Kerry was in Quincy and in Boston with the Haitian community today

Sen. John Kerry and Mayor Tom Koch strolled down Hancock Street on a brisk, sunny Saturday afternoon, as the senator took a closer look at some of the areas included in a major $1 billion redevelopment project.

Kerry, the senior Democrat on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, has been visiting local businesses across the state to hear directly from constituents.

Their walk began at City Hall at 2:30 p.m., after a brief private meeting. They included a stop at the historic Hancock Cemetery next to City Hall. The mayor showed the senator some of the headstones that date back several centuries and Kerry commented on the erosion of a colonial grave carving by what he described as “acid rain.”
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Under the proposed arrangement, New York developer Street-Works would do the infrastructure work and be paid back by the city bond, but only if the redevelopment is producing enough new tax revenue to cover the city’s annual bond payments.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Boston Mayor Tom Menino were among Bay State leaders who on Saturday met with Haitian officials about the devastated nation's future.

The reconstruction of Haiti will be a massive, expensive job. The Haitians living in Massachusetts hope to have a say in how it is done.

"A lot of people want a better life, want a better Haiti for all the Haitian people," Haitian Farm Leader Chavanne Jean-Baptiste said.

The leaders brought together Saturday at UMass-Boston is working to put together recommendations to guide the rebuilding and rebirth of Haiti.