Fair housing trailblazer to speak at Democratic city caucus

Gloucester Daily Times, Mass.
·2 min read

Jun. 9—The Gloucester Democratic City Committee (GCCC) will caucus next Thursday to elect convention delegates.

Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards will be guest speaker at the June 17 event at the Gloucester Fraternity Club, 27 Webster St.

The voting to elect 16 delegates and 16 alternates to the 2021 Massachusetts Democratic State Platform Convention will be by wards, each of which has an allocated number of delegates. This year's state convention will be held on Sept. 25 at the Tsongas Center on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Registration for the caucus will open at 5:30 p.m. and anyone interested must be checked in by 6 p.m. Participants must be registered Democrats.

Named Bostonian of the Year in 2015 by the Boston Globe, Edwards will speak from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m., following the caucus and a Gloucester Democratic City Committee business meeting at 7 p.m. The public is invited to the speaker portion of the evening.

Edwards, a lawyer, has led efforts to protect Boston's affordable housing stock, and will speak on the HOMES Act and Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH) zoning report.

Though soft spoken, her voice on behalf of society's most vulnerable comes across loud and clear, the committee said in announcing the caucus. The 39-year-old has represented Massachusetts' 1st District since 2017, and has continued her chosen mission as an advocate and activist.

At Greater Boston Legal Services, where she began her career, her focus on labor issues included fighting for access to unemployment insurance, back wages, fair treatment for domestic workers, and combating human trafficking and advocating for the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. As deputy director in the Boston Mayor's Office of Housing Stability, she was responsible for delivering solutions to fight displacement and brought together all stakeholders: landlords, management companies, housing authorities, and tenants.

City committee Chair Matthew Murray may be contacted with any caucus questions at chair@gloucesterdemocrats.org or 978-239-2205. More information about the committee may be found at gloucesterdemocrats.org.