women and continue to push for stricter sex trafficking regulations.

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What is your plan to bring Boston more jobs that accommodate a variety of skill levels, pay a living wage and provide benefits? Enforcing the Boston Residents Job Policy (BRJP) which works to increase employment opportunities for Boston residents, workers of color and women on City Of Boston funded construction projects while monitoring for compliance with labor standards. I will also continue support labor and the Building Pathways program that helps provide training, employment and benefits to those in need.

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Campaign Websites

For more information on each candidate

Candidates for Mayor: John Connolly Martin J. Walsh

http://www.connollyforboston.com http://www.martywalsh.org

Candidates for City Council At�Large: Michael Flaherty

Annissa Essaibi George Jack Kelly

` Martin Keogh

Stephen Murphy

Ayanna Pressley

Jeff Ross

Michelle Wu

http://www.michaelflaherty.com http://annissaforboston.com http://jackkellyforboston.com http://www.martinjkeogh.com http://stephenjmurphy.com http://www.ayannapressley.com http://jeffrossboston.com http://michelleforboston.com

Candidates for City Council District 7: Tito Jackson Roy Owens

http://titojacksonforboston.com http://www.royowensboston.mysite.com

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Acknowledgements

This voter guide was created by the Public Policy Program at Rosie’s Place. Rosie’s Place does not endorse any political candidate. Information in this booklet is purely a service to voting guests and staff of Rosie’s Place.

Information in this booklet was obtained from the candidates and campaign websites.

For more information, please contact: Andy Morgan Public Policy Assistant Rosie’s Place 889 Harrison Avenue Boston, MA 02118 617‐318‐0244

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“Community and democracy must work hand in hand, otherwise we have neither.”

‐Kip Tiernan

Founded in 1974 by Kip Tiernan, Rosie’s Place was the first drop in and emergency shelter for women in the United States. Rosie's Place is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment to help poor and homeless women maintain their dignity, seek opportunity and find security in their lives.

889 Harrison Avenue · Boston, MA 02118 617‐442‐9322 · fax 617‐442‐7825 www.rosiesplace.org October, 2013 36