[MUSIC PLAYING]
--on redistricting.
I am State Senator Will Brownsberger.
I am the Senate co-chair of the committee.
And I'm here with my House co-chair, Mike Moran.
This is a virtual meeting.
Everybody is virtual.
We are being recorded.
There are closed captions being provided.
The subject of today's hearing is
the seventh congressional district.
And when we say the seventh congressional district,
we don't only mean the boundaries of that district
per se, but also the boundaries of every state
legislative district that might touch
or be close to that district, or included in that district.
So we're looking forward to the hearing today.
We're very honored to have with us our US representative,
Ayanna Pressley.
And in a moment, I'll recognize her.
But before I do that, I want to I
turn to my co-chair, Representative Mike Moran,
to say a few words.
Thank you, Senator.
I appreciate you holding this hearing this morning.
I am in the middle of kid duty, dropping off my little girls
at day care, so I am virtual from the car,
but I will be on this hearing shortly once I get into work.
This is the eighth redistricting hearing in this process.
Today, we are going to hear testimony
from residents who live in the cities
of the seventh congressional district and the surrounding
towns.
I can't help but think back to 10 years ago,
when we were at-- this was then the eighth district--
we were at the Joseph Lee Elementary School
in Dorchester, where 46 people provided testimony
on the maps 10 years ago.
Some of those very same people are still
involved in this process, and are probably going
to testify here again today.
I remember back then, then congressman from the eighth
provided the committee with a detailed roadmap,
a detailed roadmap that we used and considered
as we were trying to make the strongest majority minority
district that this Commonwealth has ever seen.
In fact, the vast majority of the testimony
we heard that day were from people advocating
for the strongest majority minority congressional district
that we could draw.
We listened, and the legislature created
the new seventh district.
That is why these hearings are so vital to the redistricting
process.
We need to have your input to create fair districts.
When the districts are drawn, we want you to see your fingertips
on these maps.
We want to give people, and especially minority
communities, the ability to elect their candidate
of their choice.
This is a historic district that once was represented
by a future president of the United States,
future Speaker of the House, and now, currently,
the very first ever African-American woman
representing Massachusetts in the United States Congress.
I'm thrilled to hear what my colleagues and advocates have
to say about this redistricting cycle,
and I want to thank the congressman--
the congress-lady from Dorchester for joining us.
It's an honor to have you.
You do a fine job in being a member
of your congressional district.
I appreciate the hard work that you do.
When I get back on, Senator Brownsberger,
I will announce my colleagues that are also here
at this hearing.
But at this point in time, I will turn it back over to you.
OK.
And I want to recognize my co-chair, my vice
chair, Senator Anne Gobi.
Thank you for being with us, Anne.
So without further ado, let's turn to the testimony.
Coming first, our honored representative in Congress,
Representative Ayanna Pressley.
Thank you for being with us.
Of course.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you chairs Moran and Brownsberger
for hosting this virtual hearing this morning.
It is the greatest honor of my life,
outside of being Cora's mom, to join you at this hearing
today in the role as congresswoman representing
the Massachusetts seventh congressional district, which
includes Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Chelsea, Everett,
Randolph, and Milton.
Again, it's been the honor of my life
to serve the residents of the seventh
as their representative in Congress,
and I want to thank everyone who calls this district
home for their trust and for their partnership.
I also want to thank the committee and all the advocates
who worked together to draw this district a decade ago
with racial equity and the power of representative, responsive
government in mind.
The Massachusetts seventh is not a monolith.
Our district is a testament to the daily contributions
and brilliance of families from every walk of life.
Our shared story is the story of the electrician in Chelsea,
the single dad in Cambridge, the artist in Eastie,
the matriarch with eight great grandchildren in Milton,
the student activist in Everett, and the entrepreneur
in Roxbury.
Our district has weathered an incredibly challenging
few years, and was deeply impacted, disparately so,
by the pandemic.
The strength of community has been on full display,
and the demands to rebuild a more just and equitable seventh
and Commonwealth couldn't be clearer.
I assume this task clear-eyed, motivated, and humbled
by the power of the people.
Now, I understand the committee has difficult decisions
to make about new boundaries that
will shape our representative democracy in the Commonwealth
for the next 10 years, but I am confident that,
using the same principles top of mind
when these boundaries were drawn 10 years ago,
centering the racial and economic diversity
of the Massachusetts seventh as its strength,
and keeping municipalities whole when possible, will guide
these difficult conversations and even more
difficult decisions.
So if you will indulge me, I want
to just speak to a few examples of how
the current boundaries of the Massachusetts seventh
have influenced what my team and I have worked
on in our first three years in Congress,
and why that matters for the new congressional maps.
As I've said before, the Massachusetts seventh
congressional district is incredibly diverse and vibrant.
It is also one of the most unequal congressional districts
in the country.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for every
community, but by almost every metric,
the hardest hit communities per capita in the Commonwealth are
concentrated in the Massachusetts seventh--
Chelsea, Everett, and Randolph.
This is not random, it's not a coincidence,
and it certainly is not surprising.
It is the direct result of disinvestment
and generations-old failed policy decisions.
But if those policy choices created
this disproportionate burden on communities
of color and low-income people, then we
need to be just as intentional in
the pro-active equity-centered policies which we advance.
And that is the incredible strength of this district.
Over the last four years, my team and I
have traveled throughout the district,
cultivating relationships with municipal and community
leaders, hearing their shared challenges,
and their victories, too.
And as we anticipated, COVID-19 challenges
were not the only issues that transcend municipal borders.
Environmental justice, transportation access,
wealth creation and retention affordable housing,
educational opportunities--
I won't enumerate every issue, but I
do want to put a finer point on the shared
environmental challenges across the district,
and why it is critical to keep as much
of the seventh together as possible.
Over the last three years, I've heard
the impact of environmental hazards
on every community in the seventh.
In Somerville, I'm partnering with elected and community
leaders to mitigate the impact of McGrath Highway
on the surrounding communities.
That highway continues to pose a threat
to the well-being of cyclists and pedestrians every day.
But just like Chinatown, Chelsea, Dorchester,
and countless community saddled by gaps
in critical regional infrastructure,
they also struggle with the fine particulate pollution
that the highway poses.
And that lived experience matches the heat
map of asthma rates across our Commonwealth
that light up bright red around the entire Massachusetts
seventh.
The fight for air quality monitors in Chelsea,
which we were successful in securing
with a partnership from Senator Markey's office,
are critical to the regional public health
of Chelsea, East Boston, Everett, and Somerville.
Our destinies are truly tied.
And that sentiment bears out throughout the Massachusetts
seventh.
I'm proud to be a member of the Community Health Center Caucus
in Congress because I believe in their transformative power.
The Massachusetts seventh is home
to one of the highest concentrations of community
health centers in the nation.
I proudly boast 15 which call the seventh their home.
And one in three of my constituents
receive their care from one of these health centers.
I'm humbled to serve this district alongside these CHCs,
and it has forced me to learn the intricate challenges
the CHCs face, and the immense benefit
they bring to communities.
This is as much about our ability
to resource community health centers in a crisis
as it is about our ability to advance access and health care
justice through sustained funding
for convenient, on-demand, culturally responsive care.
It is critical that the district continue
to represent these institutions and carry
their concerns in the halls of Congress every day.
I cannot imagine doing this work without the partnership
and leadership of the constituents
of the Massachusetts seventh, what they've shown since I
joined this delegation.
I'm grateful to call this district home,
and look forward to continuing the important work
of eradicating cycles of poverty across this nation,
and particularly here in these seven municipalities.
If my testimony today makes your difficult job even harder,
respectfully, I'm glad.
I respect the enormous task that you were taking on,
and today, as in every setting, my first priority
is to advocate for every single person that I represent.
I know that every constituent, every municipality
in this district has made me a more effective advocate
in Congress, and I would hate to lose the privilege
of representing any of them.
My goal is that the constituents that I proudly serve
and every family that calls the Commonwealth home
feels heard and seen by their government, that our map is
drawn with the goal of responsive and accountable
government in mind, and that we do everything
in our power to increase and not to dilute
the power of the people.
I'm grateful for your partnership and leadership
as we chart the path forward for the Commonwealth,
and I'm looking forward to public testimony.
And as always, I stand ready, as does my team,
to help the committee in any way that I can.
Thank you for the opportunity, Chair Moran and Brownsberger,
and I yield back.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Madam Congress Representative.
May I offer to the members of the committee
the opportunity to ask any questions
or offer your thoughts on your testimony?
I hereby do offer that opportunity
to the members of the committee.
We appreciate your testimony greatly.
We look forward to continuing to work with you in partnership
on so many dimensions, and we thank you for being with us
today.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Congresswoman.
I have Kevin Peterson who's asked
to be recognized following you.
Kevin is-- let me--
I'm here.
Are you on?
OK, good.
All right, the floor is yours.
Thank you for being with us.
Thank you.
Committee chairs, Representative Moran and Senator Brownsberger,
joint committee members, especially
Chairwoman Chynah Tyler of the Mass Black
and Latino Legislative Caucus, again, good morning.
My name is Kevin Peterson of the New Democracy Coalition.
I'm appreciative of the opportunity to once again
address this august body, which wields so much power with
regard to the future of representation and voting
in the Commonwealth.
In some discreet and poignantly salient ways,
these hearings hold the promise of
our collective civic destiny.
These hearings are critical to the extent to which we value
democracy as a commonly shared enterprise,
and give hope and scope to what we convey
by creating public electoral frameworks that promote
human flourishing, notwithstanding creed
or income, color, or political perspective.
Indeed, these hearings compel us towards effectively
tinkering with democracy for the common weal
in the Commonwealth.
They propel us towards a political imaginary, wherein
we earnestly and objectively outline
purposeful and positive social and civic schema
on each other's behalf for a better future.
Thank you, members of the committee, for your service.
I will not offer an extensive testimony here.
There is much to be said in future public testimony,
especially as it relates to ascertaining a redistricting
policy outcome that achieves creating State Senate
districts that would accommodate the election of a Black
to the body once again, the Senate body.
Parenthetically, it is somewhat disappointing
to note that our request to the House and Senate
members of the Joint Committee to host
an official redistricting hearing regarding the Senate
was not granted.
My understanding is that the course
in the timeline of the Joint Committee
makes this prohibitive.
Nevertheless, members of the Black community in Boston,
including such luminaries as former State Senator Bill
Owens, Dorothea Jones, and retired judge Leslie Harris,
among others, have agreed to host its own community hearing
on redistricting on August 14th, 2021
at 10:00 AM at Malcolm X Park in Roxbury,
the home of the Rep Chynah Tyler,
who sits on the committee.
We are honored that Rep Tyler would be present.
We are blessed by her leadership and service.
We will, members of the committee, forward
testimony from this community event to you, to the committee.
However, we hope that members of the committee
will attend this community event.
For the purposes of this meeting, this hearing,
I hope you will listen to me and the perspective regarding
the issue of redistricting as it relates
to community of interest theory or sentiment or case law.
Of course, I need not lecture members of this committee
about community of interest matters,
in terms of the propositions that guide these redistricting
proceedings in Massachusetts.
Neither am I so arrogant to educate you
in case law connected to redistricting, locally
or nationally.
Members of this committee are learned in this matter,
I'm sure.
Yet, allow me a few words as a layperson
who simply seeks to establish a view
on this issue for the record, as it were, from the perspective
of an amateur myself.
I'd like to say that the community of interest
theme connected to redistricting is
most critical to approximating justice in terms
of drawing district lines.
These themes, I believe, animate the process.
Indeed, they give essential guidance.
They point towards restributive justice and racial reckoning.
Members of the Joint Committee, I
offer only this crude analogy.
If redistricting is the DNA of our democracy,
community of interest theory or sentiment or case law
is that which binds it, and what gives it
a kind of legal and sagacious coherence.
Community of interest theory is an operating supposition
insinuated in the very act of redistricting
that legislators such as you undertake.
It is the compass of legislators such as yourself
during the redistricting process.
It is a wisdom artifice, so to speak, your North Star.
And as such, it should mightily guide the process
that you have undertaken as a committee.
For the record, I would like to briefly give
sample, or sample opinion about community of interest theory,
and conjecture from across the nation for the purposes
that it might inform our process.
The South Carolina legislature said,
where practical, legislative and congressional districts
should attempt to preserve communities of interests.
The Montana Commission on Redistricting has proferred,
the commission will consider keeping communities of interest
intact.
Communities of interest can be based
on trade areas, geographic location, communication
and transportation networks, media markets,
Indian reservations, urban and rural interests, social,
cultural, and economic interests,
or occupations and lifestyle.
A Wisconsin redistricting statute states the following--
the districts reflect a good-faith effort
to apportion the legislature, giving due consideration
to the need for the maintenance of communities of interest.
A Virginia redistricting advisory states, districts
shall be based on legislative consideration
of various factors that can create or contribute to them
or communities of interest.
These factors may include, among others, economic factors,
social factors, cultural factors, geographic features,
governmental jurisdictions and service delivery areas,
political beliefs, voting trends,
and incumbency considerations.
Local government jurisdictions and precincts [? line ?]
may reflect communities of interest to be balanced.
A North Carolina court has articulated
that communities of interest should
be considered in the formation of compact and contiguous
electoral districts.
Members of the Joint Committee, I'm not a lawyer.
I'm a minister.
I'm not a legislator.
I'm a human rights and civic activist.
I am not, as you are, versed in the niceties
and complexities of the law with regard to redistricting.
Yet, I sense that the articulations issued
from the various states mentioned above, states
and institutions, represent common sense
with regard to protecting the vitality and capacity
of communities of interest during this redistricting
process.
They reflect wisdom with regard to assuring
that so-called racial minorities are
accorded proper representation and power.
They justify the drawing of districts,
especially on the Senate level, that
ensure that socioeconomic, cultural, and political
interests are neither cracked nor diluted.
As I conclude, it would be a mistake,
in fact, if I did not mention the 1986 Supreme Court decision
Thornburg versus Gingles, which held
that it was permissible to draw district lines where there are,
one, residents in a particular district
are a sufficiently numerous and compact
to form a majority in a single member district,
and where, two, the minority group
is politically cohesive, meaning that its members tend
to vote similarly, and where, three, the majority votes
sufficiently as a bloc to enable it,
usually to the defeat of the minority's preferred candidate.
I hope I'm not misapplying the conclusion by the Supreme
Court.
So I encourage the committee sitting here today
to consider these past points, and make
redistricting decisions not based
on political expediencies, or the expediencies of incumbents
or past imperfect redistricting precedent.
Rather, there is the hope that you
look at population balance and nonpartisan
forms of political justice.
We urge that you avoid the insularity of politics as usual
that are tethered to racial gerrymandering of the past,
and create a new pathway.
I'd like to say, in conclusion, the most important
political district for the Black community in this Commonwealth
is the State Senate seat.
In some way, the seat supersedes the political power or efficacy
or importance of the mayor of Boston, the governor, the US
Senate, and local members of the House or House
of Representatives.
Why?
Because the person elected to this newly redrawn
political State Senate seat, particularly in Boston,
will live and engage within a community of interest which
has been aggrieved and divided and diluted.
A senator living within the geographic parameters
of this district will be, in theory,
uniquely beholden to a community that
has been long suffering and requiring direct state
action, funding, and attention.
The state senator is the direct link
to defining the needs of her district to her colleagues
on the city level, on the state level, on the federal level.
The State Senate of this district
is critical to making the case for the delivery, again,
of critical assistance and service.
Nothing else is more important.
Redrawing the State Senate map is
paramount for the purposes of racial justice and attention
to the needs of the truly disadvantaged.
Thank you, members of the leadership of the Joint
Committee and members of the committee.
I appreciate your time and your patience
as I walked through this commentary.
Thank you, Reverend.
We appreciate your testimony.
We appreciate everything you've put
on the table in this conversation
and the conversations we've been having, and we look forward
to the additional meeting that you're organizing,
and certainly plan to participate in that.
And I'll be letting all of my committee members
know about that so that they have the opportunity
to participate, as well.
Thank you.
I appreciate your leadership very much.
Let me say-- you brought up Representative Tyler, Chair
Tyler.
And I think it's been said, but I just
wanted to say it again that she's
unable to be here this morning because her mother
is in the ICU.
Our thoughts are with her and her mother.
And I want now to turn it over to my co-chair,
if he has any comments at this time.
Thank you, Senator.
And Kevin, thank you.
I had you in mind when I was talking earlier about people
that we worked with 10 years ago that may, in fact, testify here
again today.
So--
Yes.
And I also want to--
you're always eloquent, and oftentimes too [? humble ?]
[? of ?] because don't sell yourself short,
you're pretty good at this redistricting stuff.
But I would say this.
What I found interesting, and you'll notice, is that,
on the case law that you brought up from Wisconsin and North
Carolina, none of them said Massachusetts.
And one of the things we are most proud of 10 years ago
that you should take pride in is that we were not sued,
so there is no case law.
That's right.
There is no case law from Massachusetts.
So those are the same principles and goals
that we're going to put in this process
this time around, one that gave us the first ever majority
minority congressional district and the most ever
House seats that are majority minority, which has given us
Latino members in Lawrence that wouldn't be there,
Cambodian members in Lowell that wouldn't be there.
And you are right, it is the DNA of our democracy.
And I appreciate your always eloquent words,
and I am always happy to meet with you,
as I intend to participate in that forum on the 14th--
Thank you.
--and continue this dialogue.
I feel like it's been going on for 10 years, and it should.
So thank you for your words.
And I have no questions, but if any of my colleagues do,
I'm sure the senator will ask them next if they
want to have any questions.
Thank you.
Well, if I can just briefly respond to that,
yes, I am proud to have participated
in the process 10 years ago, where
there was extraordinary progress made
under the aegis of the Joint Committee, the Special Joint
Committee around redistricting.
Not only did we create Congresswoman Pressley's seat,
or the district that she now presides over,
but we doubled the number of so-called majority minority
influenced districts across the state.
I think that was unprecedented across the nation.
So kudos to the committee [INAUDIBLE]
part of that legacy.
Senator Brownsberger, we're so happy to have
your open ear and your engagement and participation
in terms of hearing the voices of so-called minority advocates
across the state, who are simply trying
to make the lives of those who have been struggling
and who have been hurt and harmed, and who stand,
even this morning, aggrieved with regard
to substandard education, with regard
to disproportionate violence, with regard
to income inequality in Boston and across the Commonwealth.
You're so important to providing a new and a different framework
with regard to redistricting so that those grievances
on the social and political and cultural and economic level
can be addressed.
We hope for success.
We hope to bring common sense to high places.
And we look forward to every member of the redistricting
committee, the joint redistricting committee
to be present on August 14th.
Thank you again.
I'm open for some questions, if there are any.
Thank you.
So let me recognize Senator Chang-Diaz, just make sure
that everybody knows that she's present,
which I didn't recognize before.
And so now, let me open it up to members
of the committee, all members of the committee,
for comments or questions.
Actually, let me just start if Senator Chang-Diaz wants
to say anything at this point, just any comments,
being the senator from Boston who's present today
[INAUDIBLE].
I appreciate that.
I'm most eager to hear from all the folks
who have come to testify today, so I will just
keep it at a brief good morning and welcome to all.
Thank you.
Morning, Senator.
Questions, comments from anybody on the committee?
Oh, yeah, whoa.
It looks like I omitted somebody.
My colleague Senator Gomez has been present
here from the start, and I'm just recognizing him now.
Forgive me, Senator Gomez.
I apologize.
Senator Gomez has been present from the start.
Now, questions, comments from the committee.
Mr. Chairman?
Yes.
Please.
If I could-- oh, thank you.
Thank you, Reverend.
I'm Anne Gobi.
And I appreciate your comments, especially how
you said how important the State Senate is.
I agree with you there, as well.
I'm just kind of curious, I may have missed it
in some of your commentary, but do you actually
have kind of your district drawn out, how you would like it?
And is that something that you're able to share,
or is that something you're still working on?
It is something that's in development
that we're working on.
There is a local committee in Boston of Black activists
and elders, and some of judges and teachers,
and all types of people from different perspectives
and walks of life.
