Topics include COVID-19 response, pandemic-related housing issues, mental health & wellness, racial & social justice, support for the arts community, and a senior town hall.

With the city still unable to hold in-person meetings due to coronavirus concerns, ResiStat will host a series of virtual events in the coming weeks, giving residents the opportunity to engage with Somerville elected officials and staff on key topics. The fall ResiStat series kicked off with an arts community town hall on September 15 and will continue with five more installments beginning on Thursday, October 15, covering the city’s COVID-19 response, housing issues during this pandemic, mental health and wellness, racial and social justice, and senior issues.

Normally ResiStat holds seven separate meetings each fall and spring in each of Somerville’s seven voting wards. Given the socially-distanced circumstances necessitated by the current pandemic, online meetings that enable residents from all around the city to attend are designed to foster maximum participation. Members of the public are encouraged to attend as many meetings as they like.

“We have held a number of virtual town halls in recent months dealing with coronavirus topics, and have gotten strong attendance for them,” said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “This is the most effective way for us to create an opportunity for community engagement at this point in time. Just because we can’t gather together doesn’t  mean we can’t still be involved with the issues affecting our city. I look forward to a productive set of meetings.” 

The schedule for the fall 2020 ResiStat meetings is: 

• October 15, Thursday – Housing during COVID-19

• October 20, Tuesday – Coronavirus update & response

• October 21, Wednesday – Senior issues

• October 28, Wednesday – Mental health/wellness

• TBA – Racial & social justice

All meetings will start at 6:00 p.m. and are scheduled to run at least an hour. Residents can log in to the meetings through somervillema.gov/virtualtownhall. Live simultaneous Spanish interpretation and English captioning will be available. Portuguese, Haitian Kreyol and Nepali interpretation can be requested by emailing sbernt@somervillema.gov.

Individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Somerville or to attend meetings should contact Nency Salamoun at NSalamoun@somervillema.gov or 617-625-6600 ext. 2323.

For more information and regular COVID-19 updates, visit somervillema.gov/coronavirus and sign up for city alerts at somervillema.gov/Alerts. We urge you to sign up for every alert method you are able to receive: phone call, text, email. Also follow FB.com/SomervilleCity and @SomervilleCity.