Today is October twentieth, two thousand twenty-six.

And the exact time is ten thirty nine AM.

This hearing is being recorded.

It is also being live streamed at Boston.gov.

And broadcast on Xfinity Channel eight.

RCN channel eighty-two and files channel nine six four.gov and will be made a part of the record and available to all the counselors.

Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing.

Individuals will be called on in the order in which they signed up, and we'll have two minutes to testify.

If you're interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign up sheet near the entrance of the chamber.

If you're looking to testify virtually, please email our central staff liaison, Ryan Pratt at Ryan RYAN.PRATT at Boston.gov for the link, and your name will be added to the list.

Today's hearing is on docket number 1601.

Order for a hearing to explore raising the percentage of community preservation act funds dedicated to affordable housing.

This matter was sponsored by counselors Brian Warell and Minier Cole Pepper and was referred to the committee on August 26, 2026.

Today

I

am joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, Councilor Murphy, Councillor Flynn, Councillor Durkin, and Councillor Woolrell.

Excuse any little absence?

Nope.

And today I'm also joined by the director of the community preservation treasury department, Thadine Brown.

Um, but first, before we get into the public to the panel, I want to give m the opportunity to the main sponsor for an opening statement.

Uh

thank

you, Chair, and thank you, um executive director Brown for being

here.

Umso to the public and to my colleagues.

I want to acknowledge um first and foremost the work that the community preservation committee and CPA staff and the advocates who continue to put for investments in our neighborhoods.

Uh we know CPA has done a lot of good across our city.

Um, but we also know that our ARPA funding is coming to an end.

Uh we also know that there's uncertainty around state and federal housing resources.

Uh we know the construction and borrowing costs have gone up, and it's taken more public dollars to build the same amount of affordable housing.

We also have roughly 40% of our CPA supported affordable housing projects that haven't started construction.

I want to understand what's holding them up and whether additional funding can help.

Uh, Cambridge dedicates 80% of a CPA and funding to affordable housing.

Boston's goal is 50%.

And

I'm not suggesting that we move uh to 80% like Cambridge is doing, but we should be looking at possibly, and this is what this conversation is about is if we should be looking at 60 or 70 percent and what would those additional dollars mean for families trying to find an affordable home or become homeowners here in the city of Boston.

One thing that stood out to me is that the community preservation plan already allows us to revisit these allocations based on change of needs.

So, what actually causes us to use that flexibility?

If we have more parks that need major improvement, does that justify increase in funding for parks?

And if affordable housing is becoming more expensive to build, shouldn't that also be a reason to reconsider our housing allocation?

Because if the circumstances we're facing today aren't enough to revisit the formula, then what would be?

That's why I'm hoping that we can better understand that today, and I look forward to the conversation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Counselor.

Okay, I am going to as a chair just wave everyone's opening room statements and just go to QA.

And I'm going to now give I

think it's a

preservation.

Presentation.

Yeah, no, I'm just waving everyone's opening statements for my colleagues.

They seem to be at QA.

No, no, no, no, no.

Um now we're gonna get a presentation from Adene Brown.

The floor is yours.

Thank you.

So thank you, Chairman Pepin and members of the Boston City Council.

I have the honor of serving as the director of the community preservation office for the past eight and a half years.

I

have worked with the community preservation committee, and I've overseen all nine funding rounds.

It has been a privilege to serve the residents of Boston and help advance projects and preserve our history, expand housing opportunities, and improve community spaces across the city.