Dear friends,

I hope you are well.  This is my first email to my list in five months.  I'm retired and no longer a Somerville City Councilor, but I will always be a political activist! 

The City of Somerville is in good hands with our new Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and five terrific new (and younger!) City Councilors in addition to the six who were re-elected.  I will be writing to you on occasion about City issues.  I continue to be an active member of the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets (SASS) Steering Committee.

But the focus of my work (as a volunteer) in 2022 is on helping Democrats win the mid-term elections in key swing (purple) states to retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.  And to lay the groundwork for a Democrat Presidential win in 2024.  The damage that the Republican Party will do to our nation and the world should it regain control of our national government is almost impossible to imagine.  At stake is everything progressives and moderates value, including American democracy and human civilization as we know it (due to Republicans' denial of global warming and climate change).

Below is an invitation to a virtual House Party fundraiser for Movement Voter Project on Wednesday April 27 from 7:30-8:30 PM EST.   I am organizing this along with 33 other co-hosts, most of them from Somerville. I hope you will attend.  I believe it will be an inspiring and hopeful event.  If you are moved and impressed by what MVP is doing to save our democracy, please consider a contribution.

Thank you,

Mark

Dear friend,

It’s time to save our democracy, AGAIN!  Democracy won in 2020, but by razor-thin margins and despite the attempted coup culminating in the Jan 6th insurrection at the Capitol. The best way to fight back against the multifaceted attacks on democracy coming from the Republican Party is through community-based organizations that have the ability to build grassroots action where it matters – in key swing states -- to engage voters for the 2022 and 2024 elections.   We don’t need to tell you how critical it is for the future of our country -- and indeed human civilization -- to keep right-wing forces and the Republican Party from regaining control of our national government.

Please join me and 33 co-hosts (see list below) for a one-hour virtual House Party fundraiser on Wednesday, April 27 from 7:30 – 8:30 PM EST to learn about Movement Voter Project (MVP).  We'll have a short slide presentation including videos that feature voices in the field; time for Q&A; and an appeal for your generous support of MVP's work.

Click here to register.  You do not need to donate to attend.

Two years ago in May 2020, more than a dozen of us hosted a virtual House Party for MVP that was attended by over 100 people and raised more than $32,000.  If you were there, thank you!  Please come again for an update on how MVP helped win the 2020 election for Democrats and what MVP is doing now.  If you are new to MVP, please come and learn!

We believe that MVP provides the most powerful way for people like us in blue states to help Democrats defy the odds and hold their U.S. House and Senate majorities this November and to lay the groundwork to win the Presidency again in 2024. 

MVP identifies, funds, and supports the most effective and influential local, community-based groups -- primarily led by women, people of color and youth -- to engage, organize, educate and turn out voters, particularly in key swing states. 

We promise you will leave the House Party more hopeful about our nation’s future.  The organizers MVP funds are incredibly inspiring.  You'll see some of these dynamic young leaders in the video portion of the House Party on April 27th.  And unlike traditional political campaigns -- which shut down and disappear after Election Day -- these organizations and their staffs will continue to organize in their communities  in 2023, 2024, and beyond.

In the 2020 election cycle, MVP moved more than $110 million to such organizations and made a crucial difference in key states, arguably providing the narrow margins of victory in Arizona, Wisconsin, and Georgia. And it raised and distributed $10 million more to groups in Georgia that helped secure the victories of Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the Senate run-off elections on January 5, 2021.  

Hosts: Howard Axner, Marya Axner, Sybil Axner, Jane Becker, Nancy Bernhard, Fred Berman, Jim Campen, Ben Echevarria, Ben Ewen-Campen, Chris Dwan, Alex Feldman, Dennis Fischman, Rona Fischman, Stephanie Galaitsi, Janet Gottler, Maja Kietzke, Ulysses Lateiner, Christopher Lay, David Margolin, Judy Pineda Neufeld, Annie Niedergang, Eve Niedergang, Mark Niedergang, Paul Niedergang, Surjeet Paintal, Dore Penn, Alex Pirie, Anthony Sanchez, Lori Segall, Bill Shelton, Jim Silva, Thalia Tringo, Jim Vetter, Andrew Weiss

We hope that you will be able to join us on Wednesday, April 27th, at 7:30 pm.  Click here to register  

If you can’t make it, please consider a contribution to MVP.  Donations made through this link will go to the Movement Voter PAC and are not tax-deductible.  For a broader set of donation options, including tax-deductible contributions from your IRA or donor advised fund, please click here.

Please forward this invitation to others who you think might be interested in joining us. 

To learn more about MVP:

• Visit the MVP website: https://www.movement.vote/
• Watch one or both of these two-minute videos: We Made History in 2020! and Defy the Odds 2022
• Check out this 8-page illustrated report on MVP's Progressive Decade Strategy

Mark Niedergang
http://www.markniedergang.com/

I’m writing to share with you the candidates I am supporting in the Somerville City  Election on Tuesday, November 2.

In this issue:

• Where, when and how you can vote
• We are fortunate to have tough decisions to make between many good candidates in this election!!
• Katjana Ballantyne for Mayor
• Jake Wilson, Kristen Strezo, Willie Burnley Jr., Charlotte Kelly for Councilor At Large
• Beatriz Gomez Mouakad or Tessa Bridge for Ward 5 City Councilor; they’re both terrific, I won’t pick one over the other
• Judy Pineda Neufeld for Ward 7 City Councilor
• JT Scott for Ward 2 City Councilor

 * * * * * * * * * *

Where, when and how you can vote

Many Somerville polling locations have changed in the past couple of years, so if you are voting in person, make sure you know where to go.  Of particular interest to folks in Ward 5 – Ward 5 Precinct 2 now votes at the Kennedy School (NOT the Brown School), and Ward 5 Precinct 3 now also votes at the Kennedy School (NOT the Engine 7 Fire Station).  

There will be early in-person voting at City Hall every day for a week starting Saturday, October 23.  See the link below for early voting hours which vary from day to day.

You can also vote by mail, and those ballots are available now -- but be aware of the deadlines for both application and receipt of your ballot. 

If you are not registered to vote in Somerville, the deadline to register to vote in the November 2 City Election is Wednesday, October 13.  

For more info on where to vote, early voting and how to vote by mail go to: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/elections

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We are fortunate to have tough decisions to make between many good candidates in this election!!

I urge you to do your own research on the candidates and decide for yourself.  You can find lots of information on their websites and Facebook pages.  There have also been numerous forums and questionnaires organized by the Somerville Media Center, Somerville Democratic City Committee, Somerville Chamber of Commerce, Community Action Agency of Somerville, Somerville Property Owners Coalition and Our Revolution Somerville. Almost all of these are viewable or readable on line, just google the organization to find their website.  There will surely be more forums and debates between now and Election Day.

I have found three organizations’ questionnaires to be particularly helpful in evaluating the candidates:

• Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition Candidate questionnaire focuses on safe streets, transportation and parking as well as on climate change and affordable housing: https://www.visionzerocoalition.org/2021_elections
• Somerville YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard). Their short questionnaire focuses on increasing housing, “moving the city away from auto-centric development and excessive parking,” and enhancing tenant protections: https://somervilleyimby.org/2021/election/
• Our Revolution Somerville (ORS) candidate questionnaire is long and extremely detailed, covering many issues. https://sites.google.com/view/orsomerville/endorsements-and-elections/2021-municipal-endorsements?link_id=2&can_id=62f39973206878c021adf05675a6ee92&source=email-coming-soon-ors-municipal-candidate-forums-2&email_referrer=email_1240338&email_subject=tomorrow-july-23-ors-mayoral-candidate-forum

Ultimately we each have our own set of criteria by which we evaluate the candidates as well as our personal impressions of the candidates.  I try to base my vote on which candidate will do the best job, regardless of how I feel about them personally.  For me, the factors I take into account in evaluating a candidate are, roughly in this priority order:

• Do I agree with their values and their policy positions?
• Do they have the toughness and perseverance to implement progressive policies and programs, even when there is fierce public opposition and opponents of those policies are attacking and denouncing them?
• Do they have an open mind and are they willing to re-evaluate their positions as they learn more about an issue? Will they make thoughtful decisions on what to support, what to oppose, and what to prioritize?
• Do they have the ability to learn and to learn quickly; can they absorb a lot of new information, sort through and analyze that information, and ask good questions about what they don’t understand in order to uncover weaknesses in arguments?
• For Mayor: Do they have the experience in government and with leadership and management of large organizations that will enable them to lead and manage the City of Somerville, a large and complex organization, and to deliver public services effectively? The City of Somerville is a large enterprise, with 1,000 employees and contractors and expenditures of many hundreds of millions of dollars a year. 
• For Mayor: Do they have the knowledge and experience to thrive in the cultural and political environments of Somerville, the region and the state and federal governments? Many of Somerville’s challenges are regional, and since the City of Somerville often needs support from the state government to get things done, a Mayor needs to work effectively outside of Somerville to achieve our goals.

* * * * * * * * * *

Katjana Ballantyne for Mayor

I am supporting Katjana Ballantyne for Mayor due to her extensive management and leadership experience, record of accomplishments as the Ward 7 City Councilor for the past eight years, and progressive policy positions.   I see Katjana as more likely to do a good job as Mayor than Will Mbah, whose candidacy I believe also has merit.

Because of her experience in City government, Katjana would be able to get important stuff done that will make a difference in people’s lives. In her eight years as a City Councilor, she has worked effectively with other leaders in and out of Somerville.

Katjana was the President of the City Council for two years and she did an excellent job. During those two years, she served on the School Committee as the Council representative. The Mayor plays a key role in determining the school budget and is involved in many school issues, and the Somerville Public Schools (SPS) is by far the largest City department, so this is valuable experience. Katjana has also been involved in her daughters’ educations in the SPS as an active parent.

Katjana is able to think strategically in terms of the big picture implications of policy and budget decisions, without losing sight of the important, and too-often overlooked, details that can determine the success of an initiative.  As a City Councilor, her approach to legislating has been all about transparency and inclusion; before she makes final decisions, she makes sure she understands the ins-and-outs of a proposed ordinance, wherever possible ensuring that her understanding is informed by real data.  She then takes the time to reach out to constituents on all sides of the issue, making sure they receive a clear explanation of the proposed legislation, and have a chance to express their opinions, and have their questions answered and concerns acknowledged.  Because she believes in the power of building consensus, Katjana puts the time and energy into exploring options for reasonably addressing significant concerns without compromising the intent and integrity of the initiatives she supports.

Katjana has been the foremost leader on environmental and climate change issues on the City Council, sponsoring key ordinances and zoning amendments.  For example, she championed a zoning amendment to require LEED Platinum building requirements for large commercial development; she worked for three years with Green and Open Somerville and the Curtatone Administration hammering out a Native Planting Ordinance; she authored a resolution that lays out a detailed roadmap for a Somerville Green New Deal, see: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?ID=21627&highlightTerms=green%20new%20deal

On affordable housing, Katjana led and managed the process to redevelop the decrepit Clarendon Hill (North Street) Public Housing Development. This will result not only in replacement of those 200 public housing units but the construction of an additional 100 workforce housing units and 300 market rate units. As part of this project, she helped secure state funds for roadway improvements that will enhance safety and traffic flow on Powderhouse Boulevard, get rid of the crazy rotary where it meets Alewife Brook Parkway, and narrow that dangerous road at that intersection.

Another strength that Katjana would bring as Mayor is her broad range of professional experience.  She worked in a large international business and in many small non-profit organizations. Those small non-profit organizations dealt with many issues that are relevant to Somerville – affordable housing, job training, climate change and environmental justice, violence prevention, and youth-at-risk.  She was the Executive Director of a small non-profit.  Small non-profits have to deal with major organizational challenges as well as specific issues – and without the large budget or staff  that a city government has.  This teaches a leader to be resourceful, to do more with less, to prioritize, and to get the most important things done. 

Katjana’s family does not have a car.  This is remarkable for a family of five, one of whom is her 90-year-old father.  It demonstrates her personal commitment to creating safer streets and to finding ways to reduce our dependence on automobiles without compromising mobility and accessibility.   She submitted excellent responses to the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition questionnaire (see link above).

While Katjana’s policy positions in her campaign have not been as strong and bold as I know her to be from her record and my discussions with her about the issues, I am satisfied that she is committed to most of the policies that are my priorities for what is needed in Somerville. 

* * *

I have great respect, appreciation, admiration, and affection for Will Mbah.   Will has become a highly-regarded leader in our community as a City Councilor.  People like him whether they agree with his political views or not.  Will is able to inspire others to work with and support him. As an immigrant and Black man who arrived in the U.S. 10 years ago and has lived in Somerville for less time than that, he has had to overcome many challenges.   He’s had a wide range of jobs, and he can represent and connect with many in our City who are immigrants, or have low-wage jobs, or have been forced to move time and time again. 

Will has been outspoken on a number of issues that I hope will become City policy.  For example, he supports increasing the affordable housing requirement on large projects to 25% from the current 20%.  He has voted for larger cuts in the police department budget than most Councilors and been a leader on the Council in advocating for reimagining policing.  He supports preventing drug overdose deaths through opening safe consumption/injection sites.  And he prioritizes our City government reaching out aggressively to the most marginalized and underrepresented among us. 

But Will is also saying that he will do things that our City government simply does not have the power to do, such as implement rent control, make public transportation free, and “improve tax and utility cost rebates and exemptions for seniors and lower-income homeowners.”  (The power to do these things lies with the State Legislature and the Governor.)

Values and policy positions, in my view, while important, are not the only thing to consider.  Management and leadership experience, being able to get legislation passed, being able to effectively manage the City government and deliver public services are a close second for me. The challenges of leading and managing the City of Somerville now are immense.  There is so much change and development occurring, and so many difficult problems that our City government needs to deal with.  I am supporting Katjana Ballantyne for Mayor because I believe she will be best able to manage the City government and move forward with implementing progressive change that makes residents’ lives better.

* * * * * * * * * *

Jake Wilson, Kristen Strezo, Willie Burnley Jr., Charlotte Kelly for Councilor At Large

I had the opportunity and pleasure to sit down for an hour or longer to talk face-to-face with each of the eight At Large candidates.  We each can vote for as many as four candidates for Councilor At Large.  If there are one or two you really want to win, and no others you are wild about, you may want to “bullet” your vote, i.e., vote just for those one or two so that you don’t give their opponents an additional vote.  Here are the four that I will be voting for.

Jake Wilson for City Councilor At Large

Jake Wilson is my #1 choice for Councilor At Large, the candidate I most want to see elected.  Jake is a strong progressive, knowledgeable and analytical, but is not ideologically driven.  He looks deeply into the issues and the facts. He asks a lot of questions.  He knows how to work effectively with people of different backgrounds and views.  I think he would be a positive force on the City Council.

A particular focus for Jake is families with children.  He has worked selflessly for many years in two organizations that make a big difference in the lives of many children and families: Somerville Youth Soccer League (SYSL) and Friends of the Healey School.  SYSL involves over 1,000 kids and in recent years has done successful outreach to include immigrant and low-income children.  Youth sports are important in the social lives and health of children -- and often their parents as well.  The Healey School has many students from the Mystic Public Housing Development and its student body is one of the lowest-income and highest immigrant percentage in the City.  Jake has devoted enormous amounts of time to both of these organizations and made a huge difference in their work.

Jake has thoughtful progressive views and is a strong environmentalist.  I am particularly enthusiastic about Jake’s commitment to the most important life-and-death issues in Somerville: safe injection sites and safe streets.  Take a look at his excellent responses to the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition questionnaire (see link above).  Jake has said that if elected, he wants to serve on the Council’s Traffic and Parking Committee.  To me, pedestrian safety, along with drug overdoses from opioids, are by far the most important public safety issues in Somerville.  We’ve had five pedestrians killed by motor vehicles in the past three years.  In 2020, 14 Somerville residents died of drug overdoses.   

Traffic and parking issues are also critical for reducing the City’s carbon footprint and making better use of the huge amount of our precious public space (Somerville is only 4.1 square miles) that is currently devoted to storing and moving motor vehicles.  We will need champions like Jake on the City Council to make the controversial decisions necessary to continue to make our streets safer, reduce the demand for parking, decrease motor vehicle travel and support other, healthier and more environmentally-friendly, forms of mobility.

* * *

Kristen Strezo for City Councilor At Large

I'll be voting to re-elect Kristen Strezo because she understands that the most important role of government is to help those in our society who need help the most.  She focuses her work, her caring and her attention on those marginalized, underrepresented, and often needy constituencies.  Kristen herself lives in affordable housing and is a single mother of two children.  So she understands and can personally relate to the struggles that many people in Somerville experience. She speaks up for them.

In her first term, Kristen has been a champion for affordable housing, for women, for childcare, for people with disabilities, and for families with children.  She's focused on issues of life and death in Somerville: environmental justice and safe streets, and she supports safe injection (overdose prevention) sites.  While we have disagreed on some issues, such as police department staffing and funding, she pushes aggressively and passionately for what she and the constituents she represents believe in.

Kristen is a hard worker and she is out there in the community, meeting people where they are at and listening to their struggles, concerns and issues. Next year, there will be at least five new City Councilors (out of a total of 11).  As an incumbent, Kristen knows how things work in the City, knows the players, and knows how to do the job.

* * *

Willie Burnley Jr. for City Councilor At Large

I’ll be voting for Willie Burnley Jr. because he will push the edge of the policy envelope on the City Council.  I think it is important to have a few Councilors who are pushing hard for changes that may not seem politically possible and that many people are uncomfortable with.  Willie is an organizer who understands power, how to get things done and how to win.  He’s been involved in organizing in Somerville on affordable housing and police issues, and he’s worked as a staffer on both Senator Ed Markey’s and Elizabeth Warren’s campaigns.

(Full disclosure: Willie is friend and a former housemate of my daughter and lived for a year in a property that my family owns; he was my tenant and I was his landlord.)  I have known Willie for three years and I’ve had many discussions with him about political issues and politics in Somerville, most of them before he was a candidate.  I know he is thoughtful, intelligent, knowledgeable and well-read. 

Positive political and social change is easy to talk about but rarely easy to implement because it often arouses intense opposition.  Willie is part of a movement – Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Our Revolution Somerville (ORS).  These organizations have many members in Somerville who care deeply and will work hard to support progressive change.  Willie will be a leader on affordable housing and tenant protections, requiring developers to sign community benefits agreements, safe streets, environmental justice, addressing climate change and other key issues.  And he will have an organized movement to back him up.

While I disagree strongly with Willie’s position to defund and eventually abolish the police, this is only one issue.  And I know that he will be advocating for changes in the Somerville Police Department that I believe are desperately needed.  Given the failure of the City Council this year to make significant cuts in the Somerville Police Department (SPD) budget and reallocate those funds for greater positive community impact, there will need to be significant political pressure to effect change in the SPD.  It won’t be easy to reimagine policing, assert civilian control over the police department, and use funds that currently go to SPD to establish a non-armed emergency response agency (made up of social workers, mental health counselors, drug counselors, youth workers, homelessness advocates, etc.).  Willie will represent and mobilize residents who want to change and improve policing in Somerville and who will advocate for a host of other progressive changes as well.  

* * *

Charlotte Kelly for City Councilor At Large

I am supporting Charlotte Kelly for many of the same reasons that I am supporting Willey Burnley Jr.  While I don’t know Charlotte as well as I do Willie, they are closely aligned politically and have a similar focus on helping the most marginalized and underrepresented residents by enacting progressive legislation and programs to address major problems in our community.  Many of the things that I have said above in support of Willie’s positions on the issues are also true about Charlotte.

Two things in particular about Charlotte as a candidate stand out for me and bode well for her service on the City Council should she win election. 

The first is that she has a lot of experience as a political organizer, at a variety of levels.  She was Executive Director of the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, the organization that brought thousands of people together and successfully advocated for a $1.5 billion increase in state public school funding.  These funds will make the biggest difference in school districts that serve the poorest and most disadvantaged children.  And she was Field Director for State Senator Pat Jehlen’s re-election campaign in 2016. 

Second, Charlotte and her family have a long history in Somerville. Charlotte grew up in neighboring Medford and graduated from Medford High School.  Charlotte’s mother grew up in West Somerville and her grandmother still lives there. So Charlotte has a lifelong history and understanding of our City, the different cultures here, and the challenges we face.  Ten years ago, one could say this about most candidates for public office in Somerville.   Now, many candidates haven’t even lived here for 10 years.  While I would never vote for a candidate just because they are a “lifelong Somerville resident,” I do think it is valuable to have elected officials with extensive lived experience and relationships in Somerville.

* * * * * * * * * *

BEATRIZ GOMEZ MOUAKAD;                 TESSA BRIDGE

Beatriz Gomez Mouakad or Tessa Bridge for Ward 5 City Councilor; they’re both terrific, I won’t pick one over the other

These two women are both so terrific I simply cannot chose one over the other.  Both would be excellent City Councilors. They have different focuses but both have impressive strengths.   

I’ll start with Beatriz Gomez Mouakad, since I have known her longer.  (Full disclosure: Beatriz was a member of my “Kitchen Cabinet,” for three years.  This is a group of about two-dozen, mostly Ward 5 residents that I convene a few times a year for frank discussions and to give me advice on politics and policy.) 

Beatriz is a longtime Ward 5 resident who has been deeply involved in community life for 15 years.  She’s served on several City and non-profit boards.  She has a down-to-earth, on-the-ground understanding of and engagement in key issues in Ward 5 such as safe streets and traffic calming, open space and trees, and the small local businesses in Ball and Magoun Squares. For many years, she has been communicating with me about various City and Somerville Public School issues.  We have had many long discussions about these issues.  While I haven’t always agreed with her, I have always found what she has shared with me to be valuable.

Beatriz would bring a special perspective to the City Council in two key ways: she has experience in government and other large organizations as well as expertise about construction and buildings.  She is an architect and works as a project manager on large construction projects.  She worked for MassPort, for Just-a-Start (an affordable housing developer) and currently she’s overseeing a major construction project for a hospital.  Some of the biggest issues and problems in our city right now concern City-owned and School buildings.  There is also a lot of infrastructure construction in and under our streets, as well as much private real estate development that is regulated and overseen by City staff.  Beatriz would bring expertise on construction and building issues that would be an asset.

Beatriz is from Puerto Rico and is a native Spanish speaker, with strong ties to the Latino community in Somerville.  This community is among those most in need of help from the City government. Beatriz would offer both representation and an ear for Latinos in Somerville.  She would also provide deep insight into the challenges faced by Latinos from different countries, cultures and backgrounds.

You might say, “Given how highly you regard Beatriz, how can you not support her?”  My answer is that Tessa Bridge is also a terrific candidate, someone who I believe would be tremendously effective as a City Councilor and political leader in the City.

Tessa would bring to the Council a focus, understanding, and commitment to key policies that would make a difference for large number of residents of Somerville. She is focused on what I consider to be the most important issues in the City.  She has articulated clearly what those issues are and what she would do to address them.  She understands power and how to develop the leverage needed to create political change.  She is an experienced organizer and facilitator and would be able to work with other Councilors and community organizations to develop the political pressure that is needed to build support for new solutions to old problems.

Tessa’s work is in training and coaching.  She is a co-founder of Canopy Equity Coaching, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting company that supports organizations to become anti-racist.  This is an important area of work that the City Council and the City government have only just started to take on.  She would be an asset in this work. 

I have observed Tessa in action as an effective organizer and leader in two important campaigns in Somerville.  She was one of the leaders of Our Revolution Somerville (ORS) at its inception, and one of the key leaders in that organization’s success in the 2017 City elections, when three of their endorsed candidates, JT Scott, Ben Ewen-Campen and Will Mbah, defeated incumbents.  Elections have consequences.  The 2017 election changed the City Council for the better, leading to a host of progressive policies and programs in the following years that would likely not have passed without those ORS-supported candidates in office.  Tessa was also a key community organizer in support of the Somerville Public Schools paraprofessionals’ successful campaign to get a big salary increase to $25,000 a year.

Tessa has articulated a clear and focused set of policy priorities for Somerville.  While I do not consider myself a socialist, I agree with all of Tessa’s major policy priorities, except her support for a 10% cut in the police budget each of the next two years. (I have been, over the past three years, along with J.T. Scott, the strongest advocate on the Council for significant cuts in the Somerville Police Department budget to fund other, more urgent public safety and community needs.  But I did not base proposed cuts on a percentage figure, but rather on unneeded positions.)  Bottom line: even if I disagree strongly with a particular candidate’s position on some issues, I may still support them. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Judy Pineda Neufeld for Ward 7 City Councilor

I have known Judy for over 15 years, and have always admired and respected her work and her commitment to social justice and political change.  This has been her life’s work.  I am supporting Judy because of her experience living in Somerville; her leadership in strengthening immigrant services within the Somerville City government; because of her longstanding commitment and work in support of progressive values and politics – including her tenure as the Executive Director of Emerge, an organization committed to encouraging and mentoring women interested in running for public office; because of her commitment and demonstrated success working to help those who most need government's help; and because of her deep understanding and nuanced views on the major issues that face the City.

Judy  works as a strategic planner and has spent her career developing comprehensive plans for city departments and large national non-profits. Most recently she has been leading the city of Somerville through the Covid-19 crisis as the head of the Immigrant Services Unit.  Judy is a Mexican-American and Jewish woman, and the daughter of immigrants. She brings a keen understanding of cultural competency that helps her value diverse perspectives and find commonalities where others cannot.  

With at least five new City Councilors coming into office in 2022, it is especially important at this time to add Councilors to the mix who have experience in Somerville government and politics.

* * * * * * * * * *

JT Scott for Ward 2 City Councilor

I'm supporting Ward 2 Councilor JT Scott for re-election on November 2 because he is an incredibly smart, hardworking, progressive, passionate and impactful force on the City Council.  I've seen scores of Aldermen and City Councilors in action in my 35 years in Somerville, and JT is one of the most effective.  He works hard, does his homework, does extensive research, and analyzes issues deeply. 

JT is a champion for progressive policies and organizations.  JT and I have worked closely together on issues such as developing the City's Tree Protection Ordinance, zoning, and making thoughtful cuts in the police department budget.  While we often disagree on things and don’t vote the same way on the Council, JT makes significant contributions to the Council’s discussions and debates.  I always find his positions thoughtful, well-researched, and well-argued. 

Ward 2 may be the most challenging ward for a Ward Councilor due to the enormous changes taking place in Union Square and the massive redevelopment in Union Square and Boynton Yards.  The Ward 2 Councilor needs to understand complex development proposals put forward by developers in order to help neighbors weigh in and make sure that the neighborhood and the community are not taken advantage of by developers.  I've attended many development project meetings that JT has facilitated, and he is masterful.  This is an important role that a Ward Councilor plays.  The City needs a Ward 2 Councilor with the skills, smarts and commitment to the community's well-being that JT Scott has proven that he has.

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

mark@markniedergang.com 617 629-8033

I’m writing to share with you the candidates I am supporting in the Somerville City Preliminary Election on Tuesday, September 14. 

Many Somerville polling locations have changed in the past couple of years, so if you are voting in person, make sure you know where to go.  Of particular interest to folks in Ward 5 – Ward 5 Precinct 2 now votes at the Kennedy School (NOT the Brown School), and Ward 5 Precinct 3 now also votes at the Kennedy School (NOT the Engine 7 Fire Station).   

You can also vote by mail in the Preliminary Election, and those ballots are available now -- but be aware of the deadlines for both application and receipt of your ballot.  If you are not registered to vote in Somerville, the deadline to register to vote in the September 14 Preliminary is August 25.  

More info on where to vote and how to vote by mail is below, at the end of this email.

In this issue:

• We are fortunate to have tough decisions to make between many good candidates in this election!!
• Katjana Ballantyne for Mayor
• Beatriz Gomez Mouakad or Tessa Bridge for Ward 5 City Councilor; I can’t pick one over the other at this point
• Judy Pineda Neufeld for Ward 7 City Councilor
• A short guide on how and where to vote in the Preliminary Election – by mail or on September 14 in person

 * * * * * * * * * *

We are fortunate to have tough decisions to make between many good candidates in this election!!

I urge you to do your own research on the candidates and decide for yourself.  You can find lots of information on their websites and Facebook pages.  There have also been numerous forums and questionnaires organized by the Somerville Media Center, Somerville Democratic City Committee, Somerville Chamber of Commerce, Community Action Agency of Somerville, Somerville Property Owners Coalition and Our Revolution Somerville. Almost all of these are viewable or readable on line, just google the organization to find their website.

Ultimately we each have our own set of criteria by which we evaluate the candidates as well as our personal impressions of the candidates.  For me, the factors I take into account in evaluating a candidate are, roughly in this priority order:

• Do I agree with their values and their policy positions?
• Do I think they have the toughness and perseverance to implement important policies and programs, even when there is fierce public opposition and opponents of those policies are attacking and denouncing them in the media and in the community?
• Do they have the ability to learn quickly, absorb a lot of new information, to sort through and analyze that information, to ask good questions about what they don’t understand and to uncover weaknesses in arguments, and to make discriminating decisions on what to support, what to oppose, and what to prioritize?
• For Mayor: Do they have the experience in government and with leadership and management of large organizations that will enable them to lead and manage the City of Somerville, a large and complex organization? The City of Somerville is a large enterprise, with 1,000 employees and contractors and expenditures of many hundreds of millions of dollars a year. 
• For Mayor: Do they have the knowledge and experience to thrive in the cultural and political environments of Somerville, the region and the state and federal governments? Many of Somerville’s challenges are regional, and since the City of Somerville often needs support from the state government to get things done, a Mayor needs to work effectively outside of Somerville to achieve our goals.

Katjana Ballantyne for Mayor

After a month of intense consideration between Mary Cassesso and Katjana Ballantyne, I have decided to support Katjana Ballantyne for Mayor. I think they would both do a good job as Mayor. They both have extensive management and leadership experience. They are both progressive in their policy positions. I am going to try to explain why I have chosen Katjana over Mary for my vote, and why I see them as stronger candidates than Will Mbah, whose candidacy I believe also has merit.

Because of her experience in City government, Katjana would be able to get important stuff done that will make a difference in people’s lives. In her eight years as a City Councilor, she has worked effectively with other leaders in and out of Somerville. While other candidates may be able to learn and grow into the job, doing so will not be quick and easy. Any new Mayor will be overwhelmed from day one.

Katjana was the President of the City Council for two years and she did an excellent job. During those two years, she served on the School Committee as the Council representative. The Mayor plays a key role in determining the school budget and is involved in many school issues, and the Somerville Public Schools (SPS) is by far the largest City department, so this is important experience. Katjana has also been involved in her daughters’ educations in the SPS as an active parent, so she understands our schools from that perspective as well.

Katjana has been the foremost leader on environmental and climate change issues on the City Council, sponsoring key ordinances and zoning amendments. For example, she championed a zoning amendment to require LEED Platinum building efficiency requirements for large, new commercial development; she worked for three years with Green and Open Somerville and the Administration to develop the Native Planting Ordinance; she authored and sponsored a resolution supporting the Green New Deal that lays out a detailed roadmap for a Somerville Green New Deal, see: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?ID=21627&highlightTerms=green%20new%20deal

On affordable housing, Katjana led and managed the process to redevelop the decrepit Clarendon Hill (North Street) Public Housing Development. This will result not only in replacement of those 200 public housing units but the construction of an additional 100 workforce housing units and 300 market rate units. As part of this project, she helped secure state funds for important roadway improvements that will enhance safety and traffic flow on Powderhouse Boulevard and the rotary where it meets Alewife Brook Parkway.

Another strength that Katjana would bring as Mayor is her broad range of professional experience.  She worked in a large international business and in many small non-profit organizations. The small non-profit organizations that Katjana has worked for dealt with many issues that are important in Somerville – affordable housing, job training, climate change and environmental justice, violence prevention, youth-at-risk, and others.  She was the Executive Director of a small non-profit.  Small non-profits have to deal with major organizational challenges as well as the issues they work on -- and without the large budget or staff  that the Somerville city government has.  This teaches a leader to be resourceful, to do more with less, to prioritize, and to get the most important things done. 

Katjana’s family does not have a car.  This is remarkable for a family of five, one of whom is her 90-year-old father.  It demonstrates her personal commitment to safe streets and to changing the way that people get around town.  She submitted excellent responses to the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition questionnaire, which also covers affordable housing, real estate development and climate change issues, see: https://www.visionzerocoalition.org/2021_somerville_mayor

In evaluating candidates, I seek out the views of community leaders in Somerville whose advocacy, hard work and values I respect and admire.  The endorsements and testimonials on Katjana’s website are impressive. I know many of these people well and regard their opinions highly.  There is also great racial and cultural diversity among her endorsers.  I encourage you to take a look at these two pages on her website: https://katjana.org/en/testimonials and https://katjana.org/en/endorsements

While Katjana is not the most progressive candidate in the race, I am satisfied that she is committed to most of the progressive policies that I think are important.  We don’t agree on some issues, but I don’t need to agree with every position a candidate has in order to vote for them.

* * *

Broad professional experience is also a strength that Mary Cassesso also has, in City government, state government, as Dean of the Harvard University Dental School, and at the Cambridge Health Alliance.  I first got to know Mary Cassesso when I served for four years as the City Council representative on the Affordable  Housing Trust Fund, which Mary served on for 30 years and chaired for many years.  I have also gotten to know her in her capacity as the Director of Community Affairs for the Cambridge Health Alliance.  Mary has been an incredibly dedicated public servant and effective manager in large organizations for decades. She has worked mostly in agencies and departments that provide safety net services.  I greatly admire and appreciate her commitment to helping the people who most need help in Somerville and greater Boston.  Mary is able to express and articulate empathy, compassion and caring in words that I find inspiring.  She has a strong progressive approach to policy and similar values to my own.   If you are going to vote for her, I won’t argue with you! 

I’ve spent a lot of time the last month learning about Mary’s policy positions and views on City issues.   Many of these views are still in formation. Mary has a lot of experience with affordable housing and public health issues, but she appears to be catching up on other important issues and with the current structure and policies of the Somerville city government.  She is smart, quick on her feet and a fast learner, but there is a lot to learn in a short amount of time. She has never run for elected office and has no experience as an elected official.  She’s not a politician.  Some people will believe that is a strength and a reason to support her, but I don’t.  Like any challenging business or profession, learning how to do the job of an elected official takes years.  It’s a role that is very public and exposed – which makes it different from most other leadership roles, with some unique pressures and demands that are not easy to adjust to. 

* * *

I have great respect, appreciation, admiration, and affection for Will Mbah.   As an immigrant who arrived in the U.S. 10 years ago and has lived in Somerville for less time than that, he has had to overcome many challenges.  In that short time period, Will has become a highly-regarded leader in our community and a City Councilor.  People in Somerville like him whether they agree with his political views or not.  Will is able to inspire others to work with and support him.

I would say that of all the candidates for Mayor, Will is the one who best expresses my values and political views.  His positions on a number of issues are stronger and more progressive than any other Mayoral candidate’s, such as proposing that the affordable housing requirement on large projects to be increased to 25% from the current 20%, calling for “community led development,” and stating clearly that our City government must make huge efforts to reach out to, include and benefit the most marginalized and underrepresented among us. 

* * *

However, values and policy positions, in my view, while the most important thing in a candidate, are not the only thing to consider.  Management and leadership experience and being able to get things done are a close second for me. The challenges of leading and managing the City of Somerville at this period in time are immense.  There is so much change and development occurring.  That is why I am supporting Katjana Ballantyne for Mayor: she is ready and able.

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Beatriz Gomez Mouakad;                 Tessa Bridge

Beatriz Gomez Mouakad or Tessa Bridge for Ward 5 City Councilor

I feel a bit sheepish not making a clear choice in this three-candidate race.  But Beatriz and Tessa are both such strong candidates and would be excellent City Councilors. They have very different but impressive strengths.  With what I know about them now, I’m not ready to choose one over the other.  I hope they both make it into the final so we have some more time to consider their candidacies.   

I’ll start with Beatriz Gomez Mouakad, since I have known her longer.  (Full disclosure: Beatriz was a member of my “Kitchen Cabinet,” for three years.  This is a group of about two-dozen, mostly-Ward 5 residents  that I convene a few times a year for frank discussions and to give me advice on politics and policy.) 

Beatriz is a long-time Ward 5 resident who has been deeply involved in the community life for 15 years.  She’s served on several City and non-profit boards.  She has a down-to-earth, on-the-ground understanding of and engagement in key issues in Ward 5 such as safe streets and traffic calming, open space and trees, and the small local businesses in Ball and Magoun Squares. For many years, she has been communicating with me about various City and Somerville Public School issues.  We have had many long discussions about these issues.  While I haven’t always agreed with her, I have always found what she has shared with me to be valuable.

Beatriz would bring a special perspective to the City Council in two key ways: she has experience in government and other large organizations as well as expertise about construction and buildings.  She is an architect and works as a project manager on large construction projects.  She worked for MassPort, for Just-a-Start (an affordable housing developer) and currently she’s overseeing a major construction project for a hospital.  Some of the biggest issues and problems in our city right now concern City-owned and School buildings.  There is also a lot of infrastructure construction going on and under our streets, as well as a huge amount of private real estate development that is regulated and overseen by City staff.  Beatriz would bring expertise on construction and building issues that would be a huge asset on the Council.

Beatriz is from Puerto Rico and is a native Spanish speaker, with strong ties to the Latino community in Somerville.  This community is among those most in need of help from the City government. Beatriz would offer, as a City Councilor, both representation and an ear for Latinos in Somerville.  She would also provide deep insight into the challenges faced by Latinos from different countries, cultures and backgrounds.

You might say, “Given how highly you regard Beatriz, how can you not support her?”  My answer is that Tessa Bridge is also a terrific candidate, someone who I believe would be tremendously effective as a City Councilor and political leader in the City.

Tessa would bring to the Council a focus, understanding, and commitment to enacting key policies that would make a difference for large number of residents of Somerville. She is focused on what I consider to be the most important issues in the City.  She has articulated clearly what those issues are and what she would do to address them.  She understands power and how to develop the leverage needed to create political change.  She is an experienced organizer and facilitator and would be able to work with other Councilors and community organizations to develop the political pressure that is needed to build support for new solutions to old problems.

Tessa’s work is in training and coaching.  She is a co-founder of Canopy Equity Coaching, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting company that supports organizations to become anti-racist.  This is an important area of work that the City Council and the City government have only just started to take on.  She would be an asset in this work. 

I have observed Tessa in action as an effective organizer and leader in two important campaigns in Somerville.  She was one of the leaders of Our Revolution Somerville (ORS) at its inception, and one of the key leaders in that organization’s success in the 2017 City elections, when three of their endorsed candidates, JT Scott, Ben Ewen-Campen and Will Mbah defeated incumbents.  Elections have consequences.  The 2017 election changed the City Council for the better, leading to a host of progressive policies and programs in the following years that would likely not have been enacted if those ORS-supported candidates had not been elected.  Tessa was also a key community organizer in support of the Somerville Public Schools paraprofessionals’ campaign to get a living wage of $25,000 a year, which was successful.

Tessa has articulated a clear and focused set of policy priorities for Somerville.  While I do not consider myself a socialist, I agree with all of Tessa’s major policy priorities, except her support for a 10% cut in the police budget each of the next two years. (I have been, over the past three years, along with J.T. Scott, the strongest advocate on the Council for significant cuts in the Somerville Police Department budget to fund other, more urgent public safety and community needs.  But I did not base proposed cuts on a percentage figure, but rather on unneeded positions.)  Bottom line: even if I disagree strongly with a particular candidate’s position on some issues, I may still support them. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Judy Pineda Neufeld for Ward 7 City Councilor

I have known Judy for over 15 years, and have always admired and respected her work and her commitment to social justice and political change.  This has been her life’s work.  I am supporting Judy because of her experience living in Somerville and working for the Somerville City government, because of her longstanding commitment and work in support of progressive values and politics, because of her commitment and demonstrated success working to help those who most need government's help, and because of her deep understanding and nuanced views on the major issues that face the City.

Judy currently works as a strategic planner and has spent her career developing comprehensive plans for city departments and large national non-profits. Most recently she has been leading the city of Somerville through the Covid-19 crisis as the head of the Immigrant Services Unit.  Judy is a Mexican-American and Jewish woman, and the daughter of immigrants. She brings a keen understanding of cultural competency that helps her value diverse perspectives and find commonalities where others cannot.  

With at least five new City Councilors coming into office in 2022, it is especially important at this time to add Councilors to the mix who have experience in Somerville government and politics and will know how to advocate effectively for the progressive policies that can address the major issues that our community and City face.

I have been impressed by Becca Miller and Alex Anderson as candidates, and believe they have a bright political future.  I appreciate Becca’s strong progressive views  and commitment to social justice.  Alex is the only candidate who has spoken out about what I believe is the #1 public safety issue in Somerville: pedestrian safety.  A lot more people are being killed in Somerville by motor vehicles than by guns, knives or violence. 

* * * * * * * * * *

A short guide on how and where to vote in the Preliminary Election – by mail or on September 14 in person

If you are not registered to vote in Somerville, the deadline to register for  the September 14 Preliminary Election is August 25.   Information about how to register to vote is here: https://www.somervillema.gov/page/register-vote

Many Somerville polling locations have changed in the past couple of years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors, so if you are voting in person, make sure you know where to go!

Note that in Ward 5: Ward 5 Precinct 2 now votes at the Kennedy School on Cherry Street  (NOT at the Brown School), and Ward 5 Precinct 3 now also votes at the Kennedy School (NOT at the Engine 7 Fire Station).  

To find the correct polling place for your precinct in any ward, go to: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/elections/polling-places

If you are not sure which precinct you live in, you can look that up for your address here: https://www.somervillema.gov/mysomerville

All polling places in Somerville are open from 7 AM to 8 PM.

You can also vote by mail in the Preliminary Election, and those ballots are available now -- but be aware of the deadlines for both application and receipt of your ballot.  You can get complete instructions including where to mail or drop off your ballot and all the forms you need to vote by mail in the September 14 Preliminary Election here: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/elections/vote-mail

But be aware of the deadlines for both application and receipt of your ballot.  This is from the City website: 

Important Deadlines for the September 14, 2021 Preliminary Election

• September 8, Applications: 
  Completed applications to vote by mail must be received (not postmarked) by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 8, in order to vote by mail in the September 14 Preliminary Election. 
• September 14, Ballots: 
  Voter mail-in ballots must be received (not postmarked) by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 14.

You can also vote by absentee ballot.  This is somewhat similar to voting by mail, but the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is later than for voting by mail -- noon on Monday September 13.  So if you were planning to vote in person but something comes up in the week before the election and you can’t, you could go up to City Hall and get an absentee ballot.  For instructions, see: https://www.somervillema.gov/absenteevoting

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

mark@markniedergang.com 617 629-8033

I am writing to invite you to please join me at the Highway Justice for People: Mystic & McGrath Rally on Wednesday, May 26, 6 PM at the corner of Broadway and McGrath Highway – the vacant lot with the “Not Art” sign. (See flyer pasted in below.) Speakers will include Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Mayor Joe Curtatone, State Representatives Christine Barber, Mike Connolly and Erika Uyterhoeven, Councilors Matthew McLaughlin, Jesse Clingan.

Our goal is to get the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to prioritize, speed up and enhance roadway safety improvements on Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway (Rt 28/38) and to include sound walls in the I-93 viaduct steel rehabilitation project. The more people who attend, the greater our chance of convincing MassDOT to make decisions that will save lives.

This Rally is being organized by the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets (SASS) a coalition of residents, parents, seniors, transit users, bicycle riders, business owners, and elected officials. We share a common goal for Somerville’s streets and sidewalks -- safety and equitable mobility for all. We have seen far too many injuries and deaths on our streets. It is time to come together with one voice and demand more be done to keep our residents safe.

The dangerousness for pedestrians of Mystic Ave and McGrath Highway in Somerville is an urgent, life-and-death issue. Three pedestrians have been killed by motor vehicles on these roads in just the last two years. In the most recent tragedy, Marshall Mac, a 74-year-old grandfather and Vietnam War veteran, was struck and severely injured on April 12 crossing McGrath Highway from Blakely Avenue. He had been at the Stop n Shop and was headed home to the Mystic Housing Development when the tragic hit-and-run crash occurred. A bystander described the scene as horrific, Mr Mac's body was crushed, his clothing and groceries strewn everywhere. Mr. Mac fell into a coma and passed away on April 29, 2021.

Below is the flyer for the rally with all the details and information.

I have also included, below the flyer, a resolution I wrote with input from State Reps Connolly and Barber and Councilor McLaughlin, that the Somerville City Council passed unanimously last night.

Below that, for those of you who are local history buffs or transit activists or just interested in transportation and roadway issues, I’ve pasted in a brilliant 6-page blogpost from State Representative Mike Connolly with 50 years of history that has led to the current deadly roadway infrastructure in this part of Somerville: “This is a critical moment for Road Safety and Environmental Justice in East Somerville. The urgently-needed pedestrian and bike safety improvements at the intersection of Rt. 28/38 (Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway) appear to have been delayed in favor of a yet-to-be announced I-93 viaduct preservation project that will divert evening interstate traffic onto local roads.”

https://www.repmikeconnolly.org/critical_moment_for_road_safety_environmental_justice_east_somerville

Here is the flyer for the Rally, I really hope you can come!

Here is the resolution:

Resolution calling on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to prioritize, speed up and enhance roadway safety improvements on Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway (Rt 28/38) and to include sound walls in the I-93 viaduct steel rehabilitation project.

WHEREAS, three pedestrians have been struck and killed in the past two years on Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway near the intersection with the I-93 ramp;

WHEREAS, residents of the area and Somerville transportation activists have begun referring to these roadways as “The Corridor of Death;’

WHEREAS, crash data has shown that this is one of the most dangerous roadway areas in the Commonwealth and elected officials and other leaders in Somerville have been calling on MassDOT to make transformative safety improvements on Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway for decades;

WHEREAS, City Councilors, the Somerville state legislative delegation and City officials recognize and appreciate that MassDOT is implementing a “road diet” with protected bike lanes, new sidewalks, new signals and ADA-compliant curb cuts and ramps on part of McGrath Highway, is planning to eventually improve the intersections at Shore Drive, the Kensington Connector, and Blakely Avenue where pedestrians have been killed, and has begun to consider the safety and mobility of pedestrians and bicyclists more seriously than in the past;

WHEREAS, in December 2020 MassDOT presented, in a public meeting, a project to make significant (but by no means sufficient) safety improvements in the Mystic/McGrath corridor, announcing a community meeting for April 2021 and a project start date of 2022 (which would still be too slow);

WHEREAS, subsequent to this public meeting, MassDOT has not yet held that community meeting nor announced a rescheduled date, and has pushed the start date for the Mystic/McGrath project back by a full year to 2023;

WHEREAS, MassDOT recently informed state legislators and City officials of a new, major, $37 million project to rehabilitate steel in the I-93 viaduct in precisely this same area, and this viaduct project, previously undisclosed, is either 75% or 100% designed and is scheduled to begin in 2022;

WHEREAS, it appears that the critical life-preserving work of making Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway safer for pedestrians has been delayed by at least a year due to the I-93 viaduct rehabilitation project, making it appear that MassDOT officials value the life of the steel in the I-93 viaduct more than the lives of pedestrians who must regularly cross Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway to get to school, work, the supermarket and other destinations;

WHEREAS, for years, when state legislators and City officials have begged MassDOT to install sound barriers on I-93 to protect East Somerville and Mystic Avenue residents from noise and deadly ultra-fine particle pollution, MassDOT officials said that they could do so only in conjunction with a major I-93 reconstruction project, and that an I-93 construction or repair project could trigger their Noise Abatement program;

WHEREAS, on the part of MassDOT, despite the fact that the neighborhoods directly impacted by the I-93 viaduct project are formally recognized as Environmental Justice communities, there has been no mention of or apparent interest in, much less commitment to, building sound walls around I-93 in the area of the viaduct steel rehabilitation project, making it appear that MassDOT cares more about the steel than the health and lives of the residents who live in close proximity to 1-93 and who suffer the negative health impacts of ultra-fine particulate pollution and noise from the traffic on I-93;

WHEREAS, the Somerville state legislative delegation secured numerous local items in the recently-passed Transportation Bond Bill, including $2 million for sound walls and an additional $2 million for pedestrian and safety improvements in the Mystic/McGrath corridor, and MassDOT has the ability to include these funds in their pending Capital Investment Plan, and doing so would help fund rapid road safety improvements along Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway and sound walls along I-93, and there could potentially be much more funding available from federal grants;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Somerville City Council calls on MassDOT:

To prioritize the Mystic/McGrath safety improvements and to restore the previous start time of 2022, and furthermore, to accelerate and start this year (2021) some of the most critical life-preserving roadway improvements, especially in the three areas where pedestrians have been killed in the past two years – Blakely Avenue, the Kensington Connector, and Mystic Ave/Shore Drive; and

To add sound barriers with pollution mitigation into the I-93 viaduct steel rehabilitation project to protect the health and lives of Somerville residents who live nearby.

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Clerk forward this resolution to Jamey Tesler, Acting Secretary of Transportation; Jonathan Gulliver, Highway Administrator; Frank Suszynski, Senior Engineering Project Manager, District 4, MassDOT; Robert P. Antico, Project Manager, I-93 Viaduct Rehabilitation Project, MassDOT; and to Rep. Christine Barber, Rep. Mike Connolly, Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, and State Senator Patricia Jehlen; and to U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley; U.S. Senator Ed Markey and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Here is Mike Connolly’s blogpost:

I am writing to invite you to the Safe Streets virtual Summit on Sunday, February 28 from 4-5 PM.

I also want to share with you our Declaration and Call to Action, and I ask you to read it and consider signing on in support.

There is a LINK where you can register for the Summit and read and sign onto the Declaration.

Councilor Will Mbah and I are part of a coalition of residents, parents, seniors, transit users, bicycle riders, business owners, and elected officials who have formed the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets (SASS). We share a common goal for Somerville’s streets and sidewalks -- safety and equitable mobility for all. We have seen far too many injuries and deaths on our streets. It is time to come together with one voice and demand more be done to keep our residents safe.

We have prepared a Declaration and Call to Action that has already garnered over 300 signatures in a couple of weeks. I invite you to a virtual Safe Streets Summit on Sunday, February 28 from 4-5 PM. at which we plan to present our Declaration and Call to Action. The Summit will feature a moderated session where five people from diverse parts of our community will share their concerns regarding their mobility and safety in our city. Two hundred people have already registered for the Summit and we expect many more. The Mayor has already agreed to attend and I expect many Councilors and other elected officials will as well.

I know that you support safe streets in our City and I hope you can support this Alliance and its goal of ensuring safety on our streets, especially as the City prepares its FY2022 budget. We are asking the Mayor and the City Council to increase funding devoted to street safety. Our biggest ask is that the Mayor forms a Department of Transportation that includes a Chief of Streets and several new hires focused on transportation and safety. We also have prepared a document, “SASS Specific Recommendations,” with action steps to ensure a safe streets environment (this is linked to from the Declaration and Call to Action).

Here is a LINK that will bring you to the sign-up form to register for the Summit and to sign on to the Declaration if you wish to do so.

If you want to read one key document about Somerville’s commitment to ending deaths and serious injuries on our streets, review the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan here: https://www.somervillema.gov/visionzero

In 2017, Mayor Joe Curtatone formally adopted Vision Zero, a worldwide advocacy campaign focused on reducing and eliminating transportation injuries and fatalities. The Action Plan is the City’s strategy for eliminating deaths and serious injuries from our transportation system and details the actions the City will take over the next five years. It was developed by a team of City staff and resident volunteers. The objectives, strategies, and actions set forth are intended to be ambitious, specific, actionable, and measurable.

Mayor Curtatone wrote: “As Somerville strives to become the most walkable, bike-able, and transit-friendly city in America, we must take a systematic and proactive approach to creating safer streets. Even a single death or serious injury on our streets is too many, so we must treat traffic safety like the public health crisis that it is, examining our own behaviors, city policies, and the conditions on our streets (emphasis mine). Creating safer streets also helps advance our city's wellness and sustainability goals, providing improved infrastructure to support increased physical activity for people of all ages and abilities, and reducing harmful carbon emissions and pollution in our transportation system.”

SASS is one of the most exciting and promising initiatives that I have been involved in during my seven years as a City Councilor.

I am happy to answer any questions you have about SASS, the Declaration and Summit via email or phone and/or to discuss this with you.

Thank you for your consideration.

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

mark@markniedergang.com 617 629-8033
www.markniedergang.com

Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan, aerial view; Affordable Housing

In this issue:

• Public Hearing on Affordable Housing Overlay District zoning proposal, Thurs., Nov. 19 at 6 PM
• Public Hearing on Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan to redevelop the vacant Star Market site, Wed., Nov. 18 at 6 PM
• Leah Zallman, of blessed memory, yet another pedestrian killed by a motor vehicle on Somerville streets: What the City needs to do now

Public Hearing on Affordable Housing Overlay District zoning proposal, Thursday, November 19 at 6 PM

The City Council and the Planning Board is holding this Public Hearing.  Dan Bartman of the City Planning Department will explain how the Affordable Housing Overlay District (AHOD) would work.  After that, members of the public will be invited to speak.  Anyone may submit public comment in writing to [email protected].  The link and call-in number to get into the meeting, and the agenda, are here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=3267

To read up on the AHOD proposal before the meeting, go to https://www.somervillezoning.com/

Scroll down to the bar that says “Latest Public Hearings and Meetings.”  Below that you will see the presentation made to the Planning Board on November 5 and below that, the detailed proposed amendments to the zoning code that would establish the AHOD.

Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, the Chair of the Land Use Committee, who has led the Council on this issue, published an article explaining what the AHOD is and why it is so critical for Somerville: https://medium.com/@benewencampen/we-need-a-city-wide-affordable-housing-overlay-district-in-somerville-a2b22f970b1f   In short, an AHOD would make it easier to build affordable housing by offering permitting, density, and height benefits to developers of 100% affordable buildings.  

The City Council Land Use Committee, of which I am a member, spent five meetings developing this proposal.  I believe if it is enacted it will spur more affordable housing in the City.  I strongly support this plan, although I always want to hear from the community before moving forward.  To date we have not received any criticism of it, but there was a long, rancorous debate in Cambridge over their AHOD proposal before it finally passed the City Council there a month ago.  Of course, there are tradeoffs.  This proposal would allow taller buildings in some areas and less community and City board review of 100% affordable housing developments.  I am anxious to hear feedback, concerns, objections and other comments from the public.

Public Hearing on Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan to redevelop the vacant Star Market site, Wednesday, November 18 at 6 PM

The Somerville City Council is holding this public hearing to get feedback on the Plan from the public.  There will be a presentation about the plan before the public comment period.

There are two ways you can submit testimony:

1. To attend the hearing, enter this link exactly as it appears into your internet browser any time before the meeting: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9179575600740006156. You can also find this link on the City Council’s online meeting calendar. You will then be asked to register, and after registering, you will receive an email with instructions to join the webinar.
2. Anyone may submit written comment via email to [email protected].

You can read the proposed Plan, which was developed by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority and City staff in the Economic Development Department and Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, here: https://somervoice.somervillema.gov/4007/widgets/13067/documents/13103

This plan will need to be approved by the Planning Board, the City Council, and the State Dept. of Housing and Community Development before it can be implemented.  The Plan calls for significant open space, affordable housing, retail and commercial office space, and market-rate housing.  The specifics have not been developed; there will be a community process for that.  We are still at the very beginning of the redevelopment process.  It will be many more months before decisions are made, and years before significant redevelopment begins in the area. 

I will be reviewing the Plan in detail, but from all I have heard and read, it is a sound approach.  Taking the long-vacant Winter Hill Star Market site by eminent domain so it can be redeveloped is the right move.  It is my hope that in the coming years this long-neglected area will finally get the neighborhood center it deserves.

Pickup truck that killed Leah Zallman at College and Kidder Aves.

Leah Zallman, of blessed memory, yet another pedestrian killed by a motor vehicle on Somerville streets: What the City needs to do now

If you live in Somerville, you have probably heard that on November 3, Election Day, Leah Zallman, walking home at 1 o’clock in the afternoon after voting, was struck and killed by a pickup truck while she was crossing Kidder Ave at College Avenue, not far from Davis Square.  The driver, a City employee at work and using his personal vehicle, was heading down towards Davis Square on College Ave and took a left onto Kidder and hit her.  (The driver remained at the site and has been put on paid administrative leave.)  The Middlesex County District Attorney and the Somerville Police Department are investigating the accident.

Before I say anything else, I want to urge you:  BE CAREFUL WHEN WALKING ON OUR CITY STREETS!!  PAY ATTENTION.  KEEP YOUR HEAD UP.  DO NOT LOOK AT YOUR PHONE WHILE CROSSING A STREET.  DO NOT THINK YOU ARE SAFE IN A CROSSWALK!!! 

Almost half of all pedestrians who are hit in Somerville are in a crosswalk!  Pedestrians in crosswalks should not have to dodge cars, but being able to may save your life.

AND, IF YOU DRIVE, BE CAREFUL AND PAY CLOSE ATTENTION FOR PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS.  You do not want to live for the rest of your life with the death or injury of a pedestrian on your conscience.

I never met Leah Zallman but I am heartbroken by the death of this wonderful woman, mother, wife, daughter, friend, doctor, immigrant health researcher and advocate.  I could go on and on about what a bright light she was, how much she has done to help our most vulnerable immigrant residents, how much more she would have contributed to bettering our society.

But I think the most important thing that I can say and that we can do to honor her memory is to prevent this from ever happening again in Somerville.  She is the fourth pedestrian be killed on our streets in the last two years.  I look forward to working with anyone and everyone who cares about pedestrian safety to elevate the City’s progress on traffic calming to the next level.

I spoke with Mayor Curtatone Wednesday night and in the strongest terms I told him that pedestrian safety is a public safety and public health emergency in Somerville.  I said that the City must provide a lot more money and resources to fix the scores of intersections where an accident like this could happen.  He agreed .  He said that he would be working with City staff  to prepare a plan to present to the City Council for more money for traffic calming, first in January, and again in June for the FY 2022 budget year which starts in July.

I have spoken with Lance Davis, the Ward 6 Councilor, and we submitted a policy order for last night’s City Council meeting: “That the Mayor make to the City Council a supplementary budget request to immediately add staff and funding to the Mobility Department, which plans and deploys traffic calming infrastructure, and that the Mayor increase the Mobility Department staff and budget by at least 50% in the FY 2022 budget.”

As the investigation has not been concluded, we do not know for certain the cause of the accident or whether it could have been prevented by better traffic calming infrastructure at this intersection.  But we do know for certain that traffic calming infrastructure (speed bumps, traffic calming tables, flex posts, bump outs, etc.) does make streets safer and saves lives.  And we do know that there are scores, perhaps hundreds of unfulfilled requests for additional traffic calming infrastructure at locations all over our City. 

Every year I have called upon the Mayor to add more staff and funds to the Mobility Department to do this lifesaving work.  (Under the City Charter and state law, the City Council cannot add any funds to the budget, all we can do is cut and ask the Mayor to add funds.)  There has been a serious response from the Administration, but an inadequate one.  Over the past few years, the Mayor, with the Council's support, has added staff and reorganized departments to strengthen this work.  But our current staffing and budget are not even close to what is necessary. 

To the Mayor’s credit, the Administration developed and put forward a plan to further reorganize   and add staff and funding to the Mobility Department early this year.  But after the Coronavirus exploded in March and April, this plan and the additional funding were not included in the budget that was submitted to the City Council due to the financial difficulties that the City faced.

I deeply regret now that I did not advocate that the increases in the Mobility Dept budget be included in the budget, despite Covid-19.  I should have said that those funds are a matter of life and death and that increasing the capacity of the City to fix problem intersections and roadways must not be deferred. 

Councilor Davis has been urging that the intersection of Kidder and College be made safer for years, and we discussed this specific intersection in the City Council Traffic and Parking Committee, which I Chair, several times in the past few years.  The Mobility Department made some improvements, but did not have the resources to fully address the problems at this location. There are scores of other locations, many of which, according to crash data, are more dangerous than College and Kidder and that urgently need traffic calming.  

The Mobility Dept is in the midst of a community process on a plan to make changes to College Ave and Holland Street that will make accidents less likely.  There is another public meeting about this project on Wednesday, December 9; for information, go to https://somervoice.somervillema.gov/hollandandcollege

The frustrating thing is that these plans get developed and implemented slowly, partly because the Mobility Dept has so many other pressing problems on its plate.  If the Mobility Department had more staff and funds, perhaps the improvements would have already been in place and might have protected Leah Zallman.  

A similar thing happened with Powderhouse Boulevard by the West Somerville Neighborhood School.  A pedestrian, Allison Donovan, was killed there in February 2019.  Plans were being made and several community meetings had been held to fix the speeding problem at that location.  It was only after Allison Donovan was killed that speed bumps were put in there, which have improved safety in that area significantly.  

The other two pedestrians who were killed in 2019 were Cheryl Pauline Richards and Kevin Dumont, both in the area of Mystic Avenue/Mcgrath Highway/and the I-93 on-ramp.  The State and the City have made significant improvements in that area after their deaths.  But as Councilor Will Mbah remarked last night, design by disaster is not an effective way to do business.

If you care about pedestrian safety in Somerville, I urge you to advocate with your elected officials to do more.  There are periodic meetings about various traffic calming projects such as the one about College Ave and Holland Street that will take place on December 9.  Please attend them.  You can write to the City Council ([email protected]) and the Mayor ([email protected]) and urge us to allocate more money and make pedestrian safety a higher priority. 

You can join the Somerville Pedestrian Advocacy Coalition’s google email list to stay informed and share your concerns and knowledge -- [email protected].  There is now a committee, part of the City government, called the Somerville Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee. It was created last year largely due to the advocacy and organizing of residents, led by former City Councilor Stephanie Hirsch. You can find more information about this group here: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/somerville-pedestrian-and-transit-advisory-committee   You can write to them at [email protected]

Thank you to the many bicycle and pedestrian safety advocates for all your advocacy and work over the past decade to make our streets safer.  We have made significant progress, especially with bicycling infrastructure, but not nearly enough. 

Leah Zallman's death is a tragedy. I hope her memory will inspire us to make changes that will save other lives.

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

mark@markniedergang.com 617 629-8033
http://www.markniedergang.com/

Flex posts on Morrison Ave near Cedar St.

In this issue:

• Affordable housing overlay district zoning proposal moving forward, presentation Tuesday night Sept. 29 at 6 PM
• Public Hearings on enforcing zoning conditions on development projects in our neighborhoods Wednesday night Sept. 30 at 6 PM
• Traffic calming on dangerous Ward 5 streets
• Somerville Redevelopment Authority approves Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan; start of a long process to redevelop the vacant Star Market site
• Please donate to the Somerville Cares Fund to help families whose income has been decimated due to the pandemic

Affordable housing overlay district zoning proposal moving forward, presentation Tues., Sept 29 at 6 PM

On Tuesday night the City Council Land Use Committee (LUC) will continue discussing an affordable housing overlay (AHO) zoning proposal.  City planning staff zoning whiz Dan Bartman will be making a third presentation to the LUC.  We have had three or four discussions of the concept and revised and focused our thinking on what we believe might work and generate additional affordable housing in Somerville.  If you want to attend the virtual meeting and watch the presentation, you can sign up here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=3240

Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, Chair of the LUC, in his September 19 newsletter, provided this update:

“Why we need an "Affordable Housing Overlay District" in Somerville. I'm very happy to say that my wife Alex and I are expecting our first kid in November(!) So, even more than usual, I've been thinking about the future of Somerville. Here's my take: in many ways, being born in Somerville is like winning the lottery. This City is incredible. Yet every year, it becomes harder and harder for anyone who isn't already wealthy to live…or start a family here, and all of the incredible benefits we are collectively creating are increasingly out of reach for most people. We need to do everything in our power to ensure that you don't have to be rich to be born in Somerville. The best way we can do that right now is to make it easier to build more affordable housing in our community. If we want more diversity and more economic justice, we must do this. While there is no silver bullet, one thing the City Council can do right now is use our zoning laws to help move the needle.” 

“As Chair of Land Use Committee, my top priority is to pass an Affordable Housing Overlay District in Somerville, which will remove some of the common obstacles to building affordable housing, and will provide incentives to building more affordable housing. We are still working out the details in Committee, and will be planning a formal process for public feedback in the coming weeks, but the basic idea is this: streamline the permitting process for 100% affordable developments, and incentivize affordable housing by allowing 100% affordable developers to build larger buildings than would be allowed for "market rate" developers, especially near public transit. I will be sharing much more on this once we have a fleshed-out proposal to present to the public.”

(You can see the Ben’s entire newsletter here, and I encourage you to sign up to receive it regularly:

https://mailchi.mp/2527db571af6/ward-3-newsletter-september-19-2020?e=5c1e16cc9e)

I am looking forward to working closely with my LUC colleagues and Mr. Bartman of the City Planning staff  to develop a proposal and then to hearing public comment, feedback and concerns.  You may have heard that an AHO proposal in Cambridge, that had substantial support from affordable housing proponents, was not approved by the Cambridge City Council earlier this year.  There was a huge controversy and significant neighborhood opposition due to the fear that large buildings would be built in areas with mostly smaller structures.  I expect that whatever the LUC comes up with as an AHO proposal will be controversial in Somerville. However, I hope we can be more successful than Cambridge has been so far in getting an AHO district zoning amendment passed.

Public Hearing on enforcing zoning conditions on development projects in our neighborhoods Wednesday, September 30, at 6 p.m.

One of the most upsetting things about public life in Somerville are the battles over development projects that neighbors in Ward 5 and around the City have been forced to engage in.  (Hopefully the new zoning that we passed at the end of last year will reduce this significantly.)  Some neighbors have had to devote hundreds of hours to protect their neighborhoods from bad developments and  bad developers.  Some developers just ignore conditions enacted by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) on what they are supposed to build and violate the working conditions they are expected to abide by. Not all developers, but there are some “bad” developers.  These developers create ongoing problems because they act in self serving, ill advised and sometimes, dangerous activities as they build their projects. 

For example, just this week, I received terrified calls and emails from residents of Porter Avenue, a tiny street off  of Porter Street in my own neighborhood.  A contractor for the developers of the property below theirs  (59 Linden Avenue) was digging out the bottom of the 100-foot-high hill on top of which their houses sit.  A huge excavating machine was cutting dirt out of the hill, scarring trees that prevent erosion, and encroaching over the property line on two of the Porter Avenue properties. The contractor did not have a map or plan of the site on hand to guide the work.  This kind of incompetence, plain arrogance and offensiveness to neighbors is unusual.  But developers cutting corners, breaking rules, and not complying with conditions that the ZBA has imposed is sadly, quite common. I called the Director of Inspectional Services and they put a Stop Work order on the property. Some developers simply do whatever they want and expect to get away with it. Or, they figure the penalties, if imposed, will be light enough that they can afford to do what they want and deal with the consequences later.

A big part of the problem is that the City’s Inspectional Services Department (ISD) has, over the years, done a poor job of enforcing zoning conditions in development projects.  So developers believe -- with some reason based on their past experience -- that they can disobey the conditions and the law and get away with it.  This, of course, makes the neighbors and us Councilors furious.  Neighbors feel betrayed by our own city government when this happens.  While there has been improvement under the fairly-new Director of ISD, Nick Antanavica, and I believe he is doing his best, ISD has a long history of permissiveness to overcome in order to adequately regulate development in Somerville. 

If you want to hear more about what has happened, or if you have your own story to tell about problems with a development or developer in your neighborhood, please come to 2 consecutive Public Hearing on enforcement of conditions in development projects.  Here is the announcement and how you can give testimony:

2 Public Hearings on Zoning Enforcement on September 30, at 6 PM 

Members of the public are invited to attend and speak at two Public Hearings on Wednesday, September 30, at 6 p.m. both regarding the processes for enforcing zoning requirements.  

On the Order of Councilor Jesse Clingan, Chair of the Committee, the City Council’s Committee on Public Utilities and Public Works Committee of the Whole will accept public testimony on the following:    

• First hearing by City Council Order #210595: the process for ensuring that all conditions of a Special Permit are met prior to the final signoff by the Inspectional Services Department and the issuance of a certificate of occupancy;  
• Second hearing by City Council Order#210596: the process for ensuring developers' compliance with the conditions of Special Permits and the Inspectional Services Department's enforcement of those conditions.  

You have two ways to be heard at this meeting:  

• Join the meeting to provide spoken testimony: To attend the hearing and be heard, enter this link exactly as it appears into your internet browser any time before the meeting: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/509751592465163023. You can also find this link in the agenda for the meeting at http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=3220   
• Send written testimony:If you are unable to attend but wish to be heard, you may send written comments by email to [email protected]. Your comments must arrive no later than 12 noon on Wednesday, Sept. 30, in order to be sure they are conveyed to the Committee and included in the public record, but Councilors will often read emails received after the official close of the public record.  They can be sent to [email protected]

Traffic calming on dangerous Ward 5 streets

In my seven years as a City Councilor, perhaps the most constant concern that Ward 5 residents have raised with me is about the safety of our local streets for pedestrians.  (There have also been extensive concerns expressed about safety for bicyclists in Ward 5.)  Over the years, the Administration of Mayor Curtatone has not done nearly enough to implement traffic calming on our streets.  (Of course, traffic calming will also benefit drivers of motor vehicles, although it may cost them a few additional minutes in their trip.) 

