Allston-Brighton voters stress change in education and housing on Boston City Council election day

Voters cast ballots at booths located inside the Honan-Allston Library. Photo by Alexa Back.

Allston-Brighton voters voice their concerns for the state of education and lack of housing in Boston as they vote in the Boston City Council election.

On Tuesday, Nov. 7th, several members of the Allston-Brighton community gathered at the Honan-Allston Branch of the Boston Public Library to cast their ballots for the municipal election. 

Numerous voters emphasized the significance of voting in this election. Galen Mook, of Allston, stressed that voting is “our civic duty” and that “the most important thing to engage in is what's happening on your street, in your city.” 

This sentiment was widely shared among the voters this rainy morning, in fact, Anna Dechanstreiter, a senior at Boston University, stated “voting is my new superpower. I think it’s really important for young people to get involved.” 

Many of the voter concerns were centered around young people, emphasizing the importance of Boston Public Schools (BPS) and the role of college students in the community. 

Brad Dumont, a professor at Assumption University, highlighted the need for more BPS support. He said he believes that we must continue conversations about how we’re looking at funding schools. He called attention to the fact that “BPS are in desperate need of more support from our local communities and with serious consideration about how to move forward.” He also spoke about college students, stating city council can create a community that “can be more sustainable and not a space where we’re constantly seeing turnover between residents and supporting the college student population to feel like they're actually members of the Allston Brighton community.”

Ivy Bardaglio, a former education worker, emphasized “I really believe in public schools and I think BPS is doing so much and I hope that they’ll continue to be supported by the city council and the mayor and get the resources they need.” Dumont is not so sure this will be the case. He stated, “I’d love to see a future candidate take that on more seriously, but I just don’t think we’ve seen anyone step up to look at it as seriously as it needs to be looked at.” 

The concern for BPS support was accompanied by the hope that the elected city councilor would try to make housing more affordable and available in the Boston area. Bardaglio, who is currently a renter in Boston, stated, “housing is really important to me and when I was looking at all of the folks who were running, all of the stances, I was particularly looking for people who are talking about renters and housing rights for renters.” 

Flyers in the Honan-Allston polling location inform voters on how to cast their ballot. Photo by Alexa Back

The search for Boston housing solutions was also shared by Dechanstreiter. She said she, “was specifically looking for candidates who were addressing homelessness in the Allston-Brighton community but also down in Mass and Cass [the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue.]”

Unofficial results showed Councilor Liz Breadon had won reelection over Jacob deBlecourt in District 9 with 65.95% of the votes, almost doubling the amount of votes that deBlecourt had garnered (33.31%). 

The at-large race resulted in current councilors Ruthzee Louijeune, Erin Murphy and Julie Mejia keeping their seats, but welcomed a new councilmember, Henry Santana.

Allston voters continually expressed their hope that this election, and bringing in new people, will create change in their community. Karen Coleman, a crossing guard working in Allston, expressed, “they need to bring in new people because the people that are there, they’re not doing nothing for Boston and everything stays the same and it’s time for new people to come in and have new ideas.” Asim Sadig, an Uber driver living in Allston, also recognized the importance of this election to the upcoming change in the community stating, “change starts with local precincts, so that’s why I’m here today.”