By Joe Creason

The City Council’s May 27 regular meeting began with some clarification from Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis on the PILOT ordinance, which establishes a Task Force to oversee the issue of non-profit organizations and any tax-exempt properties they may own in Somerville.

According to Davis, the new PILOT ordinance would not set a percentage that non-profit organizations have to pay the city as that is beyond the legal authority of the Council to undertake.

A resolution submitted by Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen, in partnership with the advocacy group Zero Debt Massachusetts, is calling upon the Federal Government to cancel student debt.

“The student debt crisis is not new,” Ewen-Campen said, “But what is new is the moment we’re in. The pandemic has exposed how unequal and unjust our economy truly is.”

According to Ewen-Campen, a mass movement calling on the Federal Government to end student debt has been on the rise around the country. Currently, 19 percent of Somerville residents have student debt with the average amount being over $38,000. Both of these statistics are above the state average for Massachusetts.

Zero Debt Massachusetts activist and Somerville resident Marcus Harken, says that credentialization of the labor market and stagnation of wages has made the burden of student debt unbearable for someone who has to pay rent and other living expenses.

“My two hard earned degrees, for which I sacrificed my twenties, along with $65,000 in student debt, have granted me access to jobs that pay the same as unskilled labor, in some cases not even as much,” Harken said.

According to Zero Debt Massachusetts, two thirds of student debt is held by women and also disproportionately affects people of color more than white populations.

“While it would be an improvement for people of all backgrounds, this policy which President Biden could make major progress on with the stroke of a pen, would be practically impactful for black and Latino people and would have a real impact on the rail wealth gap as well as on the gender equality gap,” Ewen-Campen said.

According to Ewen-Campen, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley has been a leader in pushing this issue in Washington D.C. and reminding the Democrats that student debt forgiveness was a key part of their platform during the 2020 Campaign.

“We are calling on them to keep their promise,” Ewen-Campen said.

The City Council submitted a resolution to endorse a letter from the Wage Theft Advisory Committee, and to have the letter forwarded by the City Clerk to the named parties and the Federal Delegation.

“The letter is urging the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Homeland Security to prioritize workers’ rights over documentation. Respecting workers sounds like a no-brainer to me, so I hope we all vote to support this,” said Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan.

Reports from the Housing and Community Development Committee noted that the pandemic eviction moratorium is set to expire in July, which poses a serious risk to community members.

“The committee also discussed the community benefit agreement that Encore Casinos promised Somerville and how they have gone about complying with that agreement,” said Councilor At-Large Kristen Strezo.

The Committee report questions whether Encore has upheld the community benefit agreement to purchase $25,000 worth of Somerville business gift cards and how these purchases are being kept track of.

In other news, the Traffic and Parking Committee reported that MassDOT will install a crosswalk on Blakeley Avenue, where Marshall Mac was fatally injured in April. The installation will occur this Summer.

“We had extensive discussions with MassDOT about the desire for sound walls along the East Somerville expanse of I-93, since they will be spending $37 million to address some steel deficiency issues on the viaduct there. They pretty much said no to that and they have also not said whether they would move up any of the other improvements scheduled for 2023,” said Ward 5 Councilor Mark Niedergang.

The Finance Committee reported a request from the mayor to approve an appropriation in the amount of $2,520,000 as part of the Capital Investment Plan for FY2021.