The real deal with Somerville politics?

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

I read lots comments about pro-mayor this and anti-maor that, and there appear to be a good number of contested races in the city this election cycle. Anyone care to enlighten me (and hopefully others) on what the sweep of citywide politics looks like from where you sit, and maybe a little of the history that went into it? Major points of contention? Anywhere I can read more? Thanks in advance.

Comments

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/2007/06/novice_progress.html

[turil.livejournal.com]

Somerville politics: small town politics meets big city. It's unfortunate that we continue to have mayors who see somerville as quaint and homey, because we could be a really fantastic, healthy, thriving city, instead of mostly being the small and uninteresting sibling to Boston and Cambridge. I'm not talking handing Somerville's public spaces over to skyscraper and big box developers (like a certain current mayor seems to consider progress these days - see the Union Square rezoning proposal and the Assembly Square fiasco that wound up in court due to a few minor illegal actions by the city). I'm talking about Somerville adding some honestly healthy, innovative, mixed-use urban development that bring's the city into the 21st century with some real pizazz.

Alas, most of the folks who actually bother to vote are the folks who don't really have any big dreams for Somerville, or if they do, they don't know what the possibilities are, so they settle for driving their car to the mall, and getting to know the Mayor personally, so that they can park illegally whenever they want.

So, yeah, Somerville politics - not bad, just sad.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

"Alas, most of the folks who actually bother to vote are the folks who don't really have any big dreams for Somerville, or if they do, they don't know what the possibilities are, so they settle for driving their car to the mall, and getting to know the Mayor personally, so that they can park illegally whenever they want."

So you think everyone that doesn't agree with you is either 1) uninformed or 2) a moron?

I think that's pretty illustrative of the current split in Somerville politics.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

That was a joke, right? Please, please tell me there's more to it than that. This is exactly the kind of uninformative, dare I say it, drivel I'm trying to avoid. Please tell me that there is some forum where people speak plainly and talk about the candidates' stances on the issues, or even what the issues are, rather than whether they are "men of integrity" or "a complete nut" or run with a "band of traveling thieves". If the link you posted indeed represents the height of political discourse in Somerville, it is truly a sad state of affairs. Or maybe that was your point.

Please someone, we can do better, can't we? I just want to know what the important issues are to others around here and, perhaps, what all the sotto voce accusations are really about and whether they have any merit.

[ron_newman]

I suggest attending tomorrow night's meeting of Progressive Democrats of Somerville, 7 pm at the College Avenue United Methodist Church. Plenty of intelligent people there to talk to.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I think that we're all uninformed about a lot of things. If we were omniscient, we'd be gods (and we wouldn't need a mayor to run our city). But, as far as I can tell, all of us Somervillian humans are... well... human, and as such, we all have gaps in our knowledge that sometimes lead us to miss out on the good stuff. So, yeah, regardless of whether or not someone agrees or disagrees with me, I think that they are uninformed. And that includes me, obviously.

As for being a moron? The term seems pretty meaningless to me, except for being offensive, which I'd like to avoid doing, at least intentionally. So no, I don't think anyone a "moron".

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Broadly, the issue is control of city government between the long time Irish-Italian largely blue collar residents of the city and the newer-wave college educated residents that started buying up housing stock in the late 1990s. The current battles seem to be between getting out the vote of the older residents vs. convincing the newer residents (and migratory student population) to vote.

Turnout is always depressing. Part of the issue is that they're all Democrats, so the dividing issues aren't about being lefty, they're about how far lefty you should be.

So, broadly, the disagreements run like this:

The Democrats are old-style machine politicians. While that may sound bad, in practice they're very responsive to voter complaints because they know they need those votes.

The Progressive Democrats don't want big box, including Ikea, and advocate "Smart Development" (which, as far as I can tell, means mixed use). The Democrats see the need for a tax base to fund schools and public services, so they're willing to try a proven source of tax income now (Big Box) vs. the possiblity of "Smart Development" later.

At the same time, the Progressive Alderman for Ward 6 seems proud of the Big Box going up in Davis Square right now, so I may misunderstand their platform.

