Historic panel is the highlight of El Mundo Boston’s professional annual Mixer
By Henry Brier/ El Mundo Boston
May 8th – A who’s who of mayors in Eastern Massachusetts cities with strong Latino populations shared their economic and workforce development messages last Thursday evening, underscoring their strong devotion to improving the public-school systems and recognizing the region’s biggest crisis – the cost of housing.
The aggregate Latino population of the four cities is an estimated 250,000, underscoring the importance of solidifying workforce development and confronting issues, challenges, and opportunities.
Under the auspices of El Mundo Boston, Mayors Michelle Wu of Boston, Patrick Keefe of Revere, Brian De Peña of Lawrence and Jared Nicholson of Lynn emphasized the importance of cultivating public and private resources, and exerting efforts to include all residents and devoting new ways to engage a rapidly growing diverse population in each city.
«First of all, we want to be representatives of our community», Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said, noting the importance of being a city that recognizes its evolution as a truly diverse large city where one out of every five Bostonians defines themselves as Latino/Latinx or Hispanic.
Wu proudly expanded on the fact that she has assembled the most diverse administration in the 393-year history of Boston, as she stated that «our expectation is that Boston will be a city for everyone in every sense».
Recently named interim Mayor of Revere, Patrick Keefe, expanded on this theme by explaining that his city that now has over 50% of residents who are non-English speakers, has “had to really strategize on how we diversify our communication, create more outreach to create that trust so that people are feeling welcomed and part of the city”.
Of Revere’s 65,000 residents, roughly over 24,000 (37%) are Latino and that number is growing – over 63% of Revere high school students are of Latino descent.
Keefe also emphatically promised that «we will break ground on a new state of the art high school for our Revere students» which will ensure that these students will have a facility and an education that will prepare them for a new world that will need different skills sets in order to be part of the workforce of the future.
Keefe took the opportunity to raise the question of whether the Commonwealth should take a closer look at the state’s school building reimbursement formula which could be hurting poorer cities and towns. As it stands, plans for a new Revere high have been hampered by a cap on the total amount the state is willing to pay per square foot, which is now much lower than the actual cost, due to sky-rocketing post-pandemic costs of construction.
For Mayor De Peña of Lawrence, a city where 81% of its 90,000 residents are Latino, attracting new companies and new developments are a top policy for him. He emphasized that new large housing and commercial projects have not only employed local residents and provided affordable housing units but that they have been developed by local Latino Lawrence residents who grew up in the city and are also products of the public school system.
He also noted his commitment to making government a true aid for small businesses and not an obstacle.
“While technical assistance, advice and free consulting are all great, we have focused more on actual grants and getting money into the hands of small businesses who are a major source of employment in my city”, added De Peña.
Mayor Jared Nicholson of Lynn noted that his city is primed for growth and economic vitality with its long-term goal of a major redeveloping of the 305-acre Lynnway waterfront area, and his challenge, which he views as an opportunity, is working with the private sector developers in incorporating local Lynn residents into the mix. Of Lynn’s 100,000 residents, over 43,000 are Latino (43%).
«But our area’s biggest problem is housing – about half of my city is cost-burdened and I am focused on the question of how we look at the challenge of including our residents in growth and prosperity when our residents are not included if they are being displaced by the cost of housing. This is a huge challenge in talking to employers who are planning their workforce needs for the region thinking of where they are going to find people to fill jobs if we don’t have enough places for people to be living here,» stated Nicholson.
Wu echoed that sentiment as she unequivocally noted that the cost of housing is the number one challenge across the region.
“Without housing you don’t have the stability to look for a job, to make sure you are getting to the right schools. So, between housing and food insecurity, those are what I am looking to tackle as a foundation.”
Wu is also pushing for «concrete goals of a diversified workforce with direct and measurable impacts when it comes to working with large developers and business partners who want to do business with the city, especially in the fast-growing and high need industries that will be the new large employers in the region».
Each mayor expressed a commitment to demand that labor unions continue to diversify as thousands of good paying jobs will be created through projects from the historic federal Infrastructure Bill aimed at improving roads, bridges, airports and waterways.
«I would use the word imperative – that Latinos are taken in by these unions which will have access to these jobs and it is our responsibility to make sure we put pressure on them to diversity», added Lawrence Mayor De Peña.
When asked about providing Latino talent pipelines into their administrations for future leadership positions, all were eager to respond.
Revere Mayor Keefe announced his Chief of Staff is Colombian-born Claudia Correa, who worked previously in Boston city government and who represents a significant growing Colombian population in Revere. One of her mandates will be to continue to make the city’s government as representative of its residents as possible.
Lynn Mayor Nicholson pointed to his recently appointed Superintendent of schools, Dr. Evonne Alvarez, who is Cuban-American and will now be leading the school system in this North Shore city which is made up of nearly 70% Latino students.
Boston Mayor Wu reiterated that this is an ongoing priority of hers as she pointed out various members of her staff that were present at the event (Gladys Oliveros, Mayor’s Liaison to the Latino community, Enrique Pepen, Director of Neighborhood Services, José Lopez of the city’s Legal Department, Trinh Nguyen, Chief of Worker Empowerment cabinet, Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Luis Cruz, and Segun Idowu, Chief of Economic and Inclusion).
Mayor of Lawrence De Peña proudly stated that he has already seen the incredible rise in self-worth, self-esteem, and sense that «we can do it too», as his city is led by virtually an all-Latino administration.
Hosted at the Courtyard by Marriott on Tremont Street, the May 4th early evening El Mundo Boston Mixer followed an all-day career expo – an annual job fair sponsored by New England’s oldest Latino news outlet that brings together over 40 companies looking to diversify their workforce.
The Professional Mixer was made possible this year thanks to partnerships from State Street, Cambridge Savings Bank and Amazon.
The next major El Mundo Boston event will be held in partnership with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sunday, June 11th – a major free health and wellness event to promote family and health with a focus on health insurance enrollment, which is another major issue that disproportionally affects the Latino community. The Health Connector is the presenting partner for this day. The event will be branded «Tu Salud».
