As the first woman and first Black mayor of Boston, I bring to City Hall, and to this race, a life experience like none of my predecessors. One such experience is having known housing insecurity firsthand.

After my parents divorced, my mom, my sister, and I had to double up with another family and eventually ended up living for a week in a homeless shelter for women and children.

As a young, single mother, I was able to rent my first apartment with a Section 8 voucher. My family was unable to hold onto our South End brownstone due to gentrification in the 1980s, robbing us of the opportunity to create generational wealth. This same kind of gentrification is happening today in other neighborhoods across Boston like Dorchester, Chinatown, East Boston, and Roxbury.  

As mayor, my immediate goal is to reduce tenant displacement in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. During my first week as mayor, I moved quickly to provide $50 million in emergency funding to help families remain in their homes — assisting more than 3,400 families thus far. In addition, in my budget I targeted more than $25 million in American Relief Plan funds for investments in affordable housing and housing navigation services.

I have also assembled a team of talented professionals to provide technical assistance to tenants and enable them to access local, state, and federal resources. My administration will continue to execute on its coordinated plan to prevent evictions — working with small landlords, reaching out to families facing eviction, boosting access to legal representation, and ensuring the availability of financial resources. 

But we know that families — especially those who earn too much to qualify for deed restricted housing but not enough for market rate — were being squeezed out of the city long before the pandemic due to skyrocketing housing costs. That is why I wholeheartedly support efforts for rent stabilization strategies.

Local control is crucial for all issues, so state legislation that would allow cities and towns to decide for themselves how to control rising housing costs is incredibly important. We do need to be careful of a one-size-fits-all approach, though, because if we do that, we are just reinforcing the inequities that already exist in our housing world.

We need to look at each and every neighborhood and the specific needs they have to make this happen.

We also need to find new revenue streams to expand housing opportunities for our residents. That is why just last week I filed a home rule petition to create a fee of up to two percent on real estate sales over $3 million to create and preserve affordable housing in Boston. The plan would generate an estimated $65.3 million annually to help us preserve what exists and create new income-restricted housing.

Another tool we can use to create affordable housing is an increase in acquisition of occupied properties (AOP). I have invested $20 million this year to do just that.

And, as always, we also need to keep a sharp eye on the most important principle in public policy: equity. Right now, my team and I are reviewing the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) for opportunities to require more affordable housing from development in Boston. I firmly believe that we can do well and do good at the same time — but we need to be deliberate. 

I also want to make homeownership a reality for Boston families that have for too long been shut out of this part of the American Dream. That is why I am focusing on homeownership opportunities as a way to stabilize our communities, including expanding the Boston Home Center’s first-time Homebuyer Program. Down payment assistance for income-eligible, first-time homebuyers is now up to $40,000 — four times what was previously offered by the City.

Two decades ago, as a single mom, I was able to purchase my own home with the assistance of a first-time home buyers program. I want to help others realize their own dreams of putting down roots. Expanding home ownership will give residents the opportunity to build generational wealth and break the cycle of poverty. That is also how we’ll close the enormous wealth gap in Boston.

My housing strategy, like all my efforts, are made through the lens of my real-world experience. Today, tomorrow, and for as long as I am mayor of Boston, I will work to prevent evictions, increase the number of affordable housing units throughout the city, especially mixed-income developments, ensure that we develop without displacement, and make the dream of homeownership a reality for Boston families.  

This is the greatest city in the world. Together, there is nothing we can’t achieve.

Acting Mayor Kim Janey is a candidate for a four-year term. The Reporter invited each of the five major candidates for mayor to submit an article for publication in the month of August.