Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

A Place for Deval to use his Bully Pulpit

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There is a program called the Boston Jobs Policy. 50% of the construction jobs in the City are supposed to go to Bostonians, 25% to minorities and 10 percent to women. However, this policy is not enforced, and basically given lip service by the Mayor and City Hall. A review of 5 years of Boston Redevelopment Authority projects showed that only between 20 and 25 % of the jobs are going to Boston residents and fewer still to minorities.

Why are young minorities in the City shooting one another? One reason is bleak job prospects. Look around at the big construction jobs, mostly white males, which the data show mostly live in the suburbs. Even in the heart of Roxbury/Dorchester a new building going up has only white guys visibly working on it (at least 10 as I drove by, with no women or minorities). Our trade school, Madison Park has fewer than a dozen young people a year getting the training to be carpenters and according to the teachers they are not getting the resources they need to help prepare the kids for the real world.

Perhaps Deval could work with the Mayor on giving these kids an opportunity, so they have more to look forward to than guns and violence. Use that pulpit to get the City of Boston to enforce its own guidelines and hire local people, local minorities for these honest, good paying jobs.

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Comments

  1. Out here, at least, school resources are increasing focused on MCAS preparation and that means vocational programs in the public schools get the shaft.  There are a lot of kids who could do well and find decent careers if they can be trained in carpentry and building trades. 

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    I am working with others to help fill the vacuum by creating a Youthbuild chapter in this area:

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    YouthBuild programs engage unemployed young men and women, most of whom have not completed high school and all of whom come from low-income families. YouthBuild enables them to serve their communities by building affordable housing, and assists them in transforming their own lives and roles in society.

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    There are already a number of active Youthbuild programs in Massachusetts.  The feds have recently moved the program’s funding and oversight from HUD to Dept. of Labor.  Of course, the funds have also been reduced in recent budgets.  I hope we can make it work.  It is a great way to reach kids who have not done well in an academic setting and to give them a career opportunity that will allow them to support a family.

  2. More jobs would slow the population loss, improve revenue, decrease violence…and given the crumbling infrastructure of our roads and bridges, the back log of maintenance for our parks…the work is there and must be done.

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