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There will be a Public Hearing before the Board of Aldermen’s Committee on Housing and Community Development on Monday, April 30, 2018, at 6:30 p.m., in the Aldermanic Chambers, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 93 Highland Avenue, on the Order of Alderman Ben Ewen-Campen, Chair of the Committee, for public input on the condition of affordable housing units in the City, and whether there is an affordable housing crisis that constitutes a public emergency (Docket #205334). The public is invited to attend and be heard.
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Doesn’t the City have a Housing Director? Where has he been? Why isn’t he front and center in this? During the whole FRIT waiver affair, we heard nothing from anyone in the Administration until the Mayor came out of the smoke-filled room to announce the deal he personally cut with FRIT to let them off the hook for providing affordable units in their luxury towers.
Why isn’t the Administration doing anything about the affordable housing crisis, instead of just dumping it on the BOA to do the controversial work? The Mayor talks a good game when he needs the PR, but where is he and his people who should be doing this work? Kudos to Alderman Ewen-Campen for actually trying to do something and having the stones to face the public, while the Administration is AWOL or ducking for cover.
What does a declaration of a “public emergency” on the “condition of affordable housing units” even do? Is Trump sending us disaster aid? LOL. Money to upgrade public housing? Not likely. Sounds like another dog and pony show if you ask me. Less talk, more action. When are we going to see all the affordable units in Assembly and Union get built? What’s the hold up??
Pump the brakes a little with the kudos to Ben Ewen-Campen. This is a kid who grew up in Cambridge with a silver spoon, not exactly someone who has tasted what it means to struggle. Family has multiple homes, 2+ million dollar Cambridge house, another 1+ million dollar home in Wellfleet. Not exactly the voice or soul of Somerville.
Ben might be able to fool the millennial renters, but old Somerville has him pegged for exactly what he is.
The administration has been very supportive of the transfer tax
@ Central Street – Your political agenda is showing, pal. Not unlike a certain also-ran’s who couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Ward One.
Whatever Ben E-C’s origins are, he is trying to hear both sides of the contentious transfer-tax issue. And he does respond to constituent concerns.
And if you don’t like him holding office, I’ll say to you what your Cheeto von Tweeto bosom buddies have been saying about THAT election–“Get over it.”
There is affordable housing, just in less desirable neighborhoods and communities. People choose to live here and pay top dollar. That’s their prerogative, I guess. Eventually, you got to ask if it’s worth it. Personal decision.
Craig – Where has the Mayor shown any support to the BOA regarding the transfer tax? Can you name one instance where he’s stuck his neck out on this? A handful of platitudes during an inauguration speech that are forgotten by the time everyone makes it to the parking lot doesn’t count.
And how has the Administration been educating the public about these issues? The Communication Department gets funded out the wazoo every budget, so you would think they’d be pumping out info for the benefit of the public left and right. Instead – crickets. With people showing up at BOA hearings not knowing what the hell is going on and blaming them for it. Go to Joe’s Facebook page – Plenty of info and commentary about affordable housing proposals and the transfer tax and related issues there, right? Well, no. Plenty of Trump, border walls in Arizona and FBI scandals in Washington and more Trump. And about the Somerville housing issues that are turning our community upside down – zeeero.
You move to a place that has high rent and expensive homes. Then you complain that it costs too much. Then you demand someone else pay your way? The world has changed a lot since I was young. We worked hard to get ahead, took jobs we didn’t necessarily like because we needed the money, and saved what little we could. I don’t see that kind of drive anymore.
Live where you can afford to buy. Nobody has a right to live in Somerville.
There are plenty of housing opportunities in surrounding communities. While some people are complaining they can’t afford to live in Somerville, the smart ones are buying in Everett and Malden. Ten years from now they will have created interesting communities and improved their lives while the complainers will still be here crying about what they can’t have. Pull yourselves up and CREATE what you want. Everything else is a waste of time. Don’t buy the line that you’re deprived.
Mike, are you willing to pay rates such that teachers, law enforcement and public safety can afford to live in the city and be a part of the community or would you prefer that we just ship in the help?
Neighbor – I have commuted to my place of work frequently – usually an hour each way. Should people who commute in to Boston everyday get a cheap place on Beacon Hill or Back Bay? I don’t think so. Most people have to commute to work every day. That’s part of life. Why should Somerville be any different? Ship in the help? You make it sound like they are working for nothing. They are paid from Somerville real estate taxes, which I pay, and I am happy to pay.
Do I think they should get a house at 50% the cost next to the DPW, fire house or police dept. where they work? No I don’t. Public sector workers are capable of commuting just like we all do. I commute every day from Davis Square to the Seaport – whihc takes about 50 mins each way. I don’t expect a cheap condo provided for me in the Seaport.
