By Adam Swift
City Councilors Tanairi Garcia and Kelly Garcia introduced several motions at last week’s regular council meeting aimed at helping some of Chelsea’s most vulnerable residents.
An order introduced by both councilors asked that the city manager, in collaboration with the Department of Housing and Community Development, Chelsea Housing Authority, Inspectional Services Department, the Commission on Disabilities, Council on Aging, and relevant community stakeholders, develop and present to the City Council a comprehensive Anti-Displacement Protection Plan for elderly residents and residents living with disabilities.
The comprehensive plan should include recommendations and strategies to identify elderly and disabled residents who may be at risk of displacement due to rising rent, property sales, condominium conversions, or other housing pressures. The Garcias also asked that the plan create an early warning system and outreach protocol to notify vulnerable residents of available housing resources, vehicle assistance, rental assistance, and relocation support.
“We go door knocking and we see many disabled folks, and we are all going to get old, so we need to protect our most vulnerable community members,” said Tanairi Garcia. “I would love to focus on them more in the future, because they are as important as anything else happening in this community and we need to protect them.”
In a separate motion, Tanairi Garcia introduced an order requesting that a meeting of the subcommittee on conference be held with the City Manager, the Department of Inspectional Services, the Fire Department, the Police Department, representatives from the Chelsea Housing Authority (CHA) , and other relevant stakeholders to discuss conditions, safety concerns, maintenance, ongoing improvements, and future plans for the CHA property at 14 Bloomingdale Street. The Buckley Apartments has over 200 one-bedroom apartments serving the elderly and the disabled.
“I have many concerns about that building, I see construction, parking is a concern, the safety of our elderly folks is a concern to me,” said Tanairi Garcia. “I really want to meet with everyone who can make this a better space for our community, because for our residents there, on top of the building being super old, I feel like there are a lot of missing gaps in terms of safety.”
She said she knows that the CHA has a number of ongoing projects, but that she does not want them and the city to lose track of the issues at 14 Bloomingdale.
“My sister and I often go there and host bingo nights and go door knocking and just chat with the residents there,” said Kelly Garcia. “Another concern they have mentioned is the increasing rent, even though some apartments are in deplorable condition. I’m eager to have more conversation about this building.”