Shelter Skelter
Councilor Quinton Y. Zondervan points out that an end to the pandemic could come with a surge in homelessness, as the eviction moratorium expires. âThereâs going to be a wave of evictions, of people who couldnât afford to pay their rent. Itâs a horrible disaster waiting to happen,â he says. â[It will] disproportionately impact Black and Brown community members . We canât go back to normal,â he adds. âWe have to [do] better, because normal was unjust.â
The day before a Cambridge City Council meeting in February, John Chute was preparing his notes.
Chute, who is now 40 years old, has lived in Cambridge his whole life. Until June 2020, he was unhoused for about seven years. As he prepared his notes for the meeting, he thought of the many people he knew who didnât have a warm place to stay in the harrowing week ahead. Temperatures had dipped in the single digits days prior, as the Boston area experienced its col
Following Boston Mayor Martin J. Walshâs nomination as President Joe Bidenâs Labor Secretary, Boston s 2021 mayoral race, once perceived as an uphill battle, has become a wide-open race between City Councilors Michelle Wu â07, Andrea J. Campbell, and newcomer Annissa Essaibi George.
Within the last month, Wu received several high-profile endorsements from progressive leaders, including U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and the Boston Sunrise Movement. Cambridge City Councilors Quinton Y. Zondervan and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler previously endorsed Wuâs bid as well.
Despite this new wave of support for Wu, the race remains hotly contested with Campbell leading the field in fundraising for January.