Hours after Boston's mayor announced a public health crisis over addiction, homelessness and other issues relating to the area known as Mass. and Cass, the two women vying to run the city next sounded off on their plans for the area.
Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George both backed Mayor Kim Janey's move at Tuesday's mayoral debate hosted by NBC10 Boston, Telemundo Boston and NECN, in partnership with the Dorchester Reporter and the Bay State Banner.
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Essaibi George said she was grateful for Janey's leadership in announcing the plan, under which the city won't allow people to live in tents or temporary shelters but won't kick them out until it has alternative housing for them.
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"Not only do I agree, it's my plan," Essaibi George said, referring to a proposal she'd recently released.
When pressed about whether she thinks the plan alone would end the crisis, she said it wouldn't, that it'll need to be done in coordination with partners at all levels of government.
Wu called the situation "truly a crisis, not just in one part of the city," and said it was on everyone's minds when she knocked on doors in Roxbury.
She said she supported Janey's declaration of a crisis and said she'd hire "be a cabinet-level chief of Mass. and Cass" to coordinate the city's efforts.
