Lawmaker wants grocer to hire residents

State Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz suggested that Whole Foods should not open a store in Jamaica Plain if it does not agree to establish a fund to keep nearby property affordable and commit to hiring residents for a “specific percentage’’ of jobs. “If making commitments of this size is beyond Whole Foods’ reach, the simplest way to protect the neighborhood would be for Whole Foods to break their lease on the Hyde Square space, or sublet it to another grocer specializing in Latino foods,’’ Chang-Díaz wrote to the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council. No date for an opening at 415 Centre St. has been set.