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Special small business section: Tips on certification, lending and more pg 11
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NARI WARD DROPS TRUTHS ABOUT IDENTITY, CITIZENSHIP AT THE ICA pg 15
Trainer’s lifelong love for fitness spells business success pg 10
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School dept seeks input on BuildBPS Parents’ questions focused more on issues facing current students By YAWU MILLER
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Sadia Mohammed, a Logan Airport worker and Sudanese immigrant, spoke during a rally for passage of the Safe Communities Act.
Immigrant rights focus of May 1 strikes, rallies Some protesters flex economic power, others call for legislation By JULE PATTISON-GORDON
David Cheltenham, an Excel Academy freshman, was among approximately 80 people who took off from school and work on May 1 to instead turn out for an immigrant rights breakfast event hosted by the Cosecha movement. The morning action, at East Boston’s Maverick Landing, was followed
by several events throughout the day, and was among May 1 events that turned out tens of thousands of immigrant and labor rights protestors nationally. Cheltenham had read about families torn apart and seen the anxiety among students at his own school. When on Saturday he learned of Cosecha, an immigrant advocacy movement that is active in several states, he felt he had to act, he said.
“Some of my friends at school said that when Trump was elected they feared for their families’ safety and felt the country they loved turned its back on them,” Cheltenham told the Banner. “It’s not something I can stand by and watch. ... I came to see what’s going on. I wanted to contribute in any way I can.”
See MAY DAY, page 14
A year ago city officials seemed poised to close schools following the release of a hastily-prepared audit that found an excess of seats in the city’s stock of 125 buildings. The audit report, which the city commissioned from the firm McKinsey and Company, sparked controversy among parent activists who were furious at the suggestion that 20 to 50 BPS school buildings could be closed. School department officials quickly distanced themselves from the report. Last week, as city officials made a public presentation of BuildBPS, a planning process for facilities improvements to the city’s school buildings, they cited a shortage of space in the city’s schools for the kinds of classrooms students will need for 21st century learning. “We want flexible facilities,” said Superintendent Tommy Chang, describing the district’s need for new space. “We want space that allows students to perform. We want more light.”
Space concerns
The district is at the beginning of its planning process and has no concrete details on what will get built or where. Chang said the district has the capacity for 69,100 students in buildings as they are currently being used, but that the capacity of the current buildings will drop to 55,500 if classrooms are reconfigured to fit new
ON THE WEB BuildBPS: www.bostonpublicschools.org/
buildbps BPS budget hearing video: www.youtube.
com/watch?v=EDz-bS5d7N4&list=PLQaoo0hI2DAhqKFIIGywpjNUiTpIBGNLb&index=19 methods of teaching and learning. Chang joined other city and school department officials to discuss the BuildBPS planning process at the Richard J. Murphy school in Dorchester last week. School officials, parents and representatives of community groups gathered in the school’s auditorium to listen to Chang’s presentation. After, he and the other department officials responded to questions audience members had written on cards. BPS Operations Chief John Hanlon laid out the premise for the BuildBPS process to the parents in the room, noting that 65 percent of school buildings in Boston were built before World War II, that teaching and learning have changed over the decades and that school buildings need to accommodate those changes. “BuildBPS aims to do that,” he said. Chang explained that classrooms need to be more flexible, to allow students to move from one activity to another, rather than sitting in neat rows as in 19th century school rooms. Under BuildBPS, the city will expand school in areas where the land around them permits and construct new buildings as needed.
See BUILDBPS, page 8
Urban farming’s long local history Minority activists leaders of movement By JULE PATTISON-GORDON
A locally-based tech-savvy hydroponic city farming startup has brought media attention to Boston’s urban agriculture scene. But while a recent article in the London-based Guardian newspaper celebrated the white entrepreneurs behind the startup, it left in the shadows the story of the black activists who jumpstarted the movement more than four decades ago.
The latest media attention went to Freight Farms, a company that sells pre-assembled hydroponic farms housed in recycled freight containers, which can be stored in alleyways, parking lots or other spots of open space available in city environments. The design allows for maintaining a controlled interior climate regardless of outside temperature, and the containers are equipped with a monitoring system tied to a smartphone app. This and similar initiatives are
just another stage of the urban growing movement, say Mel King, who advanced urban farming legislation in the 1970s, and Glynn Lloyd, who lobbied for the legalization enabling the urban agriculture industry in the early 2010s and in 2009 co-founded a farming cooperative with plots in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan. “Folks from the community, we catalyzed a lot of this stuff, going back to changing laws and generating a lot of the urban farming energy in Boston,” said Lloyd,
See GARDENING, page 6
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Vegetables growing in this Thornton Street plot, operated by Haley House and the Hawthorne Youth and Community Center, end up on pizzas served at Dudley Dough.
2 • Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
Police still stop people of color at higher rates, data shows New data shows rates for 2015 to early 2016; reflects little change over 2011 to 2015 rates By JULE PATTISON-GORDON
The city in 2014 made available years of data that bore evidence to a disproportionate tendency of police to stop people of color, compared to white residents. Civil rights activists have long reported what they say is a trend of police violating black residents’ constitutional protection against unlawful search and seizure. But despite Police Commissioner Bill Evans’ assurances of reforms, new data suggests little has changed. The Associated Press has released an analysis comparing prior data on police stops during 2011-2015 with new data on such stops occurring between 2011 and early 2016. Between the earlier set of years, 2011 and 2015, people of color comprised about 73 percent of all civilians that Boston police stopped on the street, while comprising only 53 percent of the city population, according to 2010 census data. Since that police stop information became available, the rate of stops has dropped only slightly if at all, according to new data reflecting 2015 to early 2016. Between 2015 and early 2016, at least 71 percent of those subjected to field interrogation, observation, frisks and/or searches were people of color, according to the Associated Press analysis.
ON THE WEB Read the Banner’s article on secret ‘gang’ labeling: http://baystatebanner.com/
news/2015/sep/23/gang-label-poorlyunderstood-serious-consequences-/ With more than 7 percent of such reports not recording race information, that rate could be even higher. Meanwhile, people of color still comprised only about 55 percent of the city’s population in 2015, according to American Community Survey estimates. Rahsaan Hall, director of the racial justice program at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said the findings do not surprise him. “The challenge the Boston Police Department has is that they suffer from this notion of exceptionalism. Because so many people across the nation praise and laud them for their community policing models, they think they’re free from having to do deep changes to their policing practices,” Hall told the Banner. “I think that’s why we see such a marginal reduction in the disparities.”
Stops without arrests
The disparity is especially stark for black residents in particular. Initial analysis of the 20112015 data showed that black residents disproportionately were represented among stops that did not produce an arrest (that
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The Boston Police Department says it is premature to draw conclusions about prejudicial stops without further data and analysis. information has not yet been presented for 2015-2016.) During the 2011-2015 time period, blacks received about 58.5 percent of all such stops, even though blacks comprised only slightly more than 24 percent of the population, according to 2010 census data. The AP analysis states that while the average percent of stops of black residents during 2011-2015 represents a decline over the rate of previous four years (63 percent), there has been little to no improvement between individual years for
2011 to 2015. The impact can damage the police’s effectiveness by damaging community relations, ACLU attorney Carl Williams told the AP. “People feel uncomfortable talking with police when they feel they’re getting stopped unjustly,” Williams said. The fourth amendment bars search and seizure of a person without reasonable suspicion that they have committed, are about to commit or are in the act of committing a crime. Civil rights advocates and Boston residents of color often say that police transgress this protection. The latest data includes more information than the 2011-2015 records did on why people were stopped, which could lay the groundwork for better monitoring and reaction to such instances. According to the most recent data, from 2015 to early 2016, 21 percent of stops were due to “reasonable suspicions” and 31 percent were due to “probable cause.” However, information is lacking on the percentage of the stops that actually produced arrests or seizures.
Incomplete picture?
Further analysis of the data is forthcoming: Anthony Braga, head of the criminal justice school at Northeastern University, told the AP that he and other independent researchers who are analyzing the 2011-2015 data are awaiting more
A��� F��� Y��� w/L����� S����� J���� May 17, 6pm-7pm • June 7, 12:30pm-1:30pm 1175 Tremont Street, Roxbury MBTA: Ruggles Station RSVP: northeastern.edu/crossing
information from the police before they conclude their study. He cautioned against drawing conclusions from raw data before the study is complete, and said the AP analysis was “overly simplistic, woefully incomplete and, quite frankly, irresponsible.” BPD spokeperson Michael McCarthy told the AP it was irresponsible to not factor into the analysis details that were not included in the report. Such critical factors include neighborhood crime statistics and the history of detained individuals, such as their prior arrests and any gang affiliation, he said. The BPD did not respond to a Banner request for further comment. T he ACLU’s Hall, however, says that researchers have demonstrated that even when controlling for crime rates, there was a significant racial disparity in 2011-2015 stops. “That justification then goes out the window,” Hall said. “It is important to look at what communities are being criminalized and what types of efforts are invested in stopping people and surveying people for things that are low-level offenses that don’t warrant the level of policing that they garner.” Activists also have questioned the department’s loose definition of “gang-affiliated,” noting that many teens who are not members of gangs are labeled as such and are given no opportunity to clear their names.
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 3
Mixed-use project slated for Mattapan’s Blue Hill Avenue Plans call for sit-down restaurant, 21 condos; developer, community groups outline benefits By JULE PATTISON-GORDON
Expectations are high for a Mattapan development that could turn several blighted lots into a mixed-use, residential and retail project, with space for sit-down restaurants. Under plans filed with the Boston Planning and Development Agency, 1199-1203 Blue Hill Avenue — currently two vacant lots and a windowless one-story commercial building — would be transformed. The resulting project is intended as a four-story building with three one-bedroom and eighteen two-bedroom condos as well as ground-floor retail and restaurant space. Karen Bunch, project consultant for the project, said one purpose of the development was to create homeownership opportunities. She could not speak to the number of units that will be market rate or income restricted. The $12 million project is being developed by Allston-Brighton landlord George Minasidis, who currently manages 20 units and purchased the parcels for about $349,000. The project plans include 3,000 square feet of retail space; a 55-seat, 2,800 square foot restaurant with potential for outside seating; an underground garage with 22 spaces; covered storage accommodating 25 bicycles; planting and benches along the avenue; and a rear courtyard with plantings. Particular excitement was expressed over the restaurant space. “[The project] will provide what the neighborhood most wants: a sit-down restaurant in a nice establishment and environment,” state Rep. Russell Holmes told the Banner. He called the development “very transformative.” According to Bunch, there also is interest in locating a
bakery-café on site, filling a vacancy in consumer offerings. Currently the area suffers from limited options for customers and venue offerings for businesses, she said. “There’s not enough places you can go and actually sit down and open up your laptop and have an interview or a meeting,” Bunch told the Banner. “There’s so much leakage [of consumer dollars and entrepreneurs] out of the community. There’s an opportunity to put another retailer there or two additional retailers there. [Businesses] leave because there’s no space to work.” David Lopes of the Wellington Hill Neighborhood Association, said the project will be a significant aesthetic improvement over a blighted block, and will bring needed housing while locating parking underground in order not to exacerbate an existing parking strain. “I think it’s good for the community,” Lopes said in a Banner phone interview. Significantly, he said, the developers have made sure to work with community groups, such as his neighborhood association, to generate community benefits and shape the design. A memorandum of understanding was hashed out between the community and developers stipulating a list of nine community benefits. These include a one-time scholarship awarded to a deserving youth who lives in the community to go to a trade school such as North Bennet Street School, Lopes said. Under other benefits, the developers would send letters in support of a community push to get police foot patrols in the area during high traffic and business hours and aim for 35 percent minority business enterprise participation in the construction while abiding by Boston Resident Jobs Policy in hiring. Bunch said her team will be
PROJECT RENDERING COURTESY OF KAREN BUNCH, CONSULTANT
Rendering of the building proposed for 1199-1203 Blue Hill Avenue. reaching out to community groups for the hiring process. Lopes said developers also came to an agreement with residents over the types of retail businesses that the project would house. The area has hit saturation point with dollar stores, liquor stores and storefront churches, Lopes said. Instead, there is a strong desire for nice restaurants and businesses that create jobs and enhance the business atmosphere, he said. Residents
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Saturday, May 6, 2017 • 12:00 p.m. Saturday, May Saturday, 6, 2017 May • HALL 12:00 6, 2017 p.m.• 12:00 p.m. PRINCE 24 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts PRINCE HALL PRINCE HALL 24 Washington Street, 24 Washington Boston, Massachusetts Street, Boston, Massachusetts RSVP online at http://bit.ly/May6community orRSVP call 617-765-2277 Ext.103 RSVP online at http://bit.ly/May6community online at http://bit.ly/May6community or call 617-765-2277 or Ext.103 call 617-765-2277 Ext.103 Seniors & Kids free
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requested as well that parking in front of the building be limited to two hours so as to ensure room for customers seeking to patronize businesses. Finally, Lopes said, residents wanted to be sure that quality materials are used in construction so that anything built in the area does not end up deteriorating within a few years. Based on design plans presented, Lopes said he feels confident in the aesthetics and lasting quality of the building.
Next steps
Should BPDA review and zoning relief processes go smoothly, the project is anticipated to be completed by the second quarter of 2019, according to documents filed with the BPDA. Lopes said the developer will be scheduling a meeting soon with the neighborhood association to present his full plans. If all goes well, the Wellington Hill Neighborhood Association then will provide them with a letter of support.