However, I am happy to report that in the last couple of years, the Administration has staffed up, done some departmental reorganization, and enhanced the City’s capacity to do traffic calming.  I am far from satisfied, but significant improvement has occurred.  Every year at budget time, I beg the Mayor to invest more City funds in the Mobility Department to save the lives and bodies of pedestrians by making our streets safer for walkers, as well as bikers.

You may be aware that in the past year, hundreds of neighborhood streets in the City have been designated as 20 MPH “Safety Zones.”  And I am sure you have seen the “Shared Streets” that have been marked off as safer places for pedestrians and bicyclists due to the need for more public open space with the social distancing requirements of Covid-19.

My two biggest worries on our Ward 5 streets have been Lowell Street between Highland Avenue and Magoun Square, and especially the intersection of Lowell and Albion Streets, and Morrison Avenue between Willow Avenue and Cedar Street.  I am happy to report that the Mobility Department has worked with DPW to install flex posts in both these locations. The flex posts slow down and serve as obstacles to drivers who are going too fast.  (And they are still standing!)  I am particularly pleased with the flex posts on Morrison Avenue, as they force all traffic into one lane at three different points (one of them in Ward 6 west of Willow Ave).

On Lowell Street, where there have been dozens of  crashes in the past five years, the installation is too recent for certainty, but it seems that the flex posts do slow and control traffic a bit.  However, I do not believe this is sufficient  for the hilly, particularly dangerous intersection of Lowell and Albion Streets.  A group of neighbors, many of them with children, have been advocating for more than two years for stop signs on Lowell Street at Albion.  Unfortunately, the Mobility Department has been reluctant to install stop signs there.  As neighbors have pointed out, there are many stop signs at similar intersections in the area that are safe and effective, for example Porter and Summer Streets; and Summer and Cherry Streets.  The Mobility Department has promised a study now that the flex posts are installed to determine whether stop signs are justified.  I am praying that the study determines that stop signs can be installed on Lowell Street at Albion, and that it happens before somebody gets killed at that intersection.

One other traffic calming issue in Ward 5 is Broadway.  Some significant improvements have been made, but Broadway is still a too-fast street for a dense urban area.  There is much more that needs to get done.  City staff and the MBTA GLX Team are working on installing another crosswalk on Broadway in Ball Square near Boston Avenue.  Other improvements will happen around the Ball Square GLX station area.  Due to the closure of the Broadway Bridge for a year, it has been difficult to upgrade that part of Broadway, but you may have notices that bicycle lanes were recently installed.  There will be some flex posts put in that area in the next few months.

Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan area

Somerville Redevelopment Authority approves Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan; start of a long process to redevelop the vacant Star Market site

Last year, the City Council passed legislation to expand the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) from five to seven members, with one of the additional members appointed by the Mayor, and the other one a City Councilor appointed by the President of the Council.  Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen is doing a great job of representing the interests of City residents and sharing information about the goings-ons of this incredibly powerful and important but relatively unknown City board.

Down below is what he wrote about the SRA’s work on redeveloping the long-vacant Star Market site and surrounding area on Winter Hill.  As background for newcomers to this issue, the Star Market has been vacant for about 10 years because the owner of the property was unhappy with the zoning the City established there, sued the City, lost, and lost appeal after appeal, and has refused to do anything with the property.  So the City is now looking at taking the property, which is run-down, blighted and a public safety hazard, by eminent domain for redevelopment.  These details are from the minutes of the August 19 SRA meeting:

“[Director of Economic Development] Mr. Galligani provided an overview of the Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan submitted to the SRA for review and approval. On the heels of the Winter Hill Neighborhood Plan, the economic development team, with Lauren Drago as the project manager, has been working closely with the neighborhood for over a year to carefully consider their thoughts on tackling the vacant Star Market site.”

“Ms. Drago presented the details of the Draft Winter Hill Urban Renewal Plan to the Board. The project area includes the…existing Walgreens, 2 corner buildings on Temple Street and Broadway. The proposal imagines a subdivision to create three different parcels out of this project area.  As depicted in the visuals provided in the presentation, D1 would become green open space, D2 would be conveyed to an affordable housing developer, and D3 would be the largest parcel for a commercial/residential development with additional open space. The Neighborhood Plan objectives include but are not limited to redeveloping vacant and underutilized properties into uses that better meet the community needs, minimize displacement by providing additional affordable housing, pursue equitable outcomes in the neighborhood, improve Winter Hill’s main street commercial district, and create green and open spaces to support community life and the environment.”

Councilor Ewen-Campen wrote:

“Winter Hill Redevelopment (the long-vacant Star Market Site on Broadway.)  I serve on the Somerville Redevelopment Authority, and this past Wednesday we voted unanimously to advance a redevelopment plan for the vacant Star Market site on Broadway, which will now be considered by the Planning Board, then the City Council. This approach was the result of extensive community process, including much organizing and advocacy by the Winter Hill Neighborhood Association, Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan and State Rep. Christine Barber. I am strongly in favor because Somerville deserves better than this giant vacant building in the heart of Winter Hill. Importantly, this Plan does not lay out what will actually be built on the site. That will come from a dedicated community process, followed by a process to select a developer to actually do the work (I’ll be pushing for maximizing new affordable housing.) So, please stay involved and stay tuned.”

I want to stress that this plan will need to be approved by the Planning Board, the City Council, and eventually the State Dept. of Housing and Community Development before it can be implemented.  If any changes are made, it will need to go back to the SRA for their re-consideration.  There will be ample opportunity for public comment and feedback when the City Council considers it.  So this is really just the beginning…it will be many more months before any final decisions are made, and years before significant redevelopment begins in the area.  It is my hope that in the coming years this long-neglected neighborhood will finally get the neighborhood center it deserves.

Please donate to the Somerville Cares Fund to help families whose income has been decimated due to the pandemic

Many of us may have adjusted somewhat to the “new normal” of life under the cloud of a pandemic.  Many of us may think that as businesses, workplaces, restaurants, gyms, houses of worship, etc. slowly open back up, that life is returning to normal in Somerville.  Of course,  parents with children at home, especially younger children, understand every single day, especially weekdays when their kids are home and not at school, that this is not really true. 

But the old “normal” was not working for many Somervillians before the pandemic, and Covid -19 has made this clearer for us all to see.  For many families in Somerville, particularly immigrants and low-income families, the dire situation is still threatening their health, housing stability and wellness.  A superb and searing report from the Community Action Agency of Somerville about the Somerville Cares Fund highlights the crisis. Councilor Ewen-Campen wrote eloquently on this topic as well in his September 19 newsletter:

“… the COVID-19 pandemic is nowhere near over, and the economic devastation has been catastrophically worse for Somerville residents who were already struggling. These stark facts are laid out in a report from the Somerville CARES fund which I highly recommend reading. [This report looks long, but it is only six pages of highly-readable text, with a lot of charts and graphs at the end. – MN] This fund has raised over $660,000 from generous local donors, and has now distributed all of it to nearly 1,300 Somerville families. The majority of these families prefer to speak a language other than English, have had limited access to State or Federal aid, and have seen a total or near-total loss of income since March. Many report that they are having trouble meeting their basic needs for food, stable housing, and internet connectivity, with an eviction moratorium currently set to expire [when the City public health emergency ends]. As we continue to work on the many issues we face in Somerville, we need to remember these stark facts and keep our priorities straight. None of these challenges can be solved at the municipal level alone, yet we need to do everything in our power to help.”  

One thing those of us with some discretionary income can do now is contribute generously to the Somerville Cares Fund.  United Way of Massachusetts Bay is the fiscal agent for the Fund; you can find out how to contribute here: https://unitedwaymassbay.org/covid-19/local-funds/somerville/

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

mark@markniedergang.com 617 629-8033
http://www.markniedergang.com/

Looking to maximize the impact of your donations this election? Want to support women and candidates of color? Learn about North Carolina's influence as a triple-threat state! Join us for a fundraiser to support legislative & state-level candidates across North Carolina and enable us to turn the NC statehouse blue, power another Democratic U.S. Senate seat, and win the Presidency. Please RSVP here

Here are some of the candidates your contributions will support!

I write to invite you on behalf of a dozen co-hosts (see list below) to a webinar and high-impact fundraiser on Wednesday, September 9, 8 PM EST that provides an opportunity to use your limited funds to maximum impact.  With six weeks or less before many Americans start voting, it is time to help get our Democratic candidates over the top to win.

I have seen this presentation twice now, and both times it absolutely knocked my socks off! A friend invited me the first time, and I planned to contribute $50 as a courtesy. I was so impressed I gave $500. If you know me, you know I am pretty tight with a dollar! I hardly ever make impulse purchases. I don’t regret this one.

Please give me an hour of your time. You will learn a lot, gain exposure to a different and brilliant strategy for winning an election, and you will enjoy an entertaining presentation. There is no requirement to donate, but of course I hope you will give what you can.

I’m also thrilled to share that we’ll be joined by one of our candidates, Chief Justice Cheri Beasley. Justice Beasley is the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and was appointed to lead North Carolina’s courts by Governor Roy Cooper. She is now running for election for a full, 8-year term. She’s only the fourth African American woman to serve as Chief Justice in the history of our country, and if elected, will be the only African American female Chief Justice in the USA. You can watch an ad for Justice Beasley here: Chef Justice Cheri Beasley

More information is below. I hope you will read it.

Please RSVP here or to [email protected] to receive a calendar invite with the Zoom link. We hope you will join us on September 9 at 8 PM EST. Please invite anyone else you know who may be interested as well! Please do NOT share the Zoom link with others, once you get it.

If you can’t attend but want to donate anyway, you can do so here:

 https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ncdigital?refcode=sept9

In this issue:

• Why I’m supporting Ed Markey, Christine Barber, Helina Fontes and Pat Jehlen in the Democratic Primary
• A short guide on how to vote in the primary election – by mail, vote early in person, or on September 1 in person

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Why I’m supporting Ed Markey, Christine Barber, Helina Fontes and Pat Jehlen in the Democratic Primary

I’m writing to share with you who I am supporting in the Democratic Primary election.  Election Day for the Primary is Tuesday, September 1, but this year voters also have the option of voting by mail or voting early starting August 22.  See the end of this newsletter for detailed information.

Here’s why I am endorsing these candidates.  I am interested in your thoughts and would discuss my choices with you over the phone.  Thank you for your consideration of my opinions.

U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & Senator Ed Markey, co-sponsors of the Green New Deal

Ed Markey for U.S. Senate

For 37 years, Ed Markey did a superb job as a U.S. Representative in Congress, and he has been a tremendously effective leader in the Senate for the past seven years.  He has worked closely with Senator Elizabeth Warren to ensure Massachusetts has a strong voice on the issues that matter most to us, and she has endorsed him.

Ed Markey has been a leader on so many critical issues for the future of our country and our planet. It's easy to forget about Markey, especially given the prominence and charisma of Elizabeth Warren.  Markey goes about his job with quiet, unassuming dedication. Even though the Senate has become a black hole where good policy goes to die since Mitch McConnell and the Republicans took it over in 2014, Markey continues to give America hope as the originator of bold legislative ideas such as:

• The Green New Deal
• Restoration of Net Neutrality
• Prohibition of first-use of nuclear weapons
• Revocation of "qualified immunity" for police
• Support for a Constitutional amendment to completely overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision which allows unlimited campaign contributions by corporations and wealthy individuals.

I first met Ed Markey in 1984, when I was working on the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign for a non-profit organization in Brookline called the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies.  This was the time when President Ronald Reagan was talking about fighting and winning a “limited” nuclear war.  The Freeze Campaign put a million people in the streets of New York City on June 12, 1984 to protest against this insane idea, and Ed Markey was that movement’s champion in Congress.  He secured Senator Ted Kennedy’s support for the Freeze proposal and got it passed through Congress in opposition to the Reagan Administration’s policies.  In recent years, Ed has been a leader on nuclear non-proliferation issues in Congress.

Markey has been a passionate advocate for environmental causes.  He is best known as the primary Senate sponsor of the Green New Deal, which if passed would transform energy use and the economy in the U.S. and create millions of new, good jobs to build up our nation’s renewable energy infrastructure.  He’s also a leader in energy policy and helped create the legislation that enabled President Obama to negotiate a 54.5 mpg fuel-economy standard for the 2025 model year.  Markey has stood up to oil companies and toxic waste polluters.  

Markey has been the main architect of federal telecommunications policy, guiding the creation of millions of jobs — including many in Massachusetts. He is a national leader promoting an innovation economy. He has been a staunch advocate for consumers, taking on monopolies in the cable television, telephone, and electricity markets.  

Ed Markey will continue to lead the fight to support health insurance for all, to protect women’s reproductive choices, and for gun control.  Long before it became popular and mainstream, he was an advocate for gay rights and equality under law for gays and lesbians, and for equal pay for women.  He is a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights.

If you believe that America needs powerful solutions to systemic problems like climate change, racial injustice, and the dysfunction of our democracy, vote for this principled and accomplished leader who has devoted more than 40 years of his life to public service.

The challenger for Markey’s seat is Joe Kennedy, the U.S. Rep from the 4^th Congressional District.  Kennedy is presenting himself as a younger, more energetic, progressive voice for the future.  It is true that he is younger, but Joe Kennedy is not more energetic than Ed Markey and he is certainly not more progressive.  Most important, Ed Markey has, over and over, for decades, developed and championed some of the most important and most significant legislation in Congress.  He has a record of putting forward big ideas, big plans, and big legislation and getting a lot of it passed.  Joe Kennedy does not come close to these accomplishments.  Yes, Markey may be old, but he is not tired, as evidenced by his introduction and championing of the Green New Deal in recent years.  Joe Kennedy would be a decent Senator for Massachusetts, I am sure, but he will not be the visionary and leader that Ed Markey is.

I did some phone banking for the Markey Campaign this week.  It was a wonderful experience talking to voters, whether they support Markey or not.  Many people I spoke with actually thanked me for calling them!  If you would like to help Markey get re-elected, they need volunteers to phone bank to reach voters and to get out the vote.  If you can help, please go to: edmarkey.us/metronorthgotv  

If you would like a yard sign, you can order one here: tinyurl.com/MarkeyYardSigns

(I have a few extra yard signs; if you want to stop by at my house and get one please email me and I will leave it for you with your name on it.)

Christine Barber for State Representative, 34^th Middlesex District (Wards 4 & 7 in Somerville and parts of South Medford)

If you live in the 34th Middlesex District I urge you to vote to re-elect Christine Barber (www.christinebarber.org).  She has done a terrific job of representing Somerville.  She has championed a bunch of home rule petitions that the City Council passed on a range of issues.  She has been a leader in the State House on health care reform, affordable housing, environmental issues, public health, criminal justice reform, police reform and racial justice.  She is a strong advocate for working families, public education, good jobs, responsible development, public transportation and the Green Line extension. 

I have known Christine Barber for 10 years.  She is a smart, honest, hardworking, and experienced community leader and advocate on the local and state levels and brought those skills and experiences to the State House.  She is thoughtful, articulate, personable and really connects with people.  She knows how to work with other State Reps and the leadership of the State House to get things done.  She brings people together to come up with solutions.  Here is an article that shows the trust, respect and confidence that she inspires in community leaders: https://somerville.wickedlocal.com/news/20200720/column-somerville-residents-of-color-support-barber-for-re-election

The challenger for this seat, Anna Callahan, is someone I like and respect.  But Christine Barber has been doing an excellent job under challenging circumstances and deserves to be re-elected.  Callahan’s main criticism of Barber’s record is that Barber has been unwilling to fight the State House leadership and Speaker Robert DeLeo on a bunch of internal governance issues related to transparency and the non-democratic and dictatorial way the House functions under the current leadership.  Unfortunately, Speaker DeLeo and his leadership team do run the State House in an unconscionable way.  But they have the support of a large majority of members in doing so. 

So progressive State Reps like Christine Barber are faced with a terrible choice: They can fight the Speaker, but then he will use his power to put them in a position where they have very little influence or power to pass legislation to help the people they represent.  Or, they can make compromises with the powers-that-be, get along to some extent, and retain the ability to get some important legislation passed.  I believe either of these approaches in the State House is reasonable.  It is an unfortunate choice, but an unavoidable one at this time.  I would not criticize a State Rep who fights the powers that be and can’t get significant legislation passed.  Nor would I criticize a State Rep who makes some compromises so that they can get policies and legislation passed that will change things for the better and improve their constituents’ lives.  Hopefully, some day in the not-too-distant future, enough State Reps will be willing to fight the Speaker to force a change in the rules of the House so that there is transparency and democracy in that body.   I am confident that Christine Barber will be part of that movement when the time comes.

 Erika Uyterhoeven         Catia Sharp

No endorsement for State Representative 27^th Middlesex District -- Catia Sharp vs. Erika Uyterhoeven for the seat being vacated by Denise Provost (most of Somerville)

I have decided not to make an endorsement in the race to fill the seat that Denise Provost is vacating.  We voters have a difficult choice between two capable, experienced, progressive, but very different candidates.

I want to thank and honor Denise Provost for her service as our State Rep and before that as an Alderman-at-Large.  In both positions she has been a principled, forceful, smart and a persistent advocate for progressive legislation.  Hers will be big shoes to fill.

The candidates, Catia Sharp (https://sharpforsomerville.com) and Erika Uyterhoeven (https://www.electerika.com), each bring significant abilities and experience to the table.  Both are progressive and support necessary legislation on the full range of key issues like affordable housing, health care, public health, policing and the criminal justice system, and climate change. Either one would do a good job of representing our district in the State House.  We are fortunate to have this difficult choice!

However, I believe they will have very different approaches to the job.  As I wrote above, I believe there are two very different approaches that a progressive State Rep can take to the job at this time.  I will let you decide which one you think is best for our district, the City of Somerville and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Let me spell out what I see as the primary significant difference between these two impressive candidates.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo and his leadership team run (dominate might be a better word) the State House in a non-democratic and dictatorial manner.  But they have the support of a large majority of members in doing so.  Votes are often not recorded or unavailable to the public, legislation dies in Committee without any report as to why, and there is little transparency.  It is not clear to me that this will change in the next few years…but who knows; many unexpected things do happen in politics. 

As I discussed above in reference to Christine Barber, currently, and for the foreseeable future, a progressive State Representative is faced with a terrible choice: They can fight the Speaker, but then he will use his power to put them in a position where they have little influence or power to pass legislation to help the people they represent.  Or, they can make compromises with the powers-that-be, get along to some extent, and retain the ability to get some important legislation passed.  This is a horrible choice to have to make, especially in a state like ours which is supposed to be progressive.

I believe that it is reasonable and honorable for a progressive State Rep to take either of these approaches in the State House.  It is a sad, frustrating, enraging and unfortunate choice, but an unavoidable one.  I would not criticize a State Rep who fights the powers that be and can’t get significant legislation passed.  Nor would I criticize a State Rep who makes some compromises so that they can get some progressive policies and legislation passed that will change things for the better and improve their constituents’ lives.  (Compromise is essential to getting things done in politics.)  Hopefully, some day in the not-too-distant future, enough State Reps will be willing to fight the Speaker’s power to force a change in the rules of the House so that there is transparency and democracy in that body.   

I have met face-to-face with both Catia Sharp and Erika Uyterhoeven, read their materials, researched their backgrounds, read many articles about them, attended several debates, and spoken with many people who are more knowledgeable than I am about the workings of the State House.  I believe that, if elected, Sharp would be an effective policy advocate and legislator and would work well with colleagues to get things done.  On the other hand, Uyterhoeven will fight the Speaker and his leadership team from the get-go (she has already been doing this from the outside as an advocate), and will stand on principle and help lead the charge for more transparency and democracy in the State House, which could lead to more progressive legislation.  (There will need to be changes in the State House leadership and rules if the progressive legislation that Somerville needs to deal with our serious problems is to pass.)  Which is the best approach?  I do not know so I am not making an endorsement.  But I believe that either of these candidates will do a good job of representing us.

Helina Fontes for Governor’s Council, District 6 (includes Somerville, Medford, Cambridge, parts of Boston and more than a dozen surrounding cities and towns)

I am supporting Helina Fontes (www.helinafontes.com) for Governor’s Council because she would bring a community-based and much-needed perspective to the Governor’s Council.  Her experience as a leader working in social service and mental health organizations will bring awareness and knowledge about the people who are often affected by judges’ decisions and the criminal justice system.

In case you -- like most voters -- don’t know what the Governor’s Council does: The Massachusetts Governor’s Council meets weekly to record advice and consent on warrants for the state treasury, pardons and commutations, and recording advice and consent to gubernatorial appointments such as judges, clerk-magistrates, public administrators, members of the Parole Board, Appellate Tax Board, Industrial Accident Board and Industrial Accident Reviewing Board, Notaries and Justices of the Peace.  These are important Boards and positions, and their decisions and actions affect thousands of peoples’ lives.

Helina Fontes has years of experience working in nonprofits, and human services, working directly with individuals impacted by mental health, addiction, incarceration and other traumatic life events. She is currently the Program Director of a Mental Health non-profit located in the Northeast region, with offices located in Lynn, Lawrence, Lowell and Malden. Under her leadership, her program promotes and supports recovery, which enables the persons served to remain and reintegrate into their communities

Her personal and professional experiences working with the Massachusetts judicial system will inform her work on the Governors Council, which is responsible for vetting and approving judicial nominations and appointments, commuting sentences, and appointing probation and parole board officers.

She wrote on her website, “As a woman of color, I have seen and experienced first-hand the devastating impacts that our current justice system has on individuals, families and communities. As a mother, I have endured the pain of my own son’s incarceration. As a program director, I have witnessed individuals in mental health distress sent to jails and prisons who would have been more appropriately served by community-based treatment programs.”

I have never met Helina Fontes and I do not know a great deal about her.  But the incumbent in this position, Terrence Kennedy, who I have met at the Memorial Day Parade, does not communicate about the issues before the Governor’s Council or about his votes.  As far as I can tell, he does not even have a website, and his Facebook page has little substantive information on it.  The only time we hear from him is when he is up for re-election.  After 10 years of this non-representation, it is time for a change.

Pat Jehlen for State Senate 2^nd Middlesex District (Somerville, Medford, Winchester and North Cambridge)

Please vote to re-elect Pat Jehlen (https://www.patjehlen.org) to the State Senate.  Pat Jehlen has set the standard for what an elected official can accomplish and how an elected official should serve their constituents.  And she has been doing this for decades.  In my work as an elected official, Pat Jehlen has been an inspiration and a shining example to me of how it should be done.

Her progressive credentials are unquestionable.  She was supporting progressive policies long before they were popular in Somerville and often paid the price as she was criticized mercilessly by more-conservative politicians and newspaper publishers in the City for years. She has never hesitated to take a principled stand, even when that stand was unpopular.  She has worked hard and communicated effectively to convince many people to re-examine their views on a wide range of issues.  She is a superb communicator and publishes a detailed newsletter that informs us about important issues and debates.

In addition to being outspoken (in a quiet but effective way), Pat Jehlen has been able to attain leadership positions in the State Senate where she has had a major impact by crafting progressive legislation and ensuring enactment of pay equity, criminal justice reform, education reform, healthcare expansion and climate justice.

A short guide on how to vote in the primary election – by mail, vote early in person, or on September 1 in person

Election Day for the Democratic Primary is Tuesday, September 1, but this year voters have two other options: voting by mail or voting early.  Voting is more complicated this year than in the past due to these three options.  Don’t hesitate to call or email the Somerville City Elections Dept. if you have questions: [email protected] or call Constituent Services -- 311 from a landline or (617) 666-3311 from a cell phone.

Many voters received an application for an absentee ballot in the mail but if you didn’t you can request an application from your City Elections Dept. or the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office.  You can find the application for an absentee ballot here: https://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-vote-by-mail-application-primary.pdf or here: www.MailMyBallotMA.com

In Somerville and Medford, there will be early voting at City Hall every day from Saturday August 22 through Friday August 28.  In Cambridge, early voting is on the same days, but there are several different locations.

You can also vote at the polling place in your precinct on Tuesday, September 1, just as we have always done.  Please note that in Somerville, the locations of five polling places have been changed, so you may want to check the City Elections Dept website if you are going to vote on September 1: https://www.somervillema.gov/elections

If you live in Medford, you can contact Janice Joyce, Executive Secretary, [email protected]
781-393-2491 or go to: http://www.medfordma.org/departments/voter-registration/

If you live in Cambridge, contact your City Elections Dept, [email protected] or go to https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/electioncommission

I hope this has been helpful!  If I can be of any help to you figuring out how to vote, please call or email me

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

[email protected]

(617) 629-8033

www.markniedergang.com

Sara Gideon, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine; Me making phone calls to voters in swing states

In this issue:

• Please join me and Somerville Democrats this Sunday, July 26, 3-5 pm (and/or any Sunday through November 1) and every Tuesday evening from 6-8 pm for a virtual phone bank from the comfort of your home. Call voters in key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Maine to help elect Joe Biden and flip the Senate to the Democrats.
• Why I am asking you to use your voice to save our democracy, our country and the world: Phone banking is the most impactful and powerful thing YOU can do to get rid of President Trump and flip the U.S. Senate to Democratic control. 

Please join me and Somerville Democrats this Sunday, July 26, 3-5 pm (and/or any Sunday through November 1) and every Tuesday evening from 6-8 pm for a virtual phone bank from the comfort of your home.  Call voters in key swing states such as Pennsylvania and Maine to help elect Joe Biden and flip the Senate to the Democrats.

Here are links to sign up, and a link to the Somerville Democrats National Organizing 2020 page, where you can sign up to get notices each week about phone banking opportunities:

Sign up for the Sunday, July 26, 3-5 pm phone bank: here

Sign up for the Tuesday evening, July 28, 6-8 pm phone bank: here

Get on the Somerville Democrats email list for future phone banks: here

I’ve been calling swing states with the Somerville Democrats every Sunday afternoon for the past two months and Tuesday evenings when I don’t have a meeting.  It’s been really fun to gather virtually with friends and neighbors and talk to voters in key swing states about voting for Joe Biden and other Democrats.  And it feels super meaningful to actually be doing the most impactful think we can do to win back our country – talking to voters. 

Winning this election is all about voter contact.  And phone calls are the warmest form of voter contact by far in our current Covid reality. If likely Democrat voters actually vote – as they did in 2008 and 2012 for Barack Obama. but did not in 2016 for Hillary Clinton – Joe Biden will win.  Many of these Democratic voters are not regular voters and will need encouragement, nudging, and human contact with other voters. This is especially true this year due to the novelty of voting by mail and health concerns about voting in person due to Covid-19.

We start the phone banks with a Zoom meeting where everyone introduces themselves, says a quick hello and shares why they are there.   There is a quick orientation to the script, and training for those who are new to phone banking.  And then people start calling voters. 

We’re fortunate to have Zachary Going (a young SomDems leader) as our Captain on Sundays calling voters in Pennsylvania and other swing states.  He is a super warm guy and does a great job of making new callers feel welcome.  He conducts the training and helps people who are new to phone banking get set up.  Zach is available on Zoom to answer questions and deal with any challenges for the full two hours. 

Richard Wood runs the Tuesday evening Maine phone banks in the same warm, friendly and helpful fashion.  The goal of the Maine phone banks is to defeat Republican Senator Susan Collins to help flip the Senate, win Maine for Biden, and re-elect Jared Golden to the U.S. House of Representatives.  We will be working with the Maine Democratic Party and the campaign of Sara Gideon, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine.

We started the Sunday phone banks with less than a dozen callers and now we are up to two dozen plus…and growing.  This past Sunday July 19 we had 44 people calling voters in Pennsylvania!  We need your participation.  It takes an army to win a national election! 

It is exciting and rewarding to be actively doing something to change our country’s leadership and politics for the better and to be part of an enormous and growing national movement to win the November 3 election for the Democrats.  We need more, as many volunteers as possible, to achieve our goals: win the Presidency, flip the Senate, and win control of more state legislatures.  These changes would improve tens of millions of Americans’ lives.   I believe this election may be a once in a generation, perhaps a once in a lifetime, opportunity to shift the course of our nation, the world, and history.

I hope you will join us this Sunday, July 26, 3-5 pm, next Tuesday, July 28 from 6-8 PM, and/or on future Sundays or Tuesdays as you are available.  

Why I am asking you to use your voice to save our democracy, our country and the world: Phone banking is the most impactful and powerful thing YOU can do to get rid of President Trump and flip the U.S. Senate to Democratic control. 

Phone banking is not as unpleasant and uncomfortable as you may fear.  It can even be fun!  If you are hesitant to make phone calls to strangers, you are not alone. 

So I beg you to reconsider.  I beg you to try out phone banking.  I beg you to try to work through your discomfort and unease and do what needs to be done to help save our democracy, our country and the world.  (This is no exaggeration: four more years of President Trump and Republicans stopping progress in dealing with climate change may doom us and especially our children to a world of constant, deadly environmental catastrophes.)  Phone calls to the key swing states are the most impactful and powerful thing we can do now to affect the outcome of the November 3 election. 

You may think that calling strangers will be uncomfortable, but it’s different this year.    To my surprise, I have found these phone calls to be warmer and more enjoyable than I expected.  Like so many people, I have avoided making political phone calls in the past.  But this year is different, for two reasons.  Due to the Coronavirus epidemic, people are less busy, more isolated, and more willing to talk with a stranger.  And voters understand how critically important this election is for the future of our country.   

Please give me 3 ½ minutes more of your time to watch this video of Rebecca Riccio, a single mom and educator, and a volunteer with Swing Left Boston. She explains why making phone calls to voters is something you should do, better than I ever could: watch video

Here’s an excerpt: “Before you say phone banking is not for me, please hear me out while I explain why I am asking you to use your voice to save our democracy…Covid-19 is going to make voting tricky this year.  Many people will be voting by mail for the first time.  Others will have to take special precautions to vote safely in person.  We need an army of volunteers making sure everyone who wants to vote is registered, knows how to vote, and can vote safely.  Doing this by phone is essential.”

To those of you who have been writing postcards and letters to voters in key swing states, urging them to register to vote, to sign up to vote by mail, and to make sure to vote in the November 3 election, I say “Thank you and bless you.”  Don’t stop!

Postcards and letters are making a huge difference.  For example, there are now 400,000 more Democrats signed up to vote by mail in Florida than there are Republicans.  In 2018, it was even.  This is largely the result of postcards and phone calls to follow them up to Florida Democratic voters.  This is so important because research has shown that in past elections, Florida Democrats who are signed up to vote by mail actually vote at an 87% rate, whereas Florida voters who are not signed up to vote by mail actually vote at only a 55% rate.  So vote by mail is a super get-out-the-vote tool!  And, as important, it will help people stay safe.

Postcards and letters are complimentary to phone calls – some people will never answer a phone call from a stranger.  (But we can and do leave messages.)  So please, don’t stop writing those postcards and letters!

Phone banking is the gold standard of campaigning now and the key for Democrats to win the November 3 election.  Please stretch yourself and try it out.

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

[email protected]

(617) 629-8033

www.markniedergang.com

In this issue:

• Please join me this Sunday July 26, 6-8 pm -- and/or any Sunday for the next 15 weeks - for a virtual phone bank with voters in the key swing state of North Carolina (NC)
• North Carolina is a critical state for Democrats to win on November 3. Learn how you can help flip the U.S.  Senate, elect Joe Biden President, pick up two seats in Congress, flip the NC Legislature and end gerrymandering &  voter suppression in NC

(Please note: I usually send only one email a month to this list, but the upcoming national election is likely the most important election of our lives.  We have the opportunity for a Democratic landslide that would change our country, the world and the future for the better.  I will be writing to you again tomorrow about phone banking with the Somerville Democrats every Tuesday evening to Maine and Sunday afternoons to Pennsylvania and other key swing states.)

****************

Please join me this Sunday July 26, 6-8 pm -- and/or any Sunday for the next 15 weeks --  for a virtual phone bank from the comfort of your home to talk with voters in the key swing state of North Carolina (NC)

Here is the link to sign up to phone bank to NC this Sunday evening or any Sunday evening:

Phone banking is rewarding, and it may even be fun!

I have decided to focus my political work and energy for the next 15 weeks on winning North Carolina for the Democrats on November 3.  I hope you will join me if you are not already engaged in volunteer work to win the November 3 national election for the Democrats. 

Why North Carolina?

President Trump’s popularity and polling numbers have dived as the Covid-19 epidemic and the economy worsened around the country and in the key swing states.  While Americans’ views of Black Lives Matter and racism have gone through dramatic change, President Trump is still appealing to White Nationalists.  Covid-19 and the economy are only going to get worse in the next 15 weeks.  I believe that Trump will likely lose the November 3 election – and by a lot.  Whether we agree or not with this conclusion, we still need to look beyond the presidential election to the Senate in order to stop the Republicans from using that chamber of Congress to block any major legislation and continue to appoint conservative judges.

If Joe Biden will be our next President, we must win the U.S. Senate for the Democrats so that Biden and Democrats are able to pass major legislation that will actually make a real difference in the lives of Americans and begin to address the huge unsolved problems that are destroying our country.  This could, in turn, usher in a generation or more of Democratic dominance of our national politics, with a resulting transformation of our nation for the better.  Therefore, in my view, flipping the Senate so that Democrats control it should be our top goal for the next 15 weeks.

So which are the most important U.S. Senate races to work on?  The answer is Maine and North Carolina.  Here is how I came to that conclusion.  The Democrats need to pick up three seats net to win the Senate, if Biden is our next President. (The Vice President breaks a tie if the Senate is split 50-50).  Democrats are likely to lose the Alabama Senate seat held by Doug Jones.  So that means the Democrats will need to flip four Senate seats currently held by Republicans to gain control of the Senate.  The consensus analysis is that Colorado and Arizona lean Democratic, and they have strong Dem Senate candidates, John Hickenlooper and Mark Kelly, so those two states are likely to flip to the Democrats.   Dems must win two more seats to control the Senate.  Maine and North Carolina are considered to be the two other most likely states the Democrats could pick up – they are tossup races, they could go either way.   Thus, the biggest difference we Democratic blue states like Massachusetts can make is to work on swinging Maine and NC to the Democrats.

I am not saying that working on Senate races in Colorado and Arizona is not important, it is very important.  There are a bunch of other states where Senate seats may flip to the Democrats as well, such as Georgia, Texas, Iowa, and Montana.  These are all important races and well worth getting involved in if you have a connection to these states.  But Maine and North Carolina seem the most likely to flip at this point in time.

Maine is our neighbor, many of us know people there, so Maine is a natural for us to focus on.  But there are already a huge number of people in Massachusetts working to defeat Republican Senator Susan Collins in Maine, and this work has been going on for months.  On the other hand, very few people in our region are paying attention to the Senate race or anything in North Carolina, and there are not nearly as many volunteers from outside  NC making phone calls there.  North Carolina is also a large state, with 15 electoral college votes compared to Maine’s two. Winning NC will require a huge effort.

A big Democratic win in NC will not only flip the Senate to the Democrats, it can also help elect Joe Biden President by a larger margin, pick up two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, flip the NC Legislature and end gerrymandering and voter suppression in NC.  These wins would make a huge difference in the lives of millions of people in North Carolina, especially in the African American community there, which has been the target of Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression.

North Carolina needs our help more than any other state if we are to change things for the better in our country in the next few years.

Once I concluded this analysis, I started learning about North Carolina.  Two weeks ago, I didn’t even know the name of the Dem Senate candidate in NC – Cal Cunningham!  I am learning about NC politics as quickly as I can.  But we must act now to win this election.  Swing Left Boston and Together for 2020 (a coalition of progressive groups in MA working on the 2020 election) is organizing a bunch of phone banks into NC.  I can’t emphasize this point enough: phone calls to voters is the most impactful and powerful way to win this election (since doorknocking is out of the question).  Sending letters and postcards and texting are valuable, and complimentary, but if you want to have the biggest impact for your volunteer time, spend it talking to voters.  Winning elections is all about voter contact.   I encourage you to try to work through your discomfort and give phone banking a try.  You may be surprised.

I am working with my nephew Sam Weiss, an experienced political campaigner, to build a phone bank to NC that will hopefully grow to several dozen callers within a few months.  I invite you to join us this Sunday at 6 pm if you can, or any Sunday for the next 15 weeks.

We will begin our phone bank with a Zoom meeting where everyone will introduce themselves and say a few words about why they care about winning this election.  Then we will orient callers to the simple script.  Everyone stays on the Zoom meeting while they call.  Sam or I will continue to be available on Zoom to answer any questions and help with any technical issues or the script.  We will be calling unenrolled voters (no party) who are likely to lean Democratic.  At about 7:50, at the end of the phone bank, we will all get back together on Zoom to debrief and reconnect with the other callers.

We will help volunteers get set up with an account and an “Action ID” and log in to use the Virtual Phone Bank system.  I love this system, it is easy to use (even for old technophobe dinosaurs like me).  The voter’s name and phone number show up on your computer screen along with the script and a few drop down responses to fill in.  You use your cell phone or landline to dial .  Most calls go unanswered, but even data such as “Disconnected” or “Wrong Number” is valuable in terms of focusing get-out-the-vote efforts and future phone calling.  You get a live person on the line about 10-20% of the time, depending upon the list.  

To my surprise, I have found these phone calls, especially to southern states like Florida and North Carolina where people are friendlier, to be warmer and more enjoyable than I expected.  Like so many people, I have avoided making political phone calls in the past.  But this year is different, for two reasons.  Due to the Coronavirus epidemic, people are less busy, more isolated, and more willing to talk with a stranger.  And voters understand how critically important this election is for the future of our country.  I can’t promise you the time of your life making phone calls to voters in NC, but I can tell you that of the hundreds of people I have been on Zoom meetings with making phone calls to swing states this year, almost all of them have found it to be worthwhile.

North Carolina is a critical state for Democrats to win on November 3.  Learn how you can help flip the U.S.  Senate, elect Joe Biden President, pick up two seats in Congress, flip the NC Legislature and end gerrymandering and voter suppression in NC

I am pleased to share with you below the first Together for NC weekly newsletter. There is a link to a form where you can sign up to get future newsletters and other notifications about opportunities to help win North Carolina for the Democrats.

There are other phone banks to North Carolina that you can join if you are busy on Sunday nights or want to do more than one phone bank a week.  I encourage you to devote four hours a week – two phone banks – to volunteering to win the November 3 election for the Democrats to help save democracy, our country and the world!  That would be a total of 60 hours over the next 15 weeks.  This is a time-limited commitment; after November 3, the election will be over.   

There are also some links below to learn more about North Carolina if you are interested.  I especially recommend the Swing Left North Carolina Super State Strategy document, it is only three pages long and very informative.

If you are interested in North Carolina politics, please join us this Thursday evening, July 23 from 7-8 pm for a North Carolina Briefing and Strategy Meeting with Steve Schewel, Mayor of  Durham and co-founder of the Durham People’s Alliance, Sarah Shah , NC Dem Party Training Director and Out-of-State Volunteer Coordinator, and Susan Labandibar, the fabulous full-time, unpaid, Co-coordinator of Swing Left Boston.  You can sign up for the strategy call here:

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

[email protected]

(617) 629-8033

www.markniedergang.com

Somerville Police Dept. budget growth 2011 to 2020, compared with inflation

In this issue:

• The Mayor and the City Council are planning major steps to reform the Somerville Police Department (SPD) and to begin reimagining policing in Somerville

• FY 2021 budget -- City Council cut $742,000 (4.4%) from the FY 2020 SPD budget, on top of Mayor Curtatone’s cut of $550,000 (3.3%) for a total cut of $1,292,000 (7.7%)                                                  

* * * * * * * * *

Introduction

This newsletter recaps the discussion over the past two months about policing in Somerville and the Somerville Police Department (SPD).  It describes some of the steps the City Council and the Administration have taken and committed to for the coming year.  And it reports on the Council’s discussions regarding cutting the FY 2021 SPD budget.

This is all a response to the Black Lives Matter and “defund the police” movements involving millions of Americans taking to the streets to protest racial injustice.  What’s happening here in Somerville is the result of mobilization, activism, and demands for change from thousands of Somerville residents, and especially from those who are most affected by police violence -Black people and People of Color.  I am grateful for the many people who have been demonstrating, crying out, organizing, and working for change.  

We received a petition signed by over 4,000 residents calling upon the City to defund the police.  We received a petition signed by over 3,000 people (but many of them not Somerville residents) supporting the SPD.  We have received hundreds and hundreds of emails, almost all of them calling upon the City to defund the police budget by 60% -- and no less than 10% -- and to reallocate the funds for non-police public safety services and programs to help needy residents.  At the public hearing on the FY 2021 budget 150 people testified for six hours.  Almost all the testimony was about cutting the SPD budget.  The Council then spent ten hours over three meetings in late June and July questioning the Mayor and the Chief of Police, and discussing and voting on cuts to the SPD budget.

(Note: The City Council does not have legal power to allocate any funds for expenditure, that is solely up to the Mayor.  The Council can only cut the budget.)

Earlier this year nobody expected this outcry about policing in Somerville and the SPD budget.   Last year, in June 2019, I proposed a $600,000 cut in the SPD budget.  There were no public testimony, emails, or petitions; no public interest at all.  (I would have asked for larger cuts had I thought there was any chance.)  Only one other Councilor, JT Scott, voted with me; that motion failed 9-2.  We ended up cutting $160,000.  That cut – and the larger ones I proposed this year -- were not intended to change policy or reform the SPD.  My goal was just to cut some of the fat in the SPD budget.

The City Council and Mayor did cut the SPD budget this year by 7.7%.  But that is not what is most important.  The Mayor and most Councilors have made explicit commitments to major reforms in how the SPD operates, put funds in the budget, and developed a plan and timeline for working with the community on reimagining and restructuring how policing is to be done in Somerville.  Mayor Curtatone and Councilors Davis, Scott and Mbah, in particular, have put forward detailed plans for both process and substance toward these changes. 

If we elected officials fulfill these commitments, we will see significant changes in the SPD and in how policing is done in Somerville.  The scope of some of the proposed changes is so large that implementation will likely take 3-5 years – if the political will continues to exist.   Continued constituent advocacy will hold our feet to the fire, so please keep it up!

(If you are interested in the overall City budget, you can see it, as well as the Mayor’s presentation, here: https://www.somervillema.gov/fy21budget )

The Mayor and the City Council are planning major steps to reform the Somerville Police Department (SPD) and to begin reimagining policing in Somerville

I, and I believe most Councilors, have spent hundreds of hours over the past two months listening to and talking with community members, reading emails and reports, and discussing police reform and restructuring.  We have heard calls and proposals to restructure the SPD and change policing in Somerville.  We will be looking at what that would mean operationally.

While I favor many of these proposals, the details matter and need to be worked through carefully in order to implement effective reforms and restructuring.  This will take some time, but I hope that over the next year, the City can begin to make changes in how we do policing.  I expect that the FY 2022 police budget will look different from the one the Council has approved for this year.

The Council has already made changes in the past 2 ½ years in how we deal with police issues in Somerville.  You can find a summary of those changes, “Work that we have done to increase accountability and transparency around policing,” in Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen’s June 14^th newsletter, https://mailchi.mp/c2d2a40b9107/ward-3-newsletter-june-14-2020-policing-and-accountability-in-somerville

Here are a few of the proposals for major change that I expect will be seriously considered:

• A civilian review board with real power to oversee the police and investigate allegations of police brutality and misbehavior.
• An ordinance to ban racial profiling.
• Changes to the 911 dispatch system which might transfer it from the Police Department, with some calls to be responded to by a team of EMTs, mental health workers, social workers, youth workers, drug counselors or others with more professional expertise in helping people in trouble than police officers have.  
• A proposal from 40 social workers, psychologists, and mental health counselors in Somerville to establish such a team outside of the SPD to respond to people in crisis in a more effective way than an armed police officer can.
• Body cameras on all police officers: The Mayor has been trying to implement body cameras on police officers in negotiations with the two Somerville police unions for five years.  

There are, in addition, many important proposals in the State Legislature relating to police.   The City does not have authority over these policies.  Some of them are:

• ending police officer immunity from prosecution;
• certification of all police officers and decertification when abuses have been committed;
• appointing a special prosecutor in cases of alleged police brutality or criminal activity;
• changing civil service procedures by which police officers are hired;
• reforming the process by which state bodies arbitrate City and union contract negotiations when an impasse is reached.

The Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus released a “Ten-Point Plan to Address Police Violence and Advance Racial Justice,”  see : https://www.mablacklatinocaucus.com/our-work/mbllc-and-other-elected-officials-of-color-call-for-reforms-in-the-wake-of-anti-police-brutality-protests

The Administration’s and the Council’s response

While I wish that the Mayor had cut more than 3.3% from the SPD budget, the Administration has been responsive to the community’s calls for change.  (I also wish the Council would have cut more than 4.4% from the SPD budget; see discussion below.)   The Administration has taken a series of major steps and budgeted $1,250,000 to discuss with the community and plan changes in policing in Somerville.  The Council has supported all of this, in some cases pushing to go further and faster.

Both the Administration and the Council have insisted that Black people, People of Color and those who are “closest to the pain” will be consulted and have a seat at the table.  A full $1 million of the funds in the Mayor’s Racial and Social Justice Project (RSJ) has been reserved to be spent on community  involvement in the decision-making process and for initiatives to be determined by the Director of Racial and Social Justice, working especially with “those groups most impacted by systemic racism and social inequality.”   At Councilor Davis’s urging, the Mayor has agreed to put $250,000 into the City Council’s budget to pay for public involvement and meetings.  This sum may seem large, but there will be many unusual costs in holding public meetings due to Covid-19.  Virtual meetings are unlikely to engage a true representation and cross-section of the community.

Let me review some of the steps the Mayor has taken.  On June 3 he declared that “systemic racism is a public health and safety emergency” and issued a 10-point policy plan -- a major step forward.   (See https://www.somervillema.gov/policereform)  Soon after, the SPD adopted all “8 Can’t Wait” policies advocated by Campaign Zero and the Mayor signed the Obama Foundation pledge to address police use of force.   

On June 29, the Mayor unveiled the Racial and Social Justice Project (RSJ) initiative with a Director who reports directly to the Mayor:  “Under the coordination of the RSJ Director, these funds will provide for a community-led effort to reimagine policing in Somerville, establish civilian oversight of the police department, and identify new investments to dismantle systemic racism and social injustice.”  For a description of the Racial and Social Justice Project, see: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Communication.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=3191&MediaPosition=&ID=2396&CssClass=

On July 7, the City Council received a memo, “FY21 General Fund budget update: reinvesting funding from Police Department cuts,” describing how the $742,000 that the Council cut from the SPD budget will be used to address critical needs in Somerville.   The Mayor proposed, and the Council will likely approve, adding staff and funding to the Office of Housing Stability, two bilingual social workers and a Clinical Youth Specialist in Health and Human Services, and desperately needed funds to help people with rent, food, transportation, and jobs. 

The memo states, “COVID-19 has laid bare the systemic racism and social injustice in our country. The most vulnerable members of our community before the pandemic are now those most susceptible to the health and economic impacts of the crisis… In addition to transferring an additional $250,000 to the Racial and Social Justice Fund…the revised budget will include several critical investments to address long-standing needs in our community that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 public health and economic crises.” See http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Communication.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=3188&MediaPosition=&ID=2389&CssClass=

Over the past two months, there has been a great deal of public discussion about the performance of the SPD and its relationship with the community.  I worked in the SPD half-time from 1995-1998 as the Grant Manager.  I know many current and former SPD officers, some of them for 25 years.  I value these relationships.  When I worked in the SPD it was commonly referred to as the “House of Hate” -- by the police officers themselves!  That phrase actually appeared in print as a headline in the Somerville Journal.  The SPD was a deeply troubled and dysfunctional organization then.  There has been tremendous change and improvement since then; Mayor Curtatone and current Chief David Fallon deserve major credit for many of those changes.   

But the SPD still has a ways to go to become what many in the community expect it to be.  I must acknowledge that my understanding of the nature and extent of problems with the SPD’s relationship to the community have been influenced by the emails I have read and especially the testimony that I have heard over the past two months.  Many more people than I had realized, especially Black people,  People of Color and immigrants, have been mistreated by SPD officers for  years. 

I continue to believe that the vast majority of SPD officers perform their jobs decently, legally and with compassion.  I respect and appreciate our police officers.  The officers who are out on our streets 24/7/365 responding to calls for help and distress face the possibility of injury or death every day they go to work.  The stress they endure in their job does physical and emotional damage to them and their families.  Theirs is a hard job.  Many of them are extremely well paid, but they make big sacrifices in performing their duties.

Police misconduct and violence are serious problems that need to be addressed more forcefully than they have been.  The Mayor’s proposal to transfer investigation and discipline for police officer misconduct from the SPD to an independent entity is a step the City needs to take as soon as possible. 

Another big problem is that the mission of the SPD no longer fits the problems in our City. The huge amount of money -- $17 million -- we spend on the SPD could be used in ways that would have a far more positive impact on our community. 

The data on calls for service show that around 90% of the calls that SPD officers go to are not crimes and are not violent.  Many of these calls could be dealt with by unarmed responders, and could be better dealt with by professionals with different backgrounds and training than police officers have.  And these professionals would cost a lot less than sworn police officers do, so we could get more of them for the funds that we budget for public safety.

Index crime in Somerville declined 69% between 1987 and 2018.  During that same period the number of police officers declined by only 15%.  We spend way more money on the police than is necessary to assure public safety in Somerville.  Funds are desperately needed to help people in need.  This is even  truer now with the Covid-19 recession, job losses, poverty and threat of eviction and homelessness that many of the most vulnerable people in Somerville are facing. 

Somerville Police budget compared to other public good programs combined

FY 2021 budget -- City Council cut $742,000 (4.4%) from the FY 2020 SPD budget, on top of Mayor Curtatone’s cut of $550,000 (3.3%) for a total cut of $1,292,000 (7.7%)                                              

The City Council discussed and voted on cuts in the SPD budget in three meetings for 10 hours.  On June 29, Councilor JT Scott presented a proposal for what a radically reconceived police department cut by 60% might look like, and how the funds cut from the SPD budget could be utilized to provide public safety response and services.  His memo, titled “Reflections on the Demands of #DefundSPD,” is here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Communication.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=3183&MediaPosition=&ID=2386&CssClass=

I praised Councilor Scott’s proposal as a serious and worthy “thought experiment.”  I  said we need this kind of concrete and detailed attempt to lay out how to restructure public safety in order to move forward.  However, I do not believe it is feasible to cut any large City department’s budget by 60% with only a few weeks’ discussion and planning.  Nor is it possible to establish new City departments, staff them, and get them operational in a few months’ time.   

Before this meeting, I also sent a memo to the Council and Administration.  My memo proposed a $2.1 million dollar cut (12.5%) in the $17 million SPD budget.  You can see my memo and the detailed budget cuts I suggested here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Communication.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=3183&MediaPosition=&ID=2387&CssClass=

At the June 29 meeting, the Council discussed the salaries line item in the SPD budget, which includes the 130 sworn officers and 16 civilians in the SPD.  36 (38%) of the sworn officers are superior officers, supervisors, making at least $100,000 a year.  A little top-heavy, in my opinion. My memo suggested a $1.8 million dollar cut in salaries, most of it by cutting nine superior officers, and six vacant patrol officer positions.  After I presented these cuts there were a lot of questions, objections and concerns from Councilors.  It was clear that there would not be even close to a majority supporting cuts of that magnitude.  So I proposed an alternative set of cuts of about $1.2 million -- $593,000 in funds likely to be unspent by SPD at the end of the fiscal year (the average unspent from the last four years’ budgets), $196,500 by cutting one of the two Deputy Chief positions (a non-union position and one Deputy Chief is planning to retire in the coming year), and $390,000 by not filling the six vacant patrol positions.  You can see my rationale for these cuts in the memo.   

There was extensive discussion and debate, which you can see if you care to watch the video of the meeting here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=3183  Chief of Police Dave Fallon stated that the SPD had lined up candidates for the six vacant patrol positions, including two black males and a female Dreamer (an undocumented immigrant who came to the U.S. as a child).  It has been a priority for the Mayor, the Chief and the Council to further diversify the SPD; we all want more women and People of Color police officers.  Councilors agonized with what some perceived as a choice between cutting the budget and further diversifying the SPD.  I and several other Councilors argued that this was actually a false choice; the SPD would be able to hire these six new officers anyway due to openings from retirements expected in the coming year.  Ultimately, six Councilors voted against the proposed $1.2 million cut with four in favor.  The Council than voted unanimously for a $650,000 cut in the salaries line item.  This represents a mere $57,000 above what we expected to be left over, unspent, at the end of the fiscal year.

On Monday, July 2, with Councilor Rossetti leading the way, the Council voted to cut an additional $92,000 from the $550,000 SPD Operations and Maintenance budget.  The Council unanimously passed a resolution asking the Mayor to reinvest the cut funds in the RSJ and other, desperately-needed staff and services.

Seeing budget reinvestment of those $742,000,  I was inspired by how much those reinvestments would help needy people in Somerville.  I decided to try again to further cut the SPD budget in order to reinvest those funds.  At the Council meeting of July 9, I proposed an additional $500,000 cut, and suggested that cut could be made by cutting one of the two Deputy Chief positions and not filling the six vacant patrol positions that had been vacant for most of the last two years. 

I had hoped that once it was clear to Councilors that the Mayor would reinvest the cut funds, and how much those funds would help people, if spent for desperate needs like rental assistance and staff for the overwhelmed Office of Housing Stability, some Councilors might change their minds.  However, I was wrong about that; the vote was the same.  We had a heated, but I thought useful and revealing two-hour discussion.   You can see the video of that discussion here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=3191

While I am disappointed that the Council did not cut more, I was delighted by some of the reasons that the Councilors who voted against the cuts gave.  Councilors reiterated their commitment to and strong support for an extensive and deep community process to re-imagine policing in Somerville and reform and restructure the SPD.  Some of those who did not want to further cut the SPD budget argued that it would be wrong to do so until the community process to discuss policing in Somerville happens.  Other reasons given to not further cut the SPD budget were to make certain that the three People of Color that the Chief had identified would actually become SPD officers.  The six Councilors who voted against the cuts stated they are concerned about public safety in Somerville, particularly in the poorer areas of the City, and that they believe that the level of staffing that the Chief proposed was necessary to ensure public safety in Somerville.   

I do not agree with those Councilors’ assessment of what the additional $500,000 spent on the SPD would add to public safety in the City.  For example, the SPD deploys seven patrol cars 24/7/365, including during the graveyard 12 midnight -8 am shift, when there are about half as many calls for service as during the other 16 hours of the day.  The SPD had the same deployment 25 years ago when crime in Somerville was much higher.  I stated that the Chief should redeploy some of those officers on the graveyard shift, who spend most of their time sitting in or driving around in their patrol cars, to the 4 pm -12 midnight shift when most serious crime in the City occurs.  Unfortunately, it seems that seven patrol cars deployed 24/7/365 is an article of faith for the Chief, despite the data.  He recounted that 10 years ago the SPD had cut back to six patrol cars and it was a disaster.  But cutting deployments during the busiest times was not what I advocated. 

Despite my disappointment that additional cuts were not made, I can see that slow progress is being made towards a realistic evaluation of the bloated police budget in Somerville.  Last year, I proposed a $600,000 cut; it got only one other vote and in the end, only $160,000 was cut.  This year, I proposed a $1.2 million cut; it got three other votes and in the end $742,000 was cut.  That is progress!  I eagerly look forward to the community discussion and debate about re-imagining policing and reforming and restructuring the SPD in the coming year, to larger changes in the FY 2022 budget, and to further changes in policing in Somerville in the next three-to-five years.

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

617 629-8033

[email protected]

http://www.markniedergang.com/

Next week, the City Council begins its consideration of the Mayor’s proposed FY 2021 budget. I will be focusing on the police budget.

The Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd has unleashed an outpouring of anger about policing in America. And especially about the way the police and the criminal justice system mistreat people of color. This has amplified the powerful voices that have been calling for fundamental & radical changes in the way we think about policing.

This process had already started in Somerville over the past few years. Mayor Joe Curtatone’s declaration on June 3 that “systemic racism is a public health and safety emergency” and the 10-point policy plan that accompanied it is a major step forward. I look forward to working with Mayor Curtatone and my Council colleagues to enact these proposals and more. (See https://www.somervillema.gov/policereform)

Please join us for a

VIRTUAL ZOOM FUNDRAISER FOR MOVEMENT VOTER PROJECT (MVP)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 7-8 PM in the evening (sign-up below)

Short presentation, questions and discussion, request for funds  

Open to all: Invite your family and friends -- please forward this invitation!

HOSTS/SPONSORS:

Marya Axner, Dena Brody, Ed Brody, Nancy Bernhard, Fred Berman,

Jim Campen, Ben Ewen-Campen, Alex Feldman, Janet Gottler,

Harris Gruman, Matthew Hochman, Enid Kumin, Ulysses Lateiner,

Christopher Lay, David Margolin, Mark Niedergang, Surjeet Paintal,

Jay Plumb, Lori Segall, Bill Shelton, Thalia Tringo, Howard Wolfe, Sara Zucker

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With the November 3, 2020 election less than six months away, many of us are trying to figure out what we can do now to have the greatest impact to defeat President Trump and win control of the U.S. Senate for the Democrats.  Please join us to learn about a unique and powerful response to our current political crisis: the Movement Voter Project (MVP). 

We believe MVP provides the most effective way to use our money to win the 2020 elections and move our country in the right direction for years to come. 

MVP raises funds for the strongest local, community-based groups, reaching those voters who most need to be engaged, especially in the crucial swing states that will determine the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election -- Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, and Arizona.

These groups:

1. Mobilize, register and turn out the hardest-to-reach, low-turnout voters - especially people of color and young people - whose participation in November may well spell the difference between victory and defeat for Joe Biden and key Democratic Senate candidates; and 
2. Are deeply rooted in their communities, with strong leadership and well-established relationships and networks.  They are already working year-round to address the issues and concerns that their constituents care about most.

On November 4, political campaigns will begin folding up their tents and disbanding.  However, no matter who our next President is, the groups MVP supports will continue to advocate for progressive policies and to empower and help their constituents.  These groups need our help now more than ever, as they shift to reaching out to voters virtually. To learn more about MVP’s approach and how it supports and works with these community organizations, come to our webinar or check out the links below.

Note: All funds contributed go to the local organizations in swing states doing voter mobilization work.

ZOOM DETAILS

Please RSVP for this virtual house party by registering with Zoom here.  You will receive a login link to be used at the time of the party on May 27.  If you are new to Zoom, see this simple 1-pager on RSVP’ing and Joining a Virtual House Party

If you can’t attend our webinar, please consider donating to MVP here

If you prefer to donate by check, please make your check out to Movement Voter Project and mail to:

Movement Voter Project

ATTN: Robbie (EMA052720MN)

P.O. Box 749

Northampton, MA 01061 

To learn more about MVP:

• The MVP Website
• MVP 2-minute video (from February) 
• The Boston Globe’s Yvonne Abraham on “Good Stuff Out There” (including MVP!)
• The Washington Post on what this work looks like (featuring a leading MVP-funded WI group)
• The NY Times on the power of this work (featuring 2 great MVP-funded groups!) 

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

Social distancing (but we can still do distant socializing!) is needed to avoid overwhelming our hospitals

In this issue:

• Inspiration in these dark times: Villens helping Villens and helping others
• Mutual Aid – MAMAS, your neighbors and your network
• Information to help you navigate the fast-changing situation and help if you need it

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Inspiration in these dark times: Villens helping Villens and others

We can all use some cheering up and positive thinking these days.  I’ve read a couple of columns in the past few days that I found inspiring and encouraging.  So I am sharing them with you. 

• Bill Shelton has been writing a column in Somerville newspapers for many years.  (Disclosure: He is also a long-time and close personal friend of mine.)  His column in the Somerville Times this week, “Plague Journal 1: The kindness of strangers…and new friends” describes some of the many things that Somerville people are doing to help each other and the wider community.  https://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/98492
• My colleague City Council President and Ward 1 Councilor Matt McLaughlin is a gifted writer also.  His newsletter of March 24, “Finding Meaning in Coronavirus Crisis,” begins with a reflection on Victor Frankl’s book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” and concludes: “The Coronavirus pandemic may feel unprecedented, but humanity has endured worse and come out stronger. What matters now is how we endure it, if it makes us stronger, if we learn lessons and find meaning in the struggle. We can find meaning by focusing on what’s most important to us: the people we love and the community we share. The worst is unfortunately yet to come, but we can handle it better collectively and individually if we focus on what we can do to help others, protect ourselves, and find meaning in our everyday lives.”  If you want to read the entire piece, which I highly recommend, write to Matt at [email protected] and ask him to send it to you.'

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Mutual Aid – MAMAS and your neighbors and network

MAMAS – Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville is a way for neighbors to connect and help each other out on their block and beyond so that nobody gets left alone or left behind.  This got started in the last few weeks and is already moving lots of resources and support between those in need and those who want to help. You can find out how it works and join in here: https://mutualaidmamas.com

One of the neighborhood leaders (my daughter, Rae Axner) wrote to me and asked me to share this information:

“One challenge is making sure that the resources get to people who need them most. The neighborhood pod system, which is meant to help with making contact to folks who might not be on the internet as much, already has a pretty good spread across the city, but there are still some unorganized hyper-local areas… The method for connecting those in need (especially those unable to navigate the online structures on their own) with these resources is through Neighborhood Pods--and each pod needs a Point Person. The city of Somerville is already covered with organized pods, but there are still several areas that are unorganized…You can see if your neighborhood already has a point person, or sign up to be one at mutualaidmamas.com. Being a point person is a great way to get to know your neighbors, and it is only as much work as you want it to be. You can also reach out to [email protected], or call or text 339-545-1315 if you have questions about what it's like to be a Neighborhood Point Person.”

There was a great article about the four MAMAS creators in the New York Times this past Monday, March 23, see: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-aid-  group.html

“Just one week after MAMAS was created…more than 700 people have posted donations and there are 83 active neighborhood pods.  Over 120 people signed up as neighborhood leaders, canvassing their streets…While they’re not certain on numbers, the project has connected thousands in Medford and Somerville, north of Boston.”

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Information to help you navigate the fast-changing situation and help if you need it

• Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone has provided outstanding leadership since the start of the coronavirus crisis.  You can find some of the latest and most important news from the City and State governments on the City website, as well as links to many services: https://www.somervillema.gov/
• The City’s Communications Department has been sending out a steady stream of important and useful information.  If you are not already receiving City updates , I encourage you to sign up to get alerts about things like detours and construction, major events, snow emergencies, street sweeping (just announced -- will not start until April 15 at the earliest), and, of course, Covid-19.  You can choose to get City alerts via phone call, text message, or email.  Go to: https://www.somervillema.gov/alerts
• The City website has an entire section on the coronavirus, https://www.somervillema.gov/coronavirus
• There is a section on “Help, Resources, and Ways to Contribute During the COVID-19 Crisis” with pages on Food Access, Business and Employee Assistance, Housing and Family Assistance, and Help & Donate to Others at https://www.somervillema.gov/coronavirushelp 
• The City Office of Housing Stability just put together yesterday (March 25) a two-page “Frequently Asked Questions about Covid-19 and Housing” with information for tenants and landlords.  It’s clear that many tenants will be unable to make their rent due to loss of work and income; this will, of course, also impact many property owners in two- and three-family houses in Somerville.  This FAQ is an excellent resource, as is the Office of Housing Stability.  Go to: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/office-strategic-planning-and-community-development-ospcd/office-housing-stability   The FAQ is right at the top of the page.
• While you can always contact me with questions or for information, usually the quickest way to find out what is going on or to get your questions answered is to contact the City Constituent Services Department, often referred to as 311.  You can call them from a landline by dialing 311 or from a cell phone at (617) 666-3311.  Email is also a good way to communicate with them, [email protected].  At 311, you can also log complaints, suggestions, or requests to get specific things fixed, like potholes filled, replace your missing garbage can, plant a tree on your street, etc.
• The Somerville Public Schools is providing home learning opportunities, food, diapers, and many other resources for students, families and others in Somerville.   To find out more, go to: https://somerville.k12.ma.us/
• Another great source of information is State Representative Denise Provost.  Denise writes a newsletter full of great information about what the Commonwealth of Mass is doing and how it affects Somerville residents.  She also discusses important issues and legislation.  As I am writing this I just received another newsletter from her – her fifth one this month.  You can get on her list by signing up at her website: https://www.deniseprovost.org/
• The Somerville City Council has begun to meet again on-line, via webinar, and you can watch our meetings.  You can watch the meetings live, as they happen, in real time by going to the City Council main webpage which lists all the meetings: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/calendar.aspx

You click on the meeting that you want to watch and the agenda comes up.  All meetings are being recorded and you can watch them afterwards anytime by clicking on the meeting, and then when you get the agenda for that meeting, clicking on Video (it looks like this):

Downloads:
Agenda
Minutes Video

• On Tuesday night at the meeting of the Public Health and Public Safety Committee, Mayor Curtatone was joined by two experts on epidemics and public health from Harvard and Northeastern, and there was a long and detailed discussion with the City Council following their presentation.  You can see it here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=3108

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

[email protected] 617 629-8033

In this issue:

• Please watch this short video, it is 5 minutes and 40 seconds long, it inspired us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFkAQSLsPM4
• We are cancelling/postponing the two House Parties at our house with Swing Left Boston, scheduled for Sunday March 15
• Here are some things you can do without leaving home to promote voter registration and voter turnout by likely Democratic voters in key swing states
• An introduction to Swing Left (updated from previous emails)

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Please watch this short video, it is 5 minutes and 40 seconds long, it inspired us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFkAQSLsPM4

I have written below about Swing Left and how we can take back our country and set the stage for a decade of progressive victories, but you can get the message and info much more powerfully in 5 minutes and 40 seconds by watching this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFkAQSLsPM4

I watched it at a Swing Left House Party at a friend’s house in January and it gave me enormous hope and inspired me to believe that I, working with many others, can make a difference in the 2020 elections and the future of our nation.

We are cancelling/postponing the two House Parties at our house with Swing Left Boston, scheduled for Sunday March 15…I don’t think I need to tell you why…

It is terribly disappointing to have to cancel/postpone our House Parties.  Over 50 people RSVPed!!  Many others sent regrets.   Thank you to those who responded to our invitation.  We plan to reschedule as soon as the coronavirus situation allows.

Here are some things you can do without leaving home to promote voter registration and voter turnout by likely Democratic voters in key swing states.

Write letters or postcards from home to potential voters in swing states.  Swing Left leaders are figuring out other ways people can do voter registration and turnout work from home, including perhaps phone calling and texting. 

Vote Forward – Swing Left has this program to write letters from home, you can learn about it and sign up to participate here: https://swingleft.org/p/about-swing-left-letter-writing or here: https://votefwd.org/vote-forward-instructions.pdf

From the Reclaim Our Vote  website -- “Help empower voters in communities of color in voter suppression states! Reclaim Our Vote, a non-partisan phone bank, post carding and textbanking campaign created by the Center For Common Ground, focuses on contacting voters of color in voter-suppression states to help them register and vote." Partners include NAACP, Rapid Resist, Black Voters Matter, Virginia Poor People’s Campaign, DemLabs, Mi Familia Vota, Progressive Coders Network, VoteRiders, and the Transformative Justice Coalition.”

Go to: http://centerforcommonground.org/main/index.php/campaigns/reclaim-our-vote and https://actionnetwork.org/forms/reclaim-our-vote-signup

Movement Voter Project (MVP) – You can donate money from home!!  We are cancelling the March 25 MVP fundraiser event at the Armory that I and 17 co-hosts/sponsors were planning.  We hope to reschedule it for later in the spring.  I will be sending another email to you about this cancellation and MVP next week.  For now, if you want to beat Trump, turn the Senate Democratic, and win state houses key to rolling back Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression, there is no better use of your money than to give it to MVP.  

MVP raises funds and gives all of them to local, community-based organizations in key swing states that are working to register, mobilize and turn out likely Democratic voters.  I truly believe money given to MVP will have 100X as much positive impact as money given to a Presidential or any U.S. Senate campaign – where your funds are a small drop in a huge bucket.  A big bonus of giving to MVP: the organizations they fund will continue to do the work of building community power and  mobilizing Democratic voters in key swing states AFTER November 3, 2020.  Remember: Presidential and U.S. Senate candidates’ campaign organizations will DISAPPEAR after November 3!! For more info about MVP’s approach, see  this short flyer  or visit their website.

For a short video about MVP’s work, go here: https://www.facebook.com/MovementVoterProject/?eid=ARDIB2POHnTa1JlkY8Z_k42fRbD7xVF1OKevuCIrulBgRDmAju2VejEnsadjWB7J7jztF2BM9eE3pQcI

To donate to MVP, please consider as generous a contribution as you can to  MVP's Big Five Battleground Fund, which supports groups in the states most likely to determine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email me if you have questions, want to talk about any of this, or have suggestions or information that you’d like to share with me.

An introduction to Swing Left (updated from previous emails)

Swing Left’s mission is to “Transform our government in 2020 by winning all the Houses—including the White House, the Senate, and state houses key to rolling back Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression.”

Swing Left provides avenues for people like us in progressive areas to have an impact in elections in swing states where the Presidential and key U.S. Senate races will be decided.   Working with a number of other organizations, they helped flip the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 when the Democrats added 41 seats to take control of the House, and helped flip the Virginia State Legislature from Republican to Democrat in 2019.  This stuff actually WORKS!!...if enough of us get involved…

This work is critically important regardless of who the Democratic candidate for President is.  I believe the 2020 elections will be decided by who actually turns out to vote in the key swing states.  Voter mobilization – which we can all be a part of starting now or any time – is likely to determine the outcome. We Democrats have a large natural majority in our nation: we just have to get our voters to go out and vote.