The Progressive Democrats also advocate giving the vote to non-US citizens who are residents of Somerville. I haven't seen a concrete proposal on how they'd work that, but they'd do it to give the large immigrant community a voice in local politics. The Democrats are (mostly) very firm about only having US citizens vote.

They're all pro-choice, pro-gay marriage (Curatone actually went out on a limb for that one), anti-war, pro-social programs, etc. etc.

Like Ron says, if you go to the PDS meeting they'll be only too happy to tell you how they're different than the old school Democrats.

[ron_newman]

Do you mean the CVS? That's not what most people mean by a 'Big Box' store.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

In that it isn't all one store?

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

I am not an expert in developer-speak, but the first hit I got from Googling "Big Box Development" seems to fit that building pretty well:

http://growthmanagement-icsc.org/bigbox/

[ron_newman]

I think of 'Big Box' as meaning a large one-story retail building surrounded by surface parking lots, like our K-Mart and Target. The new One Davis Square will be a three-story building with CVS on the first floor, Boston Sports Club on the second floor, offices on the third floor and basement, and no parking at all.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Soooo... the Ikea isn't big box because it has two floors?

No parking? Really? I missed that one!

[ron_newman]

The new One Davis Square will cover 100% of its lot, just as the old one did. I wouldn't say that Rebekah was 'proud' of it, but it was approved while the previous alderman was in office, and she couldn't do much to stop it even if she wanted to.

I guess there are a few multi-story Big Box stores such as the proposed Ikea, but nobody calls a CVS a big box store.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

*nod* One Davis sounds like mixed-use to me, or at least close to mixed-use. Not "big box," though.

[gildersleeve.livejournal.com]

The new One Davis Square may or may not be 'big box' by some definitions, but for some historical context it will indeed be a multi-use building - certainly the most uses for that piece of land in its recent history, for the whole old building was built in the 20's as Parke-Snow, a department store, and it was that one use for most of its existence. When the department store closed, it became strictly office space. The new building will have retail and office space together, so while CVS and a gym may or may not be the greatest use of the space, there is no denying that the new building has more variety than anything that has existed there for over 75 years.

[abilouise.livejournal.com]

Even though I won't be there due to scheduling conflicts, this statement is still very true.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I do. It's big, it's boxy, it's a big box! :-)

Though, I think it's more useful to describe what we do want, rather than what we don't want.

And what I want is for the city to encourage a diverse range of locally owned businesses that try to source their products and services locally whenever possible, so that Somerville is more independent and self-sufficient and able to employ more people with meaningful jobs who can contribute a healthy tax base to the community.

[ron_newman]

Bill Shelton's take on local politics, published this week, is worth reading. I don't necessarily agree with Bill, but he's always provocative.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

If by "Progressive Democrats" you mean PDS, they have no such platform that advocates giving the vote to non-US citizens.

They also have no stance directly against IKEA. They do advocate for Smart Development and Mixed Use space.

The new building in Davis Square may be big and it may be square, but it is not a big box development. It is a mixed use building which will contain a CVS, a gym, offices etc. Mixed Use.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

I don't think the description at that link fits that building at all.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

"If by "Progressive Democrats" you mean PDS, they have no such platform that advocates giving the vote to non-US citizens."

When they asked the question at a debate, Marty said he was in favor and the other two candidates said they weren't. Other PDS folks I've spoken with have also advocated giving the vote to non-US citizens. If it isn't a plank, it is being advocated by its members. I can provide links if you'd like.

"They also have no stance directly against IKEA."

When Marty came to my door looking for my vote I asked him if he was pro- or anti- Ikea. He was clearly in the anti-Ikea camp. When I asked Jack about it, he was definitely in favor of receiving those tax dollars and bringing one of the most respected and progressive employers in the world into Somerville.

If I've gotten the positions of the Progressives wrong, it is only because I've been talking to their candidates and their members.

"The new building in Davis Square may be big and it may be square, but it is not a big box development. It is a mixed use building which will contain a CVS, a gym, offices etc. Mixed Use."