4 • Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
EDITORIAL
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INSIDE: BUSINESS, 10 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, 15 • CLASSIFIEDS, 20
Established 1965
A bad tradeoff Patriot’s Day is a major holiday in Massachusetts. It is a celebration of the beginning of America’s Revolutionary War against Britain. Every year a rider impersonating William Dawes rides a horse from Eliot Square in Roxbury to warn the residents of the western suburbs that “the British are coming.” Minutemen reenactors confront the British Redcoats in Concord and Lexington and once again fire “the shot heard around the world.” The performance of the colonial militia generated a strong interest among early Americans in maintaining the right to bear arms in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Violence in the colonies actually occurred before April 19, 1775, the Patriots’ Day event. There were frequent acts of revolutionary violence in Boston, but on March 5, 1770 Crispus Attucks, a runaway slave, was killed by a British soldier during such a confrontation. Attucks died in what is called the Boston Massacre. He is the first casualty in the American Revolution. The increase of violence in opposition to colonialism induced the Crown’s governor in Massachusetts, Gen. Thomas Gage, to outlaw arsenals and even the formation of armed militias. The Redcoat march to Concord and Lexington in 1775 did not successfully shutter armed resistance to colonization. The Redcoats had to retreat. After American independence, Congress approved the Second Amendment on Sept. 25, 1789 and it was ratified on Dec. 15, 1791. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. This simple language does not provide clear direction about the regulation of
firearms in the 21st century. However, one thing is clear. Government officials, judges and congressmen of the 18th century could not envision the panoply of weaponry available in the 21st century. The right to acquire and own firearms became accepted in the 19th century, even by blacks who had not yet gained equality. The ardent advocate of emancipation, Frederick Douglass, is reported to have said: “The liberties of the American people were dependent upon the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box; that without these, no class of people could live and flourish in this country.” Blacks did not contemplate the extent to which the prevalence of concealed firearms would come to justify a Fourth Amendment violation of an individual. In the case of Terry vs. Ohio (1968), the U.S. Supreme Court stated that “Even a limited search of the outer clothing for weapons constitutes a severe, though brief, intrusion upon cherished personal security, and it must surely be an annoying, frightening, and perhaps humiliating experience.” Usually, police officers must have probable cause to make an arrest before they conduct a personal search or even a pat down. However, the court concluded “that there is a narrowly drawn authority to permit a reasonable search for weapons for the protection of the police officer, where he has reason to believe that he is dealing with an armed and dangerous individual, regardless of whether he has probable cause to arrest the individual for a crime.” Perhaps the effectiveness of the Minuteman militias induced the Founding Fathers to secure in the Second Amendment the citizens’ rights to bear arms, and now we have to cope with “stop and frisk,” which violates the constitutional rights that were to be provided by the Fourth Amendment.
ERRATUM According to the Banner’s interview with the Bernal family, tenants at 26 School Street in Roxbury, their rent was raised from $900 to $1,700 (Forced out: Egleston Sq. tenants fight rent increase, April 27 edition). However, according to City Realty the Bernals were offered a new tenancy
at will at their current rent of $900, with the only increase in cost being tenants’ responsibility for the cost of gas and electricity. While tenants and tenant activists told the Banner that City Realty sent notices to all tenants with a rent increase to $1,700, according to City Realty no such
INDEX BUSINESS NEWS ………………………………...................... 10 SPRING SMALL BUSINESS SECTION …………………...... 11 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT …………………...................... 15 FOOD …………………...................................................... 18 CLASSIFIEDS ……………………………………....................... 20
notices were sent. City Realty states it has only ever sent notices of termination to two apartments at 26 School Street. City Realty further notes that it is relocating El Embajador restaurant directly next door to its current location on a long-term lease at below-market rent.
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OPINION THE BANNER WELCOMES YOUR OPINION: EMAIL OP-ED SUBMISSIONS TO YAWU@BANNERPUB.COM • Letters must be signed. Names may be withheld upon request.
OPINION
The worst presidential 100 days ever
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Do you think Americans should have the right to own handguns?
By EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON Trump, number 45, got one thing right about the media-hyped, first-hundred-days presidential measuring stick. It’s a silly measure. In fact, presidents from John F. Kennedy to Obama have derided the hundred-day fetish and correctly noted that the far better to gauge how effective or bumbling an incoming president is is the first thousand days. A quick look at the presidency of Clinton and Bush is enough to prove that. Clinton bombed badly in pushing Congress for a $16 billion stimulus package; he bungled the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy regarding gays in the military, and he got flack on his health care reform plan. Yet, the Clinton presidency is regarded as one of the most successful, popular and enduring presidencies in modern times. Then there’s the Bush presidency. He got off to a fast start. At the hundred-day mark in April 2001, his approval ratings matched Obama’s. He was widely applauded for his trillion-dollar tax cutting program, his “faith-based” and disabled Americans initiatives and for talking up education, health care reform and slashing the national debt. But aside from the momentary adulation he got after the 9/11 terror attack, his presidency is rated as one of the worst in modern times. But while Trump, like Kennedy and Obama, got it right in ridiculing the hundred-day time span as being way too short to call a new presidential administration a success or failure, it’s not too short a period to call his White House stint the worst hundred days ever. It’s not his consistent bottom-wallowing popularity rating that tags his administration the worst first-time start ever. It’s not even his record of non-accomplishment, which amounts to a slew of inconsequential executive orders that mostly attempt to torpedo some of Obama’s executive orders, and his disastrous, court derailed Muslim immigrant ban. It’s the utter lack of any hint that things will get any better during his next hundred, or even thousand days in the White House. The tip-offs of his future cluelessness are everywhere. He’s the least politically equipped winning presidential candidate to ever sit behind the desk in the Oval Office. Now that was the great asset that got him elected, since so many Americans were supposedly so fed up with the insular, corrupt, deal making, corporate dominated, politics of Beltway Washington. Trump was supposedly the remedy for that. This delusion should have been shattered with the parade of Goldman Sachs-tied, Pentagon-connected generals, and Trump corporate cronies that he plopped into his cabinet and top staff positions. This could only mean one thing, the corporate and political regulars that Trump pretended to sneer at would do what they always do, and that’s run the government show for him, as they have for other GOP presidents. The flop on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the polarizing vote on his Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch did two seemingly impossible things. It turned off legions of hard right GOP House conservatives and moderate Senate Democrats who had made some soundings about trying to work out an accommodation with Trump on some legislative and policy issues. The future here is going to be one of never-ending, time consuming, get-nothing-done rancor and in-fighting between Trump and Congress. The Russia election meddling scandal, Trump’s refusal to disclose his taxes, and his dubious conflict of interest business dealings insure that the screams for congressional investigations will only get louder in the days and months to come. This will continue to keep the tens of millions who want Trump bounced from office revved up. They’ll continue to turn up at GOP and Democratic congresspersons town halls and shout them down on any defense they try to make of Trump’s policies and actions. Trump’s weak defense against prolonged and guaranteed failure is to toss a few missiles or drop a bomb every now and then or saber rattle the usual suspect villains: ISIS, Assad, the Taliban and the North Koreans. The media will run with this for a time, and some commentators who should know better will even call his acts forceful and presidential. This will wipe his political and legislative flops off the front page for a day or so, and give him a point or two bump up in the polls. But even here, he can only go to the well so often with the military tough guy act before this starts to wear thin, and some begin to catch on to his wag-the-dog game. The thousand-day mark that Obama, Kennedy and other presidents cited as the more realistic time frame is not an arbitrary number. That marks the near end of a president’s first White House term. The honeymoon is over, and the president has fought major battles over his policies, initiatives, executive orders, court appointments and programs with Congress, the courts, interest groups and the media. Battles that by then have been won or lost, or fought to a draw, and there’s enough time to gauge their impact and the president’s effectiveness. In Trump’s case, it won’t matter. His first thousand days will be like his first hundred, the worst presidency ever.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst.
No. Because it contributes to violence. If nobody had guns, there’d be far less violence.
Brian Arrington Sales Roxbury
No. There’s too much killing with guns already. The more guns there are, the more killing there will be.
Deborah Coleman Homemaker Dorchester
It all depends. If you have no violent crimes on your record and you’re going to use it for protection, then yes.
Edward Galloway Entrepreneur Dorchester
Yes. Number one, with the way young people are getting guns illegally, I think people should be able to protect themselves. But people should be trained to own and use them.
No. I don’t think people understand the responsibility of owning a handgun.
Larry
Robert Caldwell
Roland English
Student Roxbury
Unemployed South End
Director of Project Hope. “Julie’s extensive experience in both development and the founding of her own nonprofit organization are invaluable assets that will help Project Hope continue to make an impact on the lives of the people we serve and further our efforts to move low-income families up and out of poverty.” Prior to Project Hope, Totten worked at Boston University in corporate relations. From 2001 to 2014, she founded and led Families for Depression Awareness, a national nonprofit organization that reaches millions of families across the country to help them recognize and cope with mood disorders. Totten began her career in marketing — sales support, advertising, and public relations.
Totten holds a MBA from Babson College and a BBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She resides in Newton, Massachusetts.
Chef Roxbury
No. There are too many weapons. Too many people dying.
IN THE NEWS
JULIE TOTTEN Project Hope, a nonprofit at the forefront of efforts in Boston to move families up and out of poverty, announced recently that Julie Totten has joined the organization as the new director of development. In this capacity, Totten will work alongside Project Hope’s funders who support the organization’s mission by providing low-income women and children with access to education, jobs, housing and emergency services. This position plays an essential role in Project Hope’s mission as it promotes and provides life-empowering programs and services to the women of the greater Roxbury and Dorchester. “Project Hope is thrilled to welcome Julie to our team,” said Linda Wood-Boyle, Executive
6 • Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
gardening continued from page 1
co-founder of City Growers. “I don’t see it as a separate thing; it’s just part of the whole.”
Early push
During his time on Beacon Hill, former state Rep. Mel King filed and promoted legislation to facilitate urban farming. Among the legislation was a bill that permitted use of state land for community agriculture and allowed the state to offer to purchase for-sale farm land, with the purpose of then leasing or selling the property to food growers, he said. “We were in a period where the state was backing of off having farms at mental health institutions and the corrections department and we just wanted to make sure that the land was kept in the hands of the people who were into farming and agriculture,” King told the Banner. In 1979, Massachusetts implemented the first-in-the-nation Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program. Under the program, farmers who were in possession of “state important” or “prime” growing land had the opportunity to receive a payment from the state in exchange for a permanent deed restriction designating preventing property use that would negatively impact the land’s agricultural viability. In part, King said, he was inspired by the World War II-era victory gardens that were popular in Boston during his childhood and from watching how urban farms brought communities together to collaborate across racial
and cultural groups. Promoting healthy eating also was a driver.
Boston Urban Gardeners
Another push for urban agriculture came from Puerto Rican and Caribbean immigrants living around Roxbury Community College who wanted to be able to access land on which to grow food, according to King. In response to this need, he said he pushed for the state to clean up the vacant plots that had been cleared for the failed Southwest Corridor highway and open the property for residential farming use. Lead paint from the razed buildings had leached into the land, making the soil untenable for crops. Instead, earth was trucked in from Marlborough with activist Dick Gregory leading the trucks into the city to draw further attention to advocacy for healthy eating, King recalled. This southwest corridor effort led to the creation of Boston Urban Gardeners in 1976, which took up farming on the land and provided gardening education to community members in the South End, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and Dorchester. One of the founders, Charlotte Kahn, said in a 1989 interview with the Washington Post that that project was intended to beautify and improve depressed areas as well as provide fresh produce to people in low-income neighborhoods with limited food access and to provide them with landscaping job training. In 1990, BUG merged with the Southwest Corridor Community Farm, an organization with similar aims.
Other efforts
Other farming efforts in Boston
Men’s Health Summit 2017
Building Healthy Families One Man at a time! June 24th, 2017 n 10:00am-1:00pm Whittier Street Health Center 1290 Tremont Street, Roxbury, MA
Begin your healthier life today! There will be a keynote speaker, panel discussion, recognition of health champions from diverse backgrounds and workshops including a fitness session in our gym.
Call (617) 989-3220 or (617) 989-3178
for more information or if your organization is interested in participating
1290 Tremont Street, Roxbury, MA 02120 (617) 427-1000 n www.wshc.org
PHOTO: COURTESY OF URBAN FARMING INSTITUTE
Urban Farming Institute holds several city plots and its members co-developed the legislation that legalized growth and sale for profit of produce within the city. have included rooftop gardens, which picked up steam about 20 years ago, King said, as well as farms run by land trusts. City Growers Cooperative, cofounded by Lloyd in 2009, works to turn vacant lots into urban farmland, thus providing the community with control of their food source and supplying residents jobs and local retailers, restaurants and consumers with fresh food. Among the benefits are giving youth productive activities and helping to improve health — something that continues to be a high concern, Lloyd said. “[Our community] suffers a lot of chronic illnesses at a higher percentage — cardiovascular, diabetes,” Lloyd said. “People who see where food comes from eat differently.” Another boost to the movement came with the founding of the Urban Farming Institute in 2012. The organization, of which Lloyd and King are directors, aims to promote urban farming training, acquire and prepare land for farming, and advocate on supportive policies. This has included co-developing Article 89, which paved the way for much of the current face of Boston’s city farming.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF URBAN FARMING INSTITUTE
Legalizing urban agriculture
Boston’s urban farming received a leap ahead with the city’s passage of Article 89 in 2013, which legalizes and regulates urban agriculture as a by-right land use, allowing growth and sale for profit of produce within the city. Farming advocates met with the then-Boston Redevelopment
PHOTO: COURTESY OF JERRY MONKMAN OF ECOPHOTOGRAPHY
Authority to develop the legislation, and two Dorchester farms were selected to pilot the program, including one licensed by Lloyd’s City Growers. Lloyd recalled the outpouring of farmers and farming advocates to regular meeting with city officials to craft Article 89. “We had Thursday morning meetings, and it was packed with everyone — farmers, chicken people, greenhouse people, rooftop people, bee people,” he said.
Continuing to grow
Despite the strong history and continually growing movement in Boston, the urban agriculture field is still often unnoticed by the mainstream and by officials in charge of development and space allocation in the city, Lloyd said. Many people stand to benefit from the budget savings of growing their own food as well as the health benefits, and the next challenge is getting more people aware of the offerings, he said. Dave Madan, a founding board member of Urban Farming
Institute, said minority-led urban farming organizations often have gone overlooked — something that can limit the organizations’ ability to continue and expand their work, given that media attention and recognition in the public eye often is important to bring resources. “There’s a pretty stark difference in the access to publicity and resources that happens between white organizations and organizations le-d by people of color,” Madan told the Banner. He said that the Guardian’s article sparked for some the idea that this could be “an opportunity to build the conversation about what the history of the movement is and where credit should be due, and to share the story so that the folks supporting this movement — funders and consumers — have a proper sense that there are these other organizations that may not get the same level of publicity and that there are other individuals doing this work.” “The history should be remembered and told,” Madan concluded.
