Head of Massachusetts Municipal Association concerned about long-term solutions in migrant crisis
BOSTON - It's never a milk run managing the affairs of Massachusetts cities and towns. And these days, between inflationary pressure on government costs, economic uncertainty and unexpected crises like the huge influx of migrants, it's tougher than ever.
So it's little wonder that Adam Chapdelaine, executive director of the lobbying arm of cities and towns, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, is "concerned" about the herky-jerky flow of state revenue collections, with a better-than-expected April haul following months of below-forecast results. "I want to see I want to learn more as we talk with state officials. I know they're still grappling with what is really causing the revenue concerns.... I'm not ringing any alarm bells, but I think figuring out how the state is looking at its budget on an ongoing basis and thereby how locals will look at their budgets is something that we're going to be paying a lot of attention to," he says.
Concern about cost of housing migrants
One major cost center for both state and local officials - the flood of migrants fleeing unstable countries that has filled local shelters and stretched budgets. Chapdelaine says some of the bureaucratic problems that plagued the early months of the migrant crisis - poor communication between the state and communities, and lagging federal issuance of work permits to the new arrivals - have been at least somewhat resolved. But a big problem looms as the state mandates a limit to shelter stays. "Figuring out more permanent housing for these people is critical," says Chapdelaine. "And doing that in the midst of an existing housing crisis is an obvious challenge. [When they leave], where are they going? Are they staying in the same community? Have they moved out of state? And I think the administration is working to better and better track that, to have a better sense of it. In terms of employment, I do think there's been more success in getting many of these people into the workforce. I think putting the right social service agencies in place, having job placement in place, having some type of pipeline to permanent housing in place" will help.
Focus on balance between state and towns with MBTA Communities Act
And regarding the ongoing controversy over local compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, a Baker-era state law that requires cities and towns served by the T to redo their zoning to allow for more multifamily housing (or lose state grants if they don't).
"I don't think anybody really wants to be in a position where the state has been suing the town, and as the representatives of cities and towns, we don't want towns or cities to be sued by the state," Chapdelaine says. "But frankly, we're trying to focus more on how do we keep balance between our members.... We have 351 cities and towns, some are adopting, some are considering, some are expressing concerns and we represent all of them."