This is a real housing crisis! Weston Massachusetts, the wealthiest zip code in the state, has just 3.77% of subsidized/affordable housing. The state requires that every city/town set aside 10 percent of the total housing stock as affordable (for incomes meeting 80 percent of the area mean income range as determined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development).
Quiz: Guess what percent of Somerville is set aside for subsidized housing?! Hint: The answer is in double figures (not even including housing vouchers like Section 8).
Dear Somerville Alder people, Weston is only adding 20 affordable units a year! At that rate, it will be at least 12 years before they meet state mandated requirements. I have longed to live in the suburbs of Weston. Would you please, please work with their town representatives and build more housing there ASAP. I don’t know if I would win their housing lottery, but I sure would like to try! I can’t take going to endless Somerville meetings anymore to debate ways in which you can tax and spend more. My quality of life has dropped and I have sleepless nights wondering what else you’ll do to disrupt markets and badly needed economic development.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. I am sure you know of a community developer who will gladly help Weston achieve at least 10% subsidized housing. Please report back on April 30 of your progress.
Source of info from my earlier post on Weston’s poor rate of subsidized housing. https://www.weston.org/1009/Affordable-Housing-Needs-and-Strategy
My bus and subway commute is 40 minutes from Somerville to the Back Bay. Am I eligible for subsidized housing in the Back Bay, so I can be part of their community? I’d settle for Beacon Hill or South End if I had to.
Until a full independent audit has been done and presented to the public of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF), Somerville Community Coalition (SCC), Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC) and other organizations to benefit from these windfalls then all discussions regarding additional taxes should be stopped. All board members of the above should also be subject to audits to confirm there are no conflict of interests and slush funds.
We ask that the Board of Alderman (BOA) immediately file a motion to demand these audits. Or don’t waste any more time on new tax schemes. Until we see how our current tax dollars have been spent this discussion/meeting is a waste of time.
Before we say that we should not help our Firefighters, Police Officers and other specific city employees… please remember that these positions have residency requirements and should receive preference when it comes to affordable housing opportunities, IMHO.
To WeDemandAudits (and anyone else):
Go to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund website here: https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/affordable-housing-trust-fund
Click on “Forms and Information”. Select the PDF “SAHTF Financial Review (FY16-FY17)”. Or any of the other Financial forms at that link.
It’s not rocket science people. The Somerville website is very streamlined an easy to navigate.
Courtney – you are wrong. There is no requirement that police or fire have to live in Somerville. Do your research next time.
USR: I followed the link. Looks like only 3 years of financial records were uploaded in the last week, by who I wonder? (It says Ida Cody at the bottom…any relation to the DPW boss, Stan??) Guess you got to make some noise to get the bureaucrats to cough up information. What about the other 7 years of records? And what is foreclosure prevention for “CAMBRIDGE NEIGHBORHO”?? What is “GLEN CONDOS LLC”? Part of a real estate syndicate? If so, that should be noted. You can’t tie all these payments back to who got what because the records don’t say. How much of this money is actually helping locals? Who were these properties purchased from and their affiliation with past and present mayors, Aldermen, city employees, and the real estate lawyers circling City Hall. How do we know these aren’t sweetheart deals? We don’t.
I’m tired of being told by elected officials and affordable housing advocates that I should be willing to give up my property rights. They whine that it’s so hard to buy a house now because they’re so expensive and they have so much student debt. They say it was ‘easy’ for people of my generation to own a house. In the 80’s when the average mortgage rate was 17%, it wasn’t easy to own a house. Through the 90’s when the housing bubble burst and most people owed more than their home was worth it wasn’t easy to own a house. Look at the salaries of those days and you’ll see that they were much lower than today’s. How did we do it? We didn’t travel. We didn’t go to Vegas for bachelor/bachelorette parties. The ‘destination’ for our weddings was the American Legion, not the Bahamas. We didn’t go out to eat. Those who could lived with their parents until they could afford rent or a mortgage. Stop trying to steal money from people who have earned it with their blood, sweat and tears.
Courtney, can you point out the residency requirements? I believe the only requirement is that civil service employees live within 15 miles of the community they serve. If Somerville does have one it’s never enforced as I know many who live here, applied for jobs only to see people from other cities (some far away) get preferred hiring.
Union Sq. Res, how about an independent audit and then we have SCC and SHC? I have seen that SCC hasn’t had an audit done since 2008. 2008!
City and school employees shouldn’t be forced to live in Somerville. Just because you work in Somerville doesn’t mean you should be required to live here. There are many qualified people who live in surrounding communities. We should hire based on qualifications, not where people live.