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 7
8 • Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
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Makeeba McCreary, managing director and senior advisor of external affairs for BPS, answers an audience question during a presentation at the Murphy School in Dorchester as BPS Operations Chief John Hanlon, Superintendent Tommy Chang and 7News reporter Byron Barnett look on.
BuildBPS continued from page 1
BPS official have conducted an assessment of the schools currently in the city which determined that three-quarters of existing elementary schools do not have adequate space. Chang said the department envisions the city’s new high schools being sited close to industries and cultural institutions that will enable students to have access to hands-on learning. “We want our young people to be learning outside the classroom as well as inside,” he said. The grand vision of the BuildBPS process did not draw as many questions as the day-to-day realities students face in school currently. One of the first questions facilitator Byron Barnett read was, “When
will all students receive free M7 MBTA bus passes?” Currently, students in grades 7 through 12 are eligible for the passes only if they live more than 1.9 miles from the school they attend. For students who live within the 1.9 mile so-called walkzone, the discounted bus passes can still be a hardship, critics contend. “Right now we don’t have plans to go district-wide with M7 passes,” Hanlon answered. “It’s something we’re looking at regularly.” “We’re exploring the potential to change the distances,” added Makeeba McCreary, managing director and senior advisor of external affairs for BPS. When a parent asked how current students would be affected by renovations to schools or the construction of new buildings, Hanlon said the new buildings are still years away. “A new building could take five years,” he said. “Other projects depend on the extent of the renovations.” Hanlon said students in buildings undergoing significant reconstruction would be relocated to other facilities. Another parent asked what plans BPS officials have to increase the number of early childhood seats. Education Chief Rahn Dorsey responded that the city is working to increase the number of early education seats in BPS and in community-based nonprofit and private providers. “There are areas where we need more seats,” Dorsey said. “Our goal is to make sure all four year olds are in high-quality pre-k programs.” Asked what the department would do to address the issue of 7:30 a.m. start times for high schools, Hanlon said bus schedules
remain a challenge. “If we were to move everybody to an 8:30 start time, we would be effectively tripling the size of our bus fleet,” Hanlon said, adding that the change would put a strain on traffic.
Budget hearings
The April 24 BuildBPS meeting came the same day as the first of a series of Boston City Council hearings on the annual school budget. During the latter meeting, held at City Hall earlier in the day, Chang gave a broad outline of the fiscal year 2018 budget, which he said will be the largest budget ever for the schools. School budgets, like most city departments, generally increase year-by-year to keep pace with the rising costs of labor, health care, goods and services. While Chang referred to the proposed $1.060 billion budget as a $40 million increase over last year’s budget, City Councilor Tito Jackson noted that $20 million within that figure is set aside for collective bargaining with unions representing BPS workers, and that when funding for new programs such as expanded early learning and extended school day expansion are subtracted, the budget contains only a $9 million increase in funding. Jackson argued that the school department’s accounting of its annual budget gives the false impression of hefty increases because the costs of employee benefits are included in the budget, which is not the case with other city departments. “Why are benefits calculated in the budget?” he questioned. While Jackson argued that 49 schools are receiving cuts to their budget, Chang noted that “nearly 80 percent” of BPS students will be attending schools with budget increases.
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The philosophy of fitness 5
BIZ BITS
Trainer’s lifelong love for exercise translates into business success By SANDRA LARSON
Inside Out Fitness Concepts founder Joe Sumrell traces his interest in physical fitness way back, probably to age 6 when his mother started him in judo classes. Throughout his school years, he played just about every sport available. Later on, he took up competitive bodybuilding and earned the shelves full of trophies that line IOFC’s walls and storefront on Dudley Street in Roxbury. And at 58, Sumrell still competes in track and field, where he is ranked nationally and internationally in multiple events. A penchant for business emerged in childhood as well. “I’ve been an entrepreneur all my life,” he says. Youthful enterprises included having his own paper route and using found materials such as discarded plastic-coated wire to craft bracelets and necklaces, which he sold to schoolmates. Before opening IOFC in 1995, Sumrell spent time as a trainer in other gyms, but soon realized these settings kept him from tailoring each client’s experience fully. “I wanted to be a professional,” he says, “and to be a professional you have to have control of your environment, even with something as simple as the music you play. Every trainee is different.” Naming his business “Inside Out” reflected his desire to avoid society’s preoccupation with external appearance, he explains. “In other gyms I was in, it felt plastic. In our culture nowadays, everything is based on how you look and how you’re perceived,” he says, perched on a stability ball in his Roxbury gym “Here, we try to kick through that barrier and help people focus more internally on who they are in terms of character and integrity.”
A long-term process
IOFC’s first location was in a small “hollow shell” on Thayer Street on the industrial fringes of the South End. The first two pieces of equipment were donated by a friend. The current Dudley Street space that IOFC has occupied since 2001 has a more traditional amount of “furniture,” as he calls it — but sometimes he feels it’s barely necessary. “To me, you’re the machine,” he says. “This stuff around us is cool, but you’re the machine. The way these machines work are based off of human mechanics anyway.” He now has three employees, including his son Jordan, 27, a certified strength and conditioning specialist with a degree in kinesioloogy from UMass Amherst. IOFC is not an open drop-in fitness center. The model is that everyone comes in by appointment and works with a trainer. Business has been steady, and seems to be maintained through a social media presence, word of mouth and the fact that
TIP OF THE WEEK tips to help teens master their money
For most teens, high school is an exciting time, one that offers the opportunity to set their own path and make some of their own decisions. However, with this added independence comes additional responsibility, especially regarding money. Today teens are spending $260 billion a year in the U.S., yet only 17 states require completion of at least one financial literary course for high school graduation. There’s no such thing as “too young” or “too much.” Because of the way compound interest works, the earlier you begin to save, the less of a burden it is. For example, regularly saving 10 percent of your income is a good savings goal if you’re in your 20s or younger; however, if you wait until your 30s to start saving, that number increases to 20 percent in order to reach the same long-term goal. And if you wait till your 40s, it goes up to 30 percent. So it’s better to start putting money away as early as possible. Talk to your parents or another adult you trust about setting up a savings account, and how much you should regularly set aside. Recognize needs vs. wants. Being smart about money doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy life, or do fun things with your hard-earned cash; but it does mean you need to plan for them. An easy rule of thumb is to figure out how much you need to set aside in order to meet your expenses, including savings, every month. Anything left over is for having fun. Know where your money goes. It may not be particularly fun, but tracking where and how you spend money is just one of those healthy habits that’s good for you, like eating spinach and exercising. You can record this information with a notebook or an app, but just remember to log your purchases, including all those “small” ones. Credit is like social media. You know how parents and teachers are always telling you to watch what you post on social media channels, because someday you’re going to have to apply for a job? Good credit is to your future purchasing what a clean social media history is to job applications: It takes time and commitment to build, and only moments to lose. A good credit score and a history of responsible spending give you options, which is priceless when you want to buy or lease a car, or apply for an apartment or even buy a house later on. Keep it real. In today’s economy, managing money responsibly is a tall order, but it is possible, especially if you take control! Think about the kind of lifestyle you want to live, and figure out how much it takes to support yourself in those circumstances. Once you’ve done that, it’s simply a matter of solving for “x.” — Brandpoint
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Joe Sumrell of Inside Out Fitness Concepts
AT A GLANCE What: Inside Out Fitness Concepts Where: 513 Dudley Street, Boston Phone: 617-983-5700 For more information, visit:
https://iofcboston.com once people start a program there, they stick around for an average of three years. “People come here and they don’t leave,” Sumrell says. “This isn’t a quick fix – it’s a lifestyle. It’s a different road, and it takes time. This is a teaching environment.” IOFC has maintained a roster of about 60 trainees for much of the past 20 years, he says. They include high school and college athletes, professional athletes, and others from all sorts of walks of life: police officers, firefighters, school teachers, MBTA workers. The 1600-square foot gym space appears small by some standards, but Sumrell feels it’s what he needs. “Most people are used to gyms being ‘big boxes,’ and people tend to measure success by square footage,” he says, “but growth is measured by how the people are growing. And in terms of our boundares, we don’t have any. We have outdoor space out back, and access to threee football fields.” They also do offsite
work with Simmons College, and in afterschool programs for Boston Public Schools. He treasures his teaching role, but clearly, it’s a tough love approach at times. He and his team expect IOFC trainees to put their full attention into the instruction, and are not happy when they fail to do so. “We intentionally repeat exercises in cycles, in phases,” Sumrell says. “If you come in and look at us like you never did this before, and you’ve done it 10 times already, you’re going to get called into the principal’s office because you’re not retaining information. This is not adult daycare. You come in here, you’re expected to learn.”
It’s all about love
Sumrell grew up “all over” as the child of a military family and studied chemistry and music at the College of Marin in northern California before coming to Boston at age 20. He worked for years a chemist at a DuPont pharmaceutical facility in Boston. While employed, he completed coursework to become an ACSM-certified trainer. He saved money, bought company stock, and took advantage of an early retirement buyout when he was just 35, which helped him finance his startup. He credits his military stepfather
with instilling strict attention to detail. Gesturing toward two young men on the training floor starting their day’s session with Jordan, he explains, “Even a simple movement like they’re doing right now ... We watch everything. While they’re swinging their arms, we’re looking at their middle trunk area to see what’s happening, or not happening, with their bodies.” When he’s not at IOFC, chances are Joe Sumrell is out playing music. A bass guitarist, he plays jazz, R & B, funk, reggae, and more with a number of bands around town, sometimes performing three or four gigs a week. He recently recorded a CD, “Selah Moments,” with the band Day Seven. If owning a business has its headaches, Sumrell doesn’t show it. His is a business of relationships, and he sees each relationship as a “circle of love” with a give-and-receive process, he says, that injects life into both his trainees and himself. “The thing that overrides all of this — and it sounds corny — is love. I love people, and I love to see people progress. Is it trying at times? Yes. But I’m in that place — a bubble of peace. I’m going to enjoy this life while I have it, and enjoy the people around me. And hopefully that rubs off on others.”
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TECH TALK Uber is hoping to take its ride-sharing platform to the skies in the near future. At its Elevate Summit on April 25, the company announced partnerships with the cities of Dallas, Texas, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to create a network of flying cars by 2020. According to Uber, it can offer rides in flying cars for the same price as an UberX ride.
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 11
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Small business assistance from the city of Boston City offers an array of programs to help local entrepreneurs By KARILYN CROCKETT
Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Office of Economic Development aim to promote a healthy environment for businesses of all types and sizes, while fostering economic inclusion and equity. The over 40,000 small businesses in the City of Boston create jobs, wealth and opportunity for the city’s workers and residents. Small businesses also strengthen the city’s neighborhoods by providing goods and services and contributing to our social and civic life. As a critical engine of Boston’s economy, small businesses generate more than 170,000 jobs for Boston residents. Walsh has prioritized providing business owners and entrepreneurs with the tools and guidance needed to grow their bottom lines, increase capacity and thrive in a dynamic marketplace. Released in March 2016, the City’s first ever Small Business Plan helps guide the Office of Economic Development’s work. This report identifies the needs of small business owners, such as direct technical assistance, including one-on-one guidance and business coaching, as well as identification of small business organizations, highlighting the importance of the
City’s breadth and longstanding relationships with various business service organizations and government resources. More than 100 small businesses have taken advantage of the Office of Economic Development’s technical assistance program since 2014. City of Boston Neighborhood Business Managers match business owners with business coaches on everything from building a sustainable business plan to creating social media profiles to increase visibility while decreasing marketing expenditures. One year after completing the program, 46 percent of businesses saw new customers and 92 percent saw increased revenue. In January 2017, Walsh announced a city-wide small business workshop series and included workshops on contracting opportunities in Roxbury, strategic programs for immigrant business owners and entrepreneurs in East Boston, and a focus for key growth business segments designed to support smaller restaurants and retailers in Brighton. The City of Boston’s Technical Assistance program has recently expanded to include business coaches fluent in several different languages, including Spanish, French and Arabic, and with expertise in financial management,
PHOTOS: COURTESY CITY OF BOSTON
Karilyn Crockett marketing and employee-owned businesses.
Above: City of Boston Neighborhood Business Managers discuss the on-site technical assistance program offerings to small business owners and entrepreneurs at one of the OED Small Business Technical Assistance Workshops throughout the winter and spring. Below: Small business owners gather at the Bolling Building in Roxbury for a certification workshop hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and attended by City of Boston procurement liaisons.
Certification for small businesses
As the Walsh Administration continues to create equal opportunities for all kinds of businesses in the city of Boston, we do recognize the existing disparities among Boston businesses. For example, Boston’s population is 52 percent women, yet women-owned small business only account for 30 percent of small businesses within the City of Boston.
See SMALL BUSINESS, page 13
Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council Join us in supporting supplier diversity and minority business development.
Certify. Develop. Connect. Advocate. For more than 42 years, GNEMSDC and our predecessor organizations have provided opportunities for Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) to grow and prosper by selling goods and services to our corporate members, public agencies, non-profit organizations, and other MBEs.
July 28, 2017 Supplier Diversity Golf Classic Stow Acres Country Club, Stow, MA
September 27, 2017 Business Opportunity Conference & Expo Gillette Stadium Putnam Club One Patriot Place, Foxborough, MA Keynote Luncheon Speaker: Quincy Miller, President of Eastern Bank
To sponsor or purchase tickets, go to events@gnemsdc.org or call 617-578-8900, ext. 314. For information on how to certify your MBE, contact Denise Massingale-Lamb at dmlamb@gnemsdc.org, 203-288-9744, ext. 111. GNEMSDC Offices:
Massachusetts 101 Huntington Avenue, 17th Floor Boston, MA 02199 617-578-8900
Connecticut 333 State Street Bridgeport, CT 06604 203-288-9744
Visit our website: www.gnemsdc.org
12 • Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
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Making certification work for your business Certification helps minority and women-owned businesses secure city and state contracts By KELLEY CHUNN
Certifying your company can help to transform your business and spur growth — if done strategically. Options abound for certification and range from city, state and federal designations as women and minority business enterprises (W/MBEs) to disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) to the 8(a) Business Development Program. Then there are nationally recognized certifications from organizations such as the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council (GNEMSDC) and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) which not only help position you for government contracts but also connect you to other women and minority business enterprises and corporations for contract opportunities locally, regionally and nationally. “Certification is one of the four foundational pillars that GNEMSDC uses to facilitate the growth and prosperity of MBEs throughout the New England region,” says Peter Hurst, President and CEO of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council. “Not only do
we certify, we connect, develop and advocate for MBEs to support them in selling their goods and services to our corporate members, other MBEs and to quasi/governmental entities.” Last year, in a partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, GNEMSDC enhanced its certification efforts with an agreement to cross certify MBEs with the state. Aside from contract opportunities, certification can also link your business to a national network. The Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) helps business owners to connect to the Women’s Business Enterprise Council. “The benefits of WBENC Certification goes well beyond an advantage in the corporate bidding arena,” says Jessica Yamas, CWE-WBENC Manager for New England. “It brings thousands of women business owners together, creating a network in which to share ideas, exchange hard-earned knowledge, and to build capacity through partnerships and strategic alliances.”