We believe Swing Left provides a pathway with support, instruction, an excellent strategy and connections for those of us who live in Massachusetts to contribute meaningfully to the important work of influencing the 2020 elections and helping to take back our country for years to come.  

Swing Left has a national strategy focused on 12 key “super” states that are key states for Democrats to win for the Presidency, U.S. Senate, and to stop voter suppression and gerrymandering.  Check it out at https://swingleftboston.org/super-state/

When the coronavirus restrictions on public events and meetings are relaxed, Swing Left Boston will again sponsor and organize dozens of activist working events each week.  They will have an Activist Afternoon meeting late every Sunday afternoon at the Workbar in Central Square.  I went four Sundays, and have found this worthwhile, productive, and enjoyable.  All this by writing postcards, letters or making phone calls to help register and turn out voters who are likely to vote Democratic in November.  

Swing Left can plug you in to volunteer on campaigns in swing states to help make a difference.

Marya is planning to spend a couple of weeks in the Orlando, Florida area, where her brother lives.  God and the coronavirus willing, I will be going to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in July after the Democratic Convention where I have a friend from high school.  (Many people believe Wisconsin – which Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016 by 23,000 votes – may be the key swing state in the 2020 Presidential election.)  And perhaps we will also go to Minneapolis where we have family and friends; Swing Left is also funneling people to key state legislature district races in Western Wisconsin (around Hudson WI) in the suburbs of Minneapolis.  We will help register voters, support campaign workers, do voter turnout, make meals, enter data, do whatever is needed to support the people working to elect Democratic candidates there.  Let me know if you are interested in doing some political travel. 

Whether you can travel or not, please think about who you know in the key swing states.  If there is any chance they may agree with you, tell them how you feel and then ask them how they feel.  Listen to them; listening is critical.  Talk to them about how important this election is to you – and for the future of our country and the world.  We need to engage people in swing states and help them get motivated to do what they can.   

This just received from Susan Labandibar, the Swing Left Regional Organizing Coordinator for New England:“Here are my top thoughts on how volunteers from Massachusetts can affect the outcome of the most important election of our lifetimes. We can't affect how people vote, but we can affect who votes...If we get started now.”

1. ​“Expanding the electorate means registering voters​, reducing barriers to voting and encouraging voters to cast their ballot in ​local elections.
2. ​Swing Left has pre-existing relationships with organizations on the ground. We can leverage these relationships to place volunteers.
3. A small team of volunteers in each pivot county ​can be​ more effective than​ an entire busload of​volunteers in one county.”

If you’d like to talk about how you could be involved, please contact me.  I’d love to talk with you about this!

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

[email protected]

(617) 629-8033

In this issue:

• Saving our country and the planet in the 2020 national elections: What we can do to impact the outcome in key swing states
• Marya and I invite you to a House Party at our house with Swing Left Boston, Sunday March 15, 10:30-12:30 or 3:30-5:30 – see invitation below
• An introduction to Swing Left

* * * * * * * * *

Saving our country and the planet in the 2020 national elections: What we can do to impact the outcome in key swing states

I am writing to share some of my plans and thinking in perhaps what will be the most important political year of my life, of our lives.

I believe that four more years of President Trump may have a profoundly disastrous and long-term negative impact on our nation and the world.  And four more years of the USA opposing or ignoring the fight against climate change may have an irreversible impact on our planet and our children’s future.

How can we in Somerville and Greater Boston make a difference in the 2020 national elections?

I am planning to put one-third of my work time and energy this year into defeating President Trump, swinging the U.S. Senate to the Democrats, and combating Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression.

I have no illusions about the impact I myself as one person can have on the Presidential election or on U.S. Senate races in swing states, but I feel like I need to do whatever I can, as small as that impact may be...and hope and pray that hundreds of thousands of people like you and me come to the same conclusion.  As the Dalai Lama said, “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” 

If we all do what we can, a huge mobilization of progressives to impact the national elections in swing states could make a difference.  I am actually encouraged at this point that I see this starting to happen.  I want to be a small part of this movement and encourage you to think about how you can participate and contribute as well.  And I would like to help you to do so.  Hence our house parties on March 15 (see invitation below) and this introduction to Swing Left below the invitation.

* * * * * * *

Marya and I invite you to a House Party at our house with Swing Left Boston, Sunday March 15, either 10:30-12:30 or 3:30-5:30

Do you want to reach outside of our progressive area and have an impact on the 2020 national elections?   

Do you want to help get rid of President Trump, swing the U.S. Senate Democratic, and help stop voter suppression and gerrymandering in key states?   

We can help show you how you can have an impact. 

You are invited to a

HOUSE PARTY with SWING LEFT BOSTON

SUNDAY, MARCH 15^TH, 10:30-12:30 or 3:30-5:30 (choose the one that works best for you)

29 Conwell Street, Somerville

 HOSTS: Mark Niedergang and Marya Axner

Invite you’re a friend or family member!

This is NOT a fundraising event. 

Please RSVP to me at m.niedergang@comcast.net or [email protected] or (617) 629-8033

We have limited space in our house, so if you are interested I suggest you RSVP soon.

This is an opportunity to learn how to make a difference in key swing states, to take action to win elections for Democrats and set our nation on a better course.

Following a video and presentation by a volunteer from Swing Left, and some discussion, there will be a short postcard-writing activity to reach voters who have been involuntarily removed from the voter roles in one of the key swing states – to alert them and try to get them to re-register. (To cover the cost of the postcards and stamps, we will ask each person for $5).

Parking is available on the street; please park in a legal spot.  You do not need a permit on a Sunday.  There is usually ample parking on Highland Avenue, a block or two from our house.

This site is NOT ADA accessible; it is on the second floor up a flight of stairs.

Coffee, tea, drinks and light snacks will be provided.

If you are interested, but cannot come on the 15^th, there are other Swing Left house parties and events happening around Greater Boston and beyond, see: https://swingleftboston.org/calendar/

* * * * * * *

An introduction to Swing Left

Swing Left’s mission is to “Transform our government in 2020 by winning all the Houses—including the White House, the Senate, and state houses key to rolling back Republican gerrymandering.”

Swing Left provides avenues for people like us in progressive areas to have an impact in elections in swing states where the Presidential and key U.S. Senate races will be decided.   Working with a number of other organizations, they helped flip the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 when the Democrats added 41 seats to take control of the House, and helped flip the Virginia State Legislature from Republican to Democrat in 2019.  This stuff actually WORKS!!...if enough of us get involved…

(There are many other good organizations doing similar work, such as Movement Voter Project, about which I will be writing to you next week.)

This work is critically important regardless of who the Democratic candidate for President is, although of course that will make a difference.  I will be voting for Elizabeth Warren on March 3^rd in the Democratic primary in  Massachusetts.  However, I believe the 2020 elections will be decided by who actually turns out to vote in the key swing states.  Voter mobilization – which we can all be a part of – is likely to determine the outcome. We Democrats have a huge natural majority in our nation: we just have to get our voters to go out and vote.

We believe Swing Left provides a pathway with support, instruction, an excellent strategy and connections for those of us who live in Massachusetts to contribute meaningfully to the important work of influencing the 2020 elections and helping to take back our country for years to come.  

Swing Left has a national strategy focused on 12 key “super” states that are key states for Democrats to win for the Presidency, U.S. Senate, and to stop voter suppression and gerrymandering.  Check it out at https://swingleftboston.org/super-state/

Swing Left Boston sponsors and organizes dozens of activist working events each week.  They have an Activist Afternoon meeting late every Sunday afternoon at the Workbar in Central Square.  I have gone four Sundays, and have found this worthwhile, productive, and enjoyable.  All this by writing postcards or making phone calls to help register voters who are likely to vote Democratic in November.  

Swing Left can plug you in to volunteer on campaigns in swing states to help make a difference.

Marya is planning to spend a couple of weeks in the Orlando, Florida area, where her brother lives.  I may join her for some of that time.   I will be going to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I have a friend from high school.  (Many people believe Wisconsin – which Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016 by 23,000 votes – may be the key swing state in the 2020 Presidential election.)  And perhaps we will also go to Minneapolis where we have family and friends; Swing Left is also funneling people to key state legislature district races in Western Wisconsin in the suburbs of Minneapolis as well as Milwaukee.  We will help register voters, support campaign workers, do voter turnout, make meals, enter data, do whatever is needed to support the people working to elect Democratic candidates there.  Let me know if you are interested in going to one of these places with me! 

Whether you can travel or not, please think about who you know in the key swing states.  If there is any chance they may agree with you, tell them how you feel and then ask them how they feel.  Listen to them; listening is critical.  Talk to them about how important this election is to you – and for the future of our country and the world.  We need to engage people in swing states and help them get motivated to do what they can.   

If you’d like to talk about how you could be involved, please contact me.  I’d love to talk with you about this!

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor

[email protected]

(617) 629-8033

Dear Friend --

             Broadway Traffic Changes                       Ward 5 Zoning Map (older version)

In this issue:

• Monday, December 9, 6 p.m. Broadway Bus/Bicycle Lanes Public Hearing. City Council Traffic and Parking Committee & Traffic Commission Jointly host at City Council Chambers, City Hall

• Tuesday, December 10, 6 p.m. Citywide Zoning Overhaul Public Hearing. City Council and Planning Board jointly host at City Council Chambers, City Hall

Public Hearing on Broadway Bus/Bicycle Lanes Monday, December 9, 6 p.m., City Council Chambers, City Hall

The City Council Traffic and Parking Committee and the Traffic Commission invite community members to a joint public hearing to provide feedback on the design and implementation of the new traffic configuration on Broadway in Winter Hill, which features dedicated bus and bicycle lanes. 

The public hearing will open with a short presentation by City staff on project history, objectives, and preliminary evaluation data pertaining to safety and mobility for all road users. Following the presentation, members of the public are invited to speak for up to two minutes each.

If you are unable to attend, or wish to submit written testimony, please email to both of the following TWO addresses: [email protected], [email protected] by Friday, December  13, 2019, at 5 p.m. Additional comments sent after the deadline will be reviewed but will not become part of the public record.

If you have questions about the Public Hearing, please contact me.

The City Council has heard a great deal from constituents on all sides of this issue (e.g. neighbors, pedestrians, drivers, bicyclists, transit riders, delivery drivers, and more).  As the Chair of the Traffic and Parking Committee and a member of the Traffic Commission, my goal for the public hearing is to provide an opportunity for members of the public to share directly with policy makers their feedback and especially suggestions for how to improve the planning and implementation process and the design itself for this and future roadway improvement projects.

I believe an opportunity for people to listen to those who disagree with their positions could be helpful.   My perception is that the “Restore Broadway” advocates who oppose the bus/bike lanes and the bicyclist advocates who support them do not understand each other’s concerns.  I strongly support the bus/bike lanes but many of those who have objected have valid concerns about the way they were implemented, safety, and other issues.  There will be many more battles like this one in the next five years as the City continues to redevelop our streets to make them safer, especially for pedestrians and bicyclists.  (This will benefit the safety of drivers as well.)  Hopefully we can all learn from what has happened with the Broadway rollout so that future roadway improvements work better for all.

Councilor Hirsch and I are working on a compilation of feedback that we have received and hope to share that with the Administration and the public.  However, the City Council has  little power over street configuration issues.  Decisions on traffic and parking issues in Somerville are mostly made by the Administration and the Traffic Commission.  The Commonwealth also has significant power over what happens on our streets as many of the larger streets are state roads. 

Public Hearing on Citywide zoning overhaul, Tuesday, December 10, 6 p.m., City Council Chambers, City Hall

After six years of steady work, the City Council will likely be voting on the comprehensive Citywide zoning overhaul in December. If you care about building heights, density, green and open space, parking, affordable housing, trees, sustainability, and small accessory apartments, then you care about zoning. Zoning affects all of these and will shape what Somerville looks and feels like in the future.  

Come to a Public Hearing on version 5 of the proposed new Somerville Zoning Ordinance on Tuesday, December 10, 6 pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The Planning Board & the City Council Land Use Committee invite you to comment at this joint hearing. For more information and to see version 5, previous drafts, amendments and links to past presentations and videos go to https://www.somervillezoning.com/

The public hearing will open with a presentation by Dan Bartman, the principal Administration author of the new zoning ordinance, that will highlight the changes made from version 4.

Under the leadership of Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis, Chair of the Land Use Committee, the Council has spent dozens of hours working on improving the zoning overhaul this fall.  There are too many significant changes from version 4 to describe here, but let me give you some of the highlights:

• Affordable housing: All projects of four or more units will now have to provide 20% inclusionary (affordable) housing units, or a payment. This is a significant increase in the requirement from the current zoning.  (Currently, affordable housing requirements begin at six units with a .4 of unit payment and gradually increase, but don’t get to 20% until 18 units.)
• Small accessory apartments in backyards: The new zoning would allow a carriage house or garage to be converted to a small “backyard cottage” housing unit, or a new backyard cottage could be built if the backyard is large enough.  The backyard cottage can be no higher than 15 feet, can have a floor plate of no larger than 576 feet, must be at least 10 feet from any other building and three feet from the lot line.
• Two unit limit in the Neighborhood Residential (NR) zone with an exception for a third affordable unit: (This was already in version 4 and is unchanged -- but it was the topic of more resident feedback than any other issue so I will mention it here.)  All of the residential neighborhoods will now be in the NR zone.  The NR zone only permits two units maximum to be built in it, with one exception.  My amendment would require that any third unit built in our neighborhoods be deed-restricted to be permanently affordable to people with middle-class incomes.  A third unit could be added or three units built only in a lot that is adjacent to an existing triple decker, but that unit will need to be an affordable middle-income unit.  There are a limited number of lots where this is possible, but if it works out, the Council could amend the zoning code in the future to allow more properties to add a third affordable unit in the NR zone.
• Green score, pervious surfaces, landscaping, and sustainability: The environmental components of the zoning overhaul have been significantly strengthened as a result of extensive discussion and amendments proposed by Councilor Ballantyne, who worked with community activists and experts, and Mr. Bartman over several years to improve these provisions. For example, driveways will no longer be considered landscaping; all new driveways must be pervious; provisions for green roofs and energy efficiency are strengthened; net zero and LEED Gold and Platinum buildings are incentivized, or in some cases required.
• Large buildings abutting residential areas: New buildings four stories and higher that abut the NR zone will now have larger side and rear setbacks as well as step-backs from the fourth story up.
• Davis Square: Like all members of the public, I was not aware that the heart of Davis Square would be significantly upzoned by the Administration from four to six stories in version 4 of the zoning overhaul.  I think most or all Councilors were surprised by this, too.  We received scores of passionate, thoughtful, knowledgeable and detailed emails opposing six stories in Davis Square. I am not going to try to recapitulate here all the issues that were raised due to this unexpected change, but I do want you to know that zoning for Davis Square in version 5 has been returned to pretty much what was there in version 3, that is, four stories.  Councilor Davis submitted more than two dozen amendments to do this and they all passed.  It is my understanding that the public process will continue, both to conclude the Davis Square plan and to come up with proposed zoning for Davis Square that better reflects what the community wants.
• Ball Square and Magoun Square: The core of the business districts in Ball Square and Magoun Square have been upzoned to four stories.  This will eventually bring more offices and residences to these squares which will increase street life and strengthen the businesses that are there by providing more weekday customers.  I believe more develoment is appropriate for business districts that will, in two years, have a (GLX) subway station right in them (Ball Square) or a few blocks away (Magoun Square).  The larger setback and step-back requirements that have been added for four-story buildings should provide protection for residences that abut the back or side of commercial buildings in Ball and Magoun Squares.
• Boynton Yards: There was extensive discussion about how much high-level commercial development must be required in this key district south of Union Square and less than a mile from Kendall Square. Boynton Yards has the potential to house large biotech and office buildings that would bring good-paying jobs for people with high school degrees as well as PhDs, and high levels of tax revenue to the City.  Ultimately, a compromise was reached requiring 68% commercial development, an increase from the 60% that the Administration had proposed.
• Parking: There was no change from the version 4 parking requirement of a maximum of one space per residential unit for new developments within a transit-oriented district (TOD), i.e., within a half-mile of an existing or coming subway station, including the five new GLX stations. This TOD area covers about three-quarters of the City.  In a new policy accompanying the new zoning, residents of new developments in TOD areas will not be able to get resident parking permits or guest passes (except for those in the NR zone).  The restriction on parking permits will include 95% of the new units built in the City going forward.  This policy will forestall the inevitable problem of new residents parking their cars on the street in competition for the limited parking spaces available.  It cannot legally be included in the zoning code, however, so the Administration is working with the City Council to develop a policy to put the resident parking permit limitation into place through a vote of the Traffic Commission.  The Zoning Board of Appeals has already put a condition on an 80 unit development with no parking in Union Square so that the residents of that development will not be able to get resident parking permits or guest passes.  So this is already happening.

I have put an enormous amount of time into understanding the new zoning code and proposing amendments to improve it.  This has been some of the most challenging work I have done in my 14 years as an elected official.  Zoning is complicated and technical.  I’ve worked closely with colleagues and members of the community on these amendments, and I am grateful for the help I have received.  Mr. Bartman has been an excellent resource and partner to the City Council in developing the new zoning code, especially this year. 

I submitted a number of major amendments, including detailed amendments to increase the affordable housing requirements and to make the accessory unit backyard cottages small enough to fit well into our neighborhoods.  I have also been advocating for restrictions on parking permits to new residential developments near subway stations for over three years, and am really excited that this is finally happening.  I believe this is an important beginning to the many changes needed in the City’s parking policies to make street parking more available to those who really need it and limit the number of cars in the City.

Many have asked, “Why has it taken the Council so long to get to a vote on the zoning overhaul?”  Because the Administration’s initial proposal, as well as versions 2 and 3, had major deficiencies, which the Council has been working to fix for the past five years.  A zoning overhaul of this magnitude will have enormous impacts on our City and our lives: we have had to take the time to get it as close to right as possible.

With so much real estate development going on in Somerville, zoning needs to be a constant preoccupation of City government.  Even if the Council votes in the zoning overhaul in December, our work is far from done; we will need to continue to improve the City’s zoning.  There are many important zoning issues that we had to defer for consideration if we wanted to complete something this year.  Beginning in early 2020, I expect the Council will begin working on them. These issues include: continued work on affordable housing; Davis Square; transformational redevelopment areas like Union Square East, Brickbottom, and Inner Belt; figuring out a way to protect and incentivize small, neighborhood businesses; the limitation on no more than four unrelated residents in a single housing unit, and many more.

Why is zoning so important, and how will the zoning overhaul make our lives and Somerville better?  Zoning determines what can be built in Somerville, from small projects in our dense, residential neighborhoods to huge developments in our transformational areas such as Assembly Square, Inner Belt, Union Square, Boynton Yards, and others.  One key goal in this zoning overhaul is to protect our neighborhoods from excessive, unwanted development and prevent the constant battles that are happening in every neighborhood of the City over proposed developments.  These small development proposals force neighbors to spend huge amounts of time and effort into fighting bad developments that our current, out-of-date zoning code allows.  The new zoning would also allow more commercial development in the transformational areas and on “enhancement” streets like Highland Avenue, Broadway, Beacon Street and Somerville Avenue, and around the coming Green Line Extension subway stops.  Somerville desperately needs commercial development to create good local jobs and to increase property tax revenue to prevent residential property taxes from continuing to Increase at such a fast pace.

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor
http://www.markniedergang.com/

Dear Friend --

  

I’m writing to share with you who I will be voting for (and who I am supporting) in the Somerville City election on Tuesday, November 5^th.

First, my focus in this election has been the Councilor-at-Large race.  Please vote for the four incumbents: Bill White, Stephanie Hirsch, Will Mbah, and Mary Jo Rossetti.  They deserve to be re-elected.  Please DO NOT vote for Jack Connolly.  I explain in some detail below, I hope you will read and consider what I have to say.

Second,  please vote!  This is when your vote counts most.  In a Presidential election or state election, your vote is one of millions or one of hundreds-of-thousands.  But in a City election turnout is usually quite low, around 20% of the voters.  This election will have a turnout of around 12-15,000 I would guess.    A small number of votes can make the difference.  In Somerville, elections are often decided by less than 50 votes.  There was an Alderman-at-Large election 20 years ago that was decided by literally one – a single -- vote.  One person who speaks to or emails a dozen friends, neighbors and family and asks them to vote for a candidate can swing an election. 

Third, if you live in Ward 5, I would appreciate your vote.  I am running unopposed (as are all seven of the incumbent Ward Councilors).  So you might think that voting for me doesn’t really matter.  But it does to me!  And to many other politicos who analyze the returns -- especially to see the number of blanks and write-ins, which can indicate an unopposed candidate’s potential vulnerability going forward and the popularity of the policies that candidate supports.  Your vote would be an expression of support for the work that I do and the policies I support as the Ward 5 City Councilor.  That means a great deal to me and I do not take your support for granted. 

Here, now, are the candidates I will be voting for or am supporting, with some reasons why.  I am happy to hear your thoughts or discuss my choices with you over the phone or face-to-face.   Thank you for your consideration of my opinions regarding the upcoming election.

Councilor-at-Large

The Councilor-at-Large race has drawn the most attention this fall.  There are eight candidates, including the four incumbents, running for four seats.   Each of us can vote for up to four candidates for Councilor-at-Large.  Please vote for the four incumbents: Bill White, Stephanie Hirsch, Will Mbah, and Mary Jo Rossetti.  They deserve to be re-elected.  Please DO NOT vote for Jack Connolly. 

Bill White for Councilor-at-Large

I cannot emphasize how important it is to re-elect Bill White.  Bill was President of the Board of Aldermen for an unprecedented five straight years, and he was a good leader.  As Chair of the Finance Committee, he has guided the Council superbly in one of its most important responsibilities, overseeing the City budget.  Bill helped me learn the job when I got elected in 2013.  He is someone I continue to turn to discuss issues and how to get things done.  With his 20+ years of experience he makes all of us Councilors do our jobs better.  And Bill was championing progressive policies, especially around real estate development issues, years ago, long before they were politically popular in Somerville.

Bill is an incredible source of institutional and legal knowledge.  As State Representative Denise Provost noted in her October 2019 Newsletter, "Bill White is…a civic treasure. No one on our Council knows more about our municipal finances, long-term debt, zoning law, parliamentary procedure, Somerville history - and many other topics besides.”

Stephanie Hirsch for Councilor-at-Large

I endorsed Stephanie when she was a challenger two years ago, and I am so glad I did.  She has been a terrific City Councilor.  I have worked closely with her on a range of issues: traffic calming and pedestrian safety; zoning for affordable housing; helping seniors who are house-rich but cash- and income-poor to stay in their homes; porta-potties in parks; and more.  She is smart, hard-working and knowledgeable about City issues and government. She cares deeply about helping people and families, especially those who are worst off.  She loves Somerville and devoted a decade of her professional working life to it.  She is passionate about the issues and not afraid to take on big ones.  Her heart follows her head: she is a data geek, but her analysis moves her to act to change things for the better. She is independent, non-dogmatic and often comes up with solutions to problems that are unusual -- but they work.  She understands the mechanics of delivering public services and is attentive to the concerns of people with diverse viewpoints. Stephanie is anything but your typical politician, as evidenced by her recommendation that voters donate to favorite non-profits instead of to her campaign, and by her candid disclosure that she might not be able to serve out her entire term due to potential family care responsibilities, if re-elected. 

Will Mbah for Councilor-at-Large

Before I endorsed him in 2017 (even though I incorrectly thought he had no chance of winning as a first time candidate and recent immigrant and citizen) I got to know Will by talking with him at the many City meetings he attended. When I heard him speak at public hearings, I was impressed.  Will is a thoughtful and caring person, married, the father of two young children, and he speaks five languages.  He is also really committed to Somerville.  He’s made huge efforts to find an apartment in Somerville when he had to move – five times in the last eight years!  The fact that Will is a renter is actually one of the reasons I support him – almost all elected officials in Somerville are homeowners, but two-thirds of our residents are renters.   

Will is passionately on the side of working people, and cares deeply about the issues that I care about – affordable housing, development that benefits residents and the City, fair treatment and a welcoming hand to immigrants, and decent wages and treatment for workers.   

Will has triumphed over adversity that I have never had to face and can hardly imagine. Originally from Cameroon, Will went to university in Sweden, immigrated to the U.S. on a green card in 2010 and became a citizen in 2015.  As a recent immigrant, he has a set of experiences that enable him to represent the concerns of a significant part of Somerville’s population, one that has no other representation in elected positions. 

In his first term, Will demonstrated a "passion for inclusion and equity" [Rep. Denise Provost] and a consistent "voice for equity and marginalized communities in Somerville, bringing insights and lived experiences that are so vital to solving the challenges of our community" [School Committee Member Andre Green]. Will also brings to City Council discussions the knowledge of an environmental technologist from his work at MIT.  His values and commitment to environmental and social justice and affordability have informed his votes on the Council.

Mary Jo Rossetti for Councilor-at-Large

I’ve served with Mary Jo now for 14 years. We were together for eight years on the School Committee and six years as Aldermen/City Councilor.  I have come to respect Mary Jo and to appreciate her as a colleague.  She is hardworking, diligent and comes prepared to every meeting.  She is responsive to constituents.  She really cares about helping all types of people throughout the City and makes great efforts to represent people.  She is determined and persistent in trying to solve problems.  She asks tons of questions and is unafraid to challenge anyone in the Administration. She is a deliberative and thoughtful member of the City Council, who strives to ensure that the concerns of advocates, families and long-term City residents don’t get overlooked.  

Please DO NOT vote for Jack Connolly for Councilor-at-Large

My priority in the Councilor-at-Large race is to preserve the progressive and thoughtful makeup of the current City Council, and that means asking people to not vote for Jack Connolly, who has:

• Worked against affordable housing initiatives in Somerville;
• Championed big developers as they ignored demands to protect neighborhoods, prevent displacement and provide more community benefits;
• Used racist rhetoric and campaign literature to win office in 2007, deceptively depicting a Latino opponent as sympathetic to criminal gangs.

Jack was a leader in the fight against increasing the inclusionary affordable housing requirement from 12 ½% to 20%; a leader in arguing for granting Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT) a waiver from the full 20% inclusionary housing requirement in Assembly Square; a leader in fighting against the Real Estate Transfer Fee to fund affordable housing; a leader against requiring the Union Square master developer to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement with the Union  Square Neighborhood Council; and the author of the most offensive, racist and fear-mongering campaign literature piece that I have seen in 35 years of involvement in Somerville politics.  For details -- in Jack Connolly's own words and a photo of his racist campaign piece – take three minutes to read the Case Against Jack Connolly at https://medium.com/@strangebuttrue/the-case-against-jack-connolly-538f57cbed46 which contains links to his editorials, legislative proposals, and an image of that despicable campaign mailer.

Joe Curtatone for Mayor

I am supporting Joe Curtatone for Mayor.  Two years ago, in my election endorsements, I wrote a long and detailed analysis of Mayor Curtatone’s record, describing his  many major accomplishments as well as speaking frankly about some significant negatives in his record. If you are interested, you can find that here: https://www.markniedergang.com/?page=18

I am pleased to say that Mayor Curtatone has dramatically improved in most of the half-dozen areas about which I expressed concern in 2017.  He has been a strong, principled and outstanding leader on affordable housing, establishing the Office of Housing Stability with a top-notch staff of six affordable housing advocates.  He has positioned the City to extract more community benefits from big developers and helped to facilitate the Community Benefits Agreement in Union Square by letting the elected Neighborhood Council negotiate with the Master Developer without interference from City Hall.  He has settled almost all of the outstanding contracts with City unions.

In addition, he has continued the policies that I have long admired and respected.  Mayor Curtatone has whole-heartedly promoted Somerville as a welcoming and tolerant city, especially for immigrants.  The Black Lives Matter banner continues to hang outside City Hall.  He set a goal for Somerville to become carbon neutral by 2050, and he is supporting many initiatives to help Somerville become a "greener" city.  He has hired many top-notch, hard-working, super-competent professionals to work in his Administration, people that we are lucky to have working for us in Somerville. He has worked with the City Council on a wide range of progressive legislation, from being the second city in the U.S. to ban facial recognition technology to a Home Rule Petition so we can develop an ordinance for a tenant right of first refusal to purchase the apartment they live in – something which we are working on right now. 

However, there are still a few areas where I believe Mayor Curtatone needs to, and can, do better.  Seeing the improvements in the last two years, I am hopeful that these problems will be fixed if he is re-elected.

My biggest disappointment with Mayor Curtatone and his Administration at this time is that while he improved the way that City government deals with traffic and infrastructure on our streets, he has not put enough staff and resources into traffic calming and making our streets safe for pedestrians and bicyclists.  As a result, there are many dangerous intersections and streets in Somerville.  Traffic is a mess everywhere in greater Boston, and even more so in Somerville with the bridge closures for the Green Line Extension, Somerville High School redevelopment, and Union Square all dug up for sewer and water improvements.  But traffic is more dangerous here than it needs to be.  The City needs to invest a lot more money and hire more staff to make our streets safer and work better for all users.  I have repeatedly and will continue to call for the Mayor to add staff and funding to the Mobility Department in City Hall that deals with traffic calming and for more police enforcement of traffic laws on our chaotic and dangerous streets.

A second area where the Mayor can do better is on appointments to key Boards.  While the Mayor finally began to submit to the City Council for reconfirmation sitting members of powerful Boards like the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals and the Redevelopment Authority, this process has moved too slowly.  And the Mayor has not followed through in some cases.  In August 2018, the City Council voted overwhelmingly to not reconfirm two Mayoral appointees to the Planning Board, the body that approves major development proposals in Somerville such as what will soon go up in Union Square.  Yet 14 months later, those two appointees, who the Council voted down, are still serving on the Planning Board and voting on major development projects!  (Unfortunately, state law allows Board members whose terms have expired to remain on those Boards until they die if the Mayor chooses to not kick them off.)  I actually think that almost all the people that the Mayor has been nominating for Boards and Commissions in the last few years have been good choices.  However, he needs to get rid of those whose performance has been lacking.  There are plenty of qualified, talented and experienced people in our community who could ably serve on these powerful Boards.

A third area in which I am not happy with the Administration’s performance is on personnel and hiring policies.  This is too complicated to get into in detail here, but the City Council has been frustrated by the lack of transparency and clarity about process and unwillingness to share essential information about Mayoral appointments, especially in the Police Department.     

Being the Mayor of a City like Somerville is a tough job.  Running a City with a budget of close to $250 million and hundreds of employees is not something I want to entrust to someone without experience in City government and knowledge of how the City works.  Mayor Curtatone’s opponent, Marianne Walles, is articulate and thoughtful, has done union organizing and negotiated contracts, and is a social worker.  She clearly has much to offer.  However, as far as I can tell, she has no experience with Somerville City government.  In my 14 years as an elected official, I have seen her at only one City or community meeting.  She was not involved in Somerville’s public life until she began her campaign for Mayor.  I don’t believe in giving people a job in which they have not demonstrated experience or interest, especially one as important and powerful as Mayor of Somerville.

A note about the Ward 3 School Committee race

I am not taking a position in this race.  I have been tremendously impressed by both candidates, Mary Marshall and Sarah Phillips.  They both have much to offer the Somerville Public Schools and the School Committee.  I will be happy to see either one of them representing Ward 3 on the School Committee.  Ward 3 voters – you have a tough choice between two excellent candidates who also seem to be running strong campaigns.

Carrie Normand for Ward 7 School Committee

If you live in Ward 7, I encourage you to vote for Carrie Normand, the incumbent School Committee Member representing Ward 7.  Carrie has done a great job on the School Committee, and has been a leader in continuing to improve the Somerville Public Schools.  I am thrilled by the direction in which the School Committee has taken things since I left it six years ago.  Carrie is involved with a lot of different organizations and has a wide range of relationships and networks throughout the community.  You can read more about her here: https://somerville.wickedlocal.com/news/20190829/somerville-candidate-profile-carrie-normand-for-ward-7-school-committee

Three of the seven elected School Committee members are not running for re-election this year.  (The Mayor and President of the City Council also serve on the School Committee, but the time that they can devote to that work is limited due to their other responsibilities.)  At a time when there will be three new members out of the seven, continuity is particularly important.  This is another reason to vote for Carrie with her six years of experience.

Carrie’s opponent, Tara Ten Eyck, has impressed me and is unquestionably qualified to serve on the School Committee.  I have nothing negative to say about her.  However, I believe that when someone is doing a job well, as Carrie Normand has, and wants to stay in that job, they deserve to be re-elected.

If you’ve read this far, to the end, thank you!  If you want to share your thoughts, or ask me more about mine, please give me a call at (617) 629-8033 or talk to me when you see me around.

Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor
http://www.markniedergang.com/

Friend,

Proposed Ward 5 New Zoning, Proposed Water & Sewer Rate Increases

In this issue:

• Introduction and overview of the next three months

• Citywide zoning overhaul: Nearing a vote on version 4 in year 5?

• Affordable housing: strengthened Condominium Conversion Ordinance passes; short-term rental ordinance under discussion; Cambridge and Boston considering real estate transfer fee

• Transportation: Traffic calming and pedestrian and bicyclist safety -- Vision Zero meeting April 24, 6 PM at East Somerville Community School auditorium; Ball Square Bridge closure -- so far so good; GLX station designs – community concerns about accessibility

• Proposed water (6%) and sewer (7 ½%) rate increases for FY 2020 – Administration presentation and Public Hearing Monday, April 22, 6 PM, Somerville High School cafeteria

Introduction and overview of the next three months

The next three months will be an intense period of activity for City Councilors, the Mayor, and City staff who work on policy issues.  The spring months always seem to be the busiest and most important in terms of legislation. 

We’re in the midst of an intense push to try to get to a vote on the citywide zoning overhaul, first proposed by the Mayor five years ago.  We’re continuing to work on ordinances on issues ranging from short-term rentals (to regulate AirBNBs), demolition review (to better protect historic buildings), a strengthened, comprehensive tree ordinance (to protect trees on City and private property), and many others.  We’re working in a number of Committees on ways to increase green and open space in our little City of 4.1 square miles.  We’ll be voting on the Administration’s request to raise sewer and water rates, and in June, we’ll focus on the City budget for FY 2020, which begins July 1.  As the Ward 5 City Councilor, I deal practically every day with the challenges of urban living -- affordable housing and displacement, pedestrian and bicyclist safety on our streets, monitoring and managing real estate development, street construction projects and their impact on residents, environmental concerns and climate change, and last but not least, parking.

In this newsletter, I highlight a few of these issues and concerns.  Please write to me with your thoughts about these topics or others.  I wish I could say that I reply to every email I get, but when there is a deluge, I am just not able to do so.  I do read every email that I get from an individual (although I do get behind when things are super busy).  If you write to me requesting a response and don’t get it, please email me again.  Thank you for your patience.

Citywide zoning overhaul: Nearing a vote on version 4 in year 5? 

Under the strong and capable leadership of Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis, Chair of the Land Use Committee, the Council has built up a head of steam and is plowing ahead in considering the Administration’s proposed Citywide zoning overhaul.  We’re in year 5 of work on this large and important set of zoning policies.  Many have asked, why has this taken so long?  Because the Administration’s initial proposal, as well as versions 2 and 3, had major deficiencies, which the Council has been working to fix for the past five years.  This stuff is incredibly complicated and deeply impactful on our City and our lives: we have to take the time to get it as close to right as possible.

Chair Davis, working with Dan Bartman of the Planning Department, has set out a schedule to consider key unresolved issues.  Upcoming meetings of the Land Use Committee will focus on open space, parking, and affordable housing.  You can see recent presentations by Mr. Bartman here: https://www.somervillezoning.com For the schedule of meetings and topics, click on "Land Use Committee Meeting" (04/02/2019)–Presentation and go to page 2.

The next big step is that, in late April or early May, the Administration will submit a substantially updated version 4.  This will include major and minor amendments that Councilors have requested, either in individual meetings with Mr. Bartman, in Land Use Committee meetings, or as formal written amendments.  After the Administration submits version 4, there will be another Public Hearing.  If you are a zoning geek like I am and care about this stuff, I encourage you to read the revised version, attend the Public Hearing, view Mr. Bartman’s presentation about it and share your thoughts, either in person at the Hearing, or in writing afterwards.

I have submitted a number of major amendments, including extensive and detailed amendments to increase affordable housing in Somerville.  My amendments would require that any third unit built in the new Neighborhood Residential (NR) zone be deed-restricted to be permanently affordable for people with middle-class incomes. (The NR zone would allow new development up to a maximum of three units, in only a limited number of locations.) These would not be inclusionary units, so property owners could choose the tenant they wanted, as long as the tenant meets the income guidelines.  I also propose requiring payments into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund from all developments of four and five units (most of which currently have no affordable housing requirements), and requiring that six- and seven-unit developments provide an affordable unit.  (Currently eight-unit and larger developments must provide at least one affordable unit.) You can see my amendments, as well as those submitted by Councilors Ewen-Campen and Scott, here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=2879 

Why is zoning so important?  Zoning determines what can be built in Somerville, from small projects in our dense, residential neighborhoods to huge developments in our transformational areas such as Assembly Square, Inner Belt, Union Square, Boynton Yards, and others.  One key goal in this zoning overhaul is to protect our neighborhoods from excessive, unwanted development and prevent the constant battles that are happening in every neighborhood of the City over proposed developments.  These small development proposals force neighbors to spend huge amounts of time and effort into fighting bad developments that our current, out-of-date zoning code allows.  The new zoning would also allow more commercial development in the transformational areas and on “enhancement” streets like Highland Avenue, Broadway, Beacon Street and Somerville Avenue.  We desperately need commercial development in Somerville to create good jobs and to increase commercial property tax revenue, to prevent residential property taxes from continuing to increase at such a fast pace. 

With so much real estate development going on in Somerville, zoning needs to be a constant preoccupation of City government.  Even if we pass a zoning overhaul this year – and that is far from certain – we’ll need to be doing zoning on a ongoing basis.

Affordable housing: strengthened Condominium Conversion Ordinance passes; short-term rental ordinance; Cambridge and Boston considering real estate transfer fee

The Council voted 10-1 on March 28th to approve a strengthened Condominium Conversion Ordinance, after working on this for a year.  There was a Public Hearing on January 31, with many thoughtful and divergent comments from the public, followed by extensive deliberation by the Council and the Administration.  A number of significant changes were made to the ordinance as a result of the public comments.  Ellen Shachter, Director of the new Office of Housing Stability, deserves enormous credit for her leadership in getting this done.

The revised Condo Conversion Ordinance will protect tenants better from wrongful evictions; require a one-year waiting period for most conversions, thus slowing the rate of turnover in the City; provide substantially more money in relocation assistance for tenants who are put out of their home for a condo conversion; and provide more time for a tenant or a non-profit affordable housing provider to purchase the condo via a right of first refusal (at a fair market price).  If you are interested in the details, you can find the text of the ordinance and related documents here: https://www.somervillema.gov/condo-conversion

This has been a loooooong time coming!  The Curtatone Administration first began working more than 10 years ago with former Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz on revising this ordinance, which has not been updated since enacted in 1985.  The housing market in Somerville is pretty different now from 34 years ago!  I am delighted that the City Council and the Mayor worked together to get this done and hope that it will have a stabilizing effect on our runaway housing market.

The Council will continue to work in the coming months on a new ordinance to regulate short-term rentals (STRs), such as AirBNB.  I hope that we will pass something before summer.  Boston and Cambridge have already enacted STR ordinances.  In our deliberations, the Council voted unanimously to change the Administration’s proposal so as to not permit entire unoccupied units to be rented out short term.  Councilors argued that given the tremendous shortage of housing in the City, property owners should not be allowed to take units off the rental market for use by transients who would not be participating in or investing in our community.  Currently allowed in the draft ordinance would be sharing your own unit 365 days a year if desired (isn’t this what AirBNB was supposed to be about?) or rental of one’s apartment when one is away for up to 90 days a year.  You can see the current working draft ordinance here: https://www.somervillema.gov/strs

The most important affordable housing action that the Council has taken was last spring, when we voted unanimously to send the Real Estate Transfer Fee home rule petition to the State Legislature. If the Legislature approves it, we could raise somewhere between $6-10 million a year for affordable housing.  By borrowing against that steady income stream, we could generate tens of millions of dollars to invest in permanently affordable housing.  This is the money the City desperately needs to increase the amount of affordable housing.  Right now, about 10% of the housing in Somerville is permanently affordable.  Perhaps another 10-20% (nobody knows the actual number) of apartments in the City are still affordable because benevolent landlords keep rents low or tenants have been living in them for decades.  When those apartments turn over, it’s likely they will become market-rate rentals or condos for sale.  This means that in a decade or two, Somerville will transform into a community in which 90% of the housing is affordable only to wealthy people.  Is this the future we want?

Last spring, the City’s transfer fee home rule petition did get reported out favorably by a joint House-Senate budget committee, but the legislative session ended before further action could be taken.  Currently both the Boston and Cambridge City Councils are considering a transfer fee home rule petition, and State Representative Mike Connolly has re-filed his bill for enabling legislation that would allow any city or town to enact its own real estate transfer fee.  While passage in the Legislature is far from certain, I am hoping that a groundswell of support will make it happen.

Quite frankly, while I am not a socialist, I now believe that the only way to provide a substantial amount of affordable housing in Somerville is to take housing out of the free market economy by deed restricting it to be permanently affordable to low- and middle-income tenants or owners.  (The City, working with the Somerville Community Corporation, the City’s only affordable housing developer, is doing this with the 100 Homes program, but we need an 1,000 Homes program.)  In our hyper-capitalist economic system, housing is simply a commodity like any other product.  And in areas where lots of people want to live, high demand is pushing rents and purchase prices up to levels that only wealthy people can afford.  That is how our free market economy distributes housing. 

Councilor-at-Large Stephanie Hirsch has talked about trying to preserve the affordable rental housing that still exists in Somerville, and setting a goal for a percentage of affordable units we want in our City.  Should that goal be 20% permanently affordable, 30%?  I don’t know, but we need to have a public discussion and set a goal.  (Perhaps this will take place within the current discussions for a revised Somervision 2040 strategic plan for the City.)  Otherwise, in 20 years, Somerville is likely to become a City without a middle class, and with 90% wealthy residents.

Transportation:

Traffic calming and pedestrian and bicyclist safety

On April 3, the Council held a Public Hearing in response to a resident petition organized by the Somerville Pedestrian and Transit Advocacy Group and signed by 350 people. The petition, with its excellent recommendations for priorities and plans to make Somerville's streets safer for all users, can be seen here.  The petition came in the wake of the tragic death of a pedestrian, Allison Donovan, killed by a hit-and-run driver in a crosswalk in front of the West Somerville Neighborhood School on Powderhouse Blvd the evening of February 8.

Before the Public Hearing, there were short presentations by the Somerville Pedestrian and Transit Advocacy Group and by the Administration, both of which you can see here.  About 20 people spoke. Following the Public Hearing, there was extensive discussion between Councilors and Brad Rawson, the Director of Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) and Dave Fallon, Chief of Police, about policy, programs, priorities, budgets, and a range of specific traffic safety problems. While Mr. Rawson did not make any concrete commitments, he said that he would be hiring two additional staff for vacant positions and that the Administration is considering major investments in traffic calming for the forthcoming FY 2020 budget. Somerville Police Department (SPD) Chief Fallon said that he had assigned an additional four police officers to the SPD Traffic Division, and that they are deployed on bicycles to step up the City’s traffic enforcement.  (As an urban bicyclist for more than 40 years, I can tell you that even an old and slow cyclist like me can often get around Somerville faster by bicycle than by car, especially during rush hours.)  The traffic calming petition and the testimony will inform both ongoing Council deliberations and City efforts around improving the safety of Somerville streets for all users, including the development of the City’s Vision Zero (for zero traffic fatalities) action plan, and decisions around the allocation of funding for traffic calming.  

As I have stated repeatedly, it is time for the Administration to step up and (A) staff up and (B) dramatically increase the budget for traffic calming to invest in physical infrastructure improvements to our City’s streets. We need traffic-calming tables, speed bumps, concrete bump-outs and other physical changes in our streets to slow motor vehicles down and make our streets safer for pedestrians.  Paint and flex posts are helpful, but not enough.  Physical interventions are expensive, and so is the staff needed to plan and implement them.  As Councilor Davis remarked about the positive steps that the Administration is finally taking to fix Powderhouse Blvd, legislating in response to tragedy is not how the City should operate. 

There will be a Vision Zero meeting on Wednesday April 24 at 6 p.m. at the East Somerville Community School with an opportunity for more extensive discussion by community members with City staff.  The Administration is using Vision Zero, an international program to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on Somerville’s streets, a City goal.

Ball Square Bridge closure -- so far so good

While there have been some problems in the Ball Square neighborhood -- on Boston Ave, Prichard Ave, and Highland Road -- and the intersection of Morrison Avenue and Cedar Street is sometimes jammed up,  the SPD Lieutenant in charge has told me that traffic in the Ball Square area has been far less of a problem than anticipated.  Cedar Street and Highland Avenue are much slower, especially in rush hours, but overall the presence of large numbers of SPD officers in the area and removal of parking spaces to ease traffic flow seem to have been effective.  The white flex posts put in place by the City (and knocked over quickly), have been heavily criticized.  This was clearly an intervention that did not work. The Administration will be re-evaluating the use of flex posts going forward.  (The good news is they only cost around $40 each.)  Hopefully traffic going through Ball Square will not increase as drivers realize the area is not that congested (don’t tell anyone!), and hopefully adequate police presence will be maintained around Ball Square as officers are redeployed around the other bridge closures. (The Washington Street bridge closed on April 8 and the Medford Street bridge is scheduled to close in July 2019.)

GLX station designs – community concerns about accessibility

Members of the Green Line Extension (GLX) Community Working Group (CWG), in particular Jennifer Dorsen, the Ball Square CWG Representative, have shared concerns with Councilors and others in the community that the GLX station designs do not allow adequate accessibility for people with disabilities, people using strollers or otherwise unable to use stairs or walk long ramp distances.  A major concern is the lack of an elevator at the Union Square station, which the Union Square Neighborhood Council has been raising an alarm about, as have Cambridge folks.  Another concern is that the GLX Team is not looking at the interface of sidewalks outside of the stations with the station designs.  As a result, while the station designs may (or may not, it is complicated) technically comply with the federal Americans with Disability Act (ADA), in practice, some of the stations as designed will not be reasonably accessible, due to issues with sidewalks, bridges, etc.  There are other design concerns as well regarding safety and usability of staircases, ramps, etc.

There are also major design concerns about some parts of the Community Path Extension, especially one long stretch which is not wide enough to be safe and for which there are no stopping places or ways to get off or on the Path.

The City Council passed three resolutions about the problems with the GLX designs. I have been working with the Administration, Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, CWG members, community members, accessibility advocates, and Somerville’s state legislative delegation to address these serious design deficiencies.  So far, the GLX Team has not been responsive to the concerns we have raised.  We will continue to advocate for changes through all avenues available, especially to  get an elevator at the Union Square GLX station and to improve accessibility at all the GLX stations.

Proposed water (6%) and sewer (7 ½%) rate increases for FY 2020 – Administration presentation and Public Hearing Monday, April 22, 6 PM, Somerville High School cafeteria)

The Administration has asked for increases of 6% and 7.5% for water and sewer bills, respectively, for each of the next three years.  This would be, roughly over three years, a 20% increase for water bills and a 25% increase for sewer bills.  The Administration will present their rationale for these increases and hold Public Hearing on the request for just the coming year, FY 2020 only, on Monday, April 22 at 6 PM in the Somerville High School cafeteria.  The purpose of this hearing is to take testimony from Somerville rate payers about the FY 2020 water and sewer rates. All are welcome to attend, testify and be heard. Written testimony will be accepted until Monday, April 29, at 6 p.m. and can  be e-mailed to [email protected].  (The City Council has instructed the Administration to share with us all communications that are received on this topic.)

In several presentations to the Finance Committee, the City Director of Engineering has told us that many of our pipes are 100+ years old and that the sewer and water system is breaking down.  Without spending millions of dollars every year to fix pipes, valves, etc, there will be more emergencies and even more expense going forward.  (Emergencies are more expensive for repairs than pro-active, planned maintenance and repairs.) 

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are also monitoring our sewer system's discharges into the Mystic River and Alewife Brook. (Much of our sewer system combines storm water runoff with waste from our toilets, sinks, and showers.)  These discharges are mostly illegal and the EPA and DEP have the legal power and authority to force the City to spend tens of millions of dollars to fix problems with our sewer system if these discharges continue, which could double or triple our water and sewer bills overnight.  So the Administration says we need to spend a lot of money to fix these problems or the costs could go a lot higher, quickly.  The City Council changed the law a couple of years ago so that we have the power to approve or not approve increases in the sewer and water bills.  With Councilor-at-Large Bill White as the Chair of the Finance Committee, I am sure we will be spending a lot of time doing our due diligence in examining whether the City really needs such large increases in sewer and water rates over the next three years.

The City Council sent last spring a home rule petition to the State Legislature to create a residential exemption for sewer and water bills, similar to the 35% residential exemption in Somerville that owner occupants get on property tax bills.  The Legislature approved it, and now the City can implement it.  However, the Administration told us on April 9 that they could not implement the residential exemption until FY 2021, over a year from now. This is disappointing to say the least, and I know the Council will be looking for answers as to why it takes a year-and-a-half to implement a financial program that would provide some relief to residents from rapidly-increasing sewer and water fees.

You can view the April 9 presentation here Water & Sewer Rate Study Update and FY20 Recommendations.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Councilor

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Friend -

In this issue:

• Some key issues we are working on

• Some important meetings and dates in the next month

• Safety on our streets, especially for pedestrians and bicyclists; City traffic calming efforts

• Tree Protection ordinance and zoning amendment before the City Council

Some key issues we are working on

In addition to the two issues discussed in this newsletter, the Somerville City Council has a bunch of important ordinances and issues before us which we will be working on and (I hope) passing in the next 4 ½ months.  I will be writing about these in upcoming newsletters.  Some of these key issues are:

• the citywide zoning overhaul, which we have been working on now for five years;
• a revised, strengthened Condominium Conversion Ordinance,
• a revised strengthened Demolition Review Ordinance,
• a new ordinance to regulate short-term rentals such as AirBNB (Those last three are in the Legislative Matters Committee, which I Chair;) and
• many important environmental and open and green space issues in a variety of committees.
• In addition, the Council will be considering Administration recommendations for appointments to important City boards such as the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Somerville Redevelopment Authority, and
• in June, the FY 2020 budget.
• Of course, I will be continuing to do all I can to minimize the negative impacts of the Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure, which will begin in three weeks.
• And, I will continue to work closely with neighbors in many Ward 5 neighborhoods to try to impact as positively as possible redevelopment proposals that developers have brought to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Some important meetings and dates in the next month

Tuesday March 5, at 6 PM – Powderhouse Blvd Community Meeting about traffic calming and pedestrian safety, at the West Somerville Neighborhood School.  See https://www.somervillema.gov/events/2019/03/05/powder-house-blvd-community-meeting

Tuesday, March 12, at 6 PM – Public Hearings before the City Council Land Use Committee and the Planning Board on open space requirements for mid- and high-rise buildings, tree protection, the citywide zoning overhaul, and other zoning amendments, City Hall.  See https://www.somervillema.gov/events/2019/03/12/planning-board-and-city-councils-land-use-committee-joint-public-hearing

Wednesday, March 13, 6:30 PM - Green Line Extension public meeting to discuss Washington Street bridge closure, East Somerville Community School.  See https://www.somervillema.gov/events/2019/03/13/glx-public-meeting-discuss-washington-st-bridge-closure

Friday, March 22 – Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closes completely to all traffic for approximately one year.  (Closures to the Washington St and Medford St bridges will follow in April and July, respectively.)  For lots of information and details, see https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/green-line-extension

Wednesday, April 3, 6 PM – Public Hearing before the City Council Traffic and Parking Cmte in response to a petition signed by 350+ residents and submitted by the Pedestrian and Transit Advocacy Group, to accelerate traffic calming investmentsand improve coordination and oversight, City Hall.  (See below for a link to the petition and discussion.)

Thursday, April 4, 3 PM AND 6 PM, Public Hearings before the City Council Legislative Matters Cmte on a proposed home-rule petition to allow 16 & 17 year-old citizens to vote in municipal elections, City Hall.   

Safety on our streets, especially for pedestrians and bicyclists; City traffic calming efforts

The killing of 40-year-old Allison Donovan, a West Somerville resident and long-time public school teacher and administrator in Watertown, on Friday, February 8th by a hit-and-run driver in the crosswalk in front of the West Somerville Neighborhood School on Powderhouse Boulevard is an enormous tragedy. It has unleashed a huge outpouring of constructive anger about safety on our streets, especially for pedestrians, but also for bicyclists.  (At least one other pedestrian has been killed in a traffic accident in Somerville in the last few years).

Just a week later, a bicyclist, Paula Sharaga, 69 years old, a Cambridge resident and beloved Brookline children’s librarian, with ties to Havurat Shalom in the Somerville Jewish community, was run over and killed by a cement truck in Boston.  There have been two cyclist deaths in Cambridge over the past couple of years, but so far, none in Somerville that I am aware of. 

Sadly, I believe it is only a matter of time before a bicyclist, and another pedestrian, gets killed in a traffic accident in Somerville.  That is the reality in which we live. One astonishing statistic indicates how dangerous our streets are: In 2017, in 46% of crashes, the pedestrian hit was in a crosswalk (2018 City of Somerville spring Resistat presentation).  Please think about this next time you cross a street or drive or cycle through a crosswalk.  Despite public perception, crosswalks are not safe, so beware and be careful. Do not look at your phone while you are crossing a street!

As Chair of the City Council Traffic and Parking Committee, I have been working closely with Councilor-at-Large Stephanie Hirsch and the volunteer Somerville Pedestrian and Transit Advocacy Group on these issues for a year. Since I became Ward 5 Alderman in 2014, I have been advocating for traffic-calming improvements on dozens of Ward 5 streets and for more City resources devoted to traffic safety.  That’s because traffic calming and safety on our streets has been the #1 concern of Ward 5 residents during my tenure.

Since Allison Donovan was killed, we've received scores of emails from frightened residents & a superb petition from the Somerville Pedestrian and Transit Advocacy Group, signed by over 350 people, with a program for improvement in the safety of our streets that should serve as a guide for our City leaders. You can see the petition here:http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=2856&MediaPosition=&ID=20338&CssClass=

It's clear that the City needs to do a LOT more to calm traffic and protect pedestrians and bicyclists. These changes would also make driving safer for motorists, certainly an important consideration.  Now it's time to get the Mayor, the Administration and the rest of the City Council to step up to the plate and commit significant new resources (i.e. $$$$$$) to staffing and infrastructure for traffic calming and pedestrian and bicyclist safety.  If we are going to achieve our Somervision goal to get a lot more people to walk, bike and take public transit, we need to make sure people don’t get killed while doing so.

When the City Council discussed the above petition, two City Councilors said that they would not commit to support additional spending for traffic calming because they need to consider the entire budget and other priorities.  To me, this is a matter of life and death, but clearly some Councilors don’t see it that way.  In a City budget of over $240 million there are plenty of non-essential expenditures that could be cut if necessary to generate these funds.  I will identify those budget cuts during our budget discussions in June, if that is necessary to raise $1 million for traffic calming.

Several large public community meetings are being planned for March and April, where people will be able to speak out with their concerns & ideas. I urge you to attend those meetings and/or to write to the Mayor ([email protected]) and all City Councilors ([email protected]) and share your concern about pedestrian and bicyclist safety and urge them to commit significantly more City resources to making our streets safer for all users.

Tree Protection ordinance and zoning amendment before the City Council

There’s been a great deal written and said about the loss of so many trees on public and private land in Somerville over the past few years.  There is a widespread belief in Somerville that City government has not done enough to protect and sustain our trees, and that is certainly my opinion too.  We can and must do better.  Progress in staffing up protect and better care for our trees has been agonizingly slow.  It took years of advocacy to get the Mayor to hire an arborist.  Hiring additional desperately-needed tree staff has also been slow.  It took over a year from when the City Council created it for the Administration to appoint residents to the new Urban Forestry Committee.  Meanwhile, other government agencies (the MBTA on the GLX commuter rail corridor) and private contractors (Cedar Street and Beacon Street) are cutting far more trees than is necessary due to a lack of City oversight and advocacy to protect those trees. 

I’ve been working on developing an ordinance to protect trees on private property for three years now.  Given all the problems the City has had with the trees the City controls on our own public land, it did not seem to me a high priority to regulate trees on private property. I hesitated for years exactly because some said the City should get its own house in order first before interfering with private property.

However, after a half-dozen private properties got clearcut by developers over the past six months, I decided that I couldn't wait any longer.  One of those properties, 21 Eastman Road, is a block from my house.  This is a large (at 12,000 square feet, huge by Somerville standards), steeply-sloped parcel that had a tiny single-family house (since demolished) at the top.  One day last August, the developers cut down a dozen mature trees on the property, most of which had been there for decades.  The outpouring of grief from neighbors was one of the saddest things I have experienced as an elected official.

After developers clearcut trees on several properties in Ward 2, I worked intensely for a month with Ward 2 Councilor JT Scott and resident Chris Dwan to develop and submit a Tree Protection Ordinance and also an amendment to Somerville’s zoning code to stop developers from clearcutting trees on private property.  We consulted with, and received help from, Dan Bartman in the City Planning Department and Jason Grossfield in the City Solicitor’s Office.  There will be a Public Hearing on the zoning amendment on Weds, March 12, 6 PM in City Hall. Anyone can testify and/or submit written comments by emailing [email protected] and [email protected].

If you're interested in protecting and preserving trees, I suggest you start by reading an article we wrote in the February 13 Somerville Times, “Legal Protections for Somerville’s Trees.”  The article is copied into this newsletter below, or you can see it here http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/89558.  It provides some background information and explains our approach to protecting trees on private property.  You can find our proposed Tree Preservation Ordinance here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=1726&MediaPosition=&ID=20336&CssClass=

Our proposed zoning ordinance for the protection of significant trees can be found here: http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?ID=20252&highlightTerms=tree%20protection

Legal Protections for Somerville's Trees

Published on February 13, 2019 in The Somerville Times

By Chris Dwan, Resident; Mark Niedergang, City Councilor, Ward 5; and JT Scott, City Councilor, Ward 2

Somerville developers take notice: preliminary protections are now in place for trees on private land in Somerville. If you intend to cut a tree greater than six inches in diameter on private property, you may be required to plant replacements, pay into a replacement fund, or both.

At the January 24 Board of Aldermen meeting, we submitted a Tree Protection amendment to Somerville’s zoning ordinance. Our primary goal with this was to stop developers from clear-cutting trees on properties that they plan to redevelop. Our ultimate goal is to empower residents and provide the incentives and funding to act meaningfully on the restoration of Somerville’s urban forest canopy.

Zoning laws can be enforced – if they are eventually passed – as of the date on which a public hearing on a proposed zoning amendment is “noticed” via an advertisement in the newspaper. For this amendment that date was Wednesday, February 6. If the proposed zoning law eventually passes, it would be retroactively effective as of that date.

This makes it a wise move, today, to join the conversation and help us to pass the right ordinance, rather than to clear-cut.

The text of the proposed zoning amendment is online at the city’s website. The Public Hearing will be on Wednesday, March 12, 6 PM in City Hall. Anyone can testify and/or submit written comments by emailing [email protected] and [email protected].

A new Tree Protection Ordinance

Based on advice from the Planning Department and the Solicitor’s Office, we will also submit a comprehensive revision of the city’s Tree Protection Ordinance this coming Thursday, February 14. This ordinance will, among other things, establish a system of permits for tree removal that will be both faster and simpler than the process of zoning review.

We based this work on similar regulations in neighboring cities and towns. We spoke to many residents and neighbors and worked with City staff to find a balance that respects property rights while slowing and reversing the tree losses of recent years. We look forward to public discussion and debate and fully expect corrections and improvements to the revised ordinance we have drafted.

Our goals with this revised ordinance are:

• To clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Tree Warden and the City Arborist.
• To leverage the newly created Urban Forestry Committee as a public forum for tree issues. The “Tree Hearings” required before street trees are removed will now be held as part of the public meetings of this committee. This will shine a light on what has been a murky process.
• To bring resident voices, via the Urban Forestry Committee, into the conversation on how the city’s limited funds for tree care and planting should be prioritized and spent.
• To create a system of permits that will prevent surprise clear-cuts, generate revenue from developers, and punish bad actors.

This is not a ban: Nothing in this proposed ordinance will prevent or even unduly delay a property owner who wants to cut some or all of the trees on their land. A completed permit application requires a plan showing which trees are to be removed and where new plantings will go. The application will also require a payment into the city’s “Tree Fund” to make up the difference between what is being cut and what is being planted.

To allow flexibility, the permit application will include an option to request a waiver of fees. These requests will be discussed publicly by the Urban Forestry Committee. Whether for financial hardship, because a tree is damaging a building, or for any reason at all, the option should be there.

Why this approach

The City Council has been vigorous in our response to the tree decimation of recent years. We have supported the Mayor in adding new City staff positions and funding, and we have issued dozens of board orders instructing the Administration to prioritize preservation of the City’s trees. While this was important, it has not yet turned the tide. With this ordinance, we are taking the next step.

In August 2018, Alderman Niedergang submitted a board order asking the City Solicitor to consider the policies of neighboring cities and towns and draft potential regulations on tree cutting on private property. Comments in this newspaper grew heated. One developer immediately razed a wooded lot on Spring Hill without waiting to see what the proposed ordinance might be. We realized that the public conversation required to create a good ordinance was going to create a real risk to hundreds of mature trees.

By submitting the zoning amendment first, trees on private property have some protections, and the City Council and the community can develop a fair and effective Tree Protection Ordinance without more trees being destroyed.

Striking a Balance

Trees are a public good, even when they are located on private property. Trees shade and cool all of us, not just the owner of the property where they stand. They increase property values while reducing energy consumption and providing privacy in our dense city. They protect air quality, sequester massive amounts of carbon, provide protection from glare and heat, and baffle noise, They reduce topsoil erosion and stormwater runoff, which means fewer flooded basements. At the same time, they provide habitats for wildlife, all while beautifying our city. Because these benefits of trees extend beyond the property line, the harm of cutting them down is felt beyond the property line.

In addition, many of the trees we are talking about protecting have grown in our city for 50, 75, and in some cases more than 100 years. They are remarkable survivors in their own right. People who say that we can plant saplings to replace mature trees neglect to point out that this means that those of us who live in Somerville today will live out our lives in a town of twigs rather than a tree city.

Please join the conversation, and help us to pass the right legislation on this important topic.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Councilor

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Alderman-at-Large Stephanie Hirsch and I wrote this column about traffic, transit, walking, driving, bicycling and parking in Somerville. It appeared in the Somerville TimesWednesday.  Traffic and parking are some of the most challenging problems we face in Somerville.  Please read this article and share your thoughts with me.

Moving forward on calming & reducing traffic           January 9, 2019

By Alderman-At-Large Stephanie Hirsch and Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang

Residents reach out to us constantly about their frustrations and fear regarding traffic. Different people are aggravated by different aspects of traffic. Here’s some of what we hear:

• I can’t get out of my driveway and have started making doctors’ appointments only for the middle of the day…. It took me 20 minutes to get through Union Square…. It took me a half-hour to drive from Porter to Sullivan.
• My kids can’t get to a class nearby because I think it’s too dangerous for them to walk through Union or Davis on their own.
• The traffic light signaling changes are supposed to make things better… but my impression is they make things worse.
• I’m afraid that people who drive are not paying attention… I’m afraid that people who bicycle are not paying attention… I’m afraid that pedestrians are not paying attention… When I’m driving, there are too many things to pay attention to on the streets.
• The commuter traffic on my block backs up so far that the air gets hazy from exhaust.
• I’d love to bicycle around, but I’m scared, it doesn’t feel safe.

Traffic tops the list of quality-of-life concerns in Somerville (except, perhaps, for frustration with rats in some neighborhoods). Traffic problems appear to be overwhelming. But changes are happening that make us optimistic that a lot more progress will be made in the next five years than in the past five.

What’s causing our traffic problems?

One cause is the sheer volume of cars on our streets. A majority of cars being driven on our streets come from and go to somewhere outside of Somerville. That includes about 20,000 cut-through vehicles that pass through Union Square, 130,000 on I-93, and approximately 80 percent of all drivers at busy times and locations. The volume has increased along with the increase in traffic in greater Boston. More drivers are trying to find a way through Somerville around the traffic jams on I-93. Somerville Police Traffic Officers report that, at least anecdotally, the non-local commuters are more distracted and more likely to speed or skirt laws.

Another issue that’s aggravating traffic is construction. This cause, we hope, will be temporary. Detours, road closures, dirt and gravel-covered streets… they are driving all types of travelers crazy. But at least they come with an eventual reward. (Note: If you have a construction-related issue or travel question you can email: [email protected])

How can we make a dent in the traffic problems?

We have been meeting monthly since January 2018 with a group of residents who care deeply about making streets and sidewalks safer for all, and about relieving the traffic congestion that hurts our quality of life. We are so grateful for these residents who spend significant time working on traffic issues, including members of a group called Staying Put, who are trying to make sure that seniors and others with mobility issues can safely navigate our sidewalks and streets.

In addition to this effort, Mark chairs the Board of Aldermen (BOA) Traffic and Parking Committee. (Mark also represents the BOA on the City’s Traffic Commission, a little-known five-member Board that makes many of the important decisions about specific traffic and parking details in Somerville.) Mark has tried to focus on not just the very long laundry list of traffic problems, but on the big picture challenges, like staffing and infrastructure investment, that affect how much progress we can make.

The Administration and the BOA made a significant investment in 2018, almost doubling the traffic planning staff, thanks in large part to the advocacy and support of members of the public. The Mayor has also given the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development transportation planning team both more resources and more responsibilities to tackle traffic planning issues. These extra resources have brought a much more flexible, creative, contemporary, and problem-solving approach to solving traffic issues.

We and the Administration share a focus on reducing traffic-related deaths, and the City’s new Vision Zero initiative addresses this objective. In particular, the planning process looks to increase the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, who are most likely to experience traffic-related injuries and deaths in Somerville. However, we know that the entire system of streets and traffic requires study to improve life for people who travel by foot, bicycle, car, or bus/subway… and in most cases a mix of these methods.

We are working with the Administration on the following approaches:

• A staffed Pedestrian and Transit Committee: Our top request, along with the residents we’ve been working with, is to have a resident advisory committee that focuses on traffic and transit issues. It should be modeled after the hugely effective Somerville Bicycle Committee that has helped the Administration make enormous progress on bike infrastructure.
• Real-time traffic engineering with experimentation: In response to input from residents, a fully-staffed Traffic and Infrastructure Division can collect data, test out different traffic-calming strategies, monitor how those experiments worked, and report back to the community. This will be, we hope, a virtuous cycle.
• More enforcement: In a recent East Somerville traffic enforcement effort, a Somerville Police Department traffic control officer said, “The officers reported that the area is literally ‘out of control’ with violations which occurred directly in front of them even though they were there with blue lights activated as a warning to motorists not to commit a violation.” This feedback shows how much more we could do in the enforcement of traffic laws. Key violations to enforce include speeding and distracted driving, which cause many fatal or serious accidents nationwide. The Administration should add more Police resources for enforcement, including enforcement of bicycle laws, in particular when they impact pedestrians.
• More investment: To make a big impact on this big problem will require more staff which will take more funding.
• Neighborhood advocacy: You understand your own neighborhood best. We want to empower neighbors to work with City traffic planners to implement effective solutions to calm traffic and/or reduce traffic flow through small residential side streets.
• Coordination with the MBTA: Our public transportation system could be much more effective, but it is controlled by the MBTA, a state agency. For example, there is virtually no North-South public transportation route in the City. With five new Green Line stations opening in 2021 in Somerville, there will need to be some changes in bus routes. The City needs both to advocate for more and better MBTA bus service and also to be a good partner for the MBTA, such as by piloting bus-only lanes.
• Last, but certainly not least – parking: With a growing population of residents, shrinking space on our streets, and outdated regulations, the Administration must begin a community discussion about major changes in our parking policies. Many parking regulations need to change to improve the parking experience for thousands of residents.

We look forward to working with the Administration and with all of you on these important public health and quality-of-life traffic challenges in 2019. With the tools that are available, the expertise of our growing City staff, additional investment, and your relentless advocacy, we can chip away at the mountain of issues and begin to see some relief.

Share your thoughts!

Please let us know what you think! You can see discussion about this topic on my facebook page on Stephanie Hirsh's facebook page and on the website of the Somerville Times. Or contact me by email or phone

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this issue:

• Green Line Extension (GLX) moving forward; Ball Square buildings and Homans Building to be demolished                                              

• Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure delayed until late February-early March; detour routes set; traffic and public safety impacts

• Citywide zoning overhaul round 3: major focus for Board of Aldermen in first half of 2019

• Other big issues before the Board of Aldermen

• A Somerville survival guide: How you can know what’s going on around you and get what you need from City government -- phone numbers & email addresses, lists to get on, and websites

Green Line Extension (GLX) moving forward; Ball Square buildings and Homans Building to be demolished

GLX Constructors, the company building the Green Line Extension, has stepped up its level of activity in the past couple of months, and is often working on nights and weekends.  The next major phases of work will involve drainage installation and construction of retaining and noise walls.  By the end of 2018, the Homans Building in Gilman Square, and the bowling alley and auto repair shop in Ball Square will be demolished to make way for the future GLX stations.  Station designs have not been released yet.

