Fenway News asked the At-Large candidates to answer three questions regarding Community-Based Planning, the Community Center and Affordable Housing. Each candidate was also allowed to mention other issues important to their campaign.

Here are Andrew Kenneally’s responses:

See a larger version: http://fenwaynews.org/media/kenneally/
Read the full written response: http://fenwaynews.org/pdf/kenneally.pdf

Every City election year, the Fenway News asks the final 8 At-Large City Council candidates a set of questions regarding concerns of voters in the Fenway. We print them in a special spread a month before the election, along with photos provided by the candidates. This year for the first time we can also offer candidates more space on Fenway News Online to answer other questions or make other arguments for their election. Here are this year’s questions:

COMMUNITY-BASED PLANNING
Several of the candidates talk about a community based planning process. What does this mean? Will each neighborhood create an elected council?
I studied city planning for my masters in Urban Affairs from Boston University so I love planning. Community-based planning is essential to the city’s vitality. People who are close to neighborhood issues can clearly identify community needs and advocate passionately for local concerns. Community-based planning comes in many forms. It can range from participation in local organizations to the preparation of a comprehensive community-based plan for official adoption. Community-based planning may seek to address a variety of issues including preserving neighborhood character, promoting affordable housing, facilitating new development and/or encouraging local employment. These goals may be pursued through rezoning, local plans and/or task force efforts.

COMMUNITY CENTER
Establishing a Fenway community center has been a priority for many Fenway citizens who have participated n planning exercises and meetings. What would you do to help the Fenway get such a facility?

Much like my participation in Chinatown’s search for a location for a new Library, I would work with residents to find money in the budget to identify possible locations. I would also be a conduit between the community and developers to see if a future development could include the community center.

HOUSING
Under Mayor Menno’s inclusionary zoning policy developers of housing must provide some middle income affordable units in their new building (or pay into a fund). Developers of recently built housing in the Fenway have complied, offering one-bedroom units at over $1,400 a month. Do you believe this is affordable? Lower income brackets should also be supplied with affordable housing? If so, how would you change the laws and regulations to insure that ”affordable housing” is actually affordable to lower income Boston residents?

A one-bedroom unit at over $1,400 a month is not affordable. The problem is, the City of Boston uses the average median income (AMI) for Metropolitan Boston as the reference point for defining “affordable” housing rather than the AMI for the City of Boston. This distinction has profound consequences. Metropolitan Boston contains 127 cities and towns, including the wealthiest towns in the state. The most recent (FY2008) Boston Metropolitan Area estimated AMI at $85,800. By contrast, the estimated AMI for the City of Boston is just $50,200. That said, I would advocate for use of the AMI for the City of Boston as the reference point for all of the city’s housing policies and programs.

MORE QUESTIONS:

What should be done about the aborted construction at the Longwood Center site at Brookline Avenue and Longwood?

I support the administration’s creation of a $400 million load fund to help jumpstart developments like these. Jumpstarting these developments will not only put thousands of men and women back to work, but it will create a local economic stimulus for small businesses that surround the development, and, one finished, create new taxable property.