Vote Tuesday In MA Senate Primary Special Election

MA SENATE PRIMARY 

SPECIAL ELECTION

Tuesday, April 3

7 am – 8 pm

Condon School Cafeteria

200 D Street

(off West Broadway behind Laboure Center)

VOTE FOR

 1^st Suffolk District Senate seat

vacated by Linda Dorena Forry

Why vote? The community counts on our elected officials for their support of local issues and initiatives. Elected officials look at voter turnout by neighborhood. Why do State Elections matter? The State (MCCA/BCEC, MBTA and Massport) is a property owner,  developer and transit provider in the neighborhood.

ELECTION DAY: TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2018

Bill to give developers municipal powers

Shirley Kressel from the Alliance of Boston Neighborhoods writes about a bill currently in the state senate to allow cities to designate "Local Improvement Zone" and give real estate developers sweeping powers in those districts to act like a government

• Shirley's post: Developers will soon become city governments
• Full text of the bill: Senate, 146

IANAL and may be misunderstanding it, but as I read it, if a developer, or a group of developers, buys 80% of a district, they could apply to be a "Local Improvement Zone" and be given many of the powers the city government has including issueing tax-free bonds, creating and enforcing by-laws, and even assessing neighbors to pay for infrastructure. In other words, if you own a home, developers could buy up the land around it, declare it a Local Improvement Zone, and then send you a bill to pay for the infrastructure improvements they want to do. You would not be able to appeal to the city or have any vote in the process; it would be controlled entirely by a "prudential committee" setup by the developers.