(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)
I have lived in Davis Square since 2011. Davis Square is filthy and the problem gets worse annually.
The Davis Square area is the home base for several unhoused people. I believe that if we appropriately incentivize a few of Davis’ unhoused population, we can clean-up Davis Square. If this experiment works, it could have ramifications beyond Davis Square.
Proposal: Keep Davis Square Clean Campaign
The Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC) would manage this experiment. They would select two unhoused individuals who spend most of their time in Davis Square to participate.
The selected participants would agree to expeditiously collect and properly dispose of litter in Davis Square.
Collectively the businesses of Davis Square would voluntarily agree to donate $3,000 to fund the Keep Davis Square Clean Campaign. A participating business which has a direct line of sight view of Davis Square would compile a daily assessment of the area’s cleanliness: clean, acceptably clean, or unacceptably littered and give this assessment to the SHC once a week.
If the business assessment is “clean” or “acceptably clean,” then the SHC would distribute a week’s worth of dated food coupons to the two participants. Each coupon could be redeemed on the coupon’s date at one of the participating businesses for up to $15 worth of food or a takeout meal. If the business assessment is “unacceptably littered” the SHC would talk to the two participants and determine if they want to continue to participate in this experiment. If not, the SHC would attempt to replace those participants.
Participating businesses that return the dated coupons to SHC in a timely manner would be reimbursed from the Keep Davis Square Clean Campaign.
After three months, all stakeholders would meet to assess the success and the future of this endeavor. Any remaining funds in the Keep Davis Square Clean Campaign would be redistributed among the participating businesses.
Though challenges are inevitable, I am confident that through collaboration and goodwill, we can transform Davis Square into a cleaner, more welcoming place for everyone, with minimal cost to anyone involved.
Hayward Zwerling
Somerville
Letter to the Editor: August 15
(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)
I have lived in Davis Square since 2011. Davis Square is filthy and the problem gets worse annually.
The Davis Square area is the home base for several unhoused people. I believe that if we appropriately incentivize a few of Davis’ unhoused population, we can clean-up Davis Square. If this experiment works, it could have ramifications beyond Davis Square.
Proposal: Keep Davis Square Clean Campaign
The Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC) would manage this experiment. They would select two unhoused individuals who spend most of their time in Davis Square to participate.
The selected participants would agree to expeditiously collect and properly dispose of litter in Davis Square.
Collectively the businesses of Davis Square would voluntarily agree to donate $3,000 to fund the Keep Davis Square Clean Campaign. A participating business which has a direct line of sight view of Davis Square would compile a daily assessment of the area’s cleanliness: clean, acceptably clean, or unacceptably littered and give this assessment to the SHC once a week.
If the business assessment is “clean” or “acceptably clean,” then the SHC would distribute a week’s worth of dated food coupons to the two participants. Each coupon could be redeemed on the coupon’s date at one of the participating businesses for up to $15 worth of food or a takeout meal. If the business assessment is “unacceptably littered” the SHC would talk to the two participants and determine if they want to continue to participate in this experiment. If not, the SHC would attempt to replace those participants.
Participating businesses that return the dated coupons to SHC in a timely manner would be reimbursed from the Keep Davis Square Clean Campaign.
After three months, all stakeholders would meet to assess the success and the future of this endeavor. Any remaining funds in the Keep Davis Square Clean Campaign would be redistributed among the participating businesses.
Though challenges are inevitable, I am confident that through collaboration and goodwill, we can transform Davis Square into a cleaner, more welcoming place for everyone, with minimal cost to anyone involved.
Hayward Zwerling
Somerville