Many people in Somerville feel a sense of worry (ranging from dismay to a sense of doom) about challenges at all levels, from neighborhood to the world. We need to tackle the toughest issues by working together. Moving forward requires us to understand one another’s needs, AND have the tools to make change. Here are the challenges in this area, as I’ve seen them:
Feeling of powerlessness in neighborhoods (and beyond): While door knocking, I covered all of Wards 1, 4, and 7, and much of Wards 2, 3, 5, and 6. Throughout the community, people feel a sense of dismay, loss, or powerlessness about issues they or their neighborhoods face. The worries include a sense of diminished community connections (see less stability below), uncertainty over a neighboring development, frustration with a stalled developments (like “the hole” in Teele Square, Star Market in Winter Hill, or Cobble Hill on Broadway) to fears that they or a much-loved neighbor will need to move. So often, people share concerns, but feel isolated and don’t know how to connect with neighbors or know who may share their concerns. They may not know what tools they can use to impact neighborhood issues. Or, even if they do, most people don’t have the many hours it can take each week to read through zoning law or attend public meetings.
Transparency and accountability for powerful boards: Residents have expressed frustration with the decision made by the Planning Board in the Federal Reality inclusionary housing waiver case. One point of frustration is the lack of tracking of concerns from residents for that and other cases or proposals (such as feedback given to US2 in their recent Coordinated Site Plan public workshop). Insufficient transparency creates distrust and makes it harder for the public to evaluate whether or not the decisions that get made are fair and not biased by influence of some type. And a lack of trust makes moving forward with all major policies and projects even harder.
Less stability in neighborhoods: Many households I have talked to – most especially seniors – feel sad because they believe neighborhood ties are declining. While the percentage of households who rent has remained relatively stable over the past five decades, in the past Somerville had many resident landlords who shared their building with other family members or close friends. They were, in essence, benevolent landlords who rented to people with kids, disabilities, or quirks, and they didn’t raise the rent much or at all each year. That meant more blocks had family ties, kids, and long-time residents. Housing stability helps people put down roots. As I was door knocking in West Somerville, I saw one triple decker that had three generations of family members listed as living in the three floors. However, when I stopped, a young man was out front. He said, “My family just bought this triple decker as an income property. We live in Lexington.” As I moved down the block, I saw him showing one of the units to two young people in their 20s who’d most likely be tenants for a year or two. Given housing prices, those young people are very unlikely to be able to put down roots and thus develop those long-term ties. The percentage of young adults ages 18 to 34 is growing and has reached almost half our population, while the percentage of children is falling. The young adults don’t get the chance to stay and turn into middle-aged adults and then seniors. This dynamic changes the feel of each block.
Isolation and issues that disproportionately affect sub-groups: As I’ve been door knocking, I hear a sense that there’s a social or cultural gap between different groups within the city. The most poignant case of this is with the opioid epidemic. At least 40 people died in 2015 and 2016 of overdoses in Somerville, and more died of related causes that weren’t classified as overdoses. This epidemic, however, has disproportionately affected the long-time Somerville families. Thus, for that sub-group in Somerville, people are experiencing a death of someone they know either directly or indirectly every other week. The rest of the community may not be plugged in to how catastrophic the impact is. As we think about OneSomerville, we need to work harder at understanding all of the points of suffering and loss in Somerville and everyone’s needs.
Need for more information about trade-offs: An area of particular interest to me is helping the community understand budgeting and the decisions our elected officials need to make when spending limited resources or deciding to create a new tax or fee. Decisions are often made in isolation, so that residents can’t easily determine how spending in one location affects spending or a tax/fee in another.
Under-represented households: Many people in Somerville don’t vote in municipal elections, either because they can’t legally or because they are not as engaged in local issues. This means that their voices are not well represented in local decision making, which is a missed opportunity.
Challenges in using tools that do exist: There are some tools available that a neighborhood can use to advocate on issues, but sometimes we may not know what they are or how to use them. The City shares a lot of data (https://data.somervillema.gov/) and laws permit residents to have certain powers, such as to request a public hearing or request datasets. But some of this work is so specialized it seems to require the help of an architect, lawyer, or software engineer.
