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By Patricia D. Jehlen

(The following is state Sen. Patricia D. Jehlen’s testimony on Somerville’s home rule petitions. She addressed The Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government)

I write to you in support of several pieces of legislation which was approved by the Somerville Board of Alderman and sent to the Legislature as a Home Rule petition. 

Many communities across the state still have not seen their local aid restored to FY ’02 funding levels.  As a result, communities have been forced streamline services, squeeze every penny out of their limited budgets, and use performance based metrics to analyze how tax dollars are spent.  As legislators we need to give cities like Somerville the tools and flexibility to continue to do more with less.  In order to make government work efficiently, Somerville has employed a general customer service line for all city services and an innovative statistics program, Somerstat, to analyze the performance of city departments. 

The home rule petitions that I write in support of today represent the city’s efforts to consolidate functions, repair broken bureaucratic services, and reverse revenue losing operations that have been identified by Somerstat.

S.2165 is an act amending the charter of the city of Somerville to provide for an operations manager of water works and a 311 director. This would amend the Charter of the City of Somerville for the purpose of adding two positions to the Mayor‚Äôs appointments.  These positions are 1) an Operations Manager of Water Works and 2) a Director of 311, the town‚Äôs non-emergency help line. The 311 System in Somerville has resulted in a dramatic improvement in the delivery of services to residents, and is a model of efficient service delivery.  This Home Rule petition will help the city to continue providing these services and allow for the Mayor to address the needs of his constituency.

S.2166 would allow for the creation of a Municipal Hearing Officer to allow for a local appeals process for violations of municipal ordinances, in a manner similar to that already in place to adjudicate parking tickets.  It would relieve the burden currently placed on the Somerville District court and would be more convenient for residents and businesses.  Matters to come before this body would include such ‚Äúquality of life‚Äù issues as trash, snow removal and noise violations.   

S.2168 would make permanent the 2004 reorganization of Health Inspectors so they could continue working under the Superintendent of Inspectional Services.  Three years ago this plan was approved by the state with the inclusion of a ‚Äúsunset‚Äù provision so that the organizational plan could be tested.  Now that this plan has proved successful, the city would like make it permanent.

S.2169 would amend the Charter of the City of Somerville to allow for the Mayor, with approval from the Board of Alderman, to organize the Department of Public Works as necessary.  It would also create the position of a Supervisor of School Facilities and Energy Conservation.  This new position would allow the city to best utilize its energy resources in the interest of conservation and cost containment.

S.2170 would raise allow the City of Somerville to increase the administrative service fee for police details to 15 percent, so the City could recoup the actual costs of administering the off-duty work details.  Using data from past off duty work details, the City calculated the actual cost of providing such services to arrive at the requested 15%, an increase over the current 10 percent.  This administrative fee generally covers the cost to the municipality of administering the work details, such as salary and benefits for the municipal personnel assigned to bill companies employing off-duty details and assign and supervise municipal employees performing details.  The funds garnered from an increase in administrative fees would allow the City to hire at least one more police officer or firefighter to make up for those personnel who are currently relegated to the routine administrative tasks associated with off-duty detail work.   

S.2172 would permit the Somerville Retirement Board to purchase or lease property, facilities or equipment needed for the proper administration of the retirement system. The Board is not currently empowered to make such purchases or lease agreements.  This petition would grant them the authority and autonomy to address the needs of the retirement system.   

It is important for the Legislature to work with cities and towns to make services available in the most efficient way possible.  Some of these Home Rule petitions would increase efficiency while others would save money for the City of Somerville.  All are important for the continued operation of the city. 

I ask that the Committee report upon these matters favorably and expeditiously. Thank you for your time and attention.