A number of Ward 5 residents have complained to me and/or to the GLX Team about noise and other issues, and the GLX Team has been fairly responsive.  So don’t hesitate to make your concerns known, and let me know if I can help.  (See the Survival Guide below for how to stay informed about GLX work and contact info.)

Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure delayed until late February-early March; detour routes set;  traffic and public safety impacts 

The one-year complete closure of the Broadway/Ball Square Bridge has been pushed back once again, and is now scheduled to begin in late February – mid-March 2019.  I am happy about this delay; hopefully the snow season and bridge closure will not overlap.  We will worry about the tail end of the one-year closure when we get there (early 2020), but by then the traffic situation will have stabilized as drivers will know to avoid Ball Square.

Of course the absence of motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic in Ball Square will hurt the local businesses. I encourage you to make Herculean efforts to patronize those local businesses.  I am planning to hold my spring 2019 re-election campaign fundraiser at a venue in Ball Square, both because it is a great location, and as a show of support and solidarity with the businesses there.

The motor vehicle detour routes are all set, with westbound traffic on Broadway (going towards Powderhouse Circle) to be detoured down Cedar Street, to Highland Avenue, to College Avenue in Davis Square and then up to Powderhouse Circle to get back onto Broadway.   In the other eastbound direction, traffic will be detoured into Medford, from Powderhouse Circle onto Warner/Harvard Street, and then to Main Street and Medford Street and onto Broadway at Magoun Square. 

The bus detour routes will take the MBTA busses quite far away from Ball Square.  (If you want to see them, please email me.)  For those bus riders who can’t walk long distances, the location of bus stops will create a hardship or an insurmountable obstacle to getting to their bus stop.  Similarly, the ¾ of a mile pedestrian detour on Boston Avenue, Harvard Street and Winchester Street will present a huge problem for elderly and disabled people, and for parents with young children. 

I am happy to report that the Somerville City Administration has stepped up to address this problem and on November 20 submitted a request to the BOA for a supplemental appropriation of $400,000 to fund a shuttle van service to provide rides to people who need them due to the bridge closure.  I have not yet seen the details, but unless it is poorly thought out, I will be supporting this funding request enthusiastically and doing everything I can to get my colleagues to vote in favor.

Since the early summer, my #1 priority has been to mitigate the traffic and public safety impacts from the Broadway/Ball Square bridge closure.  I want to share with you again my four major concerns, with updates on how they are being addressed…or not.    

(A) Strong police enforcement during rush hours at key intersections on the detour route to keep cars & trucks out of the Ball Square neighborhood encircled by Cedar St, Highland Ave & College Ave.  The Mayor’s Office told me over a month ago that they are working closely with the Somerville Police Department to develop a detailed plan for police placement around the detour routes, but I have yet to see the plan. I filed this Board order on October 23: “That the Mayor’s Office report to this Board with plans for the police presence around the detour route from the Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure to protect the Ball Square neighborhood from cut-through traffic, especially at key intersection on Cedar Street, Highland Avenue, College Avenue, and Broadway such as Morrison Avenue, Willow Avenue, Kidder Avenue and others.”  I have put this on the agenda for the BOA Traffic and Parking Committee meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, December 5^th and will continue to remind Administration officials about this until the plan is produced.

(B) A shuttle van service around the pedestrian detour and to get bus riders to and from their (relocated) bus stops.  This is in the works with a funding request submitted; see above. 

(C) Physical traffic calming measures in that Ball Sq. neighborhood (in addition to the 20 mph safety zones that were just installed).  I have been informed that some parking will be shifted and chicanes implemented on Morrison Avenue between Willow Ave and College Ave.  However, my biggest concern is the other part of Morrison Ave -- between Cedar Street and Willow Ave.  That stretch will be a desirable shortcut from the detour route.  Morrison Ave there is straight and wide and drivers go way too fast on it.  And Lexington Park and the Community Path are accessible from Highland Road right by Morrison Ave, so a lot of pedestrians, and many children, cross Morrison Ave at that spot.  I filed this Board order on October 23: ”That the Director of OSPCD (Transportation and Infrastructure) develop  physical traffic calming infrastructure on Morrison Avenue between Cedar Street and Willow Avenue and get it in place beforethe Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure begins.”  This is also on the agenda for the BOA Traffic and Parking Committee meeting tomorrow and I will continue to advocate for physical traffic calming measures on Morrison Ave.

(D) A strategy & mechanisms for dealing with the narrow places on Cedar Street between Broadway and Highland Avenue, to prevent logjams when two large vehicles encounter each other going in opposite directions.  I have been told that the MBTA has done test runs of busses on Cedar Street to prepare to navigate those narrow places.  The Traffic Commission (which I sit on as Chair of the BOA Traffic and Parking Committee) voted last month to remove three parking spots on the east side of Cedar Street immediately north of Highland Avenue, which will open up Cedar Street a bit at that busy intersection.  Cedar Street between Broadway and Highland Avenue was finally repainted this past Friday, November 30, which will help drivers navigate the chicanes, bump outs, and narrow places.

Citywide zoning overhaul round 3: major focus for Board of Aldermen in first half of 2019

The Administration submitted a third revised version of the proposed citywide zoning overhaul to the BOA in late September.   The changes reflect intensive discussions with advocates for green & open space, for housing affordability, as well as widespread public feedback around issues such as whether to allow auxiliary dwelling units (such as conversion of carriage houses, garages, or basements into apartments) and triple deckers in the neighborhood residential district.  

The Planning Department and the BOA have done a tremendous amount of work on this massive piece of legislation over the past five years.  It has come a long, long way, and I am hoping that all this work will come to fruition in the next six months.  BOA Land Use Committee Chair Ward 6 Alderman Lance Davis has done a great job in methodically pushing this massive piece of legislation forward and I agree with him that we should do everything we can to resolve the remaining issues and pass it.  Of course, I will not vote for it unless it is really good, but it’s impossible to get something of this magnitude perfectly right.  So it’s certain that the BOA will need to make amendments to anything that passes.  Zoning is something the BOA should be working on constantly, anyway.

While I have many questions, and many key issues still need to be resolved, this proposal represents an enormous improvement over our current zoning, which has some huge problems that have negatively impacted our neighborhoods for years.  Working on the zoning overhaul will be my major activity during the BOA’s legislative break over the holidays.  We have no scheduled BOA meetings between December 13 and January 7 (although I already have three community meetings in Ward 5 scheduled for the week of December 17^th).   I look forward to studying the current version of the zoning overhaul (596 pages!), meeting with Ward 5 residents and property owners about the zoning of their properties and neighborhoods, and talking and meeting with people who have suggestions for changes.  I welcome any and all feedback, and look forward to digging into this proposal next year with my colleagues.

If you are interested in the zoning overhaul, you can find the new, revised submission and a wealth of background and explanatory information, including an October 16, 2018 PowerPoint and video of the most recent changes at www.somervillezoning.com  The official public comment period will remain open until December 13 (however, Aldermen will read anything sent to them on this topic at any time).  You can send comments for the public record to [email protected] and [email protected]

In the coming months, I will write more about the specific issues still to be resolved in the zoning overhaul, and about the concerns and questions that I have and am seeking feedback on.

Other big issues before the Board of Aldermen

In addition to the citywide zoning overhaul, here are some of the major issues the BOA is considering:

Marijuana licensing and zoning –  The BOA completed an ordinance that lays out the rules and regulations for how recreational marijuana businesses will be licensed.  I think we came up with a progressive, fair, and workable licensing ordinance, which is already being touted as a model for other communities in Massachusetts.  Ward 2 Alderman JT Scott deserves a lot of the credit; he developed a concept that the BOA liked and worked with the Planning Department to write the language that gives preference to “empowerment” applicants over big companies.  We are still working on the zoning that describes where retail marijuana outlets and other marijuana businesses can be located.     

Earlier this year, the State's marijuana committee released recommendations emphasizing that cities and towns must work to ensure that this lucrative new industry is welcoming to "communities disproportionately affected by the enforcement of previous cannabis laws, small businesses, and companies led by people of color, women, veterans, and farmers." This issue is especially important given that many powerful national big businesses are already seeking to dominate the industry.  After much careful deliberation, the BOA unanimously approved an ordinance featuring a two-year period during which only "priority applicants" (or the three existing medical marijuana dispensaries, required by state law) can apply for a retail license.  Priority applicants are businesses run by people who fall into the description quoted above, or Somerville residents, or co-operatively owned small businesses.  At least 50% of the retail licenses in Somerville must be owned by such priority applicants.  The BOA also established a “sunset” cap of no more than 12 retail licenses to be issued during the first two years.  (State law requires Somerville to issue a minimum of six retail licenses.)  State law also mandates that no one under 21 will be allowed to enter any retail facility, and that smoking marijuana in public remains illegal. The city will dedicate a portion of the new tax revenue to public health and educational programs.

Green and open space –The Administration has promised a comprehensive presentation on a strategy for the City to achieve the additional 125 acres of publicly accessible open space that is proposed in the City’s strategic plan for 2010-2030, Somervision.  It is widely understood that this is the Somervision goal most difficult to achieve.  (Some other Somervision goals are 6,000 units of housing with 1,200 of those permanently affordable; 30,000 new jobs; 50% of new trips via transit, biking or walking; 85% of new development in transformative areas.)  After many requests to the Administration, the City Finance Director, Ed Bean, has promised to submit a request from the Mayor to the BOA to establish an Open Space Acquisition Fund.  It is astonishing that such a fund does not yet exist. 

New Public Safety Building – The City’s Public Safety Building on Washington Street in Union Square has been slated for replacement for more than 20 years.  I worked there for three years in the 1990s as the Grant Manager for the Somerville Police Department.  It was not only a poor space for a police and fire department headquarters, but the building itself was in bad shape.  It hasn’t gotten any better.  A couple of months ago, the Mayor submitted a request to the Board of Aldermen to take by eminent domain the vacant retail shopping center/mall and parking lot at 90 Washington Street.  This is on the other (east) side of McGrath Highway from Union Square.  Under the leadership of Alderman-at-Large Bill White, Chair of the Finance Committee, we have been evaluating this request and discussing the City’s options in taking and then developing the property for a new Public Safety Building.  The current Public Safety Building is slated to be sold at some point in the future to the master developer US2 as part of the redevelopment of Union Square.

Many of the other most important issues before the BOA are in the Legislative Matters Committee, which I chair.  Some things that we have been working on this year are a proposed strengthened Condominium Conversion Ordinance (seewww.somervillema.gov/condo-conversion); an ordinance regulating Short Term Rentals such as AirBnB (see www.somervillema.gov/strs); a proposed strengthened Demolition Review Ordinance (see www.somervillema.gov/dro).  Other items in the Legislative Matters Committee that I look forward to working on in 2019 are theCommunity Benefits Ordinance regarding distribution of certain funds to be contributed by developers; stronger ordinances on storm water runoff and pervious surface limitation; and implementing some of the recommendations about who can vote and elections recently issued by the City’s Clean and Open Elections Task Force. 

For more information on any of these issues, please contact me.  I will be writing more about all of them next year.

A Somerville survival guide: How you can know what’s going on around you and get what you need from City government -- phone numbers & email addresses, lists to get on, and websites

To learn about street closings, emergencies, events, projects and more, and to sign up for updates, ask questions or make a complaint, check out these resources:

City of Somerville website – Get information on parking, trash & recycling, voting, calendar of City events, how to get involved, and more: https://www.somervillema.gov/

City Alerts (snow emergencies, detours, etc.) - https://www.somervillema.gov/alerts

City 311 Constituent Services: For city-specific issues (potholes, rats, missed trash pickups, cars parked illegally or blocking your driveway, construction or noise issues, etc) contact the 24/7 Constituent Services Office at 311 (617-666-3311 from your cell phone) or email [email protected].  If it is not time urgent, I suggest emailing, they are very responsive. You can also download the 311 app for your phone.

City of Somerville Construction Team (for immediate attention to road construction issues or problems): [email protected] or call Constituent Services.  This is the best way to get quick responses to traffic & construction problems and get City staff to deal with the problem.

City of Somerville newsletter – to get a weekly email with updates, events, programs, public meetings, job postings and more, sign up at www.somervillema.gov/enews

City of Somerville on Social Media - Keep track of what's going on in Somerville with the City's official accounts: Facebook Twitter, Instagram

Somerville High School construction information - http://go.somervillema.gov/highschool/

Green Line Extension (GLX) news, updates and contacts:

• 24/7 Hotline: 1-855-GLX-INFO (1-855-459-4636)
• Email: [email protected]
• MassDOT / GLX Website: Visit https://www.mass.gov/green-line-extension-project-glx to find construction updates and full project background materials.
• MassDOT / GLX Email Updates Emails include upcoming schedules and work information. To sign up, visit https://www.mass.gov/green-line-extension-project-glx
• To sign up for City of Somerville GLX alerts, https://www.somervillema.gov/glx City-specific coverage includes construction updates and subsequent impacts, announcements about upcoming events & other resources, such as detour maps.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Ward 3 Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen & I wrote an op-ed. It's about actions of the Board of Alderman (BOA) to try to deter bad development and gentrification and promote more affordable housing and open and green space by holding accountable the members of the boards that regulate development -- the Planning Board, the Somerville Redevelopment Authority and the Zoning Board of Appeals. The members of these powerful boards are not elected; they are appointed by the Mayor, and are subject to confirmation -- and re-confirmation when their terms expire -- by the BOA. It is imperative to consider the confirmation of members of these boards seriously and to hold them accountable.

The article text is copied below. You can see the original (and comments!) at https://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/87464

By Ward 3 Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen and Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang

We write in response to Jack Connolly’s op-ed of September 26, 2018, BOA bullies block members’ reappointment.

Some background: On August 28th, the Board of Aldermen (BOA) took the highly unusual step of voting against the confirmation of two Mayoral appointees, both whom of have served for 20 years, one a member of the Planning Board and the other the Chair of Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA). We want to explain why we voted against their confirmations, and why Connolly’s criticisms of the BOA’s vote are so wrong.

When it comes to regulating development in Somerville, nearly all of the legal decision-making power is held by three boards: the Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the SRA. These boards oversee everything from small changes by home-owners, all the way to enormous developments such as those in Assembly Square and Union Square. The members of these boards are not elected, they are appointed by the Mayor, and are subject to confirmation by the Board of Aldermen – a process that, in the past, has often been described as a rubber stamp.

Jack Connolly argues that the BOA should have re-appointed these individuals because of their long service to Somerville, their resumes, honors, and because they are “native Somervillians.” He says nothing whatsoever about their records, statements, and specific votes on the Planning Board and the SRA. Ask yourself: do you think our City has been holding developers to high enough standards in recent years?

We believe the confirmation process should be about one thing: accountability. What’s important is how these individuals vote, what they say at meetings, and the questions they ask. One of the BOA’s most important duties as the legislative branch of City government is to provide a check and balance on the power of the executive, the Mayor. This is especially important for Somerville, which has a strong-Mayor form of government.

Accountability is critical if government is to represent the community’s views and exercise the will of the people. We Aldermen are directly accountable to the voters, and must stand for re-election every other year if we want to keep our jobs and keep on making important decisions. But when it comes to these powerful, appointed boards, the confirmation process is the only way these positions are held accountable. This BOA takes that responsibility seriously, because we do not believe the people of Somerville elected us to be rubber stamps.

Given the huge amount of real estate development in Somerville in recent years, and its impact on residents’ lives, there has been increasing public scrutiny of these appointed boards. A number of high-profile decisions by the SRA and the Planning Board – and the manner in which they were made — have shaken the public’s trust in our City government. In some cases, large majorities of the public who expressed their opinions were outraged not only by the decisions, but by the lack of due diligence and serious questioning by these boards.

Many of the decisions that have been questioned by the public were made regarding development in Assembly Square and Union Square. Often, these decisions seemed to favor large developers and gave them advantages that many felt were not in the best interest of Somerville’s residents. If you want to learn details about some of these votes by the Planning Board and the SRA, you can check out Ewen-Campen’s September 22, 2018 Ward 3 newsletter at https://tinyurl.com/yd79pd7h and Niedergang’s memo for the August 28th meeting, “My views on SRA, Planning Board and ZBA re-appointments,” at http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Communication.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=2757&MediaPosition=&ID=1715&CssClass=

The real estate market in Somerville is a far cry from what it was 20 years ago. Today, given the enormous investor interest in our city, and the considerable leverage that we could have in directing development, these powerful boards need to take community concerns about affordable housing, green space, equity, and sustainability far more seriously, rather than viewing them as impediments to development or growing our tax base. We need qualified, independent, and responsive appointees on all of these boards — people who will get the best possible deal for the City, hold developers to the highest standards, and engender trust from the public while making contentious and difficult decisions.

We both know dozens of qualified Somerville residents who have written and spoken in public extensively about development issues, many with professional expertise, who would love to serve on these boards. Many have applied to do so and been turned down by the Mayor. Connolly’s statement, “It’s going to be real difficult for the Mayor…to recruit and fill many of the positions on the various boards and commissions charged with handling the city’s business…” could not be more out-of-touch and inaccurate.

By no means do we expect to agree with every decision made by these boards. But we all need to have faith in the fairness and transparency of the process, especially on decisions we disagree with. These boards need to take public input seriously, do extensive analysis, ask lots of tough questions, and take as long as is necessary in rendering important decisions.

This Board of Aldermen is taking our obligation seriously. We take no pleasure in rejecting a Mayoral appointee; it is not fun or pleasant to criticize someone’s performance in public and to their face. But it’s our job. For anyone interested in the BOA’s lengthy deliberation on the two re-appointments that Connolly discusses, there is a full video available of this meeting here http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=2757. If you watch it, you will see how seriously BOA members carried out their duties. While two re-appointments were rejected at this meeting, two others were approved.

There are now quite a few open positions on these key boards and also on many other boards and commissions. This is an opportunity to bring new blood, greater diversity, and more highly-qualified and talented people into these important positions. We urge the Mayor NOT to do as Connolly suggested and just ignore the BOA’s votes, which were both 8-1 against re-confirmation. To allow these discredited appointees to continue to serve indefinitely (which, unfortunately, is within the Mayor’s legal power under state law), would be to ignore the will of the people. We urge Mayor Curtatone to propose new, highly-qualified applicants to fill these positions as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this issue:

• Even worse traffic nightmares coming soon; more on Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure, detour routes, and mitigating the traffic and public safety impacts
• Cedar Street to be paved next week
• Tree slaughter and the need for more open and green space in Somerville
• Citywide zoning overhaul up again for round 3; public hearing rescheduled to October 30, 6 PM
• Important meetings, public hearings and early voting schedule

Some introductory remarks about newsletters

I have received much positive feedback over the years about my newsletters, as well as some criticism and suggestions.  I appreciate all of the feedback.  Many people in Somerville have told me that they value what I write not just for my views on the issues, but as news.  There is, unfortunately, a lack of good, in-depth reporting in local media these days.  In that light, I want to say a couple of things.

First, many of my colleagues on the Board of Aldermen (BOA) are now putting out newsletters.  They are all good, but I want to call a couple to your attention because they are excellent and also full of news.  If you like to read about important issues in Somerville, I encourage you to contact and get on the email lists of Ward 3 Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen and Alderman-at-Large Stephanie Hirsch.   You may also want to get on the email list for the alderman who represents your ward.  You can find contact info for all aldermen here: https://www.somervillema.gov/boa

Second, because this year I became the Chair of two important BOA committees, Legislative Matters and Traffic & Parking, a lot of my time is taken up with planning and preparing for committee meetings. Legislative Matters especially takes a huge amount of time because much of the important legislation that the BOA works on is in that committee. So, for example, right now in Legislative Matters are recreational marijuana licensing (zoning/location of marijuana establishments is in the Land Use Committee), condominium conversion, short-term rentals (AirBNB), demolition review, tenant right of first refusal, community benefits, green and open space and other environmental issues, and much more.  Since I am a ward alderman, I must also prioritize constituent service – a key part of my job is helping Ward 5 residents get what they need from City government and dealing with development projects in Ward 5.  I mention this just because I am finding it harder to find the time to write these newsletters, so they may become a little less frequent.  But fortunately other aldermen are doing a great job of filling the news gap.

Now on to the substance….

Even worse traffic nightmares coming soon; more on Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure, detour routes, and mitigating the traffic and public safety impacts

I hate to tell you this, but if you think traffic in Somerville is bad now, it is going to get worse -- much worse -- in the next few months.  Beginning in January 2019, the Broadway / Ball Square Bridge (between Boston Ave. and Cedar St.) will close for one full year to all traffic – motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles -- as part of ongoing construction for the Green Line Extension project (GLX).

My #1 priority is mitigating the traffic and public safety impacts from the detours of the bridge closure.  I will continue to advocate to the GLX Team, the City Administration, & state officials with my four top concerns:

(A) strong police enforcement during rush hours at key intersections on the detour route to keep cars & trucks out of the Ball Square neighborhood encircled by Cedar St, Highland Ave & College Ave;

(B) a shuttle van service around the pedestrian detour and to get bus riders to and from their (relocated) bus stops;

(C) physical traffic calming measures in that Ball Sq. neighborhood (in addition to the 20 mph safety zones that will be installed later this year); and

(D) a strategy & mechanisms for dealing with the narrow places on Cedar Street between Broadway and Highland Avenue, to prevent logjams when two large vehicles encounter each other going in opposite directions.  

(I discuss each of these concerns in detail in my August 28^th newsletter; you can see my past newsletters at https://www.markniedergang.com/?page=2 )

While City and GLX officials are working on all of these concerns, and some progress has been made, I am not satisfied that they have seriously addressed these problems.  Most worrisome, it is not clear to me at this time when and if they will be resolved.  So I am concerned, as January 2019 is now only 2 ½ months away. 

For a good update on where things are at with some of these issues, see this excellent article from early October: http://medford.wickedlocal.com/news/20181002/glx-mbta-has-no-plans-for-south-medford-shuttle-bus?fbclid=IwAR3xiyid-ogq5jq-cLphGVnO3F_9OG4dBJPe9QxAZUQGeW0nWyZXO9QNp_o

And in Union Square, traffic has been terrible since the spring due to sewer and streetscape work in the middle of the Square.  Beginning in November, there will be a major traffic detour in Union Square, lasting about six months. This is part of the long-planned major infrastructure work on the City’s sewer system.  You can find regularly-updated info on Union Square infrastructure work here: https://www.somervillema.gov/unionsquareinfrastructure

Starting around April 2019, due to the GLX project, the Washington Street Bridge east of Union Square will be closed through November 2019, and the Medford Street Bridge (below the High School near Gilman Square) will be closed from May – November 2019.

There are a number of ways in which you can get updates about what’s going on with the GLX Project and about street construction projects in Somerville:

City of Somerville GLX Updates -- Receive bi-weekly email updates about the GLX project. To enroll, email [email protected] with “GLX Alerts” in the subject line.

MassDOT/GLX Update Emails -- MassDOT and the GLX team maintain an email list. Emails include upcoming schedules and work information. To sign up visit www.greenlineextension.org  

GLX Project Website -- You can visit www.greenlineextension.org, where full project background materials are also linked.

GLX 24/7 Hotline: This is the best first stop for any questions or concerns. Email them at [email protected], or call the project hotline, which is monitored 24/7: 1-855-GLX-INFO.

City 311 Constituent Services: For basic, city-specific issues related to the GLX, or anything else, contact the 24/7 Constituent Services Office at 311 (or 617-666-3311 from your cell phone).

City of Somerville Construction Team: City staff are available to assist you via [email protected] or 617-666-3311.  This is the best way to get quick, up-to-the-minute, real-time responses to any traffic problems or issues you may encounter in Somerville, and to get a City staff person out onto the street to deal with the problem quickly.

Cedar Street to be paved next week

Good news!  Finally, ALL of Cedar Street will be repaved, and construction on it will be done.   Cedar Street was milled this week and then next week, on Wednesday October 17 from Broadway to Highland Avenue, and Thursday, October 18 from Highland Avenue to Elm Street (unless it rains, which would delay the work), Cedar Street will be repaved. Paving operations require full closure of the road, and keeping all traffic off the asphalt for four hours while it cools and hardens.  This will result in more of the unpleasant detours that we have endured for so long, and some streets, such as Hudson Street, will have their direction changed for short periods of time so that abutters can get to their homes from Lowell Street. However, once the paving is done, for the first time in five years, all of Cedar Street -- from Broadway to Elm Street -- will be free from construction & detours.

The Lower Cedar Street water and sewer infrastructure project has almost been completed.  However, I do have some bad news about Hall Street (which runs between Cedar Street and Cherry Street).  I was informed yesterday that Hall Street will NOT be repaved (as was promised a couple of years ago) at this time because both the sewer and water pipes under Hall Street are close to failure and will need to be completely replaced.  This was a major surprise to the Water and Sewer and Engineering Departments and City officials are scrambling to find about $1.1 million to do this work.   There is no timeline yet.  I received a detailed email today from Director of Engineering Rich Raiche about this which I can share with anyone who wants to see it.  Mr. Raiche concluded, “I realize this is a double-whammy for the neighborhood. Not only will the street not be paved this year, but it will also undergo intensive subsurface construction soon. Unfortunately, conditions like this are arising with more frequency as our 19^th century pipes are showing their age. If there is any consolation, it may be that we are now looking below the surface to address systematic problems and reduce long-term risk.”  I am sure this is not much consolation to the residents of Hall Street, but aging and failing sewer and water pipes are now part of the reality of living in our wonderful little city.  This will be affecting the quality of life for a lot more people all over Somerville in the coming decades.

Tree slaughter and the need for more open and green space in Somerville

Over the summer and into this fall, there has been much angry public comment and discussion about the loss of trees in Somerville over the past year.  We’ve lost thousands of trees, many of them large mature trees.  These are essentially irreplaceable…at least in my lifetime.  It will take 20-30 years for saplings that are planted now to provide the shade, cooling, oxygen, carbon sequestration, greenery, beauty, etc. that a large tree provides.  But some of the locations in which trees were cut will have buildings or concrete retaining walls covering them, so no trees can be planted there.

In Ward 5, the most devastating loss has been along the railroad tracks opposite Rogers Foam and Vernon Street studios -- alongside the Cambridge Health Alliance parking lot (which is actually owned by the City, FYI) and Junction Park.  Probably the most visible and widespread tree destruction was beside the railroad tracks along Boston Avenue in Medford.  Other places where large number of trees have been cut are on the slope by Gilman Square behind Somerville High School where the new SHS is being constructed, and on Beacon Street.  Some of these cuttings (new SHS) were necessary for an important development project, some were unnecessary and unauthorized (Beacon Street), and some questionable, like the GLX Team cuttings along the railroad tracks. 

The GLX Team announced the tree cuttings along the tracks, but what they didn’t say is that they would cut every single tree all the way up the slope, even on level ground well above the tracks.  If you look at the tree stumps next to the parking lot on Central Street and by Junction Park, you will see what I mean.  They cut all the way up to the barrier and fence, even on land that is pretty flat.  Even if they don’t care about trees (which obviously they don’t) his seems foolish given that once the tree roots rot there is likely to be serious erosion problems which they will have to deal with.  It never occurred to me that the GLX Project would cut ALL the trees, so I didn’t say anything before it happened.  It is clear that the tree cutters ran amok, as evidenced by the fact that they actually cut some trees on PRIVATE land behind properties on Boston Avenue where they had previously spoken with the owners of the properties and agreed they would not cut those particular trees.  Obviously I – and City staff whose job it is to protect and nurture our trees -- should have been more vigilant.  But we have a shortage of City staff to deal with tree issues.

Many community members and Aldermen are tremendously upset by all the tree cutting, the lack of a plan or funds to replace the lost trees, and the Administration’s failure to convene the Urban Forestry Committee which the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor supported in an ordinance passed a year ago.  Fortunately, thanks to consistent community activism and pressure, the Mayor's office requested applications to fill the new Urban Forestry Committee and there have been many.  A few weeks ago, the BOA approved funding for a Senior Urban Forestry & Landscape Planner to oversee green planning and to work with our city Arborist and Tree Warden.

I did file two Board orders about these issues:

That the Director of OSPCD (Transportation and Infrastructure) report to this Board on the depletion of the City’s tree canopy due to development and infrastructure projects with large-scale tree cutting, including the Green Line Extension, Somerville High School, Beacon Street, Cedar Street, and others, and present the Administration’s response to mitigate the harm from these lost trees.

That the Director of OSPCD (Transportation and Infrastructure) report to this Board with an explanation of why not a single tree was spared when the trees were cut along the commuter rail line, including trees far up from the tracks on flat ground by Junction Park and the Central Street parking lot, and what the GLX Team’s plans are to replant trees in that area and to prevent erosion on the hills by the tracks.

I await responses from the Administration, and look forward to public discussion of these and other tree-related issues.  

Another issue on which there has been much public comment and frustration is about adding to the City’s inadequate supply of green and open space and the shortage of athletic field space, especially for youth soccer and other youth sports.  The City’s strategic plan, Somervision, calls for the addition of 125 acres of new open space by about 2030.  There is a general consensus that this is the most challenging goal in the plan.  I will write more about this in the future, but I find it frustrating that the City does not have an open and green space acquisition fund even set up (much less with any money in it) for quick purchases of open space when it becomes available; that there seems to be no real plan as to how the City can get the additional 100 acres to reach our goal; and that large developments are not required to provide more open space or more funds for open space as a condition of their developments.

Citywide zoning overhaul up again; public hearing scheduled for October 30, 6 PM

The Planning Department has submitted a revised version of the proposed Citywide zoning overhaul to the BOA.  This is the third revised version over the past five years.  Zoning determines or impacts density, height of buildings, open space, green space, accessory dwelling units, affordable housing, number of residential units allowed, pervious and impervious surfaces, parking, trees, home additions, and so much more. Zoning determines what can be built and thus will have a major impact on how our city will look and feel in the decades to come.

The Planning Department and the BOA have done a tremendous amount of work on this massive piece of legislation over the past five years.  It has come a long, long way, and I am hoping that all this work will come to fruition in the next six months.  I have not yet had the time to review the new version, but I know from discussion since the last version was released that many of the problems that existed have been worked through. 

Zoning is perhaps the greatest power of the Board of Aldermen: any change in zoning, big or small, requires the votes of 8 of the 11 Aldermen to pass.  That is a heavy lift, especially for a comprehensive piece of legislation that has many controversial parts in it.  It is my belief that this comprehensive zoning overhaul is probably the most important single issue I will deal with in my time as an Alderman. 

I am frequently asked, especially by developers, what are the prospects for passage of the zoning overhaul?  I was not optimistic during the first two rounds, but at this point I am somewhat hopeful.  The truth is, nobody really knows whether 8 Aldermen would vote for something like this in the near future. Ward 6 Alderman Lance Davis, Chair of the Land Use Committee, has said that he hopes to complete work on the zoning overhaul this year.  While I am glad he has set an ambitious goal, I think it will take more time, at least through the first quarter of 2019.  However, as they say, the devil is in the details, and there are a LOT of details in this huge package.  We need to get the most important ones right before I will be willing to support an overall change of this magnitude, even though a change in many aspects of the City’s zoning code is desperately needed.

If you are interested in the zoning overhaul, I encourage you to attend the joint public meeting (not a Public Hearing) of the Planning Board and BOA Land Use Committee for a presentation on the revised zoning overhaul proposal this Tuesday, October 16, 6 PM in City Hall.  (The presentation and video will also be on the City website afterwards.)  There will be a Public Hearing on Tuesday October 30, 6 PM, location to be announced.   Anyone will be allowed to speak that evening to the BOA and the Planning Board for two minutes.  You can send comments to [email protected] and [email protected].  You can find the new, revised submission and a wealth of background information here: https://www.somervillezoning.com/

Important meetings, public hearings and early voting schedule

• Tuesday, October 16, 6 PM, City Hall, Aldermen’s Chambers -- Joint public meeting of the Planning Board and BOA Land Use Committee of the Whole for a presentation on the proposed citywide zoning overhaul. Also on the agenda for this evening is discussion of the proposed amendment to the Somerville Zoning Ordinance regarding adult-use (recreational) marijuana.   
• Wednesday, October 17 is the Deadline to register to vote in the November 6th state and federal election. For information on where to vote or how to register to vote in Somerville, go to https://www.somervillema.gov/elections
• Monday October 22, Ward 5 Resistat meeting. Pizza and schmoozing at 6 PM, meeting begins at 6:30 PM, Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave. Please join me, Mayor Curtatone, City department heads & Ward 5 neighbors  to get the latest City news on roadway work in Ward 5, proposed changes to zoning, development, and neighborhood updates. Ask questions & share your concerns (rats, trees, parking, traffic, open space, excessive development, affordable housing) directly with City officials.
• Monday, September 22, 7 PM, Aldermen’s Chambers, City Hall -- Public Hearing before the BOA Finance Committee of the Whole on the Administration’s request to transfer a 7,000-foot parcel of land (across from the Dunkin Donuts), part of the key D-2 block in Union Square, from the City to the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA), for eventual sale by the City to Union Square master developer US2. The terms of the sale of the D-2 block are spelled out in the Union Square Master Land Disposition Agreement, negotiated and signed by the SRA and US2.
• Monday, October 22 -Early voting (only at City Hall) for the November 6^th state and federal election begins, and goes through Friday November 2, including some evening and weekend hours. Skip the lines and vote early at City Hall!  For the full schedule, see https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/elections/early-voting
• Tuesday October 30, 6 PM -- Public Hearing on proposed citywide zoning overhaul before the Planning Board and BOA Land Use Committee of the Whole, location to be announced
• November 6 - Election Day, polls are open 7 AM – 8 PM.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this issue:

Why I’ll be voting in the Democratic Primary on Tuesday September 4^th (the day after Labor Day) for:

• Mike Capuano for Congress (7^th Congressional District),
• Donna Patalano for Middlesex County District Attorney,
• Bob Massie for Governor,
• Josh Zakim for Secretary of State, and
• Jimmy Tingle for Lieutenant Governor

Mike Capuano for Congress (7^th Congressional District)

A great deal has been written about this race and there is a lot of passion and energy for change among supporters of Ayanna Pressley, who is challenging Mike Capuano for this seat.  I get that, and I understand the power and social and political message of a progressive young black woman running against an old white man in a majority-minority district.   

I want to share my perspective on why I want to see Mike re-elected.  And I encourage you to read the best article I have seen that compares the two candidates, in the progressive on-line journal The Intercept, https://theintercept.com/2018/08/18/mike-capuano-ayanna-pressley-massachusetts-primary  

In full disclosure, I have known Mike Capuano and his family for over 30 years.  He is a constituent of mine in Ward 5 in Somerville, and I worked in his administration when he was Mayor of Somerville for three years in the Mayor’s Office of Human Services as a planner, grantwriter, and liaison to social service agencies, and as the Grant Manager in the Somerville Police Department.  So I am certainly NOT an objective observer in this race.

However, I will tell you that while I thought Mike was a good Mayor, I did NOT support him when he first ran for Congress in 1998, in a field of 10 candidates.  I supported former State Senator George Bachrach, because I thought at the time that Bachrach was more progressive on national issues than Mike.  Capuano had been associated with the Bill Clinton/Al Gore wing of the Democratic Party, which was much more moderate than the progressives that I supported on national issues.

I am supporting Mike Capuano now because he has done a terrific job as our representative in Congress.  I believe he is the best person for this job.  He has represented the progressive politics of our district well, and he has been doing it with great energy and passion now for 20 years.  

Mike is tough enough to take on Trump and the Republicans but practical and experienced enough to work with them when possible.  And it may be possible if the Democrats retake the House.  Mike knows how to get things done.  He got $1 billion for the Green Line Extension -- with a Republican president and Republican governor in office.

Mike has seniority in key committees in the House, which will enable him to have a big impact if the Democrats retake the House. One may not like or approve of the seniority system, but Mike Capuano would have a lot more power and influence than Ayanna Pressley would, to advance our progressive agenda in the next two years in Congress if the Democrats are in control of the House.

Mike is as progressive as Ayanna Pressley on domestic issues.  She has said, “We will vote the same way but lead differently.”  Mike has been a passionate and tireless supporter of domestic progressive causes and issues.  I do think there are significant differences between the two of them on foreign policy issues, as you will see if you read The Intercept article linked above.

Therefore, I want to talk to you about U.S. foreign and military policy.  This is something I care deeply about.  I worked in the arms control and disarmament field in the 1980s, mostly for small non-profits advocating for the nuclear weapons freeze, against U.S. military intervention in Central America, and for cuts to the military budget.  Our nation has the most powerful empire in the history of the world.  Our leaders (Democratic and Republican) rarely talk about or acknowledge this, but “the military industrial complex,” a phrase coined by Republican President and former general Dwight Eisenhower (he knew!), dominates our nation’s policies, politics, budget and priorities – under both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Mike has been one of the most radical and progressive members of Congress on foreign and military policy.  He not only voted against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, he opposed the Libyan war and sued President Barack Obama on Constitutional grounds because he did not get the support of Congress for U.S./NATO intervention there.  Mike has been courageous on Israel-Palestine issues, taking positions that actively support a two-state solution.  He has consistently voted to cut the military budget and use the funds for transportation, infrastructure, affordable housing, education and other domestic needs.

With a President like Donald Trump and a Republican Party that has no values except to reward the rich and powerful and increase its own power (through extra-legal means if necessary), we need experienced, practical and tough politicians like Mike Capuano in Washington.

P.S.  I have nothing against Ayanna Presley, I wish her the best and hope and expect that she will continue her great political career.

Donna Patalano for Middlesex County District Attorney

I am supporting Donna Patalano because she would bring fresh energy and a focus on racial and restorative justice to the DA’s office.  I don’t know her well, but I have heard her speak with knowledge and passion about what she would do if elected to improve the criminal justice system in Middlesex County. 

In writing this, I am going to quote extensively from what a couple of my colleagues, Ward 1 Alderman Matt McLaughlin and Ward 3 Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen have written about her. They have been more involved in her campaign and know her better than I.

Ben wrote, “Why is this race so important?  As the ACLU puts it, ‘District Attorneys are the most powerful people in the criminal justice system.  They decide who gets charged with a crime – and determine how most criminal cases are resolved.  This means these elected officials have tremendous impact on people’s lives and our communities…’”

Matt wrote, “I am supporting Donna Patalano because she understands the story of criminal justice does not begin at an arrest.  Donna is a highly-qualified attorney with experience as a prosecutor and defender who wants to do more with the position of DA than locking people up.  She wants to address the systemic problems that lead to crime.  I spoke to Donna about the need for drug courts in Somerville that prioritize treatment over revolving door incarceration…She is going to bring a refreshing perspective to criminal justice and law enforcement.”

Donna Patalano has leveled some withering criticisms on the practices in the current DA’s office.  For example, as Ben Ewen-Campen wrote, “Today the [incumbent DA’s] office does not collect or make publicly available data on prosecutions. There is no way to hold the incumbent accountable for any racial disparity in who is charged, indicted, diverted, dismissed, offered plea bargains, or brought to trial, because the data is not available.  Since the incumbent was appointed in 2013, pretrial incarceration in Middlesex County has doubled, despite an arrest rate that has declined by 35%.  This represents a drastic increase that is not happening in any other county…”  These are not the actions of a District Attorney that I can support.

Donna shares my values and commitment to equity, transparency, and criminal justice reform and I hope you will join me in voting for her. You can read the Boston Globe’s endorsement of Patalano here.

Bob Massie for Governor

I have known Bob Massie for several decades.  Bob’s entire life has been filled with courage, passion, and drive.  Born with hemophilia, Bob has triumphed over several serious medical challenges. His experience with our health care system has not only made him a strong advocate for a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system, but also enables him to connect with the many people who have had health issues.

Bob has created or led several internationally-known organizations including Ceres, the Global Reporting Initiative, the Investor Network on Climate Risk and the New Economy Coalition.  He’s lived in Somerville for over 30 years, and he and his wife Anne Tate, an actively-involved expert in urban planning and design in local Somerville development debates, raised three children here.  If you want to learn a little more about Bob Massie, Bill Shelton wrote a wonderful article about him in the May 5, 2017 Somerville Times.  You can find it online here.

The people of Massachusetts would be far better off if we had Bob’s intelligence, integrity, and breadth of experience as our Governor.  One of government’s most important roles is to help people in need.  Republicans – yes, even more moderate ones like Governor Charlie Baker – always cut public services, especially to the people who need them the most.  I want to live in a Commonwealth where we care for people who are in desperate need.  Bob Massie does too. 

I could go on and on about his support for transportation, the environment, racial justice, workers and trade unions, women’s rights, immigrants, etc. – but let me just say that Bob shares my values and activist orientation.  You can find information about his positions on the issues on his website: www.bobmassie2018.com

Massachusetts has a history of leading the nation in economic innovation, a sustainable environment and thriving democratic ideals. Our next Governor should be someone who has made those ideals his life’s work. As the environmentalist Bill McKibbon, founder of 350.org, wrote in his endorsement of Bob: “We need vision. We need action. And above all, we need leaders and politicians who are not just going to say the right words, but will do the hard work.  Massachusetts could lead the nation and the world.  Bob Massie will get it done.”

P.S. I have nothing bad to say about Jay Gonzalez, I will support whichever Democrat wins in their run against Governor Baker.

Josh Zakim for Secretary of State

Josh Zakim is a young, dynamic, energetic activist who has been serving on the Boston City Council and advancing progressive causes there since 2013.  If elected as Secretary of State, he will take over an office that has been staid and not very innovative, and transform it into one that empowers and aids diverse people in our Commonwealth.

In full disclosure, I don’t know Josh well, but I did go to high school in New York City at the Fieldston School with his mother, Joyce (Wolff) Zakim.  The fact that a bridge was named after Josh’s father, who was a great man (see the Boston Globe article below for some background on Lenny Zakim), is NOT a reason to vote for him, in my opinion.

In Massachusetts, the Secretary of State’s office is best-known for overseeing voting and voter registration, but it has other powers as well, including regulating corporations and the securities industry, overseeing release of public records, the state archives, and the state Historical Commission, which has the authority to give out $50 million in tax credits a year.  Josh has great ideas and big plans to modernize and improve the management and policies of the Secretary of State’s office; you can see them on his website.  This is an area where the incumbent, Bill Galvin, has been competent and honest.  There is something to be said for that, but Josh believes much more can be done with these powers, and I agree.

If you want to read an article that provides some background on the candidates, the office and a good overview of this race, see

https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2018/06/04/josh-zakim-bill-galvin-massachusetts-secretary-of-state

I want to concentrate my endorsement discussion on voting and registration because this is the key reason to vote for Josh over the incumbent.  There are significant differences between the two candidates.  In his 20 years in office, Bill Galvin has been slow to extend voting and has opposed some measures to make it easier for people to vote.  Josh, on the other hand, supports an array of policy changes that would make it easier for people to vote, without in any way increasing the likelihood of voter fraud.  In fact, Josh has talked a lot about the need to protect our voting records from interference, something the incumbent has not taken any significant steps on.

This is a statement from Josh’s website that reflects how I feel about voting, which we should see not as a privilege, but as a right:

“Voting is one of our most fundamental civil rights as citizens. But in Massachusetts, the birthplace of American democracy, both registering to vote and voting itself have become too difficult for too many people. The numbers simply don’t lie - turnout in our state primaries over the past two decades has plummeted by 30% and Massachusetts currently has over 680,000 eligible but unregistered voters. Josh is running for Secretary of State to be a champion of voting rights and voting access. As we’ve done on so many other progressive issues, it’s time for Massachusetts to lead on voter participation and expanding access to the polls. With the Trump administration's constant assaults on democracy, it’s essential that we make sure everyone’s voice is heard in Massachusetts.”

Some of the things that Josh will advocate for which Secretary Galvin has opposed are: same-day registration; automatic voter registration; weekend election days; and no-excuse absentee voting. 

The Boston Globe article linked above says, “From the start of his campaign, Zakim has centered his campaign around voting rights, calling for policies to boost voter turnout, including same-day registration (which 17 other states, including three in New England, have), expanded early voting, and weekend elections.” 

I have seen in local Somerville elections that state regulations can make it harder for people to vote. This is especially true of young people, who tend to move more often than older folks, and low-income people, who also tend to move more often than wealthier folks. 

I hope you will join me in voting for Josh Zakim for Secretary of State.

Jimmy Tingle for Lieutenant Governor 

I’ll be honest: I haven’t been following this race closely, and I don’t think Lt. Governor is a very important position.  I have met both of the Democratic candidates.  I have known (though not well) and enjoyed Jimmy Tingle for many years.  He has been a presence in Somerville doing political comedy to help community organizations raise funds.  He has been an outspoken progressive, a hilariously funny and cutting social and political critical voice in our times.  Jimmy has a working-class background and manner, which may appeal to voters who do not connect easily to either party’s candidate for Governor. 

Jimmy has been outspoken on issues of war and peace and U.S. military policy.  As a result, he has received a strong endorsement from Massachusetts Peace Action.  In addition, he is funny!  There is not enough humor in politics.  We will all enjoy the contest for Governor more with the levity and biting humor that Jimmy would surely inject into the campaign if he is the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor.

For all these reasons, I will be voting for him. 

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Broadway/Ball Square Bridge

In this issue:

• Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure and detour routes community meeting this Wednesday, August 29 6 PM at Community Baptist Church, 31 College Ave, Davis Square;
• Cedar Street chicanes, bumpouts and roadway

Broadway/Ball Square Bridge closure and detour routes community meeting this Wednesday, August 29, 6 PM at Community Baptist Church, 31 College Ave, Davis Square; update on detour routes and my concerns

The City Communications Department sent out an excellent email about this meeting on Friday so I am copying it in here below for your info.  After the City email, I share some new information about the detour routes, my concerns, and what I am advocating for.  Please share with me your thoughts and ideas.  I hope you can attend the meeting on Wednesday night and speak up with your concerns, ideas and questions.  I have been told there will be ample time for comments by and discussion with the community.  Many final decisions about the detour routes and exact timing of the closure have yet to be made.    

Here is the City Communications Dept email:

Dear Ball and Magoun Square Community Members,

Beginning in late 2018, the Broadway Bridge (between Boston Ave. and Cedar St.) will close for one full year to vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic as part of ongoing construction for the Green Line Extension project (GLX).

Please join Mayor Curtatone, Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang, Ward 6 Alderman Lance Davis, and reps from the City and the GLX team on Wednesday, August 29, for a public meeting about upcoming construction, detour routes, and mitigation efforts in the Ball Square neighborhood.  

August 29 Community Meeting -- Somerville Community Baptist Church, 31 College Ave., 6 p.m. Please note that there will be a second meeting scheduled for late September if you are unable to attend this meeting.

How to Stay Informed

There are a number of ways in which MassDOT, the MBTA/GLX team, and the City of Somerville will keep the community updated throughout this project. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with these additional resources to stay as informed as possible.

1. City of Somerville GLX Updates

Receive bi-weekly email updates about the GLX project. To enroll, email [email protected] with “GLX Alerts” in the subject line.

1. MassDOT / GLX Update Emails

MassDOT and the GLX team maintain an email list, available to anyone wishing to opt in. Emails include upcoming schedules and work information. To sign up for these email updates, visit www.greenlineextension.org.

1. Station-Area Representatives

The GLX Project team developed a Community Working Group to provide information sharing between the project team and the public. The Working Group consists of representatives from each of the station areas in Medford, Somerville, and Cambridge. Working Group members provide assistance to the MBTA and to the community in identifying local issues of concern, facilitating dialogue, and planning agendas and topics for discussion at neighborhood and community meetings. We strongly encourage you to reach out the Working Group representative closest to your area of interest and sign up for their alerts and updates. These representatives work very closely with the project team and the City of Somerville and can provide you with valuable information for your specific neighborhood. The representatives for each area are listed below along with their contact information.

• Jennifer Dorsen, Ball Square: [email protected]
• Justin Moeling, Gilman Square: [email protected]
• Ryan Dunn, Magoun Square: [email protected]
• Jim McGinnis, Union Square: [email protected]
• Elliott Bradshaw, Brickbottom: [email protected]
• Dylan Manley, East Somerville: [email protected]

4. GLX Project Website

If you would like updated information but do not wish to receive active alerts and updates, you can visit www.greenlineextension.org, where full project background materials are also linked.

 Questions?

• GLX 24/7 Hotline: The GLX team is happy to assist you, and this is the best first stop for any questions or concerns. Email them at [email protected], or call the project hotline, which is monitored 24/7: 1-855-GLX-INFO.
• 311 Constituent Services: For basic, city-specific issues related to the GLX, contact our 24/7 Constituent Services Office at 3-1-1 (or 617-666-3311).
• City of Somerville Construction Team: City staff assigned to the project are available to assist you via [email protected] or 617-666-3311.

Information and updates on the detour routes, my concerns, & what I am advocating for

If you want the latest information, I encourage you to review the PowerPoint presentation from the August 7 GLX Community Working Group meeting (pdf) 

You may have noticed that previous announcements said that the bridge would be closed starting in November; the most recent City email which I copied in above says “Beginning late 2018.”

Many residents of the Ball Square area are alarmed at the additional traffic and chaos that may ensue on their neighborhood streets due to the detours.  The businesses in Ball Square are, of course, extremely worried, but I was impressed by their stoicism and remarkably positive attitude when I walked Ball Square with Ward 5 Community Police Officer Walter Collette and talked with many business owners, managers, and workers last week.

We all know that the Broadway/Ball Square bridge closure will have a negative impact, and especially on Ball Square businesses, residents who live near Ball Square, and people who regularly drive, walk or bike across the bridge.  There is no way around this and no point in sugar-coating it.  The inconveniences, hassles, and delays from the bridge closure -- in addition to the $50 million that the state coerced from Somerville for the GLX Project -- are part of the price we will pay for GLX coming to Somerville in 2021, and for GLX stations in Ward 5 at Lowell Street/Magoun Square and Ball Square.

All we can do is mitigate the harmful impacts as best possible.  Some mitigation suggestions have already been ruled out by the GLX Team.  For example, community members advocated for three alternatives to the proposed ¾-mile pedestrian/bike detour down Winchester St to Harvard St and back to Ball Square on Boston Avenue.  All three community proposals have been ruled out by the GLX Team.  You can see their rationales for nixing these great suggestions on pp. 25, 26 and 27 of the August 7 presentation.

I am enormously concerned about the ¾ mile pedestrian detour, and have expressed this to decision-makers on the GLX Team, in our City government, and to our state legislators.  It is outrageous to expect some people to walk ¾ of a mile to get around the bridge, especially elderly people, people with disabilities, parents with strollers, and parents with young children.  And what about when it snows, and ice and snow are not cleared from some sidewalks?  It is the responsibility of the GLX Team to solve this problem. City staff and I have suggested that a shuttle van could pick people up at one end of the bridge and ferry them around the detour route to the other.  This shuttle van could also carry bus riders to and from their bus stop – since the bus stops will be moved off Broadway and many bus riders may have to walk far to get to their stop. 

City officials have asked the GLX Team to establish a shuttle van program and pay for it.  So far, the GLX Team has said no; their proposed solution is that residents who need help use the MBTA Ride.  This is not a viable solution for many reasons. If the GLX Team refuses to provide a shuttle van service, I hope the City will do it, even if the City has to pay for it.

My greatest concern continues to be the safety of pedestrians in the Ball Square Somerville neighborhood in Wards 5 and 6 bordered by Cedar Street, Highland Avenue, and College Avenue.  These streets constitute the proposed motor vehicle detour route for vehicles heading west, and one of the proposed bus detour routes for all bus traffic, both eastbound and westbound (see pp. 19 & 20 in the August 7 presentation).  My biggest fear is that out-of-town drivers will peel off from the motor vehicle detour route to avoid the gridlock and enter neighborhood streets, especially Morrison Avenue.  Morrison Avenue is already used as a cut-through.  Because the section between Cedar and Willow is wide and straight, drivers bomb down it at speeds that are way too fast.  I worry that a pedestrian, perhaps a child or parent crossing Morrison at Highland Road to get to Lexington Park or the Community Path, will be hit by an out-of-town driver going too fast on Morrison Ave who is not familiar with the neighborhood.  In addition, if drivers who are not from that neighborhood get into it, they may get lost and go the wrong way down the many one way streets there, since the traffic pattern in that neighborhood is unusual. 

City staff in the Transportation and Infrastructure Division and the Traffic and Parking Dept are looking at possible traffic-calming physical interventions, such as speed bumps, to enhance safety on Morrison Avenue and the surrounding streets.  As far as I know, no decisions have yet been made.  However, one absolutely necessary part of protecting that neighborhood is strong enforcement by police to keep non-residents out.  There should be a police officer at the intersection of Cedar Street and Morrison Ave – and also at several other key intersections along the detour route -- for at least two or three hours every weekday morning and evening during rush hour.  I have spoken with the GLX Team and City officials including the Mayor and Chief of Police about this, but have not gotten any commitment yet to a strong police presence along the detour route.  We know from experience that signs are not enough: many drivers ignore signs and just do what they want if there is not a police officer present to enforce the signs that say “Abutters and local residents only.”

In terms of bus detour routes, I have been assured by City staff that there will be no buses or motor vehicles detoured through the Ball Square neighborhood.  Bus detours down Rogers Ave, Pearson Ave, Highland Road and Willow Ave have been proposed by the GLX Team.  In a meeting with top City staff and the Mayor, I was told that the City will not support bus detours into that neighborhood, and that the Citydoes have the legal power to deny the GLX Team and MBTA from detouring busses onto Somerville local streets.  While no decisions have yet been made, the #s 80 and 89 busses may be detoured onto Cedar Street, Highland Avenue, and College Avenue (the same route as the westbound motor vehicle detour).  A couple of longer alternative bus routes are also being considered.  I think the MBTA should keep the busses completely off of Cedar Street.  (See pp. 28-38 of the August 7 presentation for possible bus detour routes).

Cedar Street chicanes, bumpouts and roadway: my thoughts on the continuing controversy   

Cedar St. curb extension by Muskat Studios makes the street very narrow.

Many Ward 5 and other Somerville residents who live near or drive down Cedar Street have shared their concerns about the chicanes, bumpouts and curb extentions on upper Cedar Street.  Some, thinking ahead, are worried about the increased delays and possible gridlock due to the high volume of traffic that will be detoured onto Cedar Street when the Bridge is closed.  I share those concerns.  (For those who are not familiar with the term, “chicanes” are artificial serpentine curves in the road so that drivers drive slower and pay closer attention.)

The changes in upper Cedar Street have drawn much comment, including warnings such as “Someone unfortunately will DIE on Cedar St because of those dangerous chicanes,” and “I only hope to God I’m not right, but I feel that north and south traffic being pushed into one another will cause a serious accident.”  (Check out my Facebook page if you want to see these and other comments.) 

Bicyclists have complained about how unsafe Cedar Street is, too.  They are right, but it always has been.  I mostly get around by bicycle myself and I tell bicyclists to avoid upper Cedar Street during rush hour as the street is simply not wide enough to have adequate bicycle infrastructure.  There is nothing that can be done about this.

I do not agree with those who think the changes on upper Cedar Street are bad.  I continue to support the chicanes, bumpouts and curb extensions because I believe they will make that street a slower and safer roadway for all users once the construction is complete. 

Let me give a little history.  The plans were developed four years ago by City staff and professional traffic engineering consultants. There have been two large community meetings to review them.  There was enthusiastic and widespread support for the plans in the community and at those meetings.

The main goal is to slow traffic and make Cedar St safer, and to allow cars entering from Morrison, Clyde, Murdock and other sidestreets to do so more safely.  Another goal is to deter some of the many out-of-towners who use Cedar St as a cut-through to Cambridge and Boston from using our City for their commute.  To do the latter, the engineers decided to make the street more uncomfortable to drive on.  We will get used to it; hopefully this will inspire people north of Somerville who don’t use Cedar Street regularly to find other ways to get into Cambridge and Boston.

The project was delayed by three years and now there have been a lot of complaints about the current (unfinished) roadway.  I have to agree that the construction and implementation has been flawed, leaving the street in an in-between, halfway-finished state for three months.  And it looks like the job won’t be finished until late September, when they will finally repave and restripe Cedar Street from Highland Avenue to Broadway. 

The current condition of the street does present dangers for drivers.  I have heard that some vehicles have run into the bumpouts at night, including a Warwick Street resident who had to swerve to avoid a driver who was in the middle of the road.  As a result of complaints I received, I urged City staff to put bollards and reflectors on the bumpouts so they are more visible at night, and they put those orange and white reflective barrels up right away.  I then urged City staff to temporarily repaint the street so that drivers had some guidance as to where to swerve to negotiate the chicanes and bumpouts.  It took over a month, but finally the street got some center lines on it, but only a bare minimum.  Driving on upper Cedar Street still requires great caution.  Of course not all drivers are paying close attention, so I expect that accidents will continue, but so far, as far as I know, nobody has been hurt.

The reconstruction of the upper Cedar Street roadway has created a narrower and harder to negotiate street.  This is actually a good thing as it will slow and reduce traffic.  However, it seems to have come at the worst possible time.  I do not understand how traffic will be able to flow, or even move, if large trucks and MBTA busses are detoured onto Cedar Street when the Broadway/Ball Square Bridge is closed.  Some spots on upper Cedar Street are now quite narrow – especially the curb extension near Clyde Street and Muskat Studios (see photo) and the large bumpouts at Morrison, Clyde and Murdock.  Under normal circumstances, I see this as a positive, as it will do what this design was intended to do – slow traffic and make drivers pay better attention.  But when the Bridge closes and lots of large trucks and MBTA busses go down Cedar Street, I am concerned that traffic may become gridlocked if a bus and a truck are facing each other and can’t back up or pass.  I have shared this concern with City staff, and told the GLX Team at the August 7 meeting that they should do some serious testing of their buses and drivers along Cedar Street now.

Despite the short-term pain, I believe that the redevelopment of upper Cedar Street will improve safety and mobility for all users.  I have encouraged the critics to wait and evaluate the new roadway once it is complete and has been in use for a few months.     

Lower Cedar Street: water and sewer infrastructure project to be completed in September

Lower Cedar Street will continue to have closures into September as Gioisio Construction, the City’s contractor there, continues to work on the Summer/Cedar Street intersection and the sidewalks to make them legally ADA accessible.  They will also replant some trees.  When that’s all done, they will repave the roadways on Cedar Street up to Highland Avenue, Hall Street, and Cedar Avenue.  City officials have said this long-running project will finally be finished by the end of September.

---------------------------

In the coming weeks, I will write to you again about topics such as the tree slaughter along the GLX rail corridor and in other locations in Somerville; the need for more green and open space in Somerville and Board of Aldermen efforts to make progress on this important goal; and priorities for the Board of Aldermen and the Legislative Matters Committee, which I chair, for this fall, winter and the spring of 2019.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Demolition review ordinance, Testifying about the Real Estate Transfer Fee

In this issue:

• Public Hearing on the Administration’s proposed revision of Demolition Review Ordinance, Monday July 9, 6 PM, City Hall
• Public Hearing on Union Square Neighborhood Council’s application for designation by the City as the neighborhood council for Union Square, Monday, July 9, 6:45 PM, City Hall
• 2^nd Neighborhood meeting about development of 31-35 Richardson Street, Monday July 16, 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurse Assoc, 259 Lowell Street, 3^rd Floor Community Room
• Neighborhood meeting on 50-54 Murdock St proposal for 10 units on large vacant lot, Tuesday July 17, 6:30 PM, Center for Arts at the Armory, Room Not 2B (2^nd floor)
• Short Term Rentals (such as AirBNB) community discussion meeting, Thursday July 19, 6-8 PM, Argenziano School Cafeteria, 290 Washington Street
• Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition moves forward, reported out favorably by Joint Committee on Revenue in State Legislature
• Board of Aldermen (BOA) approves Fiscal Year 2019 City Budget

Public Hearing on the Administration’s proposed revision of Demolition Review Ordinance, Monday July 9, 6 PM, City Hall

If you care about preserving historic buildings in Somerville, you may find this interesting, and if you care a lot, I encourage you to speak out or write to the Board of Aldermen (BOA) about the changes that we are considering to the ordinance that regulates demolition of old buildings. Public testimony at the hearing will be limited to two minutes per person. Written testimony may be submitted to [email protected] and [email protected]. 

The Administration and BOA have been working on revising this ordinance for over a year now.  Despite three well-advertised public meetings in the spring of 2017 and several extensive public discussions in the BOA Legislative Matters Committee last fall and winter, there did not seem to be any public interest or concern until a few months ago.  Recently, we have received a bunch of emails from homeowners with reasonable concerns about the partial and serial demolition provisions in the proposed new ordinance.  These are issues which the Administration and BOA have already been grappling with, and I am certain that we will make substantial changes to what the Administration initially proposed to correct the lack of clarity and overreach in the partial and serial demolition proposals.  I also have concerns about several other key Administration proposals, such as exempting all City-owned buildings.  The BOA will continue to deliberate on how to revise the current ordinance to strengthen it and make the process work better for all in September.

My own view is that the biggest problem with the current ordinance is that the nine month demolition delay period is way too short.  It is seen by most developers as simply part of the cost of doing business in the hot Somerville real estate market, and does not deter them from demolishing a building after waiting the nine months.  A short delay also does not give much leverage to the Historic Preservation Commission and City Planning Staff in negotiating to preserve all or part of a building, or to create a robust historical record and, in some cases, a public exhibit. I will certainly be supporting the 24-month delay, and probably for commercial buildings as well as residential buildings, but there is still much discussion and debate to come.

Here is some background information for those who are interested.  The City’s Demolition Review Ordinance has been in effect since 2003 and currently regulates the demolition of structures 50 years of age or older. Currently, structures in Somerville may be protected from demolition by one of two means: Local Historic District designation (which can prevent demolition) or Demolition Review (which can only delay demolition while all parties explore mutually agreeable and voluntary alternatives to demolition).

Over 140 Massachusetts communities have approved demolition review ordinances. When a structure is proposed to be demolished, these ordinances allow a local Historic Preservation Commission to determine if the structure is important to a community’s history and culture and therefore subject it to a demolition review & delay period.

After three open, public community meetings in the spring of 2017 involving the City Planning Department and the Historic Preservation Commission, the Administration proposed changes to the existing Demolition Review ordinance, including:

• developing an ordinance that establishes a more straightforward process, is easier to read, and includes clear definitions;
• extending the review period from 9 months to either 12 or 24 months depending on whether the property is residential (24) or commercial (12);
• clarifying the circumstances where a property is subject to demolition review, by including partial demolition (demolition of 25% or more of a property) and serial demolition (demolition over a period of time);
• providing an exception from the review of partial demolition for minor projects (for example, projects to add a dormer or porch);
• requiring earlier and broader notification of abutters during the review process;
• raising the building age trigger from 50 to 75 years;
• expanding the list of exempt areas (currently Assembly Square and Innerbelt), to also include portions of Brickbottom, Boynton Yards, the development blocks in Union Square, and the Twin City mall; and,
• exempting city-owned structures, but subjecting them to a nonbinding review by the Historic Preservation Commission.

To review the draft ordinance and related materials, including a memo by Planning Director George Proakis that gives the rationale for the Administration’s proposed changes, please visit www.somervillema.gov/dro. 

For an example of a good outcome from the demo review process, stop by the Maxwell’s Green green at the end of the Community Path by Lowell Street and look at the museum-quality exhibit that shows the history of the factory that was on that site. 

Public Hearing on Union Square Neighborhood Council’s application for designation by the City as the neighborhood council for Union Square, Monday, July 9, 6:45 PM, City Hall

(Thanks to Ward 3 Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen and Alderman-at-Large Stephanie Hirsch for their newsletter write-ups on this topic and for the discussions I have had with them about it.)

To kick off this Public Hearing, USNC leaders will give a brief overview on their formation process and current work, and explain why they believe they are worthy of designation by the City.  Public testimony will be limited to two minutes per person.  Written testimony may be submitted to [email protected] and [email protected]. As I expect that deliberation and possibly a vote will occur at this meeting, members of the public are encouraged to submit written testimony before the Public Hearing, but written testimony for the record will be accepted at any time.

Responsibilities of the designated neighborhood council will include negotiating a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the Union Square Master Developer, Union Square Station Associates (US2), as well as providing a representative voice for the neighborhood in matters related to Union Square projects before City departments, boards, and commissions. To review the USNC's application documents— as well as the new ordinance, passed on June 28, that describes the designation process— visitwww.somervillema.gov/usnc.

Planning for the redevelopment of Union Square has already been a long process, with a lot more to go.  There has been extensive community involvement and input but there is also continuing concern in the community about the shape the redevelopment will take and the community’s relationship with US2.  A key issue for many in Union Square is negotiations with US2 for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).  This is important because significant community involvement and support is essential for the success of this enormous and complex redevelopment project.  Designation of the USNC would allow CBA negotiations to begin.

With this process, the Union Square neighborhood is pioneering a new model of community involvement and power in local governance. The idea is that a neighborhood group -- selected democratically by neighborhood residents -- will negotiate with the master developer US2 to advocate for community benefits (which might include design decisions, in-kind benefits such as a community center, and possibly even direct financial payments). The neighborhood council will also work with neighborhood residents, business owners and workers to determine priorities and how benefits will get allocated. Independent bodies like a neighborhood council can do some things that municipal bodies can’t do, so it’s potentially a powerful tool for neighborhood investment. 

This is NOT just a Union Square issue.  Of particular importance for those of us who live in Ward 5 (and some other areas of the City), what’s happening in Union Square may serve as a model for what happens around other coming Green Line Extension (GLX) stations.  With GLX stations slated for Lowell Street/Magoun Square and Ball Square in 2021, many Ward 5 residents may soon be faced with the challenges and opportunities that large scale redevelopment presents.   

2^nd Neighborhood meeting about development of 31-35 Richardson Street, Monday July 16, 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell Street, 3^rd Floor Community Room

If you are not familiar with the lovely and unique little Magoun Square residential neighborhood, next time you are in the area swing by the intersection of Hinckley and Richardson Streets where this property sits.  (Hinckley runs into Broadway by the Dunkin Donuts; Richardson runs into Lowell a little before Medford Street and Magoun Square.)  As you can see in the photo (but it really doesn’t do it justice) there is a gorgeous landscaped open space (about 5,660 square feet) that has been lovingly cared for by previous owners of the property.

After discussions with the owner/developer and City officials, an appraisal and other due diligence, City officials asked the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC), Somerville’s non-profit affordable housing developer, to consider buying the property as part of the “100 Homes” program, with the goal of adding affordable housing and preserving the open space.  SCC developed an initial rough proposal for adding a structure with two units behind/attached to the existing house, one of which would be affordable (in perpetuity) for purchase by a middle-income family.  The other two units would be sold at market rate.  The other half of the lot would be sold to the City to be used as a passive public open space. 

At the first neighborhood meeting, attended by three dozen neighbors, there was broad support for this plan but strong opposition from a couple who are immediate abutters and some concerns expressed by other abutters.  Most of the concerns have been about noise and disruption from the open space.  The height of the additional structure was also an issue.  SCC plans to lower the height.  Based on experience with other Ward 5 parks and other passive parks in the City (check out the lovely Quincy Street open space half a block from Market Basket) I don’t believe that noise and late-night disruption will be an issue.  But some of the neighbors are not convinced and understandably concerned.  The good news is that the City would conduct a long, full, robust and thorough process involving a series of neighborhood meetings to work out what form a public open space there would take.  The bad news is that there are no guarantees for abutters what the outcome of that process would be, although it seems certain to me that all the neighbors will want to design a park that will not attract late-night or noisy activity.

Last week, the City’s Community Preservation Committee voted a $210,000 grant to the SCC to move this project forward.  At the second community meeting on July 16^th, the SCC will present more-detailed plans for the two new units and hopefully (I have not gotten a confirmation yet), City officials will be present to discuss the process of designing the open space. 

If you are interested, I can email you the SCC’s application to the CPC for the grant, which also has some photos of the lot and a rough schematic for where the new structure would go behind the existing house.

Neighborhood meeting on 50-54 Murdock St proposal for 10 units on large vacant lot, Tuesday July 17, 6:30 PM, Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Room Not 2B (2^nd floor) 

This large (15,341 square feet, a huge lot for Ward 5) vacant, green lot at the bend on Murdock Street near Clyde Street in “the Patch” neighborhood is about to go the way of so many of the few remaining vacant lots in Ward 5.  The developer’s plan is to build a three-story building with 10 units and 15 parking spaces.  I have the plans and can email them to you if you are interested.  I have some concerns but am waiting to hear the developer’s presentation and questions from neighbors and the discussion before I come to any conclusions.  At the meeting, the developer, Rob Grieco, and his attorney, Adam Dash, will present the plans, speak with neighbors and answer questions.

As residents of the Patch know, there has been an enormous amount of development in that neighborhood, and especially on Murdock Street.  There is the 22-unit project at 17-21 Murdock stretching all the way through to 227-229 Cedar Street.  That developer just told me they hope to receive their official building permit soon so they can begin construction.  There have been a bunch of smaller developments on Murdock in the past few years as well.  One bit of good news for Murdock street residents is that there will be a sidewalk on the south side of Murdock, stretching from 17 Murdock, most likely through 39 Murdock and perhaps beyond.  One of my asks of the developer of 50-54 Murdock Street will be for them to make a contribution to infrastructure improvement on Murdock Street, in consultation with City officials, perhaps adding to that sidewalk, perhaps something else.

