‘they are not forgotten’
Rollins calls for some tents to come down at Mass & Cass; situation ‘untenable’
Some tents on the city’s “Methadone Mile” must come down as the squalor becomes “untenable,” Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said.
The tents and temporary shelters have been erected by those experiencing homelessness and drug addiction who have turned the Mass & Cass area, and its nearby treatment centers, into a squatters’ encampment.
“We are going to have to remove some of the tents in the area — it has just become untenable,” Rollins said during an interview on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio.”
The DA did not rule out Suffolk Sheriff Steven Tompkins’ idea of offering up temporary housing to the tent dwellers at a vacant building at the South Bay Correctional Center.
“We want every option on the table to help these people — because they are people,” Rollins said. “They are loved; they are not forgotten. We have to remember that, and we can’t treat them like a number or a problem, or quite frankly as ‘trash,’ which is what I think has happened in the past.”
The crisis at Mass & Cass has also become a major issue in the ongoing mayor’s race.
Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi-George, both city councilors-at large turned mayoral candidates, have both articulated plans to address the growing crisis at the intersection.
Rollins hinted she would eventually endorse in the race — which will be decided in the Nov. 2 citywide election — but said she’s not ready to decide yet.
Calling Wu “aspirational” and “thoughtful,” Rollins said when it comes to Essaibi-George, she’s “impressed with her work ethic. I think she is grounded in the sense that she knows it takes real work.”
Rollins intends to reach out to both candidates to learn more, especially about how they will involve the Black and Latino communities in their administration and how they plan to build out a “truly diverse” cabinet.
Rollins, who is up for confirmation as the next U.S. attorney to Massachusetts, said it has been “surreal” to watch Republicans like Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas attack her progressive approach to criminal justice.
Bucking the typical trend for federal nominees to stay quiet during the confirmation process, Rollins said told the GBH hosts, “I refuse to be silent to benefit me.”
During the Senate committee hearing where Rollins’ nomination received an 11-11 vote, Cotton called it “unusual” for a president to nominate a candidate “who consistently sides with criminals” — referring to Rollins’ criminal justice reform strategy.
“Our responsibility as a United States senator is to ensure that we do not confirm pro-criminal activists into the office of United
States attorney,” Cotton said at the time.
Democratic leaders will have to hold an additional vote in the evenly divided
Senate, where she’ll need support from 50 senators. Assuming that Republicans again unanimously vote against her nomination,
Rollins would need support from every single Democratic senator.
“It’s a tie,” Rollins said Monday. “It’s not a loss.”