Government Reform

Agenda includes a rules change to make the replacement of Board members subject to time-limited community review. Selection of replacement by the previous Alderman has been controversial.

The Committee to Elect Mark Niedergang invites you to enjoy delicious free food from Redbones, Taco Loco, and Gauchão , fun entertainment, good company, and provocative discussion at a party and fundraiser to kick off Mark’s campaign for Ward 5 Alderman. Alex the Jester will entertain. State Representative Carl Sciortino (Somerville/Medford) will speak.

VOTE! In addition to the Presidential and Senatorial elections we all know about, there are seven initiatives on the ballot.

2012 election year rhetoric features “The market versus the state”, “Big capital versus big government”, and so on. What about creating a web of collaboration where no one is in charge because everyone is in charge?

In June, the City proudly announced that it would be posting lots of operational data in July online at data.somervillema.gov.  Well, it’s August 1st and that webpage hasn’t been set up yet. …

Clearly, Curtatone dodged his responsibility to properly ensure the event was accessible for persons with disabilities. We deserve better from our mayor!

Where does the money come from and where does it go?

My friend and Somerville hacktivist, Adam Friedman, recently alerted me to two new local transparency groups which both seem to have a strong Somerville focus and include another Somerville hacktivist Michael @Morisy (from the FOIA-made-easy site MuckRock).…

The City’s transparency initiative has again fallen into neglect.…

Here’s what I’ve learned so far via the following Twitter conversation (in chronological order):…

This Monday, the Architectural Access State Board will hear the City of Somerville’s request to waive the necessity to place an accessible ramp adjacent to a proposed shortcut between the Lowell St. bridge and the future Community Path Extension. Public transportation stewardship begins at home! Let’s encourage Somerville’s deciders to sTop wasting local and sTate transportation resources on exclusive facilities- and instead, plan for the future by designing accessible multi-modal pedestrian routes at every step.

Somerville Representative Provost has just published a piece at bostinno called: MBTA Troubles Just a Symptom of Systemic Crisis.
This Monday February 6, 2012 at 11:30 will be the Public Hearing on Rep. Provost ‘s House Bill 2659, a bill relative to transportation finance and equity. Location: State House, room A-1.
Rep. Provost article link: http://bostinno.com/2012/02/01/mbta-troubles-just-a-symptom-of-systemic-crisis/

“We should not have to tell you we are doing well. We should be able to show we are doing well. And if we are falling short in some areas, then you should be able to see that too. ” – Mayor Curtatone, in his 7/15/2011 op-ed to the Somerville News announcing his new ACE program and stating a customer bill of rights.

Somerville’s economic development policies should place the highest priority on creating the good jobs our community needs.…

Mayor Curtatone, Alderman Roche and the ResiStat program invite you to a community meeting in West Somerville to discuss the latest city data, news, updates and issues most important to you.

Reminder: The beginning of next week community leaders will get together with you in Wards 3 and 6

• Meet with Mayor Curtatone, Alderman, City officials, aldermen-at-large and police
• Share your concerns and ideas
• Stay for a Meet & Greet with light refreshments

Over 80% of Somerville’s new sidewalks and curb cuts, installed since 2004, are hazardous for people with various types of disabilities (one-in-five). These infrastructure improvements don’t even adhere to basic, standard building code. See a listing of the first 50 locations that the City of Somerville promises to re-do, equalling about $500K wasted the first time around- for starters.

I was looking at plans for a house that’s going to be built behind mine, and just got it’s ZBA stamp of approval, and realized that they hadn’t fixed the stairway.  For the first three…

Disabled residents of Somerville experience disproportionate poverty, substandard housing conditions, and face pervasive exclusion, even in the city’s inclusionary and affordable housing opportunity programs. Today, a FOIA request was lodged to learn how four influential nonprofits guide the City to step up to its obligations to affirmatively further Fair Housing for economically disadvantaged residents.

As the following examples indicate, the Curtatone administration routinely ignores, delays, or over-charges for data sought under the state’s public records law, in contrast to what the Mayor calls an “open, transparent and efficient government”.…

A good way to get to know interesting neighbors and maybe even accomplish something:
My husband and I hosted a MoveOn.org “American Dream” house party Saturday. …

Collaboration beats what we see in Congress, and…in…the Planning Board’s “solution” to Union Square affordable housing.

At least seven Somerville organizations, including civil rights, immigrant, anti-poverty, churches and peace groups, have signed on to a letter urging Governor Patrick “to decline to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement to participate in a program that damages the social fabric of our Commonwealth and makes our communities more vulnerable and less safe.” The letter was delivered on May 27, 2011 by the ACLU of Massachusetts.

