Massachusetts has awarded more than $10 million in tax credits to market-rate housing developers in Salem and Quincy based on their status as Gateway Cities even though the two communities no longer met the criteria for that designation, according to funding records obtained by CommonWealth Beacon.
Salem
Posted inEducation
Healey has called for universal pre-K in every Gateway City by the year’s end. Providers say they won’t get there.
Seven of the 26 cities are not currently participating in the state’s pre-K implementation program. Child care providers in cities that are participating say that while it enforces a mixed-delivery approach highly valued by preschool advocates, universal access for every 4-year-old by the end of the year is a pipe dream.
Posted inGateway Cities
No way in and no way out: Beacon Hill hasn’t kept track of which communities qualify for Gateway City status
Despite lawmakers’ good intentions, state statute fails to create an enforcement mechanism to periodically review each city’s eligibility. Over time, some cities have met the state’s criteria without being added to the list, while others no longer qualify yet continue to reap the benefits. Oversight of the designations seems to have been lost.
Posted inThe Codcast
The profit and price of October in Salem
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Hallie Claflin talks with Dominick Pangallo, Mayor of Salem. Every year in October, Salem experiences a massive tourism boom as more than a million visitors flock to the site of the Salem Witch Trials for the spooky season. How does a small city of 45,000 manage the influx of tourists? How do Salem residents feel about the influx? And how lucrative is the tourism industry? Pangallo addresses these and encourages all to explore the great things Salem has to offer all year round.
Posted inDrug Addiction
Judging the judge
A protest last week outside a Salem courthouse featured a refrain made familiar by the scholarly legal eagles who regularly populate the president’s rally, where they apply only the most […]
Posted inThe Download
Judging the judge
A protest last week outside a Salem courthouse featured a refrain made familiar by the scholarly legal eagles who regularly populate the president’s rally, where they apply only the most […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Salem is taking on climate change
THE MORE THINGS change, the more they stay the same. For centuries now the economic health of the city of Salem has been tied to the ocean. In the immediate […]