Short Term Rentals (such as AirBNB) community discussion meeting, Thursday July 19, 6-8 PM, Argenziano School Cafeteria, 290 Washington Street

This will be the second of two identical meetings about future regulations for short-term rentals (STRs) in Somerville.  City staff will review current short-term rental regulations and then attendees will have a chance to talk with each other and City staff about future regulation options. You can review slides from the first meeting, held on June 14^th, and fill out a quick survey on this topic at https://www.somervillema.gov/strs  If you can’t make the meeting and have questions or comments, please email the Planning Department staff at [email protected]. 

I am also very interested in your thoughts on this topic, so please do email or call me with your concerns and ideas.  With over 800 AirBNB listings alone in Somerville (not to mention other platforms), and about half of them entire units (which is actually illegal, but only enforced when there are complaints), this is a major issue and concern.  The status quo is untenable, and the Administration has been slow to move despite repeated calls by Aldermen to develop new regulations that correspond to current reality.  Cambridge passed STR regulations last fall which took effect in April 2018, and Boston just passed their own set of regulations.  The Administration has committed to developing over the summer a draft ordinance for the BOA to consider this fall.  This will be in the Legislative Matters Committee, which I Chair, and it will be one of many urgent priorities for the BOA this fall.

Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition moves forward, reported out favorably by Joint Committee on Revenue in State Legislature

On May 24, as you probably know, the BOA approved by a 10-0 vote a Home Rule Petition (HRP) for a Real Estate Transfer Fee (RETF).  The Mayor signed it immediately and it was sent to the State Legislature for their consideration.

I'm pleased to report that after a Public Hearing before the Joint Committee on Revenue on Wednesday, June 20th, Somerville’s Home Rule Petition was reported favorably out of that committee.  As best I understand the process, it will now advance to a secondary committee for further deliberation, and then have to be approved by the Committee on the Third Reading to get to the floor of the Legislature for a vote.  Of course, this may not happen this year…or ever.  Thank you to our four-member state delegation, all of whom spoke in favor, half-dozen Aldermen, and several dozen members of the public who showed up to speak out and show their support.  At the hearing, there were roughly three dozen people in favor and three opposed.

Board of Aldermen (BOA) approves Fiscal Year 2019 City Budget

On June 28, the BOA approved the FY 2019 budget. We spent 48 hours of meeting time in June grinding through the budget and made cuts of $1,132,866 to the Administration’s proposed FY 2019 budget of $241.7 million.  That’s about ½ of 1 percent.  This will save each property tax payer approximately $40 when we set the new tax rate in November. 

This year’s budget is a 3.9% overall increase from the previous year.  Much of that increase comes for the Somerville Public Schools, with an increase of 5.99%.  I wholeheartedly support the increase in the school budget and also a number of new initiatives in this year’s budget (see below).   

Every year, homeowners complain that property taxes have gone up and present an unfair burden, although this year, there were far fewer such complaints than in past years.  I am sympathetic to the many senior homeowners on fixed incomes who are now “house rich” and “cash poor.”  They are getting squeezed and many are fearful of having to sell their homes and move out of Somerville.  This year, with a new City Assessor, Frank Golden, the Administration is finally doing a good job of reaching out to senior homeowners to offer them help and advice on the many opportunities that exist for them to take advantage of special programs to lower their taxes.

Few of the people who complain about increasing property taxes in Somerville seem to be aware that the majority of those increases have gone to the public schools.  Over the past decade, the Mayor, working closely with the Superintendent of Schools and School Committee, has increased Somerville’s public school spending dramatically.  And it shows: you get what you pay for.  Our public schools have moved up from poor/mediocre to excellent, and perhaps the best urban school district in Massachusetts.  And Massachusetts has among the best public schools in the nation.  So we are blessed.  This is a tremendous accomplishment, and one well worth paying for.  I am as proud to have been part of this improvement as a School Committee member for eight years as I am of anything I have done in 12 ½ years as an elected official.

The Mayor’s theme in his budget presentation this year was “investing in equity,” a focus that I am enthusiastic about.  (Go to https://www.somervillema.gov/fy19budget to see his presentation and all the budget docs)  In my view, one of the most important roles of government is to help those who need help the most, and to deal with the many casualties of our hyper-capitalist society. 

Off my soapbox and back to the FY 2019 budget now.  While I was pleased with the budget, there are some areas of concern that were uncovered by persistent questioning by Aldermen.  There seems to be a lot of extra money sloshing around in the Water and Sewer Dept. budget.  While this is not necessarily a huge problem since unspent funds go back into “retained earnings,” which are then used for capital projects for sewer and water improvements, one is always worried when budgeting does not accurately reflect expenditures and is not transparent.  We also uncovered problems in the way the Department of Public Works (DPW) budgets and spends funds, and with some of the large contracts that DPW has for trash collection, street sweeping, and hiring a private company to clean the High School and Winter Hill Community Innovation School.  (I would like to see this contract not renewed and the City add additional unionized custodians to do this work.)  We asked for more information on these issues and the Administration did acknowledge our concerns, so I look forward to continued examination and discussion on them in the fall. 

New initiatives proposed by the Mayor and supported by the BOA for FY 2019 include more financial support and a staff coordinator for out-of-school time programs, creation of a new Office of Housing Stability with four new staff, more funding for the arts, and additional staffing and funding for traffic calming and safety.  I am particularly happy about support for the City’s new Vision Zero initiative to make Somerville streets safer and more accessible for all; guide multimodal transportation, safety policies, programs and projects; and to try to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Somerville. 

There are a few things that residents and Aldermen asked for that have not been adequately funded in the budget, such as more soccer and athletic fields, support for recycling in schools, creation and funding of an open space acquisition fund, more funding and staff for urban forestry and tree planting, a “czar” for the war on rats, and funds for the BOA to hire its own legal counsel to represent our positions as the legislative branch of government when there are conflicts with the City Solicitor’s office, which occur frequently.  We will be banging away at the Administration on these issues over the next year, trying to get supplemental appropriations for them.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

   
  Broadway Ball Square Bridge                    Cedar St Bumpout

In this issue:

• Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition approved unanimously by Board of Aldermen (BOA); hearing before Joint Committee on Revenue in State Legislature Wednesday
• Green Line Extension (GLX) bridge closures; info session in Ball Square, June 23, 9-11 AM
• Construction on lower and upper Cedar Street to continue through the summer
• Clarendon Hill public housing redevelopment Home Rule Petitions approved by BOA
• Fiscal Year 2019 City Budget before BOA; Public Hearing June 26, 6 PM

Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition approved unanimously by Board of Aldermen (BOA); hearing before Joint Committee on Revenue in State Legislature Wednesday

On May 24, the Board of Aldermen approved by a 10-0 vote a Home Rule Petition (HRP) for a Real Estate Transfer Fee (RETF).  The Mayor signed it immediately & it was sent to the State Legislature for their consideration.  It was assigned the bill number H4582 & sent to the Joint Committee on Revenue, which is chaired by Rep. Jay Kaufman & Senator Michael Brady.  There will be a hearing on H4582 on Wednesday, June 20, 10 AM in Room B-2.  I will be attending & plan to speak in support describing the long & thorough process that the BOA used to consider the Home Rule Petition, & the changes that we made because of the extensive public input we received.

As you may know, the City of Somerville’s proposal for a RETF exempts all owner-occupants, both sellers & buyers, & sets a 1% fee on both seller & buyer.  So the people who would end up paying the fee would be investors, developers, absentee landlords & people who own multiple properties who live in Somerville (their home would be exempt, but they would have to pay a 1% fee if they sell their rental property).  There are also exemptions for family transfers & vulnerable seniors.  If the Legislature approves the HRP, it comes back to the BOA to craft an ordinance.  At that point, we could add exemptions, but not take any away.  The funds raised by the RETF, about $6-9 million in each of the first few years, would go into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) to be overseen & spent by that extremely competent & reputable board.  The AHTF has been funding affordable housing in Somerville for 30 years.

Green Line Extension (GLX) bridge closures; info session in Ball Square, June 23, 9-11 AM

On May 1 the GLX Team announced that the Broadway Ball Square bridge will be closed for 12 months beginning sometime this fall.  Many residents of the Ball Square area are understandably alarmed at the additional traffic & chaos that may ensue on their neighborhood streets due to the detours.  Concern for the businesses in Ball Square has also been expressed.

In May, Terrence P. McCarthy, MBTA | GLX Deputy Program Manager of Stakeholder Engagement ([email protected]), wrote: “Under the design build process, a comprehensive traffic management plan is being developed. Closures detail and rerouting of vehicular and pedestrian traffic will be adjusted as the GLX progresses.  Accommodations will be made and reviewed by Medford and Somerville traffic engineers & first responders.  No details have been finalized.”  I have since heard that MBTA officials (to deal with bus detours) and state Dept. of Transportation officials are also involved.

I have seen a very preliminary detour plan, but nothing has yet been finalized or shared with the public.  We have been told that there will be a community meeting in July to share information about the detour routes.  Many residents have joined me in advocating for keeping a small footpath over the bridge open for pedestrians and bicyclists, as the detour will add much additional walking time for pedestrians, a real physical hardship for some people.  However, so far, the GLX Team has stated that the closure of the bridge will be total.

Somerville city officials will hold an information session on Saturday, June 23, from 9-11 AM in Ball Square at an informational/Q&A table in front of Blue Cloud Gallery & True Grounds coffee house, 713-717 Broadway.  You can stop by to learn more about the current proposals, and/or visit www.somervillema.gov/glx for updates.  To sign up for the GLX project email list, visit www.greenlineextension.org.  Also, there is a GLX 24/7 Hotline: This is the best first stop for any questions or concerns -- [email protected], or 1-855-GLX-INFO.

Additional bridge closures are planned through 2019 & 2020, including on Washington Street for 10 months (between Union Square & Inner Belt), Medford St. (outside of Union Square), School Street, Cedar Street, Lowell Street, and College Ave. 

This bad news (in addition to the $50 million that the state coerced from Somerville for the GLX) is part of the price of paying for the good news of the GLX coming to Somerville in 2021. 

Construction on lower & upper Cedar Street to continue through the summer

The construction on our streets just goes on and on…and will for a while.  The good news is that Lowell Street is done, except for painting the roadway, which will happen in the next month.  Repainting of  the chicanes (the road markings that create a slalom-like effect, forcing drivers to pay close attention and slow down), of the crosswalks, & of other street markings should improve safety, particularly in the bridge area, which has been a major neighborhood concern for years. 

The bad news is that both lower and upper Cedar Street will continue to have closures (lower) or be an obstacle course (upper) for several months.  Residents have mostly been incredibly understanding through months -- or in the case of lower Cedar St, years -- of disruption, but some are starting to lose their patience due to daily delays & ridiculously dangerous driving behavior by some motorists who are not familiar with the area.  I am doing all I can to work with City staff to mitigate the danger & disruption. Hang in there: the end is near!

The Cedar Street water & sewer project on lower Cedar St. (Elm St to Highland Ave) should be done by the end of the summer.  That part of Cedar St will be closed to through traffic weekdays 7 AM – 4 PM from June 19 through the end of July.  The contractor will be redoing the sidewalks.  In late July and early August, the construction crews will add the final pavement layer & plant trees before completing the project.  Hall Street & Cedar Avenue are also scheduled to be repaved during this time. 

On upper Cedar Street (Highland Ave to Broadway), sidewalk work continues. The roadway work includes chicanes, bumpouts, a new crosswalk at Hudson & Spencer, & repaving this terribly beat-up street.  You can see the redevelopment & major changes in the roadway in progress.  The half-dozen bumpouts have drawn much comment from neighbors, many in favor, & some against, including complaints & warnings of feared traffic accidents. (Check out my Facebook page if you want to see a looong discussion about traffic issues.)   

Unfortunately, we will be in the middle of this redevelopment through the summer, & the current condition of the street does present dangers for drivers.  I have heard that quite a few motor vehicles have run into the bumpouts at night, including a Warwick St. resident who had to swerve to avoid a driver who was in the middle of the road. I urged City staff to put reflectors on the bumpouts so they are more visible at night, which was done right away.  However, without the paint marking the chicanes, & until some of the parking is shifted to the other side of Cedar St. (don’t worry Cedar Street residents, no net parking spaces will be lost) upper Cedar St. requires caution.  Of course, not all drivers are paying close attention, so I expect that accidents will continue, but so far, as far as I know, nobody has been hurt.

Despite the short-term pain, I believe that the redevelopment of upper Cedar St. will improve safety & mobility for all users.  I have encouraged the critics to wait to evaluate the new roadway once it is complete & has been in use for a few months.  There will be many advantages, I believe. Traffic will be slower & drivers will be forced to be more careful and attentive.  Residents of side streets that empty into Cedar, particularly Clyde & Murdock, will be able to turn onto Cedar Street much more easily.  Bicyclists & pedestrians will be safer.  Motorists from north of Somerville who currently use Cedar St as a commuting corridor into Cambridge & Boston will hopefully get frustrated by the slower traffic & find other routes.   

Clarendon Hill public housing redevelopment Home Rule Petitions approved by BOA

The BOA voted on May 31 to pass two Home Rule Petitions (HRPs) to the State Legislature & voted in favor of a “conditions of award” letter that would set stringent conditions for a $10 million City contribution to the project, should it be approved by the Legislature & move forward.  The votes were unanimous on the “conditions of award” letter & the HRP that asks the Legislature to allow the state to sell or exchange a small piece of land by the rotary at Powderhouse Blvd. & Route 16 to the Somerville Housing Authority. 

The major issue of contention on the BOA, in the community, & among labor unions, was the request to the legislature to waive state competitive bidding laws for the project.  While this HRP did not ask that prevailing wage laws be waived, the development team made it clear that while the non-profit affordable-housing developers (Somerville Community Corporation & Preservation of Affordable Housing) would pay prevailing wage, the market-rate, for-profit developer (Gate Residential) would not.  The prevailing wage issue, & to a lesser extent, the competitive-bidding issue, generated opposition from some community members & some unions & labor-union coalitions.  On the other side were affordable housing advocates in Somerville, & the residents of the public housing project, led by their tenants association, Clarendon Residents United (CRU).  A number of large trade unions reached an understanding with Gate Residential & did not get involved in the dispute.

For me, this presented an agonizing choice between two things that I value: decent wages, good working conditions & union labor on the one hand, and decent affordable housing for some of the poorest people in Somerville, on the other.

I have discussed some of the issues and details of this conflict & the project in previous newsletters, which you can read on my website.  Now I will tell you why I voted in favor of the controversial HRP.  (I was joined by seven other Aldermen, while three voted “No.”)  We had to weigh the damage to the tenants of the Clarendon Hill public housing project if it were not rebuilt against the damage if the development were done without abiding by state competitive bidding statutes, all prevailing wage & union labor.  A fact also weighed heavy: that if this deal doesn’t happen now, there may not be another opportunity for years or decades, & the current deplorable conditions in this public housing would continue indefinitely.

After many hours of discussion and debate, extensive research & discussion with union leaders, & a public hearing at which many people spoke on both sides, I concluded that state competitive bidding statutes were not essential for this project to be successful & fair, & that enough protections and wage guarantees for workers were in place.  Overall, the project would be built with around 70% prevailing wage and/or union labor; the minimum wage for any work on the project would be $20 an hour; & Gate Residential would hire a reputable third-party consultant to examine their wage records & hiring practices & report to the City on a quarterly basis to ensure that fair labor practices & a commitment to minority, women, & local hiring are being followed. 

I strongly preferred that the entire project be prevailing wage & be built with union labor, & I urged Gate Residential to do so. I believe that should be the standard for large construction projects in Somerville. However, this project would not have been possible without the market-rate housing & the for-profit developer’s financial involvement. Ultimately, the financial contribution & the guarantees that Gate Residential provided (which included some significant financial concessions) were enough to satisfy me.  However, large-scale residential & commercial developers, such as Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT) in Assembly Square, & Union Square Station Associates (US2) in Union Square, should be using all union labor on their huge, for-profit projects.

While the prospects for the controversial HRP in the Legislature are unclear because of this being an election year & the opposition of some powerful labor union organizations, I hope it passes.  If it does, it would dramatically improve the quality of life for the 500 residents (200 children) who live in the 216 units there.  I was particularly impressed and moved by the leaders of Clarendon Residents United (the tenants’ association) & the many Clarendon Hill & Somerville residents who attended BOA meetings and pleaded with us to support it.  In addition, there would be 70 new affordable workforce (middle income) housing units, & 253 new market-rate units in a redeveloped site that would be much greener, open & welcoming than the current dilapidated buildings, concrete and closed-off public housing project that exists there now. 

Fiscal Year 2019 City Budget before BOA; Public Hearing June 26, 6 PM

The BOA is about halfway through work on the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget.  (The City fiscal year is July 1 – June 30.)   In my opinion, the Curtatone Administration has done a superb job of financial stewardship of the City over their 14 years in office.  Although I have had some major disagreements with & sought significant cuts in some budgets, I have found the Administration to be transparent, straightforward & responsive to all questions we have asked.  In general, I have agreed with the Administration’s budget priorities, which have been the Somerville Public Schools (SPS), public safety, & hiring more staff in City departments to manage the tremendous amount of activity, construction, & change going on in Somerville.

The FY 2019 operating budget is $241.7 million, a 3.9% overall increase from the previous year.  Much of that increase comes in the SPS budget, which would increase by 5.99%, which I wholeheartedly support.  New initiatives proposed by the Mayor include more financial support for out-of-school time programs, creation of a new Office of Housing Stability with five new staff, & additional staffing & funding for traffic calming and safety.  I am particularly enthusiastic about support for the City’s new Vision Zero initiative to make Somerville streets safer & more accessible for all; guide multimodal transportation, safety policies, programs and projects; & eliminate all traffic fatalities & serious injuries.

There will be a Public Hearing on the FY 2019 Budget on Tuesday, June 26, 6 PM in the Aldermen’s Chambers in City Hall.  I encourage you to come and speak out about any issue you care about that is related to the Budget, which in reality, is just about anything.  This is an opportunity to have the full attention of the BOA & the Administration for two minutes when you can speak about anything you would like to be different or better that relates to City government.  Some years, few people testify, which magnifies the impact of those who do.

Unfortunately, by state law, the BOA is prohibited from adding anything to the budget, all we can do is cut.  In my four years on the BOA, we have made cuts each year of only a fraction of 1%. We can, and do, pass resolutions at the end of the budget process asking the Mayor to add funding for certain things, which the Administration sometimes fulfills. 

You can see the proposed FY 2019 Budget here: https://www.somervillema.gov/fy19budget.  I recommend checking out the document, which as far as I can tell, has not been posted there yet, but which I have asked the City Budget Director to put up on this webpage.  (Note, Monday June 18 is Bunker Hill Day, a City workforce, but not SPS, holiday, so it may not be up there until Tuesday.)  This is the Mayor’s overview presentation of the FY 2019 Budget, which he made to the BOA on June 6^th.  An interesting & easy-to-understand PowerPoint highlights the key issues in the FY2019 Budget, & some of the key challenges the City of Somerville faces.  There is no better way to get a quick sense of what is going on in City government than to review this presentation.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Somerville affordable housing,        Clarendon Hill/North St. Public Housing

In this issue:

• Second Public Hearing on Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition, Mon., May 7, 6 PM, City Hall
• Clarendon Hill/North Street public housing redevelopment before the Board of Aldermen on Tues., May 8, 6 PM
• Fields Master Plan update to be presented by Administration on Wed., May 9, 6:30 PM, City Hall
• Ward 5 ResiStat meeting, Mon., May 14, 6:30 PM, Kennedy School cafeteria, 5 Cherry St – Come early for pizza & schmoozing with City officials, 6 PM
• Magoun Square Green Line Extension station meetups, Tues., May 15, 6 PM & Sun., May 20, 10 AM at Maxwell’s Green outside in the green space, with Ryan Dunn, Magoun Sq. station rep
• Green Line Extension news: Broadway/Ball Square bridge to be closed for a year beginning Fall 2018; tree clearing work to begin by railroad tracks
• Street construction in Ward 5: Cedar-Highland intersection closures ends today; Lowell, & Cedar Streets to be paved.

Second Public Hearing on Real Estate Transfer Fee (RETF) Home Rule Petition (HRP), Mon., May 7, 6 PM, City Hall

I encourage you to attend this important meeting and to speak out, whether you are for or against. If you can’t attend or don’t want to speak, you can email your comments by May 14^th to [email protected] and [email protected]

I strongly support the RETF HRP and hope the Board of Aldermen (BOA) will pass it either May 16^th or May 17^th.  This is the single most important thing the City could do to get more affordable housing.  Without the funds that a RETF would provide, many other important programs would not have as much of an impact. 

The updated version would exempt ALL owner-occupant sellers as well as ALL buyers who will be owner-occupants. The updated proposal authorizes the City to impose a fee of up to 1% on investors, developers, and absentee landlords who buy property in the City of Somerville, as well as up to a 1% fee on investors, developers, and absentee landlords who sell property in the city.

You can get a good, quick overview by reading the one-page FAQ on the City webpage: https://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/proposed-transfer-tax-hpr-summary-faq-5-2-18-final.pdf

For more detailed information and background, go to the City transfer fee webpage: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/proposed-transfer-fee-home-rule-petition

Clarendon Hill/North Street public housing redevelopment before the Board of Aldermen on Tues., May 8, 6 PM

You may have heard that a consortium of the Somerville Housing Authority, non-profit affordable housing developers Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) and Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), and a for-profit developer, Redgate/Gate Residential, are proposing to redevelop the North Street/Clarendon Hill Public Housing on Powderhouse Boulevard and Alewife Brook Parkway in West Somerville.  The plan is to replace the 216 dilapidated public housing units and add 70 moderate-income “workforce” units and 253 market-rate units, for a total of 539 rental units at that location.  Discussions regarding the many conditions that the developers will need to meet to get City funds have been going on in earnest for more than half-a-year.  The redevelopment requires a Home Rule Petition from the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor to the State Legislature asking the Legislature to waive some requirements of projects that have public funding and that are on public land. 

This redevelopment is only possible because the Somerville Housing Authority and the developers have cobbled together an amazing deal.  They have secured commitments of funds from the state ($17 million) and the City ($10 million); are using federal tax credits; and would receive $16 million from Redgate for a 99-year lease to build the market rate units on public land.  Without this complicated deal, it seems likely to me that North Street/Clarendon Hill will not be rebuilt anytime soon, perhaps not in my lifetime, since the necessary funds to support public housing are no longer being provided by the federal and state governments. The City simply does not have the resources to entirely fund a project of this magnitude.

The issues around this redevelopment are many and extremely complex.  Despite having read hundreds of pages of documents and had dozens of conversations with the developers, union leaders and community members, I still have many, many questions. I definitely want to support this redevelopment, as it would dramatically improve the quality of life for the 600 residents who live there, and the Clarendon Residents Union (the tenants’ association) and the vast majority of the residents support it.  I will not make a decision on my vote on the Home Rule Petition until there has been public discussion by the BOA and I have gotten answers to my questions. 

A major concern is that while state prevailing wage requirements will apply to the half of the project that SCC and POAH would build, there is not clarity about whether they to apply to the half that Redgate, the private developer, would build.  This has raised deep concern among many community members and from most of the construction trade unions.  (However, some of the unions have cut a deal with Redgate and do not seem concerned about the project.)  Prevailing wage requirements, while not demanding union labor, level the playing field by requiring that contractors pay at a certain level and provide health insurance, training, pension, disability and other benefits which union contractors all provide, but which many non-union contractors do not.  Currently, discussions between union representatives and Redgate are ongoing, and it is my hope that they can come to an agreement so that Redgate would use all union or responsible non-union contractors on the job.

BOA President and Ward 7 Alderman Katjana Ballantyne has been the BOA’s lead person on this huge project, and I am grateful for the enormous amount of time and diligence she has spent on it, working with many different parties, including our State Legislative delegation, to try to resolve the many issues around it so it can move forward.

This Tuesday night, there are two BOA meetings scheduled. The first, at 6 PM, will be a Finance Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss the developers’ compliance with the conditions that the City requires for City funds to be spent on this project, followed by a Legislative Matters Committee of the Whole to discuss the proposed Home Rule Petition.  It will likely be a long, but extremely interesting and important, evening.

Fields Master Plan update to be presented by Administration on Wed., May 9, 6:30 PM, City Hall, at the BOA Open Space, Energy and Environment Committee meeting

The Board of Aldermen Committee on Open Space, Environment, and Energy will receive an update on the Fields Master Plan and will discuss related issues such as the Conway Park closure and progress on Draw 7 Field development on Wednesday, May 9, 6:30 PM in City Hall.  This is a public meeting, not a public hearing, but the Chair may allow some members of the public to speak to share their concerns and opinions.  I am looking forward to the latest information about the athletic playing fields in Somerville, including updates on fields that the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) controls, among them Draw 7 and Foss Park. 

With the closure of Conway field, the shortage of playing fields, especially for youth sports, has gone from bad to worse.  I know many parents who are youth sports leaders and coaches and they are deeply concerned about where their kids will be able to play, and about the quality and safety of some of our heavily-used grass fields.  I look forward to hearing the Administration’s plan for accommodating the needs of Somerville youth sports leagues on Wednesday night.

I wrote more about athletic fields in Somerville in my April 20^th newsletter, which you can read on my website, www.markniedergang.com

Ward 5 Spring ResiStat meeting, Mon. May 14, 6:30 PM, Kennedy School cafeteria, 5 Cherry St – Come early for pizza and schmoozing with City officials, 6 PM

Please join me, Mayor Curtatone, City staff & Ward 5 neighbors at the Ward 5 Spring ResiStat meeting.  Come for pizza & schmoozing with City officials at 6; the meeting starts 6:30. Get the latest City news on roadway work in Ward 5, proposed changes to zoning, development, and neighborhood updates. Ask questions & share your concerns (rats, trees, parking, traffic, open space, excessive development, affordable housing) directly with City officials.

ResiStat meetings happen in each ward every Fall and Spring and are a chance to talk to City officials and learn about what’s going on in the City and your ward.  The Mayor, Police Chief, and others present a power point with a lot of data and information. 

If you don’t have good fortune to live in Ward 5, but are in another part of Somerville, you can find the ResiStat schedule for all wards in the entire City here: https://www.somervillema.gov/news/spring-2018-resistat-meeting-schedule-announced

  
Magoun Square/Lowell St. Station design

Magoun Square Green Line Extension station meetups, Tues., May 15, 6 PM and Sun., May 20, 10 AM at Maxwell’s Green outside in the green space, with Ryan Dunn, Magoun Square (Lowell Street) station representative to the GLX  Community Working Group

Here is what Ryan Dunn wrote: “I am the Magoun Sq. station area rep to the GLX Community Working Group - a joint community/MBTA effort to inform the public about the Green Line Extension project and address public concerns. There are upcoming info meetups concerning the Magoun Sq. Green Line station (and the larger GLX project) on May 15 at 6 p.m. and May 20 at 10 a.m. We'll meet at the green space at the MaxPak (Maxwell’s Green). This is completely informal. This developed from communications with the property manager at Maxwell's Green and inspiration from Justin Moeling's walking tour in Gilman Sq. earlier in the year. Please invite anyone else you think might be interested.  For more info or with questions, you can contact Ryan at (617) 697-6838 (m) or [email protected]

Green Line Extension news: Broadway/Ball Square bridge to be closed for a year beginning Fall 2018; tree clearing work to begin by railroad tracks

Just announced at the May 1 meeting of the GLX Community Working group: the Broadway Ball Square bridge will be closed for 12 months beginning sometime in the fall of this year (2018).  The Washington Street bridge by McGrath Highway will be closed for 18 months in two phases between early 2019 and the end of 2020.  This information was a shock to many people, including me.  I spoke with Brad Rawson, the City Director of Transportation and Infrastructure, who told me the GLX Team had agreed to delay the start of this closure until 2019.  Apparently there has been a change in plans by the GLX Team since then.

You can see the PowerPoint presentation the GLX Team made on May 1 here: http://www.greenlineextension.org/documents/communityWorking/presentationCWG_050118.pdf

I have talked with Jennifer Dorsen, the Ball Square station rep on the GLX Community Working Group, and she copied to me an email from Terrence P. McCarthy, MBTA | GLX Deputy Program Manager of Stakeholder Engagement ([email protected]), who wrote: “Under the design build process, a comprehensive traffic management plan is being developed. Closures detail and rerouting of vehicular and pedestrian traffic will be adjusted as the GLX progresses.  Accommodations will be made and reviewed by Medford , Somerville and Cambridge traffic engineers & first responders.  No details have been finalized.”

I currently have no other information about the exact dates of the Broadway Ball Square bridge closure or the detour plans.  I have heard that both lanes of traffic will be shut down, and no motor vehicles will be able to pass through there.  Alderman Lance Davis has asked the Administration if there will be a footbridge for pedestrians and bicycles during the closure, and he and I will advocate for that with the GLX Project Team.

Community members have already expressed concern over the impact of the detours both on residents of affected streets and on traffic, and the impact on businesses in Ball Square.

On March 22, I submitted a Board order: “That the Director of  Transportation and Infrastructure report to the Ward 5 Alderman and this Board on the plans for closure of the Ball Square bridge and Broadway for construction of the Green Line Extension and Ball Square GLX Station.”  This agenda item is in the BOA Traffic and Parking Committee, which I Chair, and I intend to have a full discussion of this at the next meeting of that Committee, on Monday June 4, 6:30 PM at City Hall.  (I anticipate that other Aldermen will submit a Board order for discussion of the Washington Street bridge closure.)  This is a public meeting (but not a public hearing) and I invite you to attend if this is something that interests you.  I will invite members of the GLX Community Working Group to attend and talk with us and Mr. Rawson about what we can do to mitigate the damage from the bridge closures, and strategize on what, if anything, we in Somerville can do to shape and affect the plans.

Here are the tree clearing plans from a GLX project email update: “On Monday, May 7, the GLX Design Build Contractor will begin tree clearing and grubbing (stump removal) operations inside the MBTA right-of-way. Work will start north of the College Avenue Bridge in Medford and will focus on the east/north side of the alignment progressing south to the Lechmere Station area in Somerville. The Hours of operation are expected to be 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for approximately 60-90 days….”

“The purpose of the operation is to expand the usable space in the right-of-way while creating a safe work zone for GLX construction and future train operations.  Proactive pest control measures throughout work areas have been underway for the past few weeks and will continue for the duration of GLX construction.  Some noise impacts will result from chain saws and vehicles hauling away debris. There will be visual impacts in some areas due to loss of trees….For more information, and/or to sign up to receive these updates, please visit www.greenlineextension.org or contact us directly at [email protected].  For urgent matters call 855-GLX-INFO (459-4636).”

Street construction in Ward 5: Cedar-Highland intersection closures end today; Lowell, Cedar Streets to be paved

The construction on our streets just goes on and on…and will for a while.  The Cedar Street water and sewer project is almost done.  Today is the final day of the closure of the intersection of Highland Ave and Cedar St.  Work will continue on Cedar Street between Highland Avenue and Elm Street and there will be some closures in some parts of Cedar Street.  The contractor will be redoing the sidewalks, planting trees, and repaving Cedar Street and Hall Street this spring or summer. 

Meanwhile, the sidewalk work on Cedar Street between Broadway and Highland Avenue has begun.  This is a separate project from the Cedar St sewer and water work on lower Cedar Street. The upper Cedar St work has been delayed for three years, but is now finally happening and will result in redevelopment of the roadway, with chicanes, bumpouts, a new crosswalk at Albion and Lexington, and repaving this beat-up roadway.  I am excited this is finally happening and believe it will improve safety and mobility for all users in that area.

Within the next month, repaving of Lowell Street from Highland Avenue to Medford Street will occur, along with repainting of the chicanes, of the crosswalks, and of other street markings.  This should improve safety in the bridge area, which has been a major community concern for years. 

I expect there will be major changes and safety improvements to the area around the bridge in the next few years, in conjunction with the building of the Magoun Square GLX station along the south side of the tracks next to Maxwell’s Green.  I will be working closely with City staff and our GLX Community Working Group rep. Ryan Dunn to assure development of traffic-calming plans for the Lowell Street bridge area, with maximum public participation.  At the very least, the increase in foot, bike and motor vehicle traffic around the Lowell Street bridge will force drivers to slow down and enhance safety for all.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this issue:

• New plan for Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition
• Update on the Administration’s proposed citywide zoning overhaul
• Fields Master Plan, Draw 7 Park, and Conway field closure
• Construction in Ward 5: Cedar-Highland intersection closed 2 more weeks; Green Line Extension (GLX) construction to begin soon
• Upcoming events and meetings

New plan for Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition

All owner-occupants, both sellers and buyers, will be exempt from the fee under a new plan developed by Alderman-at-Large Stephanie Hirsch, and supported by the Board of Aldermen (BOA) in a unanimous vote on April 11th.

Alderman Hirsch found a way to do exactly what all of us want -- including many who testified or emailed in opposition to the transfer tax: make developers, investors and absentee landlords pay, and don't make people who live in Somerville pay.

Her plan sets a 1% fee on both seller and buyer, but anyone who is or will be an owner-occupant doesn't pay anything. So, for example, if someone who has lived in Somerville for 5, 10 or 30 years sells their home, they don't pay. And if a young family who intends to live in Somerville (they will apply for and get the residential tax exemption) buys it, they won't pay. If an owner-occupant sells to a developer or investor, the seller doesn't pay, but the developer or investor pays the 1%. If that developer than redevelops the property and sells it to an investor who rents it out, the fee is a total of 2% -- both the seller and buyer pay. Alderman Hirsch believes this plan would still raise between $6-9 million a year for affordable housing. If you want to learn more about her thinking, read her article, One Affordability Proposal: Can we find a way to unite, not divide, our community?

We've still got a LOT of work to do to flesh out this plan, determine how the funds raised would be managed and by which City board, and provide more information to the public about the kinds of affordable housing programs for low-income, working, and middle-income families the funds will support. As Chair of the Legislative Matters Committee, I've scheduled a half-a-dozen more meetings over the next month, the first one on April 25^th at 7 PM, and there will be another Public Hearing in May.  We’ll announce the date once we are far enough along on a draft based on the new plan so that there is something solid to comment on. My hope is that the BOA will vote on the transfer fee Home Rule Petition sometime in May.

Getting a transfer fee in place is a three-step process.  If the BOA does vote to send the Home Rule Petition to the State Legislature (step 1), we'll all need to work hard to try to get it through the Legislature (step 2).  It won't be easy, because politicians don't like fees, even in Massachusetts. But our four state legislators -- Pat Jehlen, Denise Provost, Christine Barber, and Mike Connolly -- are strong supporters and will help as much as they can. If the Legislature approves it, it comes back to the Board of Aldermen to write an ordinance to officially enact the transfer fee (step 3).

I think we've got an approach now that, hopefully, will win over many of the residents who expressed understandable concerns about the previous plan.  Some thoughtful folks have raised questions about the new plan, and the Administration is at work fleshing out the details and doing an analysis to address those concerns.

If you want more information about the transfer fee proposal, go to Proposed Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition. Also worth reading for historical context is Bill Shelton's column, Paying for the beloved community

Update on the Administration’s proposed citywide zoning overhaul

The short story on this is that the current proposal has a better chance of approval than the 2015 version, but no vote will be taken until the fall, at the earliest. 

We’ve already received considerable pubic feedback.  In March, many Aldermen held community meetings to hear the concerns of residents, including two meetings I hosted in Ward 5.  On April 3^rd, over 200 people attended a Public Hearing, at which scores of people spoke.   We’ve also have received quite a few emails on the zoning overhaul.

The BOA has since had several meetings to start working through the Administration’s proposal.  However, we won’t have sufficient time this spring to complete this (most of June will be taken up with consideration of the FY 2019 City budget), so we’ll do what we can in May.  The current version will “time out” in July, and the Administration will reintroduce something in the fall.  At that point there will be another Public Hearing and the BOA will take it up again.  It is my hope that we can make the necessary and desired improvements and pass a comprehensive zoning overhaul this year.

The biggest issue that has emerged so far is whether two-family houses in the neighborhoods should be allowed to add a third unit.  The current draft would prohibit turning a two-family into a three-family in the NR (Neighborhood Residential) zone, which is most of the City’s neighborhoods.  But many, many people have called for allowing the third unit. There have been a variety of interesting suggestions about what limitations or conditions should be put on the addition of a third unit.  For me to support it, it would have to be by special permit, which would allow neighbors to express concerns, opposition or support in a Public Hearing.  Under a special permit application, the Zoning Board of Appeals would have discretion as to whether to allow the third unit.  I am open-minded on this issue and am looking forward to the analysis and recommendations of the City Planning Department on how to best implement the addition of a third unit in the NR zone.  I am also interested in allowing accessory units in garages and other freestanding structures, something that is prohibited both in the current zoning and in the Administration’s proposal, but which many people support. 

Some Ward 5 residents are concerned about the height and bulk of buildings that would be allowed on major corridors, main streets like Broadway, Medford Street, Highland Avenue, etc., which abut homes in the neighborhoods behind them.  I am looking closely at the zoning for specific parcels on some main streets to make sure that what is allowed to be built there will not negatively impact neighbors behind those buildings.  If you have questions or concerns about your neighborhood, please contact me and share them with me.

At the Public Hearing, the “Zone Smart Somerville” group turned out a lot of people to speak in favor of striking the current limitation on no more than four unrelated individuals living in one dwelling unit.  (The Administration draft leaves this prohibition in place.)  The BOA has not yet discussed changing this provision, but I would be open to some limited initial changes, such as allowing an exemption by special permit for certain group living arrangements.  One example would be congregant housing for seniors.  Another, in this age of changing definitions of family and family arrangements, is to allow cooperative households, where the occupants sign an affidavit saying that they are a community -- not just a collection of friends or renters trying to save money on rent -- and where there is a limit to the number of parking stickers that could be issued to that unit, perhaps two.  For me to support these options, they would have to require a special permit to allow public input and discretion by the Zoning Board of Appeals.  Please let me know your thoughts on this issue if  you care about it.

Fields Master Plan, Draw 7 Park, and Conway field closure

The Administration has requested to provide an update on the Fields Master Plan, and I have been told by Alderman-at-Large Will Mbah, Chair of the Open Space, Environment and Energy Committee, that this will occur on Wednesday, May 9, 6:30 PM at City Hall.  I am looking forward to the latest information about the athletic playing fields in Somerville, including updates on fields that the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) controls, among them Draw 7 and Foss Park. 

With the closure of Conway field, the shortage of playing fields, especially for youth sports, has gone from bad to worse.  The many parents I know who are youth sports leaders and coaches are just beside themselves with worry about where their kids will be able to play, and about the quality and safety of some of our heavily-used grass fields.  I look forward to hearing the Administration’s plan for accommodating the needs of Somerville youth sports leagues while Conway field is closed.

The Administration closed Conway because, “Soil testing conducted in preparation for the proposed renovation of Conway field has revealed contamination in the soil…Samples…identified contamination including lead and PCBs, some of which exceeded regulatory limits…There will be further testing and the plan is for remediation to then take place.”  Of course, the closure of Conway field raises many questions and concerns, such as: Why were people -- and especially children -- playing on a contaminated field for years?  I look forward to getting answers to these and other questions on May 9th.

DCR held a meeting in February to share proposed designs for redeveloping Draw 7 Park, which is located on the Mystic River beyond Assembly Square, and is currently unusable.  The plans call for a synthetic turf athletic field, a concert venue, and in my opinion, way too much concrete, asphalt and rubber surfaces in the rest of the park.  I have shared my opinion as public comment with DCR (although the BOA has no authority over what happens at Draw 7, since it is a state-owned park) that a synthetic turf field makes sense in this location and is desperately needed in Somerville. Other than that there should be as much pervious and natural green surfaces as possible.  Some people have described a vision of a river-edge park with natural features, open space along the river with native plants and grasses where people could walk and be by the water.  I like this vision and don't see why it can't be combined with an artificial turf field further in from the river.  The idea of a concert venue in that location seems just ridiculous for many reasons.

I think the Fields Master Plan, developed by the City’s Park, Recreation and Somerstat Departments, is a well-thought-out blueprint for managing and redeveloping our athletic fields.  While the Board of Aldermen does not have the power to approve or disapprove it (our role is to vote on funding for specific field redevelopments, if requested by the Mayor), I believe it is a reasonable and balanced plan for providing sufficient playing fields for sports teams and athletes in the City, particularly for children and youth.  The Plan calls for synthetic turf fields in Conway, Draw 7, and at the Healey School.  I support this Plan and believe that we need decent facilities for youth sports.  I also want a lot more natural green and open spaces in Somerville. 

There has been significant opposition to development of synthetic turf fields in Somerville.  I have read thousands of pages of reports, scientific analyses, newspaper and magazine articles and other documents about artificial turf, pro and con.  I have listened to many hours of public testimony from passionate residents on both sides, and received hundreds of emails on this topic.  I have concluded that artificial turf is necessary in a City of four square miles with thousands of people who want to play sports on those fields.  I love grass but it simply cannot bear the wear and tear from the thousands of hours of play that each of our fields needs to satisfy the demand from our residents and remain a safe and playable surface.  (However, any artificial turf the City installs should have organic or inert infill and a pervious surface.)   I also believe we must and can get additional green and open spaces in Somerville for non-sports uses, and I am doing and will do everything I can to make that happen.

Construction in Ward 5: Cedar-Highland intersection closed for 2 more weeks; Green Line Extension (GLX) construction to begin soon

The construction on our streets just goes on and on and on…and will for a while.  The Cedar Street water and sewer project is finishing up with the intersection of Highland Ave and Cedar St to be closed weekdays from 7 – 3:30 until May 4^th.  This is an inconvenience but the work is necessary to end the flooding that has plagued Cedar Street, Hall Avenue and Cedar Avenue.

From the GLX Project Team: “After years of community advocacy and planning, the GLX was given an official ‘Notice to Proceed’ in December 2017, and work is already underway with completion

expected by late 2021. The GLX contract team is currently mobilizing at each of the six station areas, and you will begin to see work happening in April around each of these station areas (Union Square, Washington Street, Gilman Square, Lowell Street, Ball Square, and College Ave. in Medford). Preliminary work throughout the month of April will include tree removal, digging test pits, and pest control. More significant construction is expected to begin in summer 2018. During the heavier construction, there may also be some night and weekend work. If you are signed up for updates, you will receive schedules and information as they become available. Whether or not you are signed up for the email updates, the City will notify you with 48 hours advance notice (when possible) of any planned work that will impact you outside of normal activities (such as excessive noise or night work)….To sign up for the GLX email list, visit www.greenlineextension.org.  Also, there is a GLX 24/7 Hotline: This is the best first stop for any questions or concerns. Email them at [email protected], or call 1-855-GLX-INFO.”

Upcoming events and meetings

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 21, is the City’s Spring Clean Up day from 10-12 in the morning.  I encourage you to come out to one of the seven locations, to help pick up garbage and beautify Somerville.  This is a great way to meet neighbors!  In Ward 5, we’ll be cleaning the woods by the parking lot at 114 Central Street (between Albion and Vernon Streets) and around Junction Park and Hoyt Sullivan Park.  There is also breakfast at the boathouse before and a barbeque lunch afterwards.  See for more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/242532196290732/ 

Public Hearing on the condition of affordable housing units and whether there is an affordable housing emergency on Monday, April 30, 2018, at 6:30 p.m., in the Aldermanic Chambers, 2^nd Floor, City Hall.  The BOA Committee on Housing and Community Development is seeking public input on the condition of affordable housing units in the City, and whether there is an affordable housing crisis that constitutes a public emergency.  All are invited to attend and to be heard.

The second Henry Hansen Park redesign meeting is on Tuesday, May 1, 6:30 PM at the Visiting Nurse Association, 3^rd Floor Community Room, 259 Lowell Street.  The Commissioner of Veterans’ Services, Bryan Bishop and Ward 5 resident DJ Chagnon from CBA Landscape Architects will host the meeting. After getting public input at the first meeting, Mr. Chagnon will present a proposed redesign at this one.  Unfortunately, I have another meeting at that time so won’t be able to attend.  For more information, contact Bryan Bishop at 617-625-660 x4700 or [email protected].  

The Board of Aldermen Committee on Open Space, Environment, and Energy will receive an update on the Fields Master Plan and will discuss related issues such as the Conway Park closure and progress on Draw 7 Field development on Wednesday, May 9, 6:30 PM in City Hall.  This is a public meeting, not a public hearing, but the Chair may allow some members of the public to speak to share their concerns and opinions.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Photos: Cedar & Highland intersection, Affordable Housing in Somerville.

In this issue:

• Public hearing on proposed citywide zoning overhaul - Tuesday, April 3, 6 PM, City Hall
• Public Hearing on Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition - Wednesday, April 4, 6 PM, City Hall
• Mayor proposes 19 new positions, Board of Aldermen set to approve seven
• Cedar-Highland intersection closure for 3 weeks in late March, early April
• Green Line Extension (GLX) construction update meeting Wednesday, March 28, 6:30 PM,Somerville High School; contacts and issues in Ward 5 (Magoun/Lowell and Ball Square stations)
• Henry Hansen Park redesign meeting Monday, March 26, 6 PM, Visiting Nurse Association

Public hearing on proposed citywide zoning overhaul -- Tuesday, April 3, 6 PM, City Hall

The Public Hearing before the Board of Aldermen (BOA) and Planning Board has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 3 at 6 PM in the Aldermen’s Chambers in City Hall.  If you care about what Somerville will look like in the future, you may want to attend, whether you want to speak or not.  It’s always interesting to hear what our neighbors have to say!  If you can’t attend, you can submit written comments to [email protected]

A Public Hearing is required by state law for any proposed zoning change.  The close of the public comment period kicks off a 90-day window within which the BOA must act on a proposed zoning change or else it dies.  Most likely that will give the BOA until mid-July to act.  If the BOA does nothing, the proposal dies.  This is what happened in 2015 with the first version of the zoning overhaul.

This time around, I think there is more of a chance that something will be passed by the BOA, but not sure  how much of a chance.  Any zoning change requires a 2/3 vote by the BOA, at least 8 of the 11 Aldermen,a high bar to jump over.  If we do pass something, I am certain the BOA will make changes to the Administration’s proposal, probably in many significant ways.  That’s why I look forward to hearing from residents and business owners about what’s wrong and what’s right with the Administration’s proposal.

I am learning and working to understand this enormous proposed change (600 pages plus maps!), but I am favorably disposed and would like to be able to support a citywide zoning overhaul. 

Our current zoning code is dysfunctional in many ways and extremely hard to understand.  It allows too much and too big developments in our already-dense neighborhoods.  It makes many development projects political footballs, often requiring neighbors to spend huge amounts of time to fight to preserve what they love about their neighborhood against well-heeled developers who have many advantages under state law.  It requires an extensive application and formal approval by the Zoning Board of Appeals for small additions and improvements that homeowners want to make, costing them thousands of dollars and much time and stress.  It doesn’t allow intense enough development in transformational areas like Boynton Yards, Innerbelt, and Assembly Square.  It does not deal well with the squares where by 2021 there will be new GLX stations; these transit-oriented areas should have higher density and commercial development.  Our current zoning requires too much parking in some areas, but due to the special permit process, some projects end up getting built with too little parking.  In short, it’s a mess!  We can do much better.

Public Hearing on Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition -- Wednesday, April 4, 6 PM, City Hall                 

You may have heard about the proposed Real Estate Transfer Fee (RETF) Home Rule Petition (HRP), but it is possible that what you have heard is inaccurate.  There has been some misleading information and lies spread about this proposal by the Small Property Owners Association of Cambridge and by uninformed individuals in Somerville.

I’ll give you an introduction and status update on the RETF HRP here.  I will write to you again in the coming weeks with a detailed explanation of why I believe that Somerville needs a RETF to (A) raise desperately-needed funds for affordable housing and (B) to make developers and speculators pay more to the City out of the substantial profits they are making in Somerville.  And at that time I will rebut some of the misguided and misleading criticisms that have been leveled at this proposal.

A RETF is a fee paid only at the time of property sale. All the funds raised would go in the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, to be used only for affordable housing.

Here’s the background and current status.  This issue has been studied and analyzed in depth by three different city committees over the past three years.  The Mayor made a RETF a key platform in his re-election campaign.  In January, the Administration introduced a rough draft of a RETF HRP to the Board of Aldermen (BOA).  The BOA’s Legislative Matters Committee, which I chair, has been meeting as a Committee of the Whole to revise this draft. Over the past two months, in four long meetings, we have made many changes to the Administration’s proposal, and in my opinion, improved it significantly.

There are two steps for Somerville to implement a RETF.  First, the City needs to submit a Home Rule Petition to the State Legislature, asking the Legislature to allow the City of Somerville to implement a RETF.  (In Massachusetts, a city or town cannot enact a new revenue-raising measure without the approval of the State Legislature.)  Second, if we are fortunate enough to have our HRP approved by the Legislature – a long shot according to many people familiar with the politics of the Legislature – the BOA would then get to craft an ordinance with the exact details of how a RETF would work.  Fortunately, all four of our state legislators are strong supporters of a RETF, so they will help.

The current draft of the HRP leaves many issues open, to be decided down the road if  the Legislature approves our HRP.  You can read it on the City of Somerville website, www.somervillema.gov, which will have a separate webpage devoted this issue.  Or just email me and I will send the current draft to you. 

The BOA is holding the Public Hearing on April 4^th to receive comments from the community on this draft or on the general concept of a RETF.  If you don’t want to speak or can’t attend, you can email all 11 Aldermen at [email protected].  We have already received dozens of emails on this issue.  The BOA can make more changes in this current draft of the HRP before it is submitted to the Legislature.

The current draft calls for a fee of up to 1% on the purchase price of all property sales, and up to 2% if the seller has owned the property for less than five consecutive years.  (The 2% is the anti-speculation component.) 

While I strongly favor a RETF for Somerville, I am still flexible on some important aspects of the Home Rule Petition.  Two key issues that we have discussed at length and which I am looking forward to hearing from the public about are: who pays (buyer or seller) and exemptions.  The current draft does not specify whether the fee is paid by the buyer or the seller.  The BOA has approved, so far, five exemptions and discussed and voted on half-a-dozen more which were defeated.  It is possible that more exemptions will be included in the HRP after the Public Hearing.  The current language also allows the BOA to add more exemptions if the Legislature passes the HRP and returns it to us to craft an ordinance. 

Here are the five exemptions in the current draft: “SECTION 4. The following transfers of real property interests shall be exempt from the fee established by this act: (a) transfers between family members as defined by the city; (b) transfers of convenience with consideration under $100.00 as defined by the city; (c) transfers to the government of the United States or any other instrumentality, agency of subdivision thereof, or the commonwealth or any instrumentality or subdivision thereof; (d) vulnerable seniors as defined by the city; and (e) with respect to a property where that property owner has had a residential exemption from the city of Somerville for twenty consecutive years with respect to that property as further defined by ordinance.”

In order for this HRP to have a chance of passage this year in the Legislature, the City will need to send it to the Legislature by the end of April.  There are meetings scheduled for the Legislative Matters Committee of the Whole for April 5, 9 and 11, so if Aldermen want to make changes to the current draft, there is ample time after the Public Hearing in which to do so.

A note on a related issue: There has also been some public discussion, and we have received many emails about a proposed Home Rule Petition for Tenants’ Right to Purchase/Right of First Refusal.  This issue is also in the Legislative Matters Committee, but we have not had the time yet to make a lot of progress on it and I believe it is unlikely that a HRP would be approved and sent to the Legislature before this fall at the earliest.

Mayor proposes 19 new positions, Board of Aldermen set to approve seven

In January, the Administration proposed adding 19 new full-time positions to the City budget, and asked the BOA to allocate funds for those positions.  This is quite unusual, unprecedented in fact, as usually new positions are proposed as part of the BOA’s consideration of the City’s annual budget in June, for the fiscal year starting July 1.  However, the Administration argued that due to the amount of street construction work that will begin this spring, and other urgent demands for more staff, we should move forward on creating these positions before the formal budget process.

After getting a lot of pushback from BOA members, the Administration came back with a list of six “critical” positions and prioritized the other 13 at various levels of urgency. The Finance Committee, meeting as a Committee of the Whole, chaired by Alderman-at-Large Bill White, has now considered and voted on the 19 proposed positions.  Five of the six “critical” positions have been approved by the Finance Cmte and are either already confirmed by the full BOA or likely to be soon. These positions are: Director of the (new) Office of Housing Stability; GLX Project Liaison (Transportation & Infrastructure Dept); Construction Project Manager (Engineering Dept); Construction Liaison and Compliance Manager (Engineering); and Director of Finance and Administration (Water and Sewer Dept).  In addition, the Finance Committee approved two “highly recommended” positions, a new Project Manager in the Engineering Dept and a Streetscape and Public Space Planner in the Transportation & Infrastructure Dept.

I voted for all of the approved positions,except the Director of Finance and Administration in Water/Sewer,because I believe these are urgently needed to deal with the challenges of Somerville’s fast pace of physical change and growth.  I have seen clearly that our City government needs more Engineering staff to deal with the growing number of sewer, water and streetscape projects that are tearing up our streets. We also need more staff to work on traffic calming, making our streets work better and safer for all users and to oversee construction of the GLX and Community Path (a $2.3 billion project).

I am particularly pleased that the City will be creating a Office of Housing Stability, and hiring a Director to set it up and staff it up, hopefully later this year.  This Office will work directly with tenants and homeowners facing urgent housing needs and crises, such as displacement, in close coordination with some of the non-profit agencies that are already involved in this work, but which do not have the resources to even begin to meet the vast need.  The Office of Housing Stability will also help develop new housing strategies and policies to deal with the affordable housing crisis that is driving many longtime residents out of Somerville and rapidly changing the demographics of our city.

Cedar-Highland intersection closure for 3 weeks coming in late March, early April

Neighbors have been amazingly patient and understanding of the enormous disruption and noise this necessary but unpleasant huge construction project has brought to their lives.  

The Cedar Street sewer project will continue through the spring.  If all goes well, from Elm Street to Highland Avenue, the sidewalks will be renovated, trees planted, and roadway paved in the summer.  The next major step is work in the intersection of Highland Avenue and Cedar Street, which will necessitate the full closure of that intersection from 7 AM – 3:30 PM for three weeks on weekdays, and perhaps on some Saturdays.  This was announced, but has since been delayed several times due to weather and unanticipated challenges with our aging water and sewer pipes.  The City Communications Dept. will be announcing the dates of the closure a few days in advance. 

The upper Cedar St -- Broadway to Highland Avenue -- Roadway Improvements Project is scheduled to finally get done this summer.  The plans were all set, and the need is urgent. The three new positions in the Engineering Department should assure that this and many other street work projects get done on time and with as little disruption to residents and roadway users as possible.

Green Line Extension (GLX) construction update meeting Wednesday, March 28, 6:30 PM Somerville High School; contacts and issues in Ward 5 (Magoun/Lowell and Ball Square stations)

The GLX construction update meeting is rescheduled for Wednesday, March 28, 6:30 PM in the Somerville High School auditorium.  Starting in April, construction work on and around the tracks will begin.  Some of this work will take place in Ward 5, which will have two GLX stations -- on Lowell Street near Maxwell’s Green (to be called Magoun Square station) and in Ball Square.

I have already heard from a couple of Ward 5 residents with questions and concerns.  One concern regards the closure of the Ball Square bridge on Broadway over the railroad tracks.  I have been told that the entire roadway on the bridge will need to be closed for construction, but I do not know when, for how long, or what the detour plan will be.  This week, I learned that the closure will happen in 2019.

In December, I attended the first meeting of the GLX Community Working Group, whose members will serve as liaisons to the neighborhoods surrounding the construction.  Somerville City officials chose three Ward 5 residents to serve on this Working Group.  Their names and contact info are listed below so that you can connect with them with questions or concerns or to ask them to contact you.  They will have the most current information about construction activities and will be reaching out to residents and businesses as construction activities begin. 

Jennifer Dorsen (Ball Square station/Somerville) -- [email protected] (617) 623-5993or (617) 291-4829

Jim Silva (Ball Square station/Medford)—[email protected]  (339) 545-1474

Ryan Dunn (Magoun Square station) -- [email protected] (617) 697-6838

Michaela Bogosh (at large) -- [email protected] (603) 548-3031

There are also Facebook pages for:

Ball Square station  https://www.facebook.com/BallSquareGLXNews/

Magoun Square station  https://www.facebook.com/Magoun-Square-Green-Line-Extension-392581591169903/?ref=br_rs

If you have concerns about GLX construction work in your neighborhood, you can also contact me. For more information on the GLX project, please visit www.greenlineextension.org

Henry Hansen Park redesign meeting Monday, March 26, 6 PM, Visiting Nurse Association

Photos: Henry Hanson Park, First flag raising at Iwo Jima (Staff Sgt. Lou Lowery), Second Flag raising (Joe Rosenthal/AP).

You are invited to a Henry Hansen Park Redesign Community Meeting on Monday, March 26, 6 pm at the Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell St. in the 3rd Floor Conference Room (opposite the Community Room).

This little-known pocket park is located in Magoun Square at the corner of Medford St & Partridge Ave. It is underutilized because it is covered with shrubs and has only two benches, which are right by busy Medford St. Every green and open space in our densely-settled little city is precious!  We can make a lot better use of this space. The Commissioner of Veterans’ Services, Bryan Bishop, myself, and Ward 5 resident DJ Chagnon from CBA Landscape Architects will host the meeting and Mr. Chagnon will present a proposed redesign.  For more information, please contact Bryan Bishop at Somerville Veterans’ Services at 617-625-660 x4700 or [email protected].  

Some Somerville history: This park honors Sgt. Henry O. "Hank" Hansen, a Magoun Square resident killed in action just one week after participating in the first flag raising on Iwo Jima. I am sure you are familiar with the iconic photo of Marines raising the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima. What I bet you don't know (I didn't) is that the iconic photo actually captures a second flag-raising with a larger flag than what was first raised by Sgt. Henry Hanson and others. A lesser-known photo of the first flag raising includes Somerville's Sgt. Hanson, he is in the soft cap, holding the flagstaff.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Please join me, Dan Bartman, Senior Planner in the City’s Planning Department, and others interested in the proposed new zoning for an informal meeting to learn about, ask questions about, discuss, and comment upon the Administration’s proposed overhaul of the City's zoning code.

There will be two meetings (so that as many people as possible can attend):    

Sunday, March 4^th, 3:30 -5:30 PM and

Monday, March 5^th, 6:30-8:30 PM.

Both meetings will be at the Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell Street, 3^rdFloor Community Room.  You are welcome to attend both and depending on the attendance, I imagine the content of the two meetings could be significantly different.  Please drop in when you can and stay as long as you can.

I am interested in hearing from Ward 5 folks about any concerns or questions you have about the proposed zoning for specific properties or neighborhoods.  So if you can, please look at the zoning map (see below) for your property and neighborhood.  I am planning these meetings as informal, with questions from participants leading to answers and background information from Mr. Bartman.  I hope to hear from you about what you like and dislike in the proposed zoning overhaul. 

If you are not a resident of Ward 5, but are interested in zoning, I invite you to attend as well. While these meetings will focus some on Ward 5 neighborhoods and streets, there will be questions and discussion about the broader citywide issues.

If you have concerns or questions for Mr. Bartman, please email them to me so he can prepare answers, if necessary.

While it’s fine to come without any background or preparation, to get the most out of the discussion, and contribute the most to the conversation, I encourage you to do some of the following:

• Go to the City of Somerville Zoning Overhaul website, https://www.somervillezoning.com/
• View the presentation slides or the video of Planning Director George Proakis’ February 13 Policy Overview of the proposed new zoning code. In it, he introduced the proposal, explained the rationale for it, and highlighted the differences between this version and the version the administration proposed in 2015.
• Click on the “Zoning Atlas” and when you find the map of Somerville with 19 quadrants, scroll down and find the quadrant where you live or work. Look at the proposed zoning for the properties in your neighborhood.  Bring any questions or concerns you have about the proposed zoning for specific properties to the meeting.

If you want to know the process by which the Board of Aldermen will consider the proposed overhaul for adoption, check out the Adoption Process Infographic. 

If you are really into zoning, you can read actual text of the proposal, or parts of it.  You can comment or ask questions either by emailing [email protected] or by going to the CiviComment page and inserting your comments in the appropriate location in the text.

The Board of Aldermen spent a lot of time in 2015 discussing and deliberating on the first version.  Residents submitted hundreds of comments, many of which were extremely helpful and had a significant impact on my understanding of that earlier version.  Your questions, comments and observations are most appreciated.  Along with you and others, I am studying and learning about this revised version.

Also, mark your calendars:

Public Hearing on the new proposed zoning

before the Board of Aldermen and the Planning Board on

Tuesday, March 13, 6 PM

in the Aldermen’s Chambers, City Hall.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

As you may know, the Mayor has proposed a comprehensive overhaul to the City's zoning code. This is a super big deal, as zoning determines what can be built in Somerville. The new code is significantly different from the one we have now.

For an introduction & overview of the new proposed zoning code, come to a joint meeting of the Board of Aldermen & the Planning Board Tues., Feb. 13, 6 PM in the Aldermen's Chambers at City Hall.  The City Planning Dept. will introduce the proposal, and highlight the differences between this (new and improved!) version and the version the administration proposed in 2015.

To see the proposed zoning code and map, learn more about the proposal and the process, or submit comments if you wish, there is a dedicated website with lots of information; go to https://www.somervillezoning.com/

The Board of Aldermen spent a lot of time in 2015 discussing and deliberating on the first version.  Residents submitted hundreds of comments, many of which were extremely helpful and had a significant impact on my thinking about that earlier version.  Ultimately, we allowed that first version to die after the 90-day deliberation period, because it had many, serious flaws.  Since then, the Planning Dept. has worked hard to address those problems and concerns, and they’ve worked with the Board of Aldermen to prepare the current proposal.

I am still learning about this revised version, so I can’t say what amendments I will seek or whether I will support it yet.  There is more discussing and learning ahead.  I welcome your feedback. 

I am considering organizing a meeting or two in Ward 5 in the next month or so for interested people to learn about and look at the new zoning map and code together.  This would probably be a Sunday afternoon and/or weekday evening meeting with a member of the City Planning Dept. present to answer questions and help us understand what’s in the new proposed zoning and what it means for our Ward 5 neighborhoods.  If you would be interested in attending such a meeting, please let me know.

Also, mark your calendars: the Public Hearing on the new proposed zoning will be exactly a month after the introductory meeting, Tuesday, March 13, 6 PM in the Aldermen’s Chambers, City Hall.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Higher linkage fees will generate more $$ for affordable housing & job training

In this issue:

• Board of Aldermen votes unanimously for higher linkage fees for affordable housing and job training
• Board of Aldermen approves a District Improvement Financing (DIF) program for Union Square infrastructure and $63 million for sewer and streetscape work on Somerville Ave.
• Union Square redevelopment advances: Planning Board approves US2’s application for a Coordinated Development Special Permit (CDSP) for the 7 redevelopment blocs
• The Green Line Extension (GLX) is really and truly coming: Federal Transit Admin (FTA) releases first $100 million (of $1 billion total) of federal funds; impact on Ward 5
• Cedar Street roadway construction projects -- lower and upper

Board of Aldermen votes unanimously for higher linkage fees for affordable housing and job training

The Board of Aldermen (BOA) voted unanimously on December 12 to generate more funds from large commercial developments to create affordable housing and job training programs. We increased the Affordable Housing Linkage Fee from $5.15 per square foot of commercial development to $10 per square foot. We also created a Jobs Linkage Fee of $2.46 per square foot for job training programs. All commercial developers building more than 30,000 square feet will pay $10 per square foot into the Somerville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, & all commercial developers building more than 15,000 square feet will pay $2.46 per sq. ft. into the new Somerville Job Creation & Retention Trust Fund.  

Big thanks for the hard work of the Somerville Community Corporation's Affordable Housing Organizing Committee & Jobs for Somerville working group. They wrote and got signatures on a citizens' zoning petition, and then turned out scores of concerned residents to advocate for the higher fees.  The Administration had proposed raising the housing fee to $8.15 per square foot and to initiate the jobs training fee at $2 per square foot.  Due to the citizens’ petition, the new, higher linkage payments by developers will generate many more millions of dollars for affordable housing and job training in the years to come. 

Board of Aldermen approves a District Improvement Financing (DIF) program for Union Square infrastructure and $63 million for sewer and streetscape work on Somerville Ave

On December 14, the BOA voted 10-1 to borrow $63M for sewer and streetscape improvements around Somerville Ave in Union Square, and to allow future borrowing for four other large sewer, water, and streetscape improvement projects.  The estimated total for all five projects is $141.5 million. 

We also approved a municipal financing plan known as District Improvement Financing (DIF) for the Union Square area.  The expectation is that the bonds that the City issues will be repaid by future tax revenue generated by new development in Union Square, and thus will not burden City taxpayers.  In other words, the sewer and streetscape improvements, along with the DIF financing mechanism, will unlock development in Union Square, and the new tax revenue from that development will pay for these infrastructure costs.  The DIF will enable the City to borrow short term at lower interest rates.  The City did a DIF in Assembly Square about 10 years ago to jumpstart the redevelopment there, and it has been even more successful than the Administration projected at that time.

These infrastructure improvements are necessary not only for the redevelopment of Union Square, but to improve our 100+ year-old sewer system, and to alleviate the flooding that occurs in the Union Square area after a hard rain.  They will actually benefit 60% of the City because most of the City’s sewer and stormwater drainage runs through Union Square.  Even if Union Square were not being redeveloped, the City would need to do most of this work.  The sewer improvements are also needed to meet the City’s obligations to the state and federal governments to separate storm water and waste water in our sewer system, which will contribute to a cleaner Mystic River and Alewife Brook.

(For details on the specifics of the infrastructure projects, how the DIF financing works, and the City’s financial analysis of its overall borrowing and debt, go to https://www.somervillema.gov/usqdif )  

Each of the four additional sewer and infrastructure projects will require a vote by two-thirds of the BOA if they are to be implemented.  So, for example, many people are concerned about the proposed Nunziato Park stormwater tank program that would put that park out of service for three years and generate construction impacts on the neighborhood.  That plan cannot be implemented unless the BOA specifically votes funds for it in the future. 

Union Square redevelopment advances: Planning Board approves US2’s application for a Coordinated Development Special Permit (CDSP) for the seven redevelopment blocs

Also on December 14, the Planning Board approved, with substantial modifications and conditions, the application by US2, the Master Developer for Union Square, for a Coordinated Development Special Permit (CDSP).  The CDSP is a master plan based on the Neighborhood Plan, developed by the City and the community, for what will be built on the seven redevelopment blocs in Union Square.  (Unfortunately, the CDSP does not follow some of the key recommendations in the Neighborhood Plan, which caused many community members to call for changes in it.)   The CDSP was approved by the Planning Board with a number of conditions, including language committing to "continue the conversation" on getting a much-needed indoor civic community space, as well as recommending two, rather than one, large neighborhood parks. You can find the plan and Staff Report (which includes the conditions and modifications to the plan) at https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/union-square-planning

The Planning Board took their vote despite public testimony from many residents, community groups, and elected officials, including me, urging them to take the full 90 days to deliberate.  I testified at the Public Hearing and said that while there is much that I like about US2's plan, it needs a lot more work.  Guess they didn’t listen to me, or to the many other community members who urged them to proceed methodically, with care and diligence!  For an excellent commentary on the Planning Board’s decision and lack of due diligence, see “Why we need a community-focused Planning Board", an op-ed article by Bill Shelton with members of Union Square Neighbors and Green and Open Somerville, at http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/80594

US2 still has two major hurdles to clear before they can begin building. They need to pass the state environmental review (MEPA, or the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act).  Before individual buildings, streets, or parks within the plan may proceed, each must undergo design and site plan review, which, for each, requires an additional Planning Board Public Hearing and two additional neighborhood meetings.  So the Union Square redevelopment saga will continue…and continue…and continue.  This will be a 20 year process, so I hope you are not tired of it yet! 

The Green Line Extension (GLX) is really and truly coming: Federal Transit Admin (FTA) releases first $100 million (of $1 billion total) of federal funds; impact on Ward 5

From the news release: “December 21, 2017 -- The Federal Transit Administration today informed the MBTA Green Line Extension (GLX) Project Team that it has released the first $100 million installment of the total approved $1 billion in federal funding for the 4.7-mile light rail line from Cambridge to Medford, marking another milestone for the project. With federal funding in place, the MBTA issued the Notice to Proceed to GLX Design-Build team, GLX Constructors. After a sealed price opening last month, GLX Constructors won with its bid, a total of $1.08 billion.”  (For the full news release with more details about the project, go to https://www.mbta.com/news/3239 )

Previously, the MBTA announced that GLX Constructors, a collaboration between several engineering and construction firms, in their winning bid committed to include features once deemed unlikely. Station canopies, elevators, public art, an enhanced Vehicle Maintenance Facility and, most important, the Community Path Extension all the way to Lechmere Station (where it will link up with bicycle paths that go into Boston and beyond) will all be included in the project.

The advocacy of organizations such as Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP) and Friends of the Community Path, community members in Somerville, Cambridge and Medford, with support of city officials and our state legislators has made this great advancement possible.  All these people persisted through many obstacles and setbacks, for decades.

