Offered by City Councilor Ayanna Pressley

CITY OF BOSTON

ORDER FOR A HEARNG TO ENSURE NVESTMENT N
AFFORDABLE HOUSNG AND JOBS FUND THROUGH BRA
DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS



!"#$#%&' Many residents continue to Iace countless barriers to Iull employment and
aIIordable housing despite the Iact that the City oI Boston is currently undergoing
a development boom not seen in over a generation; and

!"#$#%&, Much oI the development in the City oI Boston is overseen by the Boston
Redevelopment Authority (BRA), which Iormed in 1957, merged with the
Economic Development Industrial Corporation (EDIC) in 1995, and has
numerous other aIIiliates; and

!"#$#%&' The current practice in the City oI Boston allows Ior community Ieedback on
development proposals during required hearings but does not include a system to
ensure that community members or groups and their input are incorporated; and

!"#$#%&' Community BeneIits Agreements help generate public support Ior economic
development projects while holding developers accountable Ior their promises to
local governments and residents; and

!"#$#%&, The BRA does not use traditional Community BeneIits Agreements and instead
the documents, which the BRA likens to Community BeneIits Agreements,
include cooperation agreements, aIIordable housing agreements, and development
impact project agreements; and

!"#$#%&' The tight legal language created by third party clauses in recent mitigation
agreements prohibits any stakeholders aside Irom the developer and BRA Irom
enIorcing the mitigation agreements and makes adjudication diIIicult; and

!"#$#%&' The BRA is tasked with ensuring developers are maintaining their commitments
to mitigation agreements, making payments to the inclusionary development
program, and payments to the housing and jobs linkage Iunds; and

!"#$#%&' A "#$%#& '(#)* investigation and an audit conducted by KPMG LLC outline the
BRA`s inability to complete this task eIIiciently and transparently by revealing
that the BRA has negotiated breaks on aIIordable housing Iees, diverted
aIIordable housing Iees to other uses, and has spent a Iraction oI the money it has
collected Irom developers that had been earmarked Ior aIIordable housing; and

!"#$#%&' Residents oI Boston, the City, and developers would beneIit Irom a simpliIied,
citywide mitigation agreement that would set baseline standards Ior community
beneIits packages that cannot be negotiated away and have clear mechanisms in
place to monitor and ensure Iollow-through. )*!' +"#$#,*$# -# .+

*$/#$#/+ That the appropriate committee oI the Boston City Council hold a hearing to
identiIy mechanisms to ensure transparency, accountability, and investment in
aIIordable housing and jobs Iunds through BRA development agreements and to
investigate ways to ensure Boston`s continued development happens in a way that
is sustainable and grounded in the needs oI communities; and that representatives
Irom the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Department oI Neighborhood
Development, and other interested parties be invited to testiIy.

Filed on: July 30
th
, 2014