The topic of rent stabilization being possibly implemented in Somerville was among the issues discussed by the city’s Legislative Matters Committee at their latest meeting.

By Jennifer Purcell

Last Tuesday, December 5, the Somerville City Council’s Legislative Matters Committee held their final meeting of the year, following up on a variety of subjects that have been prominent topics of discussion all throughout the year.

The primary focus this year has been the topic of rent stabilization and how it can be implemented here in Somerville. This was the first topic that Ward 6 Councilor and Committee Chair Lance Davis wanted to bring up.

For this particular meeting, the Committee wanted to discuss the Council’s ability to ban landlords from passing real estate agent fees onto tenants. While it was agreed that the idea was favorable, City Solicitor Cindy Amara was unsure if it would be doable. “You can’t interfere with civil relationships without legislative authority,” she pointed out. “It can’t be done without a Home Rule Petition.”

After some discussion, the Committee decided that it would be best to mark the item as completed as there is nothing they can do given the fact that they are still in the early stages of developing the Home Rule Petition. This is an item that they might be able to revisit once the Home Rule Petition is put in place.

Additionally, the Committee covered several other pressing issues that were unrelated to rent stabilization, one of them being the legality of requiring businesses to post Worker’s Rights Bills in clearly visible spaces. These bills would include the right to form a union without retaliation and consequences for violating workers’ rights. They agreed that it would be a good idea, however, there isn’t much they can do as there would be no severe consequences for businesses that do not post these bills.

Ordinance Drafts

To conclude the meeting, the Committee discussed the possibilities of drafting several ordinances, the first of which would protect homeowners from developer and realtor mail, phone, and email harassment. This item is one that had been kept in the Committee for several months while they attempted to get in touch with an attorney in Chicago to speak to them about the details regarding the ordinance that they have implemented in their city. After speaking with an attorney, the Committee decided that the chances of this ordinance being drafted would be slim to none due to the level of enforcement and capacity. Furthermore, they do not currently have adequate funds to go through with this.

The final topic the Committee discussed was the possibility of drafting an ordinance requiring pollution mitigation for new housing built along high transit roads and highways. This is also something that the Committee has been talking about for some time as it was first proposed pre-Covid.

Although they had already come up with ideas regarding how they would go about this, they ultimately opted to mark the item as completed as it was not their decision to make and that the Board of Health would be better suited to take care of the issue.