On December 19, I attended the first meeting of the GLX Community Working Group, whose members will serve as liaisons to the neighborhoods surrounding the construction.  Much of this work will take place in Ward 5, which will have two GLX stations, on Lowell Street near Maxwell’s Green (officially to be called Magoun Square station) and in Ball Square.  I am pleased to report that City officials chose three Ward 5 residents to serve on the Working Group, Michaela Bogosh (at large), Jennifer Dorsen (Ball Square station), and Ryan Dunn (Magoun Square station).  They will be reaching out to their neighborhoods next year.  If you would like their contact info, email me.  If you have concerns about GLX construction work in your neighborhood, please let me know and I will put you in touch with people who can address your concerns.

Cedar Street roadway construction projects -- lower and upper

The Cedar Street sewer project digging on Cedar Street between Summer Street and Highland Ave and the surrounding streets will continue through February.  While an official announcement about plans and timeline for the next couple months will come next week, I have learned that after a week-long break between Christmas and New Year's, the contractor Gioisio will move down Hall Street for about 100 feet. When that's done, they will dig up and work on the intersection of Highland Ave & Cedar St.  There will be some traffic disruption at Highland and Cedar for a month or two.  Cedar St between Summer and Highland Ave will be paved over.  I will share more details on my Facebook page as the Administration announces them. Neighbors have been amazingly patient and understanding of the enormous disruption and noise this necessary but unpleasant huge construction project has brought to their lives.  

Update on the upper Cedar St, Broadway to Highland Ave Roadway Improvements Project - I am sorry to pass along the bad news that once again, for the third year in a row, this project has been put off until next year. The plans were all set, we had a well-attended community meeting in September, and the need is urgent. But sometimes the wheels of City government grind agonizingly slowly. The issues apparently were procedural & administrative, involving state funding and getting everything lined up for the work to proceed. Part of the reason for the three years of delays is that the City has had four different Directors of Engineering in the past four years. The current Director of Engineering, Rich Raiche, is doing a terrific job of managing the enormous amount of street work going on in the City.  I am confident that he will get this important project done next year.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

 Join us for office hours Sun & Tues morning; 249 & 251 Highland Ave redevelopment proposed

 In this issue:

• Thank you for re-electing me!
• Office hours at the Armory Café Nov 12 & 14
• Nov 14 neighborhood meeting about redevelopment of 249 & 251 Highland Ave
• Nov 20 & 30 Union Square redevelopment Public Hearings
• Nov 27 affordable housing & jobs linkage fees Public Hearings
• Nov 28 DIF financing for Union Square infrastructure Public Hearing

Thank you!

First, before anything else, I want to thank the Ward 5 voters who re-elected me as your Alderman on Tuesday.  I also want to thank the many people from around the City who responded to my election endorsements email with thoughtful and appreciative comments.

The Board of Aldermen will look very different next year with five new Aldermen, and I am excited about working with them and the new energy and ideas they will bring.

But the election is over, and the beat goes on.  Lots happening in the ‘Ville the rest of November!

Office hours with Laura Pitone, Ward 5 School Committee member

Please join Ward 5 School Committee member Laura Pitone and me for office hours this Sunday Nov. 12, 10 AM – noon and this Tuesday, Nov. 14, 8-10 AM in the morning both at the Armory Cafe, 191 Highland Ave. Share your thoughts about Somerville Public Schools & other issues in Ward 5 or the City. Our State Rep Denise Provost and State Senator Pat Jehlen may also be stopping by. This is part of the School Committee's coordinated office hours happening throughout Somerville from Nov 11-18.  For the locations in other wards check here: www.somerville.k12.ma.us/district-leadership/central-administration/communications-and-grants/connections-newsletter

Neighborhood meeting on proposed redevelopment of 249 & 251 Highland Avenue, Tuesday, November 14, 6 PM at Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Room Not 2B (second floor)   The owner of 249 & 251 Highland Avenue (across from where Porter Street enters Highland Ave), is proposing to demolish these two houses and build a mixed-use building with six units and first floor commercial space.  One of the existing buildings houses the salon that a truck crashed into about a year ago.  I have the plans for the proposed redevelopment; email me if you want to see them.

Public Hearings and opportunities to comment on Union Square development, Monday, Nov. 20, 6 PM, Argenziano School Cafeteria, 290 Washington St., and Thursday, Nov. 30, 6 PM at City Hall

The next round of public input on Union Square development will be a two-part Public Hearing at two Planning Board meetings on Nov. 20 and 30. After multiple years of public process to develop the Union Square Neighborhood Plan as well as Union Square Zoning, the Master Developer chosen by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority, US2, presented their preliminary plans for the seven development blocks and a new neighborhood park. Now their final proposed plan, the Union Square Coordinated Development Plan, is before the Planning Board.

The Planning Board will consider US2’s application for a Coordinated Development Special Permit (CDSP) which would allow the Master Developer to move forward with planning and development of individual parcels. Before individual buildings, streets, or parks within the plan may proceed, each must undergo design and site plan review, which, for each, requires an additional Planning Board Public Hearing and two additional neighborhood meetings. You can find plans and Staff Reports for this application at Somervillema.gov/unionsquareplanning.

All interested persons are invited to attend and/or comment on the plan. At the opening hearing, US2 will formally present their Plan to the Planning Board and the community. Testimony will then be taken at this meeting as well as at the next Planning Board meeting on Nov. 30. Written testimony will also be accepted at least through Nov. 30 by email to [email protected].

Public Hearing before the Board of Aldermen Land Use Committee and the Planning Board on the amount of the affordable housing linkage fee, to create a jobs training linkage fee and on the amount of that jobs linkage fee, Monday, November 27 6 PM, City Hall

The City of Somerville currently requires developers of new commercial property larger than 30,000 square feet to pay a housing linkage fee to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund of $5.15 per square foot.  The Administration is proposing to raise this to $8.15 per square foot.  A group of residents has filed a citizens’ petition to raise it even higher, to $10 per square foot. 

A second issue is the creation of a Somerville Municipal Job Creation and Retention Trust Fund for job training, and establishment of a “jobs linkage” fee.  Currently, there is no jobs linkage fee required of commercial developers but the Administration, with the support of the Board of Aldermen and a home rule petition passed by the State Legislature, has proposed the creation of this job training trust fund.  The Administration is proposing a fee on commercial development of $2 per square foot.  A group of residents has filed a citizens’ petition to instead initiate the jobs training linkage fee at the higher level of $2.46 per square foot.

I  support the higher fees proposed in both the citizens’ petitions.  I believe Somerville needs as much money as we can get from developers for affordable housing and job training.

This Public Hearing is an opportunity for the public to weigh in on the amount of the fees that commercial developers would have to pay.  There will be a presentation of these proposals, after which anyone will be invited to speak to the two Boards.  Written testimony can also be entered into the record through the City Clerk and directly to all aldermen at [email protected] and [email protected] and to the Planning Board at [email protected].  You can send one email to all three addresses.

Public Hearing before the Board of Aldermen Finance Committee of the Whole on the Administration’s DIF (District Increment Financing) proposal for  infrastructure improvements in the Union Square area, Tuesday, November 28, 6 PM, City Hall

The Mayor and his Administration are asking the Board of Aldermen to approve a District Increment Financing (DIF) plan to help pay for an estimated $141.5 million project for water, sewer and streetscape infrastructure improvements, mostly around Union Square.  A DIF would allow the City to borrow (bond) money on more favorable terms, and the increased tax revenues that the City receives from development in that area would then be used to pay off the bonds.

These infrastructure improvements are necessary for the redevelopment of Union Square, to improve our 100+ year-old sewer system, and to alleviate the flooding that occurs in the Union Square area after a hard rain.   The City did a DIF in Assembly Square about 10 years ago to jumpstart the redevelopment there.  The Administration has made two PowerPoint presentations to the BOA about the Union Square DIF proposal and the proposed infrastructure work.  You can find these and other related information at www.somervillema.gov/usqdif

I expect there will be a short presentation by the Administration about the DIF concept and the planned infrastructure work, followed by the Public Hearing, at which members of the public will be invited to share their opinions, concerns and questions.  Written testimony can also be entered into the record through the City Clerk and directly to all aldermen at [email protected] and [email protected]

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

I’m writing to share with you who I will be voting for and who I am supporting in the Somerville City election on Tuesday, November 7^th.

First and foremost, please vote.  This is when your vote counts most.  Unlike a Presidential election or state election, in a City election turnout is usually quite low, around 20% of the voters.  A small number of votes can make the difference.  In Somerville, elections are often decided by less than 50 votes.  One person who speaks to a dozen friends, neighbors and family and asks them to vote for a candidate can swing an election. 

If you live in Ward 5, I would appreciate your vote.  I am running unopposed, so you might think that your vote doesn’t matter.  But your vote would be an expression of support for me and the work that I do as the Ward 5 Alderman, and that means a great deal to me.  I do not take it for granted.

Here are the candidates I will be voting for or am supporting, with some reasons why.  I am happy to hear your thoughts or discuss my choices with you over the phone or face-to-face. 

I begin with Aldermen-at-Large, then the contested Ward Aldermen and School Committee races, and conclude with my endorsement for Mayor.  Because the position of Mayor is so important in Somerville -- the Mayor has so much power here due to the strong Mayor form of government in the City Charter – I conclude with some lengthy discussion about the record of the Curtatone Administration.

Thank you for your consideration of my opinions regarding the upcoming election.

Alderman-at-Large -- Note: Each of us can vote for up to four candidates for Alderman-at-Large.  The order reflects my priorities.

Bill White, Alderman-at-Large

I cannot emphasize how important it is to re-elect Bill White.  Bill has been President of the Board of Aldermen (BOA) for five years now, and he has been a superb leader in that capacity.  He makes all of us Aldermen do our jobs better.  He is tremendously knowledgeable, experienced and capable.  We share similar progressive values.  I turn to him frequently for help in getting ordinances drafted, trying to figure out how to address important issues and solve problems, and just figuring out how best to proceed to make the changes that are needed to improve life in Somerville.  Bill is everything one could ask for in a leader.   https://aldermanwhite.org/

Stephanie Hirsch, Alderman-at-Large

I am pleased to endorse and vote for Stephanie Hirsch for Alderman-at-Large. Stephanie would be a terrific Alderman.  I have known Stephanie for a decade. She is incredibly smart, hard-working and knowledgeable about City issues and government. She cares deeply about helping people and families, especially those who are worst off.  She loves Somerville and has already committed a decade of her working life to it. She is passionate about the issues and not afraid to take on big ones. Her heart follows her head: she is a data geek, but her analysis moves her to act to change things for the better. She is independent and thinks for herself, often in unusual and insightful ways.  She is a mother of three children and has worked hard to make our public schools the excellent schools they are, both as a parent and a data analyst. Learn more about her on her Facebook page and at http://www.stephanieforsomerville.com/

Mary Jo Rossetti, Alderman-at-Large

I’ve served with Mary Jo for 12 years. We were together for eight years on the School Committee and four years as Aldermen.  I have come to deeply respect Mary Jo and to appreciate her as a colleague.  She is extremely hardworking, diligent and comes prepared to every meeting.  She really cares about helping all types of people throughout the City and makes great efforts to represent people.  She is determined and persistent in trying to solve problems.  She asks tons of questions and is unafraid to challenge anyone in the Administration.  She has done a terrific job as Chair of the Legislative Matters Committee, in which takes place deliberation on all the ordinances (laws) that the BOA considers. https://www.facebook.com/AldermanRossetti/

Will Mbah, Alderman-at-Large

I got to know Will over the last couple of years, talking with him at the many City meetings he has attended. When I heard him speak at public hearings, I was impressed.  Will is a thoughtful and caring person, married, and father of a young child, and he speaks five languages.  He is also really committed to Somerville.  He’s made huge efforts to find an apartment in Somerville when he had to move – five times in the last six years!  The fact that Will is a renter is actually one of the reasons I support him – almost all elected officials in Somerville are homeowners, but two thirds of our population are renters.  Renters need representation.

Will is passionately on the side of working people, and cares deeply about the issues that I care about – affordable housing, development that benefits residents and the City, fair treatment and a welcoming hand to immigrants, and decent wages and treatment for workers.  I see Will as part of the next generation of progressive leaders in Somerville. 

Will has triumphed over adversity that I, and many people born in the U.S., have never had to face. Originally from Cameroon, Will went to university in Sweden, immigrated to the U.S. on a green card in 2010 and became a citizen in 2015.  As a recent immigrant, he has a set of experiences that will enable him to represent a significant part of Somerville’s population, one that has no representation in elected positions.  Given the challenges that Will has overcome, I have no doubt that he will learn quickly and master the job of Alderman-at-Large if he wins. http://www.willmbah.com/

Matt McLaughlin, Ward 1 Alderman

If you live in Ward 1, please vote for Matt McLaughlin, who is running for a third two-year term.  Matt is a terrific Alderman. He is hard-working and responsive to Ward 1 residents, constantly pushing City officials to respond to problems on the ground, whether it’s rats, traffic, trees, or development projects. Matt is progressive and outspoken, both on Ward 1 and citywide issues. He has provided important leadership on affordable housing, addiction and opioid abuse, immigrant issues, youth, labor unions, and veterans. (Matt is an Iraq war veteran.)  With Somerville’s strong Mayor form of government, one of the most important responsibilities for the BOA is to provide a check and balance to (any) Mayor’s power.  Matt does this as well as any of us; he has challenged the Administration when they are off course. Raised in Somerville, he has lifelong ties to many residents, and he understands the challenges many families are facing in today’s gentrifying Somerville. For more info about Matt, go to http://matthewmclaughlin.nationbuilder.com/

A note about the Ward 2 and Ward 3 Alderman races

I am not taking a position on these contests.  I know all four of the candidates pretty well, and I think highly of all of them.  I believe that all of them would do a good job representing their Wards.   I will be pleased to work closely with whoever wins these two races.   

Jesse Clingan, Ward 4 Alderman

If you live in Ward 4, I urge you to vote for Jesse Clingan. Jesse has already made significant contributions to the community. He’d do a great job representing Ward 4 residents. I first met Jesse when he was organizing community events and meetings for Somerville Overcoming Addiction, a grassroots organization which has raised public awareness about the epidemic of opioid abuse and other drug addiction.  He’s pushed City government for more progressive policies on handling addiction, with great success.

What has especially impressed me about Jesse’s leadership is his humility.  He did most of his leading from behind, and seems uninterested in being in the limelight. He is a family man and has been very involved in youth sports.

Jesse is an independent voice; he would be beholden to only the residents of Ward 4.  He shares my progressive values and commitment to more affordable housing.  He understands personally how important that is, having been forced to move out of the City himself at one point.  Ward 4 has a lot of problems, and desperately needs good leadership to bring people together to tackle them.  I believe Jesse will be able to do that.  For more info about Jesse, go to http://www.jesseclingan.org/

Emily Ackman, Ward 1 School Committee

If you live in Ward 1, I urge you to vote for Emily Ackman.  It is hard to imagine a more impressive or qualified candidate for School Committee than Emily.  She is the mother of two young children, has been a teacher, has worked as a researcher for the Massachusetts Dept. of Education, and has a Ph. D. in education policy.  She is a homeowner and a Board Member of East Somerville Main Streets.  All in all, she has over a decade of experience in public education, and she also attended public school in Cambridge from kindergarten through high school.  She understands the role of the School Committee (i.e., it is not to run programs or volunteer in a school but is a policy-making board position working closely with the Superintendent of Schools).  Since over half of the Somerville City budget goes to fund our public schools, and since our children are the future, we all have an interest in a strong School Committee, whether we have kids or not.   http://emilyackman.com/#!/home

Dan Futrell, Ward 2 School Committee

If you live in Ward 2, I encourage you to vote to re-elect Dan Futrell who has represented Ward 2 on the School Committee for four years.  Dan has been focused on balancing social and emotional learning with the traditional requirements of academic instruction.  He has a remarkable life story which I encourage you to read on his website.  He started life as a foster child, got help from teachers, friends, and coaches, went to college on an ROTC scholarship, served as a US Army Infantry officer in Iraq, and got a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard.  He is the Board Chair of the Community Action Agency of Somerville, which runs the Head Start program and works to lift families out of poverty.  If re-elected, Dan will continue to focus our schools on helping every child realize their full potential.  For more information, see http://www.danfutrell.com/about.

Joe Curtatone, Mayor

I am supporting Joe Curtatone for Mayor and will vote for him because he is the only viable candidate.  Being the Mayor of a City like Somerville is a tough job.  Running a City with a budget of over $230 million and hundreds of employees is not something I want to entrust to someone without experience, maturity and judgment.

Somerville’s strong Mayor form of government is enshrined in the City Charter, which can only be changed through a home rule petition to the State Legislature that the Mayor himself must sign.  That makes it difficult to limit the power of the Mayor.  Because of the strong Mayor form of government in Somerville, the executive branch has most of the power in our City.   

We are at a key point in the history of our City, when decisions made now will shape what our City looks like and feels like – and who will be able to live here – for decades, perhaps generations to come.  The City is being remade by real estate development and changes that technology and a new urbanism are bringing.  Many of these are positive changes, but some are not.  It is up to our elected leaders to support the positive changes and fight the negative ones, and be clear about which are which.  We must honor our past and our traditions while supporting innovation that makes our residents’ lives better. 

Because the position of Mayor is so important, I am going to share with you my assessment of Joe Curtatone’s tenure as our Mayor.  Despite the many important things his Administration has accomplished and the leadership he has provided, I have mixed feelings about the performance of our Mayor of 14 years.  Below, you can read some of the great things I think he has done and the reasons I support him.  Further below, you can read about some of his policies and actions that I find deeply troubling and not in the City’s best interests.

Despite these disagreements and disappointments, I will be voting for Joe Curtatone for Mayor.  He has made a significant positive difference for Somerville as an elected leader here for more than 20 years.  But Somerville faces a new set of problems now, due to development and gentrification, and these problems require a different approach from our Mayor.  I have seen Joe Curtatone grow and change for the better in his time in public office.  I write this assessment in the hope that over the next two years he continues to grow and change for the better. 

Mayor Curtatone has been the longest-serving Mayor in Somerville’s history, and he has helped transform Somerville to a happening place where huge numbers of people want to live, work, play and hang out.  He is intelligent and knowledgeable, a family man with four kids, and after 14 years, still engaged on a day-to-day basis with what’s going on in the City. He works hard. 

 He and his Administration have many outstanding accomplishments:

• Provided strong leadership and support for the Somerville Public Schools.  He has perhaps been, along with former Superintendent Tony Pierantozzi, the most important person in taking our schools from between bad and mediocre 15 years ago to one of the top urban school districts in the nation today.
• Provided excellent financial stewardship for the City, navigating us through the worst recession of the past 100 years with relatively few cuts and less pain than most surrounding communities.  In doing so, he had to do some deeply unpopular things.
• Created a culture of hard work and innovation in our City government, and made many superb hires of talented professionals who have transformed the way the City operates.
• Lead the way in the successful development of Assembly Square, and is making progress on the redevelopment of Union Square as Somerville’s central business district -- two long-term goals that no other Mayor has accomplished.
• Provided visionary leadership on climate change and environmental issues and set an ambitious goal for Somerville to be carbon neutral by 2050.
• Provided courageous and upstanding leadership in support of immigrants’ rights, even when, as recently as 5-10 years ago, this was politically unpopular in Somerville.
• Spoken out against racism and hung the Black Lives Matter banner over City Hall, which garnered much support but also deeply angered many people in Somerville.
• Provided effective City services and been responsive to constituents’ needs, with the innovative 311 program, effective public works, and the best snow removal in the region.
• Improved the Somerville Police Department by pushing for more community policing and taking the Chief’s position out of civil service, and then appointing a progressive and capable Chief in David Fallon. 
• Supported music and the arts, and promoted the eclectic, offbeat, funky vibe that so many people love about Somerville.
• There are many other accomplishments of the Curtatone Administration; too many to write up here.

Nonetheless, I strongly disagree with some of his policies on the most important and challenging issues we face. I am deeply concerned about the direction in which Mayor Curtatone is leading our City.  I have expressed these concerns frequently in public, and I discuss them with the Mayor in our one-on-one meetings every six weeks or so.  Here are the key areas where I am hoping the Mayor will do better in his next term:

• Affordable Housing – After many years in which the Mayor and most Aldermen did not see this as a major issue, we saw a change after a bunch of progressive candidates won Aldermen’s seats in 2013.  Now the Mayor clearly gets it and has proposed some bold steps to develop a lot more affordable housing.  This can only be done by raising enough money to take large numbers of housing units out of the private market and making them permanently affordable.  He talks about “not losing our soul.”  But he hasn’t done nearly enough to fight the powerful tide of gentrification that may be changing Somerville forever, turning it from the diverse, mixed-income community we love into one in which only wealthy people can afford to live.  I have been pushing the Mayor to do more and faster, and to hire more staff to work on affordable housing issues. But he hasn’t done it, yet.   The City’s Housing Department is too understaffed to accomplish a lot quickly.  While the Mayor talks a good game, from his Administration’s actions, one would not know that we are in a crisis, an affordable housing emergency, which if not addressed will change the very nature and feel of Somerville.

• Real estate development -- The Mayor, in my opinion, has been too quick to protect the interests of developers - especially big developers  in the City.  We see this not only in decisions made directly by the Administration, but in decisions made by critical City bodies such as the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) and the Planning Board, whose staff work is done by members of his Administration.  The Mayor appoints the members of these bodies, subject to approval by the BOA.  The BOA, and I, share some of the blame – we have made mistakes by approving some appointments.  But the Mayor has been unwilling to subject his appointees to re-confirmation by the BOA when their terms expire.  Unfortunately, this is permitted by state law.  So the people who serve on these key Boards and make critical decisions about development in our neighborhoods are not accountable to anyone except the Mayor.  The SRA and the Planning Board have made some terrible decisions that advance the interests of developers at the expense of Somerville residents.

The Mayor seems to have, in particular, a bias in favor of large, powerful developers such as Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT, Assembly Square) and Union Square Station Associates (US2, Union Square).  There is a consistent pattern of this Administration providing favorable treatment and unreasonably good terms at residents’ and taxpayers’ expense to major developers.  Some examples are the Master Land Disposition Agreement negotiated with US2 by the Administration and approved by the SRA; the Development Covenant for Union Square negotiated between the Mayor and US2; and the affordable housing waiver agreement for the 500-unit development on Block 8 in Assembly Square that allowed FRIT to provide less than the 20% of affordable housing that is now required for large apartment buildings.  This was negotiated by the Administration with FRIT and approved by the Planning Board.  Put simply, the Mayor and his Administration have not gotten the best deals for the City in negotiations with these developers; in fact, these developers have eaten our lunch.

While nobody can document a cause-effect relationship, Mayor Curtatone gets large campaign contributions from developers, their family members and their hired agents -- lawyers, architects, engineers, etc.  These have amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars during his 14 years in office.  This is all perfectly legal, unfortunately.  But in my opinion, it is unethical – especially now, when development is our #1 issue.  A reasonable person would wonder if large sums in campaign contributions from developers would influence an elected official’s actions towards those developers.  Perhaps not consciously…but it is human to act favorably towards those who help us out.  And, as the saying goes, “Money is the mother’s milk of politics.”  I do not take campaign contributions from for-profit developers, their family members or their agents.  And I don’t think the Mayor or other Aldermen should either.

• Poor treatment of and bad relationships with unions.  The City unions, especially the Somerville Municipal Employees Association (SMEA), which represents the largest number of non-school City workers, have complained publicly and bitterly about the way the Curtatone Administration has treated them.  (The School Committee negotiates with the Somerville Teachers Association and the other school unions, largely without rancor.)   The Mayor has alienated many unionized City employees by not negotiating in good faith (for example, trying to get rid of the Evergreen Clause, which is standard in municipal employee contracts throughout Massachusetts) and by taking extremely tough positions in negotiations. While non-union employees have received generous (and well-deserved) raises in recent years, City unions have been fighting unsuccessfully for the salary increases they too deserve.  In addition, the Mayor has not established a climate in which developers are expected to use union labor for large developments in Somerville, as have neighboring cities like Boston and Cambridge.  Union labor ensures decent wages, benefits and working conditions for the workers.  The Mayor has not spoken out about bad labor practices in the building trades, well-documented by the Carpenters Union, by contractors working for FRIT in Assembly Square. From his Administration’s actions, many people have concluded that this Administration does not really care about working people.  It looks like the Mayor has played hardball with unions, but softball with developers.  It should be the other way around.

• An apparent lack of concern for the many senior citizen homeowners in Somerville who are house rich and cash poor.  Many of these folks live on fixed incomes and are having trouble keeping up with rising taxes and fees, but they now live in million dollar homes.  It is heartbreaking to hear so many of them talk in public about their fear of being forced to sell their homes and move out of the City.  There are state tax deferment and exemption programs that could help some, as could some financial counseling, but the Administration has done little to reach out to our seniors to help them navigate the financial squeeze they find themselves in.  This should be a priority, since these are the people who lived here through bad times and good.

• Nepotism, patronage and personnel issues – While rewarding your friends with City jobs and punishing your enemies is typical of big city mayors and has certainly been done by past Mayors, that does not make it OK.  The Mayor has rewarded three former Aldermen and many other supporters with jobs, sometimes high-paying jobs for which they were not clearly qualified.  (Under the leadership of Ward 4 Alderman Tony Lafuente, the BOA passed an anti-nepotism ordinance in 2014 to stop the practice of Aldermen getting City jobs soon after leaving their elected position.)  The Curtatone Administration has also manipulated civil service rules to advance the job prospects of favored applicants for the Fire and Police Department.  It has treated some employees unreasonably favorably, and others shockingly harshly, apparently for personal reasons.

If you’ve read this far, to the end, thank you!  If you want to share your thoughts, or ask me more about mine, please give me a call at (617) 629-8033 or talk to me when you see me around.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Left: 519 Broadway: 55-unit, 5-story mixed-use development, Right: Rats

In this edition

• City-wide issues coming up
• More real estate development in Ward 5, including a 55-unit, 5-story, mixed-use development proposed for Broadway at Magoun Square
• Major roadway and street work to continue.
• Rats!
• Good news on the Green Line Extension (GLX) project
• Fall Ward 5 ResiStat meeting Oct 18th

City-wide issues coming up

There are a few big, citywide issues that I’ve been dealing with this summer and fall:

• The Administration has yet to formally present to the Board of Aldermen (BOA) its proposed citywide zoning overhaul, but a draft is available on the City website, and there were a number of informal community meetings about it over the summer. I expect this will be a major focus for the BOA in the first half of 2018. I am anxious to get something done to protect our neighborhoods and enable more commercial development, but we’ve got to get this right.
• Mayor Curtatone just proposed this week a $145 million sewer and streetscape infrastructure program with most of the work in the Union Square area. He is also asking the BOA to approve a $63 million “DIF” (District Improvement Financing) plan that would allow the City to bond (borrow) on more favorable terms to pay for the work. The Mayor has asked the BOA to approve this before the end of the year because a $13 million state grant is contingent upon the City committing to the sewer work. We will spend many hours examining these proposals and will have scores of questions.
• The Administration’s proposed Community Benefits Ordinance, which is important for the redevelopment of Union Square, and for neighborhoods around other coming GLX stations, has received intensive scrutiny and discussion in the Legislative Matters Committee. There are still many major and complicated issues to be resolved. The next meeting about this is November 2nd.
• The master developer for the seven “D” (development) blocs in Union Square, US2, has applied to the Planning Board for a Coordinated Development Special Permit that, if granted, would enable them to move on to planning the individual D blocs. The public process on this has yet to begin; there will be a Public Hearing before the Planning Board. US2 hopes to begin development next year with the D-2 bloc, the rubble-strewn lot adjacent to the coming Green Line station. The zoning the BOA passed in June would allow them to build a large commercial office or lab building and a 27 story residential tower there.

More real estate development in Ward 5, including a 55-apartment, 5-story, mixed-use development proposed for 519 Broadway [link to map] at Magoun Square

As we all know, extensive real estate development in Ward 5 and throughout the City continues.  As a homeowner, I receive letters almost every week from developers offering to buy my house immediately and pay cash with no contingencies.  This is why I have been pushing for a 1% real estate transfer fee with the proceeds to go into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.  Investors, absentee landlords and those of us lucky enough to own homes are reaping huge windfalls simply because we had the good fortune to buy a house in Somerville.  Meanwhile, even middle-class people and especially families can’t afford to buy anything anymore in Somerville, and increasingly can’t even afford to rent here.  When properties are sold and the owners cash out, they should be required to share a tiny portion of this windfall with the community.

•  Work continues on 290 Highland Avenue (corner of Highland and Cedar, 7 units and a storefront) as that project nears completion. 
• 231 Lowell Street (at Woodbine, stretching back several hundred feet on Woodbine, 2 storefronts and 19 units) is moving along quickly now after the property sat vacant for three years. 
• The developer of the Lucky Mart at the corner of Elm and Mossland/Cedar Streets applied for and received an extension of their special permit to redevelop the storefront and add an apartment on top. 
• There are a number of mostly small projects that I have heard about in the pipeline, including the proposed demolition of two small buildings at 249 & 251 Highland Avenue (across from Porter Street) and construction of a 6-unit apartment building with three storefronts.

The biggest development news in Ward 5 is the proposed 55-apartment, 5-story, mixed-use development at 519 Broadway (Somerville)/87 Medford Street (Medford). There will be a community meeting at the site this Tuesday, October 17, 6:30 PM, 519 Broadway, in the Office Liquidators store.  The developer, Charlie Zammuto, will present the plans & address questions and concerns.  I have a copy of the plans, if you would like to see them email me and I will send them to you.

Only a tiny portion of this development is in Somerville, most is in Medford, set back from Broadway along Medford St.  So it is unlikely that the Somerville Zoning Board of Appeals will have much say over the project. The Medford Board of Appeals (zoning board) will be making the decisions about this project, possibly at their October 24th meeting.

Concerns so far in Somerville have focused on traffic impacts in the Magoun Square neighborhood.  I don’t see parking as a likely concern.  There are 91 parking spaces in the plans (more than enough in my opinion and that of Somerville Planning Director George Proakis) and it is highly unlikely that residents of the building will be able to get stickers or guest passes to park in Somerville. I would certainly fight against that with everything I could muster, if necessary.

I am waiting to take a position on this project until the meeting is held and we can hear from the neighbors and the community. At the Medford Zoning Board meeting on September 26, Joe Lynch, a few other Magoun Square residents, and I asked for more time to consider the plans and express our views. They granted that. Their next meeting is October 24^th at 7 PM at Medford City Hall.  I plan to attend to express concerns that Somerville residents have. If you have objections you can express them there, at the community meeting on October 17^th, let me know, and/or email the Medford Board of Appeals c/o their clerk, Denis MacDougall, [email protected]

Major roadway and street work to continue

The (Lower) Cedar Street sewer infrastructure work continues.  The City’s contractor, P. Gioioso & Sons, finally got through the intersection of Summer and Cedar streets, and is now moving up Cedar Street towards Highland Avenue.  There will also be some work done on Hall Street and Cedar Avenue.  With the Summer/Cedar intersection now open all the time, the project will be less disruptive, except of course to the residents who live between or near the affected stretch of Cedar St.  The goal is to complete the deep sewer work this fall and then redo the surface of the street and the sidewalks next year.  This is part of a three-year, $7 million project due to be completed about a year from now.  The goal is to separate the sewer and storm-drain systems, and enlarge and improve the 100+-year-old sewer pipes.  This project should end the terrible flooding that occurs after every hard rain in the Cedar St/Hall St/Cedar Ave bowl. 

The (Upper) Cedar Street (Broadway to Highland Ave) Roadway Improvements meeting on September 18^th was attended by about 60 people.  The plans were well received, and some excellent recommendations were made by the community.  Roadway improvements, including traffic calming measures (chicanes, bumpouts, a new crosswalk), and road resurfacing, are planned for Cedar St. between Highland and Broadway. If you would like to see the presentation, you can go to https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/programs/pavement-and-sidewalk-management-program.  Director of Engineering Rich Raiche said that he was pushing for the project to be at least halfway completed this fall, but at this point, it is looking increasingly likely that this important project will be put off once again and will not begin until the summer of 2018.

The Murdock Street Infrastructure and Streetscape Improvements workshop held on September 26^th was attended by about 30 residents of “the Patch” as the neighborhood comprising Murdock, Clyde, Warwick and that stretch of Cedar Street is called.  The workshop focused on streetscape design, sidewalks, parking, and other infrastructure issues on Murdock Street.  Director of Engineering Rich Raiche, Senior Transportation Planner Mike Tremblay and the City’s engineering consultants on the project, Howard Stein Hudson, presented five options for improving Murdock Street infrastructure.  Neighbors had many opinions and much good feedback on the options.  If you would like to see the presentation, you can go to https://www.somervillema.gov/murdockstreet.  Two of the options seemed the most favored and viable, and the consultants will be making some modifications based on the feedback.  Another neighborhood meeting is tentatively scheduled for sometime in January.

Lowell Street sidewalk and roadway improvements and paving are happening!  D&R Paving, the City’s paving contractor, is redoing sidewalks and will repave the roadway on the entire length of Lowell Street.  Work began over the summer at Somerville Avenue and they are now at Highland Avenue.  A second crew has begun up in Magoun Square and is working south.  The sidewalk work north of Highland will likely go into November and the whole street will be paved once that work is complete.  The work includes the addition of bump-outs at Wilton Street, further development of the chicanes that are already painted on Lowell St., and some paint work on the street at Alpine. The first focus will be bringing the sidewalks into ADA compliance, as best possible.  Once the sidewalks are complete towards late fall, D&R will repave the road, which will require road closure for a few days.  If you have questions or for more information, contact Rich Raiche, Director of Engineering, [email protected],617-625-6600 x5410.

Rats!

In 2013, rats were probably the #1 issue in Somerville. Since then, the City and all of us, residents and business owners, have taken many serious and positive steps which seemed to be controlling the problem in most parts of the City, and certainly in most of Ward 5.  Unfortunately, recently there’s been an upsurge in rat activity all over Ward 5, especially around Magoun Square.  There has been much speculation as to why: a lot of construction activity and digging in the ground that disrupts their homes; a few warm winters; more restaurants who don’t take good care of their garbage; a lower level of vigilance by residents and businesses; less emphasis and attention on the rat problem by City government; the rats are getting smarter and the big ones don’t eat the poison anymore, etc. 

The important thing is that the City and all of us need to redouble our efforts to make sure that garbage is secure. Without food sources, rats can’t survive.  You can do your share by speaking with any neighbors or restaurant operators who do not secure their garbage well or RAT THEM OUT: call 311 (617-666-3311 from your cell phone) or email [email protected] and report them.  I don’t think anyone should have any reluctance to report properties who don’t secure their garbage, either when it is in their yard or alley or on the street. This is a public nuisance and a public health issue, and folks who don’t obey the law should be ticketed. Also, if you see a rat, report it to 311.  It is important for Inspectional Services to have good data to understand the extent and location of the problem.

On the policy level, I have asked that a meeting of the BOA Rodent Issues Committee be held soon to discuss in public with the Administration what steps they will take to step up the City’s fight against the rats.  There have been a number of innovative ideas for dealing with the rats such as the Senestech sterilization program which was piloted in Somerville, use of birds of prey (hawks, falcons, etc.), and others that have not yet been implemented in Somerville.

Good news on the Green Line Extension (GLX) project

The MBTA’s Green Line Extension (GLX) project announced that on September 28, three Design Build teams submitted proposals: GLX Constructors, Green Line Partners, and Walsh Barletta Granite, JV - each a collaboration of highly qualified design, engineering, and construction groups.

The GLX Program Management Team is reviewing the proposals, and is now slated to issue a Notice-to-Proceed to the selected Design Build team on December 11, 2017, nearly two months ahead of the original schedule.  The change is expected to allow the selected contractor to take full advantage of the 2018 construction season.  In the meantime, construction activities continue on track & signal work near the future College Avenue Station in Medford & the Red Bridge junction in Somerville & Cambridge. These activities will support a smooth hand-off to the selected Design Build contractor & continue a 7-day a week schedule, including weekend overnight work.

Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation Green Line Extension (GLX) Public Meeting, Monday, October 23, 6:30-8 PM, Somerville High School Auditorium, 81 Highland Avenue.  The purpose of the meeting is to provide the community with a general update on the GLX project and ongoing early works construction in Somerville.

Ward 5 Fall ResiStat meeting

Please join me, Mayor Curtatone, City staff & Ward 5 neighbors at the Ward 5 ResiStat meeting Weds, Oct.18 at the Kennedy School, 5 Cherry St. Come for pizza & schmoozing with City officials at 6; the meeting starts 6:30. Get the latest City news on roadway work in Ward 5, proposed changes to zoning, development, and neighborhood updates. Ask questions & share your concerns (rats, trees, parking, excessive development, affordable housing, whatever is bothering you) in the social half hour, or ask questions during the presentations.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this edition:

• (Upper) Cedar Street (Broadway to Highland Ave) Roadway Improvements meeting Monday, September 18, 6:30 PM at Visiting Nurse Assoc, 259 Lowell St
• Murdock Street Infrastructure and Streetscape Improvements workshop Tuesday, September 26, 6:30 PM also at Visiting Nurse Assoc, 259 Lowell St
• Lowell Street improvements and paving
• (Lower) Cedar Street sewer separation infrastructure work continues; Cedar & Summer intersection to remain closed daytimes (except Sundays) until September 27th; avoid Cherry Street

Cedar St

(Upper) Cedar Street (Broadway to Highland Ave) Roadway Improvements meeting Monday, September 18, 6:30 PM at Visiting Nurse Assoc, 259 Lowell St

 Roadway improvements, including traffic calming measures (chicanes, bumpouts, a new crosswalk), and road resurfacing, are planned for Cedar St. between Highland and Broadway this fall. To update the community on the upcoming work, the City Engineering team will present the plan and schedule, and will discuss construction impacts and mitigation and answer your questions. This project was originally scheduled for 2015; a previous community meeting was held on May 18, 2015. The plans are essentially the same as what was presented then, just delayed. Some parking will be shifted, but no net loss of parking spots. Questions or for more information, contact: Rich Raiche, Director of Engineering, [email protected], 617-625-6600 x5410, or me.

If you can’t make the meeting or would like to see the plans beforehand, I can send them to you, just email me. Please share this information with anyone who you think may be interested.

Murdock St

Murdock Street Infrastructure and Streetscape Improvements workshop Tuesday, September 26, 6:30 PM also at Visiting Nurse Assoc, 259 Lowell St

This workshop may also be of interest to residents of Warwick and Clyde Streets. This is a follow-up meeting to the one held in late February.

This workshop will focus on streetscape design, sidewalks, parking, and other infrastructure issues on Murdock Street. Rich Raiche, the Engineering Director, and Brad Rawson, the Director of Transportation and Infrastructure, will present three options that they have worked up with the assistance of engineering consultants hired by the City. I have not been briefed or seen any documents, but I have been told that the three options they will present are:

• Conversion to a one-way
• Maintain the two-way with reduced parking
• Establish an open concept/shared street with reduced parking.

   

The purpose of the meeting is to hear the City’s presentation, ask questions and give your feedback to City staff, in a full discussion.

We are inviting Clyde, Warwick and nearby Cedar Street residents as well, since changes on Murdock, especially if it were to become a one-way street, would affect the entire "Patch" neighborhood.

I will be distributing a flyer about the Murdock Street meeting, but please share this notice with any neighbors who you think might be interested.

Lowell Street improvements and paving

In the next few months, D&R Paving, the City’s paving contractor, will be redoing sidewalks and repaving the roadway on the entire length of Lowell Street, from Somerville Ave up to Medford Street in Magoun Square. Work began over the summer on the sidewalks south of Highland Avenue. (Lowell Street was included in the city’s 2015 contract with D&R, but the paving was deferred due to gas main work.)

The work includes the addition of bump-outs at Wilton Street, further development of the chicanes that are already painted on Lowell St. and some paint work on the street at Alpine. The focus will first be bringing the sidewalks into ADA compliance as best possible. The sidewalk work will require parking restrictions, but to the extent practical, the road will remain open to traffic. Once the sidewalks are complete towards late fall, D&R will repave the road, which will require road closure for a few days.

D&R’s current estimate is that they will cross Highland in late September/early October with the sidewalk work. The sidewalk work north of Highland will likely go into November and the whole street will be paved once that work is complete. If you have questions or for more information, contact Rich Raiche, Director of Engineering, [email protected], 617-625-6600 x5410, or me.

Intersection of Cedar and Summer Streets

(Lower) Cedar Street sewer infrastructure work continues; Cedar & Summer intersection to remain closed daytimes (except Sundays) until September 27th; avoid Cherry Street

This is part of a three-year, $7 million project due to be completed about a year from now. The goal is to separate the sewer and storm-drain systems, and enlarge and improve the 100+-year-old sewer pipes. This project should end the terrible flooding that occurs after every hard rain in the Cedar St/Hall St/Cedar Ave bowl.

The City’s contractor, P. Gioioso & Sons, is currently working at the intersection of Summer and Cedar streets, which is closed to all traffic while they are working. In order to expedite the extremely disruptive work in this busy intersection – and since schools are back in session and the Kennedy School is close by -- the City has negotiated with Gioioso to operate on extended hours, including Saturdays, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. In an email, the City Communications Dept wrote, “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, however, please know that by allowing this work to continue with extended hours, Gioioso expects to complete the necessary work sooner, and move onto the next phase.

The extra work hours will shorten the schedule, and will also increase efficiency as a considerable amount of effort every day goes into securing the excavation at night to open the road to traffic, and then removing those protections in the morning. Work will likely continue within the intersection of Summer and Cedar Streets until September 27th. Once they are done there, the work will continue up Cedar Street between Summer St and Highland Ave.

This challenging phase of the sewer separation project has necessitated the closure of both Cedar Street south of Highland Avenue and Summer Street between Porter and Cherry Streets. The Engineering Dept, working with the Somerville Police Dept, has made some tweaks to the traffic management plan, and with the help of police details, are managing the traffic impacts as best as they can. But this is certainly causing delays, and the detours are bringing additional traffic onto Porter and Cherry Streets, which are already burdened with too much traffic. In an email sent out today, the City Communications Dept wrote, “…Due to severe traffic congestion on Cherry Street, we strongly advise seeking alternative routes to and from Elm Street during construction.” The Director of Engineering wrote today, “…Anything anyone can do to encourage drivers, particularly those heading to the Kennedy School, to avoid Cherry Street would be appreciated.”

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

231 Lowell St, corner of Woodbine; will hold 22 units & two commercial spaces

In this edition:

• Ward 5 developments: street & infrastructure work; parks; real estate development projects
• FY 2018 budget: Mayor’s presentation tonight; Public Hearing June 21, 6 PM
• Why I voted for Union Square zoning

Ward 5 developments: street & infrastructure work; parks; real estate development projects

Email or call me if you want more details or have concerns about these major Ward 5 projects.

Cedar Street sewer & water improvement project

For several years, this project has been chewing up & at times, closing off “lower” Cedar St. It will be mostly completed in 2017, but there may be repaving, sidewalk work & work on Hall St & Cedar Ave in 2018. It should alleviate the terrible flooding problem in the Cedar St/Hall St/Cedar Ave bowl. Sewer & water pipes are being replaced from Elm St to Highland Ave, at a cost of roughly $7 million. For the next couple of months, the contractor will be doing occasional blasting to break up bedrock and excavate under the street, so the sewer & water pipes can be installed. The first dynamite blasts occurred last week. The City Engineering Dept. seems to be doing a good job of working with the contractor & communicating with the neighbors.

Cedar Street road improvement and paving project

On “upper” Cedar Street, from Highland Ave to Broadway, the roadway will be reconstructed to calm traffic & make it safer. “Bump outs” will be installed at Clyde, Murdock, & Morrison, & there will be “chicanes” on much of the roadway, with some of the parking moved to the other side of the street, but no net loss of parking. If you’re not familiar with chicanes, take a ride on Lowell Street between Highland Ave & Magoun Square or down Columbia Street in Cambridge. Chicanes are surprisingly effective in calming traffic by shifting the roadway back & forth & alternating parking from side to side. This project was scheduled to happen 2 years ago, but was delayed due to turnover in the City Engineering Dept. It now appears to be on track for this fall. I am meeting with the Director of Engineering to discuss the project this week & have requested his attendance at a community meeting in September to inform neighbors about the plan & construction impacts. If you want to see the design and plans for the new roadway, email me.

Murdock Street improvements

I’ve been working with Murdock Street residents to improve that street, which lacks most basic infrastructure that we take for granted in Somerville -- sidewalks, storm drains, & trees. We held a productive meeting in late January with the Directors of Transportation & Infrastructure, Engineering, & Capital Projects. The City has hired an engineering consulting firm to do a number of studies & analyses regarding traffic, sewer lines, property lines, etc., so a plan can be developed to improve the street. City staff promised a follow-up meeting in the fall. I am also advocating for city action on some complicated parking & safety issues on Murdock Street. I will continue to push for these shorter-term improvements while the longer-term plans are developed.

Parks

• Hoyt-Sullivan Park on Central St near Vernon St is closed & undergoing reconstruction, to be completed this year. There were 3 community meetings & a lot of input, particularly from parents, culminating in a new design that Arn Franzen, City Director of Parks, worked with a landscape architecture firm to develop. There seems to be broad satisfaction & enthusiasm about the new design.
• Henry Hanson Park on Medford Street in Magoun Square. Bryan Bishop, the Veterans Services Director, secured a grant from the Community Preservation Committee to develop a new design for this little pocket park. It may be redeveloped in coming years if the City can secure funds.

231 Lowell Street, corner of Woodbine

See photo above. This 19-unit development with 2 commercial spaces on the first floor near the corner received its permit two years ago. The original developer finally sold it & a new developer demolished the old warehouse in May. The site is now being prepared for building. There will be 3 affordable units there.

290 Highland Ave, corner of Cedar St

This 7-unit development, 1 of them affordable, will also have a corner commercial space. It should be finished by the fall.

Other real estate development projects

The Lucky Market on Elm and Mossland got its permit extended this spring, so is likely to get started soon. A new façade is being put on the old Piro Printing building at 483 Medford St in Magoun Square, improving that eyesore. The 22-unit Murdock/Cedar Street development was approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) in February; construction should begin before the end of the year. The application to add 7 units above the garage at 11-15 Alpine Street has generated significant neighborhood discussion & disagreement. A 3rd neighborhood meeting last Monday had inconclusive results. I imagine that the developer will be submitting a final plan & going before the ZBA sometime in June or July, but it’s not clear to me what will be in this plan.

FY 2018 budget: Mayor’s presentation tonight; Public Hearing Weds, June 21, 6 PM

If you are interested in what our City government does with your money, in City programs, & in the Administration’s priorities, you may find the Mayor's budget presentation tonight interesting -- Monday June 12th, starting around 6:30 or 7 PM in the Aldermen's Chambers in City Hall. The presentation will also be posted on the City website on Tuesday. A budget presentation sounds boring & dry, but it's not. It's a big-picture view of City priorities. The Mayor’s PowerPoint has a lot of pictures & graphics & it’s a good, quick way to understand the proposed $233 million City budget (4.79% increase over last year) for FY 2018. You can find the budget on the City's website here: http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/fy18-budget-proposed.pdf

The Board of Aldermen (BOA) will hold budget meetings on all the weeknights during the next two weeks to discuss the budget, with department heads presenting their budgets & answering our questions. There will be a Public Hearing on Wed., June 21st at 6 PM in the Aldermen’s Chambers in City Hall. Whether your concerns are directly related to the FY 2018 budget or not, this is an excellent opportunity to share your thoughts with City leaders & decision makers. After the Public Hearing, the BOA will make cuts (unfortunately, by law, the BOA cannot add anything into the budget, only make cuts) & then vote a final FY 2018 budget at our regular meeting on Thursday, June 22nd.

Aldermen can affect the spending side of the budget indirectly, by passing resolutions and by advocating with the Mayor & his staff for more spending on specific programs. I have spoken out for more spending on job training & workforce development, & to hire staff to advise senior citizen homeowners on fixed incomes who are having trouble keeping up with rising taxes & fees, despite the tremendous increase in the value of their homes, & despite opportunities for tax abatements and deferrals.

Above: D-2 block next to coming GLX station, Union Square

Why I voted for Union Square zoning

The Board of Aldermen (BOA) voted 9-1 for new zoning for the heart of Union Square – a new Union Square Overlay District -- a little past midnight on Thursday night, June 8th. I voted yes without enthusiasm, & only because of huge changes that the BOA made to fix the Administration's original proposal. We also forced the Mayor to re-negotiate -- three times! -- the Development Covenant he had signed with the Union Square master developer, Union Square Station Associates (US2).

I'm not happy with the Administration's overall handling of the Union Square redevelopment process, or with the two key agreements that, along with the new zoning, will shape the future of Union Square -- the Development Covenant and the Master Land Disposition Agreement. Unfortunately, the BOA is not a party to either of those agreements, & although many of us spoke out against them, we had limited power to change them. But the BOA salvaged what we could & passed zoning that will permit development that will greatly enhance Union Square & enormously benefit the City. It's far, far from perfect but it is a lot better than delaying development further & leaving the old zoning in place.

I agree with many that the Union Square community has not had the influence that it should in shaping the redevelopment plans. Because of that, many Union Square activists & some organizations urged the BOA to delay passing new zoning until we could further improve the zoning, or until a community benefits agreement could be negotiated between US2 and the Union Square Neighborhood Council (USNC), or both.

The BOA had to weigh the potential costs of further delay vs. the potential benefits of acting now to pass zoning with some key issues like community benefits unresolved. Had we not acted now, the delay would likely be at least six months, for a number of complicated reasons.

I’ve learned that political moments when big things are possible come and go, & are not easily recreated. Timing is critical in politics, baseball and life. Passing any legislation, especially important & complex legislation, is a slow, grinding and uncertain task. (Look at national health care; it’s complicated!) The best is often the enemy of the good; & we are elected, in my view, to get big things done. I voted for an imperfect solution rather than the uncertainties of delay until late November, at the earliest.

There are tremendous benefits for the City and Union Square residents from the new Union Square Overlay District zoning, even if it does not do everything that we wanted. It will enable high-density, transit-oriented, mixed-use development in the core of Union Square around the coming GLX station. It will create 180 units of affordable housing at no cost to the City -- including at least 30 & possibly as many as 90 3-BR affordable apartments. It will generate significant monetary payments, tax revenue & community benefits that we desperately need in Somerville.

Development has positives and negatives. In Somerville, we are suffering from & too familiar with many of the negatives of development, such as gentrification, rising rents, displacement of low- & middle-income residents, displacement of local businesses, more traffic & less parking, & a white-hot real estate market with a lot of speculation making it difficult for ordinary people to buy homes.

But there are also positives to development, especially commercial development: jobs, tax revenue and fees for the City treasury, affordable housing, open &green space, infrastructure improvements, & financial contributions from big developers. The funds that development generates are needed to pay for big, expensive capital projects like the new Somerville High School, the Green Line Extension, sewer & water infrastructure repairs & improvements, a new police & fire headquarters, & building improvements to our Public Libraries. Development will relieve some of the pressure to continue to increase taxes and fees.

Here are some of the benefits we should receive from Union Square redevelopment:

• An estimated 5,000 permanent new jobs
• 4,000 construction jobs, with hiring preference for Somerville residents and veterans
• 900 housing units, including 180 (20%) affordable, & between 30 & 90 3-BR affordable apartments
• 2.5 acres of new, high quality parks and plazas
• Ambitious requirements for sustainable building standards (LEED Silver and Gold)
• $5.5 million to offset costs of the Green Line Extension
• $6.6 million for Somerville's Affordable Housing Trust Fund
• $4.6 million to offset costs of water, sewer, & roadway infrastructure
• $3.7 million for a Community Benefits Fund
• $3.5 million in additional "future phase" contributions from the developer
• $2 million for workforce development & training
• 69,000 square feet of artist & creative economy uses
• $17 million in building permit fees paid to the City
• $4.1 million in payments tied to infiltration & inflow storm water impacts
• An estimated $450 million in new tax revenues from the development over 30-years.
• It’s critical for the City to use these funds & benefits to mitigate the negative impacts of development. We need development without displacement, & the City needs to make sure that residents & businesses who might get pushed out have opportunities to stay in Somerville, either through affordable housing, better-paying jobs, or support & aid from developers.

Without new zoning (with the pre-June 8th zoning in place) there would be little development in Union Square, or, even worse, only residential (no commercial) development. There would continue to be what we have now: displacement without development. There would continue to be a huge rubble-strewn lot in the middle of Union Square & underdeveloped properties. The development that the new Union Square zoning will bring will not end displacement, but it will provide substantial resources & funds to help mitigate it.

During the debate on Union Square zoning, I identified a dozen areas in the Administration’s proposal that I had serious concerns about. I wrote amendments to address those concerns. A half-dozen key pieces in the new proposed zoning were so bad and so important, that if any one of those was not fixed, I would have voted against the entire package. One-by-one, over the course of the last two weeks of discussion and debate, each of these concerns was addressed. While I wasn’t completely satisfied with the solutions, they were good enough. Once that happened, it was clear that the benefits of development far outweigh the negatives. The key areas in which I required, and got, improvements in the zoning were:

• The phasing of commercial and residential construction.
• The percentage of development that must be high-tax-value, good-job-creating commercial (upper story office, lab/R&D, and design professions)
• The amount of open and green space in the heart of Union Square.
• The rules that would allow some of the affordable housing to be built “off-site” – i.e. not in one of the two big residential towers in the center of Union Square (which will be between 24-28 stories), but in another part of Union Square, most likely the D-7 (Goodyear) block.
• The percentage of affordable three-bedroom apartments, since this is what is needed to keep families in Somerville.
• Environmental concerns such as the amount of green space, energy efficiency and roof requirements in new buildings, etc.

There were other concerns which could not be satisfied in new zoning, but which we will have other opportunities to fulfill in the future. For example, many community members advocated for indoor community space in the heart of Union Square on the D-1 block, which now houses Ricky’s and the Public Safety Building. Since most of that block is City property, the Board of Aldermen will be able to set terms & conditions upon its disposal & sale by the City. If I am on the BOA at that time, I will require that an ample amount of space be set aside for things like a community meeting space, a gym or fitness center such as the YMCA, public library space, media & TV space such as SCAT TV, & offices for local non-profit & community organizations.

The Mayor & Planning Director George Proakis worked closely with the BOA over the past month & were willing to revise their original zoning proposal. They deserve credit for listening & addressing our & the community's concerns.

I received hundreds of emails, many of them passionate and thoughtful, and I appreciate hearing from so many people who care about the future of Somerville and Union Square. I want to thank the many community members & organizations who put enormous amounts of time & effort into communicating their analyses, criticisms, concrete proposals & suggestions to us Aldermen. The information they conveyed to us was enormously helpful. Almost all of the amendments I proposed came directly from these community members. Without their substantial contributions, the result would have been either no new zoning or much worse zoning than we eventually crafted.

There is still a lot of work to do: next up for the BOA (after the FY 2018 budget), is the Community Benefits Ordinance that will create the framework for community benefits negotiations between the soon-to-be-formed Union Square Neighborhood Council & US2 and determine whether a board appointed by the Mayor or the Neighborhood Councils have the power in deciding on distribution of the $3.7 million that US2 will contribute over the next 20 years. The Mayor was wrong to take all of US2’s financial contributions for the Administration’s priorities, leaving (according to US2) no money for US2 to pay out in community benefits negotiations. But there will be other community benefits funds from other developers, especially in Boynton Yards, right next to Union Square, which is ripe for development. In addition, there are many non-monetary contributions that developers can make, such as low-cost office and retail space, job training, jobs for residents, & support and advice for local businesses.

I'm sure that many 'Villens who have been engaged in the contentious Union Square zoning debate will criticize my “Yes” vote. That is fine; I want to hear it all! Coming this fall is Round 2 of the Administration's proposal for a citywide zoning overhaul. The impact of the citywide zoning overhaul will touch every neighborhood in Somerville – and have a much bigger impact on Ward 5 neighborhoods & residents than the Union Square zoning. The citywide zoning overhaul is an opportunity to protect our neighborhoods from the excessive development that is going on all over Somerville. There are sure to be lessons from Union Square zoning debate that will inform our next big zoning debate.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Left:Somerville City Hall, Right: Assembly Row

Demonstrate for more affordable housing at City Hall, May 18, 5 PM

Next week will be busy in Somerville, with many meetings, events, important decisions, and a big demonstration for affordable housing. Here are the details on what’s happening and some thoughts about key policy issues so you can participate and be informed. I will be at all of these and I look forward to perhaps seeing you!

Informational Session & Public Hearing on Proposed FY18 Water and Sewer Rates --Monday, May 15, 6:30 pm, Somerville High School Cafeteria

Presentation followed by Public Hearing at 7 pm on water and sewer rates and fees. If you are upset about your water/sewer bill, this is your chance to speak out.

Ward 5 ResiStat meeting, Kennedy School cafeteria, 5 Cherry Street, Tues. May 16, schmoozing and pizza 6 pm, meeting starts 6:30 pm

At ResiStat meetings, the Mayor and other City officials share the latest City news, data, and neighborhood updates directly with residents and listen to your feedback. There’s a social half-hour before the meeting, an opportunity to talk one-on-one to the Mayor, me, and City Department heads and top police officials. Connect with your neighbors – and get free pizza and other food.

Board of Aldermen (BoA) Land Use Committee of the Whole deliberates on proposed Union Square zoning, Wed., May 17, City Hall, 6 pm

The Administration has proposed a Union Square Overlay District which would enable much more intensive development in Union Square than the current zoning allows. With the Green Line station coming to Union Square in 2021, the intent of the new zoning is to make Union Square a major commercial and employment center, as well as to enhance it as a vibrant, mixed-use area for residents, retail, and restaurants.

The BoA is in the midst of amending the Administration’s proposal. While overall it is a good proposal, and I am still studying it, there are some key provisions which I do not support. I have proposed a half-dozen major amendments (which I would be happy to share with you if you email me). I may advocate for other changes as well. On Wednesday, we will be considering some of the most important -- and controversial – parts of the proposed new zoning, including: the amount of open space; commercial vs. residential development amounts and phasing; and the location of the 20% of the residential units that must be affordable housing. While these deliberations may be mainly of interest to zoning geeks (like myself), the decisions the BOA makes will be critical to the future of Union Square and the financial well-being of the entire City.

Reject the Waiver: Rally for Affordable Housing, outside City Hall, Thursday May 18, 5 pm

If you can do anything this month to keep Somerville a diverse, mixed-income community, please attend the short demonstration in front of City Hall at 5 pm Thursday May 18th to advocate for more affordable housing in Somerville and to urge the Planning Board NOT to grant a waiver to Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT).

FRIT is a publicly-traded REIT (real estate investment trust, stock ticker FRT) worth about $9 billion. They do excellent mixed-use development and have built a bunch of places like Assembly Row that are popular and wildly successful. They are very good at making money for their stockholders; that is their mission. The Planning Board’s job is to represent the residents of Somerville, and to approve developments that fit the City’s zoning laws and that are good for the City.

FRIT is asking the Planning Board to allow them to provide only 12 1/2% affordable units (the amount required 10 years ago when they first submitted a master plan to develop Assembly Square) instead of the 20% affordable housing that is now required citywide. They are asking the Planning Board to approve a proposal to build on Block 8 in Assembly Square (right next to the Orange Line MBTA station) a 400-unit luxury apartment tower. If the Planning Board grants FRIT the waiver, Somerville will lose 37 units of affordable housing in that proposed building. This is a HUGE amount of affordable housing in our little City!!

The Planning Board is an independent board with five members appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Aldermen. Its next meeting is right after the rally at 6 pm on Thursday in City Hall. It is a public meeting – you are welcome to attend and hear the deliberation and their vote. It should be interesting! The previous meeting in which they discussed the Block 8 application on April 27th was dramatic and fascinating.

There are many compelling arguments that have been made as to why the Planning Board should not approve FRIT’s waiver request. Aldermen White, Sullivan, Rossetti, McLaughlin, Heuston, Davis, Ballantyne and myself, as well as hundreds of members of the public, have testified against the waiver in previous Planning Board meetings or written to the Planning Board in opposition. Opponents of the waiver have put together a superb website with background information at www.affordablesomerville.org I encourage you to read Ward 1 Alderman Matt McLaughlin’s excellent Somerville Journal article there.

If you can’t make it to the demonstration, and you want to show your support for more affordable housing in Somerville, you can send an email (to all three of these addresses at once, if you wish) to the Planning Board ([email protected]), the Board of Aldermen ([email protected]) and the Mayor ([email protected]) advocating for more affordable housing and that the Planning Board not grant FRIT the waiver.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Assembly Square

If you care about affordable housing, please write to the Somerville Planning Board at [email protected] or if you can, come to the Planning Board meeting tomorrow, Thursday, April 6, 6 PM at City Hall and tell the Planning Board NOT TO GRANT A WAIVER to Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT) for its proposed 500 unit apartment building on Block 8 in Assembly Square.

FRIT, the developer of Assembly Row, is seeking a waiver so that they only need to provide 12 1/2% affordable units rather than the 20% that is required everywhere else in Somerville for big projects. If FRIT gets the waiver, the City loses 37 affordable units in that building. This is a HUGE amount of affordable housing in Somerville!!

FRIT will present the project to the Planning Board and the public tomorrow and then there will be a public hearing where anyone can express their opinions about any aspect of the project. If you can't attend the meeting or don't want to speak, you can email the Planning Board at [email protected]. They will not be making a decision on the application until at least April 20th, so you can send your email anytime before then, but sooner is better.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

20 mph “safety zones” coming

2017: More big decisions & development; Union Square zoning

In this section:

• Speed limits in Somerville will drop to 20 mph in 80 “safety zones;” update on other traffic-calming initiatives
• Union Square zoning and the proposed Master Land Disposition Agreement (MLDA) between the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) and Union Square Station Associates (US2), the master developer for Union Square
• Still more real estate development projects in Ward 5

Speed limits in Somerville will drop to 20 mph in 80 “safety zones”; update on other traffic calming initiatives

In November 2016, the Traffic Commission voted to drop the speed limit on all streets (except state roads like McGrath Highway and parts of Broadway) to 25 mph. On February 16, the Traffic Commission reduced the speed limit to 20 mph in 80 designated safety zones of 300 feet each. In the next few months, signs should appear around parks, playgrounds, community gardens, senior centers, hospitals, places of worship, cemeteries, etc.

We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Denise Provost, our State Representative, who worked doggedly for a decade to get the State Legislature to allow cities and towns to reduce speed limits.

This is significant progress, and I congratulate and thank the Administration for moving forward with these changes. But while I am pleased, I, and many of my colleagues on the Board of Aldermen, am far from satisfied. There is still much more that the City can do to make our streets safer.

The City has the legal authority right now to make all City streets 20 mph, and I and several other Aldermen are advocating that the Administration do so.

The City’s Traffic Calming Petition Initiative Program has been a disappointment. Not a single one of more than 30 petitions submitted by residents over the past two years has even received a formal response, much less any action. The Administration released a report in December that explained that data collection and analysis have delayed responses. (Let me know if you’d like to see this report and I will send it to you.) It’s great that the City is using data to make decisions about traffic calming. But for residents to wait a year or two for a response to a petition asking for a speed bump on a little neighborhood street is unacceptable. I have spoken with the Mayor and many top City officials and expressed my displeasure about the delay. The Administration has only said that they will update the Board of Aldermen on the petition program in the early spring.

Unlike many cities and towns in our area, Somerville does not seem to believe in speed bumps. As far as I know, there are only two speed bumps in the entire City, one by Marshall St playground and one by Hodgkins-Curtin Park. (These are temporary speed bumps and have been taken up for the winter.) A speed bump on a small residential street seems to me to be the most cost-effective way to slow traffic and ensure resident safety. I believe Somerville should have hundreds of such speed bumps. I filed these three Board orders at the February 9 BOA meeting:

“That the Traffic Commission consider amending Article 14 of the City Traffic Regulations to provide a separate, expedited, timely and simplified means for residents and Aldermen to request, and for the Commission to approve, the placement of speed bumps on residential streets.”

“That the Director of Traffic and Parking purchase 70 temporary speed bumps to deploy, beginning in April or as soon as possible, on residential streets that have requested traffic calming measures.”

“That the Director of Traffic and Parking purchase 21 flashing speed monitoring sign boards to deploy on streets where residents are concerned about speeding.”

Unfortunately, under the City Charter, Aldermen may only cut the City budget and may not add any line items. So I have no power to force the Administration to purchase speed bumps.

I will continue to plug away on traffic calming to improve the safety of our streets. If you want a speed bump or more traffic calming measures in your neighborhood, I encourage you to write to the Mayor at [email protected].

Union Square zoning and the proposed Master Land Disposition Agreement (MLDA) between the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) and Union Square Station Associates (US2), the master developer for Union Square

Since October, the BOA has been discussing the Administration’s proposal for a new Union Square zoning overlay district. After the initial proposal timed out without a vote due to the many concerns that Aldermen and members of the public have, the Administration is introducing a revised proposal. There will be a Public Hearing on the revised zoning proposal before the BOA and Planning Board on Tuesday, March 7, 6 PM in City Hall.

This zoning overlay would enable major development in Union by US2, the master developer of Union Square, selected by the SRA in June 2015. If it passes, US2 could submit a “Coordinated Development Special Permit” (CDSP) plan for all seven redevelopment parcels in Union Square (the “D blocks”), including the ones they do not own or control, which is most of them. US2 could partner with the SRA on this application for a CDSP. The SRA has the legal power, granted in 2013 (before I was on the BOA), to take property in the D blocks by eminent domain.

There are a number of problems and unresolved issues with the proposed new zoning for Union Square:

• Open space in new development. The Administration has proposed 15% open space. Many Aldermen and community organizations want 20%, 25% or even 34%. As the most densely populated city in New England, Somerville needs more open space.
• Commitments for developer financial contributions to the GLX and sewer, water, and street infrastructure. Mayor Curtatone announced that developers will be expected to contribute half of the $50 million that the City paid for GLX, as well as half the cost of infrastructure improvements in Union Square and Boynton Yards, perhaps another $35 million. There will be covenants signed with US2 detailing these contributions. I am waiting to see those covenants.
• Community benefits to help mitigate the negative effects of development, to keep lower-income residents and small local businesses in Union Square, and to provide civic and cultural spaces. The Mayor has said there will be a Community Benefits Agreements (CBA), but it has not been clear who will actually be at the table to negotiate it. In recent months, plans for a Neighborhood Council with broad representation have moved forward. That is good, but I will not vote for the new zoning until the Administration has committed to a viable arrangement for community representation in the CBA negotiations.
• Placement of affordable housing in new developments in Union Square. The proposed zoning would allow affordable housing to be built in other development blocks in Union Square and concentrated on one or more “receiving sites.” While there are some good reasons to move or concentrate affordable housing (for example, to group larger units near family-friendly amenities), I want affordable and market-rate units to be mixed together. The affordable units must be of similar quality to market-rate units. If we can get more affordable units on another one of the D blocks than in the 20-story residential tower proposed for the D-2 block, that might be a good trade-off for the City.
• Enforceable phasing of commercial development. There is unanimous agreement in Somerville that commercial development which creates good jobs and generates more City tax revenue is a priority. However, most developers prefer to build housing now because it’s a lucrative and certain investment. I am concerned that developers could build housing first, make quick profits, and delay commercial buildings – perhaps indefinitely. The new zoning must require that commercial development happen before, or at the same pace, as residential.

The Administration, US2, and the Chamber of Commerce are urging the BOA to speedily approve the new zoning. I understand the desire to move forward quickly due to the business cycle and the possibility of a recession. But I will not vote in favor of new zoning for Union Square until my major concerns, and those of the community, have been addressed.

A recent major development was the presentation to the five members of the SRA on February 16 of a proposed Master Land Designation Agreement (MLDA). The MLDA is a contract between the SRA and US2 that lays out the terms for the SRA to convey the seven development parcels in the heart of Union Square to US2 for their coordinated development of those parcels. Of most immediate importance, it describes the terms, including the price, for the sale of the critical D-2 block, which abuts the coming GLX station (now projected for June 2021). The Union Square Neighborhood Plan calls for a 20-story tower with 400 apartments and a 13-story commercial building on the D-2 block. The MLDA also describes the steps through which the SRA can take designated property by eminent domain and then sell it to US2.

In the past, the SRA has voted on proposals such as the MLDA quickly and with little public notice or discussion. To the Administration’s credit, they did announce that this was happening. To their discredit, they did not apparently see any need for public comment and discussion. (The SRA has no staff of its own; staff is provided by the City’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development.) It appeared that this MLDA might be approved by the SRA on short notice. However, due to an outcry and demand from the public, there was extensive discussion with the public at the February 23 SRA meeting. The SRA will hold a Public Hearing on the MLDA on March 8 at 5:30 pm (location to be announced).

I submitted 10 paragraphs of questions and concerns to the SRA on the MLDA. (Let me know if you want to see them and I will send them to you.) My primary concern is that this deal is too favorable for the developer US2 at the City’s expense, and that the risks are too great for the City. In addition, the likely sale price of the D-2 block seems to me to be way too low, far less than its fair market value. The City appears to receive no compensation in the deal for designating US2 with the extremely advantageous and preferential position of master developer of Union Square, which gives US2 the inside track to development worth hundreds of millions of dollars or perhaps even billions of dollars. So I am urging the SRA and the Administration to go back to the negotiating table with US2 and get a better deal for the City.

