What We Do: '25 and '24 Highlights.
2025
1/21. Meeting. Discussion of the first days of the new administration, and what can be done.
2/18. Meeting. Guest Emily Norton, executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association.
3/18. Meeting. Guests: State Senator Will Brownsberger, and City Councilor Sharon Durkan.
4/05. Event. Ward 5 Caucus. The Committee elected 11 male and 7 female delegates to the MassDems Convention, September 13th in Springfield. Committee Chair Bob Binney will also serve as a delegate, as will Lucy Rivera, a member of the State Committee, and Rep. Jay Livingstone, an ex-0fficio.
4/05. Event. Committee members and their friends joined some 100,000 others for the Hands Off! demonstration. The rally assembled in Boston Common and continued to City Hall Plaza for speeches by Mayor Michelle Wu, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Senator Ed Markey.
4/15. Meeting. Guests: Will Onuoha and Alexandra Valdez, both Boston City Council At-Large Candidate. Also: Steve Farrell and Ed Quinn of the Fenway Community Development Corporation.
Read About the Boston Dems Coalition for Action Here.
This spring, members of Boston Wards 1, 4, 5, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19 & 21 formed a group to create a clear and unified voice to effect change on both the local and national level in this time of deception and utter chaos, when our democracy is at tremendous risk.
First, these dedicated activists drafted a letter addressed to various leaders in the Massachusetts Legislature, including Senate President Karen Spilka, and President Pro Tempore Will Brownsberger. It lobbied for the passage of Mayor Michelle Wu's Home Rule Petition which would protect residential property owners and tenants (HD.442). It begins:
"To help mitigate the increase in residential property taxes, Mayor Wu filed a Home Rule Petition to secure the ability to temporarily increase commercial rates and provide greater predictability for all taxpayers over the next few years. Without this home-rule authorization, the average single-family homeowner receiving a residential exemption will see a 21% increase in their tax bill in January over their last quarterly bill, or an annual increase of 10.5% compared to 2024. With the legislation, at the maximum allowed shift, the average single-family homeowner would see a 10.4% bill-to-bill increase and 5.2% annual increase. For example, a $5 million commercial property whose valuation has dropped by 7% would see a 4.5% tax decrease with no legislation and a 1.0% decrease with the maximum allowable shift level under the legislation. The City of Boston’s proposal is modest, time-limited, and revenue-neutral but will have a great positive impact on the residents of the city."
Next, the group composed a strongly worded letter to the MA Congressional Delegation, urging them to stand up to the GOP. It begins:
"We write on behalf of our Democratic Ward and Town Committees to urge you to take concrete action to stop Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and the Republican Party from raiding and pillaging our commons. House and Senate Republicans have given no indication that they are up to the task of holding their own party leaders accountable. It is therefore up to Democrats in Congress to save our democracy and our federal government. Unfortunately, thus far Democratic party leadership in Congress has utterly failed to meet the moment. The “strategy” of letting the GOP destroy our society and then hoping for the best in the 2026 midterms is not only immoral, it is bad politics. In order to win elections you have to give people something to vote for, which means you have to fight."
These letters have drawn press attention in The Boston Globe, and elsewhere. More updates to come.