Success stories
Once certified, smart business owners use the designation as a key element in their marketing strategy.
Angela Gill of Coastal Telecommunications says, “If membership has benefits, then being a part of the WBENC network is definitely one of them. Not only does WBENC provide opportunities to network with Fortune 500 companies, but also a vast network of savvy business women. I take the advice of my fellow WBEs to heart and it really pays off. My goal for ‘#WBENCis20,’ is to make 20 WBE-to-WBE connections by year end, and while attending the most recent WBENC National conference (Summit & Salute in New Orleans) I was able to make eight connections — five for my company, Coastal Telecom, and three for our clients. Finding solutions for your clients is a win-win, and WBENC certification helps make this happen.” For Donna Latson Gittens of More Advertising, state and GNEMSDC certifications helped the business to secure contracts, develop a platform to share expertise and explore strategic partnerships with other W/MBEs. This month More is celebrating 20 years in business with a special day at Fenway Park where More’s long time client, the Boston Red Sox, will honor
GNEMSDC Awards Luncheon
PHOTO: DON WEST
To recognize excellence in supplier diversity the Greater New England Minority Supplier Diversity Council (GNEMSDC) honored minority business enterprises and corporations at GNEMSDC’s recent Awards Luncheon and 42nd Anniversary Celebration. Award winners: President’s Award: Melvin B. Miller, publisher and editor of the Bay State Banner; Buyer Of The Year: Janice Beckner, Connecticut Lottery Corporation; Advocate Of The Year: Joyce Eriksen Eggers, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International Company; Suppliers Of The Year: Category 1: Charter Oak Environmental Services, Inc., Category 2: Horizon Services Corporation, Category 3: AI Engineers; Local Corporation Of The Year: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston; National Corporation Of The Year: CVS Health
More and let Donna take to the mound to throw out the first pitch at a Sox game.
How to certify
As noted earlier, GNEMSDC and WBENC tap into national
Impact Lending
Affordable loans to help your small business grow JUNE 13
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
HOW IT WORKS LEARN MORE bit.ly/chambermx REGISTER Confirm your spot CHOOSE Customize your 30 minute sessions PREPARE Solve business pain-points with mentors PARTICIPATE Learn, connect, and grow
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Darlene DeVita Photography
Mentor Exchange is your opportunity to meet one-on-one with business experts from Google, Amazon, Eastern Bank, and many other top companies. Learn the latest solutions to your biggest business challenges and feedback on your brightest ideas from the mentors you choose.
Impact Lending, a partnership between LISC and Northeastern University, provides loans from $1,000 to $1 million to small businesses in Greater Boston. • Trusted lender with low interest rates • Focus on women- and minority-owned businesses • Vendor opportunities with Northeastern University • Technical assistance to help you execute your plans • Funding approved when banks say no
Apply online now!
www.northeastern.edu/impact-lending
Questions?
Contact Eric Uva at euva@liscsb.org
corporate and governmental networks and offer the most widely recognized and respected certifications in the country. Certification brings, among other benefits, targeted match-ups, corporate connections, technical assistance and business development. There is an application fee and a review process. n Women’s Business Enterprise Council: The Center for Women & Enterprise is the New England Partner for WBENC. For details on WBENC application and membership go to www.cweonline.org. n Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council: The Council serves the six state region and is among 24 regional councils affiliated with the National Minority Supplier Development Council. MBEs certified with GNEMSDC are eligible to participate in a Cross Certification Program with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. www.gnemsdc.org
Government certification options
As you consider government certification for your business, understand the many options and which one might work best for you, research the application process and ask for help. Here’s an overview of some of the government designations for which it is free to apply: n State Certification: During the certification process, the Supplier Diversity Office reviews and investigates applicants who seek to participate in affirmative business opportunities within state and local government to determine that they meet the requirements of the state statutes and regulations. SDO certifies companies for the State (Minority Business Enterprises, Women’s Business Enterprise, Portuguese Business Enterprises and Veteran Business Enterprises) certification program. www.mass.gov/sdo
See CERTIFICATION, page 13
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 13
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LISC connects businesses to opportunities small business Impact Lending program helps minority- and women-owned businesses scale up with loans, access to contracts at NU GET IN TOUCH
By YAWU MILLER
For many small businesses, access to capital is a critical need. But obtaining a loan can be a challenge, particularly for small start-up businesses, creating a chicken-and-egg feedback loop that prevents them from bidding on large contracts. Through a partnership between the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Northeastern University, local Boston-area businesses have a new opportunity to scale up their business and obtain the funding to do so. Under LISC’s Impact Lending program, Northeastern University serves as an anchor institution for the local community, providing contracts to businesses owned by people of color and women while LISC vets the businesses and provides them with low-interest loans that help scale up to take on the work. “Take a painter, for example,” says Eric Uva, Director of Small
For more information about the LISC Impact Lending program, contact Eric Uva at (617) 410-4131, via email at euva@ liscsb.org, or online at www.northeastern.edu/impact-lending
PHOTO: COURTESY LISC
Eric Uva, Director of Small Business Lending at LISC. Business Lending at LISC. “They might need capital to purchase a new truck and paint sprayer. We would provide them with the loan. At the same time, we would introduce the owner to the [Northeastern] procurement staff so they can establish a first-person relationship.” The concept of impact lending
is a new approach at harnessing the economic clout of large institutions to effect economic development in the surrounding communities by helping small businesses grow. “There are 5.8 million small businesses in the United States with fewer than 20 employees,” Uva said. “They account for nine out of ten businesses. They are the engine of growth in the economy. They employ more than 50 percent of all workers and they’re responsible for more than twothirds of jobs created.” Anchor institutions — insurance companies, universities, hospitals and other large institutions — are often located in or near areas with high concentrations of poverty. The LISC
continued from page 11
Impact Lending program will be available to businesses in Boston as well as in the so-called gateway cities including Brockton, Lowell and Springfield. Northeastern is the only institution partnering with LISC for this program. Uva says contracts with Northeastern will provide a tremendous boost to businesses looking to grow. “Contracts from an institution like Northeastern are game changers,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to escape the endless cycle of just meeting payroll. You’ll get more business, steady business, that will allow you to expand.” So far there are several businesses enrolled in the program that have entered into talks with Northeastern about obtaining contracts for goods and services. LISC was created in 1979 by executives from the Ford Foundation as a nonprofit community development financial institution to help provide capital for economic development in low-income areas. The organization’s lending arm — LISC Small Business offers loans from $1,000 to $1 million to help small businesses grow, create jobs and drive economic development in their communities.
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» The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program is a requirement of the U.S. Department of Transportation as a condition of receiving federal assistance. The DBE Program promotes business opportunities for firms owned by minorities, women and other disadvantaged individuals and which are certified as DBEs through the Supplier Diversity Office. The objective of the DBE Program is to support equal access to MBTA and DOT contracting opportunities for DBE firms to compete for awards and procurements as contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and providers of goods and services. www. transportation.gov n Federal Certification: To help small, disadvantaged businesses compete in the marketplace, the Small Business Administration (SBA) created the 8(a) Business Development Program. The 8(a) Program offers a broad scope of assistance to firms that are owned and controlled at least 51% by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. www.sba.gov » System for Award Management: To do business with the U.S. Government you must have an active registration with SAM. www.sam.gov and www.fsd.gov Kelley Chunn is events manager for the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.
14 • Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
May Day
continued from page 1 Cosecha called upon immigrants nationwide to stay home from jobs and school during May 1 and avoid making purchases on that day in order to demonstrate the economic impact and strong presence of immigrants. Nathalie Renegifo is a Colombian immigrant who translates and volunteers for Cosecha at national events. She says she has experienced first-hand the hardship of a family member being deported and realized the strong need for a movement like Cosecha. Renegifo says Cosecha has chosen not to affiliate with any political party after members became disillusioned that elected officials would follow through on promises to act in immigrants’ best interests. “We buy, we pay taxes, we produce,” Renegifo told the Banner. “We have labor power and economic power. For decades we thought we had voting power and with our votes could elect people who’d protect us, but that did not happen. ... They were just using our votes but would not do what would protect us.” Between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Cosecha hosted the breakfast event, followed by events scheduled in East Boston throughout the afternoon including dance, discussion and music. Meanwhile, at 11:45 a. m. Monday morning, immigrant and workers’ rights activists gathered outside the State House to rally for passage of the Safe Communities Act and other measures to protect against challenges to immigrants remaining in their communities. Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who is sponsoring the Safe Communities
bill, said that individual municipalities passing safe community laws is an important step, but falls short. Workers who cross city and town lines as they commute between home and jobs still are at risk without statewide action, he said. “It is not enough for cities and towns to pass their own legislation, though it is encouraging,” Eldridge told gatherers at the rally. Dieufort Fleurissaint, chair of Haitian American United, decried the Trump administration’s plans to end temporary protected status for the 50,000 Haitian immigrants that was extended following the devastating 2010 earthquake. The protections are slated to expire in July. If they are not renewed, thousands of families will be forced to return to country that already struggles to provide for those currently living there, Fleurissaint said. He told demonstrators that many inhabitants of Haiti still reside in tent cities and struggle with food insecurity following both the earthquake and a cholera outbreak. Sadia Mohammed, a Logan Airport worker who immigrated as a refugee from Sudan in 2008, said that President Donald Trump’s policies could prevent her 80-year-old father, who lives in Sudan, from visiting and meeting his grandchildren before he dies. Many spoke of the intertwining of workers’ rights with immigrants’ rights. Mei Qun Huang, a Chinatown resident and member of the Chinese Progressive Association, said that without wage increases and other measures, many will be displaced from their communities as rents rise. Other organizations held events throughout the day, with the May First Coalition leading a march
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Legacy of dance is alive and well Alvin Ailey puts on emotional show at Wang Theatre
CLOUD-COVERED
SUNSHINE
NARI WARD DROPS TRUTHS ABOUT IDENTITY, CITIZENSHIP AT THE ICA
By SUSAN SACCOCCIA
The Alvin Ailey Dance Company turns 60 next year and its five shows last week, presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston, gave ample proof that its legacy is alive and well. At its Friday night show at the Boch Center Wang Theatre, the company demonstrated the roof-raising power of its living tradition. With a four-part program, including one Boston premiere, the company put its emotional expressiveness and physical virtuosity on full display. The evening began with “The Winter in Lisbon,” a tribute to legendary jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Choreographed by Billy Wilson in 1992 and restaged by Masazumi Chaya with warm lighting by Chenault Spence and spicy costumes by Barbara Forbes, the work also honored Wilson, whose Broadway projects included the 1976 hit “Bubbling Brown Sugar.” For two decades, Wilson taught at Harvard and Brandeis and in the 1980s he headed his own company, Dance Theater of Boston.
See ALVIN AILEY, page 17
By CELINA COLBY
»
At the entrance of the ICA Boston’s “Nari Ward: Sun Splashed” exhibit, a yellow awning with the words “Happy Smilers” welcomes viewers into a facsimile of a Jamaican storefront. A native of Jamaica’s Saint Andrew Parish, Ward imbues this exhibit with timely pieces on his immigration to the United States, his life in New York and what he left behind. Ward has a warm, friendly demeanor and many of his works radiate positive energy. The “Happy Smilers” moniker comes from a project he did in Sugar Hill, Harlem where he “canned” people’s smiles on the street and sold them for charity. “That was a project where I felt younger every day,” says Ward. “I laughed every day.” But the artist’s work has a serious twist. When you’re outside “Happy Smilers,” you hear an audio track of reggae music and people talking softly. When you go inside the installation, the sound of rainfall greets you. A fire escape hangs suspended in the middle of the room and the outer walls are built of squares of debris roped together by thick fabric straps. Here Ward upends the tourist notion that the Caribbean is always sunny, bright and happy.
DRAWN TO CRISIS
Mood swings
The music for the first three segments of “The Winter in Lisbon” is from Gillespie’s soundtrack for a 1990 movie by the same name. For its sensational finale, Wilson selected “Manteca” (1947) the revolutionary mambo-bebop concoction forged by Gillespie and Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo that imported the fivestroke clave rhythm of Latin music and pioneered Afro-Cuban jazz. The soaring “Opening Theme” drew the entire company on stage in slinky, languorous ensemble formations. Shifting to a pulsing party mood, next came “San Sebastian,” starting with a sensational solo by Daniel Harder. Bodacious in a tropical shirt, he leapt and whirled, his hat in his hand or on his head, embodying the trickster spirit of Dizzy’s trumpet passage. Harder’s solo expanded into a trio as he gained two equally athletic and exuberant partners—Glenn
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NARI WARD; SUN SPLASHED, ARTIN, 2013; CHROMOGENIC COLOR PRINT; 83 7/8 X 63 INCHES (213 X 160 CM); PHOTOGRAPHED BY LEE JAFFE; COURTESY THE ARTIST AND GALLERIA CONTINUA, SAN GIMIGNANO, BEIJING, LES MOULINS, AND HAVANA; © 2017NARI WARD
Nari Ward’s “Sunsplashed” is on display at the ICA.