We do have an idea, a concept, as it were, in terms of a State
Senate map that would accommodate
the possibility of a Black returning to the Senate,
as it has been since 1974, as the person in the Senate
has been since 1974, except for the current iteration.
The original Senate redistricting map
for this purposes included simply drawing a redistricting
map that down the spine of Blue Hill Avenue,
which included the majority Black areas of Mattapan,
Dorchester, Roxbury, and then the South End.
That's not the current iteration of the [? first ?]
second Suffolk or the second Suffolk district,
which now splits those communities.
In theory, we are interested in a map that
doesn't follow the unique spine or linear spine theory,
but a, for lack of crudeness, a crooked spine
theory, which encaptures areas of Mattapan and--
I'm sorry, Hyde Park, and then Roslindale, and then
down that original spine of Mattapan and Dorchester,
and then Roxbury, and edging into perhaps
Mission Hill, on one side, and perhaps the South End,
or Lower Roxbury, as they call it, on the other side.
There is interest and discussion among leadership
that I follow here in the community around perhaps
an incumbent-free State Senate district that becomes somewhat
possible in the wake of the possibility
that Senator Chang-Diaz will be leaving
her seat at the end of this session
as she runs for governor.
That creates abundant opportunity
to look at components of the first, second senatorial
district, the second Suffolk senatorial
district, and other areas that are not included currently
in our thinking about redrawing the map.
So there is opportunity to reimagine
how we can create not only a singular majority seat that
would allow for the articulation of the voters
in that district to move towards a Black senator,
but also create two, maybe three very strong influence,
so-called minority majority influence districts,
maybe two in the city of Boston.
As you know, the city is increasingly diverse,
and representative of so many different ethnicities and races
that cohere into, as I mentioned on my testimony, communities
of interest.
So there is no distinction, in some ways,
as if we look at it between the Latino
community in Grove Hall, Dorchester,
and the Mattapan community in--
I'm sorry, the Haitian community in Mattapan,
the Cape Verdean community in the Meeting House Hill
area in Dorchester, or a growing Latino community in Roslindale,
for example.
These communities, because of their geography
and because of their station--
some are immigrants, some are not as educated as others--
they create a community of interest,
which should be appropriately recognized
by a state senator who, for lack of a better phrase, who
feels their pain, who lives in immediate proximity
of their communities, and who can reflect
in very direct ways and very cogent ways
the needs and the concerns of these community members.
However diverse they are racially and ethnically,
they persist within a community of interest, geographically
and otherwise.
Sorry for the long answer.
No, no, that's OK.
Mr. Chairman, can I just do a quick follow-up?
Please.
And thank you, and thank you for recognizing my colleague,
Senator Chang-Diaz.
I give her a lot of credit for throwing her hat
into a ring at this time.
And she deserves credit for that.
Just so that I understand what you just mentioned,
so regardless what happens, in your configuration,
so that's not solely based on the senator leaving that seat.
[INAUDIBLE] just trying to understand.
Thank you.
Well, yes and no.
I mean, we would push for reconfiguration or redrawing
even as the senator would remain in her district.
The fact that she may be leaving--
we congratulate her also for her courage and her interest
in high public service--
the fact that she is leaving provides ample opportunity
to reimagine the entire scope of the city of Boston,
the entire scope, so as to create
this enormous opportunity, one that follows from our--
as you recall, Rep Gobi, 10 years ago,
you were on the committee.
You recall the miracle in Massachusetts,
in terms of redistricting reform.
You were part of that.
We can do something similar to what we did a decade,
and really tie up the loose ends.
We pushed for this type of district 10 years ago.
It became [? subliminated ?] in some ways,
to the real interest in creating the seventh CD.
But here we are now, with an ample opportunity to do well.
Thank you.
I appreciate it, and I look forward
to seeing the map once you have it set.
Thank you.
Yes.
Other questions from members of the committee?
Reverend, thank you so much for your testimony.
We look forward to working with you.
[INAUDIBLE]
Thank you.
All right.
So now, just so people have a sense, what
we're going to now do is there are
an additional seven or eight elected officials who've
signed up.
And I'm going to recognize them in order,
and then I'm going to proceed to recognize others on the list.
So I've got Roberto Jimenez Rivera from Chelsea.
And Maeve, I'm presuming--
Maeve, if you go ahead and promote people.
Yep.
There we go.
Thank you, Maeve.
Roberto.
All right.
Can you hear me?
Yes, sir.
All right, wonderful.
Hello, everyone.
My name is Roberto Jimenez Rivera.
I'm a member of the Chelsea School Committee.
Thank you, Chair Brownsberger and Chair Moran,
for hosting this hearing and having us.
Before I moved to Chelsea, I dreamed
of finding a place in Massachusetts
where I could find a Latinx community like the one
that I'd left behind in Puerto Rico, where I grew up.
I bounced around from Medford to Watertown to Cambridge,
and eventually, I found Chelsea.
And I realized that the city of immigrants
was a place that I could afford, and it
was a place where my kid could grow up hearing Spanish
when he walks down the street, where family is not only
about being related, but also about a shared lived experience
that strengthens the connections between so many of our people.
It is that depth of community that
made me want to represent the likely almost 60,000 people
that live in Chelsea.
And we know that many of them were not counted in the census,
but we also know that they're there,
and that their voices matter.
At about two square miles, Chelsea
is the smallest city in the Commonwealth, which
means that I can walk from one end
to the other in about 45 minutes and drive it in about 10,
a little slow with traffic.
And yet, we're currently split up into two House districts.
So I would ask that this committee keep Chelsea together
this time around in the House districts.
Since we will likely need precincts from a neighboring
town to reach the census population minimum,
I just want to highlight a little bit of our relationship
with East Boston, in particular.
Very often, Chelsea is the next stop
for people who get priced out of East Boston.
And I see that a lot when I talk to families who are now
enrolling in our schools, who were previously
living in East Boston.
In the height of the pandemic, Chelsea
had the highest COVID rates in Massachusetts.
And as somebody who works for the Boston Teachers Union,
I saw very much the numbers in East Boston.
And they would have been right up there
with us, if it was a municipality of its own.
We also share the Chelsea Creek with East Boston,
and there is significant environmental justice work
and organizing happening on both sides of the creek,
in particular with GreenRoots and the Chelsea Collaborative.
Most recently, especially against the building
of the new electrical substation in East Boston.
And lastly, many of the essential workers
who live in our city, and who make up
80% of Chelsea's workforce, take the 114, the 116, or the 117
into Maverick Station every day.
I think that those communities of interest
need to be kept in mind as new lines are drawn.
In terms of the Senate district, I
believe Senator DiDomenico has done a great job representing
our folks, particularly in his tireless work for the Student
Opportunity Act.
He's also often present in Chelsea,
and does a great job of supporting the work that's
already happening in the city.
I think many of us would agree that we'd
like to stay in his district.
And in terms of our congressional representation,
many of my constituents and others around the seventh
consider Congresswoman Pressley's victory,
becoming the first Black congresswoman
from Massachusetts, one of the crowning achievements
of the last redistricting cycle.
However, the fact that it took eight years
after the redistricting process of 2010 for this to happen
shows that there's still a lot of work that
has to be done to ensure that communities of color
are able to elect candidates of their choice,
both in Congress and in the state legislature.
I believe the congresswoman has done a phenomenal job
in elevating issues of equity during this pandemic,
such as reporting demographic data on infections
and vaccinations, protecting folks
who live in public housing, and of course
the environmental justice work that she spoke
about earlier in her testimony.
Therefore, I think it's crucial that Chelsea
remain in CD seven.
Chelsea helps to keep CD seven a majority people of color
district, and so many of our essential workers
kept the Boston economy running prior
to and during the pandemic that it would not
make sense to me if we were disconnected
from that district.
These lines are not only about representation,
but about community building.
The communities that this committee puts
together will be incentivized to build together
not only as individual cities, but as a region.
I hope that you will keep that in mind,
and you'll keep in mind the work that has already
existed in this region so that we can bring civic engagement
in Massachusetts, and in Chelsea, in particular,
to levels that we've never seen before.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Are there questions from members of the committee?
Senator, if I could--
I'm on the screen here--
I would just say that, 10 years ago,
when we were looking at the East Boston and Chelsea Latino
population, in particular, we tried to make a majority Latino
district by moving a precinct from East Boston into Chelsea.
Then, a number of the advocates in the community in Chelsea
that were Latino had put a petition together,
and asked us not to do that.
So we switched it back, and [INAUDIBLE]
since, the rep district, which is now
being represented by Adrian Madaro,
has, through natural progression,
turned into a section two Latino district.
But I assure you, I will be looking
at those numbers in Chelsea, Everett, and Revere,
in that conglomeration of Latino people,
to see if there is something there
that would be interesting.
We will be most assuredly looking
at that to see what the last 10 years has
given us, quite frankly.
So just to give you an idea what we're thinking, that's all.
Thank you.
Other questions or comments.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Very much appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
We've got Representative Erika Uyterhoeven from Somerville,
I believe has signed up.
Senator, before-- this is [? Mikey-- ?]
before we do that, can I call out
my colleagues that are also here there on the committee,
if that's OK?
Please do.
Erika wouldn't mind, I'm sure.
[INAUDIBLE] here today with us on this Zoom
is my co-chair, the gentleman from Lawrence,
Marcos Devers is here.
The gentlelady from Provincetown,
who has attended every one of these hearings, Sarah Peake.
Thank you for being here.
The gentleman from Chicopee, Joe Wagner,
has taken time to be here.
Thank you, Joe.
The gentleman from West Boylston, by way of Worcester--
Jimmy O'Day-- thank you, Jimmy.
The gentleman from Lowell, Tommy Golden, is here.
Thank you, Tommy.
The gentleman from Mattapoisett, William Straus-- thank you,
Billy, for your attendance.
I know you're working on a very important transportation bond
bill, and I thank you for taking time
to be here even though you're working on that.
The gentlewoman all the way from Pittsfield
who has attended every one of these as well--
Tricia Farley-Bouvier is here.
Thank you, Tricia.
The newest member, the gentleman from Barnstable,
Representative Kip Diggs is also here,
also has attended almost every one of these hearings.
The ranking Republican on this committee,
who was also on this committee 10 years ago, I believe--
Representative Paul Frost is here.
From the great city of Auburn, Representative Kim Ferguson's
here.
She's from Holden.
Thank you, Kim, for being here.
And Representative Nick Boldyga is here.
Thank you, Nick, from the great town of Norfolk.
Thank you, Nick.
Senator.
Thank you very much, Mr. Co-chair.
I've got Erika Uyterhoeven.
Please, the floor is yours.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Chairman Moran and Chairman Brownsberger
and esteemed members of the Joint Committee
on Redistricting for holding this hearing
and for the opportunity for all of us to testify,
as well as for your tireless and diligent work
on this enormous task ahead of us of redistricting.
I also want to send a special thanks to Chairman Moran, who
brings his thoughtfulness and valuable experience
on this complex process from the 2010 redistricting.
Somerville has been incredibly fortunate
to have districts for Congress and especially for state rep
and state Senate over the past few decades that
has kept our communities whole.
These districts have, over the past few decades,
reflected the communities of interest in our city,
and specifically since the 90s, Somerville always
has had three districts-- one that represents
East Somerville and the part of the city between McGrath
Highway and I-93, and a part of Union Square;
one that represents the parts of our city bordering the Mystic
River and Medford; and one that represents the district that
has been the honor of my life to represent,
the vivacious and brilliant constituents and communities
that include Union Square, Porter square, Davis square,
Magoun Square and Ball Square.
Your hard work on drawing and preserving these districts
has ensured strong representation of the city's
priorities and unique needs at the state House
and in Congress.
Somerville has faced many challenges,
including notably being the city with one of the highest
increases in housing prices over the past 10 years.
And as a result, we face a displacement crisis
for our immigrant communities, Latinx, Haitian, Brazilian,
Nepalese, Tibetan, and other BIPOC communities,
for our lifelong residents, and for our young people
and tenants who struggle to stay in Somerville.
We are all very excited for the Green Line extension.
And speaking for myself, I spent most of my lifetime
in anticipation for this much-needed public transit
to Somerville.
And we know as a result, though, that we
will continue to face these challenges ahead of us.
And so for this reason, I hope that we
can preserve the districts that have represented Somerville
and our voice and our communities of interest
these past decades.
Very quickly, I also want to just thank
Congresswoman Pressley.
It has truly been an honor to work
with her during my first term here
in the House of Representatives, and she
has been a powerful, much-needed voice,
representing our district and our district's needs.
So thank you, Congresswoman Pressley,
for representing our city's shared voice and brilliance.
Thank you so much to the committee,
and I very much look forward to working with you
all in this complex process ahead of us.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Any questions or thoughts for Representative Uyterhoeven?
Thank you again for your testimony.
I've got Yessenia Alfaro of Chelsea, please.
What was that name?
Last name, Alfaro.
She's ID number 9 on the spreadsheet.
This probably comes up under Y on the list, all
the way at the-- oh, actually, it
doesn't appear that she's on.
But so we'll go back to her if she appears later.
I've got a panel of Jesse Gordon and Katrina Huff-Larmond
from Randolph.
So if we could promote both of them,
the floor is yours, members of the panel, Jesse and Katrina--
Katrina, why don't you start, and I'll pick up?
Yes.
I don't know if my colleague Katrina is on.
I'm Town Councilor Jesse Gordon.
That's Town Councilor Katrina Huff-Larmond.
She's on.
I'm here.
Hello, and good morning to all.
Thank you.
Definitely, thank you to the Committee
for doing this great and hard work.
Thank you for being with us, Councilor.
We appreciate it.
Absolutely, thank you.
My name is Katrina Huff-Larmond, Town Councilor of Randolph.
I want to start talking about--
we want to start with the congressional district.
We've waited too long, [INAUDIBLE] waited too long
for equity and equality.
And finally, we're getting that opportunity
to be represented by a majority-minority community.
And we're interested in remaining
in a majority-minority community.
Since our representive, Congresswoman Pressley,
has taken an intimate-- has put an intimate focus on equity,
inclusion, and equality, and due to the fact that Randolph is
a majority-minority town, it's important that we have
a representative who has a focus--
and necessary focus-- on the three-- equity, inclusion,
and equality.
I think under our current district representation,
we are going forward, and District 7 is a great role
model and why we need more majority-minority community
districts.
As a Randolph-elected official who
serves a majority-minority town, it's important for me
to take into consideration the needs of my constituents
and the demographics of the Randolph community.
For example, Congresswoman Pressley was one of the first
who encouraged data collection for COVID.
This was beneficial to Randolph, with the understanding
that we have majority-minority community.
So with that data collection, we were
able to be proactive and advocate for a testing site.
And currently, we have the most progressive vaccination sites
in Massachusetts.
And this is because it was strongly
encouraged to collect data of those
who were suffering from COVID.
I would be lying if I didn't mention
that I'm really concerned about Randolph
remaining in a majority-minority district.
We want to continue to go forward.
We do not want to go backwards.
There have been so much progressive mobility
in the district since we had been placed
in the majority-minority district,
and we want to continue to build on that foundation.
It has taken way too long for us to get to where we are today.
Jesse.
Thank you, Katrina.
Let me echo on the House district first--
on the US House district first--
that I believe the people of Randolph
very much want to stay in city 8 with Ayanna Pressley
as our representative.
And I want to address the term, cohesive,
that the previous speaker mentioned.
I work in Cambridge, in the labs in the Cambridge-Kendall area.
And before the pandemic at least,
I used to bicycle from Randolph to that area,
entirely within the district through Milton and Boston,
and then Cambridge.
That is entirely the city's 7th district.
So even though it's long and skinny,
it very much is cohesive for myself, who works
in the healthcare industry.
And I believe that's true for many thousands of people
in Randolph who work in the same industry who commute up
that corridor.
Even if you go by T, you're almost entirely
in the district all day for work and for home.
And we like it.
We'd like it to stay that way.
On the state Senate district, I heard your comment
earlier about drawing a map.
I would like to propose a map where
the Randolph is included in a majority-minority district.
And I wonder when we can get access
to the precinct-level demographic data
so that we can do that.
At the state House level, I've done exactly that,
using estimates from the 2019 reports,
and I sent that to the members of this committee by email
and by mail to the chairs and to Senator Chang-Diaz.
The last time I spoke, a few weeks ago,
we proposed that Randolph be a Randolph-centric state rep
district with three precincts of Milton, which
would make it strongly majority-minority,
and the 21st majority-minority district.
The committee had several comments on that,
primarily focusing on that those precincts of Milton
are already in a majority-minority district,
and challenged me to draw a majority-minority district
centered on Randolph that did not include Milton
and hence did not require redistricting Milton in Boston.
I did so in my follow-up email, and let
me summarize the key results.
If you take Randolph, which has the population, not quite
enough to make the cut-off for a state rep district,
you need about three precincts from any neighboring towns.
If you add in precincts from Stoughton, Avon, or Holbrook,
at least according to the 2019 census data,
you do end up with a majority-minority district,
ranging in minority population from 55% to 58%.
I consider those to be fairly safe.
In other words, even if the estimates from 2019
are changed a little bit, it'll still
be majority-minority district, and into the future as well.
I exclude, in the analysis that I sent to the committee,
doing the same with precincts from Canton or Braintree,
because it's lower percentage, number one, and number two,
it would split up a district where the incumbent represents
the town that he lives in more or less in full.
In other words, it would put Canton, for example,
into the same situation that Randolph is now--
that it's split into two, and their representative
doesn't live and doesn't represent the people with whom
he shares the town in Canton.
So I excluded Canton and Braintree for that reason.
Stoughton, Holbrook, and Avon, I point out,
are smaller towns which are already in that situation.
In other words, they're not changing the situation.
They are being represented by someone in Randolph.
And I point out in my write-up all
the demographic similarities and geographic similarities
with those three proposed districts,
and I encourage the Committee to look at those districts
as our state rep district.
Thank you.
I also want to follow up with what Councilor Gordon mentioned
when it comes to state rep, and understanding that Randolph is
a majority-minority town--
currently, at least in the precincts that I work--
I live in, in Randolph, there are four precincts in Randolph
that are represented by a state rep.
And then, the state rep represents
Marina Bay in Quincy, in the historical district in Quincy.
And then, there's this large section on the Blue Hills
where no one lives.
So when I think about that disparity that's so imbalanced,
it does not help Randolph.
And I think about Randolph needs,
and are we getting our needs met because of those district
lines.
So I just want to mention that.
And lastly, Jesse and I just want
to talk about the state Senate rep in hopes
that we could also look at making
that a majority-minority district as well.
We know that it's very difficult when it comes to Randolph
in making the lines.
Currently, Randolph is in a district with Avon, Braintree,
Canton, Milton, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, and East
Bridgewater, and West Bridgewater.
And a couple of thoughts are, skipping Quincy and adding
Western Milton, plus Mattapan, Randolph,
and Brockton is a possibility.
Or maybe-- I know we have to look at the 2020 census.
We don't have a clear idea--
no one has a clear idea as of yet,
because we're still trying to figure out
precincts and the numbers when it comes to the census.
But another possibility that we were playing around with
is Randolph, Brockton, Holbrook, Avon, Stoughton,
and pieces of Braintree.
Just trying to make sure that we are successful in looking
at an attempt of making a majority-minority district
for state Senate.
Yes, and my plan is to write up maps,
as the Committee suggested for others
and as I've done for the state House district,
for the state Senate district, too,
with the numbers from the 2019 census for the whole town,
where we don't have the precinct splits.
We're very close to majority-minority
in both the districts that Councilor Huff-Larmond
described, which is Randolph, Brockton, up through Milton
to Mattapan, or Randolph, Brockton,
and the surrounding towns between us and Brockton,
and to the east and west.
They're very close to 50%.
We can't know for sure until we get the precinct numbers,
so we're looking forward to submitting that at that time.
Let me add that we heard from the Reverend that that spine--
the crooked spine of--
you extend that a little bit up to Route 28,
you could definitely include us into that majority-minority
Senate race.
Thank you so much.
