by David Taber

Another prospective candidate announced Jan. 11 his intention to run for the recently vacated seat of alderman-at-large in the approaching special election.

“I am on the street, I am a business owner. I hear business owners’ concerns and I hear the concerns of residents,” said Elio A. LoRusso.

LoRusso said he definitely plans to vie for the seat. His main goal as an alderman would be to ease the residential tax burden by increasing the city’s commercial tax base, he said.

Until the board of aldermen selects a date for the election, the election commission cannot officially begin accepting campaign papers from candidates, said Nicholas P. Salerno, chairman of the elections commission.

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah L. Gewirtz said the board‚Äôs legislative matters committee would consider options for the election at their meeting  Jan. 23. The position of alderman-at-large opened Oct. 26, after former Alderman-at-Large Denise Provost was elected as state representative for the 27th Middlesex District.

“I miss my colleagues, I miss being immersed everyday in local issues; I miss Somerville. I don’t get to spend as many hours a week there as I used to,” said Provost.

Former Provost campaign field coordinator Marty Martinez and former Ward 6 Alderman John M. Connolly previously announced their intentions to run, and School Commis-sion Vice President Maureen P. Bastardi said there is a fifty percent chance that she will seek Provost‚Äôs former post as well. 

Connolly, who served alongside Provost in 2003, said he thinks he is the best candidate for the job, in part, because of his past experience, especially with a new round of budget deliberations coming up. 

‚ÄúI will require no on the job training and I have a proven ability to work with the board,‚Äù he said. 

Provost said dealing with the effects of a significant shortfall in state funding on the city of Somerville’s budget in 2003 was the hardest challenge she faced as alderman.

“I learned to read between the lines and fine tune budget priorities in lean times. It is a skill I am glad I learned and a responsibility I take seriously,” she said.

Bastardi said her seat on the school committee has given her experience with the budgetary process as well, and that, if she decides to run and is elected, she would be a strong advocate for the city‚Äôs children. 

The board needs a fresh voice, said both Martinez and LoRusso.  ‚ÄúSometimes you need a dif-ferent mind from what‚Äôs been there,‚Äù LoRusso said.

Martinez, whom Provost said she plans to endorse once he is able to declare his candidacy, said he is running with a unique vision for Somerville. “I’m not just looking at ways we can sustain what we are doing, but looking at ways we can make things better,” he said.

Marinez worked on affordable housing issues during his tenure on the board of directors of the Somerville Community Develop- ment Corporation, and one of his main goals is to make the city more affordable, he said. 

‚ÄúI am proud to have recently become a home owner in Winter Hill, but a lot of people can‚Äôt afford to buy a house. The question is how do we work proactively to make Somerville a better place to live?‚Äù Martinez said. 

Martinez said he hopes to continue Provost‚Äôs legacy as a hardworking alderman who did her homework. ‚ÄúSo much of the job of alderman is not written down anywhere, its up to your own discretion,‚Äù Provost said. 

Early in her tenure, Provost learned of an unlicensed transfer station for solid and hazardous waste operating in a residential neighborhood, she said. “The State DEP said they were short staffed and they wouldn’t do anything unless the city wouldn’t take care of it,” she said.

She worked with various city departments and commissions, including the Fire Department, the zoning commission, the health department and inspectional services, and eventually forced the building owner to revoke the transfer station’s occupancy license, she said. “I was left with a jar of contaminated earth and a sense of satisfaction.”

As an alderman, if there are no other agencies that want to take on an issue, then the buck stops with you, she said. The job requires diligence and discretion, she said.

Gewirtz also said constituent services is one of the most important aspects of an alderman‚Äôs job.  ‚ÄúVoters should be looking for someone who is responsive and committed to the City of Somerville,‚Äù Gewirtz said. 

Candidates will have to gen-erate thousands of dollars in order to run a successful cam-paign, said Connolly. Both Bastardi and LoRusso said they estimated it would cost over $20,000 and Mar-tinez, while he would not give a concrete estimate, said he has been fundraising since October.

Whoever wins the seat will only hold it for about four months before the 2007 general election season gets underway, Connolly said. 

Special elections provide a unique opportunity for candidates, said Dan Cohen, a local political strategist. “Special elections are often the best opportunity people have of winning a seat because once they get in, most incumbents are reelected.”