City representatives held a closed-door meeting with first responder unions to discuss how the mayor plans to address the uptick in violence occurring at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard this summer, her office said.
Much of the discussion centered on an ordinance the mayor is considering, that would give the Boston Police Department more authority to enforce the city’s anti-encampment policy at Mass and Cass, a person familiar with Wednesday’s meeting told the Herald.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said last week that she was considering the ordinance, stating that tent encampments are contributing to increased violence, by concealing weapons and the occurrence of drug and human trafficking.
“City representatives met with unions comprising workers that work in and around Mass and Cass,” a Wu spokesperson said. “While we’ve had several housing and recovery successes in the area since January 2022, we recognize serious challenges remain.”
The spokesperson added, “It is crucial to engage our labor partners for input as we work to adjust our strategy for balancing two goals of getting more people into recovery services and housing placements, and guaranteeing our workers can execute their jobs safely and effectively.”
The attendees included City of Boston employees both from public safety and civilian departments, as well as private sector health care, the spokesperson said.
A person familiar with the discussion said the Wu administration was trying to gauge whether the unions would support an anti-encampment ordinance. The mayor was not present at the meeting.
City representatives discussed drafting an ordinance within the next couple of weeks, the source said, which aligns with what Wu said at a press conference last week.
The Wu administration is pushing for City Council approval by the end of the year, but is concerned about potential backlash and a constitutional challenge from a group like the American Civil Liberties Union, the source said.
The ACLU has threatened or filed lawsuits against other large cities that have taken action to clear out homeless encampments in past years.
While Wu’s Mass and Cass coordinator Tania Del Rio told reporters last week that the city’s new focus on enhancing public safety in the area will occur alongside efforts that connect people with housing and addiction treatment opportunities, plans for a potential ordinance have already caused some alarm.
“Banning tent encampments is tantamount to criminalizing homelessness,” said Dr. Mark Eisenberg, who specializes in HIV primary care at MGH-Charlestown HealthCare Center. “Disrupting this community where people look out for each other does not enhance anyone’s safety.
“Pushing people out of sight and into the shadows substantially increases the risk of violence, unsafe drug use and accidental overdose.”
Wu said last week that the ordinance would give more teeth to an executive order already on the books, possibly referring to the one signed by former Acting Mayor Kim Janey in the fall of 2021.
That order aimed to get people out of tents and into beds, the Herald reported at the time, with Janey stating that an arrest for lack of compliance would be a “last resort” aimed at getting the person into a diversionary program like drug court.
The troubled area drew a visit from the nuns of Dorchester’s Missionary of Charity, who handed out candy and spoke with the people who congregate there on Wednesday.
A sister who spoke with the Herald said the order has visited Mass and Cass twice a week for many years, but “it’s really getting worse, which is very sad.”
“It’s nothing new to be surprising us because we have seen this many places as well, but it’s shocking to see the way the people have ended up with their life,” the sister said. “We are not there to judge them or anything, but we are there to be with them, to pray for them.”
