LYNN ― After much official deliberation regarding the city’s new housing production plan, The Lynn Housing Coalition (LHC) recently administered a questionnaire to candidates for mayor and City Council in order to obtain their views on specific housing issues and strategies.
The questionnaire received responses from 11 out of 19 candidates, including the three vying for mayor.
Mayoral candidates Darren Cyr, Jared Nicholson, and Michael Satterwhite, as well as City Council candidates Jose Encarnacion, Marven Hyppolite, Hong Net, Nicole McClain, Elizabeth Figueroa, Coco Alinsug, and Natasha Megie-Maddrey all responded. The candidates were in agreement that the lack of affordable housing in Lynn is a priority; that there is an urgent need to create a number of deed-restricted, affordable rental units in the city; and that they support the creation of deed-restricted, affordable, home-ownership opportunities.
Another candidate sent in responses, but did not add a name, so they were not included in the summary of responses.
All respondents, except Cyr, said they support Housing Lynn: A plan for inclusive growth ― which was passed on Tuesday; all, except for Alinsug, said they support inclusionary zoning.
McClain said she is in favor of mixed-use zoning, while Hyppolite commented that he is for community-benefit agreements for all new developments.
All of the respondents said that, if elected, they commit to working diligently to increase the affordable-housing stock, an annual review of residential development, and revising the affordable-housing target as needed based on changes in housing need, resources, and other factors.
To increase affordable-housing stock, Nicholson and Alinsug said they will implement the Housing Lynn Plan, while Satterwhite said he is the only candidate talking about making all housing affordable ― not just new development ― and will implement equity housing as well.
“I will expand the grants program with LHAND and the down-payment assistance program,” Satterwhite said. “I am a landlord in the city and I have worked as a lawyer for the day with Northeast Legal Services the past five years and worked as a conciliator and mediator in housing courts for the past five years in district and housing court.”
Cyr said he believes the city should undertake the creation of a citywide master plan that will identify areas where zoning amendments, including inclusionary zoning provisions, should be adopted.
“It cannot also be that all new development in Lynn must be predominantly affordable housing at the expense of replacing our aging schools, roadways and parks and playgrounds,” Cyr said. “As mayor, I will strongly support the creation of an affordable-housing trust fund. This would require any developer that seeks to build a market-rate-only housing development to contribute significant funds dedicated solely for the expansion of affordable housing.”
All of the respondents said they will work to combat homelessness in the city, using strategies that include implementing more jobs and creating financial-assistance programs.
After experiencing homelessness at the age of 16, Satterwhite said this is a serious, personal issue he will work to combat by working with schools, nonprofits and the Lynn Community Health Center to offer education programs to help residents out of poverty.
Cyr said he will support using the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to deal with poverty and homelessness.
Encarnacion, McClain, and Alinsug said they plan to expand job-training programs and offer education on finances, with Encarnacion proposing the use of Lynn Vocational Technical Institute to train adults living in poverty to learn a trade.
Hyppolite said he will direct funds into mental-health services, addiction recovery, and job training, while Net said he will work with state and city officials to offer financial assistance for housing and other basic needs.
Megie-Maddrey said the city needs to implement more community fridges and work with the more than 300 local nonprofits to connect people to resources that they need, and Figueroa plans to add protections to stabilize tenants, as well as ways to expand permanent affordability, such as community land trusts and a program of affordable housing with an easy path to homeownership.
The Lynn Housing Coalition released this questionnaire to all candidates for mayor, councilor-at-large and ward councilors on Aug. 17, with a timeline of two weeks to submit their answers.
The Coalition ― made up of a diverse group of residents and other stakeholders supported by Citizens Housing and Planning Association’s (CHAPA) Municipal Engagement Initiative ―
said it will not be endorsing any candidates for these elections, and that was not their intention in undertaking this questionnaire.
“We hope that our fellow Lynners will take the time to review the candidates’ answers and decide for themselves who best represents their interests,” the coalition said in a statement.
The full responses to the questionnaire can be found here.
