The lack of a crossing guard or police assistance at the intersection of Curtis St. and Powder House Blvd. prompted an inquiry at the behest of City Councilors Mbah and Pineda Neufeld. — Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Katherine Davis

On Thursday, October 24, the Somerville City Council held its regular meeting to cover a number of topics city-wide. Some of these fell under the securement of third-spaces for teens in the city, others were regarding the securement of a permit for Trick-or-Treat on October 31. A few of the more unique discussions are as follows:

Councilor McLaughlin requested that order #24-1514 be sent to be discussed in Public Health and Safety. This order is in direct reference to the recent protests, counter-protests, and a bomb threat that was called in over the Drag Queen Story Hour that is regularly held at the Somerville Public Library. This order calls for relevant departments to discuss strategies and safety protocols in advance to ensure a safe environment for everyone during an event that may draw protests. Some methods are already in place with city employees and activists, and conversations are being made with the community and allies about ways the library might be able to prepare for something like this to happen again in the future. While Drag Queen Story Hour has been held at the library before without any incidents, from here on out it is important to prepare for the worst-case scenario to keep all community members safe.

Councilor Mbah and Councilor Pineda Neufeld requested that order #24-1529 be covered and sent to the Parking and Traffic departments for discussion. This was in response to an incident on October 23 at the intersection of Curtis St. and Powder House Blvd., where during peak school drop-off hours there was no crossing guard or police assistance. The insurance of the safety of students, as well as the families and adults who drop them off, is a critical responsibility of the city according to the Council. This intersection is an extremely high-traffic area during school drop-off hours, and the lack of traffic control created a very hazardous situation for students, especially where the weather was foggy and the low-visibility only added risk. While the school administration had relocated a crossing guard to try and help cover this, there was no immediate assistance provided by the Somerville Police Department, despite the fact that, the Council noted, efforts were made to contact them for some time. The lack of officers at the intersection, despite being visibly out in detail across the city, represents a concerning gap in where resources are placed in regard to public safety, said Councilor Mbah. “Believe it or not, I actually had to be the crossing guard because I saw the assistant Principal crossing the kids, so I was like ‘no you can’t be doing this,’ so I took it and stepped in to help in that event.” Therefore, a plan of action should be presented to the City Council before the next meeting, along with commitment from the city departments to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

In the Public Communication portion of the City Council meeting, Councilor Wilson briefly relayed information provided by Tufts University regarding their 2024 Accountability Report. From 2015 to 2024, the enrollment of undergraduate students has increased from around 5,196 to 6,877, which is about a 32% increase over the course of 8 years. In those years, the University has built housing for 207 undergraduate students, and has a dorm in the works that will be providing housing for another 398 undergraduates. Councilor Wilson noted that he “loves seeing Tufts building housing, but it’s not keeping up with the growth of the student body,” which Somerville ultimately bears the burden of housing a portion of the student population off campus. This is important to the city because in regards to Tufts’ student body growth, there are over 1,600+ Tufts students living in Somerville. They often live together in coalitions of roommates in what are typically 3+ bedroom rental units, and there is a shortage of those units in the city. “Families can’t compete with students because children don’t pay rent, so in defense of families, I’m calling on Tufts to please do more to house their students, please build more dorms, thanks.” Councilor Burnley Jr. added to Councilor Wilson’s request of Tufts, saying that while he is also grateful the University is building the new dorm, how they build the dorm is also important to the City of Somerville. Recently there was a protest by carpenters because Tufts had chosen to go with a non-unionized project approach to the new dorm, so the Councilor “does want to also remind them [Tufts] that despite that being on the Medford side, we do hold a vested interest in public institutions in our city, taking the most ethical approach to construction.” Tufts University plans to have finished construction of the new dorm on Boston Avenue in Medford by the Fall of 2027.