Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition

Alex Anderson

I'm a systems thinker - which I learn/practice as a health care researcher. I I believe transportation, housing, climate change, and health are all interconnected. We have a system - especially in Ward 7 - that prioritizes private motor vehicle transportation at the expense of public transit, walkability, and bikability. The public space dedicated to cars decreases affordability/limits housing development, increases serious public health concerns (ie. higher rates of chronic disease based on proximity to high density/high volume roads), and makes us less prepare to have a sustainable community

Becca Miller

Transportation, housing and climate are deeply connected and intertwined issues. As city councilor, I will bring an intersectional analysis to the position to build policy that addresses all of these issues. Spaces with dispersed housing, businesses, and services that require cars for the majority of trips are vastly less energy efficient than dense neighborhoods that can be navigated on foot, bicycle, or by public transportation. The GLX that is coming provides an opportunity to provide better public transportation, build denser housing around T stops, and reduce our emissions citywide.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

Transportation and housing are both critical issues of environmental justice and must be deeply intertwined with our climate policies. Our transportation policies must work to incentivize alternatives to cars and I would advocate for increasing the number of protected bike lanes and pilot fare free busing. We must also work to increase housing density near transportation, and ensure there is a large percentage of affordable units, especially near the new Green Line Extension. I will also work to build new affordable housing with a net-zero carbon footprint.

Alex Anderson

Since I've lived in Somerville, I have been an active advocate for improving safety, public transit, walkability and bikability. I've been a daily bike commuter and recreational bike rider for 10+ years in greater Boston. I ride my bike with my kids. Between 2015-2019 I was an official member of the Somerville Bicycle Committee and worked w the City to advise on safer streets. I've conducted ped/bike counts for the city. I maintained/decorated our Shared Streets Pilot flex post on Simpson Ave. Making our streets safer by prioritizing public transit, walkability and bikability is a primary reason I'm running for office. It's where I've spent my volunteer time for the last 8 years and it's a key responsibility of the Somerville City Council. I think key advocacy requires: engaging the entire community early in the design process of these projects, understand people's values/needs/wants, co-design solutions that are rooted in data (quant and qual) and appreciate the human impact of changes, and take a big picture view of changes.

Becca Miller

I support all expansions of people-focused mobility, including completing the bike lane network, safer ADA compliant sidewalks, and dedicated lanes for buses. I believe these approaches are not only necessary, but broadly popular. Transportation is the number 2 source of greenhouse gas emissions in Somerville, and we need to invest in non-car forms of transit to make it easier to get around without a car. We also need to treat parking as a scarce resource, and allocate parking to those who need it to age in place and for mobility reasons have access to it first, particularly around transit nodes, and equitably distribute parking for municipal workers, including teachers.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

One of the great things about Somerville is that it is a city rich with ideas. We must make sure our streets are safe and accessible for families walking with strollers, those with disabilities, bikers, and public transit users. However, I don’t believe this must involve pitting drivers against pedestrians and bikers; there are ways to meet all needs. We currently have the action plans that could help keep pedestrians and bikers safe and create more accessible sidewalks through Vision Zero and the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets recommendations. As City Councilor I will advocate for their thoughtful implementation using community input, and working to compromise with the parking needs of car owners and small businesses. I am committed to implementing these plans and developing a timeline that gets it done. It’s not just an infrastructure issue; it’s about safety, accessibility, and climate justice.

Alex Anderson

There are a lot of great people working in the city to advance the bicycle network plan and many volunteers like the folks of the SBC. We should enact standard designs whenever the city conducts infrastructure improvements. There is also a lot of community support for increased safety, walkability, and bikability.