Let me say I appreciate your testimony,
and I appreciate what you're trying to go.
It does come down to the numbers,
and whether you can really connect enough of Mattapan
into Brockton and Milton, and so forth.
You end up with a lot of people.
The districts have to have a certain size.
And of course, we also have to consider
the objectives we're trying to achieve in Boston,
so it's a puzzle.
But rest assured, we're looking at all the ways
to assemble that puzzle and very much have the ideas that you're
raising in mind.
Thank you.
So other questions or comments from members of the Committee?
I want to thank you both for your testimony.
We look forward to working with you
and look forward to hearing from you more specific ideas
as the data comes out.
Let me just say, of course, as you probably know,
the real numbers will come out in August.
We hope to see them on August 16.
The other thing is, you do have sites like Dave's Redistricting
and other sites that are listed and linked
from our website, which allow you
to use the data from the 2015 through 2019 census
American Community Survey, which does
exist at the precinct level.
So that'll give you some ideas and some ability to experiment,
and we'd definitely [INAUDIBLE] hear the results
of your thinking on that.
Thank you.
That sounds great.
Thank you.
OK.
Let me see who's next.
I do believe we have a couple more--
Councilor Julia Mejia from Boston is here.
Councilor?
Can we get her on the line?
Senator, while we're waiting for her, if it's OK with you,
there's a couple of members who have jumped on here that I'd
like to recognize.
Please.
I'd like to recognize the gentleman from Worcester,
Representative John Mahoney, has joined us.
And the gentleman from Duxbury, Josh Cutler, has joined us.
Thank you both for joining us.
Thank you for that.
Councilor, I want to thank you for your patience,
and we look forward to your testimony.
Good morning.
Can you hear me and see me?
Yup, we can hear you and see you.
OK, good morning, all.
Thank you so very much for hosting this hearing and all
of your hard work.
I'm really looking forward to this round
and being a part of the conversation,
so really, I'm grateful for the opportunity
to be here with you all.
As the first Afro-Latina to represent on the Boston City
Council--
and actually the first person elected
was Councilor Pressley's seat.
So it's an honor to hold the seat that she left behind.
I understand the importance of empowering communities of color
and providing equitable representation.
Having grown up with very limited representation, which
has impacted various communities and our outcomes,
whether it be through education, socioeconomic empowerment,
there's just been a lot of issues
that I have seen, growing up here in the city of Boston,
and so representation does matter.
One thing that I've always said is
that we are resource-rich but coordination-poor.
And frequently, people who rely on their
elected officials to connect them to necessary resources--
it's hard to bridge that gap.
And so when your elected are from your community
or don't speak the same language, et cetera,
it could be very difficult to not just get the services
that you need, but to have people representing
on these issues that matter most to you
and to be civically engaged just generally.
Over the past decade, the 7th has
become one of the Massachusetts' fastest-growing districts.
While the growth has helped prevent Massachusetts
from losing a congressional seat after the census,
it now means that the district will
have to be drawn differently to keep things equal,
given how critical this district has been not only in keeping
representation in Congress but also providing people
of color representation in Massachusetts as well.
And it's critical that that character is preserved.
As a representative of the whole entire city of Boston,
a few key things that we'd like to advocate for
is that we do not divide Boston further.
Already we're split between the 7th
and 8th congressional districts, which should not
be split into three or more.
Communities and neighborhoods of color in Boston
should remain a whole district.
Other cities and towns with predominantly people-of-color
communities like Randolph, Chelsea, Everett, and Cambridge
should remain in the district as well.
Because what we see is when people are living
the realities, there are some uniform issues
that are happening across the state,
and more specifically around the congressional 7
that we can all relate to and work in collaboration
around building political power as well as also thinking about,
how can we address these issues as a whole.
I also would like to advocate and support the comments
of Minister Peterson earlier in regards
to adding a seat for more representation, a Black Senate
seat in particular.
I think that we need representation
at all levels of government and would really highly recommend
that that is also taken into consideration.
And I think while I still have the floor,
I want to just be really--
I just, kind of, want to offer something for us
to think about as we move forward in these discussions,
and I know that we're in this moment.
But if there's anything that I have learned here,
it's that those who are living the realities
and doing the work are usually the least informed
about these processes.
And I think that we can all do a better job about educating
the community about what's at stake with the census
and how all these decisions are being made.
I think that that will go a long way
in terms of just civic engagement and education.
So I think that as these conversations continue
to happen, that we can learn from this
and figure out how we can engage folks more intentionally,
so that they can advocate for the type of redistricting that
will really reflect the diversity.
I think that this moment in time calls
for us to be intentional and deliberate about this moment
to ensure that representation does not get watered down.
I have seen the difference personally,
what a difference it makes to have Congresswoman Ayanna
Pressley representing us in Congress,
from conversations around trauma,
issues around criminal justice, issues around poverty.
I just think that the issues that we're
dealing with here even on a municipal level,
I have seen them elevated in Congress in ways
that I haven't seen before.
So it's really important for us to be really thoughtful about
not just having representation as a checking-off-the-box
but really being intentional about who it is that
we're electing and who's going to be fighting for us,
both on the federal and state level and municipal level.
So thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak,
and I look forward to engaging on the 14th.
So you know, I'll be there for that, Kevin.
So thank you for the public invitation,
and I would like to continue to be
a partner in these discussions as we move forward.
Thank you very much.
I want to say thank you, Councilor, for your testimony.
I very much look forward to working with you
and continue to hear from you on these issues.
I appreciate the perspective you bring.
Are there other questions from or comments
from members of the committee?
Thank you so much, Councilor, again, for your testimony.
I'm going to recognize at this time, Brian Howard, who
is the Town Manager from the town of Randolph.
All right.
Just give me a second.
I-- has me reintroduce myself into the mix
here, so hold on a second.
I apologize for that.
I've never been brought into a webinar before.
There's always a first experience.
Yeah, usually, I'm the one letting folks on,
so this is new for me.
All right.
First off, I can't support enough the commentary
and the testimony of Congresswoman Pressley.
So I'm not going to reiterate all of her fine points,
except to say that she hit it straight on.
She is 100% correct.
I think the CD 7 should remain, as humanly possible,
set up as it currently is.
And I'm going to break that down a little bit into our comments
about a state representative district.
I certainly appreciate the difficult decisions
that your Committee has.
This is never an easy process.
I have been involved in Randolph government
for close to 30 years.
My thoughts on this topic were the same in 1990.
There was a Patriot Ledger article in 2000
and an editorial where they supported a one Randolph.
Randolph has always been much different than the towns
around it.
We have historically been connected to,
back in the '70s and '80s, Canton and Milton, and more so
now with Milton and Quincy.
These are communities that are much more affluent
and have much different economic drivers.
And those differences over the last 20 years
have only increased.
The gaps have only gotten wider.
The issues-- and again, these are things that
the Congresswoman talked about--
the issues of racial equity, the wealth gap,
educational opportunities.
Over the last 15 to 20 years, what
drives so much of the Randolph economy
is immigrants' small businesses, healthcare-- we
were at number three in COVID for the first six weeks or so.
If not for the efforts of Congresswoman Presley,
we couldn't get a testing site, because we don't
have a healthcare provider.
We are 35,000 strong, but we don't have a healthcare
provider, so we were not able to gear up and get
a site, because the state kept saying that we
had to have a health partner.
Economic justice-- I think Randolph right now--
and it looks like, based on the last approval by the state,
will have a trash transfer station being built right
on its border.
So all the traffic is going to go through Randolph
to the Holbrook border.
It still stuns me that this is happening.
We've been fighting it for 10 years,
but the environmental justice issue continues to be critical.
You have the opportunity to keep both a community of interest
together and keep a community whole.
You had two members of our town council speak to the ability
to take Randolph with part of Avon or part of Stoughton.
There is no question that those would work.
I think that there is a tremendous opportunity here.
I think Randolph, for 30, 40 years,
has certainly deserved to be its own rep district in particular.
I can also tell you as somebody who served as the town clerk
previously, having three-ballot styles--
some of them in the same polling location--
it gets confusing.
It gets confusing for the poll workers.
It gets confusing for the voters.
So I think anything we can do in that area is critical.
So I thank you all for this opportunity to address you.
I am more than happy to answer any questions that I can,
and I cannot reiterate enough my support for Congresswoman
Pressley's comments, and in particular,
her leadership on behalf of the town of Randolph.
And for some reason, I can't seem to hear folks.
Mr. Chairman, I think you're muted.
That would be why.
That's on me.
Thank you for your testimony.
I appreciate it.
And are there any questions from members of the Committee?
Thank you, again.
My pleasure.
Is Councilor Scott here from Somerville?
JT Scott?
I see Councilor Scott coming on.
I look forward to your testimony, Councilor.
You're still on mute at this time.
There you go.
Hello.
You're here.
We can hear you and see you.
Wonderful, wonderful.
Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chair,
and I also want to extend my extreme gratitude
for both the representation and the service of Congresswoman
Ayanna Pressley and Rep Uyterhoeven, who
spoke earlier this evening.
I'm JT Scott, the Ward 2 Councilor
in the City of Somerville.
And I represent a district that sits on many borders.
My ward borders Cambridge on one side.
It sits astride the boundaries of the 26th and 27th Middlesex
district, and is right on the edge of the MA 7th.
And I have to say--
I have to echo the sentiments that
have been made several times here today
in this hearing, that the struggles that
unite many of the communities across MA 7 are shared
struggles of environmental justice,
of economic, racial, and social justice.
And it has been a boom beyond description
to have visionary leadership such as Congresswoman
Pressley's, both representing us and bringing resources
in from a federal level, but also connecting
those communities with those shared struggles,
connecting them in shared advocacy, whether it's
transportation, Mass DOT funds and federal transportation
funds to address some of these environmental justice
issues along our transportation and corridors.
But it's also important to keep us not only in the 7th,
but to look at how Somerville is represented by these three
House districts that very closely align
with our communities of interest--
you know, the East Somerville district
representing the 26th, the incredibly vibrant 27th,
and the 34th as well.
As we are a city of just 4 square miles and the most
densely populated in the Commonwealth,
we have an impact on our neighbors,
and our neighbors impact us as well.
So our ability have the shared representation,
have the 77th that crosses those boundaries,
and indeed having the 26th that crosses
the boundary from Cambridge and Somerville
is incredibly useful for ensuring
that our communities have interconnected
solutions and interconnected thinking
at the legislative level.
I'd also point out that for a city like Somerville, which,
just like the city of Boston, has both at-large councilors
and ward councilors, it's incredible to look
at the makeup of our city council right now
and see how the representatives from each ward
do so closely reflect the shared lived experiences
of the roughly 12,000 people that each of us
represents, a little over 80,000 in the city of Somerville
as well.
So I would just--
I appreciate the challenges of this Committee's task
in redistricting and would implore
you to keep in mind those communities of interest
and ensure that we can continue to keep these district
boundaries as close to intact as we have right now, to ensure
that Somerville remains in its entirety
in the 7th congressional, and also to ensure that Somerville
continues to have three House districts that represent us
very well at the state level.
So I thank you very much for your time.
Happy to keep it brief.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Councilor.
I appreciate your testimony.
Are there any questions for Councilor Scott?
Councilor Scott, thank you so much for being with us.
I'm now going to proceed down the list, the rest of the list,
in order.
I'm going to just-- so those people can feel ready,
I'm going to read the next four names,
but let's only recognize one at a time.
I got Rene Mardones, Marisa Luse, Latifa Ziyad, and then
I get to Beth Huang.
Those are the next four that I'm going to call.
So Rene Mardones, please.
Do we have Rene?
We do not.
OK, if not, we will come back.
Marisa Luse.
Hey, Marisa.
We're starting to see you.
You're starting to appear, but--
there you go.
Thank you.
We can hear you and see you.
Good morning, Joint Committee Chairs Representative Moran
and Senator Brownsberger and its members.
Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity
to be heard this morning.
My name is Marisa and I'm Roxbury resident and community
advocate.
I'm aware this morning--
I appeared this morning to testify
on the importance of the redistricting process
and how it can play a crucial role in continuing
to improve our democracy by moving
towards equity in representation and opportunities
for communities to elect their own leaders.
By doing so, moving towards improved equity
and opportunities through the redistricting process can do
much to re-establish and build trust with voters,
improve voter engagement and education,
and re-engage those who may currently and historically feel
like the brightest minds and leaders from their communities
cannot represent them in elected roles due to long-standing
voting and migration patterns.
It is my hope that you will consider
the following recommendations as a part
of your process for the 7th congressional district.
It is critical that you recommend
to build on opportunities for more
majority-minority districts and coalition majority-minority
districts, as this has been an effective and historic strategy
for recognizing and empowering underserved and historically
marginalized communities.
It is critical to remain aware and align issues and challenges
with the protection of community assets and resources
within the district.
It is critical that we create more equitable opportunities
for BIPOC and immigrants to win elected seats,
making legislative bodies more reflective and representative
of the communities they serve.
It is critical that we recognize that data matters,
but it's not the only thing that matters.
It is also the process in which the data is collected,
analyzed, and shared.
I respectfully urge this body to think
about how we're factoring in the timing
of the release of the census block and precinct-level data
and its impact on its process, how
we're accounting for historical and relevant gaps and hidden
biases in the data, and how we are recognizing constituents,
immigrants, and communities-of-color
organizations and advocacy groups during the drawing
process.
It is critical for there to be more
accountability and transparency in these processes
and a process for evaluating how we're doing so,
and that all levels of data are made available to the public
for planning, advocacy, and decision-making.
It is critical to be aware of the privilege
that we hold to participate in processes like these,
because they are residents who are working
to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table,
and who do not have access to the information
to begin to even understand these processes.
It is critical to continue to work as you have been--
it is critical to continue this historic work that you began
a decade ago when you diligently met with non-partisan community
and advocacy groups publicly in their communities to be heard,
and to hear their various ideas from civic leaders
across the Commonwealth.
And although this task is not easy,
we really appreciate the effort of this Committee
and in its inclusion of community in this process.
Thank you both for your leadership on the redistricting
process and creating a space to be heard.
Thank you for this opportunity to share my testimony.
Thank you so much for joining us,
and thank you for your testimony.
Much appreciated.
Are there other comments or questions
from members of the Committee?
Thank you so much for your testimony.
We hear you.
I've got Latifa Ziyad.
I don't see her.
You don't see her?
OK.
So now we go to Beth Huang.
And Beth has got a panel, members of which are--
I've got Roxana Rivera, Cheryl Crawford, and Suzanne Lee.
So let's promote all four of those at this time.
Thank you, Beth.
Thank you, Cheryl.
We see you.
Roxana--
I don't see you, Roxana.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I heard today that Roxana actually cannot join us today.
OK, well, good.
So we got three of you, Beth Huang, Cheryl Crawford,
Suzanne Lee, welcome.
Thank you for all the work you've
been doing through this whole process,
and we look forward to your testimony today.
OK.
Well, thank you so much.
My name is Beth Huang, and I have
the pleasure of leading the Drawing Democracy Coalition.
We are dedicated to a fair redistricting process that
achieves equitable outcomes, for people of color,
young people, immigrants, and low-income people
to have a fair shot at being represented authentically
in the next decade.
We are really interested in this particular hearing,
because so many of the opportunities for increasing
representation at the state House and state Senate
districts occur in and around Greater Boston,
because such a critical mass of BIPOC communities
live in this metro area.
And so one elephant in the room is
that there are lots of retirements in the state
Senate, which often leads to what I call the domino
effect of many state reps running for state Senate seats,
and it actually allows for an immense potential
for changing and remixing districts
with fewer political constraints than usual.
So we're really looking forward to seeing the data
from the Census Bureau as early as next month when the legacy
format data comes out, to better understand the population
shifts and changes that have happened in the past 10 years.
So we've seen many districts that
combine working-class immigrant communities
with many residents of color with wealthier
and whiter adjacent municipalities.
And typically, the wealthier, whiter areas
often elect the representative of their choice,
leading to feelings of underrepresentation
of parts of the district that have more immigrants, BIPOC
residents, low-income people, and renters.
And although the elected officials and their staff
usually do try incredibly hard to represent
all parts of their district, inevitably
many elected officials spend more time where they live.
That is normal, and they often get more votes
from the wealthier area and more campaign contributions
from that side of the district.
And so no matter how hard people try
to represent all parts of the district,
we often find that the combination
of lower-income, more immigrant-dense areas
with wealthier, whiter areas does lead
to underrepresentation, intentional or not.
And so to get closer to the multiracial democracy
that we want and can achieve in Massachusetts, drawing
districts to ensure that the weight of the district
is in the gateway city, or the weight of the district
is in the more low-income, often historically redlined part
of the district is incredibly important to the Drawing
Democracy Coalition.
And so a few top priorities for our coalition
include remixing the areas in and around East Boston,
Chelsea, Revere, and Everett, which--
we know that there is a lot of political opportunity there,
and there are often many feelings
of underrepresentation, often at the city level,
but also at the state level in those state House and Senate
districts.
And then, although we don't have census data yet,
population estimates suggest that drawing
a third majority-BIPOC district in Boston itself
or around Boston at the state Senate district level
is important to the Drawing Democracy Coalition.
And then, finally, maintaining a strong majority-BIPOC district
that--
congressional district 7, which representative Pressley so
graciously and fully represents, is
really important to our coalition as the most important
victory that we were able to achieve in the 2011
round of redistricting.
So those are three top priorities for the Drawing
Democracy Coalition.
Thanks so much for an open and transparent process.
For the past many, many months, we've really
enjoyed collaborating with you, and I'm
looking forward to testimony from my colleagues.
Thank you so much.
Thank you again.
Why don't we take all three panelists?
And then, we could go to questions.
So Cheryl Crawford?
Good morning, Chairman Brownsberger and Chairman
Moran, and the esteemed members of this Committee,
and of course the honorable Ayanna Pressley.
My name is Cheryl Clyburn Crawford.
I'm the Executive Director of MassVOTE,
and I'm excited to be here today to join this conversation
regarding equitable districts.
MassVOTE is a nonpartisan non-profit issue advocacy
organization dedicated to voting rights and voter education.
It is an honor to be speaking before you
on the issue of redistricting in the state's
7th congressional district.
10 years ago, this committee did a superb job
creating what is now the 7th congressional district.
In doing so, they helped accomplish what we once
thought was impossible--
empower a Black woman candidate to win a seat in Congress,
something never done in this state's 200-plus-year history.
This further empowered the voters
of the 7th congressional district,
too, as it put someone in power who
better understood their own needs and experiences.
With this in mind, the 7th congressional district
should remain a majority-BIPOC district.
It has set an excellent example of what representation should
look like, not only in Massachusetts,
but across the country, that must be preserved.
At the state legislative level, more work
can and should be done to make our democracy
more representative, especially for Black and Brown,
low-income, and immigrant residents.
For example, communities currently
in the 7th congressional district
like Randolph and Chelsea are split up into multiple state
representative districts.
However, if these communities were to instead
have one state representative to exclusively represent them,
this would empower not only BIPOC candidates,
but voters, too.
BIPOC candidates within these communities
would have a greater chance of winning office,
and voters would have candidates more responsive
to their specific needs, as they would represent
only that individual community.
And if these municipalities lack the necessary population
count to form individual state representative districts,
the municipalities should still be
kept whole in the redistricting process,
and they should be prioritized as majority-BIPOC, too.
More work can and should be done specifically
in the city of Boston for all residents,
but most of all for Black and Brown,
low-income, and immigrant residents.
Numerous communities of interest exist
within these cities that deserve to be considered
during redistricting.
For example, sizable Chinese communities
exist within both Chinatown and the South End.
The ethnic, cultural, and historical links
these communities share mean that they
should be considered together in any legislative district.
The same can also be said of Black community
in neighborhoods like Dorchester, Hyde
Park, and Mattapan, as well as the Latinx
community and neighborhoods like East Boston.
These predominately BIPOC communities
form communities of interest because of the racial,
cultural, and historical links they share.
Through redistricting, they should
form the most equitable and just districts as possible.