POLICY GOALS:
Connecting people: At the heart of organizing is relationships, I think, and I will work to help people connect to their neighbors or others who share their concerns about issues. Here are some of my ideas
- Block party challenge: I hope to host a block party challenge next summer. I’ll get the word out as to how easy it is to get a permit for a block party and encourage every block to do it. We will keep track of how many block parties each part of the city hosts and give out an award for the most.
- Know-your-neighbor challenges: I hope to issue a know-your-neighbor challenge. Using social media and other resources, I’ll ask residents to carry out a series of challenges each week or month, such as: find out your neighbor’s names, favorite food, life story; collect any trash on your block; introduce yourself to a new resident; set up a neighborhood mailing list, etc.
- OneSomerville and Empathy Building: We can build on the idea of OneSomerville by working as a community to understand each person’s story and needs. We can carry out empathy building efforts, such as a Somerville Stories effort (a similar project got done about a decade ago with some success). Or, we can encourage everyone to help in some way – such as one hour of time volunteer/week, or $100/month of donating per month. I believe that we should focus on both the challenges faced by immigrant and low-income families, and by families struggling with the opioid epidemic, so as to acknowledge that people are different but have in common a need for support.
Building and changing systems: In addition to the people side of the equation, we need to pay attention to systems that help give people and neighborhoods a voice. Here are some things I’d like to do:
- Revamp boards: I believe that we need to revamp the City’s powerful boards, including their scope, appointment process, and methods of soliciting public comment. If elected, I will work with the administration and colleagues to launch a process to review the boards. In the meantime, however, the Board of Alderman approves candidates for Boards, and I will use that authority to work with colleagues to vet candidates in a transparent and rigorous process. Zoning needs to be amended to ensure that City staff are responsible for recording residents' comments and developers' responses, and for ensuring that developers take those concerns seriously.
- Toolkits for change: In order to take advantage of the tools that do exist so that residents can understand how to use them, I will work with residents and groups to create a toolkit that covers topics like open meeting law, public records requests, the roles and powers of public bodies like School Councils, ballot questions, and other laws designed to empower residents. We can learn together and then test out what these tool enable neighbors to accomplish.
- Support for neighborhood and issue groups: There are some neighborhood and issue groups running and working in Somerville, and they take different forms. Some are very structured and have goals and annual reports, while others are more loosely knit. We will inventory all of the best practices, as well as all of the groups that are open to having more members. I will work with residents to create a centralized list where the groups are described. We can organize trainings and discussions so that groups can share best practices. We can do “hackathons” or, what should perhaps be called, analysis-a-thons of the public data and collect our own new data, such as traffic (or rat!) counts. We cans share metrics for each neighborhood or each issue on one master report cards that gets posted on websites or even on billboards! We can help raise money for funding for groups to advocate, such as immigrant parents or families affected by the opioid epidemic.
- People’s budget: I helped create the City’s first performance and program-based budget. The City has a great deal of budget information, while the District has much less. I would like to work with residents and groups to analyze budget data and ask for more information on the District side so that we can better understand the very important decisions about where we make investments. I hope to analyze financial information by whichever topics interest people, such as spending by neighborhood or by issue. Consider me YOUR budget analyst.
CONNECTIONS TO OTHER ISSUES:
Housing and Affordability: As we think about housing policy, I believe we need to work for ownership and other means of permanent housing. We need to create space for people of different ages and incomes, who can help create cohesive block. Longer-term roots help people get involved and form ties that help them organize. Go to HOUING AND AFFORDABILTY (Coming soon) for more idea.
Community safety net: I believe that community institutions are critically needed to enable people of different backgrounds to be together to form relationships, which I think are at the root of community problem solving. Well-funded and inclusive spaces like recreation or a YMCA, school, or churches are shared community assets that undergird relationships across difference. COMMUNITY INSTIUTIONS, SAFETY NET, AND CONNECTIONS (Coming soon) for more ideas.
Open space: As with indoor civic spaces, thoughtfully designed open spaces are where we can meet to exchange ideas and form friendships. See OPEN SPACE (Coming soon) for more thoughts.
