COVID-19 CASES
RACISM AS AN EMERGENCY AND PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
FY2021 BUDGET RESUBMISSION
ONE+ BOSTON FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER PROGRAM
SUPPORT BOSTON RESTAURANTS
BPL TO GO
CENSUS DAY OF ACTION – JUNE 17
NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY UPDATES
GENERAL REMINDERS
STAY INFORMED
COVID-19 CASES
The City of Boston has 13,186 positive cases of coronavirus (confirmed and presumptive). So far, 8,214 of these 13,186 residents have fully recovered. Unfortunately, there have been 682 COVID-19 related deaths in Boston.
The City posts race and ethnicity data for deaths, as well as for confirmed cases here.
The Boston Public Health Commission will be providing the updated total of cases in Boston residents as it is received from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Information can be found at boston.gov/coronavirus or bphc.org.
Massachusetts has 105,690 positive cases of coronavirus (confirmed and presumptive) and 7,647 deaths reported at this time. Massachusetts has also tested 712,875 individuals to date.
The City of Boston has two dashboards to provide statistics on COVID19 cases in Boston and throughout Massachusetts. View them here.
The City of Boston has a free texting service to provide daily updates and information about the coronavirus. Text BOSCOVID to 888-777 to opt-in for English. Language and communications access remains a priority for Mayor Walsh, so this text service which was available in Spanish, Haitan Creole, French, Cabo Verdean Creole, and Portuguese, now includes Somali, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Russian.
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Text BOSEspanol to 888-777 for Spanish
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Text BOSKreyol to 888-777 for Haitian Kreyol
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Text BOSFrancais to 888-777 for French
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Text BOSKriolu to 888-777 for Cabo Verdean Creole
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Text BOSPortugues to 888-777 for Portuguese
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Text BOSSoomali to 888-777 for Somali
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Text BOSChi to 888-777 for Simplified Chinese
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Text BOSbilAraby to 888-777 for Arabic
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Text BOSViet to 888-777 for Vietnamese
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Text BOSRus to 888-777 for Russian
Updates in 10 total languages can additionally be accessed through boston.gov/coronavirus#multilingual-help. Each language has its own page and hosts multilingual print materials distributed citywide.
RACISM AS AN EMERGENCY AND PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS
The Mayor announced an initial set of actions for racial equity:
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He declared racism to be a public health crisis in the City of Boston, and is backing this declaration with an initial investment of $3 million transferred from the police overtime budget to the Boston Public Health Commission. The BPHC will work with the City departments on strategies to directly address the impact racism has on the lives and health of Boston residents.
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The City will be taking a number of steps in law enforcement accountability.
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We will establish a process to strengthen the existing Community Oversight Panel.
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BPD has completed its review of the use-of-force policies outlined by the 8 Can’t Wait movement. The BPD is clarifying its rules to meet the standards, and has immediately implemented several reforms. These are use-of-force policies proven to reduce the likelihood of violence.
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BPD is also adopting the training program known as Ethical Policing is Courageous, or EPIC. This means officers will not only be required to intervene when they witness unnecessary use of force; they will be trained with strategies for preventing abuses and intervening if they occur.
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Moving forward, BPD will no longer use the “hair test” for evidence of drug use in officers or recruits.
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The Mayor also announced steps the City is taking in the FY2021 Budget to further ground public safety in community health and wellbeing.
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He is proposing to reallocate 20%, or $12 million, from the Boston Police Department’s overtime budget. That money will be invested instead in community programs for our youth, for the homeless, and people struggling with the effects of inequality.
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That includes the initial $3 million to implement our Public Health declaration;
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$1 million to support trauma response and counseling at the Boston Public Health Commission.
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$2 million for community investments through other City departments, including violence prevention, language access, food security, immigrant advancement, elder support, and the Human Rights Commission.
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$2 million for programs supporting minority and women-owned businesses.
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$2 million for housing security and ending youth homelessness.
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And $2 million for emergency clinicians and mental health supports provided through the Boston Police Department when they respond to residents in crisis.
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The Mayor has signed the Mayor’s Pledge issued by the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. My Brother’s Keeper was launched in 2014 to empower young men and women of color. Boston was at the founding and we have made sure Boston is a leader in this alliance.
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What the new pledge says is this:
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1, We will review our Police use-of-force policies;
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2, We will engage communities by including a diverse range of input, experiences, and stories;
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3, We will report the findings of our review to the community and seek feedback;
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And 4: We will reform our use-of-force policies based on that conversation.
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To make sure our commitments translate into action, the Mayor is creating a new Task Force.
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It will be led by Bostonians from civil rights organizations, the legal community, and the faith community. It will be chaired by Wayne Budd, the former US Attorney for the district of Massachusetts— and a respected, longtime leader in Boston’s legal and civil rights communities.
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The Task Force will conduct an immediate review of force policies and other equity issues at the Boston Police Department. And it will provide guidance on how we strengthen the Community Ombudsman Oversight Panel, the Co-op Board, to ensure that their work is effective. The Mayor will be accepting any changes that they recommend.
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The Task Force will begin immediately and produce recommendations within 60 days. The community will then have time to review the recommendations and provide feedback. And we will announce reforms.