They should not see their political power corrupted
through tactics like cracking and packing,
but instead see the districts formed
in a manner that minimizes and maximizes
political power of both candidates and voters.
We can only imagine how difficult and time-consuming
the redistricting process is.
With that, I thank you for your attention and your hard work
through this process.
I have no doubt that this committee will not only
meet the expectations set by the previous redistricting cycle,
but surpass them.
Thank you for the opportunity to share.
Well, that's certainly our aspiration,
and we appreciate the collaboration we have with you.
And together, we can at least hope
to equal and perhaps surpass what we did 10 years ago.
Are there questions or comments from members of the committee?
We have one more on the panel, I believe.
Oh, yeah, I'm sorry.
Yeah, let's do that before we get to that.
Thank you.
Thank you for reminding me.
Suzanne Lee, please.
Hello, and good morning, everyone.
And thank you for being here and wanting to listen
and giving us the chance to share with you our thoughts.
I don't want to waste time to reiterate what
previous speakers have said.
My name is Suzanne Lee.
I'm a Chinatown resident.
I'm also a community activist, and serve now
as the President Emeritus of the Chinese Progressive
Association.
We as the organization have participated or tried to
for the last 40 years, since the '80s,
on this issue of redistricting.
So I am here today to add some more thoughts to this process.
We were really happy that the last go-around 10 years ago--
that the community of colors was able to increase
our representation district.
But oftentimes Chinatown's the one that has to suffer,
or our interest was not taken into consideration as much.
For example, Chinatown is a historical district.
Although we are small, we are right in the downtown area,
so that's a lot of pressure in how to look at that whole area.
Since the district has been formed,
Chinatown has been moved around to make way
for other interests.
The last time, we were together with the South End and Lower
Roxbury in the Senate district, but we
were moved now to be together with Revere and Winthrop.
That was a big blow to us, because we
had spent years building coalitions and working together
with our historical partners in the South End and Lower Roxbury
on the issues that really impact immigrant communities.
So I hope that this time, we can re-look at that
and see how that can reunite Chinatown with South End
and Lower Roxbury in the Senate district.
I know how hard that is.
We have all looked at that.
In terms of the congressional district,
we have always been in district 7,
regardless of who the representative is.
But right now, district 7 is a space
where the community of color has the most representation,
because our issues are being heard and championed
by our current representative, Ayanna Pressley.
She's not going to be in that seat forever,
so I understand that drawing these lines
is not about one person.
It's about our communities being together,
so that our issues can be heard.
And I want to ask something that I have not heard today.
You know, the current anti-Asian violence that we see around
the country--
there are many factors that cause that.
But one factor, I believe, is critical--
is how the Asians, and particularly
the Chinese immigrants, have been treated by our government
on all levels, from federal to state and to city, that
often when decisions are being made,
because we are small in number, that we become expedients.
You can move it here, move it there, it doesn't matter.
That adds to the image to the general public
that we don't matter.
That allows people to take matters into their own hands
and do whatever they feel like they can,
to attack Asian elders, and nothing would happen.
They can do whatever they want to our community,
and nothing can happen, because we
don't have that representation.
My family's been here for three generations.
So to me, this is important.
And I've been working on this for 40 years.
I think it's time for people to look at where Chinatown can
be home and be with community.
Sorry.
Take your time, and--
And I know that our population is
being dispersed throughout the Greater Boston area.
It's because we were not able to fight for keeping
the community together.
And we need to have our representative
on the city and the state and federal level, to see us
and we are.
We've been here since my grandfather's generation,
and it's the first time that I feel like we
have some representation.
But we are not equal yet, and that
should be at the essence of the redistricting process--
not just looking at numbers, but what impact
it would have for the people.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Thank you.
We appreciate you speaking from the heart,
and we look forward to continued dialogue
on exactly how to accomplish what you're talking about.
Offline and online, we are all ears for you
as to how to do that best.
[INAUDIBLE] [? how ?] many of you really try.
I know all of our representatives
want to do the right thing.
But oftentimes, you do have competing interests,
and so it comes down to what is important.
So let's keep this channel of communication open.
You know, I'm particularly conscious of that issue
in the Senate seat context, and it's
very much on my radar screen.
But we want to make sure we do it right,
so we hope you'll keep flowing data to us on exactly how--
exactly which precincts-- I hope that you will follow up with
the statement about--
when you say, I want you to try to come together,
how are you defining that, and exactly
in terms of Boston precincts or census data concepts--
whatever's easier for you.
We're all ears.
Yeah, I'm not just talking about Chinatown
being together as a district.
I'm talking about Chinatown to be together
with communities of color, because we
have lots of common interests.
Gotcha.
I got that, and--
keep that together and keep it--
what are the areas that you want to keep together
with each other and with the broader
block in the center of Boston.
I hear you.
So we've got Beth, Cheryl, and Suzanne on this panel,
and we appreciate the testimony you've each provided.
And now, we're going to open to comments or questions
on any of the testimony we just heard from this panel.
Chairman Moran.
Beth-- actually, I got something for all of you
if you don't mind.
Beth, you had mentioned three priorities.
Could you give me the Cliffsnotes
on those three priorities again?
For sure, and I will definitely send the testimony your way
so you can get it--
you can find it later.
So the first is, there is that entire block of districts
that covers East Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and
Everett, where--
I think we've all seen stories in The Globe
about tensions about underrepresentation in Everett
and Revere over the years.
And those types of tensions exist at the city level
and also in the state House district.
I'm going to call that the Chelsea issue, right?
Yeah, it's the Chelsea, Revere, and Everett
set of issues, right?
I just want to--
I get exactly [INAUDIBLE].
In my head, we're calling it the Chelsea issue.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
I gotta give myself the easiest way to deal with it, so--
Right, and so you know, I mean--
That would be particular to the House district, right?
That would be particular--
Yes.
Yeah, to the House district.
And so I think given that Senator Boncore announced
his plans to leave the Senate, I think
it's safe to guess that a state representative, maybe
more than one, is very likely to run for that state Senate seat.
It does actually open up a new set of political opportunities
since there won't be longtime incumbents
in that block of districts around East Boston to just
short of Lynn area.
All of those districts, at least according
to population estimates from 2019,
should be overpopulated by 5,000, sometimes
as many as 6,000 people.
Who knows what the 2020 census numbers will actually show us,
but I'm guessing that it's above the 5% deviation--
or very close to the 5% deviation.
So that's the first set of priorities--
are the House districts from East Boston
to Chelsea, to Revere, Everett, and Winthrop.
The second big--
And would you say this--
you brought up a potential person.
If that person from East Boston is the one you're particularly
looking at, that district is already a section 2 district.
Yeah.
And by that, I mean it is majority-Latino.
In my thinking, that's, sort of, gold standard.
You know what I mean?
Yup.
You don't want to tinker too much with that,
only because you have it.
The longer it stays, the more it matures, the more--
so anyways, just-- so what was the second one?
The second one-- and I agree with that assessment,
that we want to keep the East Boston district a 50% plus one
Latinx district.
That makes sense to me.
The second part is, of course, we'll see what the counts look
like, but I think especially with Senator Chang-Diaz
announcing that she's not seeking reelection,
and then also--
there is an opportunity to remix one
of the majority-BIPOC districts in Boston
for the state Senate level.
And there's probably-- and then, to Suzanne's point that we want
to keep Chinatown with other communities of color,
there is a way of remixing Boston such that there is
a strong third majority-BIPOC district that includes much
of the many Boston communities of color in the way that there
are--
currently, Senator DiDomenico, Senator Brownsberger,
and Senator Boncore each have a piece of Boston,
but there is a way actually of doing some consolidation.
Of course, we need to see what the data looks
like to see if that's possible, but I
think there is probably a way of increasing Black representation
in the second Suffolk Senate district,
and then probably moving some of the non-Black people of color
into another majority-BIPOC Senate district.
I don't really know exactly what that's going to look like,
but there is a possibility of making that happen.
But strengthening--
Again, to Cliffsnotes it, one majority-Black Senate district
and two BIPOC districts-- is that
what you're looking for here?
If the numbers support it in August.
OK.
All right.
Yeah, all of this is, kind of, speculation.
So--
This helps, and this informs us about--
Yeah, but those are some potential scenarios
that we would be supportive of.
And then, the third piece is keeping a very strongly
majority-BIPOC CD 7.
OK.
Yep.
OK.
Thank you.
And Cheryl, hello.
I got you on the Randolph, and I got you on the Chelsea stuff,
and I hear you.
We're going to look at that.
At least on the House map, that's very much a priority.
And Suzanne, you probably already know,
but I represent a community that is very much Asian.
The Asian population is very much, in Allston-Brighton,
a significant portion of our district in our community.
And what I'm going to look at or what I find interesting,
Suzanne, is that in Chinatown, all the development that's
happened in 10 years--
you know, it's going to be interesting to look
at those precincts in Chinatown and how
they performed from 10 years ago when it comes to population.
And is there a chance there--
is there a chance there where we can potentially--
and I'm just going to say it--
maybe subdivide a precinct down there,
where the Asian population gets more
of a percentage of a precinct?
Because when I look at those towers that
are built in and around down there,
I don't know who's moving into them.
I couldn't tell you.
You'd probably be able to tell me way better.
I could tell you.
But I see a lot of people moving in down there.
And if the people that are moving in
are going to water down the Asian population in Chinatown
because we haven't done reprecincting
in the city of Boston in such a long time,
then I think that bears us taking a look at.
And I'll leave it at that.
And so I hear what you're saying.
I totally hear what you're saying.
And that's why that whole discussion
we had a few weeks back on reprecincting
was so interesting.
Because especially with the growth
in the city of Boston in areas like Chinatown,
the last thing we want to see happen
is a situation where people's voices are being watered down
simply because we haven't taken the steps to draw
new precincts.
And that's all I'm saying, so--
I appreciate that.
And just so that you all know--
I know that you know, and Senator Brownsberger knows--
that the Chinese Progressive Association is not just
Chinatown.
We have members throughout Greater Boston.
And we do have a big population in Allston-Brighton,
and I know that you've been championing some of the issues
there.
And you're right that the population
in the Chinatown area--
that that town has shifted so much.
And the precinct that I live in, 3-8,
is one of the biggest precints.
So--
Huge.
--I don't know what comes first, or whether or not [? during ?]
the reprecincting first, then do the redistricting.
It sounds to me, it makes sense.
But I don't know why it was not done all these years.
So--
I, kind of, come at this, Suzanne,
with a very basic thing.
If you do what's right, then you're OK.
If you just--
Yes.
--you have some principles and you
do what's right, on the back end of it, you're going to be fine.
But that is an issue we're going to be looking--
I intend to take a peek at as it pertains to the House district
anyway, and the map as a whole, I think.
I look forward to more conversation on this.
All right, thank you.
I'm sorry, Senator.
I just wanted to clarify those things.
No, no.
I appreciate it.
That's helpful.
Let me just pick up something that Beth
said, this domino effect around Joe Boncore's decision,
if in fact that happens, which-- it has not happened yet.
But if it happens, I wouldn't assume that the district
looks like it looks like.
So people are going to have to see how these districts shape
up before they start making their plans to run for Senate.
Other questions, comments from members
of the Committee for the panel or additional thoughts
from the panel?
We're super grateful for the work you're all doing,
and look forward to continuing to work closely
with you over the weeks to come as we
come into the homestretch.
[SNEEZING]
Bless you.
Whoever that was.
You may remain anonymous.
Sorry about that.
[CHUCKLE]
Not a worry, not a worry.
So let's go to the next panel, which
includes Calla Walsh, Juan Gallego, and Minnah Sheikh.
Hi, can you hear me OK?
We sure can.
Great.
Thank you for hosting our panel.
We also have Anthony Collins joining us,
in addition to Juan Gallego, and Minnah Sheikh.
Good morning.
Thank you, Chairs Brownsberger and Moran and the Redistricting
Committee for hosting this hearing.
My name is Calla Walsh, I live in Cambridge,
and I'm here to speak in support of a redistricting process that
centers racial justice and the voices of historically
disenfranchised communities.
I'm also here as part of a panel with the Drawing Democracy
Coalition made up of other youth.
And before I began my testimony, I
want to explain why the youth perspective is so important.
I'm 17, so 2022 will be the first year
that I'm eligible to vote.
And the sad reality is that I'm probably
one of the youngest people that will
testify before the legislature this entire session.
It's not that young people don't care about policy
or that we aren't impacted by the issues at hand,
because we are.
Young people make up the vast majority
of renters, minimum-wage earners, frontline workers,
and student debt carriers, and we
will bear the burden of the climate crisis.
But it's because the activities of our state legislature
and government in general are inaccessible.
There are countless barriers to civic engagement,
from political disenchantment to a lack of civics
education in our schools.
And too often, older generations will
testify in front of this body and speak for our generation
instead of listening to us and fighting alongside us.
And I really believe the redistricting process
can be used to end the disenfranchisement
of all communities that have been left behind,
including young people.
So first, I want to urge the committee
to prioritize greater student representation
while redistricting our House and Senate districts.
This will look like grouping campuses such as BU, BC, and/or
Northeastern together, and grouping
student residential areas in Cambridge, Boston,
and Somerville.
Massachusetts has the 10th highest percentage
of college students as part of our population in the country,
with over 500,000 students making a home here.
Our legislature, on the other hand, is over 50%
boomers, only 7% millennials, and of course 0% Gen Z.
While there are many obstacles to running for office that
contribute to this lack of representation
for young people, redistricting could
be a tool to increase our political power.
Next, I want to voice my support for increasing
the political power of young progressive communities
like Cambridge while redistricting our House seats.
Currently, our city is split up into all districts
and often grouped in with more older, conservative,
and often wealthier neighboring communities.
As a lifelong resident of Cambridge's Ward 5,
I'm in the East Suffolk District,
and I urge the Committee to group Cambridgeport
with Central Square in the redrawing of our districts,
not Back Bay and Beacon Hill.
And I also urge the Committee to not group precincts
11-1 and 11-3 in North Cambridge,
which have large immigrant and working-class populations
in the Rindge Towers, with Arlington and Belmont
in the 24th Middlesex.
And finally, I want to emphasize the need
for more majority-BIPOC districts across the state,
as Gen Z is our state's most diverse generation.
I urge you to value the unique perspective
that we bring to the table as the generation that
will be rising to comprise a new voter base as elections start
to take place in these newly drawn districts.
And I will pass it over to Anthony.
Thanks, Calla.
And I first want to begin by saying thank you
to Chairs Moran and Brownsberger as well
as the membership of the Redistricting Committee
for allowing us the opportunity to speak
on this important issue.
My name is Anthony Collins.
I'm currently a Roxbury resident and a constituent
of the 7th Suffolk District, though I've
worked and volunteered on a number of local elections
across the 7th congressional district.
As I'm sure you all know, the concept of gerrymandering
began in our own Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In a state with an 85% Democratic supermajority,
one might assume that gerrymandering would not
be an issue.
However, examining the way state House districts have been cut,
particularly in and around the 7th congressional district,
it's clear that the practice has persisted despite--
or perhaps because of-- our Democratic supermajority.
There are a number of state House districts
that demonstrate clear instances of gerrymandering
in order to dilute the votes of people
of color, particularly Black folks and Hispanic or Latinx
folks.
I respectfully ask that you all look
to the municipalities of Chelsea, Milton, Randolph,
Revere, and Winthrop.
Chelsea and Revere have two of the highest percentages
of Hispanic and Latinx residents,
yet they're both split between two House districts each, where
they're grouped with noticeably whiter, wealthier,
and more conservative areas.
Randolph has one of the highest percentages of Black residents
in the Commonwealth, yet it's split between three House
districts.
On the other hand, Winthrop, which is overwhelmingly white,
is placed into one individual House district.
80% of Milton, which is also overwhelmingly white,
is almost entirely in one House district.
And of the two precincts that are separated,
precincts 1 and 3, one of them is
one of the most white precincts, while the other is one
of the least white precincts.
Clearly, there are numerous instances of the dual concepts
of cracking and packing targeted demographics-- in this case,
in Black and Hispanic and Latinx voters--
that define gerrymandering at the state House level.
I respectfully ask that the Redistricting Committee
take these wrongs into consideration
and attempt to right them.
Consider giving Chelsea, Revere, Randolph, and even
parts of Boston the representation
that they deserve by not diluting
the votes of these groups as has been done in the past
and continues to this day.
When you redraw these districts, please consider drawing them
so that these communities have at least a chance of voting
in someone to represent them who looks
like a majority of their residents.
Sincerely, thank you so much for your time
and your consideration of this issue.
And I'll pass it over to Juan.
Thank you, Anthony.
Thank you, Calla.
Good morning, and thank you, Committee chairs,
Senator Brownsberger and Representative Moran,
as well as members of the Committee,
for hosting this public hearing.
My name is Juan Gallego, and I have been a resident of Chelsea
since 2006.
Today, I'm here in support of a redistricting process that
will provide Chelsea with proportional representation
in our House legislative districts.
My hometown of Chelsea is a special place.
It is Massachusetts' smallest city geographically,
a whopping 1.8 square miles, but a resilient and supportive
community made up of hardworking residents, mostly immigrants
themselves or of Latin American descent.
Representation matters, and Chelsea
deserves to be represented by those
with similar lived experiences who reflect the diversity,
values, and needs that our residents deserve.
Chelsea is currently split up into two districts, where
on one end of the city, we share representation
with the community of Charlestown, and on the other,
with Revere and Saugus--
all wonderful communities, but communities whose needs
differ from those of our residents.
The issues of our community, many exacerbated
by the COVID-19 pandemic, range from issues of inequality,
poverty, food and housing insecurity,
environmental injustice, and language barriers--
issues that require an intentional redistricting
process that considers the needs of our residents separately
from those of surrounding communities.
During the redistricting process,
I urge the committee to consciously
account for immigrants and those most marginalized
in our community.
For decades, our city's immigrant population
has been undercounted, some estimates
indicating that between 15% to 30% of residents
are systematically neglected.
As a result, we have been deprived
of a fair share of federal and state aid
and direct representation at the state House.
It is no surprise then, unfortunately,
that our community would be disproportionately affected
by the pandemic crisis, where we saw Chelsea become
the epicenter of the pandemic outbreak, with infection rates
six times higher than those of other Massachusetts cities,
and even greater than those in New York City.
Chelsea deserves a House district
that reflects the unique and urgent needs of our community,
particularly after such a tumultuous year.
Our city needs representation that empowers our voice
in the legislature.
Thank you once more to the chairs and the Committee
members for hosting this public hearing,
and thank you for your time.
And I will pass it over to Minnah.
Thank you, Juan, Calla, and Anthony.
In addition, thank you to the Redistricting Committee chairs,
Senator Brownsberg and Representative Moran,
alongside the other members of the Committee
for hosting this hearing.
My name is Minnah Sheikh, and I'm a resident of Revere.
I'd like to begin by sharing one of my favorite parts
about organizing.
It's the community outreach, walking through neighborhoods
and having conversations, listening, understanding,
connecting.
In the words of Ernesto Sirolli, the future of every community
lies in capturing the passion, imagination,
and resources of its people.
But what happens when neighborhoods,
let alone neighbors, fall under different districts?
What happens when communities cannot capture their passion
and imagination and resources together?
Let's look at Revere's Ward 3.
On the Rivera street corridor, the even numbers of the street
fall into different House districts than the odd ones.
Revere is broken into two Massachusetts House
districts, the 16th and 19th Suffolk Districts.
16th Suffolk District encapsulates
Saugus and Chelsea, and the 19th embraces Winthrop.
Although close in proximity, these cities and towns
are considerably different.
As a young person who graduated high school less than a month
ago, I'd like to dive into a part of my life
that I think after four years, kind of,
certifies me as an expert--
high school.
Let's look at my graduating class in the districts Revere
is included within.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education, Winthrop High had 146 Seniors,
Saugus High had 167, Chelsea had 331.
My Revere High graduating class had 484 students.
But so what if Revere had a few more students in a grade?
Diving into the racial makeup, Winthrop High
is made up of over 80% white students, and close to 70%
in Saugus.
Revere has a 58% Hispanic student population.
