Councilor Mejia says Housing Accelerator Fund will be audited after administration absent from Jan. 21 hearing

Councilor Julia Mejia opened the Jan. 21 hearing noting two major items for the committee’s review: the BPDA’s Squares and Streets rezoning initiative and the recently approved Housing Accelerator Fund. The fund, she said, was approved with a $110,000,000 allocation intended to close financing gaps on projects such as the Bunker Hill redevelopment. “The Housing Accelerator Fund was backed, and already filed and approved, for a $110,000,000 allocation,” Mejia told the committee.

Mejia said the administration declined to send staff to the hearing to discuss the fund and that the council had sought a separate, detailed presentation. “Unfortunately, no representation from the administration is available today to discuss this fund further,” she said. Mejia said she had urged the council to delay the fund vote until after a hearing but the vote had already taken place; she said the committee will schedule follow‑up hearings and has asked the administration to prepare a detailed audit and answers to process questions.

Public testimony touched on the fund and development projects tied to it. Pamela King and other speakers used the public‑comment portion to raise equity concerns and to press for alternatives and stricter accountability for use of COVID‑era and other public funds; several speakers also raised historical and community‑preservation questions about large redevelopments such as Bunker Hill and comparisons to Columbia Point/Harbor Point.

No formal actions or votes on the Housing Accelerator Fund were taken at the hearing. Councilor Mejia said the committee would expect the administration to appear at a subsequent hearing prepared to provide detailed financial and process documentation about the fund’s allocations and anticipated project outcomes.