Somerville foreclosure moratorium proposed
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By Joe Creason

The evening of September 9 marked a regular meeting for the City Council.

A resolution requesting the city to consider a foreclosure moratorium for Somerville homeowners and owner-occupied small landlords, was submitted by City Councilor At-Large Kristen Strezo.

“This was a suggestion put forth to me by a community activist and I think it is a good consideration to make. We need to acknowledge that many in the community are still struggling from the past year and this is how we support them and I support this,” Strezo said.

The meeting continued with the foreclosure moratorium being left on the table for approval.

A labor struggle between Tufts University and its dining hall staff has created an ongoing debate with the City Council as 131 were not granted jobs this summer. No notice was given by the University before the layoffs and the workers have been unable to collect unemployment benefits.

“It is my intention this evening to vote no on any permits until these workers are paid what they are owed,” said Ward 4 City Councilor Jesse Clingan, “Tufts University President Anthony Monaco gets paid $273,483 for three months of work, a Tufts dining worker gets paid $9,594. They also just paid $2 million for the Tufts name to be attached to the new T station, so this is really egregious. I cannot support an institution that doesn’t support its workers, especially those who were there to serve them during the pandemic.”

According to Executive Director of Community Relations for Tufts University Rocco Dirico, there were no layoffs over the summer, and senior leadership at Tufts took pay cuts so there would be no layoffs.

As part of a Massachusetts wide policy enacted by Governor Baker last summer, Unemployment benefits were made available to workers whose contracts are tied to the academic year. Though, the policy was not continued by the state this summer. It was the state that elected forgo giving unemployment benefits to workers, not Tufts, says Dirico.

“Tufts University is committed to the wellbeing of its students, faculty staff and community and we are grateful for our relationships with our host communities,” Dirico said.

However, many councilors echoed Councilor Clingan’s support for the dining hall staff, citing evidence that Tufts made a different decision from other universities in the region, a decision which worked for Tufts but not for its workers, says Ward 7 City Councilor Katjana Ballantyne.

“The union has not filed any challenges for our handling of this issue. Again, I think their issue is with the Commonwealth for not extending the unemployment benefits, their issue is not with Tufts,” Dirico said.

The issue was referred to Licensing and Permits by Council President McLaughlin.

In other news, a citation was submitted by the mayor and City Councilors, commending Mary Alice Lally on her 50 years of employment with the city. The Council also voted to approve authorization in order to enter into and execute a service agreement with the Cambridge Health Alliance to operate the health center at Somerville High School.

“This is a continuation of a partnership to provide health services for students, they provide an incredible range of health support with everything from mental health dental care, eye care, vaccinations, dating violence and reproductive counseling. It’s an incredible asset and it’s a model I wish we saw all across the country,” said Chief of Staff at Somerville Public Schools Jeff Curley.

The next regular meeting of the City Council will be on September 23 at 7:00 pm.