Homeward bound

Menino takes some positive steps toward meeting housing needs -- and so should Beacon Hill

At a time when downtown development plans make regular front-page news, Mayor Tom Menino has correctly identified an issue equally crucial to the health of the city: the lack of affordable housing. The two phenomena are not unrelated. The economic boom that gave rise to ambitious building proposals for the Seaport District, Chinatown, and the Back Bay has brought with it the unwelcome side effect of soaring house prices and skyrocketing rents.

Menino, in his State of the City address, warned that Boston could be transformed into a city of rich and poor. To an extent that His Honor may be unwilling to admit, that has already happened. Members of the hard-pressed middle class, already wary of a school system that, despite improvements, remains grossly inadequate, must now calculate whether they can even afford to live here.

To address that need, Menino made two important announcements on Monday evening.

First, he unveiled plans to double the number of housing units built in the city last year, from 1000 to 2000, and to increase housing funds from $15 million to $25 million.

Second, he named state representative Charlotte Golar Richie (D-Dorchester) to run his Department of Neighborhood Development, and made that department part of his cabinet. Richie, a rising political star and possible future mayoral contender, is co-chair of the legislature's Committee on Housing and Urban Development, a post that enabled her last year to push through a $296 million housing bond bill. Her presence on Beacon Hill will be missed, but she should be able to have more of an impact in a high-profile executive position.

Though the focus on housing for Boston's middle class is vital, the poor also need help. Currently, two proposals are pending in the legislature that represent sensible steps toward maintaining the stock of affordable housing -- not just in Boston, but in other cities and towns as well.

One measure would create a state housing tax credit, emulating a similar federal credit, that would benefit developers who agree to build housing for low- and moderate-income residents. Sponsored by state representative Peter Larkin (D-Pittsfield), the bill would encourage the use of private money to accomplish a public benefit -- just the sort of postliberal solution favored by both Democrats and Republicans.

The other bill would give local communities some say over whether developers should be allowed to opt out of the affordable rents they agreed to as a condition of receiving federal housing subsidies. Sponsored by state representative Sal DiMasi (D-Boston), the proposal would provide for a local referendum on whether a building owner should be allowed to prepay his mortgage -- thus fulfilling his federal obligations -- and raise rents. The legislature passed DiMasi's bill last year, but Governor Paul Cellucci vetoed it. Despite some questions about how it should be structured, the measure would accomplish worthwhile goals and warrants further study.

"I want Boston to be for everyone what it is to me and Angela, our kids, and yes, our grandchildren," Menino told his audience of 700 on Monday evening. For that to happen, local government must play an active role. City Hall has taken the first steps. Beacon Hill should follow.

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