Much of his work is political, including “We the People,” installed in “Sun-Splashed.” The piece spells out the famous constitutional phrase, calligraphy and all, in shoelaces. It provides a marked contrast between the people on Capitol Hill manipulating laws and the everyday people in the shoelaces who are affected by those actions. “I’m drawn to crisis,” says Ward. “That’s when the blankets are pulled back and we see where we are. That’s when people mobilize. And that momentum is what intrigues me.” He has had the Miranda rights printed on the back of his business card since the 1990s. In an artist talk at the ICA last month, Ward spoke at length about identity. Many people categorize him as a Jamaican artist even though he’s been a U.S. citizen for more than a decade. But as a black man he hits barriers at every corner, preventing him from settling in to the culture of his new homeland. “Sun Splashed” visualizes these identity tensions. In “Naturalization Drawing Table,” audiences have the
See NARI WARD, page 17
16 • Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
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‘Who Will Sing for Lena?’ Lexington Players tackle bold, important performance By CELINA COLBY
HOW TO BE A ROCK CRITIC
The Lexington Players performed Janice L. Liddell’s “Who Will Sing for Lena?” at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown last week. The one-woman show is based on the true story of Lena Baker, an African American maid who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of her white employer, Ernest Knight. She was executed by the state of Georgia in 1945 in what was the first — and last — time the state government electrocuted a woman. The script doesn’t tiptoe around the subject matter. The show opens with Baker sitting on the floor playing with a deck of cards. “Mama’s twin cousin was lynched almost a year ago to the day I was born,” she begins. “Mama never knew I — and every cullud girl born that year — was only suppose to live to be thirty-three.” In the titular role, Jessica Washington unravels the story of Baker’s tumble into an unhappy
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For more information about “Who Will Sing For Lena?” visit: http://arsenalarts.org/
archived/who-will-sing-for-lena/ the right ways. The depictions of violence, rape and death are unsettling, but Baker’s life was no picnic, and the Lexington Players courageously pull the story out from under the rug. In 2005, the Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles pardoned Lena Baker post-mortem. The same year, Liddell debuted her play in a simultaneous world premiere, performed by select actresses in different parts of the globe. The coup-style launch was a powerful reminder that pardon or no, Baker suffered extensively and unnecessarily during her life. In addition to spreading the truth about Baker’s life and wrongful conviction, the play provides a center-stage solo role for actresses of color. In this way, the show paves the road in another highly discriminatory arena: the theater.
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fate. Unguided and in need of money, Baker forayed into prostitution, a practice that led to a relationship with Knight that was at first taboo, then violent. On both race and gender levels, the show resonates eerily with the present. Baker was convicted by an all-male, all-white jury. That image bears a stark resemblance to recently circulated photos of President Trump and his white male staff signing the global gag rule restricting women’s access to abortions and other reproductive services. The show’s subject matter, too, speaks to the present through its depictions of victim-blaming in cases of sexual assault. From the electric chair to the hospital room, the sexism and racism exposed in this story are still deeply woven into our justice system. “Who Will Sing for Lena?” is a bold choice for the Lexington-based community theatre group, which has a history of more conventional performances. The show is uncomfortable, in all
PHOTO: ROBERT TORRES/CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing “Deep.”
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Alvin Ailey opens five-show run at Wang Dance troupe closes each show with ‘Revelations’ By SUSAN SACCOCCIA
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is an instrument of collective memory second to none. Over six decades, the dance company has been illuminating the African American experience and its ever-evolving heritage of music and dance, one of the greatest gifts of this country to the world. Back in Boston last week for five shows at the Boch Center Wang Theatre, the company’s four-day stay — its 46th visit presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston — featured five Boston premieres. Each show concluded with Alvin Ailey’s signature masterpiece, “Revelations,” which he created in 1960 for his then-new company. These annual visits have become community events extending well beyond the stage. Company members such as Boston Arts Academy graduate Belen Pereyra lead master classes in local schools. And since its start in 1990, the
Celebrity Series “Arts for All!” discount ticket program has enabled 75,000 young people to attend its shows, with Ailey performances the highest in demand. At the Saturday matinee, the dance company’s artistic director, Robert Battle, celebrated this milestone, hosting 300 local students for activities that included backstage meetings with dancers. Thursday’s program began with “Deep,” a 2016 work choreographed by Mauro Bigonzetti, who also designed the simple black costumes worn by the dancers, eight women and eight men. The musical duo Ibeyi — Naomi and Lisa-Kinde Diaz, twin daughters of late Cuban percussionist Miguel Díaz of Buena Vista Social Club — provided the contemplative, pulsing soundtrack with Afro-Cuban hand drums, piano and vocals. Angular lighting by Carlo Cerri accented the spare, African-inflected lyricism of the work’s striking duets, such as when a woman stood on her male partner’s neck and later, on his knees; as well as its communal clusters, including the final formation, as the ensemble wrapped itself into a knot. Less stirring but brimming with showmanship was another Boston premiere, “Walking Mad,” by Swedish choreographer Johan Inger to Ravel’s “Boléro” and a
contemporary composition by Arvo Pärt. Inger also designed its giant prop, a movable wall and the multicolored garb of its dancers, three women and six men. The piece’s deft start echoed music hall humor: a man in a bowler hat and oversized jacket wandered onstage, knelt, and held the edge of the massive stage curtain. As it rose, he seemed to be pulling it up. Playful, colorful, but not always benign, the work unfolded as a series of scenes, such as a coven of males in pointy party hats seeking mates and a long spell of silence in which a woman in a pink dress wedged herself into a dark corner as if dodging the partygoers. Lighting by Erik Berglund cast shadows that created looming multiples of would-be suitors. “Ella,” the evening’s third Boston premiere, was a high-spirited duet choreographed by Robert Battle to Ella Fitzgerald’s live recording of “Airmail Special.” Clad in rhinestone-trimmed black tails, Michael Francis McBride and Renaldo Maurice evoked the Nicholas Brothers, tap dance legends, with their elegant somersaults and split-second footwork, all in sync with Fitzgerald’s soaring scat. Then with bonnets and fans fluttering in full force, the ensemble performed “Revelations,” filling the theater with joy.
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 17
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Alvin Ailey continued from page 15
Allen Sims in a purple vest and Vernard J. Gilmore in striped pants. Each dancer displayed the quicksilver changes of the instruments—Sims, the rippling piano chords, and Gilmore, the drumbeats. Forming abstract shapes with their bodies, they echoed the interplay of the musicians. Then came the ladies, Rachael McLaren and Belen Pereyra, injecting their own chemistry in whirling citrus dresses. Another shift in mood came with “Lisbon,” a slow blues piece danced with erotic flare by Linda Celeste Sims and Glenn Allen Sims, husband and wife. His baldness and her thick mane added to their visual oomph as they conducted a tender, suave push and pull of courtship with balletic grace. Combining sensuous intensity with light humor, their dialogue had theatrical touches they repeated like punctuation marks. She would snatch his hat in a come-hither move and he would stroke her leg. As their interlude ended, she disappeared into the darkness. His back to the audience, he stared after her, momentarily bereft, and then extended his arms upward in an exultant expression of thanksgiving. The entire company returned for “Manteca,” filling the stage
Nari Ward continued from page 15
opportunity to participate in the performance, filling out immigration papers and taking an I.D. photo as though applying for citizenship. The process reveals how someone’s fate in this country can be decided by rigid social customs and haphazard regulations more than their personal merit. Despite the sobering material
with the hot hues of their costumes and mambo-flavored dancing for a euphoric finale. An ensemble of six men and six women then performed the Boston premiere of “Untitled America,” a 2016 work by much-honored dancer and choreographer Kyle Abraham. Rendering in dance the experience of incarceration, which disproportionately affects urban black males, the work is raw and unfinished, like its subject. Leaden tones dominate its staging, from the grey costumes by Karen Yount to the lighting and sets by Dan Scully, which include a screen evoking a barrier between inmates and the outside world. Its soundtrack begins with a tense, throbbing percussive passage and includes occasional voices, only partially audible, a spiritual and a prison holler. Investing their portrayal of imprisonment with dignity and flickers of emotional life beyond apathy or rage, the dancers at first mimic gestures of being arrested and handcuffed and marching in enforced formations and later, the tension between confinement and the urge to break out in spirit as well as body.
Angles and curves
Next came the exquisite “After the Rain Pas de Deux,” choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon in 2005 for the New York
in much of his work, Ward seems to have an unendingly positive attitude. Perhaps he kept a few of those Sugar Hill smiles for the rainy days. “There’s a lot of death, but there’s also a lot of life,” he says. “I think that unknown is the space where things can grow.”
ON THE WEB For more information about “Nari Ward: Sun Splashed,” visit: www.icaboston.org/
exhibitions/nari-ward-sun-splashed
PHOTO: ROBERT TORRES/CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON
Ghrai DeVore (left) and Belen Pereyra in the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater performance of “Untitled America.” City Ballet and restaged by Jason Fowler in 2014 for the Ailey company. Jacqueline Green and Yannick Lebrun performed the duet, which was as spare as its musical accompaniment, a contemplative passage by Arvo Pärt. They alternately intertwined and unfolded, moving alongside one another at a slant in parallel angles and curves.
Several times, Green executed a deep and slow backbend, pouring herself to the floor. The work culminated as she brought her u-shaped body to rest and Lebrun slipped beneath her, pressing her torso to meet his, in a gesture of commitment. The company concluded the show with “Revelations,” the
signature work that Alvin Ailey created in 1960 for his then two-yearold company. The dancers performed its jubilant ensemble scenes and challenging, intense solos, duos and trios and solos with the freshness and verve of a premiere and closed with an extended, audience-clapping encore of “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.”
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COMING TO HALEY HOUSE BAKERY CAFÉ: Thu May 4 - Fulani Haynes’ Jazz Collaborative presents Jazz by Any Means Necessary, 7pm Thu May 11 - Outside the Box Productions presents Lifted, featuring Red Sage Stories, Phoenix and More, 7pm Fri May 12 - The House Slam, 6:30pm Sun May 14 - Mother’s Day Brunch
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ith literally hundreds to choose from, sun worshipers can be very selective about the beaches they frequent in Florida. But, yearround, the Fort Myers area in the southwest part of the state draws crowds of beach aficionados with sand the consistency and color of confectioner’s sugar. In between SPF-basting, the allure of this approachable Gulf of Mexico destination includes jet skiing with dolphins, banana boat rides, parasailing or simply jumping into the warm surf. Traffic permitting, it’s an hour or so drive south of Fort Myers to the seashell-carpeted beaches of Florida’s Captiva and Sanibel islands, where you can spot plenty of Flipper’s friends frolicking along the sandbars. But beaches aren’t the only captivating attraction of the region. There’s also exceptional seafood. Think succulent, fresh-caught Gulf shrimp and hog fish, a local catch sweeter than grouper, as rich as scallops and flakier than mahi-mahi. Or, nosh on some blackened grouper while on a veranda in a tropical paradise. On the recommendation of a local foodie, my gal pals and I landed in Fort Myers’ finest Veranda Restaurant to indulge in a medley of seafood dishes with a side of piano tunes. We washed down a first course of blue crab
cakes dusted in Saltines with a crisp New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Between courses, we nibbled just-baked cornbread and smeared artisanal red pepper jelly on addictive molasses oatmeal bread. Our server, Pete, cited a menu on which almost everything was house-made. We fell hook, line and sinker for Veranda’s obvious locavore mission; even the salad vinaigrettes were handcrafted. Baited to try the Southern Sampler, two out of three in our party ordered this seafood extravaganza of grouper, scallops and Gulf shrimp in a cream sauce over linguine. The third diner went for beurre blanc-splashed sea scallops on a bed of orzo, tossed with spinach and wild mushrooms. We paired our entrees with a California chardonnay. Save room for dessert, dear readers, because Key Lime Pie is famous (and abundant) in southwest Florida, and is a must-try. The Veranda’s Key Lime Pie, with its cheesecake-style richness, begs to be shared. Back again on Captiva Island, the Key lime creation you won’t want to share comes in the form of a Key Lime Margarita at Key Lime Bistro.
Charlene Peters is a passionate explorer of indigenous dishes throughout the world. She can be reached at siptripper@gmail.com.
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Key Lime Margarita at Key Lime Bistro.
Charlene Peters’ Key Lime Pie n 4 oz. cream cheese n 1 can sweetened condensed milk n 1 ¼ cups Manhattan Key Lime Juice n 1 cup heavy whipping cream n 2 tablespoons sugar or honey n 2 Key limes n Graham cracker crumbs Combine first three ingredients in bowl. Mix well. Whisk heavy whipping cream with sugar or honey. Fold in cream cheese mixture. Chill until firm; top with whipped cream, Key lime zest and lime slices, and serve on a plate dusted with graham cracker crumbs.
Key Lime Margarita n 1 oz. Margaritaville Gold Tequila n 1 oz. triple sec n 1 oz. KeKe Beach Key Lime Cream Liqueur n 2 to 4 oz. sweet & sour mix n Key lime juice Mix tequila, triple sec, liqueur and sweet & sour mix. Add splash of lime juice. Serve over ice.
Look online for
NUTRITION & HEALTH NEWS at www.baystatebanner.com/news/health — and look in the pages of the Bay State Banner for Be Healthy, our quarterly health magazine. Be Healthy offers easy-to-understand analysis of common health issues as well as first-hand patient stories, exercise tips, nutrition news and healthy recipes. A publication of The Bay State Banner
While the FDA requires terms like “low sodium” and “high fiber” on nutrition labels to meet strict definitions, other terms aren’t regulated at all. Here are some tips from the Center for Food Safety to help you decipher what these classifications really mean: Multigrain: To avoid refined flour, look for products that list whole wheat as the main ingredient. Lightly sweetened: Products with this description can still be full of artificial sweeteners and sugar. Pesticide free: With no legal requirements behind this claim, the only way to be certain your food has no pesticides is to buy certified organic.
FUN FACTS Surprising facts about avocados The avocado is virtually the only fruit that contains monounsaturated fat—a good fat. Here are more facts about the fruit from the California Avocado Commission: n The Hass variety was discovered in La Habra Heights, California, in the 1920s by Rudolph Hass. n It takes 14-18 months to grow a single California avocado. n One California avocado tree can produce up to 200 avocados (or 100 pounds of fruit) a season.
FOOD & HEALTH Foods that can help you sleep better
— Courtesy Key Lime Bistro
Are you having trouble falling asleep? Are you waking up in the middle of the night? According to AARP, these foods may help you get a better night’s sleep: Almonds, bananas, cherries, decaffeinated green tea and pumpkin seeds.
