Deprioritizing of arrests for drug possession offenses was one of the topics of discussion at the latest meeting of the Somerville City Council’s Legislative Matters Committee.

By Joe Creason

The Legislative Matters Committee held their meeting on Thursday, April 15 in order to discuss the city’s agenda as well as issues with development of certain policies.

Decriminalization or the deprioritizing of arrests for drug possession offenses, was an item of major interest for many members of the Committee. Assistant City Solicitor Hannah Pappenheim and Chief of Police Charles Femino were present for this discussion of reform on criminal justice at the municipal level.

“We’re looking for something real, whether that be a formal policy or ordinance, as opposed to what is the unspoken policy right now,” said Ward 1 City Councilor Matthew McLaughlin, “I believe the Mayor’s Office has spoken to the Solicitor’s Office, so I hope we now have opinion on the matter.”

Data over the past five years shows that the number of possession arrests has been small enough to indicate that deprioritizing has been the policy in action, according to McLaughlin. The Councilor says that the Committee’s hope is to get something down on paper that solidifies this policy and prioritize treatment over incarceration.

McLaughlin submitted another agenda item for the creation of a fair and transparent system of taxation for large tax-exempt non-profit organizations, which was co-signed by the entire Council.

Action with regards to this issue is inspired by the City of Boston’s PILOT ordinance, a piece of legislation which formalizes a system of payment to the local government in order to offset losses in revenue due to a large non-profit operating within the municipality.

“The ordinance states explicitly that a large non-profit institution, such as Tufts or Partners, would pay 20 percent in taxes of what they would pay if it was a for-profit organization. It’s not as simple as just asking for 20 percent, but it is a way of formalizing expectations with these larger non-profits,” said McLaughlin.

Legislation regarding the city’s ability to deny, revoke, or suspend permits to companies with a history disregarding worker safety and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations.

“Essentially, this is something extremely important that we should be looking at when people are applying for permits in our city,” said McLaughlin.

The long-debated ordinance to regulate the use of leaf blowers in Somerville has been kept in Committee for further discussion.