At its regular Oct. 8 meeting, the Mount Hope Canterbury Neighborhood Association (MHC) covered a packed agenda, including elected officials’ views on the nine 2026 ballot questions voters will consider on Nov. 3. Attendees also heard an update of the City of Boston’s Neighborhood Housing initiative, which aims to revise residential zoning rules.

State Senator Liz Miranda – whose 2nd Suffolk district covers parts of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, the South End, Roslindale, and the Fenway – explained each of the eight ballot initiatives plus a referendum to repeal a current law and how she planned to vote on each and why.

For Question 1- Expanding the Public Records Law, Miranda gives it a Yes vote. “If you vote yes, it means that the legislature and the governor's office become subject to a law that already exists with some exemptions,” she said. Question 2- Collective Bargaining CPCS Employees would also be a Yes for her as she supports union public defenders. Question 3-State Top-Two Primary Elections. is a No. “I want more participation and more competitive elections too. But I don't believe that this is the right way to do it, the right reform.”

Question 4- Election Day Registration is a Yes. “You should be able to register to vote … on election day.” Question 5- State Revenue Limit and Rebate is a No for Miranda, who feels a change is a bad idea as the current law allows redistribution of extra revenue to needy projects. “I think the formula has been working well and investing in us.” Question 6- Natural Resource Conservation Fund is a Yes as it “is about funding for nature.”

Question 7- Single Family Homes is another Yes and “about starter homes.” Question 8- Prohibit Retail Sale of Adult Recreational Use of Marijuana Miranda is a No. She wants the current law allowing the sale of marijuana to remain in place. “Studies have shown in Boston since we've made cannabis legal; it's actually created a lot of economic and generational wealth for the businesses that are social equity, economic empowerment … it also made things safer.”

Question 9- Firearms Regulation would repeal the current law. Maranda supports a Yes vote to keep the current law based on her experience of having lost a brother to gun violence in 2017. “It continues to regulate these ghost guns and strengthens red flag protections.”

State Representative Russell Holmes, who was also present, periodically commented on Miranda’s presentation “The difference between the referendum (Question 9) and the other eight is that we actually passed this law … I'm also voting to make sure this law stays in place.”

Holmes held up a sample of the Nov. 3 election ballot, which is three pages and double-sided. The red “Information for Voters” booklet recently mailed to voters is important. “You have your red book at home. Before you leave home, go and rip off this last page, and you should know your answers to questions 1-9. No one is going to yell at you about the fact that you took your cheat sheet in and know who you're going to vote for.” Speaking to question Number 8 regarding marijuana, Holmes said, “We now do about $30 million in tax revenue a year. We've just gone over $10 billion in sales in marijuana, and there's about 27,000 people who work in this industry. But I'm going to simply say, my belief is prohibition does not work.”

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The other main speaker at the meeting was Will Cohen, a planner for the City’s Planning Department who gave an overview of the status of the Neighborhood Housing Zoning Initiative updates to Boston's residential zoning rules to allow homeowners to more easily make changes to their properties.

“Ninety-nine percent of properties in Boston, according to zoning, aren't what's supposed to be there,” said Cohen. The new zoning proposes four new districts, RDG 2, 3, 4, and 6, which line up with existing properties in the neighborhoods. One person said that in a previous presentation, it appeared that a home plus the three additional units that this initiative would allow, would allow as-of-right with no community input.

Cohen said that was “a bit of a mischaracterization of what we're talking about,” noting there are zoning rules currently in place like a height rule of 35 feet and required footage for side yard, front yard, and rear yard.

“What we're talking about is a set of rules where there's all these different pieces that work together in what's allowed.”

Open comments on the proposed zoning will be possible until October 31. For more information go to https://gvimes.link/nhbrhdzng

In other news, the new Roslindale Neighborhood Services Liaison, Jhonaiquer Juan Cruz was introduced along with Councilor Brian Worrell’s Constituent Services contact, Yousaf Abdallah.