Our schools serve as a microcosm for our communities.
Our students are what our future looks like.
But that's only the Mass House district.
Revere falls under the first Middlesex and Suffolk Mass
Senate district, allotting even more drastically
different communities like Revere, Chinatown,
Cambridgeport, East Boston, and the North End,
and Winthrop in the same Senator.
Representation matters, and that is
why I urge this committee to keep Revere together
as Massachusetts House district, and allot a place in the Senate
district that parallels the communities like its own.
I thank the Chairs and the Committee
once again for their time and their efforts
towards creating a more equitable Massachusetts.
Great.
Thank the members of the panel.
Thank you all for your thoughts.
I appreciate the thoughts that you're giving to this.
Are there questions for members of the panel?
Chairman Moran.
Just a couple of things.
I can agree-- I agree with Juan 100%.
There has been and always will be undercounting
in especially immigrant cities and towns,
for obvious reasons of maybe distrust or whatever--
of not wanting to be counted.
So working with Beth Huang and the entire Drawing Democracy
Coalition, going back, jeez, 2 and 1/2 years ago--
when we put $2.5 million in the state budget
to create an accurate count committee
that was administered by the secretary of state
to go to areas that were hard to count.
Those grants were supposed to go to nonprofits
that were assisting with that process of counting people.
And my hope is that the census admits that their count was
about 140,000.
Some are lower than they anticipated.
My hope is that that money we put into these organizations
actually worked, and maybe areas like Chelsea and Springfield
and areas like that who are, generally
speaking, hard-to-count populations,
were actually counted.
And that would be great.
So that's one thing.
The second thing, more towards Anthony and House districts--
you should know that 43 of the states in the country
were used 10 years ago.
Only seven were not.
We were one of the seven that were not.
We were the largest and the most diverse state that wasn't sued.
That's because 10 years ago, there was not a single district
that you could draw on the House maps,
and I believe on the Senate, working with Senator--
I'm sorry, I'm blanking--
Rosenberg.
It was physically impossible to draw
another majority-minority district on all those maps.
So the reason we were not sued is because we did that,
and I think it's worth noting.
That doesn't mean we stop there.
That means this process, we take a fresh look at it,
and we see if areas like Chelsea and Revere and Everett
do have the population that has matured
and now can sustain a majority-minority district.
And Randolph-- and we're going to do that,
because that's one of the principles
that we have in place.
But I still do defend what happened 10 years ago,
because it was something that wouldn't
have happened without advocates, many of whom are on this call.
And I think it's something we should be proud of
and we should actually in some ways
take credit for, but also not rest there
and say we've done enough.
So that was all.
Just wanted to point out those couple of things.
Thank you, Senator.
Thank you so much, Chairman.
Other thoughts, questions from members of the Committee?
Any last comments from the panel?
I just want to actually thank Chairman Moran.
I didn't know that.
I appreciate that note, and I also just really
appreciate you noting that the work doesn't stop,
that there's always more that we can do about this.
So thank you, Chairman.
Thank you.
And I want to lift up the statement
from Congresswoman Pressley in the chat, thanking everybody
for their testimony and, in particular, the panel
that's testifying right now--
"bearing witness to," and I'm going
to quote, "an unprecedented moment of diverse youth, voice,
and leadership here.
They possess impressive acumen, which
comes from deep organizing."
And so thank you, Congresswoman Pressley, for those comments.
All right, so I'm going to go now
to a panel from East Boston, including
John Walkey, Dr. Neenah Estrella-Luna, and Marcos Luna.
OK, you called on John Walkey to speak?
Yes, with your panelists, Dr. Luna and Mr. Luna.
I see you all and look forward to your testimony.
Great, thank you very much.
So my name is John Walkey.
I work at GreenRoots here in Chelsea.
We work in Chelsea and East Boston.
I've been a resident of East Boston for the past 15 years.
And I just want to first off echo much
of what's already been said.
And given the history that we've heard of here,
I don't think there's too much that I
can add that you don't already know
as being pretty successful at doing this work,
but maintaining the 7th congressional district
is a pretty important thing.
And more importantly, it's the logic behind the creation
of that district of giving voice to people of color,
to immigrants, low-income residents--
is a pretty critical one, especially
as it shakes out through the state House and Senate
districts.
And as a little bit of background,
because in listening to the testimony from Minnah
as she spoke about the demographics of the graduating
classes--
I was born in Lynn and raised in Saugus, went to high school
in Malden, family living in Revere.
And my family originally came to this country
through East Boston.
So this, sort of-- what we've, sort of,
defined as the Chelsea issue, really
is, sort of, the near North Shore issue.
And I don't really envy the task of trying to figure out
this map as everything underneath you
is moving at the same time.
You're on a moving train, doing this.
Obviously, in the last 10 years in East Boston,
it's been a tremendous amount of demographic change,
as the forces of gentrification have really pushed out
a lot of long-term residents-- both newcomers,
in terms of Latin American immigrants,
but also old-timers, in terms of the older Italian families who
were just unable to hold on to their properties
as they increase in value so much,
and there is a transfer from one generation to the next.
And a lot of what we're seeing in our
work with the Latino immigrant community--
when I go back to Saugus, it's amazing.
Minnah said there was a--
70% in Saugus was white.
Well, when I was growing up, the graduating class in 1988
was pretty much close to 100% white.
I mean, a lot of the folks who are being displaced
from Chelsea, being displaced from East Boston,
from all of this area are, sort of,
squeezing out north into Lynn, into Saugus.
And the concerns that have already been mentioned
by Chairman Moran about the hard-to-reach populations--
a lot of the folks who are moving into places like Saugus
from East Boston are many of these folks who
are undocumented, people that are going
to be hard to find in the census results that will be coming out
in a month or so.
So we can only work with the numbers that we have,
but as you're placing those numbers down
and you're figuring out how to do
what you've done successfully in the past,
how to give a voice to these communities of interest,
I think it's important to also, kind of,
try to forecast a little bit of what's coming up in the future.
Because obviously, this stuff is changing rapidly.
Just the last five years in East Boston
has been tremendously drastic, the changes.
It's occurring in Chelsea bit by bit,
and we're seeing things get expensive in Lynn.
So of all this area and this Chelsea-issue zone,
we can probably guess where folks are going out to.
And so hopefully, as we work out the Senate and representative
districts, we can keep that in mind.
It's going to be a challenge, but I
think based on your track record, you're up for it.
And I know that with folks like Suzanne Lee and others here--
I think there's a good back bench of advocates
who are more than willing to step up and help out
with you to just make the call, and I'm
sure you'll get some input on a lot of this.
And I will stop there and hand it over
to my colleagues and neighbors.
Thank you.
All right, I'll go next.
Thanks, John.
Thank you to the Redistricting Committee
chairs Senator Brownsberger and Representative Moran
as well as the rest of the members of the Committee
for hosting this public hearing.
My name is Marcos Luna, and I am a Professor of Geography
and Sustainability and Coordinator of the Graduate
Geo-Information Sciences Program at Salem State University
in Salem, Massachusetts.
I'm also a resident and homeowner
in East Boston, where I've lived for the past 20 years.
So I speak to you as a concerned resident
and as an expert in geographic and demographic analyses.
The communities that are currently
encompassed by the 7th congressional district
of Massachusetts, which includes my neighborhood of East Boston,
very clearly constitute a community of interest
that should be preserved.
According to the 2019 American Community Survey estimates,
amongst all congressional districts in the Commonwealth,
the 7th has the distinction of having the highest
concentration of people of color, about 1/2
the population, significantly higher than any other district
in the state, the highest concentration of Black
and Hispanic or Latino people in the state, 1/4 and 1/5
of the population respectively, and if we look at just
the voting age population, also the highest concentration
of Asian residents as well.
The highest concentration of immigrants-- about 1/3
are foreign-born.
Highest concentration of renter-occupied housing units--
about 2/3 of occupied housing units are rented.
And it has the highest percentage
of families in poverty--
about 12% of families with incomes below the poverty line.
These statistics are amplified within the communities
that make up the 7th.
Environmental justice designations
of neighborhoods under the recently passed climate
roadmap legislation highlight the common geographic qualities
of these communities.
For example, East Boston, Chelsea, and Everett
share the distinction of being one
of the few contiguous blocks of communities that
have high concentrations of low-income, people-of-color,
and limited-English-speaking households.
This implies a body of common concerns and unique needs
and vulnerabilities.
I think this unique vulnerability
has been highlighted during the pandemic.
These same communities, particularly Everett, Chelsea,
and East Boston, have been the hardest-hit
during the pandemic, not just in terms of higher infection
rates, sickness, and death, but also
in terms of the economic fallout for these essential workers
unable to safely work from home, the so many immigrants who
either did not qualify for support
or feared the repercussions of accepting aid,
or so many renters on the edge of eviction
because of lost income.
These communities share unique social, economic, and cultural
interests that must be respected if they
are to have a chance of equitable representation.
For better or for worse, the communities
that make up the 7th constitute a natural community
with common interests, and therefore it
is important that this community be kept intact.
Thank you.
Hello.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Thank you for the hearing.
I'm Dr. Neenah Estrella-Luna.
I'm a member of the root council for Neighbors United
for Better East Boston, also known as NUBE.
I'm also a co-facilitator of Mutual Aid Eastie,
and I'm a Social Equity Consultant providing research,
education, and other services on a variety of equity issues.
I'm currently working with the Resilient Mystic Collaborative,
studying the social vulnerability
to climate-change-induced storm impacts
for communities in the Lower Mystic River
area, many of which are in District 7.
And I'm here to argue that East Boston
as a specific and well-defined neighborhood of Boston
be kept intact in the redistricting process.
We are a community of interest for many reasons
as has been described earlier.
The one I will focus on here is climate-change-induced
flooding.
Now, the East Boston that we know today
was created by making land to knit five islands together.
And in doing so, water and wetlands
that could have been used as a buffer to sea level rise
was taken to create Boston Logan International Airport.
People's homes were also taken to create highways and tunnels
to serve whiter and wealthier communities
in the northern suburbs--
tunnels that we now know will be rendered useless
by the next 100-year storm.
East Boston is almost entirely surrounded by water,
and this is what makes us, in part,
vulnerable to increased flooding from both storm surge
as the seas continue to rise, as well as inland flooding
from increased precipitation.
We're talking about flooding at levels this neighborhood has
rarely seen.
And in fact, some of my neighbors
who lived in their homes for two or three generations
are experiencing flooded basements for the first time,
as storms have already become more intense and more frequent.
These are stories that I've seen on Facebook just this morning.
East Boston, as many of you may know,
has historically been and continues
to be a mostly working-class immigrant neighborhood.
But as John mentioned, it is true
that our neighborhood is beginning to see some change.
Due to speculative development occurring on our waterfront,
we have a different kind of migrants.
Students and young professionals migrating
from different parts of the country and the world
are now moving into the neighborhood
and into the most vulnerable areas.
These folks tend to be mobile.
They also tend to have more wealth,
and they tend to be whiter than our traditional neighbors.
They are nevertheless just as vulnerable
as everyone else in the neighborhood.
Indeed, they may be even more vulnerable
because of the lack of social ties
and community connection that create
true resilience, an issue that NUBE and Mutual Aid
Eastie saw and have tried to address during the pandemic.
Climate change puts every single resident
of East Boston at risk, regardless
of race and ethnicity, wealth, language ability, citizenship
status, or level of education.
And so on this and many other issues that have already
been spoken to by my fellow panelists,
East Boston as a whole is a community of interest.
And by the way, we do share this risk with our closest neighbor
the city of Chelsea.
And while my primary argument is to keep
East Boston intact within congressional district 7,
it is also important that we share the district
with Chelsea, given our many shared populations,
challenges, and risks.
So thank you for the opportunity to speak,
and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.
Well, I thank all members of your panel
for offering important thoughts on this area, which we are all
giving a lot of attention to.
Other questions from the Committee?
[INAUDIBLE]
Any last comments from members of the panel?
OK.
Thank you, thank you.
I'm going now to [? Loren ?] [INAUDIBLE],,
who is from Newton.
Is she here?
I believe we have a city councilor from Somerville
who asked to testify before 12:30 if possible.
Oh, thank you.
So I can promote him.
What is the name of the councilor?
[INAUDIBLE]
Thank you, Maeve.
I recognize the councilor.
Hello, can you hear me OK?
Yes.
Thank you very much.
We got you.
Thank you for coming on.
Absolutely.
Thank you, Chair Brownsberger, Chair Moran,
and members of the Committee for the opportunity to testify
and for holding this important hearing for our communities.
My name is Will Mbah.
I'm one of the at-large city councilors in Somerville,
and a candidate for mayor of Somerville.
I'm honored to represent Somerville,
a vibrant and diverse community.
As a proud native of Cameroon and immigrant,
I'm honored to represent Somerville, raise my family,
and also call this community home.
As Congresswoman Pressley, State Representative Uyterhoeven,
and Councilor Scott shared earlier,
Somerville is a unique city with critical communities
of interest, including communities
of color and immigrant communities.
And we face a unique challenge ahead of us,
including environmental justice, housing justice,
transit justice, racial and economic justice.
I want to highlight one of those challenges
of environmental justice and build on the points
Congresswoman Pressley shared earlier.
As a young boy, I took interest in environmental studies
after seeing the impact fossil fuel extraction had
on the Niger River Delta and in my hometown in Cameroon.
This motivated me to study environmental science, which
ultimately brought me to working at the Department
of Environmental Protection and to volunteer
with local organizations in Somerville,
including Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health,
to fight highway pollution and how they impact
Somerville residents' heatlh.
This is one of the many reasons why I ran for city council
and why I'm running for mayor, to tackle
these issues in partnership with our vibrant community
and our representative.
It is critical that Somerville maintains representation
with congressional district 7, entirely covering
Somerville, one state Senate district, and three state House
districts.
Our federal and state delegation has
been crucial in advocating for Somerville's
environmental justice communities
surrounding I-93 and McGrath Highway.
I hope to continue working with our delegation on these issues
and ensure we keep some of this district whole
and representative of our communities of interest.
Sir, I want to thank the community for their hard work
on the challenging task ahead of redistricting.
Somerville is so fortunate to have
the representation we have had at the state and federal level.
So on behalf of our diverse communities of interest,
I hope the Joint Committee on Redistricting
will maintain Somerville's whole, contiguous, and impact
districts that are reflective of our community in Somerville.
I want to thank you for your time, consideration, and all
your hard work.
Thank you, Sir.
Thank you so much for your testimony, Councilor.
Other questions from members of the Committee?
Glad we could get you on, Councilor.
Thank you very much.
It's a pleasure, Sir.
Thank you, Sir.
To [? Loren ?] [? Sokal? ?]
Yes, hello there.
Hi, [? Loren. ?]
Hi, I'm [? Loren. ?] I would like to promote
Norieliz DeJesus from Chelsea.
She'll actually be speaking.
OK.
Good afternoon.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
OK, great.
I want to start by thanking the Redistricting Committee chairs
Senator William Brownsberger and Representative Mike Moran
as well as other members of the Committee
for hosting this public hearing, and for your commitment
to engaging with grassroots organizations
throughout this process.
My name, again, is Norieliz DeJesus.
I'm the Director of Policy and Organizing at La Colaborativa,
and Chelsea is my hometown.
My organization is also a proud member of the Drawing Democracy
Coalition, where many of my colleagues
that I share coalition seats with
have already spoken and done an amazing job
in describing the concerns with how
Chelsea is underrepresented.
Today, I will testify as a Chelsea girl.
Chelsea is my home.
It holds the roots of my upbringing.
It will also hopefully hold the roots for my children
to also call Chelsea home.
I have lived in five different neighborhoods
in this small city throughout my life.
It's common for families in our city to move around many times
but always remain in our city.
And this is because it's more than just a roof
you find in the city.
It's the safety net the city provides.
It's low-income communities of color.
The Chelsea community is a beautiful community
of diverse backgrounds, cultures, languages,
and religions.
We are a humble community with households
of students that will be first-time high school
graduates in their families and first-time college
students in their families, and with parents
who have third- and fourth-grade levels of education
and at times do not know how to read or write.
These students are often enrolled in AP classes
and work hard to build a path to college, but at the same time
have to dedicate the afternoons and weekends to working
a part-time job to support their parents with bills,
keeping on the lights on, or food on the table.
Our city is filled with neighbors
that look out for each other even when they themselves
are struggling to get ahead, families that extend a hand,
break bread, and share a sofa with families
that have fallen in need.
We have seen this demonstrated more than ever
during this past year as we took the lead many times
with COVID rates in the state.
This pandemic unveiled the huge disadvantages
that gateway communities like Chelsea
have always had, how a city like Chelsea
is so unique in its struggles, its educational disadvantages,
unemployment rates, health concerns, and so much more.
We're a community of renters.
Throughout the years, due to the increasing rents,
we have had no choice but to work two or three jobs
to keep up with the cost of living, a roof over our heads,
and the food on the table.
We often jump around in our neighboring cities,
from home to home, with parents that
don't have a minute to breathe between jobs because their goal
is to get their children through school and support them,
so that one day those children become homeowners,
breaking the cycle of poverty.
A tenant in Chelsea would relocate
between the cities of Chelsea, Everett, Revere, and East
Boston.
This is why La Colaborativa this year throughout the pandemic
has broken the borders that we've
had to only servicing Chelsea, to expand it
to also the neighboring cities.
Because it's our families that are moving from city to city.
It's the same families that we see in our food lines.
It's the same families that we see reaching out
for housing services.
And this is because of the similarities
that these communities share in culture, languages, and income.
Nothing ever compares to staying in Chelsea.
Although we can provide sometimes
shelters for relocation to other parts of the states,
our families often opt out of that.
They'll prefer to sleep in a pantry, on a porch,
or even under the bridge in our city,
because the city provides a sanctuary.
We're a sanctuary city where organizations
such as La Colaborativa for years
have demanded, implemented, and monitored
that immigrant families feel comfortable exercising
their rights to report crime with local law enforcement,
to report code violations of inhabitable homes
to the municipalities, the right to request Spanish translation
at any of our schools, be able to advocate for their children
in their native language, and access healthcare, and so much
more.
For Chelsea to have fair representation,
they must have a leader that solely represents
the unique city that I just described above,
or they should be representing districts that share
similar needs and demographics.
With that being said, Chelsea is highly underrepresented
when we share representation with a city like Charlestown.
Charlestown and Chelsea are two different worlds.
And what ends up happening is that the unique needs of a city
like Chelsea get overseen.
Meanwhile, the needs of a wealthier and whiter community
get more representation.
I respectfully ask that you consider making sure
that our city has fair representation
within our state's democracy.
Make sure that our voters continue
to trust and believe in the changes
that their votes can make.
Allow our community to lead and implement
the changes and solutions that they need in our city.
Thank you for your time and for your attention this afternoon.
Thank you very much for that powerful testimony.
That puts some facts on the map.
Much appreciated.
Questions, comments from members of the Committee?
Thank you very much.
Thank you for being with us.
I'm going to go to Henry Milorin from Medford.
Henry Milorin, you have been promoted.
You need to unmute and turn on your video.
I'm going to ask you to unmute there, Henry,
and turn on your video if you're comfortable doing so.
Let's assume that Henry is away from the screen at the moment,
and we'll try to come back to him.
I'm going to go for me to [? Fehmida ?] [? Malik ?] from
Cambridge if she's here or he's here.
I don't believe so.
OK.
Is John [? Bookstone ?] here?
I don't think so.
[? Tamika ?] Williams?
Nope.
OK.
But we have--
Dorothea Jones is here.
Dorothea Jones.
Dorothea Jones, please.
Welcome.
Well, thank you very much.
Good morning, Chairman Brownsberger
and Chairman Moran.
My name is Dorothea Jones.
I am a lifelong resident of Roxbury, Massachusetts,
where I've resided for more than seven decades.
As you can see, I am a Black African-American.
I thank you for allowing me to speak today
on the issue of redistricting, the process which
allows all Americans to have the right to be represented fairly
in their government.
