By Keith Howard

Last year’s president of the board of aldermen spoke at the Jan. 25 Somerville News contributor’s meeting about the initiatives and challenges of his year leading the board.

“[Being] President is a lot of work. It was a little tough,” said Ward 7 Alderman Robert C. Trane. Especially with the heavy workload before the special elections were over and the added pressure of picking up the slack for a missing alderman – outgoing Denise Provost, he said.

The special elections were held to fill the empty seat on the board when State Rep. Provost resigned on October 26th, 2006. In spite of their disadvantages, the board remained proactive, said Trane. “We’ve made a lot of changes.”

Trane helped set up a subcommittee on Energy & Environment in keeping with the city’s “going green” series to establish energy-saving and cost-cutting solutions.

Trane said he hopes other communities will follow Somerville’s lead and protect the environment.

Trane and the owners of Green Cab unveiled the city’s first hybrid taxi in September of last year as part of an initiative to “go green and save green” throughout the city.

“People actually call and request that cab. I think that’s a good thing,” he said. “Little things like that. Across the board, we’ve changed things.”

Trane is in the midst of making changes to establish more of a sense of community, he said. He spoke plainly about developing a building that could bring a plethora of different sports, hobbies and classes together in one building.

“Sommerville is a huge, diverse community. And what they want is to try and balance all those needs,” he said.

The building he has in mind is the Powder House Community School site on Broadway that was built almost 30 years ago. The school was closed in June 2006 because of declining enrollment and its outdated facilities.

‚ÄúHave it [all] under one roof:  pottery, workshops, music, break dancing, a cafeteria, senior programs,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúIt doesn‚Äôt make sense to have it under three or four different spots.‚Äù

The city spends over $65,000 a year maintaining the Powder House site. Hoping to avoid operating costs while reaping real estate benefits, the city is considering selling the school, a move Trane said he is opposed to.

“Fiscal times have changed dramatically,” he said. “[There’s] nothing like that around here anymore. They [developers] want these major spaces. They don’t do the smaller footprints anymore.”

In the city’s many squares, more locally-owned businesses can help Somerville keep its unique character, he said. “I don’t want to see this turn into Harvard Square [with] this cookie cutter front. I think there are some battles looming ahead.”

It has been rumored that Trane will run against State Rep. Carl M. Sciortino or State Senator Patricia D. Jehlen, both Democrats of Somerville. However, he said he has yet to make a decision.

“It’s a tough decision to make,” he said, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “My family’s sacrificed a lot for me to be an alderman. It’s tough [but] I’m not going to rule anything out.”

He said his constituents know him well enough to stop and talk to him on the street about things that matter. But when dinner’s warm and the family’s at home, it takes him about 90 minutes to run to the store to grab some bread and milk. “But that’s a good thing too. People feel you’re approachable,” he said.

But politics isn‚Äôt always so cozy. When Marty Martinez lost to John M. Connolly in a contentious alderman-at-large race in May, Martinez supporters, including Provost, criticized the board of aldermen as a whole for a lack of independence from Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. 

“They [Martinez supporters] want to disagree for the sake of disagreeing,” he said.

Trane was surprised when Sciortino endorsed his opponent Rachel Heller in November, he said. However, he said he is more interested in working with other Somerville leaders than holding political grudges.

“I can disagree with you on an issue but the next day I can go have a cup of coffee or go grab a beer. But some people get this us and them mentality. I’m not part of that agenda. I want to build a consensus and work with everybody,” he said.