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Mayor's Task Force on Tenant Displacement

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Mayor's Task Force on Tenant Displacement Mayor’s Task Force on Tenant Displacement RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION Report presented by the Office of Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui DECEMBER 2019 CITY OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS REPORT OF THE MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON TENANT DISPLACEMENT December 9, 2019 │ City of Cambridge, Massachusetts │ Office of Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui Pg. 1 REPORT OF THE MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON TENANT DISPLACEMENT This report is dedicated to the memory and legacy of Cheryl-Ann Pizza-Zeoli. A long-time Cambridge resident, founding member of the Alliance of Cambridge Tenants and esteemed member of the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust, Cheryl-Ann was a fierce fighter of displacement, a steadfast advocate for affordable housing, and tireless activist on behalf of this City’s most vulnerable tenants. Cheryl-Ann’s presence as a member of this Task Force was a great honor and privilege and her contributions to its charge were invaluable. The Cambridge community will continue to be impacted by her life, advocacy and service for decades to come. December 9, 2019 │ City of Cambridge, Massachusetts │ Office of Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui Pg. 2 REPORT OF THE MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON TENANT DISPLACEMENT December 9, 2019 │ City of Cambridge, Massachusetts │ Office of Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui Pg. 3 REPORT OF THE MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON TENANT DISPLACEMENT Contents Mission .................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Task Force Members ............................................................................................................................................................... 6 A Letter from Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui ............................................................................................................................... 8 Taking Initial Steps ................................................................................................................................................................. 10 Establishing Scope and Identifying Action Areas ............................................................................................................... 10 Housing & Displacement in Cambridge ................................................................................................................................. 11 A Mounting Affordability Crisis .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Renting in the Current Housing Market ............................................................................................................................ 13 Recommendations Tenant Education .................................................................................................................................................................. 20 Evaluating Existing Services, Programs and Models .......................................................................................................... 20 Recommendations: Streamline Supports, Improve Outreach and Access ......................................................................... 21 Legislative and Policy Agenda ................................................................................................................................................ 28 Current Context: Potential and Actionable Policies ........................................................................................................... 28 Implications of Condominium Conversion in Cambridge .................................................................................................. 31 Recommendations: A City-wide Condominium Conversion Ordinance for 2020............................................................... 32 Increasing Funding ................................................................................................................................................................ 38 Increasing Funding to Existing Service Providers ............................................................................................................... 38 Evaluating Existing and Potential Funding Sources ........................................................................................................... 39 Recommendations: Creating Flexible, Sustainable Funding Mechanisms.......................................................................... 40 Data Collection and Analysis.................................................................................................................................................. 44 Analysis of Currently Available Eviction Data .................................................................................................................... 44 Recommendations: Investing in a Deeper Understanding of Displacement ...................................................................... 45 In Closing ............................................................................................................................................................................... 48 Appendices A. Policy Orders B. Meeting Minutes C. Associated Documents & Presentations December 9, 2019 │ City of Cambridge, Massachusetts │ Office of Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui Pg. 4 REPORT OF THE MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON TENANT DISPLACEMENT December 9, 2019 │ City of Cambridge, Massachusetts │ Office of Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui Pg. 5 REPORT OF THE MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON TENANT DISPLACEMENT Mission The primary mission of this Task Force is to provide the City of Cambridge with guidance on how to prevent displacement in the Cambridge community through policy implementation, legislative action, and appropriately targeted resource allocation. Task Force Members Sumbul Siddiqui, City Councillor, Chair Sonia Andujar, Alianza de Inquilinos de Cambridge/Alliance of Cambridge Tenants Patrick Barrett, PW Realty LLC Teresa Cardosi, Resident, Woodrow Wilson Court, Cambridgeport Neighborhood Jessica Drew, Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services Betsy Eichel, Resident, East Cambridge Neighborhood Iram Farooq, Cambridge Community Development Department Larry Field, Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance Sean Hope, Hope Legal Law Offices Beth Huang, Resident, Wellington-Harrington Neighborhood Kuong Ly, Northeast Legal Aid Alexandra Markiewicz, Massachusetts Department of Transportation Maura Pensak, Metro Housing|Boston Cheryl-Ann Pizza-Zeoli (1957 – 2019), Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust City Staff Sarah Stillman, Legislative Aide to Councillor Siddiqui, Executive Assistant to the Task Force December 9, 2019 │ City of Cambridge, Massachusetts │ Office of Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui Pg. 6 REPORT OF THE MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON TENANT DISPLACEMENT December 9, 2019 │ City of Cambridge, Massachusetts │ Office of Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui Pg. 7 REPORT OF THE MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON TENANT DISPLACEMENT A Letter from Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui Chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Tenant Displacement In the late 1980s, my parents, brother and I immigrated from Karachi, Pakistan to Cambridge, Massachusetts and immediately entered Cambridge’s housing lottery. We were fortunate, and before long moved in to an apartment in the Rindge Towers in North Cambridge, known now as the Fresh Pond Apartments. A few years later, we relocated to Roosevelt Towers in East Cambridge. From that point on until I left for college, I called that apartment home. Currently, I am the only City Councillor with the lived experience of growing up in affordable housing—it has shaped who I am. This part of my identity deeply informs my values and inspires my drive to work in the service of the Cambridge community to this day. When I decided to run for public office in 2017, I knew my first and foremost concern would be the promotion and preservation of affordable housing, as well as protecting and supporting the City’s majority population of renters. Once elected to the City Council and appointed as Housing Committee co-chair, I set out to effect change on the level of the individual just as much as the institutional. I’ve since had the honor of meeting face-to-face with hundreds of Cambridge residents, many of whom are housing insecure and economically vulnerable. I empathize with every family and individual who comes to my office in desperation and recognize that I or my family could easily have been in their shoes. The fact that I can continue to live in the city I grew up in is a privilege I will never take for granted. I do this work in service of all those who can no longer afford to return, just as I do for those seeking to raise families here, hoping they too may have access to the wealth of opportunities Cambridge promises to provide. Early on in my first term as a Councillor, I reached out to Mayor Marc McGovern about forming a special task force to focus on solutions to the displacement crisis in Cambridge. In January 2019, the Mayor’s Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Tenant Displacement was officially established. Its charge would be to investigate the root causes of displacement in Cambridge, evaluate existing programs, services and strategies designed for housing stabilization and eviction prevention, develop alternative approaches to addressing gaps and needs, and advise the City by recommending bold interventions and impactful policy changes. Mayor McGovern and I enlisted a diverse Task Force membership, representing a spectrum of resident perspectives and experiences.
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