BOA Board President Bill White submitted the following resolution, unanimously adopted at the BOA meeting of February 23: "That the Administration delay any final vote by the Redevelopment Authority on the Union Square Land Disposition Agreement until a public hearing is held to obtain public input and respond to public questions, and until the Agreement is discussed with this Board." The Resolution was sent to the BOA Committee on Housing and Community Development, which I Chair, and I have scheduled a meeting to discuss the MLDA for this Thursday, March 2, 7 PM in City Hall (2nd Floor Conference Room). This meeting is open to the public, as are all BOA meetings.

On another zoning topic of great interest to many neighbors and property owners in Somerville, the Administration has announced it will introduce a second version of the citywide zoning overhaul as soon as Union Square zoning is completed. Since nobody knows when this might be, residents whose neighborhoods are enduring almost-continuous development are beginning to express frustration and anger. The current zoning has many problems, perhaps the most significant of which is that it allows too much infill development in our already-dense residential neighborhoods, development that many current residents do not want.

Still more real estate development projects in Ward 5

My role as the Ward Alderman in terms of development projects is to encourage and help neighbors to be involved in the public application process and to facilitate dialogue between the neighbors and the developer. This may mean organizing a community meeting, reaching out to neighbors, and/or working with neighbors to help them express their concerns with as much power and impact as possible. I spend a lot of time explaining how the process works. I will usually take a position on an application, often near the end of the process, and either testify before the ZBA in person or send an email. Anyone can appear at a ZBA meeting and speak to them about an application they are considering or submit written comments on any development project at [email protected].

Here are some brief updates on development projects in Ward 5. New projects this year have asterisks ***.

21 Murdock Street (17-25 Murdock & 225-227 Cedar Sts) – 22 units (four affordable), approved by the ZBA on January 18th. Demolition is likely in late summer, early fall.

231 Lowell Street (corner of Woodbine) – 19 units (three affordable), two storefronts. Received extension of their special permit on January 4th. The developer told me earlier this year that he will get started soon.

*** 31 Porter Street (Ward 3 but right across the street from Ward 5) – 8 units proposed. There have been two neighborhood meetings. The neighbors are unanimously opposed due to the number of units, loss of green space, it doesn’t fit in the neighborhood, etc. Not clear what the developer’s next steps will be.

*** 11-15 Alpine Street (near Cedar Street, pictured above) – 7 units proposed for redevelopment of this garage. See photo above. Neighborhood meeting on March 6, 6:30 pm at 2 Alpine St. (corner of Cedar). Many concerns expressed so far including environmental issues, height, privacy impact on abutters and design.

290 Highland Avenue (the old Quik Mart), corner of Cedar and Highland Ave – 7 units (one affordable) & a storefront. Under construction, likely done by summer 2017.

21 Cherry Street – 6 units. The developer wants to bulk up the building and add many bedrooms without additional parking. The neighbors are opposed and have urged the developer to scale down the plans. Initial hearing held before the ZBA on February 1. A number of discrepancies in the application are being investigated by City staff; ZBA asked the developer and neighbors to hold another meeting and try to find a compromise. The outcome is not yet clear.

500 Medford Street (K-2 Beer and Wine) – 4 units proposed as an addition above and behind this storefront in Magoun Square. Application is on hold for now.

*** 39 Murdock Street – 3 units. The developer is expanding a small single family with less than 1,000 square feet into a large 3-family with 10 bedrooms and almost 6,000 square feet. Neighbors are concerned about parking issues. Currently scheduled to be heard by ZBA on March 1.

483 Medford Street (old Piro Printing building) – 3 units & one storefront. Received approval in December from the ZBA to redo the exterior of the commercial space. Under construction

*** 17 Porter Street (Ward 3 but across the street from Ward 5) – Proposal is to turn a two-family into a three-family. While suggestions for improvement were made, there did not seem to be any outright opposition at a neighborhood meeting. Will likely go before ZBA on March 15.

If you would like information or have questions or concerns about any of these projects, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Sewer construction project; 290 Highland Ave. (former Quik Mart)

2017: More big decisions & development; Union Square zoning

In this section:

• The whirlwind of change and the challenges ahead
• Real estate development projects in Ward 5
• Union Square zoning

The whirlwind of change and the challenges ahead

As my third year as the Ward 5 Alderman comes to a close, I’m struck by the breathtaking pace of change and new development in Somerville. True, overall, things are going well for the City and the future looks bright. In fact, polling done in October for the new Somerville High School ballot question found that 79.6% of voters said that “things in Somerville are heading in the right direction.” Yet I understand why many long-time Somerville residents are unsettled, angry and worried about the future. Large-scale, rapid change is difficult for most of us. Sometimes I feel like a conservative: I just want to keep our wonderful Somerville the way it is…or the way it was a few years ago. Whether we like it or not, we are in the middle of the transformation of our City. This is happening in livable urban areas all over our nation. We need to manage, shape, and mitigate change, using all the tools at our disposal.

Our City is borrowing a lot of money. Some people believe we are putting our financial future at risk. My view is that we are investing in a better future for ourselves and our children, sacrificing for the future. We have many big capital projects that were put off for decades. We must begin to pay for them now or suffer unpleasant consequences such as flooding, expensive emergency repairs to City buildings, and disruptions to our streets.

In addition to the $130 million that 75% of Somerville voters committed to borrowing by voting yes for a new Somerville High School on November 8 (with another $120 million coming from the State), the Board of Aldermen (BOA) voted on December 8 unanimously to borrow $50 million for the $2.3 billion Green Line Extension (GLX) (funded almost entirely by the Federal and State governments). We have billions of dollars of sewer and water infrastructure that we need to replace or build over the next 20-30 years. We’ll also need to renovate or replace many of our public buildings including the Public Safety Building, the libraries, and City Hall. (Thankfully, most of our schools are in good shape.) The good news is that the City won’t actually bond for these projects immediately, but over the next 5-10 years, so property taxes won’t start going up significantly for them until the 2020s.

The down side of all this improvement, investment and development is that taxes and fees keep going up and so do property values and rents. This is driving many people and families out of Somerville. Two-thirds of our housing units are rentals, so rent increases are bad news for most people who live here. Our greatest challenge continues to be to mitigate the negative impacts from the increasing cost of housing. We are lucky to live here! But we must not forget the many who have been displaced or are in danger of being forced out because they can’t afford the rents, or the housing prices, or the taxes. We must make better use of tools like property tax exemptions and deferrals for senior citizens and others who own their own homes. This could help low-income homeowners remain in the City. I have been urging the Mayor, publicly and privately, to do more to publicize these options and to have City staff reach out to senior citizens to make sure that they are aware of them. I am also pushing to further increase the residential homeowner property tax exemption from 35% (already the highest in the state) to 40%.

If Somerville ceases to be a mixed-income community, and becomes a city of only wealthy people and professionals, we will become a completely different place, with a completely different feel. I love Somerville for its ethnic, racial, cultural -- and most of all -- socio-economic (class) diversity. I will do everything I can to preserve that diversity.

That’s why my priorities as the Ward 5 Alderman will continue to be affordable housing for low- and middle-income families; good jobs and job training for our residents; new zoning that requires development that will be good for residents; financial contributions from developers to help build infrastructure and for other community benefits; and attention to the critical quality-of-life issues such as traffic calming and safe streets, parking, rats, City services, and public safety. In these updates I mostly write about bigger, citywide issues. But I want you to know that most of my time as the Ward 5 Alderman is spent on quality-of life issues -- constituent concerns and development projects in the streets and neighborhoods of Ward 5.

21 Murdock St 22-unit development site; 231 Lowell Street -- 19 units & 2 storefronts

Real estate development projects in Ward 5

Here are some brief updates, in size order. Most of them are applying for permits from the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), but some are already permitted. If you would like information or have questions or concerns about any of them, please contact me. There have been community meetings about all of the larger projects.

21 Murdock Street (17-25 Murdock & 225-227 Cedar Sts) – 22 units (four affordable), now scheduled to go before the ZBA on January 18th.

231 Lowell Street (corner of Woodbine) – 19 units (three affordable), two storefronts. Approved two years ago by the ZBA, they will go before the ZBA on January 4th to seek an extension of their expiring special permit. I have spoken to the developer half-a-dozen times in the past year, and he has said he plans to go ahead with this project.

290 Highland Avenue (the old Quik Mart) – 7 units (one affordable) & a storefront. Likely done by summer 2017.

21 Cherry Street – 6 units. The developer wants to bulk up the building and add many bedrooms without additional parking. The neighbors are opposed and have been urging the developer to scale down the plans. Currently scheduled to go before the ZBA on January 18th.

500 Medford Street (K-2 Beer and Wine) – 4 units proposed as an addition above and behind this storefront in Magoun Square.

483 Medford Street (old Piro Printing building) – 3 units & one storefront. Received approval in December from the ZBA to redo the exterior of the commercial space. The developer is renovating the interior. He reduced the size of the commercial space, adding several bedrooms on the ground floor.

A number of other development projects are pending. These are either small projects or their status is unclear: 98 Highland Road; 55 Partridge Ave; 45 Lexington Ave; 741 Somerville Ave; 31 Porter St & 17 Porter St (both in Ward 3 but across the street from Ward 5).

On another local Ward 5 note: I am happy to report that the MBTA has changed the name of the (scheduled for 2021, keep your fingers crossed) GLX Lowell Street Station to Magoun Square Station. This should help provide more recognition and publicity for this wonderful, dynamic little business district in Ward 5.

Union Square zoning

Since October, the BOA has been discussing the Administration’s proposal for a new Union Square zoning overlay district. This new zoning is intended to enable major development in Union Square and especially the area around the coming GLX Union Square Station by the master developer, Union Square Station Associates (US2), selected by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) in the spring of 2015.

The zoning overlay would allow US2 to submit a large-scale “Coordinated Development Special Permit” (CDSP) plan for all seven of the redevelopment parcels in Union Square (the “D blocks”), including the ones they do not own or control, which is most of them. US2 would be allowed to partner with the SRA on this application for a CDSP. That is important because the SRA has the legal power, granted to it in 2013 by the BOA (before I was on the Board), to take any property in the seven D blocks by eminent domain. If the BOA passes zoning similar to what the Administration has proposed, it will expedite large scale development in Union Square by allowing US2, in collaboration with the SRA, to shape development in all seven D blocks, either by working with property owners, pressuring them to sell, or taking properties by eminent domain.

(BOA President Bill White and I have repeatedly raised concerns about the role and power of the Somerville Redevelopment Authority. The SRA is an appointed body that does not act in a representative fashion for the community. I have attended most of their meetings over the past 18 months. SRA meetings usually last less than half-an-hour and feature few questions or serious discussion by SRA members, with the exception of William Gage, who lives in the Union Square area. I do not feel confident in the SRA’s capacity to make wise decisions about the future of Union Square. President White sponsored a BOA resolution with unanimous support that the SRA’s powers in Union Square be returned to the BOA, which I support. The Administration has not proposed changes to the SRA yet.)

There are a half-a-dozen key parts of the proposed new zoning for Union Square that I think need to be changed. Here’s a brief rundown on some the most important outstanding issues:

• Open space in new development in Union Square. The Administration has proposed 15% open space. Many community organizations that I respect have been pushing for 20%, 25% or even 34%. As the densest city in New England, Somerville desperately needs more open space. Real estate developments are actually worth more when there are better outdoor amenities.
• Solid plans and commitments for developer financial contributions to the GLX and sewer/water/street infrastructure. Mayor Curtatone announced a few months ago that developers will be expected to contribute collectively half of the $50 million that the City was forced to cough up for GLX; as well as half the cost of infrastructure improvements in the Union Square and Boynton Yards areas (sewer, water and above-ground streetscape improvements), perhaps as much as another $35 million. Mayor Curtatone has stated that there will be covenants signed with US2 detailing these contributions. I am waiting to see those covenants.
• Community benefits to help mitigate the negative effects of development, to help keep lower-income residents and small local businesses in Union Square, and to provide amenities such as civic and cultural spaces. The Mayor has said there will be a Community Benefits Agreements (CBA), but it has not been clear who will actually be at the table to negotiate it. Union United, a large, diverse coalition of community organizations, has been pushing for a CBA for several years. In recent months, plans for a Neighborhood Council with broad representation have emerged. This Neighborhood Council would have an official role along with the City government in negotiating a CBA with US2 and other Union Square developers. There must be representatives of the Union Square community at the table when a CBA is negotiated. While I don’t believe the details of a CBA need to be worked out before Union Square zoning is passed, I will not vote in favor of new zoning for Union Square until the Administration has committed to a viable arrangement for community representation in the CBA negotiations.
• Placement of affordable housing in new developments in Union Square. The proposed Union Square zoning would permit all affordable housing units (mandated by the 20% “inclusionary” housing ordinance the BOA passed in May) to be built in other locations in Union Square and concentrated on one or more “receiving sites.” While there may be some good reasons to move or concentrate affordable housing (for example, townhouse units may be better for families than apartments in 20-story towers), I am concerned that all affordable units will be relegated to a small number of locations, rather than distributed throughout the housing that will be built in Union Square. Family units could be built offsite, but some percentage of affordable units must be built in the same buildings as the standard units.
• Enforceable phasing of commercial development. There is unanimous agreement among community, business and government leaders in Somerville that commercial development which creates good jobs and generates more local tax revenue is the priority for new development. However, at this time, developers favor housing, as the strong market makes housing a lucrative and certain investment. I am concerned that developers could build housing first, make quick profits, and delay building commercial buildings – perhaps indefinitely. This has happened before in Union Square. The new zoning must require that commercial development happen before, or at the same pace, as housing development. And it must have teeth.

The Administration, the real estate development and business communities are urging the BOA to speedily approve the new zoning. I understand the desire to move forward quickly due to the nature of the business cycle and the possibility of a recession in the not-too-distant future. Real estate is a boom/bust industry. Right now it is boom times.

But I will not vote in favor of new zoning for Union Square until my major concerns, and those of the community, have been addressed. There are too many big issues outstanding that if not resolved satisfactorily will have a negative impact on the Union Square area and many residents’ lives. This is complicated stuff, and has huge implications. I’ve been helped by some excellent analysis by Union Square Neighbors, a group of homeowners in the Union Square area. I am grateful for their clear, rigorous and independent work. The BOA will get right back to this in January, with frequent meetings to work through the Administration’s proposal.

On a related topic, the Administration has announced it will introduce a second version of the citywide zoning overhaul proposal as soon as the Union Square zoning is completed. The first version, introduced in January 2015, was widely criticized and the BOA sent it back to the drawing board. Since then, the Planning Department Director, George Proakis, has held more than a dozen meetings with the community and the BOA to work through specific problems and issues. The Administration has made significant changes to their original citywide zoning overhaul proposal. The next round of discussions should be more fruitful. Only the BOA, by a 2/3 majority vote (8 of the 11 Aldermen), has the power to change the City’s zoning.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

I want you to know about some important Public Hearings in mid-November and decisions that the Board of Aldermen (BOA) will be making in the next few months. I also want to update you briefly on a couple of issues – traffic calming, and the water and sewer bill fees. I will write to you again in mid-late November with more information and my views on all of these issues.

I encourage you to attend these Public Hearings if you are interested in the issues they address. Public Hearings are informative and really interesting. We hear directly from dozens of our fellow residents and what they care about. I also encourage you to speak up and share your views and concerns (everyone gets two minutes) or to submit your testimony to the Board of Aldermen and Mayor at [email protected] and [email protected].

• Public Hearing on the Mayor’s proposal on Green Line Extension (GLX) funding proposal Thursday, November 17, 7 PM, Aldermen’s Chambers, 2nd Floor, City Hall. The Mayor will present a proposal for a City contribution of $50 million to the Board of Aldermen (BOA) at our meeting Thursday, November 10th. A vote in favor by the BOA will be necessary for the City to send the money to the state.
• Public Hearing on Union Square Community Benefits Agreements and their potential to address displacement and uphold community values immediately before the BOA meeting on Thursday, November 10, at 6:30 PM. The Administration’s proposal for new Union Square zoning has been under discussion by the BOA since a Public Hearing in mid-October. There are three more meetings scheduled in November. The new zoning proposal is designed to unlock the heart of Union Square and especially the area around the forthcoming GLX Union Square station for major development. This Public Hearing is being held as a result of an official request from 138 voters who are concerned that development will cause displacement in Union Square. Only the BOA has the power to change zoning. A 2/3 vote of the BOA (8 of 11 Aldermen) is necessary to adopt new Union Square zoning (or any zoning change or proposal). On another, related topic, the Administration has announced it will introduce early in 2017 a second edition of the citywide zoning overhaul proposal. The first version, introduced in January 2015, was widely criticized and the BOA sent it back to the drawing board.
• Public Hearing on the 3rd version of the Administration’s Athletic Fields Master Plan, Tuesday, November 15, 7:30 PM, Aldermen’s Chambers, 2nd Floor, City Hall. There were several public meetings early in 2016 in which the Administration presented and got feedback on the initial version of this plan. This third version has more information about the proposed surface for each field (grass or artificial turf) and also has a far better timeline for redeveloping and adding fields. The BOA has no formal power to approve or reject this plan. However, the BOA will likely need to vote to approve or deny funds for each major field project on its own.
• Reduction in the default speed limit on most streets to 25 mph (from the current 30 mph) on November 7. You should start seeing some new speed limit signs posted in November. The City will also have the opportunity to create 20 mph “safety zones” in many areas in the near future. We are still waiting for regulations from the state Dept of Transportation on the safety zones, but I have urged the Mayor to go ahead with the safety zones using the legal authority we now have. The state legislature passed a new law in August that finally allows cities to set their own speed limits and the BOA voted in October to support the enactment of both of these speed limit provisions. The new speed limit will make Somerville a lot safer with minimal inconvenience to drivers.
• Water and sewer bill update. The Administration has added a $60 per bill fee to each of the three water/sewer bills that homeowners receive, for a total of $180 extra a year. There was no public notice, public hearing or discussion of these additional fees, and Aldermen were not notified. When people got their bills, a huge uproar ensued. The BOA has spent many hours grilling the Acting Superintendent of the Water and Sewer Department, the Mayor and other Administration officials. We have unanimously expressed our anger at the lack of public notice or discussion, and our opposition to the way the fees were imposed. While the Mayor and many City officials have apologized and acknowledged their mistakes, they have not been willing to cancel or delay the implantation of the fees, despite our urging. Currently, the BOA has no power to set water and sewer rates or fees. As a result of this uproar, the BOA is considering a revision to the ordinance that governs water and sewer charges. These changes would ensure timely public notice of any increases and also restore the power that the BOA once had (but gave away years ago) to approve water and sewer rates and fees. I strongly support this and will do all I can for the BOA to pass it this year.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

There are two meetings you may be interested in:

• A new Somerville High School (SHS) is proposed at the current location next to City Hall.  I urge you to vote Yes on Question 5 on Election Day.  This is the Proposition 2 ½ “debt exclusion override” which would permit the City to borrow enough money to build it.  Come to a Community Meeting Wednesday night, October 5, 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell Street.https://www.facebook.com/events/1804589409786668/

• Ward 5 Resistat meeting, Wednesday, October 19, Kennedy School cafeteria, 5 Cherry Street.  Pizza and schmoozing with City officials and other residents at 6 PM; formal program with Q and A afterwards at 6:30.  Semi-annual Resistat meetings are always a good opportunity to hear directly from Mayor Joe Curtatone, speak with him and other top City officials, and get a sense of what is going on in the City and our Ward 5 neighborhoods.

Why I urge you to vote “Yes” on Question 5 on November 8th: Background information on the New Somerville High School (SHS) project and ballot question

Somerville High School (SHS) needs major repairs and is no longer an adequate facility for the needs of today’s high school students.  SHS is at risk of losing its accreditation if the building is not fixed.  Just to repair it and bring up to code would cost an estimated $130 million.  

I will explain here why I am supporting a “Yes” vote, and respond to some of the concerns and objections I have heard.  For more info, there is an excellent FAQ (frequently asked questions) page on the website of the Campaign for Somerville’s Future, a political campaign organization which was formed by community leaders to advocate for the new SHS and a Yes vote on November 8th.  You can find it here:http://www.campaignforsomervillesfuture.com/faqs

You can see the PowerPoint slide show presentation made to the Board of Alderman on July 6^th here:  http://www.somervillema.gov/highschool/resources/2016_07_06_BOA_Financial-meetingV2.pdf

The $256 million price tag is a lot of money, for sure!  Somerville’s share will be about half that.  The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will reimburse Somerville $120 million, with the City’s share at $136 million.

Many people have asked me, “Why do we need the most expensive school ever built in Massachusetts?”  Here’s why. The current location is the only place in Somerville where a new high school could be built, and it is an expensive site to build on.  Urban construction is expensive and costs more than suburban or rural construction.  Construction costs have risen rapidly in Greater Boston the past few years, due to the hot real estate market.  The plan is to keep the field house and some of the beautiful historical parts of the current building.  It is more expensive to build around existing structures than to build all new.  The school will remain open during construction, with students being moved around the site to attend classes.

All these factors add to the cost.  But it’s likely the next high school built will be even more expensive than the new SHS; costs simply go up every year due to inflation and rising standards and requirements.  The previous most expensive high school built in Massachusetts, Newton North, completed in 2010, would cost $400 million in today’s dollars.  And anyway, don’t our kids deserve as good a high school as Newton’s?

Many people, especially homeowners, and especially seniors or others on fixed incomes, are worried about the property tax increases that will be necessary to pay for the new SHS.  Taxes have gone up substantially in recent years, largely due to the increased assessed value of properties in Somerville.  The City has also increased fees for parking, water, sewer, etc.  This has unquestionably hurt homeowners on fixed incomes and also increased rents.  The financing plan to pay for the new SHS calls for a slow but steady increase in property taxes, reaching a plateau in 2027 and continuing through 2054 at that level.  So, for example, the average condo would see less than a $100 tax increase until 2024, when an additional $115 would be on the tax bill, with a maximum addition of $189 in 2027-2054.  For a single family, it would be $124 in additional taxes by 2023, rising to the maximum increase of $294 in 2027-2054.  For a two family, the increase would be $148 in 2023, $296 in 2025 and maxing out at $349 for 2027-2054.

The Mayor will be presenting a financial plan to the BOA that “mitigates the cost to the taxpayers through value engineering, the sale of city assets (i.e. buildings not needed) and other identified funding sources.”  I will be looking closely at the Mayor’s plan and at the budget for the proposed new SHS and will advocate for cuts to save money where appropriate, such as the proposed $20 million for a parking garage, which I don’t think is needed with a Green Line Extension MBTA station coming to nearby Gilman Square.

If the new SHS is to be built, the voters of Somerville will need to approve it.  The City plans to borrow (sell bonds to raise) $130 million.  State law requires a vote to override the Proposition 2½ debt limit, called a “debt exclusion.”  On July 14^th, the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously for this “debt exclusion” question to be on the ballot on November 8^th.

The question on the ballot is a little difficult to understand.  The exact wording is required by state law.  It will read: “Shall the City of Somerville be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half, so called, the amounts required to pay for the bond(s) issued in order to design, engineer, construct, and equip the new Somerville High School?”

I urge you to vote “Yes,” and to encourage your friends, families and neighbors to do so as well.  Somerville needs this new school and our kids and families deserve it.  Education is expensive – actually, priceless in my opinion -- and there is nothing more important in a community than good schools for our kids.  I am happy to discuss with you further why the price tag is so high; don't hesitate to call or email me with your questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Above: Somerville High School with proposed design (left) and current design (right)

In this edition:

• Future of the Green Line Extension (GLX) and Community Path Extension (CPX); City asked to contribute $50 million
• New Somerville High School (SHS) proposed for current location, cost estimated at $255 million; Prop 2½ debt exclusion override likely to be on the ballot in November
• Mayor to present Fiscal Year 2017 City budget Tuesday night, June 7th, 7 PM, followed by BOA review; Public Hearing June 21st, 6 PM

Sticker shock, anyone?

If you are a Somerville homeowner or resident and you are feeling the pain of steadily rising property taxes or rent, and wondering how we are going to pay for the Green Line Extension (GLX), the new high school, a new police station and Fire Dept.HQ, renovated West Branch and Main Libraries, Union Square infrastructure, sewer repairs, and more green space and playing fields… you are not alone! This is the number one issue on many of our minds right now. I encourage you to share with me your questions, concerns, and ideas on these issues.

This update provides some information, but there is much I do not know. We are waiting for the Mayor to propose financing plans for these large projects. However, I can provide some reassurance, and share with you my confidence and optimism about Somerville’s financial future. The Board of Aldermen has been asking tough questions about the City’s finances. The BOA will need to approve funding for these projects. We are an independent Board that has already denied many funding requests from the Administration and will not hesitate to say no in the future.

That being said, I believe that Mayor Curtatone has been a superb fiscal & financial steward for the City. He steered the City through the Great Recession with relatively little damage, the City’s finances are in excellent shape, and its bond rating is at an all-time high. Mayor Curtatone has been willing to make unpopular decisions to protect the City’s financial strength. He’s made a lot of enemies doing this, and I haven’t always agreed with him. But he deserves credit for making these difficult decisions, and they have mostly worked out.

The Mayor is exploring creative financing mechanisms for all of these big projects. He has been successful in using such tools in the past. These financing tools could reduce the impact of these projects on property taxes. Somerville is expecting a huge amount of economic development which will dramatically increase City tax revenues. Interest rates and therefore borrowing costs are low. And while this may not ease the pain of steadily rising taxes, our property taxes are still lower than most of our neighboring cities and towns. These projects are important for our quality of life, for our health, and to bring more jobs to Somerville. They are worth paying for if the cost is reasonable.

Future of the Green Line Extension (GLX) and Community Path Extension (CPX); City asked to contribute $50 million

Following the revelation last fall that the project was $700 million to $1 billion over its $2 billion budget, the state agencies that control the GLX project (MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board and the Mass Dept. of Transportation) hired a new team to review the entire project.

In May, the team recommended going forward with a budget of $2.3 billion, with drastic cuts to the stations and the Community Path, which would now end at McGrath Highway. (The CPX plan is unacceptable and we’ll be fighting to have it fixed.) With a $1 billion grant from the federal government, and $1 billion ($700 million already spent!) allocated by the state, that leaves a budget gap of $300 million. To fill that gap, $150 million will be saved by not extending GLX to Route 16 in Medford. Mayor Curtatone and the Cambridge City Manager agreed to ask the Somerville Board of Aldermen (BOA) and Cambridge City Council for $50 and $25 million respectively. (The other $75 million is presently unaccounted for.)

I could go on for hours about how unjust, unfair and unprecedented it is for Somerville to have to contribute so much money for a project we have been promised for a generation and which is a legal, health and ethical obligation of the Commonwealth. But I will spare you. We have to play the hand we’ve been dealt, and the state has put a gun put to our head. But, the health, economic, transportation, and jobs gains from GLX will amount to far more than the $50 million that the state is extorting from us. The Mayor is pursuing creative “value capture” funding mechanisms with the state and private developers that could enable us to use tax revenues from development around the GLX stations to help pay the $50 million. He will be presenting a finance plan to the BOA for our consideration. The deadline for our vote on the funds for GLX is August 31.

There are still two major hurdles before construction of GLX can move forward. The Federal Transportation Authority must review the new budget. That should happen by this fall. And then the project needs to be bid out. With the building industry at full capacity and construction costs rising every month, I’ll be crossing my fingers and hoping the bids come in within the budget. We probably won’t be sure about this until sometime in early 2017. If all goes well, full-scale construction would start up again in the fall of 2017. Given all the delays that have already happened, I am not even going to guess at the likely completion date.

The best source of information on GLX and CPX issues is the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP) email list and website, www.SomervilleSTEP.org

New Somerville High School proposed for current location, cost estimated at $255 million

Somerville High School (SHS) needs major repairs and is no longer an adequate facility for the needs of today’s students. SHS is at risk of losing its accreditation if the building is not fixed. Just to repair it and bring up to code would cost an estimated $130 million. So it’s time for a new SHS. A couple of years ago, the Mayor appointed a top-notch High School Building Committee (HSBC), chaired by former Superintendent of Schools Tony Pierantozzi. I worked closely with Mr. Pierantozzi for the eight years I was on the School Committee and I know how knowledgeable and experienced he is with construction and building maintenance. He worked in the construction industry before he became an educator.

You can see the plan for the new SHS here: http://www.somervillema.gov/highschool/

The plan would keep the current Field House and construct the rest of the building/campus around it, toward the Public Library. It would maintain the oldest part of the building nearest to City Hall, but it would be used for another purpose, as yet to be determined. I’m hoping this would be for desperately needed additional workspace for City workers and to consolidate City offices, such as the City Hall Annex on Evergreen Avenue, the Traffic and Parking building near Teele Square, and the Recreation Dept. on Walnut Street, in one convenient location.

In late May, the HSBC approved these plans with a budget of $255 million. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will reimburse Somerville for close to 80% of eligible costs, but since some of the things we need are not reimbursable, the City’s share will probably be around $150 million.

The voters of Somerville will need to approve the project if it is to go forward. The MSBA reimburses the City after the money is spent, so the City will need to borrow (bond) a significant portion of the total. That would require a Proposition 2½ override, a ballot initiative and vote to override the Proposition 2½ debt limit, called a “debt exclusion.” For this debt exclusion to be on the ballot this November, a two-thirds vote of the BOA is necessary. The deadline for the BOA vote is August 3rd.

The Mayor will be presenting a financial plan to the BOA that “mitigates the cost to the taxpayers through value engineering, the sale of city assets and other identified funding sources.” I will be looking closely at the Mayor’s plan and at the budget for the proposed new SHS. One possible cut I’ve already identified is the $18 million proposed for an underground parking garage for 150 spaces behind the school. This is not a reimbursable expense so we will have to pay it all. With a Green Line station likely coming to Gilman Square a few minutes’ walk from SHS, I don’t see why we need a parking garage as part of this project. We can figure out a less expensive way to get our faculty and staff to school.

Mayor to present Fiscal Year 2017 City budget Tuesday night June 7th, 7 PM at City Hall, followed by BOA review; Public Hearing June 21st, 6 PM

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 7th at 7 PM, the Mayor will present his proposed Fiscal Year 2017 budget to the Board of Aldermen in City Hall. This is always an interesting presentation that focuses on the big picture of the Administration’s goals for the City as well as the highlights of next year’s budget. You can attend the meeting, watch it on local cable TV, or stream it whenever you want from the City website, www.somervillema.gov. The budget will be posted on the City website, too, if you want to look through it.

The BOA has scheduled eight nights of meetings to scrutinize the budget, with City department heads presenting most nights. These meetings will also be carried live on local cable TV. If you are interested in a particular department’s presentation, let me know and I will email you the schedule. There will be a Public Hearing on Tuesday, June 21st at 6 PM in City Hall, at which anyone can speak for a few minutes. This is a good opportunity to share your concerns or ideas with the City’s leaders. If you can’t make the Public Hearing, or would rather write, you can email the entire Board of Aldermen at [email protected].

I don’t know yet exactly what’s in the budget this year. Unfortunately, by virtue of the City Charter, Aldermen can only make cuts, we cannot propose any expenditures. I find this frustrating. It means if I think something should be in the budget, I must ask the Mayor to put it in. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t. Some of the things I have asked to be put in this year are a full-time arborist, funds for planting trees, more funds for job training programs, and additional staff in key departments like Inspectional Services and Planning. Please share with me your questions, concerns, and suggestions on the budget and any of these financial issues.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Important events & meetings in the next two weeks

Saturday April 30, 2 PM, March to City Hall to support Fossil Fuel Divestment from Somerville’s pension fund – meet at Davis Square Plaza. RSVP and get updates on the Fossil Free Facebook page.

Tuesday May 3, 6 PM, Come out to show support for 20% affordable housing in new developments at the Board of Aldermen’s Land Use Committee of the Whole meeting at City Hall in the Aldermen’s Chambers. (See my previous email update for more background info). The Affordable Housing Organizing Committee (AHOC) of the Somerville Community Corporation is organizing people to come to this meeting. Visit the AHOC Facebook page.

Saturday May 7, 10 AM, Jane’s Walk, Explore Magoun Square, Lowell Street and Highland Avenue (Magoun Square CVS Plaza – ends at the Armory). Learn Somerville history and about urban design issues in the heart of Ward 5. This is an informal tour, part of Jane's Walk, an international event of neighborhood walking tours inspired by Jane Jacobs, the urban renewal activist and author. The walk is sponsored by the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission. See the May Preservation Month 2016 Calendar of Events (pdf)

Monday, May 9, 1 PM, Critical Green Line (GLX) and Community Path Extension (CPX) meeting of the joint MassDOT (Dept of Transportation) Board and MBTA Fiscal Management and Control Board at the State Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza, Boston. This meeting of the key decision makers may be the most important GLX/CPX meeting in over a decade. The proposed GLX (and CPX) re-design options, budget estimate, and finance options will be presented (by Interim GLX Project Manager Jack Wright) to the Boards. Your presence and comments could help ensure that the whole GLX and CPX projects are built. There will be a public comment period. For more info, see the Somerville Transportation Equity Partners (STEP) website, www.SomervilleSTEP.org The meeting is scheduled for 1:00 – 4:00 pm now, but the meeting time often changes; check the MBTA web page that day.

Wednesday, May 11, 5:30 – 7:30 PM, My spring fundraiser with special guest speaker State Senator Pat Jehlen, music by Country Hits, complimentary food and cash bar at Arts at the Armory Cafe, 191 Highland Ave . Please stop by, if you can, to celebrate Ward 5 and Somerville’s progress and contribute to our future together. The suggested minimum contribution is $50, but please come and give what you can. More info at http://www.markniedergang.com

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this update:

• The Green Line Extension
• 20% Affordable Housing

Come support the Green Line Extension (GLX): This Wednesday, April 13, 5:30-9:00, Somerville High School auditorium

This Wednesday evening, April 13^th, we have an opportunity to make sure that State officials recognize how essential the Green Line Extension (GLX) and the Community Path Extension (CPX) are to us in Somerville. Please come to a public hearing at the Somerville High auditorium. From 5:30 to 6:30 will be an Open House with plans and drawings displayed; from 6:30pm to 8:00 will be a presentation by Mass DOT (Dept. of Transportation) and the MBTA.  Members of the public will have an opportunity to speak briefly afterward in a Public Hearing.

Even if you can just stop by for a half-hour, please come! This is about packing bodies into the auditorium, a show of force so that State officials understand how strong Somerville’s support for the GLX & CPX are.

The State is re-evaluating the GLX after initial work on the project cost up to $1 billion more than was projected. While budget issues need to be addressed, we must urge the state to fulfill its commitment to this long-overdue project.

Many of you, like me, have been pushing for the GLX for years, even decades! Our advocacy and organizing has forced the State to commit to this project and won $1 billion in federal funding for it. We must continue our vigilance to see this vital project through to completion. It is crucial for cleaner air, economic development and transit justice to bring the Green Line and the Community Path alongside it to Somerville.

The re-evaluation is expected to be submitted to the MassDOT Board of Directors and the MBTA Fiscal & Management Control Board in May, when they will vote on the future of the GLX and CPX projects. I hope to see you on Wednesday night in the Somerville High School auditorium!

Please show your support for 20% affordable housing citywide in Somerville

The Somerville Board of Alderman will soon be voting on a citizens’ petition, a proposal to increase the inclusionary zoning requirement so that any development of six units or more would have 20% of the units (one in five) be affordable. I strongly support this measure.

The Land Use Committee of the Whole of the BOA will continue to discuss this proposal this Tuesday, April 12 at 6 PM in City Hall. The Planning Board’s recommendations to the BOA call for significant reductions to the 20% requirement. I expect that the discussion and debate will focus on which recommendations of the Planning Board we should adopt, and which reject. I have no idea how long it will take before there are votes; additional meetings of this Committee are scheduled for April 26, May 3, and May 10. Please contact your Aldermen to stress the affordable housing crisis we are experiencing and urge them to support the 20% inclusionary zoning affordable housing requirement. Write to your ward Aldermen and the four Aldermen at Large, who are all your directly elected representatives, or, you can send an email to all members of the Board of Aldermen at [email protected]

Yesterday, Sunday, April 10, The Boston Globe North section ran a pro/con piece in its “Argument” feature, “Should Somerville expand its citywide affordable zoning requirement to 20 percent?” I wrote the “yes” response, and here it is:

I’ve lived in Somerville for over 30 years. I love this city, especially its fantastic mix of people from different backgrounds. Not only do we have cultural and racial diversity, we have socio-economic diversity. I love having relationships with people who do all kinds of work — laborers, tradespeople, social workers, teachers, cooks, servers, artists, doctors, lawyers, software engineers — we’ve got them all.

But perhaps not for much longer. Like parts of Boston, San Francisco, and many other cities, Somerville is experiencing rapidly rising real estate values and rents that threaten to forever change its character.

Mayor Joe Curtatone has talked about Somerville not losing our soul. Recently, former mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay said we’re losing our heart and soul. It’s true. Many of the people who made this city great, their kids, immigrants, and the newer people who make it a funky, dynamic, and eclectic place can no longer afford to live here. Families are being forced to move and take their kids out of our award-winning public schools.

Mayor Curtatone has said we must take bold and dramatic action to preserve some of Somerville’s affordability. He convened a task force I cochaired that came up with 18 strategies to curb gentrification and preserve affordability.

One recommendation we can implement now is to increase from 12.5 percent to 20 percent the inclusionary zoning requirement. With that change, one of every five newly-developed housing units would have to be affordable to households with incomes less than 80 percent of area median income ($69,700 for a family of four).

The Board of Aldermen is currently debating the 20 percent proposal, brought to us with the support of hundreds of residents who signed petitions, spoke at a public hearing, and sent e-mails.

Developers are making tremendous returns on their investments, and benefiting from our hard work over many years to make Somerville a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family.

In the view of the vast majority of Somerville residents, the danger we face is that in 10 or 20 years, only rich people will be able to live here — unless we take bold action now. A 20 percent inclusionary affordable housing requirement is strong medicine, but we are battling to preserve the heart and soul of our community.

Alderman at Large Jack Connolly wrote the piece against the 20% proposal in the Boston Globe article: Should Somerville expand its citywide affordable zoning requirement to 20 percent?

If you are interested in the details that we will be deliberating on, you can read a description (pdf) of the citizens’ proposal and the City of Somerville’s Planning Staff recommendations to reduce it. 

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Above: Lincoln Park

In this edition:

• Future of the Green Line Extension (GLX)  
• Zoning:20% affordable housing; Union Square redevelopment; citywide overhaul v.2
• Lincoln Park: grass vs. artificial turf; playing fields master plan coming

Future of the Green Line Extension (GLX)

Following the revelation this fall that the project is $700 million to $1 billion over its $2 billion budget, the state agencies that control the GLX project (MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board and the Mass Dept. of Transportation) are reviewing the entire project.  They keep saying that cancellation is “on the table,” although Mayor Joe Curtatone and other City officials who have been involved in the internal discussions have stated publicly they do not believe that is really a possibility.  The Mayor has given a number of solid reasons:

• $750 million has already been spent,
• A $1 billion federal grant for the GLX would be lost,
• The GLX would provide huge economic benefits, taxes and jobs to not only Somerville but also for the State, and
• The GLX is a legal responsibility of the State as mitigation for air pollution from the Big Dig Central Artery project.  

Nonetheless, while I am hopeful, there is worry and dismay in Somerville.  The new GLX Team in the state government is looking at cutbacks to the project that were described as “on the side of brutal” according to the Chair of the MBTA Control Board.  What this would mean is not clear, but consultants have proposed cutting out the Union Square stop or making it a commuter rail or bus stop rather than a regular T station.  And we now have a Republican governor who is not as supportive of spending state funds on public transportation as Democrats are.  You can find a brief update letter from the MBTA General Manager, Frank DePaola, here: http://greenlineextension.eot.state.ma.us/

The state has adopted an aggressive timeline to make decisions: changing the plan in April and a new budget in May.  Then the fun begins – figuring out who will pay for likely additional costs beyond the $2 million that is now available.  Some state leaders have said the state shouldn’t provide any new money; instead Somerville and Medford, private developers, Tufts and others who will benefit from the GLX should bear the additional costs.  I say we shouldn’t have to pay anything.  We deserve better mass transit (look at all the T stations in Cambridge, Brookline and Newton while Somerville only has two) and GLX has been a state legal obligation for over 20 years.  As Bill Shelton wrote in the Somerville Times, We’ve already paid for the GLX

The Community Path Extension (CPX) is a critical part of the GLX project for Somerville.  Its fate is also uncertain, but it is a small part of the project (about $40 million), would add a great deal to the GLX, and is a priority for the Mayor and his administration.

I will be attending a meeting of the GLX Working Group tomorrow Feb. 5th from 10-12 AM at the Armory at which there will be a full discussion of all these issues.

Zoning: 20% affordable housing; Union Square redevelopment; citywide overhaul v.2

I can imagine you saying, “When I hear the word zoning, I reach for my pillow.”  Yes, zoning tends to be one of those MEGO issues – “my eyes glaze over.”  But especially at this time, with all the new development and the Green Line hopefully coming, zoning will shape the future of large sections of our City, our quality of life, and may affect Somerville’s financial future.

An example of zoning’s importance is the proposal for increasing the citywide inclusionary zoning requirement from 12 ½ to 20 percent.  If passed, this zoning change would require developers of new housing of six units or more to set aside 20% of those units for rental or purchase by low-income people.  A public hearing was held before the Board of Aldermen (BOA) and Planning Board on December 9^th and dozens of people spoke passionately in favor of it.  I have also received dozens of emails in support.  The Planning Board will be making its recommendation to the BOA on February 18^th and then the BOA will consider it.  I am strongly in favor and am pushing for a vote by the BOA as soon as possible, hopefully in March.  Here's an example of how this change would make a difference:  Right now, in Assembly Square, Federal Realty Investment Trust is building an apartment building of about 450 units.  Under the current zoning law, 56 of the apartments will be affordable.  Not bad.  But under the proposed new 20% rule, 90 apartments would be affordable.  In a small city the size of Somerville, that’s a significant difference.

In late January, the City’s Director of Planning, George Proakis, announced that he hopes to introduce in March to the BOA a rezoning proposal for Union Square to update the zoning that the BOA passed in 2009.  This proposal would be based on the Union Square Neighborhood Plan, which is currently under development.  A draft Plan was released in the late fall and received extensive public comment, much of it critical.  I am deeply concerned about a number of things in the draft Plan & my comments will be posted on my website, under the Issues tab, by next Monday.  The Planning Department will be sharing “an update on how revisions are going and next steps” at a public meeting tonight, Thursday, February 4^th at 6 PM at the Argenziano School. Here is a brief description of where they are at in the process of revising the plan.

Mr. Proakis also announced that the Planning Department is working on a second version of the new citywide comprehensive zoning overhaul proposal and hopes to have it out in June.  The public hearing before the BOA and the Planning Board would be in September.  The close of the comment period (usually about a month) after the public hearing would then begin the official 90-day window during which the BOA can act on the proposed new citywide zoning.

Meanwhile, the Planning Department is holding a series of public community workshops on different topics in the proposed new citywide zoning roughly every two weeks.  Four have taken place so far and the next will cover Economic Development and job creation on Monday, February 8^th at 6:30 PM at the Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell St.  Here is a complete schedule and other information.

Lincoln Park: grass vs. artificial turf; playing fields master plan coming

I was pleased by the Mayor's announcement that the Lincoln Park playing field will be grass rather than artificial turf.  Lincoln Park is a park -- used for a wide range of activities, not just competitive sports.  As the Mayor wrote, “Lincoln Park is our largest city-owned open space…it made sense to maintain this park as a large, natural open space for all to use.” 

While I want as little artificial turf as possible, I can’t be against artificial turf (AT) in Somerville due to our severe shortage of playing fields.  I am aware of the environmental arguments against AT, and I agree that crumb rubber fill is unacceptable; there are viable organic fill AT fields in our area.  But unfortunately, AT is a necessity in our dense little City.  I have advocated for AT on Conway Park -- which is purely an athletic field -- and I am open to AT on other fields.  Currently there is AT at the Capuano School, East Somerville Community School, and on Dilboy Field.  All are heavily used and I have heard few complaints about these fields.

Grass vs. artificial turf has been the hottest issue in Somerville over the last nine months, with hundreds of passionate people on both sides. 

Many good questions have been raised by parents of Somerville Youth Soccer League (SYSL) players about the availability of fields for youth sports during and after construction of Lincoln Park.   A good grass field on Lincoln Park will need to rest and can only support about a quarter to a third of the current level of activity there, leaving much less time available for SYSL use.  Parents are asking “Where will our kids play?,” “Are those locations practical for families without cars or where kids have to get there on their own?,” “What about rain which can force closure of grass fields,” and more.  They want a clear plan from the Administration that will provide good answers these questions.  So do I.

The Administration is finally developing a field use master plan based on a number of recent studies and reports on Somerville fields and parks.  That plan will be presented on Tuesday, March 1, 6:30 pm at the East Somerville Community School cafeteria, and again on Wednesday, March 9, 6:30 pm at the West Somerville Neighborhood School cafeteria.  I am expecting that we will receive answers to the questions above at these meetings.

The Mayor has said that the City will be getting additional fields including two fields at Tufts, a field in South Medford and use of the Draw 7 Park field behind Assembly Square.  I have heard that the Tufts fields are near Powderhouse Square and easily reachable by public transportation.  However, the South Medford field and Draw 7 Park are not easy to get to, especially for kids whose parents can’t drive them.  I am expecting the fields plan to address this concern. Lincoln Park is in the heart of the City and easy to get to, especially for the many children who live in East Somerville. Replacements for it need to be well located as well.

There are several other potential new fields for soccer and other uses.  Conway Park is not far from Lincoln Park, is easy to get to, and could sustain a lot more use if it were AT.  I have pushed for more soccer on Trum Field, which is a beautiful and well-maintained grass field. Younger soccer players have been using it the last couple years and this has worked well.  I have spoken with several School Committee members and Arn Franzen, the City’s Director of Parks, about redeveloping the Healey and Winter Hill Community School playgrounds. Both are oceans of concrete and underutilized.  It might be possible to put a soccer field, similar to what is at Capuano and ESCS, on parts of those playgrounds, while also adding significant green space at both while getting rid of much of the concrete.

DPW can do a better job of maintaining our grass fields.   In October, at a BOA Open Space, Environment & Energy Committee meeting, DPW Commissioner Stan Koty described in great detail how DPW had hired consultants and had begun to improve maintenance of grass fields.  If DPW needs   additional staff or more consultants, I will happily vote for the funds.   

I understand the disappointment that SYSL parents feel as the Administration had for years been leaning towards AT at Lincoln Park.  And I understand their concern that there be enough appropriate field space for SYSL youth.  This is not an easy problem to solve.  But SYSL has been reasonably well accommodated by the City in recent years.  I am encouraged by the Mayor’s written commitment to provide adequate field space, his flexibility and practicality on the issue of grass vs. AT, and his awareness of practical issues such as lighting.

We need a solution that encourages athletic activity for our kids.  SYSL is the largest youth sports program in the City, with over 900 players.  Soccer is a great sport for youth. The City needs to do its part to sustain and support SYSL, as it does with other youth sports leagues.

If the fields master plan provides reasonable answers to the questions that have been raised, and unless some new information or concerns arise in the discussion of the Mayor's request, I expect to vote for the $9.4 million bond to renovate Lincoln Park, which involves many elements besides a grass field.  Overall, it is an excellent package that will improve the park for a broad range of users.  The item is now in the BOA Finance Committee (of which I am not a member).  I expect that the Finance Committee will not make a decision on this until after the fields master plan has been presented in early March.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Dec 4, 2015 Update

 In this edition:

• Public Hearing on 20% affordable housing Dec 9 & other key meetings this week
• Future of the Green Line Extension (GLX)
• Union Square redevelopment plans
• Playing Fields
• Update on 231 Lowell Street and some other development projects in Ward 5

Important meetings this week & early January

• Mon, Dec. 7, 6:30 PM at Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell St -- Zoning overhaul community meeting on Arts & the Creative Economy. Presentation by Planning Dept. and discussion
• Tues, Dec. 7, 6:30 PM at Argenziano School, 290 Washington Street -- Union Square Civic Advisory Committee will discuss the Union Square Neighborhood (Redevelopment) Plan and the Fiscal Impact Analysis study. This is a key meeting as this issue is approaching some key decision points.
• Weds, Dec. 9, 6 PM at City Hall – Board of Aldermen/Planning Board Public Hearing on 20% inclusionary affordable housing and medical marijuana dispensary zoning proposals
• Thurs, Dec. 10, 7 PM at City Hall – Board of Aldermen meeting with Public Hearing on income inequality
• Mon, Jan. 4, 6 PM at City Hall – Inauguration of all City elected officials. Mayor, President of the Board of Alderman and Chair of the School Committee give speeches.
• Weds, Jan 6, 6 PM at City Hall – Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. The 231 Lowell St development is on the agenda. Members of the public are invited to speak to the ZBA and share their thoughts on this proposed development

Please come to a Public Hearing this Wednesday Dec 9, 6 PM in City Hall on 20% inclusionary zoning for all new developments of 6+ units

My top priority as an Alderman is to advocate for building enough affordable housing so that the mixed-income, diverse nature of our community does not disappear. One way to add a lot of affordable housing is to increase the percentage of affordable units that developers are required by law to provide in new developments.

This Wednesday, you can actively support more affordable housing in Somerville! Come speak out for or just show up at a Public Hearing about an inclusionary zoning proposal to increase from 12 1/2% to 20% the percentage of apartments in new developments (minimum 6 units) that must be permanently affordable. Anyone will be allowed to speak for 2 minutes to this joint meeting of the Board of Aldermen Land Use Committee and the Planning Board. It is very important to show decision-makers in Somerville strong support for at least 20% of all new apartments being affordable. If you can’t attend, or prefer not to speak in public, you can email your comments to [email protected] and [email protected]

Fred Berman, a member of the Somerville Community Corporation Board of Directors, Ward 5 resident and expert on affordable housing, wrote a terrific letter that sums up what this new zoning aims to do and why it is so important now.

Future of the Green Line Extension (GLX)

The $2 billion GLX project, which would bring five new stations to Somerville and another to Medford at Tufts, is $700 million-$1 billion over budget and therefore its future is uncertain. There is no concrete news yet but the Secretary of Transportation is scheduled to make an announcement next Wednesday about the course that they plan to take. The Green Line Extension is desperately needed in Somerville and the key to redevelopment of Union Square.

Union Square redevelopment plans

There is a lot going on around the redevelopment of Union Square. The Administration issued a 150-page Union Square Neighborhood Plan in late October that describes how the entire, larger Union Square area might be redeveloped over the next 20-40 years. This plan is more a rough sketch than a definite plan. It is a draft and public comments will be accepted through the end of the year; send them to [email protected]. In November, a Fiscal Impact Analysis of the Plan was released. A consulting firm called LOCUS is conducting a series of meetings aimed at determining what should be in a community benefits agreement between developers, the City and the community. The key participants are 30 “Strategy Leaders” who the Administration chose to represent various constituencies in Union Square.

The issues are complex. I have studied all the documents, attended dozens of meetings about them, and have been discussing the Plan with many people. While the Administration is to be credited with an open process that has engaged hundreds of people, and some aspects of the plan (such as the changes in streets) have been positively received, I am worried about some of the directions in which the Plan seems headed. I am concerned about the sheer huge scale of development envisioned, the large number of housing units proposed (over 3,000!), the small amount of open space included, and the fact that the plan does not require enough commercial development on the two large parcels right next to the Green Line station at the train tracks on Prospect Street. Not to mention the core issue of current residents and businesses getting displaced as development proceeds and rents increase.

Another concern I have is that residential development will precede and crowd out commercial development. Will the real estate development cycle crash before commercial space gets built? The City needs commercial development, particularly office and R&D and lab space, because they create good jobs and bring in far more tax revenue than does housing. Right now the market for housing is white hot, so most developers want to build housing first because it is so lucrative. The Principal of LOCUS said that the real estate market, which he described as “boom and bust for the last 6,000 years,” is in the “seventh inning.” I’ve played a lot of baseball in my life and I know what that means: the end is near! That worries me in terms of whether we’ll get the commercial development the City needs in Union Square. If you are interested in learning more about these issues, commenting on the Neighborhood Plan, or reading the key documents, contact me.

Playing Fields

The Mayor was scheduled to give a major presentation on open space and playing fields in October. This week, we learned that this presentation will not happen until late January or February. The issue of whether to put artificial turf on the playing field at Lincoln Park will be part of this presentation, and another community meeting on this topic will also be scheduled.

The City has been negotiating access to and use of state-owned fields (Foss Park, Dilboy Auxiliary Fields, and Draw 7 Park) with the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. The slowness of these negotiations has been holding up the Administration’s plan. For more details, see this week’s Somerville Journal, Still No Action on Maintenance, Usage Strategy for Somerville Fields.

Update on 231 Lowell Street and some other development projects in Ward 5

(For more details on these projects, see my Nov 15, 2015 update)

231 Lowell Street (corner of Woodbine St, formerly Capital Mirror and Glass Co)

The Zoning Board of Appeals will consider the project on Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at 6 PM in City Hall. There will be a Public Hearing on the application and any member of the public may speak or email their comments to [email protected] or do both. The plans can be seen at: http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/151013_plans.pdf

There were two community meetings this year and the plans were modified. The developer, Steven Caruso, is now proposing 22 units in three separate structures, with three affordable units, four 3 BRs, and two commercial/retail storefronts at the corner. Neighbors expressed concern that there was insufficient parking, and the developer increased it from 22 spaces to 31. The developer will still need a variance for parking under the current zoning. While there was little opposition to the project expressed at the community meetings, many neighbors have signed a petition opposing the project because they believe there is still not enough parking. I believe this is a good project and there is sufficient parking – provided that the Lowell Street Green Line Station (to be located right across the street) is built by 2021 as promised. I am prepared to support this development unless the Green Line Lowell St. station is cancelled or significantly delayed.

Quik Mart, 290 Highland Ave (corner of Cedar St)

Demolition was supposed to begin in mid-October. I received a letter from the developer, Brent Brec, last week saying it would begin Saturday December 5th and last until mid-week.

Shield Gas Station & Mini Mart, 620 Broadway (Ball Square)

I learned this week that this project, although approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals, will not be built. The developer, Gorka Brabo, discovered that there is a clause in the deed that housing cannot be built for 40 years due to pollution on the site. A previous owner was concerned that they would be liable for cleanup costs. (Any developer would have to remediate any pollution, overseen by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection.) I was told that Mr. Brabo is considering building a commercial project on the site, but that such a development is unlikely. This was a pretty good project, right next to the future Ball Square Green Line station, and I am sorry to see that site remain a gas station.

Lucky Market, 54-56A Elm St (at Mossland St, near Porter Square)

The developer, Houman Baiany, told me a few weeks ago that he has been busy with other projects and has not been able to get started on this one. He said he is now in discussions with City officials about proceeding.

483 Medford Street, corner of Partridge Ave (formerly Piro Printing building)

The developer, Dr. Mouhab Rizkallah, recently met with the City Planning Department to show them a new proposed design and has shared that design with me. He wants to have a second community meeting to get neighbors’ feedback on the new design. I am currently talking with him about this.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Above: Quik Mart  on Highland Ave. and 231 Lowell St

November 9, 2015 Update: Current & Proposed Real Estate Development Projects in Ward 5:

There’s a lot of development happening in Ward 5 and around the City, despite uncertainty due to the Administration’s plan to reintroduce a comprehensive proposed overhaul of the City’s zoning code in March 2016.

Below are brief descriptions and photos of 10 development projects in Ward 5. If you have questions or concerns about any of these developments, please contact me.

My role as the Ward 5 Alderman is to keep neighbors informed about real estate developments and the permitting process; organize community meetings; help neighbors comment on and influence the developments; represent the views of neighbors to the developers and get them to make changes when desirable; and to weigh in during the permitting process on behalf of the neighbors.

My priorities are that developments be good for the neighborhood and the City. My goal is to maximize community benefits from developments. I push developers to include more affordable housing, family-sized units (3 bedroom or larger), and commercial and retail spaces (which generate more tax revenue for the City and create jobs here).

Brief update on the comprehensive zoning overhaul proposed by the Administration

The Administration’s proposal for an overhaul of the City’s zoning code this March had many positive elements, but also many serious problems. Following extensive public comment, the Board of Aldermen allowed the 90-day clock to run out and encouraged the Administration to come back with a new and better version. The City’s Planning Department is revising the initial proposal and will present a second version in March 2016. The Planning Dept. commissioned more than half-a-dozen studies on various issues, most of them requested by Aldermen. There will be a series of public meetings on key zoning issues, such as open space, affordable housing, economic development, transportation and parking, neighborhood residence zoning, and arts & the creative economy. The first one, on Open Space, is tentatively scheduled for Monday November 30 at 6 PM

Quik Mart, 290 Highland Ave (corner of Cedar St)

The developers, BREC LLC, received approval in June from the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) for a four-story building with seven condos of varying sizes and a commercial storefront on the first floor. (Six or seven units is common in Somerville because an eight-unit project triggers the City’s inclusionary ordinance which requires that one of the units to be permanently affordable.) Due to my insistence, one of the units will be affordable. Demolition was supposed to begin in mid-October but the permitting process often takes longer than developers expect. I supported this project following significant changes by the developer. The proposed development will fill out the corner and replace an ugly little cinderblock building and parking lot with an attractive modern structure.

231 Lowell Street (corner of Woodbine St, formerly Capital Mirror and Glass Co)

There were two community meetings this year and plans were modified as a result of community input. The developer, Steven Caruso, is now proposing 22 units in three separate structures, with three affordable units, four 3 BRs, and two commercial/retail storefronts at the corner. Neighbors expressed concern that there was insufficient parking, and the developer increased it from 22 spaces to 31. The developer will still need a variance for parking under the current zoning. The developer told me that a revised application would be submitted to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) this fall. At this point, I am prepared to support this development unless new information or concerns come to light.

Above: Shield Gas Station at 620 Broadway and the Diamond Club at Highland & Cherry

Shield Gas Station & Mini Mart, 620 Broadway (Ball Square)

There were two community meetings about this project. At the first meeting, the proposal was for 19 units, but that was dropped to 11 following complaints by some abutters and neighbors about parking. There will be only one affordable unit but half of the units will be three bedrooms. After a number of major design changes requested by the Planning Dept, this project was approved by the ZBA over the summer. The developers, Gorka and Laurenti Brabo, have done a number of highly-regarded projects in Somerville. The Shield gas station is still operating; I do not know when development will begin. The first thing to happen will be environmental remediation of the site, a strict process regulated by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Diamond Club, 311-315 Highland Ave (corner of Cherry St)

Construction has begun and you can see the frame growing on a weekly basis. There will be seven luxury condos and a first-floor commercial space. This project was positively received, although some concerns were raised at two neighborhood meetings. The developers, Gwen Simpkins and Theresa Nibi, have done several other highly-regarded projects in the area. I am disappointed that there is not an affordable unit. (This is actually in Ward 6, right across the street from Ward 5.)

Above: 35R Lexington and 53 Josephine Ave

35R Lexington Ave (visible from the Community Path near Cedar St)

This is the oldest of development projects in Ward 5, and perhaps in all of Somerville. A group of Lexington Ave abutters and their neighbors have been fighting this project since 1998. They have succeeded in reducing its size to the two single-family houses currently under construction, listed for sale at $1,500,000 and $1,856,000. The developer is Christos Poutahidis. Neighbors have had many complaints about his work in the past. Late last year, neighbors raised concerns about drainage, groundwater, and flooding. After a community meeting at which City officials made it clear that a certificate of occupancy would not be granted until those issues are satisfactorily addressed, the City Engineer told the developer to prepare a revised drainage plan. While construction continues, the revised drainage plan has not yet been submitted. As a result, the timeline for completion of the project is uncertain.

53 Josephine Ave (across from the Brown School)

This fire-ravaged, boarded-up 3-family will be demolished and then rebuilt similar to what was there before. The developer, Randall Conrad, sent a letter in late September saying that demolition would begin in early October. His demolition permit has been delayed because the traffic plan was not adequate. Some worries were expressed because the building is across the street from a school, but I have spoken with Mr. Conrad and City officials, and I do not believe there is reason for concern.

Above: Sons of Italy , 563-565 Broadway and Lucky Market, 54-56A Elm St.

Sons of Italy, 563-565 Broadway (across from Trum Field)

This building is mostly in Medford, with just a corner over the Somerville line in Ward 5. It is 11 units with a clubhouse for the Sons of Italy Lodge on the first floor. It was permitted by both cities and construction is moving along quickly.

Lucky Market, 54-56A Elm St (at Mossland St, near Porter Square)

The developer, Houman Baiany, received a permit this spring from the ZBA to redevelop the vacant store on the corner into an improved commercial space and to add one apartment on the second floor. I have not heard from him and am surprised that work has not yet begun; I do not know what his plans are.

483 Medford Street, corner of Partridge Ave (formerly Piro Printing building)

Dr. Mouhab Rizkallah, owner of the large dental office in Davis Square on College Ave and many properties around Somerville, owns this property. Dr. Rizkallah presented two rough plans for development at a community meeting in July. Both plans would keep the current structure and add two or three floors above the one-story commercial space at the corner. There was opposition from an immediate abutter and some concerns from others, but most attendees wanted the ugly building to be improved. No plans have been submitted yet to the City. Dr. Rizkallah said that he plans to fix the property up and hold it indefinitely and while he wants to develop it, he may not do so right away.

Potential Development: Royal White Laundry, and Faulkner Oil Building, (on Cedar St next to the Community Path Extension)

The laundry ceased operations in late 2014. Jim Douglas, a developer who is currently building the two 3-family row houses on Warwick Street, has an option to purchase the property in 2016. On the other side of the Community Path Extension is the Faulkner Oil Building, where the Chamber of Commerce has its office. The owners of that building, the Dupuis Family, are considering developing it but I am not aware of their plans.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Above: Affordable Housing Development (left) and a Butchered Tree with Electric Wires (right)

In this edition:

• Affordable housing: Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group recommendations coming soon; 20% inclusionary zoning proposed to the Board of Aldermen for all new developments of 6+ units
• Aldermen pushing the Administration to care better for City’s trees

Affordable housing: Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group recommendations coming soon; 20% inclusionary zoning proposed for all new developments of 6+ units

My top priority as an Alderman is to work with the Mayor, my colleagues and other City leaders to get enough affordable housing built so that the mixed-income nature of our community does not disappear. As the Mayor says, “We must not lose our soul.” Somerville is becoming less diverse socio-economically, as low-income, and increasingly, middle-income individuals and families are being displaced by the rising cost of housing. Many of those being displaced have lived here for years and contributed a great deal to the community.

For generations, Somerville has been a place where working class, professional, immigrant, and low-income households lived side-by-side, in recent years in increasing harmony. But the way things are going now, in 10-20 years, only two-income professional families and rich people will be able to live here. Unless we take bold and decisive action now, the demographics of our City will change.

As Co-chair (with Dana LeWinter, the City’s former Housing Director) of the Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group (SNWG), appointed by the Mayor in March 2015, I am working with the City’s Housing Director Michael Feloney and his staff and 29 volunteer members of the SNWG on recommendations to the Mayor for actions the City can take to preserve and expand affordable housing in Somerville.

There are three key SNWG meetings in the next month, when it will be voting on policy proposals to recommend to the Mayor for action. (If you’re interested in attending these public meetings, the next two are Weds October 14 and Weds Oct 21, 6 PM, both at the Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell St, 3rd floor Community Room.)

Among the proposals are some that would raise millions of dollars for affordable housing such as:

• a one percent transfer tax on all real-estate transactions in Somerville
• an increase in the affordable housing linkage fee for large commercial construction projects.

There are major policy issues on the table, such as:

• revising the condominium conversion ordinance,
• a right-of-first refusal for tenants to buy apartments that are being sold,
• zoning changes, and
• alternative home ownership models.

Also under discussion is whether the City’s goal for housing development over the next 20 years should be kept at 6,000 units, or increased to 9,000, as the Mayor has proposed. The City is already moving ahead with the “100 Homes” program, the goal of which is for the Somerville Community Corporation (the only affordable housing developer in Somerville) to purchase 2-, 3- and 4-family houses and, using government subsidies, make the apartments permanently affordable.

20% inclusionary zoning proposed to Board of Aldermen for all new developments of 6+ units

At the October 8th Board of Aldermen (BOA) meeting, we received a petition from 511 residents supporting an increase in the inclusionary zoning rate from 12.5% to 20% throughout the City, as well as a zoning petition from 11 registered voters that requires the BOA to consider this and several other zoning changes in the inclusionary (affordable) housing zoning.

The most important change would require developers of six units or more anywhere in Somerville to reserve 20% of them as affordable housing units forever. (Tenants or owners are selected in a lottery by the City’s Housing Department). Other changes would give preference to people who have been displaced recently and streamline the application process for affordable units. You can see the two petitions, proposed new inclusionary zoning language, as well as all the signers’ names here.

I wholeheartedly support these proposed changes. Over the summer, I worked with the group that proposed these changes, lead by the Somerville Community Corporation’s (SCC) Affordable Housing Organizing Committee. These petitions are truly a grassroots response to Somerville’s affordable housing crisis, the community crying out for an increase in affordable housing now.

The first step in considering this proposed change to the zoning code will be a Public Hearing before the Planning Board and the Board of Aldermen at which anyone will have an opportunity to speak. The Planning Board will make a (non-binding) recommendation to the BOA and then the BOA Land Use Committee will meet to consider the proposal, which will require a 2/3 vote of the full BOA to pass.

Fred Berman, a member of the SCC Board of Directors, Ward 5 resident and activist and expert on affordable housing issues, wrote a terrific 1½-page letter to the BOA that sums up what this new zoning aims to do and why it is so important at this time in Somerville. You can read Fred's letter here.

Aldermen pushing the Administration to care better for City’s trees

Many people in Somerville are passionate about trees. Over the past couple weeks, I’ve heard from several people about Eversource (the electric utility formerly known as NStar) butchering (they call it pruning) trees in our neighborhoods to clear branches from around the electric and other utility wires. Aldermen all over the City received similar calls and emails.

This is just the latest of the many concerns about our City government’s care for our public trees. To be fair, Mayor Curtatone has done a lot: he committed the City to increasing its tree cover and backed that up by putting funds to plant 500 trees a year in the budget for several years. At my request and that of several other Aldermen to hire a full-time city arborist, the Mayor put $60,000 into the budget this year to hire a contract arborist.

Despite the Curtatone Administration’s good intentions, there are many areas for improvement in the way that the City takes care of our trees. I often receive complaints from constituents about tree care. These complaints range from poor communication to neighbors when a public tree is cut down, to requests for new trees that have not been fulfilled (I have been asking for three dead trees in Magoun Square to be replaced for over a year!), to carelessness by paving contractors that kills trees, to garbage and large weeds in tree wells, to young trees dying because they are not watered.

While the folks in City government who care for our trees work hard, they don’t have enough time in their busy workdays to pay adequate attention to our trees.

But I do feel progress is being made. We had an excellent and encouraging discussion at the BOA Committee on Open Space, the Environment, and Energy on Tuesday evening October 6th. For the first time in my two years on the Board, we had the key players together for a comprehensive public discussion about caring for our trees. Committee Chair Katjana Ballantyne did a great job of structuring the discussion so that we talked about the big issues and also addressed the eight separate agenda items relating to trees.

Responsibility for the City’s trees is split between the City’s Tree Warden, Steve MacEachern, who works in DPW and whose main responsibility is the City’s streets, and Rachel Kelly, the City’s Green Infrastructure Coordinator who works under Brad Rawson, the Director of the Transportation and Infrastructure in the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD). Mr. MacEachern and Mr. Rawson were at the meeting on October 6th, and they gave us a full and detailed account.

DPW is responsible for all tree maintenance, and has its own crew, but the City tree crew also has many other responsibilities. The City contracts with an arborist who spends about two days a month in Somerville inspecting trees and making recommendations. OSPCD is in charge of planting all new trees and contracts with a landscaping company which for about $1,000 per tree, plants all new trees and maintains them under warranty for three years. The two departments work together to determine which type of trees are planted.

We learned that the City’s 11,000 public trees may be worth as much as $10-20 million in terms of their replacement value. Alderman Tony Lafuente suggested that rather than hiring two separate contractors who work part-time for almost $100,000 a year, the City could create a full-time arborist position. I agree. A full-time arborist could provide what the City desperately needs: a champion for our trees, someone who will fight for them and watch out for them so that they are not neglected and harmed by contractors, someone who can organize, teach and engage residents in caring for the trees on their block and in their neighborhood. Many of us Aldermen will be pushing the Mayor to put funds to hire a full-time City arborist in next year’s budget. You can help by writing to the Mayor, your Ward Alderman and the four Aldermen-at-Large who serve citywide.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Above: Community Path Ext Ribbon Cutting (left) and a Bird's Eye view of Lincoln Park (right)

In this edition:

• Community Path and Green Line Extensions: Good news and bad
• Artificial turf wars: Lincoln Park, athletic fields and turf vs. grass
• Traffic calming: Much easier now to petition the Traffic Commission for speed bumps
• Fire Dept headquarters and the taking of 515 Somerville Ave

Community Path and Green Line Extensions: Good news and bad

First the good news. The Community Path Extension from Cedar to Lowell St officially opened on August 19th. While it took too long to finish, and there’s too much impervious surface, it is lovely, especially in the evening. The City installed minimally-adequate safety measures on Lowell Street where the ramp comes up at the end of the CPX. My main concern – that unaware pedestrians and bicyclists coming to the end and exiting onto Lowell St from the ramp would cross Lowell St and get mowed down by some lunatic driving over the bridge at 40 MPH – has been avoided, but more safety measures and traffic calming are still needed. I have spoken with City officials and the Mayor, and they have assured me that another crosswalk and other safety measures will be installed, but not until next year.