The budget crisis continues, as local aid and programs from those for disabled children to assistance for vulnerable seniors are threatened with cuts or closure. This year’s budget promises to be the worst yet. So what can we do this year?

The City Democratic Committee presents special guest, Representative Mike Moran (Brighton) House Chair of Elections to speak about the re-districting process and its implications.

The recently released departmental review of the City’s Inspectional Services Division lists many problems and suggested solutions, but strangely neglects to mention that the department head, George Landers, was unqualified to hold that position.…

Happy snow emergency! Do you know where your towing dollars go?

When Watertown, MA resident Mark Pickering received a parking citation during a visit to a friend in nearby Somerville, he figured a simple letter to the Office of the Parking Clerk would result in a scheduled hearing or a ticket dismissal. Instead, he received an anonymous note of rejection with an extra $5 fine.

The proposed changes to simplify the review process for ZBA cases will consolidate all direct citizen input into one public hearing. Unless handled well, this could make it harder for citizens to make their voices heard.

The sole item on the agenda is adopting the Stretch Energy Code as Energy Code for Somerville. This important sustainability measure is in jeopardy in Somerville.

This teleconference dealt with new exciting work on addressing a perennial problem: how do people find out when issues they care about are being discussed?

Public meeting notices and the open meeting law are fundamental to transparency and public participation in government.

Large Retail Cluster Parking: Proposal is to double the parking requirement for large retail (> 25,000 s.f.). Staff believes that because Somerville has little parking available, the effect will be to discourage suburban format in Somerville. Developers would have to build parking garages, which is expensive.

The Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan of the Somerville Public Schools, due to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on 12/31, is open for public comment online at www.somerville.k12.ma.us/no_bullying.

We invite…

Dear Somerville Voters:

This Wednesday, Jim Henderson, the independent candidate for Secretary of the Commonwealth,  may have his one and only opportunity to debate the incumbent, Mr. Galvin, and he needs your support and…

The agenda includes the following:

* Change to the zoning ordinance to allow self-storage in Assembly Square
* Changes to the zoning ordinance to revise the procedures for reviewing Special Permits, Special Permits with Site Plan Approval, and variances
* Changes to the zoning ordinance to revise the parking requirements for large scale retail
* Change to the zoning ordinance to allow Historic Carriage House as a use in certain districts
* Special permit to allow Federal Realty to exceed signage size requirements in Assembly Square.

Currently the Steering Committee is working on policies and actions to implement the plan. Somerville’s citywide development for the next twenty years will be shaped by the comprehensive plan.

All hearings on the City Budget are important, because the Budget decides where the money goes.

This meeting is important because it deals with citizen-initiated zoning changes.

This meeting is important because charter amendments are always important, and adopting the Stretch Energy Code will reduce environmental impact throughout Somerville.

The Architectural Access Board will hold a Hearing on 18 Architectural Access Code Violations for Arts at the Armory facility on Monday, May 24, at 1 p.m.

back story: On February 8, Building…

The City of Somerville was one of 10 cities honored as an All America City by the National League of Cities in 2009. During the announcement, the audience was informed that, “this is a community that uses information to improve the lives of its residents.” Here’s some information about the inaccessible DPW facility.

BOA Committee on Housing and Community Development

Tues. Mar 16 6:30 PM

Somerville City Hall
2nd Fl. Comm. Rm
93 Highland Ave.
Somerville MA (map)

Agenda

BOA Legislative Matters Committee

Tues. Mar. 16 8:00 PM

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

Agenda (PDF)

This is…

BOA Legislative Matters Committee of the Whole

Tues. Mar. 9 7:00 PM

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

Agenda (PDF)

MPO Listening Session on Public Participation Program Revision

Wed. Mar. 3 4:00 PM

State Transportation Building
Suite 2150
10 Park Plaza
Boston MA (map)

The Metropolitan Planning Organization…

BOA Land Use Committee and Planning Board Joint Meeting

Thurs. Mar. 4 6:00 PM

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

Agenda

BOA Land Use Committee Meeting

Tues. Mar. 2 7:00 PM

Somerville City Hall
2nd Fl. Comm. Rm.
93 Highland Ave.
Somerville MA (map)

Agenda (PDF)

The City of Somerville, with it’s clear mandates and civil rights obligations from Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, continues to be really , truly, obviously unskilled at inclusive community-building.

Banks and Verizon need to be held to the kind of standards they use to torture their customers.

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)…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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

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…

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.