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Dear Ward 3,


A bit of joyful news to begin: Lincoln Park is re-opening! Join us on Friday, July 20th, 9:00am for a celebration. We still don't have a firm schedule for the re-opening of Conway Park, but the city posted a recent update here

I'm pleased to report that Somerville's Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition has taken a step forward at the State House. After a Public Hearing before the Joint Committee on Revenue on Wednesday, June 20th, our proposal was reported favorably out of committee - it will now advance to a secondary committee for further deliberation. The Committee asked a number of probing questions, and I'm proud to say that the Committee Chairman, Rep. Jay Kaufman, remarked that of all the Transfer Fee proposals that have come before his Committee over the years, Somerville's truly stood out in the amount of research, public process, and legislative deliberation that had gone into it. This was a testament to the enormous amount of valuable public comment that we received on this proposal, which undoubtedly made it stronger - so, thank you. Of course, making it out of Committee only the first step at the State House, so please stay tuned and stay involved! (And, for anyone interested in the detailed inner-workings of the Massachusetts State House, I highly recommend this citizen's guide written by Rep. Denise Provost's office.)

Some news and updates:

-The Board of Aldermen is now two weeks into our annual Budget process, and we have held extensive hearings with the nearly every Department in Somerville, looking at their revenue and expenditures line by line. For anyone interested in a "big picture" look at the budget, the Mayor's Presentation is available here (where lots of detail is also available for anyone who wants to dive in). There will be a Public Hearing on the proposed budget on Tuesday, June 26th, at 6:00pm at City Hall. As you may know, the Board of Aldermen is not able to add to our budget - only the Mayor's office can do that. The Board's role is dedicated to making cuts - hence the two marathon "Cut Nights" that occur at the end of every June. I will share my thoughts on the final Budget in a future newsletter, but please reach out anytime with questions or comments in the meantime. 

-If you live anywhere near the High School / City Hall, *please* fill out a new survey on parking near the High School / City Hall. Working with a dedicated group of residents and teachers, the city's transportation planners have devised an important survey to find out more about parking supply and demand near the High School - please take the survey here. (It's also available in print, and in additional languages, at City Hall.) This information will be incredibly helpful towards coming up with parking solutions, so please do take the survey and spread the word to your friends and neighbors in the area.

-Progress towards negotiations between the Union Square Neighborhood Council and the developer, US2. On Thursday, 6/21, the Legislative Matters committee unanimously approved a "Community Benefits Ordinance" that I believe represents an important step forward in the process of facilitating negotiations between the Union Square Neighborhood Council and the developer, US2.

A bit of history: in June of 2017, the Union Square developer, US2, signed a contract with the Mayor's office called the "Development Covenant," which laid out the overarching terms of the development. In this contract, US2 agreed to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with a neighborhood council (which, at that time, was still in the process of forming itself.) As I've described before, a CBA is a contract between a developer and a community group, outside of any agreements made by the developer and the local government, to give residents and local businesses a voice in the redevelopment of their community, relating to issues such as local jobs, displacement of residents and businesses, open and civic space, and other issues of concern. 

Since January of this year, I have been working with my colleagues to establish a clear, robust process by which the Board of Aldermen can officially "designate" a Neighborhood Council as the negotiating partner described in the Development Covenant, and to also establish a precedent for how this can be done in future developments in other neighborhoods. At the same time, the volunteers involved in establishing the Union Square Neighborhood Council created and voted on by-laws, held an open election to select a 15-person founding Board, received training in Open Meeting Law, and have been holding open public meetings nearly every week, in addition to two very well-attended "Community Benefits Summits," resulting in a detailed report. They have kept minutes for all of their meetings, which you can find on their website, along with their by-laws. The council has made progress towards preparing to negotiate with US2: as I've gleaned from their excellent newsletter, in late March, the council held an open call for nominations for anyone wishing to serve on their CBA Negotiating Team (which I also advertised in a past newsletter), which was held open through April 15. Ten people were nominated, and six were ultimately selected. Altogether, I've been immensely impressed by the amount of dedication and commitment that this volunteer community group has shown, and if you aren't already involved I encourage you to attend one of their meetings - all are welcome. 

The Community Benefits Ordinance moves this process forward in two ways. First, it describes the standards of behavior required of any Neighborhood Council: it must be a non-profit community group that is democratically elected, has clearly defined by-laws, holds advertised and public meetings, is dedicated to outreach and inclusivity, keeps careful meeting minutes, and of course follows basic rules about disclosure and recusal around any financial conflicts of interest. Second, the Ordinance describes a clear process for how the Board of Aldermen can "designate" a council to negotiate with a developer. Specifically, it requires that written documentation covering all of the above items be presented to the Board of Aldermen, followed by a Public Hearing open to all. Following the Public Hearing, a two-thirds vote on the Board of Aldermen is required for designation. Revoking a Council's status is also possible by a two-thirds vote if there are accusations of any improper behavior, followed by a Public Hearing. You can read the full Ordinance here. The Board of Aldermen will be voting on this Ordinance at our next Regular Meeting (next Thursday, June 28th.) I believe this ordinance establishes a robust, transparent framework for moving this process forward, and I thank everyone who has been involved in getting us to this point.

-The Administration postponed the second public meeting on short-term rentals (e.g., AirBNB) until July 19, 6:00pm, at the Argenziano School. Information from the first meeting, as well as a survey for residents, is available here

-Support GOOD FOOD FOR ALL, a wonderful charity event run by Union Square Main Streets and many our local restaurants and shops to raise money for those in need. When you eat or shop at one of the participating businesses in Union Square, a portion of the proceeds will go towards the "SNAP Match" program, which is essentially food stamps to be used at our Farmers Market. It's a wonderful program - I myself had a burrito for breakfast at Cantina La Mexicana in solidarity. 

-There will be an official "GLX Groundbreaking Ceremony" on Monday, June 25th, 11:00am, at 36 Prospect St. You apparently have to sign up here in order to attend. You will find GLX construction updates here, and feel free to reach out anytime with specific questions or concerns. And don't forget, with all of the construction happening this season, you can now always get a direct response from Somerville's new "Construction Liason" by emailing construction@somervillema.gov. 

-I've continued to put in Board Orders on a number of issues, big and small, which you can always find on our Regular Board Meeting Agendas. To give two recent examples: on the excellent suggestion of a resident, I recently asked the administration to create an easy-to-read explainer of Somerville's Noise Ordinance (e.g. "What time, on what days, is construction allowed in the morning?"), so that all residents can easily point to it if they have a question or concern. I submitted this suggestion at our last Board Meeting, and I look forward to seeing it implemented. 

I also asked the administration to modify it's online Planning/Zoning "Reports and Decisions" website so that residents can search by applicant name. This website is incredibly interesting and useful (and under-utilized!) - it contains staff reports and plans for every single development in Somerville. Currently, you can search for any Planning/Zoning decision by property address, which is certainly helpful. However, what if, for example, you saw that a certain developer had contributed to a local politician, and wanted to know what projects that developer had done in Somerville? I believe that you should also be able to easily search the database by applicant name. I hope to see this common-sense change made soon.

Lastly, I know that this past week has been a particularly dark time for our country. I hope you're all taking care of one another, and yourselves. 

As always, you can follow along with the Board's activities here, and I welcome questions or concerns at any time. 

Sincerely,

Ben Ewen-Campen


 
Copyright © 2018 The Committee to Elect Ben Ewen-Campen, All rights reserved.


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