State Rep. Russell Holmes returned to clarifying budget issues in his update at the Mount Hope Canterbury (MHC) Neighborhood Association meeting on Thursday, May 14. He emphasized the lengthy budget process includes neighborhood meetings, House and Senate versions, and reconciliation before reaching the governor for signature by the end of June.

“For the last 16 years, we've more than doubled the amount of money we're spending in the budget. And I say, well, we've done a lot of things. We've added cannabis, we've added casinos, we've added all these things that we feel are economically helping us out, right?” Holmes said. “While there’s been tremendous growth during that time, the budget hasn’t kept up. When the governor sits in front of me and says, I've only raised the budget 1.3, 1.6 percent, that sounds like a good thing, but I get worried.”

Holmes said that unions will expect a three percent raise, so a 1.6 percent increase in the budget won’t cover that nor will it cover the expected Mass Health increases.

Holmes said that the state budget is now with the Senate. The City of Boston has a separate budget process ruled by a strong mayoral system that would require nine out of 13 councilors to agree to an override, which is unlikely. At the end, the governor and mayors will compromise.

He said his greatest fear is a referendum that would lower the income tax from 5 percent to 4 percent.

“You go and you cut $5 billion out of this budget, that’s going to be tough.”

Looking to the future, Holmes said one goal that he and others have is for a Historic Black College/University (HBCU) in Massachusetts. “The most northern historical HBCU is Howard (in Washington, DC). We don't believe Howard should be the most northern of places. We believe there should be something in New England, and we believe it should be in Boston.”

Other business at the meeting included a favorable crime report from Boston Police Department (BPD) Officer Matthew Conley of District E-18, who said there were no assaults, robberies, breaking-and-entering incidents, nor drug arrests in April.

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He did report several thefts: on April 14, a man stole a pair of shoes valued at $60 from Happy Dollar at 690 American Legion Hwy; April 26, a woman stole a bottle of wine from Brooks Liquor Store at 591 Hyde Park Ave; and April 21, a man entered a vehicle at Scrub-a-Dub, 565 American Legion Hwy, stole a wallet, and fled in a white Hyundai. Conley said officers from District B-3 also executed a search warrant at 15 Jewett St. as part of an ongoing investigation, arresting a 19-year-old on firearm and ammunition charges. Despite those incidents, he reported that crime in District E-18 was down 18 percent from the same time last year.

Two development project presentations were also given. A new restaurant, Tasty Kabob and Curry will open at the old Simco location in the American Legion Shopping Center Mall. Atty. Dennis Quilty, representing the new owners, said it will be a take-out restaurant to start, with plans to later offer indoor seating serving traditional Indian and Pakistani food. No alcohol will be sold, and Quilty said the owner has a very good track record with his restaurants in West Bridgewater and Fall River. Hours of operation will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“I think the big difference that we offer is that we will not have those late-night hours that we think caused a lot of the problems with people congregating after getting out of the bars or whatever,” said Quilty. Those in attendance at the meeting supported the plans.

The development of a two-family home on a one-family lot at 98 Mount Hope St. was also discussed. The 98 Mount Hope St. project is just beginning the approval process required, with an abutters’ meeting scheduled for May 26. For the MHC meeting, it was mostly an informational meeting. Eileen Rosa of Rosa Design and Construction gave an overview of the 12 variances that require relief. Attendees asked numerous questions, knowing that the review process will require mitigation or approval of the required changes. Rosa noted that many of the variances are not surprising. “The truth is that we see this everywhere in Boston … the house is 80 years old, automatically coming to pre-existing non-conforming.”

The next MHC meeting will be held on June 11.