By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Three weeks of budget hearings wrapped up last week after long nights, lots of numbers, and a diligent review by the Board of Aldermen. We now have a responsible budget for the coming year that meets our obligations while continuing to improve city services despite a tumultuous winter. In February, I said this would be the best budget year in our history. More than 110 inches of snow later, the most snowfall in one winter in our city’s history, we had to come up with a plan to pay for our extensive snow removal and subsequently hold off on some of the new programs we wanted to implement for the coming year. Yet we’re not going backwards or even holding still. We won’t stall the progress we’ve made.

The approved budget makes strategic investments that will benefit residents and business owners alike. I want to thank the aldermen for their careful scrutiny of our budget proposal, as they do every year. Through a prudent and thoughtful approach the Board trimmed where it could today, totaling approximately a quarter-million today, while still maintaining the investments that will improve the city tomorrow.

That starts with a $2.2 million increase in school funding that meets our contractual obligations while adding six new full-time staff positions, sustaining the momentum that has catapulted Somerville Public Schools into the top 15 percent for student growth in the state—the only urban district in that category. Among those positions are an assistant to the Director of Student Services, a psychologist and a board certified behavior analyst, all staff that support the health and well-being of each child. Inside the classroom, Somerville Schools will add a full-time English Language Learner Department Chair, an elementary teacher and an adaptive technology specialist. And so we don’t lose what we already have, positions that were previously grant funded will be absorbed through the regular school budget, including a pre-kindergarten teacher and two full-time paraprofessionals.

Our Somerville Police Department has worked tirelessly with our Office of Prevention and Trauma Response Network to address the opioid epidemic that is challenging our region and the entire nation. We submitted full funding for the previously grant-funded Jail Diversion Program’s Clinical Coordinator, helping redirect individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues from the criminal justice system to treatment and support. Fortunately, we were able to secure a state Department of Public Health grant that will fund that critical position for at least the next three years, and we hope to secure additional funding for the Jail Diversion Program’s new Coordinator of Addiction and Mental Health Partnerships, who will reach out and provide support to people in our community and their families who have been impacted by addiction.

Our region and nation faces a housing affordability crisis, and our Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative is working on local solutions. This budget bolsters those efforts with the addition of a Sustainable Neighborhoods coordinator, a two-year temporary position that will create a dedicated staff member in City Hall to work with the Sustainable Neighborhoods Working Group, other City staff, state and federal officials as we broaden and deepen our already robust affordability efforts. The budget also funds a consultant who will create of a universal waitlist for affordable housing opportunities in Somerville, streamlining the process for families and residents applying for affordable units that become available.

We set ambitious sustainability goals because of the threat of climate change. The worst case scenarios of tomorrow are predicated upon inaction today, so we will act to prevent the worst from happening and prepare for what will come. An additional $150,000 for our Office of Sustainability and Environment will fund work to assess our vulnerabilities and plan for the areas of our city most at risk for the impacts of climate change. We’ll offer small competitive grants to green technology companies so they can pilot their ideas in the City, and hold more events for companies to network with local partners through an additional $15,000 for our GreenTech Program.

And while we plan long-term, we are acting to shore up our resiliency today, particularly within our Water and Sewer Division, which will gain an additional engineer and a primary operator so we can quickly repair and replace our sewer and water infrastructure and increase our capacity to address flooding.

Additional investments strategically target community priorities including local business support, recreational programming, health and wellness, arts and culture and historic preservation. We’ll expand our support for local businesses with an additional $150,000 for our storefront improvement program. Our reinvigorated Recreation Department will continue to build by dedicating two program coordinators, supporting those programs and services that are important to the development of our kids and the health of our community. And we’ll backfill grants that are ending or no longer available, including funding for our Shape Up Somerville nutrition coordinator, and arts and culture grants through the Somerville Arts Council. We’ll also use $35,000 to obtain and match a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, allowing us to fund a part-time digital archivist that will help us preserve City board and commission meeting minutes online for the public, putting us at the forefront of municipal archives and transparency nationwide.

That’s just some of what we will accomplish through this year’s budget. At a time when other communities are content to simply get by without cuts in services or initiatives—or even discussing cuts to fill the gap caused by a snow budget deficit—we are smartly and prudently investing to meet community needs and goals because we know we can do more, and better, and we push ourselves to set a standard of excellence. Thanks to the hard work and long nights of the Board of Aldermen, our City staff, and you, we continue to aim higher.