FOOD SAFETY Do you enjoy soy? Though soy used to be a staple of the health food movement, now many claim soy isn’t good for you. If your stomach has ever felt upset after eating soy, it could be because soy contains many inhibitors that prevent proper digestion, according to Scientific American. In addition, the soy used in many dairy and meat substitutes is usually heavily processed with additives like sugar and vegetable oil and can contain high levels of aluminum, which is toxic to the kidneys and nervous system. To avoid these effects, read labels carefully and only eat soy in moderation. — Brandpoint
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 19
New schools for Mattahunt kids Promised better education, some families facing administrative assignment still are wary By JULE PATTISON-GORDON
With Mattahunt Elementary School teetering on the brink of entering state receivership, school officials moved to shutter the facility at the end of this academic year. That decision, approved by the Boston School Committee last fall, came over the protest of many parents and community members, but Boston Public Schools officials promised that displaced Mattahunt children would receive a better education. During a November 2016 meeting at the Mattahunt in which he made public plans to close the school and convert the facility into an early education center, BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang told parents that their children were guaranteed better educational options next year, with every other school in the district regarded as higher performing under the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s ranking system. One parent said at the November meeting her child had been sent to the Mattahunt to escape a failing school and sought assurance that the next assignment genuinely would be an improvement. Now many parents have next year’s school assignments in hand and start to assess how relocating is playing out.
New schools, new DESE levels
Elica Hector-Varrs is the cochair of Mattahunt’s school site council. Her son attends second grade at the Mattahunt and is among the 18 percent of departing students who was administratively assigned after not receiving a seat at any of the family’s school choices. For Hector-Varrs, her son’s assignment to the P.A. Shaw Elementary School plunges him into an unknown. The now-closing Mattahunt was ranked by DESE as “Level 4 -under review,” after a turnaround plan failed to achieve sufficient change. Schools rated Level 3, 4, or 5 performed among the bottom 20 percent statewide. While BPS official say no Mattahunt child is sent to a Level 4 school, some students, like Hector-Varrs’ son, are sent to schools without any DESE ranking. She says this unclear status leaves her with scant information on the quality of her son’s new placement. “I’m not happy about it. The P.A. Shaw was closed and reopened. Nobody determined why it was closed,” Hector-Varrs told the Banner. “If the school hasn’t been ranked yet, how do I know my child will go to a better school?” Information also is lacking about her son’s year: he will be in the first third grade class offered at the Shaw since the school’s reopening.
Of the 595 children leaving the Mattahunt who received their school placement by March 22 this year, 23 percent, or 134 children, are to attend Level 1 schools, according to BPS data. Another 40 percent of these students (239 children) will attend Level 2 schools, 23 percent (138) will attend Level 3 schools, and 13 percent (75 children) will attend schools with no DESE levels. Hector-Varrs said that while she is concerned about the Shaw, she fears it will be too disruptive for her son to move him yet again, should the new school not prove a good fit. “What, I send my kids in there just to pull them out again because the school is underprepared?” She asked. “What does that do to my child?”
under normal feeder patterns. Meanwhile, 18 percent of displaced Mattahunt children received none of their choices and were assigned. This could be on par for BPS averages: of the 3,593 new students enrolling between January and September 2016, about 17.5 percent (631 children) were administratively re-assigned, according to BPS data. In contrast, of the 7,883 new students participating in the first enrollment round for school year 2010-2011, 5 percent (407 children) were administratively assigned. “This [administrative assignment] occurred for one of two
reasons: The families of these students did not make a school choice, or the family made choices for schools in which seats were not available,” BPS officials said in a statement to the Banner. Peggy Weisenberg, member of Quality Education for Every Student, told the Banner that, given some parents’ lack of access to computers and the high number of homeless students at the school, she was concerned that in some cases, families or students had not completed their school selections because they had not received information that the school was closing.
ABCD Head Start grand opening
School choice
BPS officials gave priority in school selection to Mattahunt children, above even sibling preference — something that several Mattahunt parents had requested during the November meeting. Most, but not all, Mattahunt students received one of their choices. Of the 595 re-assigned Mattahunt children, 48 percent received their top choice. Twenty percent received their second choice, 9 percent their third, 3 percent their fourth and 1 percent their fifth choice. In some cases, children already had spots secured for them, regardless of preference. Fifty-five children will remain at the Mattahunt in its new form as an early education center, and 32 children who will attend grade 5 at the Mildred Avenue K-8 School already were guaranteed a seat there
MAYOR’S OFFICE PHOTO BY DON HARNEY
Mayor Martin Walsh participates in a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of ABCD Head Start in the Holy Cross Cathedral Grammar School building on Harrison Avenue.
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20 •• Thursday, Thursday, May May 4, 4, 2017 2017 •• BAY BAY STATE STATE BANNER BANNER 20
BANNER CLASSIFIEDS An underreported crime — battling LEGAL LEGAL fraudsters by reporting fraud Federal Trade Commission warns consumers to be on guard for scam artists posing as debt collectors By KHALIL ABDULLAH, NEW AMERICA MEDIA
Rita Gerona-Adkins recalled precisely how she felt when she got that phone call from the IRS demanding immediate payment for taxes due. “I was afraid,” she freely admitted. But she rallied from her initial shock; resentment rising at the caller’s efforts to intimidate her into issuing an immediate payment. She abruptly hung up mid-call and phoned the IRS directly. She owed nothing and was told by the IRS representative that the agency doesn’t use the phone as its mode of collection. Gerona-Adkins is a contributing reporter to Asian Fortune, a newspaper covering the culture, politics, and accomplishments of Asian Americans in the Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. region. As a near-victim of consumer fraud, she was sharing her experiences with media colleagues and representatives of local community-based organizations at a briefing organized by New America Media (NAM) in partnership with the Federal Trade Commission. The briefing was hosted by the Office of Consumer Protection of the Washington D.C. Attorney General. Consumer fraud continues to be an underreported crime, according to Monica Vaca, Acting Associate Director of the Division of Consumer Response in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. A victim’s embarrassment or shame of being duped can often inhibit confessions to family members, much less to local, state, and federal agencies. Not in dispute are the enormous costs incurred. “I can tell you that in 2016, more than three million consumers across the country filed reports with the FTC about consumer issues,” Vaca said. She cited FTC surveys indicating that “fraud is experienced at higher rates by people in the African American community and
by people in the Latino communities. At the same time, other studies suggest that these communities underreport fraud.” Thus, the $774 million Americans reported lost to consumer fraud in 2016 is undoubtedly less than the actual sum, and, given how the data is collected, the exact revenue amount lost by ethnic communities is not known.
Growing problem
Vaca said that D.C. residents reported debt collection as their number one consumer problem, a trend that mirrors the national data. Imposter fraud is the fastest growing scam, particularly frauds perpetrated by someone posing as a government official, from the IRS for example, as in Gerona-Adkins’ case. And, ominously, Vaca said 77 percent of complaints were about fraud that began with a phone call. A bogus debt collection call is one often for a debt not owed. “They might tell you that you’re going to be fined, you’re going to be arrested or you’re going to go to prison if you don’t pay up and pay up quickly,” Vaca explained. The scammer may allege that the total debt can be settled by immediately paying a discounted sum. Payments often are demanded in the form of a wire transfer, for example, by Western Union. Vaca said 58 percent of consumers’ money was taken through wire transfer, transactions that are difficult to reverse if and when the fraud is detected and reported. Lois Greisman, the FTC’s Associate Director, Division of Marketing Services, noted that the fraud has pernicious ripple effects on individuals and their families as the stolen money could have been used for rent, groceries or education. Greisman knows of friends and neighbors who have suffered from scams. “Scammers are sophisticated people; everyone is potentially at
risk,” she observed, noting that no one should be embarrassed about reporting scams, regardless of their level of education, sophistication, or self-perceived social status. Immigrants, however, are prime targets for scammers, especially given current legal uncertainties in today’s political landscape. Rhonda Perkins, an FTC attorney, who works with Greisman, said she is familiar with the case of an immigrant from Panama, a naturalized American citizen. The scam artist attempted extortion by threatening revocation of the victim’s U.S. citizenship unless money for a bogus debt was paid immediately. Philip Ziperman, Director of the D.C. Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Protection, said that fake ICE warrants threatening searches were appearing in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of immigrant residents. “We think it was probably an extortion scam,” he explained, but, through cooperation with community-based organizations, his office was able to
disseminate information to avert what could have been a costly financial debacle. Ziperman’s office also has stepped up enforcement against slum landlords who seek to drive out their buildings’ residents by withholding repairs and other legally required maintenance services. The landlords’ objective is to empty the buildings, clearing the pathway for conversions or into units that can be rented at higher prices.
in part affected by time away from the classroom tending to family and work — she fell prey to a for-profit college’s pitch to sign-on-the-dotted-line-to-earn-your-Ph.D. From for-profit college scams, mortgage re-financing and predatory loans to fake charitable donations, business opportunity scams and unsolicited robo-calls, there is a scam waiting for everyone. And while phone scams may originate from strangers, Hodges encouraged media and CBO representatives to caution “seniors who are allowing their family members to set up their online accounts, giving them their passwords; giving them their confidential information — this is a reality in our community.” The panelists concurred on a key recommendation to anyone who receives that call or solicitation: talk to someone. If not the FTC or your city’s consumer agency, talk to a friend or trusted advisor. “Say out loud what’s happening to you,” Greisman urged. For fraud complaints, call the Federal Trade Commission: 877-FTC-HELP. A New America Media partner in the FTC briefings, the Better Business Bureau, has initiated an on-line database of scams: BBB.org/ScamTracker.
LEGAL
Preying on the poor
The D.C. crisis of lack of affordable housing affects low-income and middle-income residents more severely than their more financially secure peers, but financial fraudsters are not discouraged when potential victims have lower earnings. Heather Hodges, a pro bono counsel at the Neighborhood Legal Services Program, walked attendees through a myriad of structural barriers in low-income communities that provide a rich environment for fraud to flourish. For example, she cited the case of a woman determined to obtain a college degree to improve her long-term chances of obtaining higher paying jobs. Unable to obtain Pell Grants to pay for tuition due to low academic scores — scores
RCC renewable energy project ribbon cutting
PHOTO: PHUONG TANG
On Friday, April 28, Roxbury Community College, Ameresco and the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) celebrated the completion of RCC’s Renewable Energy Project. Highlights of this project include a solar canopy comprising 3,000 solar panels above parking lot #1, and 115 geothermal wells, 500 feet deep beneath parking lot #1, which function as the college’s heating and cooling source. (l-r) Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space Austin Blackmon, RCC Student Trustee Jusu Coker, Ameresco Executive Vice President David J. Anderson, State Representative Liz Malia, Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Commissioner Judith Judson, RCC President Valerie Roberson, RCC Vice President Kevin Hepner, RCC Vice President Lorita Williams, DCAMM Commissioner Carol Gladstone, RCC Chief Human Resources Officer Pat West, RCC Vice President Cecile Regner and RCC Trustee and Sheriff of Suffolk County Steven Tompkins.
BANNER CLASSIFIEDS LEGAL
LEGAL
Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division
1.
2.
Docket No. SU17P0577GD
LEGAL
Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division
Docket No. SU17P0607GD
In the interests of Juliana Cecilia Pizzarro of Boston, MA Minor
Citation Giving Notice of Petition for Appointment of Guardian for Incapacitated Person Pursuant to G.L. c. 190B, §5-304
NOTICE AND ORDER: Petition for Appointment of Guardian of a Minor
In the matter of Miko Dowling Of Boston, MA RESPONDENT Alleged Incapacitated Person
NOTICE TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES Hearing Date/Time: A hearing on a Petition for Appointment of Guardian of a Minor filed on 03/21/2017 by Ana C. Pizarro of Boston, MA and Jessica Pizarro of Quincy, MA will be held 06/27/2017 08:30 AM Guardianship of Minor Hearing Located at Suffolk Probate Court, 24 New Chardon Street, Boston, MA 02114. Response to Petition: You may respond by filing a written response to the Petition or by appearing in person at the hearing. If you choose to file a written response, you need to: File the original with the Court; and Mail a copy to all interested parties at least five (5) business days before the hearing.
3.
Counsel for the Minor: The minor (or an adult on behalf of the minor) has the right to request that counsel be appointed for the minor.
4.
Presence of the Minor at Hearing: A minor over age 14 has the right to be present at any hearing, unless the Court finds that it is not in the minor’s best interests.
THIS IS A LEGAL NOTICE: An important court proceeding that may affect your rights has been scheduled. If you do not understand this notice or other court papers, please contact an attorney for legal advice. Date: March 24, 2017
Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate
To the named Respondent and all other interested persons, a petition has been filed by Benjamin Healthcare Center of Boston, MA in the above captioned matter alleging that Miko Dowling is in need of a Guardian and requesting that A Suitable Person of , (or some other suitable person) be appointed as Guardian to serve Without Surety on the bond. The petition asks the court to determine that the Respondent is incapacitated, that the appointment of a Guardian is necessary, that the proposed Guardian is appropriate. The petition is on file with this court and may contain a request for certain specific authority. You have the right to object to this proceeding. If you wish to do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance at this court on or before 10:00 A.M. on the return date of 05/11/2017. This day is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline date by which you have to file the written appearance if you object to the petition. If you fail to file the written appearance by the return date, action may be taken in this matter without further notice to you. In addition to filing the written appearance, you or your attorney must file a written affidavit stating the specific facts and grounds of your objection within 30 days after the return date. IMPORTANT NOTICE The outcome of this proceeding may limit or completely take away the above-named person’s right to make decisions about personal affairs or financial affairs or both. The above-named person has the right to ask for a lawyer. Anyone may make this request on behalf of the above-named person.
If the above-named person cannot afford a lawyer, one may be appointed at State expense. WITNESS, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court. Date: March 30, 2017 Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division
Docket No. SU17D0073DR
Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing Gary White
vs.
Frances White
To the Defendant: The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown. The Complaint is on file at the Court. An Automatic Restraining Order has been entered in this matter preventing you from taking any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411. You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Gary White, 207 Shurtleff St., #204, Chelsea, MA 02150 your answer, if any, on or before 06/15/2017. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court. Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court. Date: April 14, 2017 Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate
Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 21
BANNER CLASSIFIEDS
LEGAL
LEGAL
Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department Docket No. SU17D0646DR
SUFFOLK Division
Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing Manoucheca Paul
vs.
