Vol. 5, No. 7
March 9, 2005
Contents
1) GREEN LINE "COMMITMENT" HEARING RESCHEDULED
When and Where?
Every day, I talk to people who haven't heard about the rescheduling of the February 28 Green
Line hearing, cancelled due to impending snow. It will be held on Monday, March 14, 2005,
in the Somerville High School Auditorium, 81 Highland Avenue, 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Please tell
your friends and neighbors, the people you work with, the ones you see at the bus stop. Contact
me, and I will send you by email a flyer that you can print. As I said before: Be there, or be
square.
Purpose of Hearing - According to the State
The official notice says that the hearing's purpose is to "take public comments on the public
process DEP and EOT will conduct to make decisions, and to the extent appropriate makes
changes to the transit regulations (319 CMR 7.36) that provide for air quality improvements.
(emphasis added) My reading is that the public comments that will be considered most pertinent
will: 1) focus on the quality of the public process the state agencies "will conduct" (what about
the seemingly endless, needless, process so far?); and /or 2) on the "appropriateness" of
changing the cited regulations (which contain the three CA/T transit projects, of which the Green
Line Extension is one).
Frankly, I find it offensive that these agencies are even considering that it might be
"appropriate" to "make changes" to commitments that the state ITSELF formerly deemed
necessary to improve regional air quality to federal standards. What should we, as opponents
of "changing" commitments, need to show? Shouldn't the burden be on the state to show some
material change in air quality assessments, or in project benefits?
Written Comments
If you can't be there, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Executive
Office of Transportation (EOT) have also EXTENDED their previous deadline, and will now
take written comments until 5 PM on Wednesday, March 16, 2005. Comments should be sent
either by mail or email to:
Robert W. Golledge, Commissioner
Department of Environmental Protection
One Winter Street
Boston, MA 02108
robert.golledge@state.ma.us
and
Daniel A. Grabauskas, Secretary
Executive Office of Transportation
Ten Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116
daniel.grabauskas@mhd.state.ma.us
2) PUBLIC EVENTS AT TEMPLE B'NAI BRITH
A) Talk on Current Situation in Israel
On Sunday, March 14, at 2 pm, Prof. Jeff Halper, the Director of the Israeli Committee Against
House Demolitions, will be speaking at Temple B'nai Brith, 201 Central Street, Somerville.
Halper is at the forefront of Israeli peace activity, and has written extensively, including the
popular book,
Obstacles to Peace. An astute observer of the Israeli political scene, Halper has
some unexpected perspectives: "Israeli and Palestinian civil societies work closely for a just
peace. We refuse to be enemies."
Those unable to attend the event at Temple B'nai Brith might want to go to one of Halper's
other talks in the area:
Thurs., March 10
Noon: a talk at the Fletcher School, Tufts University, 160 Packard Ave., Medford
Sponsored by the International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (INCR) Group at the Fletcher
School,
Phone: 617-627-3700
7 pm: "The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict: Rising Expectations Versus Reality on the Ground
St. Paul's Cathedral, 138 Tremont St., Boston
(across from Park Street Station)
Tues. March 15
4 pm: a talk at the Kennedy School of Government, Bell Hall (fifth floor of Belfer Building)
Harvard University
B) Purim Dance to Benefit RESPOND
On Saturday, March 19, at 8 pm, Temple B'nai Brith will be sponsoring its annual benefit for
RESPOND, the 30 year old, Somerville-based organization that pioneered services to battered
women and their children, and is training a new generation of women to recognize and resist
violence and abuse in dating and relationships. For more information, visit: www.respondinc.org
Scheduled near the Purim Holiday, and named in honor of Vashti, the lesser-known Queen from
the Purim story, the dance will feature an 8-piece blues/rock band, "The Usual Suspects." It will
be an alcohol and smoke free event. The recommended donation is $10 per person, except for
children under 12, who dance FREE, and are encouraged to come.
For more information about the Temple and its events, visit the B'nai Brith website
3) LOWELL STREET BRIDGE UPDATE
The much-rescheduled Community Meeting about the Lowell Street Bridge did take place on
Wednesday, March 2, but many residents were dissatisfied with what the state had to offer.
Although the project manager from Mass. Highway, Harry Thompson, was there, he could not
answer many specific questions about the project with certainty. No representative came from
the construction company that will be doing the work, so there were no details about such
important facts as where staging areas would be, and during what hours would the construction
work be done.