You're right about that. I didn't know they wouldn't have parking. So is it an example of "Smart Development?"

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

I think the poster who described the new (hideous and unnecessary) CVS building in Davis Square as 'big box' is closer to correct than the others who seem unable to admit that a CVS and a sports club in Davis Square is good, so therefore not big box. Maybe I'm wrong, and I certainly haven't followed the Assembly Square issues as closely as some, but I understood that 'mixed use' meant office/retail plus residential. That is supposed to mean that the area will have some type of life at all hours. I don't see how office and retail use equals mixed use.

[ron_newman]

There can be a difference between an official PDS platform position, and the position that a PDS-endorsed candidate has on some issue. I think this is one of those differences.

Ikea is going to happen. The 'anti-Ikea' folks (including many PDS-ers) have made it a much more environmentally-friendly development than it would have been without their activism.

[ron_newman]

There will be housing, as well as office and retail, in parts of Assembly Square.

Davis Square in general is a mixed-use neighborhood; that doesn't mean every single building has to contain a mix of all those uses.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

Marty did co-found PDS, however he is not a spokesperson for PDS. Marty as a candidate has his views on issues and PDS as an organization has its official views on issues. These views are not identical. PDS does not need to agree with every statement one of their endorsed makes.

Everyone has a right to their own opinion however their personal views are not necessarily the official position of every organization they belong to.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

So would you say that the majority of PDS members don't share Marty's views on these two issues?

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

Big Box at Assembly Square You drive there. You park your car in a giant parking lot. If you go to KMart you park near KMart. Then when you are done there and want to go to the Christmas Tree Shop you often get in your car and drive to the other end of the giant parking lot nearer to the Christmas Tree shop. Each store is huge with an outside entrance to the parking lot. Each store is a major US retailer. You get out of your car, you make your purchase, you go back to your car and you drive away. The big box stretch of stores looks exactly like the same stretch of big box stores you can find in numerous cities and towns across America. Am I in Massachusetts or am I in Ohio? I can't tell.

Mixed Use in Davis Square: You take the T there. You ride your bike there on the bike path. You walk there. Sometimes you drive there and park in a small municipal parking lot or on the street. People live there. People eat in a variety of ethnic restaurants. People buy meat at the butcher shop and fruit at the little store across the street. In summer they go to the farmer's market. People listen to music, or go to a bookstore or go bowling. People stop in at the new CVS to pick up some bandaides or they go up to the new gym to work out.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

I would not presume to speak for the members of PDS as individuals.

[ron_newman]

And the 'PDS' (really 'Mystic View Task Force') position is more subtle than "anti-Ikea". It's more like "let's develop Assembly Square along the successful model already shown to work in Davis Square."

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

PDS and the Mystic View Task Force are two separate organizations. Although there are people who are members of both groups, both groups also have probably a majority of people in them that are not members of both organizations.

Big Picture Politics

[hillville.livejournal.com]

It's unfortunate that so many people (in the limited universe of folks that actually pay attention) are so willing to fall into the trap of the "us v. them," "new v. old," "townies v. yuppies" political discussion.

The crucial question to ask is "What are the issues I care about and what are the incumbents doing abut them?"

For example, the Assembly Square development is now touted by Smart Growth advocates like Doug Foy as one of the best and most exciting examples of sustainable growth on the eastern seaboard. Surely the Mystic View Task Force gets credit for that because of their insistence on transit-friendly, mixed-use development, but the mayor also gets credit for making the whole thing happen by finding a new developer, creating new zoning and helping broker a compromise vision that (almost) everyone can live with.

If anyone thinks the city's environmental agenda, affordable housing programs, commitment to marriage equality and human rights, and its efforts to make government more open and accountable have failed or are inadequate, then they should explain, specifically, how things should be changed.

If anyone thinks the city's strong bond rating, avoidance of Prop 2 and 1/2 overrides, capital stabilization funding, extensive rebuilding of streets, parks creation and school programs, increases in police and firefighter hires, etc., are falling short, then they should please explain, specifically, how those things should be altered.

