By Michael Coughlin Jr.
During the Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association’s (JPNA) monthly meeting last week, City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata joined, highlighting her work in 2024 and her priorities for the future.
To begin, Coletta Zapata spoke about constituent services and how she and her office helped solve hundreds of cases related to parking enforcement, pest control, and other issues across the districts she serves.
“This is one of my favorite parts of my job, and I love this job so much, but one of my favorite parts is helping people navigate city government,” said Coletta Zapata.
She also acknowledged that there is room for improvement in delivering constituent services due to vacancies, outdated internal systems, and a backlog of issues.
“We’re working with the administration to resolve some of these things, and there have been improvements. We have seen a lot of structural improvements and initiatives that have resulted in just quicker turnover time,” said Coletta Zapata.
Coletta Zapata continued by discussing her work in the community through events such as listening tours, neighborhood cleanups, and more. She also outlined some of the wins in East Boston over the last year.
For example, major pothole repairs, ramp upgrades, and repaving projects have been conducted, as well as the installation of stop signs and signals.
She also highlighted work related to mattress recycling, saying, “We partnered with our Department of Innovation and Technology to make appointment scheduling easier with new software.”
Also, the Office of Climate Resilience was established, which Coletta Zapata said was the result of two years of advocacy for a “centralized coordination hub within the city to lead efforts to fortify our coastline, to meet the sea and to protect thousands of residents that live in JPNA and all of East Boston.”
Moreover, work has been done to increase food access through a food hub with cold storage in Roxbury that services pantries throughout the city and to address public safety shortages through legislation that raised the maximum age for Boston Police Department candidates.
Coletta Zapata also discussed FY2025 budget wins, including expanding city housing vouchers, among other items, and shared her values regarding the FY2026 budget.
In speaking about the upcoming budget and those values, she said, “It’s basically the first line of defense to ensure that we are investing in things that we care about—we are investing in our values, and our budget should ultimately serve you.”
“So, this means more investments into the Immigrant Advancement Office, more investments into the LGBTQ Office, food access or food justice, and ways to improve basic city services.”
It should be noted that Coletta Zapata is holding a Budget Town Hall in East Boston on Thursday, March 20th, at 6:00 p.m. at the East Boston Public Library at 365 Bremen Street.
Coletta Zapata also mentioned her work in leadership roles as Chair for the City Council’s Government Operations Committee, where she is the lead negotiator, and Chair of the City Council’s Environmental Justice, Resiliency, and Parks Committee, where she oversees issues related to coastal resilience, green energy, and more.
She also discussed some of the policies she is excited about, including the Good Landlord Tax Abatement, which provides relief to landlords who rent below market rate. This was passed in the City Council and by Mayor Michelle Wu. Now, Wu must present eligibility criteria for review.
Legislation that seeks to reform the Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) was also highlighted. “This piece of legislation that I filed last week expands the ZBA to have more community representation, an environmentalist, a civil rights expert, and ensure that we have both a renter and homeowner on the board,” said Coletta Zapata.
“Now, a step further is that the ZBA will have to come before the council and justify variances based on hardship standards written in state law and our zoning code,” she added. A hearing on this legislation is slated to be upcoming.
Following the presentation, attendees were allowed to comment and ask questions. One attendee had wondered what tools were available to bring another supermarket to the neighborhood.
Coletta Zapata mentioned 9 Chelsea Street in response, describing it as an “anchor space” and important to the area.
She mentioned that office space was initially proposed at the site and that she heard that someone was attempting to solicit large grocery stores to come to Maverick Square.
“I myself even reached out to Trader Joe’s to understand what their target market is and try to pitch East Boston,” said Coletta Zapata.
Ultimately, she thought the 9 Chelsea Street location would be perfect for a grocery store but emphasized that it comes down to the property owner.
JPNA’s Co-Chair Margaret Farmer commented on 9 Chelsea Street, saying it’s an eyesore and “drag on the economy” of Maverick Square and wondered if city hall can do anything so something gets built on the site or it gets sold.
Coletta Zapata indicated that an opposition letter could be written when the proponents go before the ZBA for an extension of zoning approvals. However, she said she “was heartened to hear that they were trying to move forward with selling the property and trying to find a buyer.”
Following the discussion about the potential for another grocery store in the neighborhood, the meeting wound down and eventually came to an end.
For more information on Coletta Zapata’s work, view her Annual Report in English at bit.ly/GCZ_Report and Spanish at bit.ly/GCZ_Reporte.
Moreover, Coletta Zapata released a report on local climate action that can be viewed at https://bit.ly/EJ_GCZReport.