Consalvo Calls to Save Boston Housing Program for Elderly
At Wednesday’s city council meeting,City Councilor Rob Consalvo called for stop gap funding to save the Boston Housing Authority resident services program that assists more than 3,500 low-income, elderly and disabled residents across the city. “On May 1 the resident services program was ended due to cuts on the federal level that funded the program the and the impact of those cuts are being felt locally,” said District 5 City Councilor Rob Consalvo, during the meeting. “All resident service coordinators were eliminated…” In total, 40 positions are no longer being funded. “This has a dire and serious impact on Boston people who are still going to live in public housing. [Resident Service Coordinators] work day-to-day to provide help on healthcare, nutritional services, substance abuse help, money management… and to keep people safe and people living a good quality life.” The matter was referred to the Committee on Housing, during which the Boston Housing Authority will testify on how they intend to fill the needs of that program, especially during the more active months of summer. Consalvo said that the Boston Housing Authority “does a great job. They need our help.” SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Consalvo: Let’s Revive the Boston Compact
The following is an op-ed piece from City Councilor Rob Consalvo. Last Thursday, when I officially announced my candidacy for Mayor of Boston, I called for reviving the Boston Compact to bring back businesses, colleges and universities, unions and non-profit organizations as partners in our efforts to improve the Boston Public Schools. The first Boston Compact was signed in 1982, back when the Boston public schools were facing a clear-cut crisis of confidence. Today, the schools are stronger and enrollment is growing. But the last Compact was signed in 2000 – 13 years ago. A lot of things have changed since then in Boston and in the world. Thirteen years ago, the city’s labor force was 20% smaller, jobs required less technical skills, and Mark Zuckerberg who invented Facebook was still in high school. The parties to the Compact were convened by the Boston Private Industry Council. The Compact partnered the city’s universities, businesses, unions, and other institutions and organizations with the school system. Compacts were signed in 1982, 1987, 1994, and 2000 and each set system-wide goals for improving test scores, college attendance rates, and other measures of educational progress. The Private Industry Council has continued to implement specific initiatives under the last Compact’s umbrella. But we’ve got to take a look at how all those initiatives fit together – and bring in new partners to join in a coordinated effort. In the past, we needed partners to keep the Boston public schools from falling behind. Now, we need them to make sure the schools are preparing our young people for their future. I expect this new Compact to set specific goals for each school with a specific school partner. The private sector and higher education and health care institutions are supposed to be all about results. Well, let’s take a new look at how those partners can show the kind of results we can achieve when we all work together to help individual Boston public schools. The Private Industry Council’s description of the Compact states, “Periodically… the Mayor and the Superintendent of Schools call for a new Boston Compact when circumstances change, new leadership is in place, and the time is right for a renewed collaboration focused on shared goals.“ With a new Mayor and new Superintendent on the horizon, the time is right to reconstitute the Compact with new goals, new structures, and new measures of success. When I officially announced my candidacy for Mayor of Boston, I invited people to give me ideas to make Boston better. I said that I didn’t care whether they were old ideas or new ideas, just as long as they were good ideas. Well I credit John Hailer, who […]