Activists: Curtatone’s Art Beat Policy Inconsistent

By George P. Hassett

      Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone banned two organizations from participating in Art Beat for activity another organization officially allowed at the festival regularly engages in.

        “The Green Rainbow Party and the Somerville Divestment Project were not allowed to have official tables at Art Beat because they are involved in explicitly political activities such as collecting signatures to put questions on the ballot and lobbying the Board of Alderman,” said Curtatone.

        Yet there were two groups permitted by Curtatone to have official tables at Art Beat that either collected signatures to get their question on the ballot or had previously lobbied politicians, said Amnesty International representative Eric Aronson and Somerville Divestment Project (SDP) coordinator Ron Francis.

     “Sometimes we do lobby politicians to support the protections of human rights across the world. We have approached Mayor Curtatone, the Board of Aldermen and Congressman Capuano in the past and may continue to do so in the future,” said Aronson, whose group was allowed at Art Beat despite the inconsistency with Curtatone’s policy.
       Francis said that was only the first of Curtatone’s infractions.
      “We weren’t allowed to have a table at Art Beat because in the past we had collected signatures for a ballot question. Yet the Somerville Climate Action Committee was allowed at the festival and they actually had a petition at their table, soliciting signatures for a question on the ballot. This is another example of a group doing exactly what SDP was banned for. If that doesn’t tell you Curtatone is out of control, what will?” he said.
     SDP is a group dedicated to convincing local policymakers to remove all city investments in Israeli business, said Francis, who said his group was being unfairly targeted by a vindictive ideological opponent.
     “It is no secret the mayor opposes us politically. Now he is abusing his power to prevent citizen groups from engaging in the political process. By not permitting us to have a table at Art Beat he has disrupted our efforts to get signatures, raise ballots and spread our message,” he said.

For the entire story see the July 20 print edition of the Somerville News.