The Bay State has a drug issue, and NIMBY is no longer an option.
As the city launches outreach initiatives, programs, and sweeps, the unrelenting catastrophe at Mass and Cass fluctuates, only to have addicts and dealers reappear. The issue has spread to other neighbors that are just as irritated.
However, Hub taxpayers are responsible for paying for solutions, even though the addict population comes from Massachusetts cities and towns outside of Boston.
Boston City Councilor John FitzGerald says, “No more.”
At yesterday’s council meeting, he presented a hearing order on the establishment of a regional fund for substance use disorders and mental health, which would replace the current city-alone model with a regional cost-sharing scheme.
I wish you luck in that endeavor.
It’s a wise and good idea. However, in an effort to avoid sharing the load, we previously experienced a taste of not in my backyard.
Acting Mayor Kim Janey intended to provide homeless persons living on Mass and Cass with hotel rooms in Revere four years ago. Brian Arrigo, the mayor of Revere, was not involved.
Some municipal leaders may be making a good sound bite when they claim that we must accomplish this task as a region but neglect to take responsibility in their own city or town. However, it doesn’t fix the issue, Janey stated in a statement.
FitzGerald is attempting a regional alliance strategy once more after the idea failed.
FitzGerald stated that this is a regional crisis rather than just a Boston one. Although many of the people attending Mass and Cass are not from Boston, the entire financial load is on Boston taxpayers.
According to Fitzgerald, that arrangement is unsustainable and unfair.
No, it isn’t. Sadly, despite the true population composition of Mass and Cass, it is more comfortable for our neighbors to perceive Boston as bearing the majority of the problem. Events that take place in Boston remain in Boston.
Nobody benefits from that mentality.
In order to make sure that Greater Boston cities and towns who profit from Boston’s addiction and housing services also contribute to the cost, FitzGerald stated that he envisioned a regional fund including payments from nearby municipalities.
According to him, the goal of his fund is to inspire neighborliness in those other places. Leaders who don’t grasp the larger picture—substance misuse is an epidemic, and epidemics spread—need to be more prevalent.
We may all gain if Boston and the surrounding cities band together to combat the issue. The area might serve as an example of uniting against a disease that has ruined lives and torn families apart.
FitzGerald also suggested that Recover Boston, an interim addiction rehabilitation facility that the Newmarket Business Improvement District has been advocating for since August 2023, be funded with regional funds. It serves as a temporary solution until the city can construct a permanent 35-acre rehabilitation center and replace the Long Island Bridge.
Addicts from Boston and our surrounding communities will have a better opportunity at getting well and turning their life around the sooner we have a functioning rehabilitation center until the Long Island Bridge is restored.
Together, we are in this.
