Boston mayoral candidates Annissa Essaibi George and Michelle Wu competed in their first one-on-one televised debate Wednesday night.
During the one-hour debate broadcast on WBZ-TV and CBSN Boston Essaibi George and Wu clashed on several topics, ranging from housing displacement to police reform.
Debate topics also included drug addiction, homelessness and public safety reform.
Wu said Boston has failed to address homelessness and the growing opiate crisis in the city, adding that she would take a public health centered approach to solve this problem.
“I will make sure that we are getting in there right away in my first 100 days, putting funding toward outreach so that we are reaching every single person on the streets, expanding our treatment and partnership with community health centers, with regional partners around the whole area and getting at the root causes of the housing crisis,” she said.
Essaibi George said, however, that Boston cannot wait for a 100-day plan in any mayoral administration and that “we have no more time for conversation” because the crisis has gotten worse.
She said she would explore as a “public health overseen effort” the previously proposed short-term solutions of committing unhoused populations at Mass/Cass to an empty facility on the South Bay correctional campus — where they’d receive housing and treatment — as well as addressing short-term and long-term recovery needs at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital public health campus.
“We need to use the Shattuck, we need to rebuild the Long Island bridge, we need to decentralize services,” she said. “This crisis is touching hundreds and hundreds of individuals.”
Wu reiterated the importance of the City playing a “proactive role” in directing resources to help unhoused people remain in their communities.
Essaibi George challenged Wu on her advocacy for rent control in the city, alleging that Wu does not believe in the power of small landlords.
“Rent control is not the answer,” Essaibi George said. “[It] will keep rents high and push our city’s residents further and further away from community, from job centers, from schools and from future opportunity.”
Wu said building affordable housing, increasing homeownership and rent stabilization are what Boston residents need.
“People are coming up to both of us saying how afraid they are that they can’t afford to stay in the communities they’ve helped build and grow,” she added. “Everything should be on the table when it comes to addressing our housing crisis, especially when it comes to addressing our crisis of displacement.”
Former mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell submitted a question asking the candidates how they plan to close the opportunity gap for students in the Boston Public Schools, citing how kids living in Mattapan — home to a large African American and Caribbean community — have only a 5% chance of being accepted into a high quality Boston Public School compared to other neighborhoods having as much as an 80% chance.
Both Wu and Essaibi George agreed on the need to close the opportunity gap, mentioning that they have children in the BPS system.
“We need to ensure that in this Mecca of education, those resources, those opportunities are connecting with each of our young people,” Wu said. “I’ll ensure that there are improvements to our school assignment process that reflect equity, but more importantly that we are investing in each one of our seats.”
To close the gap, Essaibi George said it’s important to consider how the $1.3 billion dollars budgeted for Boston’s education system in the fiscal year 2022 are invested.
She listed high school redesign, grade reconfiguration, an early literacy program and fixing special education services — especially including classrooms that disproportionately impact children of color — as definite areas of investment.
“‘Good enough’ as it relates to our education system, as it relates to my responsibility as a parent, is not good enough,” Essaibi George said. “As a teacher, I know how to do this work.”
The candidates also debated on how to reform the Boston Police Department, while ensuring public safety. Both disagreed on how to institute these changes in the City.
Essaibi George emphasized police accountability, transparency and diversity in the police force in order to reflect the diversity of the city it serves. She put forward her support for investing, rather than defunding, BPD.
“We need to ensure that our city is a safe city and a just city,” she said. “That work is incredibly important.”
Wu also highlighted the importance of police accountability and transparency, adding she will appoint a new police commissioner who prioritizes reforms and will negotiate a new police union contract. Wu has also previously said she’s an advocate for focusing on investing in solutions for systemic issues, such as housing and food security.
“We need to be fearless in reaching for the scale of change that our residents deserve,” she said.
Essaibi George responded that Wu has not been a leader on necessary reforms and that Boston should not have to wait for a new commissioner to be elected to implement recommendations by the Boston Police Reform Task Force.
“With or without a commissioner, we can put those recommendations in place, and I am committed to doing that,” Essaibi George said.
Both candidates emphasized their commitment to listening and responding to community members in improving the quality of life in Boston, such as unsafe trash dumping and repairing sidewalks.
Essaibi George said it’s important for the mayor to quickly tackle the everyday issues that aren’t considered “big goals,” such as filling potholes, as well as systemic issues.
“We need to be leading the way and ensuring that we are getting to the root causes of violence in our communities, and ensuring that we are building trust with community members when it comes to safety and healing and public health,” Essaibi George said.
Wu said the City needs to proactively provide a multitude of services to its residents.
“That is the bread and butter of what it means to be in city government, that you don’t have to choose between getting it right at the ground level for the day to day needs of our residents and ensuring we’re getting to tackle systemic root causes,” Wu said.
The second mayoral debate will be held next Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. on NBC Boston. Early voting in Boston begins Oct. 23 and the final deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot is Oct. 27.
