Roxbury needs to move past politics of react-ivism
For far too long, Roxbury has been forced to react rather than be pro-active.
I have been following the Parcel 18 development process (“Northeastern parcel plan raises Roxbury’s ire,” July 12, 2007), and it leaves me with many unanswered questions. Where were our community leaders in the beginning of this process? What role did they play? Was there a community benefit package? Who negotiated it on behalf of the community?
Elected officials should be voicing the concerns of the community and working to make sure those concerns are addressed. Our elected officials must be transparent with those they are elected to serve. They should be making sure information is shared with every resident in the area.
Instead we are left to stand outside and protest in reaction. Instead residents and activists are being informed after the construction is started.
If Roxbury is going to move forward, leadership must be able to negotiate in the best interests of its residents. The two most powerful levers of change we have today are political influence and economic development. It is evident by the P-18 process that we are not using those levers. Roxbury’s most valuable assets are its people and its land. We must take appropriate action to improve our future.
Carlos Henriquez
Candidate for Boston City Council
District Seven
Bush’s contradiction
The president has ignored his own intelligence agencies and continued to spin a false rationale for the escalation of the war in Iraq. The National Intelligence Estimate made it clear that al-Qaida is stronger because of our massive military presence in Iraq.
No surplus of presidential scare tactics changes the fact that Iraqis will only stand up if we give them deadlines and engage in diplomacy. The president continues to traffic in the politics of fear rather than give our troops a policy based on truth.
Sen. John F. Kerry
In response to President Bush’s in Charlestown, S.C., on the fight against terrorism and Iraq
