The pervasive underinvestment in Allston-Brighton speaks to a much larger problem: Boston lacks nearly all of the common-sense capital planning practices other cities adhere to.
Unlike other cities, Boston has no systems in place to ensure that previously authorized projects progress on schedule, or even see completion at all. Debt authorized as part of the capital budget is not required to be spent on the project it was initially
authorized for. As such, there’s nothing preventing funds authorized this year for one project from being diverted toward a completely different project next year.
Major decisions regarding this multi-billion dollar budget are made with a startling lack of transparency or accountability. Some projects advance rapidly through the process, while others sit inactive for decades as “to be scheduled”. Other cities have publicly
accessible dashboards, where the status of capital projects is updated regularly with clearly defined dates and milestones. Nothing like that exists in Boston, leaving residents in the dark as to when the projects they were promised years ago will become reality.
We may be proud of our AAA bond rating, but perhaps our creditors should instead ask “is the City of Boston making sound decisions for capital improvements?” It is unconscionable that there are no internal controls to ensure that the billions we’re incurring
in debt are being spent in a timely and efficient manner.
Allston-Brighton deserves better. Boston deserves better. It doesn’t have to be this way. I appreciate the fact that these are problems the current administration has inherited. However, by failing to take decisive action to improve our capital budgeting practices
we are recreating the mistakes of past administrations
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