A quick background note--
I've had the pleasure of being a political activist
at the local community and state and national levels,
serving as a member of my local ward
committee and many grassroots campaigns,
as a member of the state committee
and delegate to numerous state conventions,
as an elected delegate to the national presidential
conventions, and organizer in several states
for presidential campaigns in this great country.
As a woman and person of color, I
speak my truth regarding what I see
about the experiences of my gender and my ethnicity
and heritage.
As a people, we have been and continue
to experience political cycles of victimization,
marginalization, and demonization, primarily based
on our Black heritage.
And I say today, enough is enough.
It is time for political equity and political justice,
in which African-Americans are fairly and equitably
represented in what this country calls representative
are participatory democracy.
History has shown, and we know, how participatory government
has worked for every group within Massachusetts politics.
The nativists are primarily Protestant-majority, the Irish,
the Italians, and how cycles of victimization, marginalization,
and demonization of groups keep people who look like me,
people of color particularly, and Black African-Americans
from achieving political equality.
For years, those classified as nativists
are the Protestant-majority, and the Irish and the Italians
were firmly secured under separate umbrellas,
particularly socially, economically, and based
on their interests.
They were all separate in this country
when it came politically.
They were all good or categorized
under separate umbrellas, but now
based on need and political expediency or political power,
today they are all classified under one umbrella.
And that is a white umbrella, which preserves
their political positions.
And together, they have a common interest
and can be satisfied that as a group,
they have preserved their political and economic power.
As an African-American, and as African-Americans
with common interests and whose interests
must be included and represented in the diversity
and political power sharing of this government,
based on our population, we expect the government
to be inclusive.
Based on our population numbers, our zip codes,
and our geographical turf where we
reside that any fair and equitable redistricting map,
when drawn and approved, will have the Black African-American
and other ethnic and marginalized groups
represented fairly in this participatory democracy,
especially for Suffolk County where there has been continued
population growth, unlike many counties in Massachusetts,
where there has been population decline.
I remain hopeful with this hearing,
the excellent testimony of concerned voters
and organizations, and in particular the words
of Chairman Moran who spoke of being principled and doing
the right thing.
I want to thank all of the members of the Redistricting
Committee.
I want to thank all of my elected officials.
And I remain very hopeful that out of this hearing,
there will be conspicuous and equitably drawn district lines.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
I want to associate myself with Chairman Moran's remarks
about being principled and doing the right thing.
[LAUGHTER] I think what he said was very hopeful for all of us,
and I understand that you all have
a very, very difficult position, trying to satisfy everybody.
But I think if we all look at it in terms
of doing the right thing and being very principled.
I think we will all--
although we may not be 100% satisfied,
we will be mostly satisfied with what the outcome is.
That is our hope.
Questions, comments from others?
OK, thank you so much for your testimony.
Thank you very much.
I believe Anthony Collins spoke in a previous panel.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
That's correct.
Dr. [? Karo ?] Williams?
[? Kyro ?] Williams?
Present?
No.
By the way, I just want to take this opportunity to say,
if people are watching this on the livestream from
the legislative website, you do have the option to follow
the link at the Events Scheduling item under
MAlegislature.gov/redistricting and get on the spreadsheet that
I'm reading from, and we'll call you to testify.
So people can decide at any time that they
wish to testify, and just come in via that link.
MAlegislature.gov/redistricting.
Maybe Andrew could put-- or Maeve could put in the chat
an even more direct link to the form to sign up
for this if anybody wishes to.
OK, so Dr. [? Kyra ?] Williams, I do not see.
I'm going to go to Andrea Lee [? Sally. ?]
I don't believe she's here.
I believe the next person on the list is here.
[INAUDIBLE]
I'm sorry I'm not sure how to pronounce it,
but it starts with a Q.
Yes.
Let's promote that person.
Yes.
Ms. Day, thank you for joining us.
Oh, thank you for having me.
And it's Quonekuia, by the way.
Quonekuia.
We can do that.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
So I do thank you Chairman Brownsberger and to all
the Committee members.
I'm so glad to be here.
I do want to just say two things.
I am a resident of Mattapan.
I'm also a Professor at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary,
but I speak as a resident of Mattapan.
And so the two things I wanted to share is that I do
think that you guys have a tough job,
but I also feel like this should be better promoted.
I do think there should be a little bit more--
I know everyone's trying hard to do it-- more transparency.
I'm excited to hear about the upcoming community forum
later on in August, that I heard about it via email.
I feel like there should have been some other formats.
But that's just one thing.
I think there should be more testimonies from just
our regular folks in the neighborhood,
because we live it, and we experience it.
The other part I wanted to just add
is that Mattapan is a diverse community.
We have a lot of homeowners as well.
We do have a high rental rate, but we
have a lot of homeowners.
We have immigrants as well, and we have white people,
we have Jewish people, we have Asians,
we have all sorts of people.
And I think our community is--
I think it's growing, and I feel a sense of strong community
in Mattapan.
I feel like it's a great place to live,
and I would hate to see it changed.
I'd really like our district to remain.
I know that other groups are trying
to see how they could have more representation
and look at the majority-minority status
in Mattapan.
But I think I would hate to see us changed
in this whole process, because I do feel, as a community,
we are growing as tight-knit, and I'd
like to see us continue to expand in that effort.
So those are just my two points to keep Mattapan as is,
and to perhaps work a little bit more
on getting the word out to the regular folks
in the neighborhood.
Thank you.
I appreciate your testimony.
I mean, we need all the help we can get on that.
And don't go away.
Stay with us just for a second.
I do have a question for you.
So we do definitely need all the help
we can get to getting the word out,
and we appreciate any help you can give us on that.
We promote that thing in August, and we'll keep the word going.
You know, there's lots of hearings continuing
to go on around the state, and we
will be having hearings in multiple languages coming up.
So if you want to promote our website
through any channels you have, we certainly appreciate that.
Will do, definitely.
You said you want to keep Mattapan as is.
I take it you're referring to the congressional district?
Yes.
OK.
Because I don't know if you want to keep it as is,
as it relates to the Senate district or--
No, no, no.
Gotcha.
OK, just checking.
Representative Moran?
Just quickly, you know, I feel a need--
because a number of people have said it,
and they've said it in different hearings as well--
you know, I want to keep the 7th or the 8th or the 3rd as is.
Unfortunately, every 10 years, we
have to readjust, by our Constitution,
because of one person, one vote.
So in the 7th CD, we're expecting that district
to be considerably overpopulated.
By that, I mean having too many people in it.
So it is very likely that--
we won't know until the final numbers come in--
that we are going to have to shed some population
in that congressional district.
So while I know people don't want any change,
every congressional district in the Commonwealth
is going to have some change.
What this is about really is about what
you said with Mattapan and areas like that.
Where are their communities of interest
that are worth accentuating and telling us about,
so that when we do have to decide which areas will
be removed from this congressional district,
that we do as little harm as possible to the fabric
of the district?
So the fabric of the district-- whether it
be just strictly based on ethnicity or income level
or whatever the case may be when you're
talking about community of interest,
that we try to keep that fabric whole as much as possible.
So I just feel like a number of people have said that,
and I just wanted to--
not correct the record, but just give you
an idea of what we're dealing with.
Thank you, and I have no questions, Senator.
I just thought it was worth at this point in time
pointing that out.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
OK, anything else for Quonekuia Day?
Thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
I see now we have [? Dianne ?] [? Wilkerson. ?] Is
[? Dianne ?] [? Wilkerson ?] on the list?
Is she available?
I don't see her.
Maeve, who's the next person that you see who's present?
[INAUDIBLE]
I'm going to read all the names, just to make
sure we don't miss anything.
Well, what's the next one that you see?
Jim Kaplan.
OK, I'm going to read the names in between.
[? Dianne ?] [? Wilkerson, ?] [? Patrick ?] [? Campbell, ?]
[? Valerie ?] [? Copeland, ?] [? Desiree ?] [? Versailles, ?]
and if any of them are in the webinar,
they can chat and alert us that we missed them,
but we're going to go to Jim Kaplan next.
Jim, I believe you've been promoted.
You are still on mute, and your video is off.
Am I unmuted now?
You're unmuted now.
Hello, I'm speaking from Somerville.
I would like to thank the co-chairs, Senator Brownsberger
and Representative Moran, for giving me
one moment to add a testimony.
I'm speaking on behalf of maintaining
the current situation in Somerville
at the level of the state representative districts.
We have a district in Central Somerville, in which I reside
and vote, that covers the core of the city in one
integral district that speaks to the two issues most paramount
in the current development in the city.
The first is housing, where the greatest amount of change
in the composition of the population
and in the provision of affordable housing
has been-- in the core center of the city.
Keeping it together in one district
assists the capacity of pressure to address affordable housing
issues in our city.
And the second is transportation--
in particular, the development of the green line
extension, which runs right through this district.
So for these two reasons, the inclusion
in one district of the core squares of the city served
by Mass Transit, and therefore the center of the most
intense shifts in housing affordability,
are from Union Square through Gilman Square,
up to Magoun Square over to Ball Square,
down to Davis Square and past Porter Square
back to Union Square.
That district carries with it the core of--
in fact, pretty much the totality, save the Orange Line,
of the transportation corridors--
Mass Transit corridors in the city.
Keeping them within one district assists our capacity
to lobby effectively on behalf of that transportation
development and to respond to the housing pressures
that it creates along those lines.
So those are the two points I wish to make,
and I appreciate the time that you have given.
And we thank you for bringing those points to the table.
Questions from members of the committee?
Thoughts, comments?
Thank you, Sir.
It is Nathaniel Clauser here?
Who is the next person that you see, Maeve?
Oh, Nathanel, great.
There you are.
We got you.
You're on.
Can you hear me OK?
Yup.
Great, thanks.
Thank you, Chair Brownsberger, Chairman Moran,
and members of the Committee for this opportunity to speak.
My name is Nathaniel Clauser, and I'm a seven-year resident
of the city of Somerville.
I'm the current Chair of Somerville's Ward 5
Democratic Committee.
I'm greatly appreciative of the fact
that Somerville is presently represented
by a single representative to Congress,
a single state Senator, and three representatives
of the state House, including one state representative whose
district falls entirely within the boundaries of the city.
These districts reflect Somerville's diverse voices
and needs.
And I'm excited that last year, Somerville
elected its first woman of color in over 25 years to any elected
office.
In the 27th Middlesex district, this
followed the 7th congressional district
electing Massachusetts's first woman of color
to Congress in 2018.
I hope that you will preserve these state rep, state Senate,
and congressional districts as much as possible.
Indeed, I'm testifying today to echo the remarks
of Representative Uyterhoeven and of Somerville City
Councilors Mbah and Scott to ask the Committee to do everything
in its power within the redistricting process
to ensure that Somerville maintains
cohesive districts that are representative
of our communities of interest.
A good legislative district is both contiguous and compact.
Somerville is the densest city in New England
and has a land area of just 4.1 square miles.
It doesn't get much more contiguous or compact
than that.
Splitting Somerville between more than one
congressional district or state Senate district
or further splitting it among additional state
legislative districts would create districts
that are less contiguous and compact,
and would harmfully divide our existing political community
and communities of interest.
And it would make it harder for our community
to tackle the collective challenges we face.
It's critical that Somerville have elected representatives
who understand our city's struggles and collective
solutions, from the housing and displacement
crisis, to the related challenges
and opportunities stemming from the ongoing Green Line
extension project.
Keeping Somerville whole in redistricting
is a racial justice issue, an immigrant justice issue,
an economic justice issue, an environmental justice issue,
and so much more.
I ask you to prioritize equity and justice in redistricting,
and to keep Somerville and its communities of interest
together and whole, not to split us apart.
I thank the chairs and the members of the Committee
for the opportunity to speak and share
our communities perspectives.
Thank you.
Thank you for your patience.
We thank you for waiting and taking the time to testify.
Chairman Moran.
Thank you, Nate.
It's been said a few times now when
referred to the House districts, you know,
people don't want much change.
You know, I don't think people want change anywhere.
But the reality is that the population growth that
has happened in and around that area of Boston, Cambridge,
and Somerville has been quite impressive and well
above the state average.
So there is likely to be some shifting that
has to occur in that area.
Just to give you a sense, your neighbor where a couple of reps
shared--
Cambridge and Somerville-- you're looking at almost double
what the state growth will be.
So that just means that there are lots of people
and too many for--
so I just say that, because--
and sometimes I talk a lot during these hearings--
just so people get a sense of what we're dealing with.
There are a lot of people in that cluster of Cambridge,
Boston, and Somerville, specifically the area of Boston
that abuts Cambridge, that abuts some of them.
So you're going to see some changes there,
and I would just ask--
and you're right.
It's up to us to try and figure out and balance the equity
arguments and the social justice arguments
and the community-of-interest arguments,
to draw districts that are the best represent
the people of those communities.
But I just wanted to point that out.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Other questions, comments from members of the Committee?
Thank you, Sir, for your testimony.
Do we have William Fatherley?
We do.
Welcome.
Hello.
You're unmuted, and we hear you, but we do not see you.
There we go.
All the way around.
How's it going?
Good.
Awesome, OK.
First, I'll just thank all the organizing parties,
and then-- so I just am here to echo previous testimony
regarding climate justice.
And I think that just in hashing out councilor, House,
and Senate seats, I hope the Committee will evaluate
the possibility of considering the indicators
of natural disaster susceptibility,
things like elevation above sea level,
ratios of plant coverage to anthropomorphic surfaces,
and things like that.
And I think that these types of features
are going to impact the well-being of residents
in the 7th, and how it looks now and, sort of, in the future.
And so that's just about it.
Hopefully, that can have a good and fair representation.
Yeah.
Thank you for bringing that dimension of the thought
process up.
It's one that we do need to factor in
from a community-of-interest standpoint.
Questions, comments, members of the Committee?
Thank you.
Jack Perenick?
Here we go.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am here today actually, as the committee from Somerville,
to talk about some of the issues that we actually
have as a community for college campuses.
So I live in Somerville, I live more
in the center in the Magoun Square area.
But what's really interesting to look at
is that the Tufts University campus
is split, if you look at it, almost exactly down the middle.
And I'm almost exactly--
I'm talking about--
I can't go into the library and check out a book from the A
and [INAUDIBLE] section within the same state House district.
It's just not possible.
It is split straight down the middle.
And I know it's really hard to talk about some of these issues
without seeing the district itself.
And so I put it up here in my background.
But these are the two, kind of, primary districts
of 27th Middlesex and 34th.
Middlesex is blue and pink salmon color here.
And what I would like to ask the Committee to do
is it takes a closer look at redistricting this year--
is making sure that college campuses, especially ones that
are so evenly divided like that, to be
put into the same districts.
And this is serendipitous with the fact
that, given the way that population growth has
been going, and given the fact that a lot of districts
in the western part of the state want
to be at the lower end of the population spectrum,
this is also an opportunity to enlarge these [? districts ?]
[INAUDIBLE] any piece of them.
And so essentially, what I, kind of, propose here
is that the district should undergo a precinct split.
Because it isn't possible to neatly hold parts
in the one district without coming apart Medford.
Unfortunately because Medford Ward 4
and has a unique shape, where it goes
all the way to the hillside, almost all
the way to the river.
However, you can very neatly, by just moving these three blocks
here, move the entirety of Tufts into the 27th Middlesex
district without completely severing it.
This also has the added benefit of moving
the entirety of the Green Line extension
into one district, which is great.
Right now, it leaves out-- it runs right here.
It runs in and out of the district about three times.
It would be excellent, especially in the [INAUDIBLE]
way, to get back in one district,
and then you have the terminus of the Green Line
extension in the same district as it goes all the way up
to Somerville.
And it's certainly not--
of course, Representative Barber's district,
the 34th Middlesex here already comes in and out
of Medford and Somerville in three places.
And so this certainly isn't unprecedented to go in and out
of the city lines like this.
By making this very precise change,
it could really help to make the district united
in a college campus sense.
I know that that's something that
has been a particular issue in other areas,
just because of the way the population works out
and making sure that all of the districts
have the requisite majorities.
But this is an area where you really
can't fit the whole community into the district neatly.
By just making this modification here, it is--
the college campus as a community-of-interest is
a little special, because it has students like myself--
I'll be voting for the first time in the 2022 elections.
When you have college campuses that
can't have candidate forum for the same candidates,
when they can't petition the same representatives
for [? redress, ?] you have a weird issue
where people who are voting for the first time, whether they're
resident on campus or in the surrounding areas,
can't participate in the same election
or in the same political ethos.
And so as a community of interest,
splitting college campuses like this
has a particularly detrimental effect,
because it is where so much politicalization
and education happen.
And so I would really advocate that, especially at a time when
these districts need to pick up new populations,
it do so by neatly clipping Tufts
into one district within the 27th Middlesex,
and hopefully that could create a more united community here.
Thank you so much for taking this
and I'll hopefully keep it brief there.
Thank you for your careful analysis.
That's appreciated.
Maybe you can make sure that you send us those slides.
Certainly [INAUDIBLE].
--via our address, which Andrew maybe
can just pop into the chat to make sure
you have it conveniently.
Appreciate that.
Any questions from members of the Committee?
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Is Amber Davis-- what's the next one you see, Maeve?
I see Richard Phipps.
The next one, I'm sorry, is who?
I see Richard Phipps on the list that I'm looking at.
Jack was on the list twice, so--
I got you, OK.
I got you.
OK, so Mitchell [? Drescher ?] is not here.
Again, we'll always come back to you
if you [? bang ?] us in the chat.
Richard Phipps, I understand, is here.
Richard Phipps, you are still on mute.
He has to unmute.
OK, so I'm going to think that Richard Phipps has gone away
from his screen.
No, no.
Am I unmuted?
Yeah, now we got you.
Now we hear you.
OK.
My apologies for my lack of technical skills.
No apology needed.
We're all clicking our way through this process here.
My name is Richard Phipps, and I come
from the fine area of Boston commonly known as Mattapan,
where my offices are.
And I live just across the line in Hyde Park,
representing urban sites in the Greater Boston Chapter
Realties, Urban Sites, Housing and Economic Development
Corporation.
Thanks for coming us, the Committee and Chairs
Brownsberger and Moran.
I first want to speak to the eloquence with which
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley addressed
the concerns of our district.
And I dare say, I know the hard work she does.
She must have a source beyond what's
normal to call on to do the work she does
and keep the days that she does as well.
So thank you, Congresswoman Pressley, for the work you do.
I address a unique corner of this process of redistricting
as it relates to housing and economic development.
And I hope that as you look at the district,
the population in Massachusetts increased by about 250,000,
260,000, since 2010.
And most of that is in the Eastern part of Massachusetts
and a significant portion in the district
that we're speaking of.
Understanding Chairman Moran's explanation
about the reduction in numbers is certainly appropriate
and understood.
As we look at this whole process,
it speaks to numbers, people, and resources--
the allocation of resources based on numbers.
So if we're able to maintain the core,
or as we have heard so many times today,
the majority-minority core, communities of interest,
in those specific areas we address,
that would go a long way towards addressing the needs that
have already been identified.
And we hope that as you make the adjustments--
we're known as a very progressive society
in Massachusetts, and gerrymandering
is probably not a [INAUDIBLE],, but certainly something
that we have to be mindful of as we
are realigning these districts.
And I'm quite pleased with the openness of the committee
to consider all the issues that have been addressed [INAUDIBLE]
pledge to address those issues.
The last item that I'd like to note
is, I've been in the Greater Boston area
for almost 50 years, and this is the first time
that I've received an invitation or information
about the redistricting hearing.
And I probably should have been following the Mass
legislative agenda, as I heard, but with so many things
happening, it's difficult to isolate any single item
in our busy lives.
So being reminded or having these out front items
as important as this when they're happening--
I heard the request today to share the information,
and I certainly will look forward
to doing that with our constituents in the future,
so that they are aware of it.
Because without the outreach from Congresswoman Pressley,
I probably would have missed this one again.
So thanks for the outreach, and I look forward
to the outcome of the work that you do,
and hopefully, all the information that was provided
will be considered, and we will wind up
with a win-win situation on both sides
of the fence and the aisle.
May it be so.
