(from MassPeaceAction)

Tax Day Rally Saturday, April 15, 1:00 pm
Cambridge Common

Trump must release all his tax returns
Corporations and 1%ers should pay their fair share in taxes
Oppose the Trump/Ryan “Death Budget”
Support the People’s Budget

Info
Sign up/Volunteer

If ever patriots were needed to address threats to the country, that time is now.

Trump’s lies, corruption and his new budget proposal pose a clear and present danger to the nation

• We Demand that Donald Trump release his tax returns! Expose Trump’s conflicts of interests and business connections. As a billionaire, he will directly benefit from his proposed tax breaks.
• We Demand that big corporations and people with very high incomes pay their fair share of taxes. Oppose the hundreds of billions of dollars in even more “big, big” tax giveaways promised by the president.

(from Housing Justice Boston)

March B R A housing approvals point to six figure only residents in the New Boston

During March 2017, the Boston Redevelopment Authority board approved almost 2,000 new housing units for construction in Boston. The projected costs for these units tells a clear story. This city is being rebuilt largely for residents able to pay $3,000 per month and up to live here and will effectively require an annual income of $100,000 or more to do so. Boston is rapidly becoming a city affordable to those who make six figures.

“Affordable” housing as defined by HUD is when households pay 30% or less of a their annual income toward housing costs. Using the March B R A approvals as a snapshot relative to that criteria, 88% of Boston’s current residents will be ineligible to live in the “New Boston”.

City Hall has made repeated claims about record amounts of “affordable” housing and that we should “Imagine” a Boston for all. Instead, the data shows us that the new Boston will be for the few. New housing being built is, for the most part, only affordable to the top 12% of current Boston residents… Imagine that.

Most of us here in Reality Boston accept that Downtown and Seaport are not places we will ever be able to live. But the troubling part about the March B R A new housing unit approvals is they are in the neighborhoods beyond Downtown. Developers are running out of places to build downtown, which the means outer neighborhoods are now in the cross hairs.

$3K per month, $100K a year is the new norm and nearly 90% of Boston households are not part of that equation. It’s 2017 and we’ve reached a tipping point,unless more of today’s Bostonians begin to challenge the current redevelopment model in this city (where a questionable Mayor and the B R A are all powerful), many thousands of People are about to become former Bostonians.

B R A March, 2017 – Scorecard:

• 1,953 New Housing Units
• $2,777 Average projected cost per month
• $111,080 Annual income required (per HUD guidelines)

This analysis is based on data extracted from commonly available public sources listed below:

http://www.bostonplans.org/news-calendar/news-updates/2017/03/17/bpda-board-approves-nine-development-projects
https://owd.boston.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2015-Office-of-Workforce-Development-Workforce-Report-Booklet_v1_r8_spreads.pdf
http://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/us-average-apartment-size-trends-downward/#table
https://www.jefftk.com/apartment_prices/index#2017-03-19&2
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Boston-MA/condo,apartment_duplex_type/44269_rid/42.457154,-70.635567,42.171801,-71.305733_rect/10_zm

(from PassMassAmendment)

You will have an opportunity to tell the MA legislature your thoughts about the corrupting influence of corporations and big money on the political process.

The joint Judiciary Committee is holding a Hearing on Monday, April 10th, at 1pm, in A-2. Our Amendment, H63, is on the agenda. You can attend and sign up to testify and tell the Committee your thoughts. The Judiciary Committee also accepts written testimony, which I would suggest that you turn in by April 12th so as to be included in the initial info to the Committee. https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J19

We ask All to use this opportunity to show your support. Our regrets on the short notice.

Also, HD3070, addressing foreign nationals influencing our elections, is now open for co-sponsors until April 11th. We would ask that you contact your State Senator and Representative to support. Go to our site for the updated version, expected in the next day or two.

We expect to be gathering in the State House by 11am to go around and ask legislators to support our efforts. Please contact me if you would like to participate.

Thank You All for your support.

TecsChange and Encuentro 5 (E5) have been working together for years. We urge you to support the continued existence of this important organizing center at this crucial time.

Charlie,
for TecsChange

e5’s Next Decade – Honoring Charles Yancey
Saturday, April 8, 2017 – 26 West Street
http://10th.encuentro5.org
Here is the event’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1950080385220015
Tickets can be had directly at EventBrite

Suren Moodliar notes:

I should say that honoring Charles Yancey is something of a personal matter for me – in the mid-1980s, Charles Yancey helped lead Boston to disinvest from the original Apartheid state, South Africa. As a South African, I feel personally indebted to his efforts. Over the years, he was one of a handful of dependable city councilors to defend working people, communities of color and immigrants. Also joining us that night is the renowned scholar activist, Patrick Bond, who is based in South Africa but whose writings on Palestine, Climate Change, Water, Development, Work Class Struggles and many other topics have helped solidify a pole of radical thinking that serves all our movements! Junot Diaz’s comment about e5, “A pillar of Boston’s progressive community, encuentro5 is the dream of solidarity made true…” applies equally to Councilor Yancey and to Patrick Bond!

http://10th.encuentro5.org
​

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Leslie Lowe
thy42(AT)comcast.net
978-443-5138
Sudbury, MA
March 16, 2017

Local Greening: Use Your Municipal Rights

Residents of every town have well established rights to create local climate justice

• How much power do we have in our town halls to make change?
• How “green” is our town?
• What steps can we take to make it greener?
• How do we prioritize those steps?

The answers to these questions and more at 350 MA MetroWest Node’s “Go Local Greening Night”, April 6th, 7 to 9 pm, Peace Lutheran Church, 107 Concord Road (route 126), Wayland. Light refreshments available.

Terra Friedrichs, former Selectman from Acton, will present what she’s learned about “home rule state”municipal rights and how townspeople use them to stop new pipelines, control unnecessary/destructive construction, limiting/banning the use of plastics, herbicides and even pesticides.

David Ward, a sustainability engineer will discuss how towns can become greener. He’ll present the 350MA-MetroWest Node’s Handy Municipal Assessment Tool that you can use as a survey to see if your town is meeting appropriate green metrics toward a greener and socially just future.

Help each other assess all towns in our region. We’ll break up into groups of people in nearby towns and do a preliminary assessment of our towns, make plans to work with town officials to complete the survey, and urge them to go further.Over time, you can track your town then see how it compares to other towns.

Our Metrowest node public meetings usually happen the first Thursday of the month with locations changing to accommodate learners, supporters, and activists around the region. All are encouraged to sit in on the subgroup meetings for the local initiatives as well as the informal planning group that meets at different times.

For more information about climate change and the metrowest node:
metrowest(AT)350MA.org
https://www.facebook.com/350MAMetrowestNode