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The Boston Police Dept. has been deeply committed to community policing and positive reform since the beginning of the Mayor’s administration. They continue to build a strong foundation of trust—in relationships with young people and members of the community in our neighborhoods. Their work starts with positive interactions in our communities and classrooms — and in programs like Coffee with a Cop, Flashlight Walks, Peace Walks, and Shop with a Cop. They provide prevention and diversion supports for at-risk youth and families. And they offer pathways away from violence for those who are ready to make a change [e.g., partners in Operation Exit].
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The results of this work are evident:
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From 2013 to 2019: complaints of improper behavior fell by 40%; and complaints of excessive force dropped by over 50%.
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Over that time period, the crime rate is down by nearly 30%; arrests are down 33%; and officers have taken 5,000 guns off the streets.
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We’ve made this progress, over the last 6 years, by lifting people up, not locking people up. That’s what we’re going to keep doing here in Boston.
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The men and women of the Boston Police Dept. are increasingly reflective of the community they serve.
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FY2021 BUDGET RESUBMISSION
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The $3.61 billion recommended budget represents an increase of $119 million, or 3.4 percent over the FY20 budget, and the resubmission follows over 30 City Council hearings that helped identify opportunities for further targeted investments and cost-savings.
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In this budget resubmission, the City has accounted for a projected $65 million in revenue loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, $30 million of which was initially accounted for in the Mayor’s original budget proposal in April. Despite this lost revenue, and as a result of six consecutive years of proactive fiscal management that has positioned the City of Boston to continue investing in core city services and resident needs at a time of global economic uncertainty, the budget resubmission affirms Mayor Walsh’s historic commitment made in his State of the City address in education and housing.
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Through those commitments, the City will allocate $80 million in new funding for the Boston Public Schools to both meet the challenges of COVID-19 and work towards closing achievement and opportunity gaps. This budget marks the first year of the Mayor’s $100 million commitment to new revenue for direct classroom funding, over and above cost increases. This funding will reach every school in the Boston Public Schools district, and will begin with intense support for underperforming schools.
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The budget also protects Mayor Walsh’s unprecedented commitment of $500 million over five years to create thousands of homes all across our city that will be affordable to residents at a range of income levels.
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The FY21 budget fulfills the first year of the Mayor’s commitment of City resources with an $18 million investment in new operating and capital fundings. In the first year of this new housing investment, the City is dedicating new funds to create affordable homeownership opportunities, preserve and generate affordable rental opportunities including Boston’s first City-funded rental voucher program.
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For more information about the budget, visit Boston’s budget website at budget.boston.gov.
ONE+ BOSTON FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER PROGRAM
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Today the Mayor announced a new mortgage and down payment program, ONE+Boston, which gives income-qualified first-time Boston homebuyers greater ability to purchase a home in Boston by combining a discount on a low-interest rate mortgage product with down payment assistance.
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The ONE+Boston program was designed to supplement one of the state’s existing affordable mortgage programs (the ONE Mortgage) by providing qualified buyers, based on area median income, additional discounts on interest rates. With the new ONE+Boston program, qualified Boston residents who earn between 80% and 100% area median income will receive a half percent (0.5%) discount rate off the already low-interest rate offered through the ONE Mortgage product (currently about 3%). In addition, Boston residents who earn below 80% of area median income will receive up to one percent (1%) off of the current ONE Mortgage rate. Qualified buyers will also be eligible for downpayment and closing cost assistance through the Boston Home Center.
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For example, a family of four making 100% of area median income of $119,000, could afford a $410,000 single-family house in Boston with a conventional loan. With the ONE+Boston program, the same family could afford a $539,000 single-family house in Boston.
SUPPORT BOSTON RESTAURANTS
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The City is providing a way for residents to find local restaurants that are offering take-out and delivery service, and outdoor seating during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Find the restaurant listings here.
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Vist the City’s website for information on how to apply for a temporary outdoor extension as well as information and guidance for businesses and job seekers.
BPL TO GO
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Beginning June 22nd, patrons will be able to pick up physical items such as books, DVDs, and CDs from select Boston Public Library locations as a part of their new program, called “BPL to Go.” Patrons can “order” items from the library by placing a hold on them, then safely pick them up from select branches.
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The pilot program will launch first at five locations: the Central Library in Copley Square, the Codman Square Branch, the East Boston Branch, the Jamaica Plain Branch, and the Mattapan Branch. The program will be expanded throughout the system in the coming weeks.
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You can place items on hold by visiting bpl.org; on the BPL mobile app; or by calling the library’s main number at 617-536-5400. When they are ready, you will be notified and asked to schedule a time to come to their pickup location.
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Pick-up times: Central Library, Monday – Thursday, 11am – 6pm, and Friday & Saturday, 11am – 4pm. At the branches, Monday – Thursday, 2 – 6pm; and Friday 2 – 4pm.
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For more information, please visit bpl.org/takeout, or download the iPhone app in the Apple App Store. Patrons can also call the main number of the Library at (617) 536-5400 or email ask@bpl.org to have their questions answered.
Fenway Civic Association 