The broad outline of the project - still awaiting final approval on the desk of Mass. Highway
Commissioner John Cogliano - was sketched out at the March 2, 2005 meeting. Construction
of the (temporary) pedestrian footbridge is expected to start around the end of March, and take
3 to 4 weeks. Around the beginning of May, demolition of the existing bridge will commence,
starting with the smaller span over the inactive rail line. The contractor estimates that this
demolition work will take about 3 weeks; to be followed by demolition of the larger span over
the active commuter rail line.
According to Thompson, the pedestrian bridge will be closed for only "hours" at a time during
the demolition process, "worst case, one day." The bridge contractor will be responsible for
snow removal. While some efficiencies will be gained by the prior fabrication of steel for the
bridges, construction of the span over the rail line will be "at the mercy of the railroad
[operations]," and Thompson declined to fix an exact time, except to say that the project as a
whole is estimated to take approximately 2 years in total.
The meeting was well attended, but community members expressed displeasure at coming out
for a meeting that the construction contractor failed to attend, claiming a "schedule conflict."
4) EDITORIAL: THE DAY THERE WAS NO NEWS - THOUGHTS ON "PROGRESS" IN
SOMERVILLE
Anyone going to the City of Somerville website on Tues., March 1, would have found, under
"School Department: What's New," that "There are currently no School Department News
Stories." Following the link to the Somerville Public Schools website, the news was "Snow Day
- No Classes." The web page of School Committee Chair Charlene Harris stated simply, "There
were no events on 2/28/2005."
To its credit, the Somerville Schools website on Weds., March 2, 2005 reported that "On
Monday, February 28, the School Committee unanimously voted Mr. Anthony Pierantozzi as
their preferred choice for the position of Superintendent of Schools." Parents and other
community members seem focused on looking positively at the vote, and preparing to welcome
and work with the new superintendent. Mr. Pierantozzi himself seems pleasant, competent, and
filled with good will.
Yet I mourn the lost opportunity for Somerville to have chosen a Superintendent possessing
wisdom, humor, a grounding in the arts, and experience in - and evident faith, hope, and
affection for - urban school districts. I'm not talking about the Brooklines - I'm speaking of
districts with challenging demographics and large numbers of English language learners. In the
Somerville public schools, 52% of the students speak a first language that is not English (data
source: Mass. Dept. of Public health, 2003).
Some observers with far more experience than I in the realm of education think that Somerville's
failure to hire Dr. Silverman as Superintendent will spell increasing levels of failure for our
schools in the brutal new world of "No Child Left Behind." I can't predict school failures, but
I do feel that, once again, Somerville has chosen what is familiar, safe, comfortable; has taken
a little step in the direction of perceived progress. Somerville, so very needy, in so many ways,
for so very long, seems to prefer moving forward by increments rather than the embrace of any
transformational vision.
Another event of February 28, 2005, left undisclosed until late in the day on March 1 was the
sale of 45 acres of land at Assembly Square, owned primarily by Taurus New England
Investments, in partnership with Gravestar, Inc. The property, which includes the right to
purchase Yard 21 from the city, was sold for $64 million to Federal Realty Investment Trust,
an owner and developer primarily of shopping centers, with about a fifth of its portfolio in
mixed-use developments.
Taurus, its partners and investors will clear an estimated $40 million profit for the mall they did
not redevelop, the Sturtevant Street parcel where Good Time Emporium is located, and the still
unpurchased and undeveloped Yard 21. These landowners built nothing, "retenanted" space with
tenants like Building 19 and Boston Paintball, got a series of unfavorable court decisions on their
city permits, and never even applied for any of the necessary state permits to redevelop the site.
All the "added value" of the site, which generated that profit, came purely from Somerville's
rezoning of Assembly Square to create entitlements to build on a vast scale.
Will Somerville benefit by this sale? The city surely will be able to raise property taxes on the
property, based on its newly demonstrated market value. Federal is a company that actually
seems to have the financial means and wherewithal to build on the site, unlike its predecessor.
Federal's plans, in the short term, are to "stabilize" the site by constructing a "power center"
at the mall - the same use so vehemently rejected by the community in 1999, when Taurus' then-partner National Development first proposed it.
Improvements? Maybe, a little.
Detriments? Well, hard to predict, and we don't want to start off being negative.
Transformational, exciting, a cause for joy? I don't think so!
Material from this newsletter may be quoted freely, provided that it is credited to Denise
Provost, www.provost-citywide.org
copyright 2005 Denise Provost
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