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Candidates urge federal action on housing, call for rent tools and public-housing expansion
Summary
At a Lynn City candidate forum, speakers pressed for federal support to build housing, criticized region-wide AMI calculations, and supported rent stabilization and expanded public housing and voucher funding.
Several candidates at the Lynn City candidate forum said the federal government must play a direct role in increasing housing supply and protecting renters. One candidate said the government should build houses and support transit-oriented development to reduce long commutes and transportation costs. "I want the government to build houses," the presenter said during the forum.
Speakers discussed specific tools: indexing the federal minimum wage to inflation, enabling towns and cities to use rent-stabilization policies, and revising the area median income (AMI) calculation that currently groups Lynn with Boston suburbs. A candidate warned that a regionally-assessed AMI leaves Lynn ranked with wealthier communities and urged localized affordability metrics. Panelists also supported expanding public housing and Section 8 voucher funding so vouchers function in today’s market.
