(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

By Parma Chai
Manager/Business Owner of OOTB Gallery at the Armory

The Arts at the Armory building and its current tenants have been in flux and worried about their futures. Since the Eminent Domain seizure by the City of Somerville, current tenants of the Armory lack clarity for their futures, have not been provided with meaningful rehousing monies or resources for future places of operation, and have been constantly poked and prodded by the City Management to work with rehousing consultants. We are currently being put through an “arts consultant” research firm from NY working alongside the Somerville Arts Council and the Somerville Economic Development department to determine who gets to stay and who does not. The Somerville Arts Council management has so far not met with the current tenants communally, including not being present at our first introduction to the Arts Consultants. This is happening while the Eminent Domain Seizure was made possible by the division of Economic Development and the Arts Council under the leadership of the former Mayor Curtatone and now the current Mayor Katjana Ballantyne.

175 electronic signatures were collected in support of a Town Meeting all the way back in March for the petition below. The Clerk then asked that I collect another 50 signatures in person, which I exceeded at 55 (I actually included 60 signatures, but perhaps 5 were not accounted for due to myself in how I collected them or unseen by the City clerk) in April. The City Clerk approved the signatures and checked for their validity many months ago, and a Town Hall meeting could have easily occurred under the leadership of At Large
City Councilor Willie Burnley, Jr all the way back in May. Willie had already taken the time and energy to meet multiple tenants at the Armory and talk to them about their frustrations and concerns. However, the City decided that At Large City Councilor Kristin Strezo should be in charge of this meeting.

The original purposes of the Town Meeting, signed by Somerville voters, were to:

1. Ensure that Armory tenants are not treated arbitrarily and that current Armory tenants will not be evicted or intimidated to leave before (at least) June 31, 2022.

2. Discuss fair and unbiased treatment by the “arts consultant” to be hired by the City in April 2022. The City promised public discussions about who the consultant would be, but has failed to provide any information about this consultant since the one and only public tenant’s meeting with City management on September 23, 2021.

3. Discuss fair rehoming assistance for current art businesses at the Armory who are at great risk of being displaced on or before June 31, 2022. This is especially important since many of the tenants have original leases that spanned over the next 2 to 5 years and arranged their finances based upon that commitment.

4. Discuss having a proper janitor and maintenance professional at the building. Currently, the City of Somerville has not hired a janitor, despite promises of doing so. To underscore the importance of proper building maintenance, two tenants were recently stuck in the Armory’s unmaintained elevator and had to call the Somerville Fire Department to be rescued.

As it stands today, the City Council meeting run by Kristin Strezo addresses the arts consultant and Armory Master Plan Committee, which includes Tom Galiganni speaking as the Director of Economic Development.

However, the meeting agenda notes do not address intimidation and arbitrary treatment of tenants, why there have still not been public discussions of what the Armory Master Plan Committee is doing and why it has not had a fair process of recruiting committee members, as well as an equitable, public discussion of proper rehousing monies for businesses and residents who will likely be evicted next summer. Instead, the agenda lists the Director of Economic Development speaking at length, followed by completely separate agendas of cross guards and the city human resource department.

Though I understand that Public meetings with housing and development often include other agendas, I do not feel this agenda link will adequately make time and thoughtful discourse about the truly horrible experiences the current tenants of the Armory are going through, including a lack of handicap accessibility in the building for 2 months with an unworking elevator, a former rat infestation problem that lasted for months without proper attention from City management, and a current exhibit on show on the 2nd floor of the
Armory called “Evicted” in the very place that many current tenants will likely be evicted by next summer.

Please feel free to contact your Somerville City Councilors about any concerns or thoughts you may have whatsoever about this October 19th meeting, or otherwise, feel free to join us and speak up or listen to the fastly approaching October 19th hearing through Zoom at:
https://somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=998791&GUID=2B65783B-7DE3-43D8-8B19-9A4F654960C0&Search=