Gov.-elect Healey and Boston Mayor Wu talk housing and transit in first meeting since election

Gov.-elect Maura Healey stuck to her campaign rhetoric Tuesday afternoon, saying that rent control is "up to communities to decide" and that persistent substance use problems at Boston's "Mass. and Cass" intersection are the "subject of ongoing discussion."

Healey made one of her first public appearances nearly a month after she was elected alongside Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, after the two met for their first one-on-one get-together since the election at Boston City Hall.

"We talked a little bit about the pressing needs for the city and statewide around housing and transportation, the opportunity and the possibilities ahead of us with climate action," Wu said of their meeting.

"It was interesting in speaking because so many of the issues that we confront at a state level are issues that the city of Boston confronts as well," Healey said. "I think our ability to talk through and work through and think through solutions on climate and resiliency, on housing, on transportation, on substance use disorder, taking care of folks, as well as on work force and the impact of COVID and what it's meant for the workforce."

When asked about her stance on rent control, which was a cornerstone of Wu's campaign for the top job in Boston, Healey's reply that it is "up to communities to decide" echoed statements she made on the campaign trail about the issue.

But there is a role for the state in any rent control debate. For a municipality to establish rent control, it would first have to pass through local government before heading to Beacon Hill as a home rule petition. The petition would need to go through the legislative process and become law.

There's another barrier in the statewide ban on rent control, narrowly passed by voters in 1994, that may prohibit a home rule petition for the policy from becoming law.

"Housing will be a priority — continue to be a priority, for the Healey-Driscoll administration," Healey said in response to the question on rent control. "We need to be thinking with a mindset that all solutions are on the table and we're going to work together in partnership, as well as with the development community, in looking to incent that and make that happen."

When asked more specifically if Healey would sign a bill that came across her desk for Boston rent control, Wu stepped in and said, "The way that I approach policy is that it's not concrete until we've put the details forward."

"Our goal is to put forward a really strong, effective policy for the city of Boston to the Boston City Council to make sure that we pass our policy here at the city level, which will then need state signoff as well," Wu said. "It's impossible to say are you for this or that without looking at the specifics of it."

In March, Wu appointed 23 people to a committee, which was tasked with meeting monthly and crafting a plan to rein in rising rents and protect tenants from displacement. Housing reform advocates, real estate developers, organized labor leaders and academic experts were among the appointees and Wu hopes to use the group's work to mount a legislative push in 2023 to deliver on one of her 2021 campaign promises.

As governor, Healey plans to establish a state secretary of housing, lead a pro-housing campaign to educate residents about housing shortages and housing creation options, and to look for ways to streamline state permitting and address utility connection delays, according to her campaign promises.

On whether the state should be doing more to help the issue of homelessness and substance use near Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard in Boston, Healey replied "it's a subject of ongoing discussion."

"What's important here is that teams are talking," Healey said. "The state team talking with a team here in the city of Boston, working with other towns and cities around the state making sure that there is a ready flow of information, and then together we'll figure out what we need to do when it comes to housing and treatment and options."

Wu and Gov. Charlie Baker had a back-and-forth this fall over the issue, when Wu said the city needed "the state to step up."

Baker said the state played a key role in development of low-threshold housing and put $40 million toward addressing homelessness and addiction issues, and told GBH that he believes Boston needs to incorporate a law-enforcement angle to its approach.

Asked about Baker's comments about state investments in the area on Tuesday, Healey replied "the state has done an awful lot."

"Think about the money that has come in over the years, some of it by way of settlements from the attorney general's office, a lot of it through the legislature as well, and a lot has been provided by cities like Boston, and so right now it's about let's take stock of where things are at right now, have those conversations and figure out what we need to do going forward," she said.

Wu said she has discussed the issue with the governor-elect and that she "couldn't be more excited for Governor Healey's leadership."

"This is an issue that I know she cares very deeply about," Wu said.