The HRC returns from summer recess with an opportunity for members and friends to share thoughts, concerns and ideas as we strive to return to a new ‘normal,’ personally and professionally. Feel free to briefly “show and tell” your recent and current projects that are relevant to historic/cultural resources. But FIRST, we’re honored to kick off the meeting with remarks by Kenzie Bok, Boston’s District 8 City Councilor. Representing Mission Hill, Longwood, Audubon Circle, Fenway, Kenmore, Back Bay, Beacon Hill and the West End, Bok is pushing forward several preservation projects and initiatives, and she has a sense of the local development scene as it evolves and readies for post-pandemic life.

As a citizen, Kenzie Bok helped lead the successful 2016 ballot initiative campaign to enact the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in Boston (and she currently serves as CPC Vice Chair). Prior to her election to City Council, she was also the Senior Advisor for Policy and Planning at the Boston Housing Authority, and she continues to serve on the board of the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) and on the vestry of Trinity Church in Copley Square. Councilor Bok lives on Beacon Hill, where her family has been deeply involved in neighborhood life for more than 65 years.

Kenzie Bok is currently the youngest serving City Councilor. Her priorities include increasing housing affordability (both rental and homeownership) for families and seniors at every income level, improving our transportation system and public infrastructure, ensuring excellent schools and great career opportunities for our youth, and making Boston a model for how to tackle climate change. She has been a voice for community planning of responsible development, and strong stewardship of public land and public assets like parks and libraries.