Government Reform

Planning for the Unplanned: Recovering from Crises in Megacities – Lessons for Metro Boston

Thurs. Feb. 11 6:00 PM

MAPC Offices
60 Temple Place
Boston MA (map)

Registration

This is the first in the MetroFuture Speaker Series sponsored by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)…

Committee on Legislative Matters

Tues. Feb. 9 7:00 PM

Aldermen’s Chamber
Somerville City Hall
93 Highland Ave.
Somerville MA (map)

Agenda (PDF)

This is a special meeting of Committee on Legislative Matters, meeting as a whole. The Committee does the final review of ordinances…

From http://justicewithpeace.org/node/819 :

Redirecting Military Spending to Meet Human Needs

The 25% Solution Task Force of UJP is conducting an interactive workshop on military spending and the campaign to redirect it to meet human needs at home. With the U.S. facing devastating economic…

We all know that the city has enacted onerous and unpopular parking regulations because it’s desperate for funds.

What if the city were as aggressive about clean, i.e. non-icy, sidewalks as it is about parking?…

To have an effective democratically-elected Government, the People must trust that their elected officials are acting as good stewards of public resources. This trust is hindered when people can not verify the integrity of candidates and office-holders.…

Judging by the fumbles on Election Day, 11/3/09, we can’t assume that Somerville will provide Accessible Voting on Primary Day, December 8. Despite the fact that the Secretary of State’s Office ordered structural accessibility changes at 7 Somerville polling sites after an audit in July, a spot-check of 9 Somerville Polling sites on Election Day 2009 proved that the current Mayor’s heart is still not in the game.

Pittsburgh floats a sales tax on college tuition!

If you’re on the fence about attending Sen. Pat Jehlen’s forum on expanded State gambling tomorrow night (Thurs. Oct 15 from 7-9pm at Century Bank, 400 Mystic Avenue in Medford), at which State Sen. Sue Tucker and State Rep Kathi-Anne Reinstein will debate the issue, here are some reasons why you should come, and why this really is a big deal.

I received this via email from Sean O’Donovan, my alderman, as a follow-up to a phone conversation about trash citation screw-ups.  Would it be useful for others to contact their aldermen as backup?…

2 degrees of warming. 350 parts per million. Does it seem as though we are on track to achieve these? Are you concerned about the chance of passing a meaningful global climate treaty in Copenhagen? Do you want to have a say in the future of our planet? Come to our Climate Action Party! [October 3rd, 7 p.m.] We will broaden our local network of activists, strategize how to make our voices heard, and plan for the days between now and December.

Q:  Why Didn’t the Rolling Somerville Pedestrian Cross the Road at the Crosswalk?

A:  Because the City of Somerville Deciders have been playing chicken with standards.

This photo essay will show 30 lost opportunities to create a safer community on Mayor Curtatone’s watch.…

Whoda thunk that a simple sign could be a liar?  Here’s a photo essay of some misleading signage in three City of Somerville facilities.

1.  Somerville Schools Administration Building, 181 Washington Street:   At the inaccessible front entrance, we see a blue International Symbol of Access sign informing folks that “REAR ACCESS PARKING” exists…

Thanks to SomervilleVoices for providing this venue to post our Public Information Requests -and to share the responses (or lack therof) that we receive.

Here’s one example of a PIR response that raises red flags.
June 15, 2009 Request for ADA Transition Plans of 10 City facilities
“TO:  Carlene Campbell,  ADA Coordinator for City…

Thursday’s event at City Hall was a far cry from the tense, emotion-high fracas that went down at the Traffic Commission meeting two weeks ago. The stately Aldermanic chamber was likewise filled with concerned Somerville citizens, but this time, the city’s controversial May 21 vote was the agenda.…

Somerville Parking Advocacy and Reform Coalition (SPARC), a group of business groups, neighborhood associations and concerned residents advocating for a more thoughtful and comprehensive approach to parking regulation in Somerville, has formed to addresses the recent citywide parking changes.…

We’re working on educating the public about the incredible amount of money spent on weapon systems, and the need to get the government to redirect that money to basic human needs, such as jobs, education, housing, and health care. … and that’s where you can help. We’re going to ask the Board of Aldermen of Somerville to endorse the campaign. As preparation for that, we’re asking you to call your alderman/ woman to urge their endorsement of this campaign.

In spite of the overwhelming cupidity of the Board of Aldermen, one or more may ask why or how the Mayor connects “access” to higher tickets across the board? … The obvious conclusion is that he cares nothing about access, and everything about money. While that may be good for his budget, it is at real cost to citizens and businesses, and, ultimately, to the management system that justifies – or rationalizes – that cost.