Jean Jonathan Jeanlys
To the Defendant: The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for IRRETRIEVABLE BREAKDOWN. The Complaint is on file at the Court. An Automatic Restraining Order has been entered in this matter preventing you from taking any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411. You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Manoucheca Paul, 9 Standard Street, Mattapan, MA 02126 your answer, if any, on or before 06/08/2017. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court. Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court. Date: March 30, 2017 Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department Docket No. SU17P0474EA
SUFFOLK Division
Citation on Petition for Formal Adjudication Estate of Winifred Bell Date of Death: 06/21/2016 To all interested persons: A Petition for Formal Probate of Will has been filed by Jeffrey L. Bell of Mattapan, MA requesting that the Court enter a formal Decree and Order and for such other relief as requested in the Petition. The Petitioner requests that Jeffrey L. Bell of Mattapan, MA be appointed as Personal Representative(s) of said estate to serve Without Surety on the bond in an unsupervised administration. IMPORTANT NOTICE You have the right to obtain a copy of the Petition from the Petitioner or at the Court. You have a right to object to this proceeding. To do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance and objection at this Court before 10:00 a.m. on the return day of 05/11/2017. This is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline by which you must file a written appearance and objection if you object to this proceeding. If you fail to file a timely written appearance and objection followed by an Affidavit of Objections within thirty (30) days of the return day, action may be taken without further notice to you. UNSUPERVISED ADMINISTRATION UNDER THE MASSACHUSETTS UNIFORM PROBATE CODE (MUPC) A Personal Representative appointed under the MUPC in an unsupervised administration is not required to file an inventory or annual accounts with the Court. Persons interested in the estate are entitled to notice regarding the administration directly from the Personal Representative and may petition the Court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of administration. WITNESS, HON. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court. Date: March 30, 2017 Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division
Docket No. SU17D0696DR
Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing Benito Francois
vs.
Genia Deronette
To the Defendant: The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown. The Complaint is on file at the Court. An Automatic Restraining Order has been entered in this matter preventing you from taking any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411. You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Benito Francois, 431 River St., Apt. 303, Mattapan, MA 02126 your answer, if any, on or before 06/15/2017. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court. Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court. Date: April 14, 2017 Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division
Docket No. SU13P2058 Estate of Marvin M. Mitchell, Sr. Also Known As Marvin M. Mitchell Date of Death June 27, 2013
INFORMAL PROBATE PUBLICATION NOTICE To all persons interested in the above captioned estate, by Petition of Petitioner Marvin M. Mitchell, Jr. of Boston, MA a Will has been admitted to informal probate. Marvin M. Mitchell, Jr. of Boston, MA has been informally appointed as the Personal Representative of the estate to serve without surety on the bond. The estate is being administered under informal procedure by the Personal Representative under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code without supervision by the Court. Inventory and accounts are not required to be filed with the Court, but interested parties are entitled to notice regarding the administration from the Personal Representative and can petition the Court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of administration. Interested parties are entitled to petition the Court to institute formal proceedings and to obtain orders terminating or restricting the powers of Personal Representatives appointed under informal procedure. A copy of the Petition and Will, if any, can be obtained from the Petitioner.
LEGAL
Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division
Docket No. SU10P0717EA
Citation on Petition for Order of Complete Settlement of Estate Estate of Alma Ruth Johnson Date of Death: 08/04/2009 A Petition for Order of Complete Settlement has been filed by Dorothy Allen of Norwood, MA requesting that the court enter a formal Decree of Complete Settlement including the allowance of a final account and other such relief as may be requested in the Petition. You have the right to obtain a copy of the Petition from the Petitioner or at the Court. You have a right to object to this proceeding. To do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance and objection at this Court before 10:00 a.m. on 05/24/2017. This is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline by which you must file a written appearance and objection if you object to this proceeding. If you fail to file a timely written appearance and objection followed by an Affidavit of Objections within thirty (30) days of the return date, action may be taken without further notice to you. WITNESS, HON. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court. Date: April 19, 2017 Terri Klug Cafazzo Register of Probate MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed General Bids for MPA Contract No. L1510-C1, TERMINAL B-C ROADWAY IMPROVEMENTS, LOGAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, will be received by the Massachusetts Port Authority at the Capital Programs Department Office, Suite 209S, Logan Office Center, One Harborside Drive, East Boston, Massachusetts 021282909, until 11:00 A.M. local time on WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2017, immediately after which, in a designated room, the bids will be opened and read publicly. NOTE: PRE BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT THE CAPITAL PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT (ABOVE ADDRESS) AT 11:00 am LOCAL TIME ON THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017. The work includes ROADWAY AND BRIDGE REHABILITATION AT LOGAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHICH INCLUDES: ROADWAY AND BRIDGE RESURFACING; SUBSTRUCTURE, SUPERSTRUCTURE AND DECK CONCRETE REPAIRS; BRIDGE JOINT REPAIRS; SAFETYWALK REPAIRS; BRIDGE DRAINAGE REPAIRS; FRP INSTALLATION ON VARIOUS CONCRETE REPAIRS; CLEANING AND PAINTING OF CONCRETE SURFACES; AND MAINTENANCE AND PROTECTION OF TRAFFIC.
to the DCAMM Bid Room no later than 2:00 PM, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Firms interested in providing Public Construction Manager at Risk Services (“CM” or “CM at Risk”) for the Massachusetts State Police Lower Basin Barracks are invited to submit a Statement of Qualifications (“SOQ”) to the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance (“DCAMM”). This CM at Risk procurement is conducted pursuant to M.G.L. 149A, contained in Chapter 193 of the Acts of 2004. This Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) is the first phase of a two-phase procurement process as set forth in M.G.L. 149A. DCAMM is prequalifying firms interested in providing public CM at Risk services for the project through the RFQ process. DCAMM will evaluate submitted SOQs based upon the identified evaluation criteria as set forth in the RFQ and will select those respondents it deems qualified. Only those respondents deemed qualified will be invited to submit a proposal in response to a detailed Request for Proposals (“RFP”), which will be issued in the second phase of the procurement process. The project delivery method for construction will be public CM at Risk with a Guaranteed Maximum Price (“GMP”) under M.G.L. 149A. In addition, firms interested in being prequalified must demonstrate that they have had prior experience as a Construction Manager on at least three CM-at-Risk projects and have completed at least one project of a similar cost, complexity, type and size as this project as it is described further below and in the RFQ. Prior experience on at least one complex laboratory project that included the construction of a Biosafety Level Three (BSL3) laboratory as well as prior experience on at least one large, complex phased renovation project that remained occupied and fully operational 24/7/365 throughout construction are also required. The prior CM-at-Risk projects must have been completed within the last ten (10) years. At the time a CM firm submits the Qualifications Statement, it must have a DCAMM Certification in the Contractor Category, “General Building Construction”, with a single limit greater than the Estimated Total Project cost of $56,271,000. See www.mass.gov/dcam/certification for certification forms and the required Update Form. The project involves a phased renovation of an approximately 208,000 GSF, eight-story plus basement building that contains laboratory, administrative and research space. The building will remain occupied throughout construction and remain 24/7/365 operational. The project also includes the demolition of the Biologics Building, which sits adjacent to the Tower Building and is connected to it via a bridge. This is a two-story plus basement building of approximately 34,000 GSF. The Request for Qualifications may be downloaded from http://www. commbuys.com or DCAMM’s E Bid Room at https://www.bidexpress.com/ businesses/10279/home on or after Wednesday, May 3, 2017. DCAMM Bid Room can be reached at One Ashburton Place, Room 107, Boston, MA 02108, 617-727-4003, bidroom.dcamm@state.ma.us. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance Carol W. Gladstone, Commissioner
Bid documents will be made available beginning THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017. Bid Documents in electronic format may be obtained free of charge at the Authority’s Capital Programs Department Office, together with any addenda or amendments, which the Authority may issue and a printed copy of the Proposal form. The estimated contract cost is EIGHT MILLION, NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ($8,900,000.). A proposal guaranty shall be submitted with each General Bid consisting of a bid deposit for five (5) percent of the value of the bid; when sub bids are required, each must be accompanied by a deposit equal to five (5) percent of the sub bid amount, in the form of a bid bond, or cash, or a certified check, or a treasurer’s or a cashier’s check issued by a responsible bank or trust company, payable to the Massachusetts Port Authority in the name of which the Contract for the work is to be executed. The bid deposit shall be (a) in a form satisfactory to the Authority, (b) with a surety company qualified to do business in the Commonwealth and satisfactory to the Authority, and (c) conditioned upon the faithful performance by the principal of the agreements contained in the bid. The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond and a labor and materials payment bond, each in an amount equal to 100% of the Contract price. The surety shall be a surety company or securities satisfactory to the Authority. Attention is called to the minimum rate of wages to be paid on the work as determined under the provisions of Chapter 149, Massachusetts General Laws, Section 26 to 27G, inclusive, as amended. The Contractor will be required to pay minimum wages in accordance with the schedules listed in Division II, Special Provisions of the Specifications, which wage rates have been predetermined by the U. S. Secretary of Labor and / or the Commissioner of Labor and Industries of Massachusetts, whichever is greater. The successful Bidder will be required to purchase and maintain Bodily Injury Liability Insurance and Property Damage Liability Insurance for a combined single limit of $1,000,000. Said policy shall be on an occurrence basis and the Authority shall be included as an Additional Insured. See the insurance sections of Division I, General Requirements and Division II, Special Provisions for complete details. This contract is subject to a Minority/Women Owned Business Enterprise participation provision requiring that not less than SIX AND NINE TENTHS PERCENT (6.9%) of the Contract be performed by minority and women owned business enterprise contractors. With respect to this provision, bidders are urged to familiarize themselves thoroughly with the Bidding Documents. Strict compliance with the pertinent procedures will be required for a bidder to be deemed responsive and eligible. This Contract is also subject to Affirmative Action requirements of the Massachusetts Port Authority contained in Article 84 of the General Requirements and Covenants, and to the Secretary of Labor’s Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Opportunity and the Standard Federal Equal Opportunity Construction Contract Specifications (Executive Order 11246). The General Contractor is required to submit a Certification of Non Segregated Facilities prior to award of the Contract, and to notify prospective subcontractors of the requirement for such certification where the subcontract exceeds $10,000. Complete information and authorization to view the site may be obtained from the Capital Programs Department Office at the Massachusetts Port Authority. The right is reserved to waive any informality in or reject any or all proposals. MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS - CLASSIFIED LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT MASSACHUSETTS EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE DIVISION OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT & MAINTENANCE Request for Qualifications for Construction Management at Risk Services Second Request – Revised Scope Mass. State Project No. DPH1641 DC1 Mass. Department of Public Health, Jamaica Plain Campus Tower Building Phased Renovation and Biologics Building Demolition Boston, MA The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, through its Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance (DCAMM), requests that qualified and experienced firms submit a Statement of Qualifications and required information
PUBLIC NOTICE BOSTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY D/B/A BOSTON PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT AGENCY PROPOSED MODIFICATION TO SOUTH END URBAN RENEWAL PLAN, PROJECT NO. MASS. R-56 FOR PARCEL Public Notice is hereby given that the Boston Redevelopment Authority (“BRA”) d/b/a the Boston Planning & Development Agency will consider at its scheduled meeting on Thursday, May 11, 2017, starting at 3:30 P.M. in the Board Room – Room 900, 9th Floor, Boston City Hall, One City Hall Square a proposed modification to the South End Urban Renewal Plan regarding Parcel 30A. Said modification will create Parcel 30A and set forth the land use controls. This Public Notice is being provided in accordance with a certain “Conciliation Agreement” by and among the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the BRA and others, dated as of January 16, 2001. Teresa Polhemus, Secretary
MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY 100 SUMMER ST., SUITE 1200 BOSTON, MA 02110 NOTICE TO BIDDERS Electronic proposals for the following project will be received through the internet using Bid Express until the date and time stated below, and will be posted on www.bidx.com forthwith after the bid submission deadline. No paper copies of bids will be accepted. Bidders must have a valid digital ID issued by the Authority in order to bid on projects. Bidders need to apply for a digital ID with Bid Express at least 14 days prior to a scheduled bid opening date. Electronic bids for MBTA Contract No. B74CN02, REPAIR/REHABILITATION OF MBTA HIGH SPEED RED LINE OVER NEPONSET RIVER LOWER MILLS BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, BRIDGE B-16-412, (CLASS I - GENERAL CONSTRUCTION, and Class 4B - CONCRETE SUPERSTRUCTURES, AND PROJECT VALUE - $3,267,652.00), can be submitted at www.bidx.com until two o’clock (2:00 p.m.) on May 25, 2017. Immediately thereafter, in a designated room, the Bids will be opened and read publicly. Work consists of repairs and modification to existing concrete masonry and stone masonry abutments and wingwalls; installation of temporary water control cofferdams to allow for all work to be done in the dry; the collection of and resetting of displaced riprap along the east abutment; excavation for the repairs to the southeast wingwall, along with clearing and grubbing of adjacent area to allow for the repairs; revegetation of the areas cleared and grubbed per requirements of DCR permitting; installation and monitoring of silt curtains for all in water work. Bidders’ attention is directed to Appendix 1, Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Insure Equal Employment Opportunity; and to Appendix 2, Supplemental Equal Employment Opportunity, Anti-Discrimination, and Affirmative Action Program in the specifications. In addition, pursuant to the requirements of Appendix 3, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Participation Provision, Bidders must submit an assurance with their Bids that they will make sufficient and reasonable efforts to meet the stated DBE goal of 7 percent. Bidders will affirmatively ensure that in regard to any contract entered into pursuant to this solicitation, minority and female construction contractors will be afforded full opportunity to submit Bids and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin in consideration for an award. Additional information and instructions on how to submit a bid are available at http://www.mbta.com/business_center/bidding_solicitations/ current_solicitations/ Brian Shortsleeve Chief Administrator and Acting General Manager of the MBTA May 1, 2017
22 • Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER
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MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed General Bids for MPA Contract No. L1328-C1, FY 2018-2019 WATERGATE AND HYDRANT SELECTIVE REPLACEMENT TERM CONTRACT, LOGAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, will be received by the Massachusetts Port Authority at the Capital Programs Department Office, Suite 209S, Logan Office Center, One Harborside Drive, East Boston, Massachusetts 02128-2909, until 11:00 A.M. local time on WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2017, immediately after which, in a designated room, the bids will be opened and read publicly. NOTE: PRE BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT THE CAPITAL PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT (ABOVE ADDRESS) AT 10:00 A.M. LOCAL TIME ON THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017. The work includes REMOVING HYDRANTS, GATE VALVES AND GATE VALVE BOXES WHERE DIRECTED; FURNISHING AND INSTALLING NEW HYDRANTS, GATE VALVES AND GATE VALVE BOXES, DUCTILE IRON PIPES AND APPURTENANCES WHERE DIRECTED; INSTALLING BOLLARDS, TRENCH EXCAVATION AND BACKFILLING; HOT MIX ASPHALT PAVEMENT; PLACEMENT OF CEMENT CONCRETE; SAWING AND SEALING PAVEMENT AT RESTORED TRENCHES; AND RE-APPLYING PAVEMENT MARKINGS WHERE DIRECTED.