Thank you for your testimony.
Question, comments from members of the Committee?
Thank you so much, Sir, for testifying.
Appreciate it.
Who is the next person that you see, Maeve?
We have Dr. Reyes Coll-Tellechea.
OK.
So in between, there's Linda Jenkins and Peggy James.
If we've missed you, just give us a holler in the chat.
But I'm going to go now to Dr. Reyes Coll--
please help me with your last name.
Tellechea.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
My name is Reyes Coll-Tellechea, and I'm a Hispanic immigrant.
I am a UMass Boston Professor, where
I have worked for 28 years, and a member of the Boston Human
Rights Commission.
I'm here on my own behalf.
I live with my wife, [? Shana, ?]
in what the map usually calls Dorchester Center.
But we call it Four Corners, Fields Corner, Saint Marks,
Codman, or Bowdoin Geneva.
Ours is a vibrant, culturally rich, and diverse community
in every sense of the word.
It is home to Little Saigon in Fields Corner, Saint Mark's
parish, Caribbean Codman Square, and Cape Verdean Bowdoin
Geneva.
It is an urban space made of single-family houses
and [INAUDIBLE],, owners and renters of all ages,
new immigrants like me, and deeply rooted communities
of African Americans and Irish Americans.
It is a community defined by its deep human connections
and its very specific challenges in the areas
of public education at all levels, health disparities,
housing insecurity, and environmental justice.
It is a politically aware and politically active
urban community.
It has strong civic associations and political representation,
and it has, I will say it again, very specific needs and goals.
It has made a huge difference in our lives
to have a Congress representative who understands
us fully and deeply.
Representation does matter.
Defined by a strong identity as a majority-minority community
of interest, this is a Boston community
that ought to be preserved, respected,
attentively served, and not diluted or divided in any way.
We belong in Massachusetts District 7,
and I am proud to be part of it.
Finally, allow me to thank you so very much for your service.
It is much needed in these very dark times.
Thank you.
Thank you for your thoughtful testimony, Doctor.
Chairman Moran?
Let's Go, UMass.
[CHUCKLE]
OK.
Thumbs up all around.
Any comments from others?
Questions?
Thank you so much, Doctor, for being
with us and for your patience.
Maeve, who is next?
I believe we have [? Daisy ?] Gutierrez, who
I think is on a panel, if I'm not mistaken.
Oh [? Daisy ?] Gutierrez.
OK, gotcha.
So I'm going to recite the names in between,
in case we missed anybody before we go to you,
[? Daisy ?] Bear with us a moment.
So [? Gail ?] [? Jackson ?] [? Blount, ?] Anthony Brewer,
not here, Amber Davis, [? Adriana ?] Ramirez,
Stephen [? Hough, ?] Ronald Lammy,
Tanya Fernandez Anderson.
If we've missed you, know that we will respond
if you hit us in a chat.
Thank you so much, [? Daisy ?] Gutierrez.
Are there other members of the panel with you?
Do we have everybody?
[INAUDIBLE] anybody else?
I see Marisol, ready to translate.
Great.
All right, Marisol, why don't you
let the panelists know that we're ready to hear them?
Great thank you, Mr. Chairman and all.
Is my audio OK?
It is.
Great, thank you.
We did have a third panelist for purposes of your speaker list,
[? Heidi ?] [? Mayorga, ?] who unfortunately could not be
present to testify at this time with the panel.
So it will be [? Daisy ?] and [? Raina, ?] and I will be
translating for [? Raina. ?]
Wonderful.
So who would like to go first?
I can start.
Thank you.
So good afternoon, everyone, and thank you, Ayanna Pressley,
for being here today and hearing about this important issue.
As mentioned, my name is [? Daisy ?] Gutierrez,
and I am here with Neighbors United for a Better East
Boston, NUBE.
I'm a community organizer and a long-term resident
of East Boston.
I've been in East Boston since 2006,
and I've seen the changes that the years have
brought with them.
One of the places in my town that has changed drastically
is Maverick Square, the heart of East Boston.
I remember seven years ago, standing
at the Maverick Waterfront after a shift I completed.
At this point, I was, like, 14 years old,
and I had been working at Maverick Landing Community
Service.
And I was there as part of their youth program,
and that's where I learned a lot about the importance
of my community.
So while standing there, an old man approached me,
and he asked for my input in luxury condos.
And at the time, I didn't know what luxury condos were.
He mentioned how much money he could
make if he put a few buildings around the area.
And I responded to him that there
was a low-income community just across the street.
He shrugged his shoulders, and seven years later, here we
are, with the Maverick Waterfront,
and it's completely different from the rest of East Boston.
The heart of East Boston, Maverick Square,
has been divided not only by housing accessibility,
but economically and culturally.
When walking down the street, you
can point out who lives in the Maverick affordable housing
units and who lives in the fancy waterfront condos.
You can see who has access to the fun amenities that
the waterfront has now, and who doesn't.
You could tell whose neighbors got displaced
and who just moved in.
What is worrisome about this is that the small businesses
surrounding the Maverick are mostly all Latinx.
They cater culturally to the Latinx culture.
Most of the Maverick residents aren't Latinx.
And if they are, they shop at [INAUDIBLE] and not the bodegas
surrounding the area.
This makes me think of how the demographic will
impact the economy of these businesses.
There is so much growing division in Maverick square
and in all of Eastie.
And that is why I want to the state here today
that my community can no longer afford another division
and another separation.
My hope is that as we draw new redistricting lines,
the heart of Eastie will be kept together
and the Committee here will hear us as residents.
And thank you all for listening today.
Thank you very much for your testimony.
Now, [? Raina? ?] Marisol, would you like to bring [? Raina ?]
on to testify?
Thank you.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Good afternoon to everyone here.
My name is [? Raina ?] [INAUDIBLE]..
I'd like to thank our Congresswoman, Ayanna Pressley,
and the Committee for listening to us this morning.
It is an honor for me to address the first African-American
woman elected in Massachusetts as my Congresswoman.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
I am here today with Neighbors United for a Better East
Boston, also known as NUBE.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Our organization has been working hard for over a decade,
collectively focused on empowering our community
through voter registration, civic engagement,
and developing abundant community leaders.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
We can say that we have been building strategically and in
a very intentional way.
Through building [? local ?] power,
we have worked to elect authentic representatives.
We were able to elect our Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
in District 7, and our vision is that we
will continue to elect authentic representation in all levels
in our neighborhood.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
One of our neighborhoods of interest in particular
is Shore Plaza, literally part of Eagle Hill.
Our neighborhood has been fighting
[INAUDIBLE] and the pandemic that
hit our community made everything
that much more difficult.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
We have also been immersed in the fight
against a substation proposed by Eversource in Eagle Square.
We continue to ask that this project be taken out
of our community, as we are already inundated
with several issues that concern us in terms of impact
in this area's neighbors.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
We believe that our neighborhood should be kept together
in this process, as we share cultures, traditions,
public spaces, access to green space like parks,
including churches in our schools.
We need to keep our community together
for the many reasons I've listed here today.
Again, I want to thank our Congresswoman
and this Committee for the consideration.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Again, we want to thank the Committee for the opportunity
to speak today and for the consideration of keeping us
together as a community that is full of goals,
struggles, and dreams to be realized, not just for us,
but our future generations.
When it comes to drawing these new political lines,
we have to do everything we can to preserve our Eagle Hill
neighborhood.
Thank you for your attention today and all present.
So we thank you both very much for your testimony.
When you express-- so I do have a question for either witness.
When you express the desire to keep East Boston together,
are you referring to that in the context
of the Congressional district or are you referring
to it for Senate districts?
Or actually, I guess, the rep district-- it does
have to be split a little bit, because that East Boston
is more than one district.
So if you could comment on that, on which level
you're speaking to--
if you'd like to translate that, Marisol,
you can paraphrase to make it more succinct if you'd like.
Sure.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
[? Raina ?] says that she is referring
to all districts in East Boston, but in particular
how to preserve this particular neighborhood, that it would not
be split as those lines are drawn.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
And her preference is that all of East Boston
would stay together in the district.
So of course, we have three levels of district.
Just to be clear, you mean for all three levels of districts--
House, Senate, and Congress?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
OK.
She says, all.
Gotcha.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
OK, thank you.
Thank you very much for your testimony.
Any other questions from members of the Committee?
Great.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Thank you, Marisol, for translating.
Thank you.
Please tell them, thank you.
Gracias.
Gracias, [? Raina. ?] OK.
Next.
Who is the next person that you see present and available,
Maeve?
We have-- Rep Giannino just joined.
Rep Giannino?
Yes.
OK, well, let's recognize Rep Giannino.
Rep Giannino, you're muted, and--
there you go.
Good morning.
I didn't plan on testifying.
I've been on since 10:00.
I just want to thank you guys for hearing
the constituents of the district and the concerns that are here,
and I appreciate everything this Committee is doing.
So thank you so much.
OK.
Well, thank you for being with us.
Thank you for taking the time to listen, and appreciate it.
I believe, next we have Yvonne Watson.
OK.
So Patrick Williams, if you're not here--
I mean, if you are here and wish to testify, hit us in the chat.
But let's recognize Yvonne Watson now.
Good afternoon.
We can hear you and see you.
Great.
My name is Yvonne Watson, and I'm a resident of Randolph.
And I just want to thank you for allowing the residents
this time for having our voices heard,
and especially thank you for the work
that you did 10 years ago in creating
so many majority-minority districts that
opened the possibility for my Congresswoman to successfully
gain a seat at the table.
First of all, I know who my representative in Congress
is today, because Ms. Pressley has been present
in my community.
I know the work that she's doing for the district.
The issues that are being reckoned
with by my representative resonate
with my concerns and the concerns of my community.
And while I know that Ms. Pressley will not
be in office forever, the example that she provides
gives a roadmap for residents of congressional district
7 to elect like-minded officials,
and the district would need to remain
intact for that to happen.
So in short, Randolph residents do not
want to see a scenario where Randolph is no longer a part
of congressional district 7.
And I ask this committee to make every effort
to keep the district intact.
I know you've heard that all morning and into the afternoon
now.
But regarding the idea of creating
another congressional majority district, by joining Randolph
to other communities, to maintain
a majority-minority district for Randolph
sounds like a worthy solution.
But my question is, how long would it
take to achieve the type of representation
in Congress who will take up the causes of the new district
in the same manner that our congressional district 7
community enjoys today?
So just-- I'm sorry, go ahead.
Very briefly, my asks are twofold.
I ask that in this difficult task that you have before you,
first, that you consider the request of the residents
of Randolph to remain a part of District 7
and that the district remains as intact as possible.
And secondly, if Randolph must be
moved to create a different district,
that Randolph is not split among different communities.
Randolph already has this issue of never
being able to achieve a state representative
from our community for so long, because
of the fragmentation of Randolph on the state level
amongst three different communities.
And our town manager in town councilors
have already spoke about that today.
I would not want to see this happen
in the congressional district as well.
So with that, I just thank you for your time
and your consideration of all of the comments and suggestions
that were offered today regarding
keeping District 7 intact.
Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony.
I don't think I'm stepping beyond the box
when I say nobody's trying to break off Randolph and create
another majority-minority district, 'cause
those numbers don't work.
So Randolph, kind of, needs to stay part of District 7,
so that's--
Wonderful to hear that.
Thank you.
I don't think I'm stepping too far beyond the box
in just saying that.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate it.
There is a conversation that's more
complicated about the House and Senate districts, but you know,
that's a conversation that's ongoing.
But on the Congress thing, what you said.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Any other questions, comments?
OK.
Thank you, Ma'am.
Was Carla Fisher with you?
Is Carla Fisher on the list?
Yes, we were to speak together.
I'm not sure if she's on the line.
Oh, she is.
Here we go.
You got it, Carla.
You can unmute and testify if you're ready.
OK.
Good afternoon.
Yeah, I just want to basically echo what Yvonne said
and everyone said about Randolph.
I realized after listening to the testimony this morning
that you guys have a really difficult task.
So I appreciate the work that you guys were taking on,
and I applaud you for taking it on.
But I'm a new resident of Randolph.
I bought a home here last year, and it
has been quite a journey in the past year with all
of the difficulties and all the things
that the country itself is going through.
But like many other people, I am so
happy that we are represented in District 7
by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.
She has done an amazing job-- and to have our needs
really finally be welcomed, and someone actually taking
heed to that and trying to really work for what's
best in our community.
One of the reasons that I moved to Randolph
is because it is the most diverse town
in the Commonwealth, and that makes a difference when you're
asking people to get out and vote,
and trying to make sure their voice is heard.
I do a lot of work with my alumni chapter
of my sorority, which is one of the largest
historically Black sororities in the country.
And I'm always encouraging people to get out and vote.
And the thing is, a lot of people
say that they don't want to vote,
because their voice is not heard.
And for the first time in a long time,
our voice is actually being heard.
We were able to elect Congresswoman Pressley
to represent our district.
So I am-- like many people, we don't
want to leave the district.
We want to remain a part of District 7
so that our boys can continue to be heard.
I was encouraged by what you just
said, that Randolph probably will
remain a part of the 7th district, which
is great to hear.
But I just wanted to just put in my two
cents as a resident of Randolph that we
appreciate the representation.
And just as you can consider, just even
changing all the other towns and the people that are speaking
from Chelsea and Somerville--
our main goal is to make sure that we continue
to have our voice heard.
We are in a majority-minority minority district
so that our vote and our voice is not diluted.
So that's basically all I wanted to say.
I just wanted to echo that and just ask
that we continue to have accurate representation.
Thank you so much for your testimony, Ma'am.
Are there questions from members of the Committee?
All right.
Thank you very-- again, thank you
for your patience and sharing your thoughts with us.
Thank you.
All right.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you.
Who's next, Maeve?
We have Heloisa Galvao.
OK.
Great, so Patricia Desmond, I don't see you--
we don't see you, but holler if we missed you.
So we're going to go to Heloisa Maria Galvao.
You're on mute, Heloisa, and we cannot see you yet.
Let's ask you to mute.
Am I on mute?
Can you hear me?
Now we can hear you.
OK.
I don't know why--
it seems that my camera is off.
That's OK.
OK, now it's on.
We got you.
We can hear you, and we can see you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So first of all, thank you, Chair Senator William
Brownsberger and Representative Mike Moran
and members of this Special Joint
Committee on Redistricting.
My name is Heloisa Maria Galvao.
I am a co-founder and executive director
of the Brazilian Women's Group.
The Brazilian Women's Group is a 26-year-old community
organization that over the years has established itself
as a vital center for educating residents about their rights
in a new country while providing numerous programs to facilitate
that transition.
The Brazilian Women's Group is located in Brighton.
Our membership is statewide and comprised
of more than 1,000 women and men from all walks of life.
The Brazilian Women's Group is a member of the Drawing Democracy
Coalition.
I myself have been a resident of Massachusetts for 32 years
and have lived in Jamaica Plain for the last 22 years.
I'm here to testify on behalf of the Brazilian Women's Group
about the importance of establishing boundaries that
will include diversity and truly represent
immigrant populations, including Brazilians.
Redistricting is of such an important issue for us,
and District 7 especially is home
to some of the largest Brazilian communities of Massachusetts.
For decades, the Brazilian Women's Group
has empowered Brazilians to become citizens--
Brazilians are the second largest group
in naturalization ceremonies--
and vote, to answer the US Census,
to get involved in community affairs, no matter
their status.
It took us more than 20 years to elect Brazilians
to public office, and we are proud to say that currently, we
are represented by six elected Brazilians.
It is important that when considering redrawing community
boundaries, immigrants be counted.
Brazilians are hard-working people.
We are domestic workers, single moms, students,
construction workers, doctors, nurses, social workers,
psychologists, and psychiatrists.
We are homeowners, and we are business owners.
For instance, just to cite one example,
there are more than 30 Brazilian businesses in Somerville.
Yet we, as many of the immigrants and other minority
groups, have been marginalized for years, as
during the pandemic, although we were
in the forefront of battling the Coronavirus.
We contribute economically, culturally, and educationally
to the cities and places.
If you walk down Harvard Street [INAUDIBLE],,
you may want to taste our famous pao de queijo, cheese
bread at the Brazilian bakery, a gathering place for families
in the evening, and a breakfast site
in the early hours of the day.
Even in Somerville, [INAUDIBLE] service
in Portuguese [INAUDIBLE] St. Anthony Church Properzi Way,
or at the Brazilian Presbyterian Church on [INAUDIBLE] Street.
You may shop at the Brazilian supermarket.
The list can go on and on and on.
Redistricting should include everyone
who lives within district boundaries.
What you [INAUDIBLE] this Special Joint Committee
to count immigrants, by considering redistricting
and to respect the diversity of our communities
by including different groups of immigrants, Blacks,
and other residents.
Thank you for your commitment to engage
with grassroots organizations like the Brazilian Women's
Group throughout this process.
We are here to working with you to guarantee that Brazilians
are truly represented in District 7
and throughout the redistricting process.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for speaking up
for the Brazilian population, bringing that perspective
to the table here.
Chairman Moran?
Unmute, Chair.
Thank you.
And you know, the Brazilian Workers' Center
is in both my district and Senator Brownsberger's
district.
And Natalicia Tracy and the work that they
do down there for that specific ethnic group is really amazing.
I do a lot of with them throughout the year,
whether it be toy drives or, during the COVID issues,
with doing lunches, and food pantries.
And they just do a wonderful job,
and thank you for being associated with that group
and all the work you do.
Thank you.
We do work a lot together, with Natalicia
and the Brazilian Workers' Centere, yes.
Other questions, comments from members of the Committee?
Thank you so much for all you do.
Thank you so much for your testimony here today.
Thank you.
Who's next, Maeve?
We have Michael Aponte.
Michael Aponte, next.
Welcome, Michael.
You are on mute still at the moment.
Hello.
We can hear you.
Welcome.
Thank you.
So thank you to Chairs Moran and Brownsberger
and to the members of the Committee for this opportunity
to speak today as a resident of the 27th Middlesex district.
Also it's a unique honor to speak following comments
from Congresswoman Pressley and Representative Uyterhoeven, who
are inspiring visionaries who have directly
helped ordinary people like myself understand
the importance of regular civic engagement
and the possibilities that it can unlock for all of us.
My name is Michael Aponte.
I come from a background of lifelong renters.
I'm also a first-generation college graduate
with faint but persevering hope of one day achieving
homeownership and finally breaking the cycle of poverty
in my family.
I've been a proud resident of the city of Somerville
for 10 years, from Ward 4 in the east to Ward 6 in the west.
Our neighborhoods benefit from diverse communities
of all economic and cultural backgrounds, including
our inspiring immigrant communities.
I've had the honor of volunteering
with various progressive grassroots,
organizing efforts, fighting for equitable solutions
to the common racial justice, economic justice,
and especially housing justice issues
that we're facing in Somerville right now as a community.
And that's why I'm testifying to ask the Committee to do
everything in its power to ensure that Somerville
maintains the cohesive districts that are representative
of our communities of interest, and to thank you
for taking our concerns and your responsibilities with integrity
and sincerity.
Keeping Somerville together is especially
relevant for economic and housing justice.
You can knock on thousands of doors across the city.
If you ask anyone what policy related issues are
at the forefront in their lives, the common theme
is how increasing housing prices from development
and gentrification are forcing working families who set down
firm roots in the community to face
a really hard choice of leaving against their will
or struggling to provide basic necessities for their family.
There are many clearly defined communities of interest
throughout the 27th Middlesex that could speak to this.
Consider, for example-- we have heard from several testimonies.
The 27th Middlesex includes many of the neighborhoods that
will benefit and also face new challenges
through the impact of the T's Green Line extension.
Our community gets its strength from the social roots and bonds
that we cultivate over years and generations as families settle
and neighborhoods develop organically.
And so now, it's really clear that we
need to maintain our solid and cohesive representation
in government to give a voice especially
to the low-income and working-clacss residents
of our communities.
We're all facing this particular displacement crisis together.
So by keeping my community of Somerville together,
you will be prioritizing equity and justice
in the redistricting process.
