Tony Lafuente is bullish on business.

Ward 4 Alderman talks Winter Hill

By Andrew Firestone

There was one new initiation for the Somerville BOA this last Monday, January 2: Tony Lafuente is now Ward 4 Alderman. A Portuguese immigrant, Lafuente is the local business owner of Flagraphics, which he has operated since moving to Somerville in 1987. After running for mayor against Joseph Curtatone in 2003, and Alderman At Large in 2007, Lafuente finally enters the chamber during a crucial juncture for his neighborhood.

“There’s a lot to do in Ward 4,” said Lafuente. “Frankly, my predecessor had been not doing very much in the past few years. There’s a lot of things that need to be done from sidewalks, trees, to cleanliness of the ward. We now have some issue with the break-ins in Ten Hills. I’ve already been approached by some of my neighbors, that they’d like to have a neighborhood meeting about that.”

Most important, said Lafuente, was the continuing revamping and development of Broadway, which he says is where his business acumen can come into play. “When I came into Somerville, there was only four people [at Flagraphics], now we’re 11.” He said. “Over the years, I’ve hired people from Somerville, because that’s what you want to do, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”

“We have to allow the free market process to happen, and encourage, so that business will come to the city and grow in the city, and allow the residents of the city to be participants in those businesses.”

“The people of Ward 4 elected me because they know that my experience in business and development will lend itself to whatever happens on Broadway and Winter Hill,” he said. “I’ve got my plans for it, and again people are going to have a certain amount of input.”

As for Broadway, the current home of the long-abandoned Star Market, Lafuente said, “I’d love to see a lot more professional businesses,” such as insurance companies, architects, graphic designers and other small businesses. “Everything is retail right now. I think the new zoning, having mix-used buildings and the four-story limit, I think it allows for that.”

“We’re going to try to get working with the whole revamping of Broadway, which is a long-term plan,” he said. “The whole rezoning of Winter Hill has gone through and now it’s time to seeing what kind of developments we can bring in.”

As for his intent in his upcoming trials and tribulations, Lafuente was secure in his feelings that Somerville needs to be more open to bringing different people into the city, and should open their doors, while still showing discretion. “People already know so much about me because I ran before. They know I’m very pro-business. I’d like to see the city be a lot more business friendly in terms of permitting process, which a lot of folks complain a lot about, to make it easier, so that we make it easier for when a business wants to move into the city, allow them to go through the whole building permit process and planning and zoning, to allow them to come in to create the jobs that folks are talking about.”

“We need jobs. We can’t specify the jobs that we want or need in the city. We have to allow companies to come in and grow here and allow we here, the residents of the city, to grow with those businesses, because that’s how people are going to get hired,” he said.