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Bid documents will be made available beginning WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017. Bid Documents in electronic format may be obtained free of charge at the Authority’s Capital Programs Department Office, together with any addenda or amendments, which the Authority may issue and a printed copy of the Proposal form. The estimated contract cost is SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($750,000).
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A proposal guaranty shall be submitted with each General Bid consisting of a bid deposit for five (5) percent of the value of the bid; when sub bids are required, each must be accompanied by a deposit equal to five (5) percent of the sub bid amount, in the form of a bid bond, or cash, or a certified check, or a treasurer’s or a cashier’s check issued by a responsible bank or trust company, payable to the Massachusetts Port Authority in the name of which the Contract for the work is to be executed. The bid deposit shall be (a) in a form satisfactory to the Authority, (b) with a surety company qualified to do business in the Commonwealth and satisfactory to the Authority, and (c) conditioned upon the faithful performance by the principal of the agreements contained in the bid.
FIND RATE INFORMATION AT
The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond and a labor and materials payment bond, each in an amount equal to 100% of the Contract price. The surety shall be a surety company or securities satisfactory to the Authority. Attention is called to the minimum rate of wages to be paid on the work as determined under the provisions of Chapter 149, Massachusetts General Laws, Section 26 to 27G, inclusive, as amended. The Contractor will be required to pay minimum wages in accordance with the schedules listed in Division II, Special Provisions of the Specifications, which wage rates have been predetermined by the U. S. Secretary of Labor and / or the Commissioner of Labor and Industries of Massachusetts, whichever is greater.
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The successful Bidder will be required to purchase and maintain Bodily Injury Liability Insurance and Property Damage Liability Insurance for a combined single limit of $10,000,000. Said policy shall be on an occurrence basis and the Authority shall be included as an Additional Insured. See the insurance sections of Division I, General Requirements and Division II, Special Provisions for complete details. This Contract is also subject to Affirmative Action requirements of the Massachusetts Port Authority contained in the Non Discrimination and Affirmative Action article of Division I, General Requirements and Covenants, and to the Secretary of Labor’s Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Opportunity and the Standard Federal Equal Opportunity Construction Contract Specifications (Executive Order 11246).
NEW Affordable Rental Housing
The General Contractor is required to submit a Certification of Non Segregated Facilities prior to award of the Contract, and to notify prospective subcontractors of the requirement for such certification where the subcontract exceeds $10,000.
19 Bixby Road
Complete information and authorization to view the site may be obtained from the Capital Programs Department Office at the Massachusetts Port Authority. The right is reserved to waive any informality in or reject any or all proposals.
19 Bixby Road, Spencer, MA 01562 42 Units
MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Maximum Gross Income By Household Size
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REAL ESTATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY SELECTION BY LOTTERY
2 & 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS Broadway Street Apartments
Rents*:
423 & 430 Broadway, Lowell, MA
Application pick-up from: ∙ Merrimack Valley Apartments 20 Calumet Rd., Methuen ∙ Pollard Memorial Library 401 Merrimack St, Lowell ∙ Lowell City Hall 375 Merrimack Street, Lowell or online PeabodyProperties.com; or by phone 978.686.9334 (TTY 711)
Type # of Units 2BR 1 3BR 1
Rents* $1122** $1397**
% Income 50% 50%
**PBV rent share determined by PHA based on income of applicant.
Income Limits* #HH 1 2 3 4 5 6
50% AMI $33,600 $38,400 $43,200 $48,000 $51,850 $55,700
Mail completed application to: Merrimack Valley Apts., Broadway Lottery, 20 Calumet Rd., Methuen, MA 01844 Deadline: Postmarked by 5/26/17 Lottery Drawing: 5/31/17 at 10AM, Merrimack Valley Apartments, 20 Calumet Road, Methuen, MA *Rents & income limits subject to change. Please inquire in advance for reasonable accommodation. Info contained herein subject to change without notice.
Rental Rates
# of units
4
7
9
6
8
8
# of units
4
7
9
6
8
8
Unit type
30% PBVMRVP*
30% PBVMRVP*
50%
50%
60%
60%
Unit type
50%
60%
60%
2
3
2
3
2
3
30% PBVMRVP*
50%
Bedsize
30% PBVMRVP*
HH size
2-4
3-6
2-4
3-6
2-4
3-6
Max Income 1
18,000
18,000
30,000
30,000
36,000
36,000
Max Income 2
20,600
20,600
34,300
34,300
41,160
41,160
Max Income 3
23,150
23,150
38,600
38,600
46,320
46,320
Max Income 4
25,700
25,700
42,850
42,850
51,420
51,420
Max Income 5
28,780
28,780
46,300
46,300
55,560
55,560
Max Income 6
32,960
32,960
49,750
49,750
59,700
59,700
Bed size
2
3
2
3
2
3
HH size
2-4
3-6
2-4
3-6
2-4
3-6
Contract Rent
$1,060
$1,326
$990
$1,143
$1,158
$1,337
Rental rates subject to change
Applications may be picked up in person, sent electronically, or mailed from:
Mount Carmel Apartments, 50 Shrewsbury St., Worcester, MA 01604 Mon – Fri. 5/2 – 5/12, 2017, 10am-4pm Saturday, 5/6/2017, 10am – 4pm Wednesday, 5/10/2017, 4pm – 8pm Thursday, 5/11/2017, 4pm -7pm
Income limits subject to change An informational meeting will be held on 5/10/17 at 6pm at 50 Shrewsbury St. Worcester, MA 01604 Deadline for completed applications at the above address: In person by 4pm, Wednesday, 7/13/2017 or by mail postmarked by 7/13/2017. Selection by lottery. Use and occupancy restrictions apply.
Handicap/Disabled households have preference for accessible units. *11 Units have Project Based Rental Assistance - Mass Rental Voucher Program, set-a-side for the homeless Free language assistance for people with Limited English Proficiency For more information or Reasonable Accommodations, call Maloney Properties, Inc. (508) 752-8022, U.S. Relay # 711.
Equal Housing Opportunity
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Thursday, May 4, 2017 • BAY STATE BANNER • 23
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HELP WANTED
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HELP WANTED
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Senior Real Estate Project Manager Sought Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (CSNDC) seeks a Senior Real Estate Project Manager to join our talented real estate team.
CSNDC is an ambitious NeighborWorks organization. We have been working in the Codman Square and South Dorchester neighborhood of Boston for more than 35 years, with a focus on issues of anti-displacement, equitable economics and sustainable real estate development. The Senior Real Estate Project Manager will oversee a number of housing and/or mixed-use development projects in various stages of planning and development. They will be a team player with demonstrated ability to deliver high quality, affordable housing projects on time, within budget and with positive community impact.
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See www.csndc.com for a full position description. Submit a resume and cover letter to: Ann L Silverman Consulting, CSNDCrealestateprojectmanager@gmail.com. Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. Local residents, people of color and women are encouraged to apply.
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Work in hospitals, colleges, insurance agencies, banks, businesses, government offices, health insurance call centers, and more! GET READY FOR A GREAT OFFICE JOB! We will help you apply for free training. Job placement assistance provided. No prior experience necessary, but must have HS diploma or GED. Free YMCA membership for you and your family while enrolled in YMCA Training, Inc.
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Healthcare CAREER? Project Hope, in partnership with Partners HealthCare and Boston Medical Center, is currently accepting applications for a FREE entry level healthcare employment training program. Program eligibility includes: • • • • •
Have a high school diploma or equivalent Have a verifiable reference of 1 year from a former employer Pass assessments in reading, language, and computer skills Have CORI clearance Be legally authorized to work in the United States
For more information and to register for the next Open House please visit our website at www.prohope.org/openhouse.htm or call 617-442-1880 ext. 234.
HIRING NOTICE: This is a “Boston Residents Jobs Policy” Project. All residents are encouraged to apply-must be able to provide acceptable verification of Boston Residency. Applicants must bring a copy of one of the following items as proof of Boston Residency: A current driver’s license OR Massachusetts Identification Card OR Utility Bill less than 6 months old. Keith Construction’s subcontractors are seeking tradesmen for QUINCY TOWER, 5 Oak Street West, in Boston, MA. Must be dependable. Seeking all trades. Local area and low income applicants are encouraged to apply. Please call Bill Plante at 781-630-3803 or email: bplante@keithconstruction.net to set up a time to fill out an application. KEITH CONSTRUCTION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.
Do you have a passion for helping others? North Suffolk Mental Health Association is currently looking for a volunteer coordinator who can bring new ideas, be energetic and self motivating to join our team in Roxbury, MA!
This person would have a minimum of a high school diploma. Experience/ knowledge with substance abuse as a disease and recovery is highly preferred as well as working in a diverse, challenging recovery environment. Experience/knowledge with substance abuse as a disease and recovery is highly preferred. Valid MA driver’s license required. This individual’s main focus is to be the main contact for all volunteers including recruiting and managing them. Interested candidates should apply online or send in resumes to North Suffolk Mental Health Association Attn: HR Recruiter 301 Broadway, Chelsea, MA 02150 Fax: 617-912-7971 n Email: gethired@northsuffolk.org NSMHA is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corp
Grant Writer and Major Donor Cultivator April 2017
The mission of the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (the “NDC”) is to build a cohesive and resilient community in Codman Square and South Dorchester, develop affordable housing and commercial spaces that are safe and sustainable, and promote economic stability for low and moderate income residents of all ages. Job Summary: Under general direction of the Executive Director, this position facilitates fund raising research, implementation of our Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC) campaign through support of major donor identification, communication and cultivation. Undertakes grant (proposal) writing and development. Responsible for all aspects of proposal writing/ production, review and editing, working closely with all levels of staff on a program, departmental, agency-wide and/or special initiative basis. Develop collateral materials such as agency annual reports, newsletters, etc., in support of communication and donor identification and cultivation. Develop informational pieces designed to keep Codman Square donors and other constituents abreast of Codman Square’s work events and initiatives, working in coordination with web and social media site developers. Participate in CITC Campaign Committee meetings. Plan funder/major donor events. Maintains donor databases, including DHCD online CITC database and develops tracking protocols and supports reporting on donations and grants. Submit resume and cover letter with salary requirements by May 8, 2017 to: Executive Director, Codman Square NDC, 587 Washington St, Dorchester, MA 02124 or to katrina@csndc.com. No calls please.
Administrative Assistant Pleasant Hill Baptist Church The Pleasant Hill Baptist Church of Dorchester, Massachusetts is seeking an Administrative Assistant. The Administrative Assistant responsibilities are as follows: n Monitors the overall operations of the church’s day-today operations. n Work closely with the pastor, trustees, church staff and other ministries to ensure that all facets of the church’s needs and requirements are being adequately addressed. n Will follow established procedures for ensuring that all administrative functions are operating in an efficient and effective manner. n Will work with the Board of Trustees to institute procurement, personnel, payment and contracting policies are followed in order to enable the church to meet all obligations and responsibilities promptly. n The Administrative Assistant is directly responsible to the Pastor. Requirements: n The ability to communicate clearly, courteously and effectively. n The demonstrated ability to communicate orally and in writing. n Interpersonal and organizational skills. n The ability to effectively manage/coordinate simultaneous projects, and successfully prioritize multiple tasks with good judgment. Please mail your résumé to: Pleasant Hill Baptist Church P.O. Box 155, Dorchester, MA 02121
Executive Director The Andover (MA) Housing Authority is seeking highly qualified and experienced applicants for the position of
Executive Director. The Executive Director is responsible
for the management of 218 State Chapter 667 public housing units, 56 units of state family housing, 8 units of special needs housing, and 127 Federal Housing Choice voucher units in 3 different programs. The candidate must be familiar with both Commonwealth of Massachusetts Housing (DHCD) Requirements and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Federal Housing Programs. Qualifications: 1. Five (5) years in a significant supervisory or management capacity at a public housing authority or other similar experience. The preferred candidate must have demonstrated ability to successfully manage a staff of three (3) or more for at least one (1) year. 2. Working knowledge of fiscal management, including grant procurement, maintenance systems, personnel and administrative management systems in public or private housing. 3. Excellent written and oral communication skills, proven leadership ability, and skills necessary to provide management consultation, guidance and advise to officials on a broad range of public housing programs. 4. Possess a Public Housing Managers (PHM) certification from accredited organization as recognized by HUD or DHCD or obtain within one (1) year of employment. 5. MCPPO certification preferred. 6. Also, must be bondable. 7. Demonstrate sensitivity to the problems and concerns of resident groups and the needs of people of various socio-economic backgrounds. Preference is given for candidates that have a working knowledge of the affordable housing needs of the community of Andover. Start date: To be determined Salary range: Salary is commensurate with experience and education, and will include excellent benefits in accordance with DHCD and HUD guidelines. Location: Andover, Mass. The candidates will be subject to certain qualifications verifications prior to employment. More detailed information will be required of applicants that advance to the next level of consideration. Submit a cover letter and resume by emailing to: info@DVMainsail.org and or mail to DV/Mainsail P.O. Box 3571 South Attleboro MA. 02073. The deadline for receipt of applications is May 17 at 12 noon EST. Late applications will not be accepted. The Andover Housing Authority is an EOE.
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