Special to the Times-Free Press
Boston City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata will chair a hearing to discuss implementing coastal resilience strategies for Boston’s Waterfront on Thursday, October 3, at 10 am in the Iannella Chamber, Fifth Floor of Boston City Hall. Coletta Zapata’s hearing aims to provide an oversight about the establishment of the new Office of Climate Resilience and an opportunity for City Officials to discuss funding sources for climate resilience work across the city and emergency preparedness plans and resources in the event of a climate emergency situation.
Gabriela Coletta Zapata
The hearing was co-sponsored by Councilor John FitzGerald (District 3). Since joining the Boston City Council in 2022, Coletta Zapata’s top priority has been coastal resiliency, sponsoring various hearings to discuss and explore waterfront strategies. She has been a vocal proponent for a single Boston Waterfront convener to lead and oversee the city’s waterfront coastal resilience work beyond a project-by-project approach. The City of Boston recently restructured the Environment, Energy, and Open Space (EEOS) Cabinet to create the Office of Climate Resilience, led by Chris Osgood, to accelerate Boston’s city-wide response to fortifying the coastline.
“Boston has witnessed the effects of climate change-related incidents of coastal flooding at higher frequencies in recent years. We’ve strategized various solutions and launched emergency preparedness tools to assist with drafting a coordinated response. However, the time to implement strategies to address our unique vulnerability and strengthen our coastal resilience is now as we work urgently to achieve our climate resiliency goals,” said Coletta Zapata.
“I look forward to a robust conversation with my colleagues and the Administration to follow up on previous discussions and understand the needed investments to expedite coastal resilience implementation citywide.”
“As the Boston City Councilor for District 3, I represent waterfront communities from Harbor Point to Port Norfolk. In the past few years residents have experienced more sunken roadways, flooded basements and extreme weather events as a result of our neighborhood’s coastal location. As with my work on the Morrissey Boulevard Commission, I believe that our city must take immediate and decisive action and investment in order to protect residents and critical infrastructure from the ever-worsening coastal flooding along our shorelines.” said Councilor John FitzGerald (District 3).
Members of the administration expected include:
• Brian Swett, Chief Climate Officer
• Christopher Osgood, Senior Advisor and Director of Climate Resilience
• Adrian Jordan, Chief of Emergency Preparedness
• Catherine McCandless, Senior Climate Resilience Project Manager.