Unfortunately, this has been overshadowed by the bad news that the price tag on the Green Line Extension (GLX) that will add six new stations through the heart of Somerville shot up by $700 million - $1 billion. This is a complicated and developing story with good coverage in the Boston Globe and Somerville Journal, see for example this Q&A piece on September 3rd: http://somerville.wickedlocal.com/article/20150903/NEWS/150908804/12581/NEWS

One of the best things I’ve read is this editorial by the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership http://www.somervillestep.org/the-entire-green-line-extension-must-be-built-heres-steps-position-on-how-to-move-forward/

STEP is a local activist group with a number of leaders who are experts in the transportation field. STEP is advising people: “If you believe the Green Line extension is important to Somerville’s future, this is the time to send your comments to Mass DOT and the MBTA. Send emails to [email protected] and [email protected].”

Since a lot of people have asked me what is likely to happen, and there’s been a lot of speculation, I’ll share briefly my sense of this evolving situation. Mayor Curtatone is in regular contact with the Governor’s Office and state agencies and says he is confident that the project will be built according to the current plans, but likely without the bells and whistles. That is fine with me. He said that while the state will make adjustments to the budget, he does not believe that there can be a change in the scope of work due to the $1 billion federal grant whose terms are difficult to change. They will simplify the station designs, possibly rebid the contract and/or look for new contractors, and seek out public-private partnerships with investments from developers. The state will also need to come up with additional funds to make up part of the shortfall.

At this point, it seems to me likely GLX will be built roughly as planned. The state has already invested over $300 million in construction and $200 million to purchase steel. The Commonwealth is legally and morally obligated to build GLX as a condition of the long-ago completed Big Dig and there is a court order in place to force it to do so. The economic benefits -- to Cambridge, Somerville, Medford and the state in terms of tax revenue -- will be huge.

There are likely to be additional delays; already the timeline for the Union Square and Washington Street stations has been pushed back to mid-2018 and the other four stations to 2021. My main concern, which I expressed at the August 27th Board of Aldermen meeting, is that community benefits from developers such as US2 in Union Square will be taken by the state to help with the shortfall for GLX. This would reduce developers’ contributions for affordable housing, open space, public buildings, and job training. I am all for public-private partnerships in building the GLX, and for developers contributing (it worked in Assembly Square with the new Orange Line MBTA stop there), but not at the expense of our community benefits.

Artificial turf wars: Lincoln Park, athletic fields and artificial turf vs. grass

The Board of Aldermen received a petition signed by 671 people on August 27th against the Administration’s plan to install an artificial turf soccer field at Lincoln Park. In June, a dozen parents and youth soccer league players spoke out in favor of artificial turf at Lincoln Park at the Public Hearing on the FY 2016 budget. I’ve received dozens of emails from parents of youth soccer players this year arguing that Somerville needs another artificial turf soccer field. This is one of the top issues in the City now in terms of resident concern and passion. The partisans are passionate and articulate and also all good people, mostly parents who care deeply about children and the community. My fear is that not only it gets ugly but that good people will spend a huge amount of time fighting each other over this issue. Both sides are right! We just have too few fields for all the people who want to use them. How do we resolve this painful issue in as fair a way as possible?

While Lincoln Park is not in my ward, and decisions about athletic fields are completely up to the Mayor, whatever decision he makes is likely to come before the Board of Aldermen for funding, so at some point we are likely to become involved. So here are my current thoughts on this topic.

I think there are two things that everyone can agree on. In the long term, we need more athletic fields in Somerville for our growing and increasingly active population. I have been pushing the Mayor and key department heads for over a year to make this a top priority for the City. I am hopeful we can get more fields from the state, but it will likely take years and will not solve the immediate problem of what to do at Lincoln Park. We need viable and safe soccer fields for the 1,000 kids in the Somerville Youth Soccer League and other youth soccer programs.

Second, the grass fields should be better maintained. Nobody I have spoken with believes the DPW is doing as good a job as possible in maintaining the fields. I am not sure why this is, and I don’t blame it on the workers but on management. Either the DPW does not have enough resources or enough expertise or both. With the exception of Trum Field, which proves that it’s possible, none of our grass fields are in tip-top condition. I asked the DPW Commissioner point blank during his budget presentation in June what additional resources were needed to improve the fields and he replied that given their heavy use, no improvement is possible. I am not convinced.

In terms of what to do at Lincoln Park, initially I agreed with the Administration that there should be artificial turf at Lincoln Park. Now I am not so sure. New information and questions have emerged. Given the persistent questions that have been raised by many people, I think the Administration needs to provide answers to those questions and reexamine their proposal to artificial turf the field at Lincoln Park. Some of the key questions are about usage of our fields. For example, why are outside adult sports groups allowed to use our fields when we don’t have enough fields for our own kids? Why are our own youth sports leagues required to pay to use our fields? Why is Lincoln Park used twice as heavily as any other field? How might field usage be shifted to retain grass there?

The September 2014 recommendations of the Somerville Fields Task Force, made up of a large number of stakeholders from different groups, seem to have been ignored by the Administration. A three-page summary provides a good road map for addressing the fields shortage. The Administration should dust this report off and use it to chart the way forward. Interestingly, it recommends grass for Lincoln Park.

Maryann Heuston, the Ward 2 Alderman, which includes Lincoln Park and Conway Park (next to the skating rink on Somerville Ave.), has suggested that Conway Park get artificial turf and Lincoln Park remain grass (but be completely renovated). The field at Lincoln is used for a wide range of activities, whereas Conway is exclusively used for competitive sports. I think this is an alternative worth exploring.

In a four-page position paper, Alderman Heuston wrote that the City needs to develop a City-wide, comprehensive strategy for programming and for design, maintenance, and location of athletic fields. I agree. Before putting artificial turf on Lincoln Park, or making any irrevocable decisions, the Administration needs to develop such a strategy.

While I would love not to have artificial turf anywhere in Somerville, I don’t think that is feasible. I am not willing to rule out artificial turf because we are a small city of four square miles with 80,000 people, one of the densest cities in the country, and it is important for the health of our residents and especially our young people that they have safe athletic fields to play on. We already have two artificial turf fields, plus Dilboy Stadium. The soccer field behind the Capuano School at Glen Park has been a huge success and is heavily used by youth soccer and neighborhood kids. I have heard few complaints about it. There are major drawbacks to both grass and artificial turf, neither alone is the solution to our problems.

If Somerville does get another artificial turf field however, it must NOT use pellets made of crumb rubber, which many have alleged is carcinogenic, but rather pellets made from safer natural materials such as coconut fiber or cork. There are such fields on the market and some in the Greater Boston area. If that costs more, it’s worth it. Also, in my view, cost is not the major issue here – for turf or grass. We need to spend whatever is necessary so that our kids have safe places to be play sports and so that there are open green spaces that residents can enjoy.

The Board of Aldermen Committee on Open Space, the Environment and Energy will meet next Wednesday September 16th at 6 PM in City Hall and will discuss this issue. It is a public meeting and you are invited to attend. There will also be a Public Hearing on this issue, the date of which will hopefully be announced at that meeting. Check the Board of Aldermen calendar on the City website or email me if you want to know when the Public Hearing will be held.

Traffic calming: Much easier now for residents to petition the Traffic Commission for speed bumps

As Bill Shelton put it in his August 19th Somerville Times column, “Empowering neighbors to calm their streets,” “Last month it got a lot easier for neighbors plagued by motorists speeding down narrow residential streets to do something about it. Aldermen, City staff, citizens and the Mayor’s office worked together to make it happen.” I worked closely with Ward 3 Alderman Bob McWatters and the Mayor’s office to change the regulations to make it easier for residents to take back their streets. Read Shelton’s excellent article http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/60878

On July 16th, the Traffic Commission voted unanimously for new regulations for resident petitions for traffic calming measures, including new criteria for decisions about speed bumps, raised crosswalks, curb extensions, bumpouts, etc. The changes in Article 14 of the City’s Traffic Regulations means that if you want to petition the Traffic Commission for a speed bump on your street, you only need nine signatures for them to consider your request. Previously, signatures from 66% of the housing units on the affected streets were required – an overwhelming task on all but the tiniest streets. A copy of the instructions and petition form can be found HERE http://www.parksomerville.com/images/permit-info/Traffic-Calming-Info.pdf and http://www.parksomerville.com/images/permits/Traffic-Calming-Permit.pdf

You can find a description of the Somerville Neighborhood Traffic Management and Calming Program on pp. 55-58 HERE http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/current-traffic-regs.pdf

In Somerville, the Traffic Commission has complete power over all traffic and parking issues, including fees and fines. The Board of Alderman has no official power in these areas. However, support from an Alderman will often help in an appeal to the Traffic Commission. So please contact me, or your ward Alderman if you are not in Ward 5, or an Alderman-at-Large for help and assistance with any traffic and parking issues you may have.

Fire Dept headquarters and the taking of 515 Somerville Avenue

In early July, there was a Public Hearing at which several dozen people spoke, most of them opposing the Administration’s request to the Board of Aldermen (BOA) for a bond of $5 million to take a large empty lot at 515 Somerville Avenue by eminent domain for the City to build a new Fire Dept Headquarters. The Finance Committee met twice that week to discuss this issue. We Aldermen were not impressed with the Administration’s case. In my view, the Administration had not considered many key questions that members of the public were asking. It looked as if they had hastily put together a poorly-developed proposal because a site that they considered ideal was available and empty. The Administration has been unclear about the locations for other fire stations, raising questions about coverage. Many believe, as do I, that we need a fire station to cover the middle and east part of Union Square as well as coverage for Assembly Square. With all the new development likely in the next decade or two, the Administration needs to present a comprehensive plan for fire station deployment, not just a plan for headquarters.

The Mayor has commissioned a study and will come back to the BOA with a revised plan in the future. I am confident that under the leadership of Finance Chair Tony Lafuente the BOA will look at this issue with the reasonable skepticism that any proposed eminent domain taking deserves.

Finally, the City should expect large private developers such as US2 in Union Square and Federal Realty Investment Trust in Assembly Square to bear a significant part of the cost for new public safety facilities.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this edition:

• Reports on Lowell St bridge and Cedar St traffic calming community meetings
• Green Line Extension: Lowell/Magoun and Ball Square station design meetings
• The affordable housing crisis in Somerville
• June meetings of interest to Ward 5 residents and others

Reports on Lowell St bridge and Cedar St traffic calming community meetings

Fifty people attended the Lowell St bridge area meeting on May 11. The good news is that all the players who make key decisions about traffic issues in that area were represented: Mass Dept. of Transportation (which controls the bridge), leaders of the Green Line Extension team, and City department heads from Traffic and Parking, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Public Works. The bad news is that City staff was completely unprepared for the meeting. Despite the fact that two previous community meetings had featured detailed presentations with traffic safety plans for the bridge area, there was no presentation and no plan to deal with the impending danger of the opening of the Community Path Extension ramp right onto the bridge. DPW Commissioner Stan Koty announced that the Path is scheduled to open on June 15, leaving little time to engineer and implement traffic calming measures.

After many community members and I expressed our displeasure, disappointment and anger that no plan is in place to deal with the danger of cyclists and pedestrians emerging onto the bridge from the Community Path ramp, City officials said they are earnestly working on a plan with their colleagues from the state. They stated that they will present those plans at the Green Line Extension Lowell St. & Gilman Square station design meeting on June 16 (see details below). I have been told that the Cedar Street raised traffic table will not be completed until late June and that the likely opening date for the Path Extension will be delayed from June 15th until later this summer.

The meeting about Cedar Street between Highland Ave and Broadway, attended by 35 people, featured an excellent presentation. Traffic engineers from Design Consultants Inc. and City Director of Capital Projects Rob King presented a detailed plan for chicanes (curves in the roadway with parking on alternating sides of the street, similar to what is now on Lowell Street around the bridge) with concrete bumpouts on key corners. (If you’d like to see these plans, send me an email.)

Over the next two years, portions of Cedar Street will be closed to traffic for significant periods of time. Beginning this summer, and continuing through 2016, Cedar from Highland Ave to Elm St will be torn up and a new sewer system installed. The work on the northern stretch of Cedar St. will also require street closings this summer.

Green Line Extension: Ball Square and Lowell/Magoun station design meetings

I attended the Ball Square & College Ave. station design meeting on May 14th. The large plaza and landscaping in front of the station entrance should be a wonderful addition to the Ball Square area. The headhouse will be on the north side of Broadway, adjacent to the bridge, at the intersection of Boston Ave. Here is a link to the presentation from the meeting (pdf).

Also in the Ball Square area, a four-story, 11-unit apartment building with two commercial spaces on the ground floor and 15 parking spaces has been proposed for the Shield Gas Station site (620 Broadway). The developers, the Brabo Brothers, are revising their proposal after discussions with the City’s Planning Department and me. Two community meetings were held in 2014, and the neighbors who attended were mostly positive about it. You can see the plans on this webpage. If you would like to be informed about the progress of this development, please let me know.

The Green Line Extension Lowell St. & Gilman Square station design meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, June 16 (see details below). I am hoping that detailed plans for the Lowell St bridge area will be presented at this meeting. I encourage you to attend if you are concerned.

The affordable housing crisis in Somerville

Recently, a single-family home on Foskett St near Davis Square sold for $1.7 million, an all-time Somerville record. Median sales price data from the authoritative Warren Group show an increase of almost 50% in the value of single family homes and condos over the past five years. Prices for two- and three-family homes have appreciated at a similar rate. Investors and developers are purchasing properties at anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 above asking price, all cash, without an inspection, no contingencies. Bidding wars have become the norm. The five Green Line Extension stations are still at least two to five years away; imagine what will happen to housing prices once they are open!

Not only working class families, but many middle-class professional families have been priced out of the Somerville housing market. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is now almost $2,200. Many of our City employees cannot afford to live in Somerville. I have friends, mostly young couples with children, who have moved to Arlington and even Belmont because they can’t afford Somerville or can’t find a big enough unit to buy in this frenzied housing market.

What does this mean for our Somerville community, historically a place where working class, professional, immigrant, and low-income households have lived side-by-side, in recent years in increasing harmony? It seems that in 10-20 years, only two-income professional families and rich people will be able to live here. The changes in the price of housing may well change the very nature of our community, in terms of who can afford to live here.

My top priority as an Alderman is to work with the Mayor and other City leaders figure out a way to get enough affordable housing built so that the mixed-income nature of our community does not change. In racial and ethnic terms, our city is actually becoming more diverse. But Somerville is becoming less diverse socio-economically, as low-income, and increasingly, middle-income families are being displaced by the rising cost of housing.

As Co-chair of the Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group, appointed by the Mayor in March 2015, I am working with the City’s Housing Dept staff and the 29 members of the SNWG to make recommendations to the Mayor for City actions the City to preserve and expand affordable housing in Somerville. (See below for info about the next SNWG meeting.)

I chair the SNWG Resources Committee, and we have recommended that the Mayor push for a 1-3% transfer tax on all real estate transactions in Somerville, with the funds raised to be used exclusively for affordable housing.

One small success story: I was able to get the developer of the Quik Mart site (290 Highland Ave) at the corner of Highland Ave and Cedar St, Brent Berc of BREC LLC, to include an affordable unit in this 7-unit development, which will also have a commercial space on the ground floor. Current zoning only requires affordable units in developments of eight or more units. This is why I am considering proposing a 20% citywide inclusionary housing ordinance, which would require one-in-five apartments in any new development be permanently affordable.

Upcoming meetings of interest to Ward 5 residents and others

• Ward 5 Resistat Meeting, Tuesday June 2, Kennedy School cafetorium, 5 Cherry St. Pizza and schmoozing at 6 PM, presentation at 6:30. Mayor Curtatone’s twice-yearly meeting where residents can speak with neighbors, elected officials, and city staff to get City news and neighborhood updates.
• Board of Aldermen Land Use Committee of the Whole will meet to discuss the Administration’s proposed zoning overhaul on Thursday, June 4 at 6 PM in City Hall, Aldermen’s Chambers.
• Mayor’s FY 2016 Budget presentation, tentatively scheduled for Thursday June 4, 7:30 PM in City Hall. Check the City calendar at www.somervillema.gov to be sure.
• Green Line Extension Lowell St & Gilman Square station design presentation, Tuesday, June 16, 6 PM at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, main hall.
• Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group, Wednesday June 24, 6:30 PM, location to be announced.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this edition: 

• Major safety improvements coming to key Ward 5 streets this spring and summer
• Update on progress and prospects of the proposed zoning overhaul
• Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group and the affordable housing crisis
• Plastic bag ban, anti-nepotism, pervious surface requirements and other legislation
• Upcoming public meetings of interest to Ward 5 residents and others

Major safety improvements coming to key Ward 5 streets this Spring

Lowell, Cedar, and Porter Streets will all see major changes this spring and Linden Avenue will finally be paved this spring or summer. The speed limits on Lowell and Porter Streets were reduced this month from 30 to 25 mph. Yes, this is still too high! Our State Rep. Denise Provost has been working for years to reduce the speed limit throughout the City and Mayor Curtatone has joined this effort.

With the reduction in speed on Lowell Street, crosswalks can now be placed on either end of the Lowell Street bridge – something residents have demanded for years. It’s especially needed with the impending opening of the Community Path Extension ramp right onto the bridge. There will be a community meeting Monday, May 11 at 6:30 PM at the Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell St to discuss placement of the crosswalks, improving the chicanes that were installed last June, and other safety measures for the Lowell Street bridge corridor. Please come and bring your concerns and ideas! I will be advocating for a raised traffic-calming table or speed bumps on either side of the bridge to force vehicles to slow as they go over the bridge.

Cedar Street between Highland Ave and Broadway will be repaved this summer. A plan for chicanes (similar to what is now on Lowell Street around the bridge) will be presented at a community meeting on Monday, May 18at 6:30 PM at the Visiting Nurse Association, 259 Lowell St. The long-awaited raised traffic-calming table at the Community Path will likely be built sometime in May or June. The Community Path extension from Cedar to Lowell Streets is looking good and will be finished…sometime. I’ve heard both late spring or by the end of the summer.

Beginning in the spring of 2016, Cedar Street from Highland Avenue to Elm Street will be torn up and then repaved and improved with a complete replacement of the sewer system. This should stop the flash floods in the bowl on Cedar St at the intersection of Hall St and Cedar Ave.

Thank you to the many Ward 5 residents who have written or spoken to me and other City officials about your concerns about the excessive speed of traffic in our streets. We need changes in city and state laws and regulations to get the right balance between motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. I expect this to be a major focus of my work as Ward 5 Alderman in the years to come…should I have the good fortune to be re-elected in November.

Update on progress and prospects of the proposed zoning overhaul

The Curtatone Administration’s proposal for a comprehensive overhaul of the City’s zoning code may expire without a formal vote by the Board of Aldermen (BOA) when the 90-day window after the closing of the official public comment period ends in late June. A number of aldermen wanted to vote it down immediately, but I and others argued that even if there are too many major problems to resolve in 90 days, we should try to figure out if they could be fixed.

While there are many good things in the Administration’s proposal and a lot to build on, there are also many major problems in it. The Planning Department received an estimated 300 communications from the public with over 1,000 individual comments, questions, and concerns. I have read most of them, and quite a few are detailed, brilliant critiques. I submitted a five-page memo on my Issues page with concerns and questions about the proposal.

The Land Use Committee of the Whole BOA will meet again on Wednesday, May 6 at 6 PM in City Hall to hear the Administration’s responses to the criticisms. I am very much looking forward to this presentation. I think it will tell us to what extent the Administration is willing to move from its initial proposal and whether there is hope for common ground. Any change to the zoning law requires a two-thirds vote of the BOA, the votes of eight Aldermen. You can find information about the proposed new zoning code at http://www.somervillema.gov/zoning/

Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group (SNWG) and the affordable housing crisis

After a slow start following the Mayor’s October 2014 announcement, this group has met twice and is quickly getting up to speed. The goal is to make recommendations in September on the six areas the Mayor asked the SNWG to explore and other affordable housing initiatives. I am delighted to be Co-chairing with Dana LeWinter, the City’s former Housing Director, and to be working with the City’s excellent Housing Dept staff. SNWG consists of 29 experienced, diverse and well-qualified people. The next meeting is Tuesday April 28, 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell St, 3rd floor Community Room and is open to the public. One interesting and controversial topic on the agenda is Mayor Curtatone’s desire to increase the Somervision strategic plan goals for housing units in Somerville in the next 20 years from 6,000 (1,200 affordable) to 9,000 (1,800 affordable).

Plastic bag ban, anti-nepotism, pervious surface improvements and other legislation

I am a member of the BOA’s Legislative Matters Cmte (LM), which crafts ordinances (laws) and sends them to the full BOA for consideration. LM has been working on a number of important issues this year, and we are getting close to decisions on some of them. Several cities in Massachusetts and around the country have enacted plastic bag bans. Recently, Cambridge passed a “Bring Your Own Bag” law that not only will ban plastic bags but will require stores to charge for paper bags. I am looking to copy the most effective best practices on plastic bag bans for our ordinance.

We have been deliberating on an anti-nepotism ordinance that in its current draft version would preclude relatives of the Board of Aldermen or the Mayor from getting full-time, benefitted City jobs.

Since the City has a huge flooding problem, we’re working on strengthening the ordinance that limits pavement to require more pervious surfaces. There are also some interesting proposals in the hopper which I hope we will get to later this year, such as a re-introduction of the “pay to play” campaign finance reform which Mayor Curtatone vetoed last year.

Upcoming public meetings of interest to Ward 5 residents and others

• Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group, Tuesday April 28, 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell St, 3rd floor Community Room.
• Land Use Committee of the Whole Board of Aldermen, Wednesday, May 6, 6 PM in City Hall, Aldermen's Chambers.
• Lowell Street bridge corridor traffic calming community meeting, Monday, May 11 at 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell St, 3rd floor Community Room.
• Cedar Street (Highland to Broadway) traffic calming community meeting, Monday, May 18 at 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell St, 3rd floor Community Room.
• Ward 5 Resistat Meeting, Tuesday June 2, Kennedy School cafetorium, 5 Cherry St., pizza and schmoozing at 6 PM, meeting begins 6:30. (This is Mayor Curtatone’s twice-yearly meeting to share the latest City news and neighborhood updates directly with residents and gather feedback.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this update:

• Zoning overhaul: Ward 5 Information Meeting and Workshop on the Administration’s proposed City zoning code overhaul -- Monday, March 16, 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell St, 3rd Floor Community Room
• Snow shoveling deadline changed back to six consecutive daylight hours
• Plastic bag ban to be discussed Thursday night March 19, 6 PM in Legislative Matters Committee
• Union Square development controversy over key D2 and D3 parcels: BOA resolution prioritizing commercial development

Zoning overhaul Information Meeting and Workshop

If you are uninterested in zoning, believe me, I understand. However, it is super important for the future of Somerville. If the Administration’s zoning overhaul is passed by the Board of Aldermen, it will generate enormous changes in the City’s built environment. This Ward 5 community meeting is a good opportunity to meet neighbors, learn more about the proposed changes, ask questions, raise concerns, and discuss the impact on specific properties and areas in Ward 5.

I am still learning about what’s in the current draft of the proposed new ordinance (the current draft is 285 pages long); it’s like peeling back the layers of an onion. I will be sharing some of my initial concerns at the meeting. Very briefly, some of them are: not enough open and green space required; not enough affordable housing required; too much housing could be built at the expense of commercial development; the new proposed public process to approve larger developments will reduce the influence of neighbors and the community, and many others. (If you would like to know my specific concerns, please email me, I am writing them up over the weekend and will share them with you.) You can find information about the proposed new zoning code at http://www.somervillema.gov/zoning/

Snow shoveling deadline changed back to six consecutive daylight hours

On Monday night March 9th, the Legislative Matters Committee of the Whole voted to change the snow shoveling deadline back to what it had been: six consecutive daylight hours after the end of snowfall. (We also voted to reduce the required width of a shoveled path from 42’ to 36’, which is the Federal ADA requirement.)

The snow shoveling deadline has been one of the most challenging issues I have had as an Alderman. I have heard from and discussed it with scores of constituents. Eight Aldermen discussed and debated this question for two hours. There is no solution that works for everyone. The previous rule of six consecutive daylight hours seems like the least bad solution, and better than the 10 AM and 10 PM deadlines that so many people objected to. Its biggest shortcoming is that if the snow ends in the morning, the deadline would be that afternoon, which will be difficult for many residents to comply with. However, the Administration assured us that Inspectors do not ticket homeowners on the day of a snowstorm, so despite the official deadline, residents will in practice have until the following day to clear their sidewalks before risking a ticket.

Plastic bag ban to be discussed Thursday night in Legislative Matters Committee

Last year, in the Environment and Energy Committee, at the initiative of Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz, we held several discussions and a Public Hearing about a proposed ordinance to restrict stores from using plastic shopping bags. It’s now in the Legislative Matters Committee. I believe there are some significant weaknesses in the current draft ordinance and plan to push to revise it to make it more inclusive, tougher and to close some loopholes.

Cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Mexico City and even the state of California and some entire countries have passed plastic bag bans. In Massachusetts, Brookline, Nantucket, Manchester, and Great Barrington have passed bans. The draft we are considering is based on Brookline’s law. Clint Richmond, a Brookline resident and member of the Massachusetts Sierra Club Legislative Action Committee will attend our meeting on Thursday night to discuss the Sierra Club’s recommendations for a Somerville plastic bag ban that will be even stronger and more effective than Brookline’s.

Union Square development controversy over key D2 and D3 parcels: BOA resolution prioritizing commercial development

After hearing many expressions of shock, alarm, and dismay by residents and activists in Union Square, I worked with President Bill White to write a resolution expressing the Board of Aldermen’s concern. Eight of the nine Aldermen present at the meeting last night co-sponsored the resolution, which you can see here.

On February 26, US2 (Union Square Station Associates), the Master Developer working in partnership with the City, presented “Giving Shape to D2/D3,” their initial program for developing the two parcels that abut the future Green Line subway station. The Administration has tasked US2 with developing them as soon as possible since the T station will open in 2017. (Many concerns have been raised about this aggressive timeline and the planning process itself.) US2’s initial recommendations include 925 small apartments, 500 of them in the key D2 bloc. Many people are concerned that this would preclude far more important commercial development on D2 and D3. See the Somerville Journal editorial 

This week, the City Planning Department held a three-day “Union Square Design Charrette,” attended by hundreds of people who worked together with designers, planners, and architects to begin to flesh out what a redeveloped Union Square might look like. I spent parts of three late afternoons and evenings at the Old Post Office taking it all in. It was a productive exercise with many exciting and interesting preliminary designs for buildings, parks, open space, roadways, etc. Here is a link to a slide presentation with many of these designs.

The Union Square redevelopment planning process will continue through the spring.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

February 20, 2015 Update

In this edition:

• “Getting through Snowmageddon together”
• Upcoming Public Hearings & meetings
• Overhauling the City’s Zoning Code
• Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group's first meeting

“Getting through Snowmageddon together”

• help get our sidewalks shoveled
• contact Constituent Services, 311, 617-666-3311, [email protected]

Since my last update to you it’s been all snow all the time. The quote above is the title of the editorial in the February 19th Somerville Journal. It’s a nice piece, encouraging us to chill out, help each other, and keep our heads up (except when we’re walking around the City on the snowy sidewalks)!

The Administration and the DPW have done an excellent job of clearing the streets working incredibly hard and long hours.

Ward 5 residents have been shoveling out sidewalks, street corners, fire hydrants, and catch basins. Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard on this. Walking around one does notice that some businesses and residents are breaking the law by not shoveling. They are doing harm to senior citizens, disabled people, parents with young children or strollers, and others who cannot get around if the sidewalks are not clear. I urge you to help the City inspectors who do the ticketing by calling or emailing

On February 25 (see below for details), the Board of Aldermen (BOA) is re-examining the time frame for shoveling. At the Public Hearing, anyone who wants to can speak about snow shoveling or snow removal issues. Or, you can submit your comments by emailing John Long, the City Clerk, at [email protected]. Please share with me any thoughts you have about what is a reasonable time frame for shoveling sidewalks. I have also posted about this on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mark.niedergang where you can share your thoughts with others.

Following the Public Hearing, the BOA Committee on Legislative Matters, of which I am a member, will meet on March 19th to consider and hammer out a proposal to the full Board for changes to the snow shoveling ordinance.

Upcoming Public Hearings & meetings on snow shoveling & zoning overhaul

• Public Hearing on Snow Shoveling laws Wednesday, February 25, 7 PM at City Hall
• Public Hearing on the proposed City Zoning Code overhaul Thursday, March 5, 6 PM at City Hall
• Ward 5 Information Meeting and Workshop on the proposed City Zoning Code overhaul Monday, March 16, 6:30 PM, Visiting Nurses Association, 259 Lowell Street, 3rd Floor Community Room

Overhauling the City’s Zoning Code

In my update of January 2nd, I wrote to you about the Administration’s proposal for a comprehensive overhaul of the City’s zoning code, and the public process by which it will be considered by the Board of Aldermen. Any change to zoning requires a two-thirds vote of the BOA, i.e., eight Aldermen. You can find information about the proposed new zoning code at http://www.somervillema.gov/zoning/

The Public Hearing is an opportunity to share with the BOA and the Administration any concerns that you may have about the proposal or about the zoning for any particular property. Property owners should also submit a form if they want to request a specific change to the proposed new zoning for any particular address.

At the Information Session at the VNA on March 16th, you can learn more about the proposed changes, to ask questions, and to discuss specific properties and areas.

Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group to meet Monday night to begin its work on the affordable housing crisis

I am delighted to be Co-chairing this Group with Dana LeWinter, the City’s former Housing Director. I am excited that this group of 29 experienced, diverse and well-qualified people will have its first meeting this Monday night, February 23 at 6:30 PM at the Argenziano School cafeteria, 290 Washington Street. The meeting is open to the public. The Mayor announced this affordable housing initiative in October and I have been anxiously awaiting appointment of the committee and getting the work underway. After all, Somerville is experiencing an affordable housing crisis, with gentrification and displacement of lower- and middle-income residents happening every day. The City’s response has been too long coming and there is no time to waste. The Mayor proposed some bold initiatives for the SNWG to explore. You can see a news release that lists the Working Group members and describes the scope of it’s the work: http://www.somervillema.gov/news/sustainable-neighborhoods-working-group-selected

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Above: Linden Ave sidewalks after the plows came through

In this update:

• Public Hearing on Snow Shoveling Laws
• Snow Clearing Issues
• Alternating Parking Sides During Snow Emergencies

Public Hearing on Snow Shoveling laws

Recently the Board of Aldermen passed, and the Mayor signed, a revised ordinance on snow shoveling in Somerville. The new ordinance comes after years of complaints that sidewalks are not cleared well enough for people – particularly elderly, people with disabilities, parents with strollers -- to walk freely around after a heavy snow. Here is a brief summary of the new regulations. The new law doubles fines for not shoveling and allows the City to shovel a sidewalk and then charge the homeowner or business for doing it (clean and lien). These parts were not controversial.

The new law also changed the time-frame within which one must shovel, from six daylight hours after the snow stops to either 10 PM if the snow stops during the day or 10 AM if the snow stops at night.

This change resulted in extensive criticism, mostly focusing on the lack of sufficient time for shoveling in the morning.

As a result, the Board of Aldermen (BOA) is re-examining the time frame for shoveling and will hold a public hearing this Tuesday, February 3, at 7 PM in the Aldermen’s Chambers on the second floor of City Hall. Anyone who wants to speak will be given two or three minutes. You can submit comments (and photos, too) to John Long, the City Clerk, at [email protected].

Please share with me any thoughts you have about what is a reasonable time frame for shoveling sidewalks. I have also posted about this on my Facebook page where you can share your thoughts with others.

Snow clearing issues after the storm

Following the two feet of snow on Monday and Tuesday, January 26 & 27, Ward 5 residents did a great job of shoveling out their sidewalks. Thank you to everyone who worked hard so that people could walk by your house. The City DPW, as usual, did a great job of clearing the streets on Tuesday.

However, something happened on Wednesday that angered many residents and appears to have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. City plows came through again to widen the streets, but in doing so they plowed lots of snow onto many residents' sidewalks. I’ve received emails and calls from a dozen Ward 5 residents, all of whom live on the even side of the street, complaining bitterly that after they had shoveled their sidewalks (and in some cases those of elderly neighbors as well), City plows came flying down their street and threw snow and big boulders of ice back onto their sidewalks, and even into their yards and walkways.

I have communicated this information to the Mayor, his staff, and the DPW Commissioner, and I will file Board orders at the next meeting to attempt to address this problem. DPW does a great job of clearing the streets but they should be more careful and go slower down side streets when widening the roadway after the storm ends.

Alternating Parking Sides during Snow Emergencies

Good news! The longstanding City policy of allowing parking only on the odd side of the street during a snow emergency, year after year, will be changed. Mayor Curtatone announced this week that the City will be moving to a system of alternating parking during the snow season, to take effect in future snow seasons. This is a long-overdue change. I have advocated since I became an Alderman a year ago for switching sides, odd and even, in alternate years so folks who live on the even side of the street do not have to bear an unfair share of the pain and the burden of cleaning up after snowstorms.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this update:

• Comprehensive, revised citywide zoning code presented to Board of Aldermen by Mayor
• Current real estate development projects in Ward 5 (with photos)

Let me begin by wishing you and your loved ones a happy and healthy 2015. May all your dreams for this year come true!

Comprehensive, revised citywide zoning code presented to Board of Aldermen by Mayor

Although it is the middle of winter, Somerville is hot...at least in terms of development. The pace of real estate development continues to pick up speed, with many significant projects around the City and a host of small development projects in Ward 5.

On December 11th, the Curtatone Administration presented to the Board of Aldermen (BOA) a draft of a comprehensive, revised citywide zoning code (officially called the Somerville Zoning Ordinance) that aims to make significant changes in what can be built in Somerville.

This may be the most important issue that the BOA tackles this year and has huge implications for what our City will look like in the future. Overall, I see this as an extremely positive and long-overdue initiative, one that will protect our neighborhoods and permit responsible development. I am likely to support most of the proposed changes, but have already identified some things that I will be working to modify.

At this link is a two-page letter from Mayor Curtatone that summarizes the most important change, plus a map of the proposed new zoning districts, and the draft of the revised zoning code .

The Mayor’s submittal started a process that will last many months in which the Board of Aldermen, the Planning Board, and the public will have an opportunity to ask questions about and discuss the Administration’s proposed changes to the zoning code. There will be a public hearing (likely in late January), public discussions by the Planning Board, BOA Land Use Committee (of which I am a member), and by the full BOA. Any changes, small or large, to the existing Somerville Zoning Ordinance require a two-thirds vote by the Board of Aldermen, i.e. at least eight votes. During my first year as an Alderman, I have often felt frustrated by the limited power that the BOA has in Somerville’s “strong Mayor” form of government. But zoning is one area where the BOA has the ultimate authority.

Current real estate development projects in Ward 5 (with photos!)

Below you will find photos and brief descriptions of six development projects in or on the border of Ward 5. If you have questions or concerns about any of these developments, or would like more information, please contact me.

My role as the Ward 5 Alderman is to make sure that neighbors are informed about these developments and the permitting process; make sure that neighbors have ample opportunity to comment on and influence the developments; to represent the views of neighbors to the developers and to get them to make changes when necessary; and to weigh in during the permitting process on behalf of the neighbors. My priorities are that developments be good for the neighborhood and the City, and that we receive the maximum possible community benefits from developers.

Quik Mart, 290 Highland Ave (corner of Cedar St)

The developers, BREC LLC, are proposing a four-story building with seven condos of varying sizes and a commercial unit on the first floor. There have been two neighborhood meetings with a variety of concerns raised. Most of the neighbors approved of the project by the second meeting. The proposed development would fill out the corner and replace an ugly little building with an attractive one. The developers have not yet formally applied to the City for a permit.

Diamond Club, 311-315 Highland Ave (corner of Cherry St)

By coincidence, this proposal is also seven condos and a first-floor commercial space, although on a much larger lot. This project was positively received, although some concerns were raised at two neighborhood meetings. The developers, Gwen Simpkins and Theresa Nibi, have done several other highly-regarded projects in the area. The Zoning Board of Appeals will consider their application on January 7th. (This is actually in Ward 6, right across the street from Ward 5.)

235 Lowell St

Located next to the Visiting Nurses Association and the Lowell Street Bridge, this six-unit condo project is scheduled to be completed in the spring. The developer is Ed Doherty who has done a number of projects in Somerville. There were two community meetings on this project which initially met opposition but was eventually approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Much of the neighborhood concern had to do with how this project would mesh with the proposed 19-unit development of 231 Lowell Street, Capital Mirror and Glass building next door. (More on 231 Lowell St. in a future update)

Lucky Market, 54-56A Elm St (at Mossland St, near Porter Square)

The developer, Houman Baiany, proposes to redevelop the vacant store on the corner into an improved commercial space and to add an apartment on the second floor. A formal application was filed with the City at the end of 2014. A community meeting is scheduled in a few days on Tuesday, January 6th at 6:30 PM at the Lucky Market Store.

Sons of Italy, 563-565 Broadway (across from Trum Field)

This building is mostly in Medford, with just a corner over the Somerville line in Ward 5. It is 11 units with a clubhouse for the Sons of Italy Lodge on the first floor. It was permitted by both cities and is under construction.

35R Lexington Avenue (visible from the Community Path near Cedar St)

This is the oldest of development projects in Ward 5, and perhaps in all of Somerville. A group of Lexington Avenue abutters and their supporting neighbors have been fighting this project since 1998, and have reduced its proposed size to the two single-family houses currently under construction, already listed for sale at $1,500,000 and $1,856,000. The developer is Christos Poutahidis. Neighbors have had many complaints about his work in the past. Mr. Poutahides hopes to complete the project in the spring, but neighbors have raised concerns about drainage issues, groundwater, and flooding. Negotiations between the City, the developer and the neighbors around this set of issues continue.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Photo: Somerville Neighborhood News

In this update:

• Lowell Street Bridge & Corridor Safety & Traffic Calming
• Flooding, and Sewer Issues
• Follow-up on Central Street Sexual Assault

Next update, coming in mid-late December: Current & planned development projects in Ward 5

Lowell Street Bridge & Corridor Safety & Traffic Calming

On November 12th, Hayes Morrison, Somerville Director of Transportation and Infrastructure presented plans for enhancing safety and traffic calming around the Lowell Street Bridge. (Over the past year, scores of neighbors and community members have joined me in expressing concerns about safety, shared their excellent ideas for solutions to the traffic problems there, and demanded that the Administration address these issues.) There will be another community meeting in the spring 2015 to update community members and get input on plans for more improvements. Here is a summary of the key points:

The Community Path extension that was to open in November has been delayed until spring 2015 by the state Dept. of Transportation (DOT). This provides more time for the City to prepare and implement safety measures around the bridge area where the Path will come to a temporary end (pending completion to Lechmere).

• The City will petition Mass DOT to lower the speed limit on all of Lowell Street to 25 mph (from 30 mph). Right now, only the bridge itself is 25 mph. A lower speed limit, if granted, would allow placement of crosswalks on either end of the bridge, most likely at Princeton St. and between Vernon and Wilton St. Ms. Morrison assured the public that the petition is almost certain to be granted.
• The chicanes that the City painted around the bridge in June may be upgraded in 2015 to physical structures that slow traffic more effectively. (Chicanes are S-shaped curves with parking alternating on either side of the street.) Upgraded chicanes would include wider sidewalks, more trees, and bump-outs with plantings.
• The traffic speed monitors placed on both ends of the bridge in the spring indicate that speed has slowed slightly and that there are no instances of vehicles going above 35 mph on the bridge. This last point was publicly challenged by people who live and work right by the bridge.
• A suggestion for flashing yellow pedestrian crossing lights on either end of the bridge will be considered.

For more detailed accounts of the meeting and discussion of related issues, see articles in the Somerville Journal and on former Ward 5 Alderman Courtney O’Keefe’s excellent website, Ward5Online.com.

Flooding, and Sewer Issues

Somerville’s sewer system was mostly built over 100 years ago and it is woefully inadequate today in many parts of our city, including in some areas in Ward 5. Only in the past few years have City leaders begun to seriously address this as one of our biggest problems. Last year, an engineering firm began designing a $7 million rebuild of the sewer system on Cedar Street between Highland Avenue and Elm Street. This project is moving along nicely and there will be a presentation of the 75% design at a community meeting on Tuesday, Dec 9th, 6:30 PM at the Kennedy School.

Major sewer improvement work has also been done or is planned for the Ten Hills/Assembly Square area, Somerville Ave, and the Union Square area. Most important, the Engineering Dept. and Director of Capital Planning have begun work on a comprehensive 15-year capital plan to address flooding and sewer issues.

It is not just the sewer system that is the problem: as the cartoon character Pogo famously said, “We have seen the enemy and it is us.” There is precious little green space with permeable surfaces in Somerville. Over 70% of our 4.2 square miles are covered with buildings, concrete or asphalt. Changes in the weather due to global warming have produced unprecedented intense rains at times that lead to flash flooding that has flooded cars, basements, schools and even the Police Department garage, doing millions of dollars of damage. I have used my position as a member of both the Environment and Energy and Flood Forum Committees to call for strengthening the ordinances that prevent paving over permeable surfaces and for better enforcement of them. I have called for the City to provide incentives to property owners to de-pave their properties (as some are doing voluntarily with the assistance of the community group, Somerville Climate Action). The City government should set an example by undertaking some major, high-profile depaving projects, for example at the Healey and Winter Hill Community Schools, where large paved playgrounds are not only unnecessary, but bad for children.

Follow-up on Central Street Sexual Assault by Vinfin Group Home Resident

You may have heard about the vicious sexual and physical assault in the late afternoon of October 8th in the Temple B’nai Brith parking lot on Central Street near Broadway. The perpetrator, who was arrested immediately and is in custody, was a resident at the group home, operated by Vinfen, for people with mental health disabilities halfway down the block at 155 Central St.

The assault has generated an outpouring of anger and concern from residents of the neighborhood. Vinfen has a history of problems at its many facilities. Over the past decade there have been many problems around 155 Central Street due to the rude, disruptive and seemingly unmonitored behavior of residents of the group home. I am impressed that most of the neighbors are compassionate people, and have not demanded that the group home be closed or moved, just that the residents treat them decently and abide by the community standards of civility.

The City’s response has been strong. The Police Dept. has done a good job and elected officials have demanded that Vinfen ensure that such an attack never happens again. I have worked with the Administration and the neighbors to organize a series of public meetings involving Vinfen and the State Dept of Mental Health (the agency that monitors group homes). The third such meeting will be on Dec 2nd at 6:30 PM at the Winter Hill Community School. Neighbors have demanded changes in the operation of the group home to assure their safety and a number of improvements have been promised. I am advocating for more substantive changes and helping to organize a Community Advisory Group that would closely monitor the facility.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

We need bold action to address housing affordability in Somerville. Somerville is thriving, and lots of people want to live here. Young people want to live in hip cities and baby boomers are returning to the urban core. However, many of the people who have helped make our beloved city a wonderful place to live are being forced out by rising rents and home prices. What’s at risk is the ethnic, racial and socio-economic diversity we treasure and the legacy that generations of working-class and immigrant families have established in Somerville. We cannot lose that.

There is a growing crisis across the region; Greater Boston’s housing supply has not kept up with population growth and demand causing escalating housing costs regionwide. The demand for housing near public transit is even more intense. So ironically, the Green Line Extension—so important for our economy, good jobs, environment and quality of life—intensifies the affordable housing challenge we face. Every time we hold an affordable housing lottery, we are inundated with a flood of applications from lower-income households.

Middle class families with children looking to settle here find a dearth of options in their price range. Artists, teachers, social workers and even our own city employees are struggling to stay. And speculators are contacting homeowners, offering cash, looking to profit from the work we’ve put in to make Somerville a great place to live, work, play, raise a family and retire.

This month, we launched the Sustainable Neighborhoods initiative—a comprehensive plan that builds upon the city’s many ongoing initiatives to address affordability. Very specific immediate steps are included in this initiative, but we’re just getting started and the effort will grow as we quickly identify additional solutions to pursue. As a key step toward this, we are creating a Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group, engaging community members and city staff with a broad range of expertise and experience.

We don’t have the luxury of time, so we’ll be asking the Working Group to make its initial recommendations in the early spring. Earlier this year, the city partnered with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Somerville Community Corporation on a report that detailed the likely effect of GLX on housing affordability. Somerville could become a mostly professional, upper-middle class community if we do not undertake decisive action—and if the 101 cities and towns in Greater Boston fail to do their part in creating the 435,000 new homes needed by 2040.

To read the rest of this article, go to: http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/53522

Dear resident,

I wanted to share with you a news release from the Mayor's office describing an exciting affordable housing initiative that the Curtatone Administration is undertaking, and invite you to the meeting this Wednesday evening, October 15th at 6 PM in City Hall when the Mayor will present it to the Board of Aldermen's Housing and Community Development Committee, which I chair. There will be discussion following the Mayor's presentation, and as Chair I will allow members of the public to share their thoughts, reactions and questions.

Although this is just a plan at present, it is a broad and ambitious one. While I have been discussing some of these ideas with them for months, the Mayor and Director of Strategic Planning and Community Development Michael Glavin deserve full credit for developing this ambitious and dynamic plan. Of course, it all depends upon implementation and the details; a nice plan will not prevent Somerville from becoming an exclusive community and losing the economic, ethnic, and cultural diversity that makes this such a special place. Still, this plan acknowledges the importance of affordable housing and the threat that Somerville faces from gentrification. While this initiative is late and should have come a year or two ago when it became clear that the Green Line extension would begin in 2017, hopefully it is not too late to address the affordable housing crisis our community faces.

This plan follows Board of Aldermen President Bill White's call to stop the gentrification of Somerville and responds directly to a Board order I submitted a month ago:

That the Administration and the Director of Strategic Planning develop a bold and comprehensive plan for a substantial increase in low- and moderate-income affordable housing, taking into consideration the extent of the affordable housing crisis and the need to increase the Somervision target of 1,200 affordable units over the next 20 years, and present the plan in writing to this Board before the end of 2014.

I hope you can take a few minutes to at least skim the detailed news release. Please do share your thoughts and reactions with me.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

MN at the new Assembly Square T stop

Morrison Ave. pedestrian crossing sign

In this update:

• Tuesday, October 14, 7 PM at City Hall - Speak up for clean elections & transparency in Somerville! -- Public Hearing on ordinance to limit campaign contributions by developers
• On the streets of Ward 5: Traffic calming
• Progress on Orange Line, Community Path and Green Line

Tuesday, October 14, 7 PM at City Hall - Speak up for clean elections & transparency in Somerville!

- Public Hearing on ordinance to limit campaign contributions by developers

Please attend this Public Hearing and/or email the Aldermen who have said they will vote to sustain the Mayor’s veto against campaign finance reform

The Board of Aldermen voted 7-4 to approve a municipal campaign finance reform measure but the Mayor vetoed it. We need one more vote to override his veto.

I voted in favor and strongly support this proposed law. While it does not go nearly far enough – for example, it does not limit contributions from City employees – it is at least a start and addresses a serious problem: the influence of developers on what can be built in Somerville. There will be billions of dollars of development in the City in the coming decade. It is important to limit the influence of developers on elected officials. The Mayor has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from developers, their attorneys, spouses and associates. Many of these companies are major developers in the City, and some have contracts with the City. Their applications are regularly considered by City boards and staff.

The ordinance is modest. It would limit campaign contributions to $250 by developers of properties over 10,000 sq feet and by those who seek certain contracts with the City. (The current $500 maximum is going up to $1,000 next year by vote of the State Legislature.) It would have no impact on residents or those looking to make home improvements.

In order to override the Mayor’s veto we need a two-thirds majority or eight votes. If you live anywhere in Somerville, and if you agree with me, I urge you to contact the two Aldermen-at-Large who voted against it – Mary Jo Rossetti ([email protected]) and Jack Connolly ([email protected]). If you live in Ward 2 (Maryann Heuston, [email protected]) or Ward 3 (Bob McWatters, [email protected]), please also email them and tell them to reconsider their opposition.

There have been two excellent editorials in the past four months in the Somerville Journal, an excellent op-ed piece by Ken Brociner in the October 2nd Journal and many, many articles in the Journal and other local newspapers.

On the streets of Ward 5: Traffic calming

The #1 issue in Ward 5 continues to be traffic. Residents all over the ward, from Ball Square to Central Street, on Cedar Street and Lowell Street, on Hudson, Alpine, Linden, Clyde, Porter and Trull Streets, Morrison Avenue and Broadway – have contacted me because cars just go too fast on our streets. I have put more time into this issue than any other, with some limited success. But the battle to reclaim our streets and make them safer for all users (including motor vehicles) has just begun! People all over Somerville are rising up to demand slower traffic and safer streets.

Some of the successes: Working with residents, I’ve gotten four pop-up caution signs placed at key crosswalks and a flashing pedestrian crossing sign at a dangerous intersection on Morrison Ave. and Highland Road. Chicanes (S-shaped curves with parking alternating on either side of the street) have been installed on Lowell Street, slowing traffic somewhat…but not nearly enough. Speed monitors are in place to provide data and show drivers how fast they are going. I’ve gotten two separate no parking spots at the intersection of Lowell and Vernon Streets, to make that area safer. There will be a follow-up community meeting in the fall about traffic safety on Lowell Street. I am very concerned about the ramp at the end of the Community Path which will come up from below right onto the Lowell Street bridge. I walked that area with our new Chief of Police Dave Fallon (who grew up in Ward 5 on Hudson St) yesterday and will be pushing City staff to make sure this temporary terminus of the Community Path is safe.

There will be a community meeting to discuss traffic calming on Cedar Street sometime in the fall. A range of changes have been suggested, including chicanes, bumpouts, flashing lights at crosswalks (like at Albion Park), etc. The contractor who is building the Community Path is supposed to install a raised traffic table where it intersects with Cedar St.

I am working with a group led by Mark Chase, a traffic planner who lives on Belmont Street, to develop a pilot “Neighborway” that will go through Ward 5 all the way to East Somerville, a pathway that involves painting streets, installing planters and other low-cost traffic calming measures. This is a creative, participatory way to slow traffic and take back our streets.

I have spoken directly with the Mayor several times about the need to change the regulations around traffic calming. I attended the Traffic Commission meeting on September 18th to advocate for getting rid of the requirement that to get a temporary speed bump on their street, a resident needs to get a signature from 66% of all the households affected – those on the street and on side streets as well! This and many other Traffic Commission regulations seem designed to make it difficult for residents to change things. As a result of the discussion about the speed bump requirement at the meeting and my discussions with the Mayor, there will now be a review of all the traffic calming regulations by the Administration with the engagement of an outside consultant.

Progress on the Orange Line, Community Path and Green Line

The Orange Line station at Assembly Square opened in early September. This is the first new subway stop in Greater Boston in 27 years, and it will contribute to the continuing development of Assembly Square, which is already bringing lots of jobs and tax revenue to Somerville, as well as lovely waterfront park area, stores and restaurants.

Community Path update – It’s happening….but oh so slowly. Work continues to crawl along on the 1/2-mile extension from Cedar to Lowell Street and is supposed to be completed by the end of November. The super good news is that the state did commit over the summer to fully fund the extension of the Community Path along the Green Line to Lechmere...and beyond…to link up with the Charles River and other Cambridge and Boston paths.

Work has begun on the Green Line Union Square station! This station, and another one east of Union Square on Washington Street, are to be completed at the end of 2017. The work in the heart of Union Square will only last a few months and involves removal of contaminated soil, demolition of buildings, and preparation of the site for construction of the station.

The other Green Line stations – Gilman Square, Lowell St/Magoun Square, Ball Square and College Avenue – are supposed to be built by 2019. However, there is a problem: all the money is not there yet. The Commonwealth has submitted a grant application to the Federal Dept. of Transportation. State officials are optimistic, but whether we get the money may depend upon:

• Will we have a Democratic (Coakley) or Republican (Baker) Governor in Massachusetts from 2015-2018? Republicans are no friends of public transportation, and Republican Governor Romney did everything he could to kill the Green Line. And...
• If Ballot Question 1 passes, it will limit increases in the gas tax and funds available for all transportation infrastructure, possibly leading the Feds to conclude that we’re not raising enough tax money ourselves…so why should the Feds give us money?

So cross your fingers and vote for Martha Coakley and No on Question 1!

Speaking of the upcoming election on November 4th, I will be sending you my suggestions for voting in a few weeks.

Sincerely,

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

Above: Flooding on Cedar Street

In this update:

• Mon., September 8, 6:30 PM, Cedar Street Flood Mitigation Project community meeting.
• Mon., September 8, 6:30 PM Somerville Overcoming Addiction’s 1st Annual Candlelight Memorial Vigil
• Tue., September 9, 8 AM – 8 PM Election Day
• Wed., September 10, 6:30 PM, Central Broadway Streetscape Improvement Project meeting
• Thurs., September 11, 6 PM, Annual 9/11 Vigil & Walk
• Sat., September 20, 2-6 PM Party on the Community Path (was postponed from Sep 6)

Monday, September 8, 6:30 PM, Cedar Street Flood Mitigation Project community meeting. At the Kennedy School (5 Cherry Street)

The Acting City Engineer and Weston & Sampson Consulting Engineers will present 25% design plans and review the proposed timeline for the planned sewer separation project. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback and share concerns.
Last summer, the City began to address the terrible flooding problem around Hall & Cedar Sts. I don’t understand why it has taken a year to hire a consultant and get to only 25% design for a new sewer system. So I will be pushing to get this project on the fast track for completion as quickly as possible.

The intense rainstorm of July 28th caused flash floods in a number of low-lying areas in Somerville. This has been a problem for years, due to old & inadequate sewer systems. It’s been a nightmare for some homeowners & residents -- flooding in basements, ruined cars, even sewage coming back up through toilets, sinks and washing machines. .

If you are concerned about flooding in Somerville, you may want to attend this meeting

Also on Monday, September 8, 6:30 PM -- Somerville Overcoming Addiction’s 1st Annual Candlelight Memorial Vigil

This will be held at the Somerville High School in front of the Atrium Doors (near the Public Library), 81 Highland Avenue.  This is a gathering to remember friends, neighbors and loved ones lost to addiction, a gathering to bring the community together to promote healing and continued activism to work against the addictions that have killed and hurt so many members of our Somerville community.  I am sad that I cannot attend due to the Flood Mitigation meeting, but my heart will be there.

Tuesday, September 9, 8 AM – 8 PM – Election Day

I hope you will vote, whether you agree with the candidates I am supporting or not. People have died for the right to vote in the U.S. and in other countries and it is the foundation of our democracy.

My priority has been helping out with Christine Barber’s campaign to be the next State Representative from the 34th Middlesex district (Wards 4 & 7 in Somerville and parts of South Medford). Please ask your friends and family who live there to vote for Christine.

I have not been following the statewide races closely, and have not yet decided on all my votes, but will definitely be voting for the following:

• Steve Grossman for Governor
• Maura Healey for Attorney General
• Marian Ryan for Middlesex County District Attorney

Wednesday, September 10, 6:30 PM, Central Broadway Streetscape Improvement Project meeting at the Healey School (5 Meacham Street)

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Ward 4 Alderman Tony Lafuente, and the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) invite all interested community members to the second in a series of meetings. Attendees will hear the results of the recent traffic analysis, and about preliminary concepts for the project, and have the opportunity to provide feedback.  I went to the first meeting, met a lot of neighbors from the Winter Hill area, and found the presentations and discussion to be worthwhile.

Thursday, September 11, 6 PM, Annual 9/11 Vigil & Walk

Start at Cedar Street at the Community Path The City of Somerville invites community members to join in the annual 9/11 Vigil Walk to honor those who lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on Flight 93 in 2001. The walk will step off from the Cedar Street end of the Community Path and end with a brief ceremony in Davis Square. I am pleased that my rabbi from Temple B’nai Brith (on Central Street in Winter Hill), Rabbi Eliana Jacobowitz, will be doing the invocation for the observance.  This is always a moving event that brings back memories of an unforgettable time that has affected all of our lives.

Saturday, September 20, 2-6 PM Party on the Community Path, On the Community Path

(postponed from Sep 6)

By Lexington Park (between Willow and Cedar Streets, where Highland Road intersects with the Path

The Community Path is going all the way to Boston and to celebrate, the City of Somerville and the Friends of the Community Path are throwing a party!  Come celebrate the extension sometime this fall to Lowell St. as well as the announcement by Governor Deval Patrick, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), and the MBTA that the Community Path will be built all the way to Lechmere as part of the Green Line Extension project. There will be music, refreshments, and children’s games, all at no charge.  Keeping with the City’s commitment to sustainability , the celebration will be “zero-waste,” with the goal of creating a minimum of trash by using re-useable plates and silverware, with composting for food products.

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this update:

• Cedar Street repaving and traffic calming
• The trees are here! Call if you want one on your street…
• Seven Aldermen support local campaign finance reform to limit developer contributions. Mayor says he will veto it in September; please help override his veto

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Cedar Street repaving and traffic calming

If you live in or near Ward 5, or travel through it, you know that Cedar Street is chewed up between Broadway and Summer Street. Three new condo complexes were built on Cedar St. in the past few years, and this summer there’s been utility work underneath the street. So the street is a patched-up mess. Repaving can't be done until six months after the utility work, which means spring 2015.

The first improvement will be a traffic calming table at the Community Path. It will be installed as the final piece of the Community Path extension project, hopefully by the end of September. But given how slowly they are working, who knows? Hayes Morrison, the City’s Transportation & Infrastructure Director, is pushing, but the contract is under the state Dept. of Transportation, so it’s not in the City’s control.

There will be a community meeting to discuss further traffic calming on Cedar Street sometime in the fall. A range of changes have been suggested, including chicanes -- S-shaped curves with parking alternating on either side of the street (see the Lowell St. bridge corridor for an example) -- bumpouts, stop signs, flashing lights at crosswalks (like at Albion Park), etc.

If you have thoughts about how to make Cedar Street safer, I would love to hear them. There’s also a conversation going on about this on my Facebook page which I invite you to participate in. Please share this info about plans to improve Cedar Street with others who might be interested.

The trees are here! Call if you want one on your street…

You’ve probably noticed the short wooden stakes with yellow ribbons planted in jack hammered sidewalks. Some of those spots now have trees planted in them. The new trees are huge; because many saplings that are planted in Somerville don’t live long in our harsh urban environment, these are older and larger. The trees are being planted by a contractor and come with a three-year warranty that includes maintenance.

The City is planting 650 trees this year – about three times as many as in previous years. We are on target to reach the Mayor’s five-year goal of 2,000 new trees by the end of 2015. Credit is due to Hayes Morrison, Rachel Kelly (Green Infrastructure Planner), and the Administration who established the goal and sought $500,000 in funding, which the previous Board of Aldermen approved as part of the FY 2014 budget. You can request a tree for your block or in neighborhood – call 311 (or 617-666-3311 from a cell phone).

I continue to hear concerns about care and maintenance of trees and of tree wells, some of which are overgrown and trashy. I have been talking with City officials and I will be advocating for a public education and outreach campaign by the City to ask neighbors to take a more active role in caring for the trees on their block. Please let me know if this is something in which you are interested.

Seven Aldermen support local campaign finance reform to limit developer contributions

The Mayor says he will veto it in September; please help override his veto!

In one of the few contentious and hotly debated issues of 2014, the Board of Aldermen voted 7-4 to approve a municipal campaign finance reform measure on July 10th. The proposal still needs a final vote to officially be “enrolled” as an ordinance. In a lengthy speech, the Mayor said he will veto the measure if it comes to his desk.

I voted in favor and strongly support this proposed law. While it does not go far enough in my opinion – for example, it does not limit contributions from City employees – it is a good start and addresses a serious problem: the influence of developers on what they can build here. Big money is coming into Somerville and there will be billions of dollars of development in the City in the coming decade. It is important to limit the influence of developers on elected officials.

For more info, see this Somerville Journal editorial, Don’t veto pay-to-play in Somerville.  Their July 10th and 17th front page articles give even more background.

The ordinance is actually quite modest. It would limit campaign contributions to elected officials or candidates by developers of properties over 10,000 sq feet and by those who seek certain contracts with the City. It would not prohibit a contribution; just limit it to $250 (from the current $500 maximum). This would have no impact on ordinary residents or those looking to make home improvements.

The mayor has promised to veto the bill should it reach his desk in September. In order to override a mayoral veto we need a two-thirds majority or eight votes. If you live in Somerville, and if you agree with me that this campaign finance reform law is needed, I urge you to contact the two Aldermen-at-Large who voted against it and ask them to change their vote. If you live in Ward 2 (Maryann Heuston) or Ward 3 (Bob McWatters), please also email them and tell them to reconsider their opposition to this important measure.

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this update:

• Somerville Redevelopment Authority selects US2 from Chicago as the Master Developer of Union Square in a “contentious meeting”
• Chicanes being installed on Lowell Street following the June 25th traffic calming community meeting
• Board of Aldermen Passes $200 Million FY 2015 City Budget with Few Cuts
• Fossil Fuel divestment resolution approved unanimously by Board of Aldermen

Somerville Redevelopment Authority selects US2 from Chicago as the Master Developer of Union Square in a “contentious meeting”

Last Thursday, June 26th, the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) chose US2 -- the Chicago team of Magellan Development and Mesirow Financial -- as Master Developer for Union Square. Now the City enters a 90-day period of negotiation with US2 to work out the terms and a plan for their work going forward, including a community benefits agreement.

While I preferred the Portland OR team of Gerding Edlen or Boston-based The Abbey Group, US2 is a fine choice. I thought all three of these teams were outstanding developers and decent human beings. US2 is strong financially and impressed me with the due diligence they performed and their plans for business development and job creation in Union Square.

Unfortunately, the actions of several SRA members and the poor quality of the deliberation at the June 26th meeting do not inspire confidence in that body’s capacity to make wise decisions about the redevelopment of Union Square. Several SRA members displayed ignorance and hostility to the Open Meeting Law as well as disrespect for the recommendations of both the Union Square Civic Advisory Commission and the City’s professional economic development staff. Don’t take my word for it -- read all about it in Somerville Journal Editor Dan Atkinson’s blow-by-blow account.

The SRA is a five-member appointed body that has jurisdiction over parcels that are officially designated by the City and state for urban renewal. There are seven such parcels in Union Square. I will be speaking with the Mayor and other City officials and sharing my concerns about the SRA and the process at the June 26th meeting. If you have concerns about the redevelopment of Union Square, I encourage you to share them with the Mayor, me, and your Aldermen (everyone in Somerville has their own ward alderman and there are four Aldermen At Large).

Chicanes to be installed on Lowell Street following the June 25th traffic calming community meeting

Due to several serious accidents this year and widespread concern about the Lowell St. bridge area, I worked with City staff to organize a meeting to discuss slowing traffic between Magoun Square and Highland Avenue, especially around the bridge. Thanks to a half-dozen volunteer leafletters, 1,000 flyers were delivered to residents in the neighborhood.

About 75 people and a half-dozen top City officials attended. Jason Schreiber, a highly-regarded traffic consultant at Nelson/Nygaard, and a Somerville resident, presented a plan for chicanes -- S-shaped curves with parking alternating on either side of the street. The chicanes plan involves only new signage and paint, no construction, so it can be modified if there are problems. On the whole, community members reacted positively. There were many good questions and lots of feedback and suggestions, especially about the need for crosswalks around the bridge and on Hudson Street. Several residents urged that safety preparations be made over the summer for the extension of the Community Path from Cedar Street to Lowell Street, which will end right on the Lowell St. bridge.

Hayes Morrison, the City's Director of Transportation and Infrastructure, said that another community meeting will be held in the late fall, when data from the speed monitors on the bridge will be presented to show the impact of the chicanes. There will be further discussion about steps to calm traffic, if needed. If you have concerns or suggestions about Lowell Street, please contact me and Hayes Morrison ( 617-625-6600 ext. 2522, [email protected] )

I was informed this morning that the chicanes are being implemented on Lowell Street right now: signs are being changed today and painting will be done tonight. While I am impressed at the speed with which City officials have acted, and I commend their sense of urgency, I think it would have been prudent to give the neighborhood and community some advance notice.

Board of Aldermen Passes $200 Million FY 2015 City Budget with Few Cuts

On Thursday, June 26th, the Board of Aldermen (BOA) approved the Administration's proposed FY 2015 City operating budget and additional expenditures for water, sewer, and other enterprise funds.

I had considered supporting cuts to a number of positions in various departments. However, after asking tough questions, listening to two dozen passionate speeches at the Public Hearing on the budget, reading scores of emails, and talking with dozens of community members, I was convinced that the positions that I had questioned were justified.

While Aldermen do not have the power, unfortunately, to propose additions to the Mayor’s budget, we can make suggestions. Ward 1 Alderman Matt McLaughlin and I co-sponsored a resolution, passed by the entire Board, to expand the three half-time Somerviva Language Liaison positions to full-time. The very next day, the Mayor added them into the budget which the BOA approved. This is excellent news as these three women do extensive outreach to Somerville’s large immigrant communities and help non-English speakers access City services. Since a quarter of our population is immigrants, these are important positions.

On June 26th we got some good news about property taxes and affordable housing: the two Partners Health Care office buildings that will be built in Assembly Square will generate $5 million in permit fees and over $4 million in linkage fees for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund in FY 2015. We are also waiting for the Legislature to complete action on the City’s home rule petition to increase the residential homeowner tax exemption from 30% to 35%. The combination of the permit fees from the Partners buildings and the increased residential tax exemption would likely reduce or eliminate property tax increases in the coming year. Increasing property taxes has been a major concern for many seniors who are homeowners and live on fixed incomes and also for many small business owners.

Fossil Fuel divestment resolution approved unanimously by Board of Aldermen

On June 26th, the BOA passed a revised Fossil Fuel Divestment resolution that Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz and I co-sponsored. A local group, Fossil Free Somerville brought a petition signed by 129 residents to the Board of Aldermen in February in support of a resolution encouraging the City’s Retirement Board to divest from stocks and bonds in oil, gas and other fossil fuel companies. Unfortunately, the State Ethics Commission ruled that the BOA could not even discuss the resolution, claiming that we have a conflict of interest as members of the City’s pension system.

After many months of legal opinions and discussion, we decided to move forward with a general resolution, “urging individuals, colleges and universities, foundations and governments to divest their funds from publicly-traded fossil fuel companies.” It also urged “the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives to pass Bill S.1225, requiring the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) to freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies and to divest from direct holdings in fossil fuel companies within five years,” which would lead to the divestment of approximately $1.4 billion.

Mark Niedergang

Ward 5 Alderman

617-629-8033

[email protected]

In this update:

• Budget Review and Public Hearing on the Proposed FY 2015 Budget
• Lowell Street Bridge & Corridor Community Meeting June 25, 6 PM
• Coming soon: My recommendations following visits to the four finalist candidates for Union Square master developer

Budget Review and Public Hearing on the Proposed FY 2015 Budget

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

On Thursday, June 5, the Mayor presented the Administration's FY 2015 City budget (approx. $200 million in spending) to the Board of Aldermen and a crowd of about 100 people, mostly City employees.

This past week and all next week we’re hearing presentations from City department heads and reviewing the budget . I’ve been asking lots of questions about various new positions that the Administration wants to add as well as about line items for things like professional and technical services, consultant contracts, decorative lights, flags and flowers, etc. I’ve been pleased with the challenging questions and attention to detail from many of my BOA colleagues. There isn’t a lot of fat in this budget but there are some cuts that I will push for. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed by Mass. state law to add anything to the budget, only cut. I find this frustrating since for eight years on the School Committee, I regularly proposed new programs & additional funding for key positions. But one must play the hand that one is dealt!

The final votes on cuts and approval of the budget will be on June 23 or 24. There will be a public hearing at which anyone can speak about any aspect of the budget on Thursday, June 19th at 6:30 PM at City Hall. I would appreciate any feedback you have on the budget, any suggestions for cuts in particular, or any questions or thoughts. Thanks!

Lowell Street Bridge & Corridor Community Meeting June 25, 6 PM

I want to invite all community members to an important public meeting on Wednesday, June 25, 6 PM to learn about, discuss and comment on plans for the Lowell Street corridor from Highland Avenue to Medford Street. The meeting will be held in the Visiting Nurses Association’s 3rd Floor Community Room at 259 Lowell Street.

An interdepartmental City government team has developed a plan to slow traffic and enhance safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and motor vehicles on the bridge and in the Lowell Street corridor around it. The plan calls for chicanes -- S-shaped curves with parking alternating on either side of the street -- to slow traffic. Feedback on the plan and suggestions for improving it -- especially from those who live in the neighborhood or are familiar with the Lowell Street corridor -- is important. Please come and share your views.

The meeting is hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, Traffic & Parking, and the Department of Publi