I thought Somerville Voices readers might be interested in my recent newsletter about the state budget.  If you’d like to receive future newsletters, you can sign up at www.patjehlen.org

The City of Somerville, as an Entitlement Community, receives millions of Federal dollars from HUD each year from the Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Shelter Grant, and HOME programs.  These monies must be spent on activities that primarily benefit low and moderate income Somerville residents in three areas:  

Provide decent affordable housing…

From Mark Niedergang… The Board of Aldermen and School Committee together will be holding a public forum on the FY 2010 budget this Tuesday, April 28th, at 7 PM in the Aldermen’s Chambers in City Hall. This is an opportunity to get an update from the Mayor and the Superintendent of Schools on the City and School budgets for next year and to share your concerns, ideas, and suggestions about priorities and ways to make the FY 2010 budget stretch further.

On March 19, 2009, the City of Somerville was one of the 118 recipients of an “e-government Award,” from Common Cause. This citation is given for providing online access to Board of Alderman agenda and minutes, budget information, and general by-laws. But, on closer inspection, Somerville came in “number one” for…

Following up on my 4/10 article “Ald. Roche wants to keep public business “privileged and confidential”” is my email exchange with him below from last weekend. Since he intended this to be a public conversation (“I do this openly and not behind closed doors.”), I felt it was appropriate to share it with the community and hopefully provide some insight into his thinking. …

As Executive Director of Somerville Community Access Television, I am concerned that the community may lose resources and benefits from changes to the cable TV franchise rules.  After failing in 2007, Verizon is trying again to modify the rules to their benefit with a new bill put forward in the MA House and Senate. …

As the following pie chart shows, nearly 60% of Rep. Capuano’s 2010 earmark requests (totaling almost $80 million of tax-payer money) are for military research programs out of a total of close to $136 million in pet projects. He claims he didn’t know about the political contributions he received from the PMA Group lobbying firm, but he should have checked into it before earmarking millions of dollars for its members! We need to send Capuano a strong signal that we’re watching him and we won’t tolerate his earmarks!

It sounds like the reason he was upset was not that his email was leaked early, but that there was organized opposition to his idea. The only rational conclusion is that he hoped his motion would come to a vote without much public scrutiny. When a legislator wants to keep the public out of the legislative process, that should be grounds for impeachment!

My neighbor, Dave, got so fed up with the unfairness of Somerville’s parking regulations, he started an online discussion group to collect stories of similarly aggrieved residents.

So far the stories touch upon a variety of issues, including:…

On March 3rd, the Somerville Board of Aldermen will hold its hearing on the proposed Condo Conversion Ordinance. If you are a Somerville homeowner, you know that the Libertarian, Cambridge-based Small Property Owners Association (SPOA) — which mailed letters to every Somerville homeowner — is seeking to derail that legislation by disseminating inflammatory and baseless claims about how passage will result in plummeting property values and escalating property taxes.

So far, all we’ve been told by the city about the people appointed by Mayor Curtatone to serve on Somerville’s new Financial Advisory Committee is their names and titles. But, the residents of this city deserve to know more about these advisors who will have such big influence on how we cope with massive budget cuts.

PDS Vice Chair Rachel Heller sent around information about the Democratic Party Caucuses scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 5th (see below). Readers may be wondering “Why bother to go to an “issues” convention … or to the Caucus where delegates are elected? Here are my thoughts on why it’s worth our time.

This sounds like a proactive and timely step on the part of the mayor, but is this “outside” panel of “experts” truly a good source of guidance for our city in these dire times?

I’ve been reviewing some of the reasons Obama will need to be pushed if he is going to be a progressive President, and some of the major areas in which we need to push him. The key thing is, we can’t wait.

Over the last five years, the city has seemed to be augmenting its revenue by issuing me one trash citation after another, often for no cause… It has become clear to me that this city government is rife with nepotism and cronies who are willing to lie in order to protect each other’s misconduct and dishonesty.

To the Charter Review Committee, I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to give testimony at your November 10th public hearing. I hope you are not discouraged that, from mildly to passionately, all but one person who spoke was critical of your preliminary recommendations.

If you’ve been waiting to submit your written testimony to the Charter Advisory Committee, now’s the time. If you haven’t reviewed the Committee’s preliminary recommendations, check them out here. Here are my thoughts:

How do we in Somerville know that the Obama administration will be under pressure to cave to corporations? I couldn’t say it any better than Derrick Jackson did in the Globe…

You’re invited to a Legislative Workshop I’ll be holding on Thursday, November 20 from 7PM to 8:30PM at the Somerville Public Library, at 79 Highland Ave, Somerville.

Somerville went heavily for Obama in the last election. Now we have to push him to make good on some of his promises; where he doesn’t go far enough, to go further; where he is silent, to speak up and act; and where he is wrong, to change.

