Creating Community Control of Somerville
For far too long, the power to shape our city has been in the hands of a few: the well-connected, the wealthy, the for-profit developers. The effect has been the displacement of many of our residents, the shuttering of our small businesses, and the ever-increasing rents that put so many of us on the brink of economic collapse.
We can do more than imagine a Somerville where all of our voices are taken into account, where equity and justice along the lines of race, class, ability, and gender are centered in the way we develop our neighborhoods. We can build this world together through community-led processes, universal design, and Community Benefit Agreements. It’s time that we take control of our city and empower our residents to ensure that we have development without displacement, affordability for our renters and small business owners, and control of our housing stock.
Let’s end displacement with a Community Benefits Ordinance
We can take control of our city’s destiny, center racial and economic justice, while providing affordable housing and living wages to our residents. Union United and Union Square Neighborhood Council have proven that through their years of advocacy and two CBAs with US2 and Boynton Yards, respectively.
These groups are a model for how residents and stakeholders in other parts of our city can come together to demand union jobs, material benefits for communities of color, and gender justice in legally binding agreements with for-profit developers.
Let’s give our residents the power over how this city is shaped and who benefits from its development by putting forward an ordinance that incentivizes the creation of more neighborhood councils that can negotiate directly with developers. As a councilor, I’ve worked to amend our Neighborhood Council ordinance to make it more inclusive and encourage more community control over development.
Want to learn more about CBAs, how they fight displacement, and Union United? Click here!
Listen to Willie join other members in Union United to advocate for an equity agenda during a Union Square Neighborhood Council meeting. Here he talks about the importance of procurement for POC-owned small businesses and affordable, high speed internet.
Curious about how disparities in procurement rates negatively impacts POC-owned businesses? Read about how the City of Boston only gave Black and Latino/x-owned businesses 1.2% of contracts worth billions.
Let’s Ban Hostile Architecture and Create Universal Design
Across our region and country, communities are standing up against the unethical and obstructive design known as hostile architecture. This is a type of design built in cities to increase the difficulty for our unhoused neighbors to find comfort. We shouldn’t be making it harder for those of us with the least financial resources to survive. We should be building toward a Housing First model of combating homelessness. We can do this while respecting the needs of our differently abled neighbors and elders who may need more supports to travel around. As someone who has studied and worked on fighting ADA violations with the Equal Rights Center, as a city councilor, I will ensure that Somerville becomes an ADA compliant city by implementing universal design.
If Somerville is to live our values of inclusivity and compassion for those struggling, we must prioritize accessibility and equity in design. As a councilor, I will help steer us toward a balance between meeting people’s accessibility needs and living our best values of inclusivity.
Making the Most of Our Land
Now, perhaps more than ever, it is critical that Somerville residents and institutions work together to ensure we are doing the most public good that we possibly can with our buildings and land. That’s why I’ve been proud to volunteer with the Somerville Community Land Trust, as we reach out to residents to create a vision of what our city can look like when we us our roughly four square miles of land for its best purposes.
Our Community Land Trust is receptive to community input and (with community support and involvement) will be able to achieve various goals, including:
Getting the most out of vacant and under-utilized buildings for the public good by turning them into decommodified housing (also known as permanently affordable housing)
Can be used to take ownership of homes and land owned by older folks that would like to donate their buildings to good causes
Can use buildings to help house those facing displacement and/or help first-time homebuyers purchase a home.
Can help increase green energy technology by utilizing SCLT land for solar panels, green roofs, and green space.
Somerville Community Land Trust (SCLT) logo. Click for more information.
Information on Community Land Trusts from the New Economy Coalition.
Creating Transparency, Accountability, and Representation in City Government
For far too long, the processes in City Hall have been opaque and unresponsive to the voices of Somerville residents. A recent Harvard study found that the City of Somerville lacked “diverse representation at the City and crucial decision making tables, and transparency and accountability for the City generally and the Somerville Police Department (SPD) specifically.” The council has tremendous power to alleviate these issues through their power to confirm appointments of city staff and commissioners as well as their advocacy around ensuring these positions are well-known in the community. We can do better than being a City with only one councilor of color and with a lack of diversity at decision-making tables. If elected to the City Council, I will push to have more racial, gender, economic, and ability diversity. I will help lead the shift toward a more transparent and accountable government.
A short history of Somerville’s Human Rights Commission and its lack of appointments
Commissions currently looking for applicants:
Commission for Persons with Disabilities (currently seeking commissioners)
Human Rights Commission
Let’s Bring Back the Local Option on Housing
For nearly three decades, the cost of rents have gone up tremendously and caused a mass exodus of our neighbors who could no longer afford to live here. This is because in Massachusetts it is legal to double or triple rents every year and illegal for municipalities to place reasonable restrictions on unjust rent increases.
As someone who was displaced due to the fact that my rent increased hundreds of dollars, I know that pain intimately. As a councilor on the Legislative Matters Committee, I will work on drafting a home rule petition to bring back rent stabilization for our residents. And if the statehouse ignores the calls of Boston and Somerville, I will help bring this issue to the statewide ballot.