By Jeffrey Shwom

The city is now stating that the Anti-Displacement Task Force report is now set to be released in January, along with 5 other reports. The Times had reached out to the city as a follow up from our October 2024 article, Public Information not finalized for city’s Anti-Displacement Small Business Committee, in which the city had “indicated that a public release of all of the Task Force’s recommendations (was) waiting to be approved by the mayor, with hopes for a large November 2024 public meeting” with visuals and meet and greet.

From the City of Somerville in terms of an update for the Anti-Displacement Task Force report, “the goal is to release it, along with all recommendations, in Spring 2025. A release event will be scheduled for shortly after the report’s publication. The report will be released in January, with additional materials following through early spring. The planning team is working diligently and using the coming weeks to get the report ready for public release.”

When asked for clarification as to the previously suggested deadlines, the Communications departed suggested a busy end and start to this and next year, respectively, as the culprit. There are three Public Safety for All reports (from the Department of Racial and Social Justice), the recently released Armory Master Plan (November 2024), and a forthcoming Cultural Capacity Plan (from the Somerville Arts Council, which has had no public update on its website since November 2023).

“It’s unusual and sometimes frustrating for the public if we issue summaries rather than full reports,” remarked Victoria MacGregor, Public Information Officer, “especially if there is risk of confusion with other releases in a short timeframe. So, at the staff and interdepartmental level, it was determined that it would be most useful to the public to release the full Anti-displacement reports and visuals together rather than separately. The mayor’s staff were among multiple staff that gave this advice including OSPCD leadership overseeing this work.”

The City seems keen to share information at a right time and the right place. “We’re looking forward to sharing all three complete Anti-displacement reports in January as well as gathering with the community thereafter to discuss and begin taking steps forward.”

The Anti-Displacement Task Force began in April 2023 and had an objective to release the report Summer 2024.

About the Anti-Displacement Task Force

In April 2023, the city, in response to pressing matters like historic high rents, displacement and affordability issues, convened a year-long Anti-Displacement Task Force to “research and recommend policies to prevent residential displacement (and) to advocate for a wider range of the Somerville community, including small business displacement and cultural displacement.” The goal of this task force was to “develop programming and policy recommendations that aim to equitably reduce the rate of displacement of people who live in, have businesses in, or make up the cultural fabric of the city.”