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Jacob Kramer, a member of the Union Square Neighborhood Council’s Board of Directors, spoke at the organization’s public hearing on July 9. ~Photo by Shira Laucharoen
By Shira Laucharoen
The Union Square Neighborhood Council (USNC) achieved designation by the city as the neighborhood council for the Union Square area on July 9. The public hearing was held at the City Hall Board of Aldermen Chambers, where members of the USNC presented on the topic and were formally recognized, after a deliberation process took place.
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Manager of Workbar, Kelly.
By JT Thompson
Kelly: manager of Workbar – a shared office space with high ceilings, big plate glass windows, long wooden working tables, meeting rooms, and a coffee bar – that is used by entrepreneurs, often millennials, who rent space on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
Kelly, who looks to be in her late 20s, has long dark hair gathered up at the top of her head, pale skin, no visible makeup, and is wearing a loose, turquoise turtleneck. She has a gentle, friendly, optimistic manner, which seems well suited to keeping up morale in an entrepreneurial environment.
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Ward 2 Alderman Maryann M. Heuston got a firsthand look at the rapidly developing expansion site for Greentown Labs, their Global Center for Cleantech Innovation.
By Jim Clark
Back in 2011, a small group of like-minded MIT graduates decided to establish a facility where they could keep building their engineering prototypes.
Since then, more than 100 startup companies have been incubated at Greentown Labs in Somerville, where they have collectively created more than 500 jobs and raised over $200 million in funding.
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(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)
I’m writing to urge the Board of Aldermen to approve Somerville’s $50 million funding of the Green Line Extension. Financial analysis of the bond issue is complex, and I can’t begin to offer an opinion on it. I think we have to have faith that our city and legislative delegation have negotiated the best deal that we get in order to have the GLX go forward. We need to remember that there are some in the Baker Administration which would be extremely happy to cancel the project using our indecision or lack of approval of this as an excuse.
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December 8 deadline for approval
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On Thursday, the Somerville Board of Alderman will convene to deliberate the appropriation of City funds to close budget gaps in the long-anticipated Green Line Extension project. The meeting is scheduled on the eve of the deadline to notify state authorities as to whether the City of Somerville will dedicate $50 million towards the project. The commitment that the Board will vote on is critical to closing the project budget gap and to receiving affirmation from the Federal Transit Administration that the project will receive $1 billion from a New Starts grant.
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By Joe Ruvido
At a special meeting on Thursday December 1, The Board of Aldermen heard the mayor’s in-depth financial analysis of the Green Line Extension (GLX) project. According to the facts presented, Somerville needs to approve a $50M contribution to the project by December 8.
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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)
Our greatest successes as a city are born from working together, on a foundation of shared values and principles, to build the frameworks that will shape the future of our city. From our 20-year comprehensive SomerVision plan, to the rezoning of Union Square, to our ongoing Somerville By Design workshops, we rely on you to guide what kind of community we are going to be. That’s what all of these community-based discussions are about—building community. At a base level, building community starts with our zoning code. It’s where we identify neighborhoods and what should be allowed to be built in each neighborhood. This is the framework that shapes how our city will evolve, but we have realized that what we have on the books today is neither predictable nor easy to navigate.
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By Douglas Yu
The city’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) held two public meetings this month, addressing the public on how the city should prioritize spending Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding. More than 60 Somerville residents attended the meetings to share their testimonies about what projects, including affordable housing, historic preservation, open space and outdoor recreation, the city needs to acquire, create, preserve, support and restore.
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Somerville Police released a sketch of a possible suspect in the recent assaults in the Porter Square and Union Square area.
From the Somerville Police:
Over the past three months, there have been three assaults on women in Somerville in the Union and Porter Square areas after dark in the evening hours and early nighttime. The Somerville Police Department is working to identify and apprehend the suspects as quickly as possible, and we wish to alert residents, especially women, to take safety precautions.
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