In the end, the standards to which candidates should be held arise from policies, programs and ideology -- not "old Somerville" vs. "new Somerville."

I consider myself a progressive. By any meaningful test, I think Mayor Joe is one, too. Deval Patrick seems to think so as well: he's a big supporter.

But because he was born and raised here -- and because he ran against Dot Gay -- there are some local big-p Progressives who will never accept that Joe is as progressive as they are.

Why not?

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

I do think that on the surface, the city appears to be running smoothly. But I think a lot of it (particularly financially) is smoke and mirrors. The Dot Gay administration also appeared to be going great, until the smoke cleared, and people saw that the city was in financial trouble. That's when they began selling off city property to balance the budget. Don't forget that Joe's administration closed a school to save money by moving school administration offices and some city offices into the building. It has now sat vacant for 3 years, while we rent 2 school buildings to house Lincoln Park students while their school is rebuilt. Does this make sense to anyone? Also, I think the large raises given to some at City Hall, and the new postions created, will come back to haunt us. I think there has been a large amount of sell-out to developers to give them what they want, whether it's good for the city or not, for a financial pay-off. I think that's what's driving this proposed re-zoning of Union Square....development dollars (the real question is where are those dollars actually going??). And I feel if it passes as proposed it will completely kill Union Square as we know it today. Rather than duplicating the success of Davis Square, it will turn it into a wasteland of enormous buildings.

Governor Patrick: "Put down your cynicism"

[hillville.livejournal.com]

School enrollments are declining, so the city may not need the number of shcools it once had. Still, older school infrastructure needs to be either upgraded or replaced. The city ran the numbers and realized that the cost of rebuilding two old schools was more than building a new one big enough to replace both. And sometimes you gain far more by selling unneeded property than it costs to rent -- temporarily -- a smaller amount of space to tide you over until new facilities are ready.

These are exactly the type of choices that bond rating agencies look at when they assess a community's creditworthiness. Both Moody's and Standard and Poor's have praised the city's fiscal management.

As for the pay raises "some people" got at city hall: non-union employees (all of them) had received NO salary adjustments for five years -- just adjusting pay scales to meet the rate of inflation would have required an 11 percent one-time raise. That's what happens when people play the "they're-all-overpaid-hacks" game that leaves public salaries unchanged for years and years while their real purchasing power goes down.

And right now, all across the state, dozens of communities have asked for Prop 2 1/2 overrides, and many aren't getting them, so they're cutting back on teachers, closing firehouses, elminating school sports and doing all the other things communities have to do when they run out of money. Somerville, by contrast (and in part by growth in its commercial tax base), is getting by, even with millions less in annual local aid than the city used to get in the pre-Dot Com Economy Collapse, pre-Mitt days.

One of the best-kept secrets in Somerville is that our city spends LESS per capita than ANY city in Massachusetts with a population of 50,000 or more -- AND STILL we have programs (like 311 and Connect CTY) that most communities don't.

As for Union Square, it was once far denser than it is now, with more multi-story buildings, and it once had far more access to Boston and the rest of Somerville via public transportation. When the Green Line gets to Union Square in a few years, the Square is going to change, so planning for that change makes sense.

Union Square "as we know it" is great, but it can definitely be improved. With set-asides for arts oriented retail and community space, with anywhere between 12 and 15 percent set-asides for affordable housing, with the potential to work a linkage deal that gets the city a new public safety building or maybe a new library, an updated Union Square could and should be a net plus.

If you want to believe that this adminsitration isn't doing a good job with the city's finances, that's fine. But I think you're looking through a distorted lens and misreading the evidence.

[sompolitics.livejournal.com]

Check out Somerville Politics (http://somervillepolitics.wordpress.com/), the Somerville Journal, and the Somerville News for current stories on Somerville politics.

Check out the Somerville Journal and the Somerville News for old stories on Somerville politics.

That covers it, really. As for the history of Somerville politics, speak with the folks at the Election Department. They have been there a long time and have great stories to tell.