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Karen Shine Nelson, a Somerville resident, testified about her experience with excessive airplane noise in the Ten Hills area of Somerville.
By Lizzie Heintz
Two back-to-back public hearings held by the Public Health and Safety Committee on September 18 addressed airplane noise in Somerville and the presence of Somerville Police Department at Boston’s Straight Pride Parade, respectively. The hearings were held at Somerville High School. Members of the public were invited to listen and speak at both hearings.
The first hearing featured a presentation by Wig Zamore, the Somerville representative to the Massport Community Advisory Committee, explaining the effects of recent changes to flight patterns due to GPS navigation.
In the presentation, it was explained that GPS navigation concentrated departures from runway 33L at Logan Airport to follow much tighter flight paths, which in turn centralized airplane noise to only 14 percent of the Somerville population.
Over 50 residents attending the hearing. According to testimony by citizen Karen Shine Nelson, the impact of the centralization is “…an impediment to [her] enjoyment of [her] property…”, and the quality of life in her neighborhood.
Many citizens testified to the hindrance on every-day life due to airplane noise, including concerns about lack of sleep, exhaust fumes, and overall enjoyment of residence in Somerville. The Committee and citizens also raised concerns about the lack of solutions offered to those at the hearing, instead being offered assurance of further research.
Many residents offered suggestions for possible solutions, including going back to flight patterns prior to GPS navigation and new suggested routes for aircrafts to take to better distribute noise.
The second hearing was held in response to a letter signed by 117 Somerville residents raising concerns about the presence of Somerville Police Department in the Straight Pride Parade counter protests on August 31. Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Chief of Police David Fallon both offered statements regarding SPD’s presence at the counter protests.
“We do stand in solidarity with you. We stand against people who promote white supremacy, who promote hate, who stand against everything that is of value in this community,” Curtatone said.
Most attendees of the hearing were those who attended the counter protests in Boston during the parade. Those who testified detailed fear, anger, and sadness after allegedly witnessing the actions of SPD. Testimonies cited video recordings of police action and the alleged inconsistencies between them and previous statements made by SPD.
Those who testified expressed concern not only about the conduct of the department, but the money used to pay officers to be present. Several of those who testified cited a “pool of civil asset forfeiture money” used to pay officers working overtime to attend the protest. Those who mentioned such money demanded that the use of these funds be made public.
Deputy Chief of Police Stephen Carrabino was stated to be on personal vacation at the time of the hearing, and therefore unable to attend. The hearing concluded with Chief Fallon’s clarification that those who had concerns about specific police action could submit complaints or evidence via the online portal on the SPD website, or call the SPD station to file a verbal complaint.
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Why are airplanes the only noise issue in Somerville? We are bombarded during the early hours of the morning all throughout the day with sounds of construction, commuter train horns blaring, not to mention dumpsters being emptied at all hours by sanitation trucks that see no problem with slamming those metal containers as hard as they can. It sounds more like a war zone than a city. I feel for any veteran with PTSD that has to listen to that.
I know airplanes may be worse, but they aren’t the only noise issue in the city, and at least some of these other issues might actually be able to be dealt with. No matter where the flight path is, it’s going to impact somebody.
As for parade issues, why is it that every time a marginalized group wants to celebrate their own diversity, a larger group has to counter them by doing the same? Are they so insecure that they need to do whatever the other group does to keep from feeling left out?
Groups that have parades to celebrate who they are do so because they are sending the message that despite repeated criticism and judgment from others, they are proud of who they are and are not afraid to show that to those that do not accept them.
Those people who have never had to grow up fearing being judged for who they are have no reason to hold a parade, especially if they are doing so in order to cast a shadow on those they are judgmental towards. Are straight pride people fine with gay pride parades? Somehow I doubt it. It just seems more like passive-aggressive criticism to me.
Everyone should just celebrate that we are all the same in our differences, and be secure enough to celebrate with those groups, rather than against them. If people spent as much time and effort working to help make life for everyone better as they do trying to make life worse for some, just think of how much better this world would be.