For the last twenty years I haven't paid much attention to my State
Senate race: Pat Jehlen hasn't had a close race since she won
the seat in 2005. I think she's done a lot of good work: while
allocating credit is hard, more people want to live here than did two
decades ago, with more high-paying jobs, better schools, and being a
better place to walk and bike. The biggest missing piece has been
building housing to keep up, because a larger number of people with the
same pool of houses means some people aren't able to stay. I know so
many people who've had to move away to find a place they could afford
to live, and Jehlen's skeptical
attitude towards housing construction was my biggest complaint.
She's retiring now, however, which opens the field to new candidates,
and an opportunity to get someone in office who is solidly
enthusiastic about construction as a component of housing
affordability. Looking over the candidates, Burhan Azeem is a clear
standout here. He massively
improved Cambridge zoning as city councillor with the Multifamily
Housing Ordinance, cofounded Abundant Housing
Massachusetts, and his housing page has
policies I do think would work.
To make housing cheaper you need to let people build more of it, which
means increasing density. If you do that in isolation then you're
setting yourself up for massive transportation issues, as more people
try to use the same limited amount of space to park and drive their
cars. Density has to be paired with strong public transit, and in
fact makes transit better for everyone by supporting high frequencies
and broad coverage. If you look over what he proposes I
think he's again a really solid candidate, and much better than any of
his competitors.
Finally, I think he's really good on
AI. I expect our society's handling of AI to be the largest issue
over the next few years, and while MA doesn't have the leverage of CA
here, there's still a lot that can be done. Of the other four
candidates, three haven't focused on AI, but State Rep Erika
Uyterhoeven has. Comparing their approaches, Uyterhoeven has pushed
for privacy protections and improving the procurement process, while
Azeem is pushing for oversight and testing to influence what the AI
firms build and release. If you expect AI to be like other systems
the government might buy then I think Uyterhoeven's approach makes a
lot of sense. Because I expect AI to be very different here,
substituting for human expertise and agency, and having enormous
effects across society, I'm much more supportive of Azeem's approach.
We have to change what gets built and how it's tested, not just what
MA buys.
(I also had a great conversation with him when I met him a few months
ago, talking about how we can improve air quality in our schools, and
I think everyday
clean air is very important for both general health and pandemic
prevention.)
The primary is in a week, and if you're
in Somerville, Medford, or the relevant parts of Cambridge (Ward 7
Precinct 1, Ward 8 Precinct 1, Ward 10, Ward 11) or Winchester
(Precincts 4, 5, 6, 7) I encourage you to vote for Burhan Azeem.
For the last twenty years I haven't paid much attention to my State Senate race: Pat Jehlen hasn't had a close race since she won the seat in 2005. I think she's done a lot of good work: while allocating credit is hard, more people want to live here than did two decades ago, with more high-paying jobs, better schools, and being a better place to walk and bike. The biggest missing piece has been building housing to keep up, because a larger number of people with the same pool of houses means some people aren't able to stay. I know so many people who've had to move away to find a place they could afford to live, and Jehlen's skeptical attitude towards housing construction was my biggest complaint.
She's retiring now, however, which opens the field to new candidates, and an opportunity to get someone in office who is solidly enthusiastic about construction as a component of housing affordability. Looking over the candidates, Burhan Azeem is a clear standout here. He massively improved Cambridge zoning as city councillor with the Multifamily Housing Ordinance, cofounded Abundant Housing Massachusetts, and his housing page has policies I do think would work.
To make housing cheaper you need to let people build more of it, which means increasing density. If you do that in isolation then you're setting yourself up for massive transportation issues, as more people try to use the same limited amount of space to park and drive their cars. Density has to be paired with strong public transit, and in fact makes transit better for everyone by supporting high frequencies and broad coverage. If you look over what he proposes I think he's again a really solid candidate, and much better than any of his competitors.
Finally, I think he's really good on AI. I expect our society's handling of AI to be the largest issue over the next few years, and while MA doesn't have the leverage of CA here, there's still a lot that can be done. Of the other four candidates, three haven't focused on AI, but State Rep Erika Uyterhoeven has. Comparing their approaches, Uyterhoeven has pushed for privacy protections and improving the procurement process, while Azeem is pushing for oversight and testing to influence what the AI firms build and release. If you expect AI to be like other systems the government might buy then I think Uyterhoeven's approach makes a lot of sense. Because I expect AI to be very different here, substituting for human expertise and agency, and having enormous effects across society, I'm much more supportive of Azeem's approach. We have to change what gets built and how it's tested, not just what MA buys.
(I also had a great conversation with him when I met him a few months ago, talking about how we can improve air quality in our schools, and I think everyday clean air is very important for both general health and pandemic prevention.)
The primary is in a week, and if you're in Somerville, Medford, or the relevant parts of Cambridge (Ward 7 Precinct 1, Ward 8 Precinct 1, Ward 10, Ward 11) or Winchester (Precincts 4, 5, 6, 7) I encourage you to vote for Burhan Azeem.
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