I'm incredibly proud to currently
be represented by elected officials
of diverse backgrounds as a resident of the 27th Middlesex,
and I look forward to having that opportunity preserved
for the future by your careful consideration.
Also by opening up this process to the public in such
an inspiringly transparent manner,
this committee is doing a truly fantastic job
of restoring the faith of ordinary people
and the integrity of the processes of our government.
So thank you again to the Chairs and the honorable members
of the Committee for your time, and for aspiring
to accomplish the very highest level of quality in your work.
We thank you for those kind words,
and we aspire to continue to earn them.
And we thank you for your testimony regarding Somerville.
Are there any questions or comments
from members of the Committee?
Thank you again for the kind words--
appreciate it-- and for the testimony.
Is Rami Bridge on the line?
I believe so.
Hi, can you hear me?
We can.
Hi.
My name is Rami Bridge.
I live in Somerville, and I've taught
in Somerville for 10 years, and I'm
the President of the Somerville Educators' Union.
First off, I want to thank the co-chairs and other members
of the Committee.
I don't need to tell you how vital your job is
to our democracy and how complicated your task is.
I'd also want to thank the other members of the public
for their testimonies today.
I have learned a lot this morning.
I am here to testify in support of ensuring Somerville
continues to get appropriate representation in the upcoming
redistricting process.
Somerville is a unique place.
It is geographically unique.
It is one of the densest cities in America.
The T stops here on three different lines.
We've got a commuter rail that runs through but doesn't stop,
and the McGrath Highway and 93 bring
us a lot of pass-through traffic and pollution.
It is culturally unique.
It has the Museum of Bad Art, the self-proclaimed smallest
museum in the world, an annual activist marching
band festival, and an annual festival
glorifying marshmallow fluff.
And the Somerville schools are unique.
Frankly, it is the reason I chose to live and work here.
It is rare to be teaching in an urban school
setting that isn't an overwhelmingly
large bureaucracy.
We have the advantages of a small and nimble district
while also working with a diverse student
population, where almost 1/2 speak
a different first language from English.
Our students speak many languages,
and their families come from many places.
That diversity in our schools is the strength
of our school community.
I also assume I don't need to tell you
about how unique Somerville is politically.
For all these reasons and more, I
believe Somerville is in need of continued representation
that will understand all of the nuance
and complexity of Somerville.
That means ensuring that the municipality is not
divided but has a dedicated representation.
Because Somerville and Massachusetts
are facing many upcoming challenges,
whether it is the Green Line extension that will likely
exacerbate an already dire housing
affordability and displacement crisis, the existential crisis
of climate change, or simply understanding
the differences between the Kennedy and Argenziano school
communities.
Somerville would be inextricably harmed if it was divided
and its representatives did not understand our community.
This is a question of racial, social, immigrant,
and economic justice.
I urge you to keep the community in Somerville, my community,
together as much as possible.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you for your clear testimony.
Appreciate it.
Questions, comments?
OK, thank you, Sir.
Going to [? Derek ?] Rice, if [? Derek's ?] here.
I see we have Ronald Lammy, who was a little further up
on the list.
So maybe we missed him or maybe he was away,
but I can promote him now.
Oh, great.
Ronald, you've been promoted, and you can unmute.
There you go.
Thank you very much.
My name is Ronald Lammy.
I was invited by our esteemed Congresswoman,
with whom I had a connection with several years
in the cultural arena.
My contribution today cannot be as specific to your theme,
because this is not an area that I've been involved in.
But I have a concern as a resident, someone
who was brought to Massachusetts on a national search
by Bank of Boston when they were dealing with redlining.
I came in, had senior management positions,
raised families, supported one family in the Dorchester area,
and lived in Swampscott.
And it's from that perspective I've
been able to observe disparities,
how me and my family living in Swampscott, Black people,
compare to what we had as a quality of life
to those of our relatives living in Mattapan and Dorchester,
to see children raised.
So my concern and my expression of interest and ask,
as you look at this possibility of dividing up and so on,
is to look at what hovers over all of it, which is poverty,
the disparities the Black children
and adults who are suffering from disparities
in areas like Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury.
It is so striking that from my observation,
as someone who has now been in the public health area,
recognizing how poverty--
so I would ask as you and your colleagues look at these issues
and what changes need to be made--
I was so grateful to be sitting here for 9:59
and to listen to every presentation.
And there's not one that I think I could disagree with.
We need to look at the bigger issues
of, what might this very narrow focus be?
What is the impact?
How might we be looking at raising the standard of living
for Roxbury to bring the quality of life and economic stability
to be comparable to [? Weston ?] and Marblehead, and Swampscott,
and all the upscale areas?
So that's my expression to you.
I don't know much about or anything about redistricting,
but I'm just thinking of, what is the impact
on how-- if we are going to make for a better quality of life,
what are the considerations?
And my recommendation is that our generation
obliterate poverty among those who
are suffering the most from it.
Thank you.
Thank you for that statement.
Thank you for your passion.
Thank you for your vision and what you're seeing.
And we see it, too, and we feel it, too.
Other comments, questions from members of the Committee?
Thank you, Sir.
Thank you for staying with us through the hearing.
Maeve, who's next?
We have Chris Spears.
So skipping over [? Derek ?] Rice,
who I take it is not on the line at this time,
we're going to go to Christopher Spears.
It looks like he might not want to testify.
Just kidding.
Chris does have his hand up.
We're going to get you in.
I think it's working now.
There you go.
So you should-- looks like you're--
you need to unmute, Chris, and--
Thank you.
Hello, thank you.
Good afternoon, members of the Committee.
I've been at Randolph, Massachusetts
for over 20 years.
I'll probably mostly be cosigning
what my town councilors and Town Manager Brian Howard stated.
Randolph is a majority-minority town,
and it's split into three state House districts.
And over those past two decades, none
of our state representatives or senators
have been from Randolph.
All have come from our neighboring towns of Quincy,
Braintree, and Milton.
Although these representatives endeavor to serve Randolph,
they do come from and are primarily
elected by their home municipalities, which
are more affluent than Randolph and have
different economic drivers than our town.
Every House district in Massachusetts
contains around 42,000 people.
Randolph had around 32,000 people in the 2010 census.
And with its growing population, I
believe we warrant a House district centering
on our majority-minority town.
This proposed Randolph-centered district
would be the 21st majority-minority state-level
district in Massachusetts, because Randolph
has been identified as the most diverse municipality
in the Commonwealth.
I urge you to keep this in consideration
during the upcoming redistricting process.
Thank you for your time.
We thank you for your testimony.
Appreciate you weighing in.
We thank you for your patience, by the way, hanging in
until the final hour here.
So glad you could be with us.
Thank you, Sir.
Is Carlos Montero with us?
No, I believe the next person we have is Reggie Stewart.
OK, so I'm skipping over Carlos Montero.
And I'm skipping over the Sonia Dean and Jason Boyd.
And we welcome Reggie Stewart.
Thank you for being with us, Sir.
Thank you for having me.
Can you hear me all right?
Yep, we can hear you loud and clear, and we can see you.
Thank you.
I just wanted to note that although Jason Boyd's not
able to attend, that Yvette Modestin will be speaking
in his stead, so if we could elevate her
at some point, that'd be great.
Thank you, Senator Brownsberger, Representative Moran,
the rest of the Committee.
I'm coming to this as a resident of Dorchester.
I've lived in Boston for roughly 20 years,
and I just wanted to quote something from history
to, kind of, frame what I'm wishing to discuss in terms
of a community of interest.
In 1687, French Protestant refugees
came to the United States, traveled to New England,
and he noted about Boston specifically
that there is not a house in Boston,
however small may be its means, that has not one or two slaves.
So the fact that in the 7th district of Massachusetts,
we now have Ayanna Pressley who descends
from persons enslaved in the United States
is a very big deal.
And in order for her and officials
like her to have the wind at their back,
it's very important when we draw congressional districts to make
sure that we are not complicit in the dilution
of Black political power.
In 2020, the Community Reinvestment Coalition
observed that Boston, Massachusetts
is the third most intensely gentrified city in the country.
And further also at the end of 2020, a study in Stanford
noted that majority-Black neighborhoods
have the fewest options when it comes to gentrification.
So what that means is that even though populations
shift and populations grow, what happens to Black communities
disproportionately is that they are scattered.
And you see that in places like Brockton,
even though that's in the 8th, that the Black population has
tripled since 1990.
Randolph has nearly doubled since 2000.
So what I'm looking for in terms of redistricting--
I know it can't stay exactly the same.
I'm going to need you all to find out
not just where Black people live,
but where Black people went.
Where were they displaced to?
And to the extent possible, how can you
bring some of those displaced populations
back into the 7th district, back into whatever state
districts we have, to make sure that, to the extent possible,
Black people's political voice and their votes
are not diluted as they're scattered
into various neighborhoods.
And again, it helps to have that unified Black
voice to be the wind at the back of people like Ayanna Pressley
as she fights for reparations, for direct capital
infusion into Black communities, fighting
for housing as a human right, fighting for it as part
of infrastructure, climate justice, environmental justice,
transit equity.
All of those things require a voter base
that can speak to how those issues are affecting us
negatively.
So as you draw on or redraw those lines,
that's what I'm going to be looking for,
that you are recognizing how Black people have
been scattered throughout the 7th district
and, to a large extent, outside of the 7th district.
So that's what I'm going to be looking for,
the recognition of that and you drawing the districts
accordingly.
Thank you.
Thank you for articulating that frame.
It's helpful.
Any questions from members of the Committee?
Thank you.
And with you testifying--
yes, Ma'am.
Good afternoon.
[SPANISH] First and foremost, I want to thank our Congresswoman
Ayanna Pressley, who has been a friend to our community,
for her testimony, and also to Suzanne for her inspiration
this morning and her words saying,
keep our community whole, and to Marisol for [SPEAKING SPANISH]..
I would like to thank the committee chairs
Senator William Brownsberger and Representative Mike Moran
as well as other members of the Committee
for hosting this public hearing and for your commitment
to engaging with grassroots organizations
throughout this process.
My name is Yvette Modestin, and I'm here
representing our Director of Community Organizing Resident
Resources, Jason Boyd, of the Codman Square NDC
in Dorchester.
Codman Square NDC is a proud member of the Drawing Democracy
Coalition and are actively involved
with working with various communities of interest
in the Codman Square Four Corners community
to offer input into the creation of a fair and equitable mapping
process that highlights our community's shared
strengths, interests, collective assets, physical, social,
and otherwise, as well as policy concerns
and collective challenges.
I want to thank our Keeping Codman Affordable leader Reggie
Stewart for his testimony.
These communities of interest that we are engaging
represent tenant associations from our large portfolio
of approximately 1,000 units of housing,
local affinity groups like Daughters
of the Dust that represent the Codman Square
chapter of the national organization, GirlTrek,
neighborhood association groups, and advocacy-focused
collectives such as Keeping Codman Affordable,
as you just heard from Reggie, one of our leaders,
Brothers Building, and others.
These various groups represent a rich range of collective action
and concerns.
They have worked together over the years and currently.
This work includes but is not limited
to advocacy for equitable access to healthy foods, transit
justice, anti-displacement, violence reduction,
and elimination and environmental sustainability
and job creation, health and well-being for Black women,
and holistic well-being focused on Black and Latinx men.
Our community is also connected by our shared and nuanced
history as an African-American, Afro-Caribbean,
and Latinx everyday people.
We share many, many cultural spaces, familial traditions,
and community ties.
We also share the weight of marginalization
that Black, Brown, and working-class communities
contend with.
We are hoping this redistricting process results
in a mapping process that amplifies the voices
and concerns of our community and provides equitable access
to power, and robust, committed, and intentional representation
from elected officials.
We have witnessed and experienced
here in the congressional district 7
the power of representation that is equipped,
informed, and unafraid.
We are confident District 7 will continue to be
a majority-minority district, and hopefully,
that this mapping process increases districts that are
majority-people-of-color, and people-of-color-influenced.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you very much for your clear testimony.
Very much appreciate it.
Are there questions from members of the Committee?
OK.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart and--
Thank you.
And your name--
Yvette Modestin.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your testimony.
Appreciate it.
So going to-- who's next, Maeve?
I don't believe we have anyone on the list
who is in the attendee waiting area who hasn't spoken yet.
OK.
So let's say if you are on the line
and you're wishing to speak, now's the time
to put something in the chat and let us know that we are not
seeing you.
I see Marisol has her hand raised.
Marisol-- why don't you promote Marisol
so she can tell us what she sees?
Although that may be an old hand raise.
Mirasol, did you have anybody else?
Yes.
Hi.
Sorry, I was swapping in between the links here.
I did decide to register after 1:00 PM
and wanted to know if I could share a couple of minutes
very briefly.
No, that's absolutely not a problem.
I know you've been with us all along.
We appreciate your services and translation.
Thank you very much.
By all means, give us your own thoughts.
Thank you.
So [INAUDIBLE] resident, I am a member of the Chelsea School
Committee.
I am the representative of District 3.
I'm also the Ward 3 chair of our Democratic Ward Committee.
I've been a lifelong resident of the city of Chelsea.
My family originally came here from Puerto Rico--
rich history, beautiful city of course
that the Committee is aware of.
I personally wanted to share a little bit
about my personal experiences in terms of civic engagement
and building political power in the state of Massachusetts.
I've been blessed and fortunate enough
to participate in grassroots organizing and really
making sure that all our voices are lifted
into decision-making spaces, that it is accessible for all
our communities.
In particular, in the last few years,
I was part of advising state representative candidates--
two in the last year alone from Chelsea and Revere.
And also having been part of two special elections in our Senate
district in East Boston, there's clearly--
my heart goes out to everyone involved that made
those campaigns possible.
But I think I agree that our beloved Suzanne Lee
and her inspiring testimony today-- really,
really resonating with her around historically seeing
a lot of our folks moving out of this region,
in particular Chelsea, Revere, and Boston, whether being
displaced or also because of environmental injustices
and the burden of health disparities.
As our colleague Roberto spoke today
about COVID and the impact that this
has had in Chelsea, being part of the school committee
and really in conversations with families, it's clear
that we have to do more here.
And as someone who is always encouraging folks
to get registered and to not feel afraid of speaking up,
this is clearly a historical moment.
Because these opportunities only come once every 10 years.
So I'm very grateful to be part of these efforts.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to speak today.
And I just really want to bring up
that this is a beautiful opportunity.
I do agree that any which way that we go is a change,
and that we want to do the best possible,
and that it isn't an easy task, but we
hope to be in communication, so that the members
of our communities can be heard.
And just like today, they were able to share the stories
that most impact their communities.
The last thing I wanted to bring up
to Representative Moran's point, which I really appreciated--
and the credit goes to the organizations
that did this groundwork on this last census round.
You know, needless to say, we were
dealing with the previous administration in DC.
That our communities were deeply afraid
and didn't feel confident in filling out their census forms.
And we heard those concerns.
And again, I salute the organizations
that did that work.
I'm fearful that-- as a school committee member,
we often hear that our school districts report--
that we have higher populations than what's actually
on paper in the census.
And in this process of redistricting,
I know that we're looking at what we
can define as eligible voters.
But I think there's a real scenario,
as alluded to earlier, that we have to be thinking
about the immediate future.
And that means protecting our communities,
protecting our most vulnerable.
And I look forward to continuing this process with all of you.
And I'm just really grateful for the opportunity here today.
No.
Thank you for all of your engagement in this process.
Could you just speak a little bit more about this comment
about where people are going as a result of the displacement
that you're seeing in East Boston now?
Is that confined to East Boston, or is that also even happening
in Chelsea at this stage?
I see it in both, in the conversations
that I've been in.
In particular, I will say, we were actually talking--
we separated a complete discussion
to be had to exactly that point, to the folks that are leaving
or have left rather.
Some of them are going to the North Shore,
was my understanding, splitting between Lynn and Salem.
Some folks are looking at--
I don't even know what's the right word, in terms of
[? coast. ?]
But it feels like the large percentage,
I definitely heard, was heading more towards the North Shore,
North Shore being Lynn, Salem, and that area.
And then, I've also heard from people that are actually just
really concerned about--
to Reggie's point earlier, actually,
when he said when we really want to make sure that we're not
just looking for Black community but also
where they're going to.
I think that really resonated, because we're trying
to track where families are.
For that same reason, Senator, because we understand
that communities do better when they have community,
and we often find that immigrant populations,
even to the schools, we heard that there's
been an increase and new students
in the Chelsea district.
And we gather as well that families usually
migrate where they have community,
family members, or friends.
And so I think it's something that we're
looking at in terms of really calculating, pinpointing
more understanding about what that looks like on a map.
But to my understanding, at the very minimum from East Boston,
they were moving to the North Shore.
And from Chelsea, it seems like it's
been a little bit more dispersed,
in terms of housing opportunities and access
to affordable housing.
That's helpful.
Appreciate it.
Again, thank you for all of your engagement.
Any other questions from members of the Committee?
OK, I see that Carolyn Chou in the attendees list
has her hand raised.
That's another good way to let us know.
It's maybe the easiest way.
So if you're in the webinar and you
haven't spoken and wish to speak,
feel free to raise your hand.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for raising your hand, Carolyn.
Carolyn Chou, you are online.
Hi, thank you so much and thanks for having this hearing.
My name is Carolyn Chou.
I'm the Executive Director of the Asian-American Resource
Workshop.
We're located in Fields Corner, Dorchester,
and I'm also a resident of Dorchester.
And I think folks have spoken to a lot of the core points,
but I just want to just specifically lift up--
here in Fields Corner, we are a multiracial working-class
neighborhood that is experiencing gentrification.
And particularly, we are the heart
of the Vietnamese community of Boston.
And I think it's really important
that we consider how to keep Fields Corner from continuing
to be split in the state House process.
And to what Suzanne said very much at the beginning,
how can we make sure that the Asian community,
the Southeast Asian community here in our neighborhood,
is not put in a different district
than other communities of color, other immigrant communities,
other limited-English-proficient communities.
Because what we see is, as the folks right before me said,
we see a lot of the same issues around gentrification
and displacement, language access, job access, all
of that.
And so it's really important to us
that the Vietnamese community is considered
as a community of interest in our neighborhood,
and also that we are aligning the needs
of the Vietnamese community with other communities of color
in Dorchester.
And so yeah, particularly thinking about Fields Corner,
specifically, and keeping that chunk whole.
And then, also knowing that the Vietnamese community, kind of,
runs along what we call the Red Line
corridor on Dorchester Ave--
how can we-- right now, a lot of things split in Dorchester,
and how can we make sure that we keep the Vietnamese community
whole as well?
So yeah, I don't want to take up more of your time.
I know you've had a lot of testimony--
but just lifting up that particular chunk within Boston.
And also knowing that as you were just
discussing prior to my testimony,
that folks are getting moved out of the city, priced out
of the city.
And so we're seeing a lot of folks move south--
Quincy, Randolph, Braintree, et cetera.
That's also helpful testimony.
Appreciate you lifting up those points.
Are there any questions for members of the Committee?
OK, thank you for stepping up to offer that.
Much appreciated.
At this time, I don't see any other hands up.
I'm going to temporize for a minute, chit chat for a second
to give everybody a chance to come in if they want to.
Let's see.
Our next hearings-- let's maybe take
the opportunity to mention when our next hearing is.
Can somebody's pop that into the chat?
When is our next hearing?
We don't have another one this week.
Next week, we've got language-specific hearings.
We've got representative Auchincloss
hearing for congressional district 4 at noon next Monday,
and then we begin language-specific hearings
in Mandarin and Cantonese on Tuesday afternoon,
Spanish next Friday the 23rd.
And those continue into the following week.
We got Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese,
Cape Verdean Creole, and Khmer the following week.
So as it was said earlier, you know, it's helpful for us
if anybody who's listening will choose to pass on our links,
pass on awareness of our hearings to your organizations,
to your mailing lists.
We appreciate everybody coming in.
So with that, seeing no hands come up,
I will entertain a motion to adjourn.
Motion to adjourn.
Second.
[INAUDIBLE]
We got a motion, and it's been seconded.
All in favor, click Leave.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]