WGBH — Boston, Cambridge and Somerville councilors join forces to reform broker fees
Sobrinho-Wheeler said that as a renter he empathizes with his constituents in similar situations. He personally got a rent increase and looked around for more affordable spots.
“We realized that even though there were some places that were more more affordable than our rent increase, with the brokers fee it just wouldn’t make sense to move,” he said. “Because even if it was a couple hundred dollars per month [cheaper in rent], when you add the brokers fee, we still would have lost money.”
Bloomberg — Should Harvard Pay Higher Taxes? Ivy League School Under Scrutiny in Boston
“This is a university with a $50 billion endowment. It can afford to pay for it,” Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler said. “We’re rolling out universal pre-K, we’re trying to expand after school, we want to have a free community college program. All of those things are the reasons we should be doing something.”
Harvard Crimson — Cambridge City Council Takes Next Step in Pilot Program to Make MBTA Bus Route 1 Fare-Free
Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler said during the meeting on Monday that the fare-free bus will make the transportation more efficient as passengers often slow down bus routes with payment issues.
“If we don’t have alternatives for people to take public transit, we’re gonna see worse traffic, we’re gonna see more traffic accidents, we’re gonna see more pollution,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said.
WBUR — The push and pull over bike lanes in Cambridge
TD: For listeners outside of Cambridge, given that the ordinance still applies, given that the bike lanes still will happen, this has also been a genuinely hard and painful thing for a wide range of people in Cambridge. And I’d like to understand from each of you, as people who represent the community, from your perspectives, why you think that is.
JSW: I think it goes back to why are protected bike lanes important for so many folks in Cambridge. The number one issue is safety: We’ve seen people killed or severely injured every single year in Cambridge and dozens of people injured or hospitalized—I myself was in a bike crash in Cambridge and lost part of my two front teeth. Cambridge is also a city of 120,000 people in 6.5 square miles—it’s physically impossible for everyone to have a car, 120,000 people in 6 miles, that’s just not going to work. … We know [the three delayed] streets have crashes. We know each year there are 30 crashes on Cambridge Street, Main Street, and Broadway. The vast majority of those crashes lead to injuries. Two more years of delay are 30 more crashes per year that are going to lead to more broken teeth, more broken bones, more hospital rides, more potential fatalities. These are potential lives that are on the line here.
Boston.com — Cambridge leaders support physician residents at local hospital chain
The resolution, brought by Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, passed unanimously by the councilors to support residents’ negotiations with Cambridge Health Alliance, which has primary care, specialty care, and hospital locations in Cambridge, Somerville, Malden, Revere, and Everett.
Cambridge Day — Ballot question against MCAS grad requirement draws different results from two cities’ councils
That was brought up Monday in Cambridge with discussion of a policy order sponsored by councillors Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Sumbul Siddiqui and Ayesha M. Wilson. They voted for the order with vice mayor Marc McGovern.”
Boston Globe — Cambridge spent years — and $1.4 million — hiding harassment claims against high-profile police officer
“It’s $1.4 million of taxpayer money that could have gone to any number of things,” said City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, one of two councilors who voted in December 2020 against the payment. “The public should have known what it was going for, and the council wasn’t given the details. The public weren’t given the details. And I still don’t understand why.”
Harvard Crimson — Cambridge DSA, Sobrinho-Wheeler Demand Harvard Cough Up $100 Million in PILOT Payments
According to the petition, this would amount to just more than $100 million — a more than twenty-fold increase from what Harvard currently contributes to the city. In an interview, Sobrinho-Wheeler said he would also be satisfied if Harvard agreed to pay 25 percent of that total, which he said was in line with a bill currently being considered by state legislators.
Harvard Crimson — Cambridge Considers Banning Police Use of Tear Gas in Wake of Protests
“At the end of the day, people want to feel safe,” Sobrinho-Wheeler says. “And the question is, does more policing and [do] certain tactics keep us safe?”
Harvard Crimson — Cambridge City Council Calls to Keep Democracy Center Open
The policy order, which passed unanimously, was proposed by Councilors Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Sumbul Siddiqui, Burham Azeem and Ayesha M. Wilson. Sobrinho-Wheeler said he introduced the order to “raise up those concerns” from local activists and current tenants of the Center.
“Community members and organizations were worried about the short notice of the closure — just a couple months — scrambling to find other space,” he said.
Harvard Crimson — ‘We Didn’t Always Have A Housing Crisis’: Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler, McGovern Talk Housing at Town Hall
“In the U.S. we’ve gotten to a point where we think of the right to a public education as a fundamental right that everyone has the right to no matter your income or your background,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said.
“But at this point, now, we’re still thinking of housing as this individual piece that you can have or not have the way you have a car and I think our policies for a long time have promoted that,” he added.
Cambridge Day — All neighborhoods could get multifamily homes and see ‘down conversions’ discouraged in laws
In addition to asking staff to study whether the council could write zoning that would disincentivize the loss of affordable multifamily housing through down conversions, Sobrinho-Wheeler’s order wondered if a special permit could be required for one. That would mean a trip to a board to plead the case for a down conversion instead of one being allowed by right.