This past Monday, the Charter Advisory Committee held a public hearing … Perhaps the most frequent themes of testimony were · Opposition to the appointment (instead of election) of School Committee members · Filling Vacancies on the BOA / Instant Runoff Voting as the means of

In April 2008, Mayor Curtatone convened a Charter Advisory Committee “to examine the City of Somerville’s current municipal charter and make recommendations aimed at modernizing city government.” (snip) After a series of meetings between June and early November, the Committee held a public hearing on Monday, November 10 to present and receive comments about its preliminary recommendations…

On Martin Luther King day, January 15, 2006, during his introduction to invited speaker (then-candidate) MA Governor Deval Patrick in front of a full house at the East Somerville Community School, Mayor Joe Curtatone pledged to search far and wide in order to hire the very best possible staff leadership to implement the civil rights of constituents with disAbilities in Somerville… But meaningful change and independent choice still seems out of reach for some voters here in the ‘Ville.

In anticipation of next week’s public hearing on Charter Reform, Fred Berman and Bill Bumpus interviewed local activist Bill Shelton, who favors a City Manager form of government, as compared with our current “Strong Mayor” form of government…..

The following is quoted from the City of Somerville Website PR of October 27, 2008:

The City of Somerville’s Charter Advisory Committee (CAC) will hold a public hearing to discuss the City’s municipal charter and the work of the CAC…

I just read the article in the Somerville Journal in which the aldermen discussed various ideas for trimming the city’s budget. That motivated me to write the following Letter to the Editor in favor of replacing the preliminary elections with a single election with Instant Runoff Voting.

I submitted the following letter on behalf of several individuals to the initial public comment period of the Somerville Charter Advisory Committee advocating the use of Instant Runoff Voting for municipal elections in Somerville.

Committee Urges Residents to Submit Comments on City Charter Beginning September 1st through September 8th; Comments Accepted Via Email, Mail and Voicemail

Attention Young Somerville,, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the City of Somerville’s Young Somerville Advisory Group announced today (7/31) that they are now accepting applications for all interested Somerville residents, ages 21-35, to serve on the Advisory Group for the 2008-2009 term.

I attended another positive, constructive Charter Advisory Meeting this morning. Discussion focused on the Board of Aldermen structure (elections, terms, make up, selection of president).
Proportional representation and other changes that could increase participation and representation were discussed. All agreed that increased participation and representation are a top goal for any changes.

My name is Greg Nadeau and I am serving as a resident representative on the Mayor’s Charter Advisory Committee. This committee will spend 6 months developing recommendations to change the city’s charter (base constitution). All changes would need to be ratified by the Aldermen, then Legislature,then voters.

One of the questions that is being considered is the structure of the Board of Aldermen.

I would be interested if anyone on this service has had experiences with our current Alderman structure that suggest improvements to the structure(at-large vs ward, terms, committees, public participation, etc).

In the first week of May 2008, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone placed a “Welcome Desk” in the foyer of City Hall that utterly disregards MA Access Building Code. [snip] It seems that yesterday’s design standards are as tenacious as yesterday’s attitudes, even today: the 18th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I certainly agree with Barry’s post of 7/15/08 in this SomervilleVoices blog entitled, “City’s Commission Staffing Plan Hurts Human Services.” Three questions seem particularly germane to this issue: 1. Are Somerville’s municipal resources distributed equally and fairly to all residents? 2. Are all residents offered equal participation within public programs, without regard to differences in age, income, birth culture, abilities, religions, race, gender, job status, or city address? 3. Do certain Somerville residents experience social and economic inequities that would support the fuller engagement and investigation of the specialized Human Rights Commissions?

I share Melissa McWhinney’s concerns about the impact of the Mayor’s new commission staffing reorganization on the quality of the city’s human services. The HRC and other commissions should not have to compete with each other for staff services as they now do under the new arrangement.

If a municipality’s Bus stops are unreachable and inaccessible, due to badly built street facilities, then its residents are restricted from accessing public transportation systems, etc..For some individuals, the challenges created by these issues cause them to be nearly or fully housebound.
Do you think such quality of life issues should continue to be put off until “tomorrow?” …

The National Council on Disability (NCD) is gathering public input for a study of emerging issues and trends affecting the lives of people with disabilities. Information gathered will be used in the development of NCD’s next annual progress report to the President and Congress, “National Disability Policy: A Progress Report,” which is required by Section 401(b) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

Somerville for IRV is a group I started for exploring the benefits of Instant Runoff Voting for local elections here in Somerville. In the coming weeks, I’ll begin a series of posts that highlight the many benefits of using IRV for our municipal races, but first, let me explain what in the world IRV is.

This would be a great way for the public to engage in a process that could impact Somerville in a big way. There are five resident seats on this committee, so I encourage you to apply and invite others who might be interested.