Many easy-to-implement improvements/standard maintainence that should be funded and implemented immediately:
* reinstating Shared Streets with more standard designs and more flexposts to slow traffic; communicating/educating the public about the purpose of shared streets,
* implementing priority bus lanes on Broadway/Holland/other major bus routes
* Increasing the use of flex posts, bollards, etc throughout the city especially around bike infrastructure (ie. contraflow painted lanes)
* Blanket approval for contraflow bike lanes city-wide

There are longer term improvements/designs:
* require dedicated bike and/or public transportation to any street that is repaved.
* set standard vehicle travel lanes in Somerville to 9' max (unless wider is necessary for Public Transit/Emergency vehicles)
* review one-way/two-way distribution

Becca Miller

As City Councilor, I will push to have protected bike lanes added on all streets that are wide enough, build traffic calming measures, and reduce the city’s speed limit to 20 mph citywide. Overhauling Somerville’s streets is a top priority for me as part of my plan for a Green New Deal for Somerville, and it represents an opportunity not only to build out the bike lane network but to bring sidewalks into ADA compliance and increase the tree canopy. On roads that have been recently resurfaced or not in need of work, I will work to ensure bike lanes are built quickly, and with as much protection from traffic as is possible for the given street.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

As City Councilor I will put pressure on the administration to ensure the timely construction of our citywide bike network. This is a critical safety and mobility issue for our City, and it is important that everyone has the option to travel around Somerville by bike. I will ensure these projects are prioritized by the Department of Infrastructure and Asset Management, and that when the City is doing work on our streets as part of other projects, adding a bike lane is incorporated into their work.

Alex Anderson

As a systems thinker, I believe all designs should design with those traditional least served by our systems. Our streets and sidewalks are wholly inadequate for people with vision and/or mobility disabilities. Many of our sidewalks are crumbling - with uneven curbs and slabs. Trees (which are great! and we need more tree canopy in the entire city) break through the sidewalks with their roots. Curb cuts are often ineffective and poorly placed. Crosswalks are often full of potholes, no longer painted, and too-frequently-ignored by drivers.

We must accelerate the speed that we're rebuilding our sidewalks. Holland in Ward 7 is slated to have sidewalks/street rebuilt starting summer. I believe all cross walks along Holland (and along all major streets) should be at sidewalk level so pedestrians never change their level when they cross the street. This has the added benefit of traffic-calming and forcing stops at stop signs (vs. rolling through) as the cross walks will also serve as a speed bump. For major intersections (like Cameron and Holland in Ward 7), the entire intersection should be a raised speed table to facilitated easy crossing and slowing vehicular traffic.

Becca Miller

I support the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets’ vision for our city, and reviewing the city’s sidewalks to push for full ADA compliance, which benefits not only the mobility impaired but people with strollers, shopping carts, and cyclists. I support building covered bus shelters with benches at all city bus stops. These bus stations should also feature braille or auditory route signs and announcements. I support making changes to roadways to calm traffic and protect pedestrians at intersections like bump outs and road diets. I also will push for the Somerville Commission for Persons with Disabilities and the DPW to be fully resourced so that our city has the capacity to register and respond to complaints from residents about areas that are inaccessible and in need of repair.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

We must make the streets of Somerville accessible to all, including those with vision impairments or limited mobility. I believe all new development in Somerville must be ADA compliant, and I would explore ways to incentivize retrofitting older housing to be more accessible. I will also continue the fight for accessibility at the new Green Line Stations. As City Councilor I would ensure the Commission for Persons with Disabilities is at the table when discussing development and would work with them and disability advocates to come up with creative solutions for accessibility in our City.

Alex Anderson

I will build on my previous responses that cover many of these ideas - and share ideas that I couldn't fit in previous answers.

Short Term:
* work with the MBTA to make fare free transportation a reality in Somerville
* Remove parking minimums on all projects in Somerville; explore parking maximums
* City provided side-walk shoveling on all major roads and all intersections to make sure sidewalks and crosswalks are usable for all ages/abilities throughout winter.
* Build out Street Eateries and make them permanent
* increase parking meter expense

Long Term:
* implement physically protected bike lanes and/or priority bus lanes on all major streets in Somerville.
* engage community institutions like Tufts to explore PILOT payments towards walk and bikability
* build network through Somerville to make it easier to get to new GLX stations without a car. For example, a shuttle bus from the station at Clarendon Hill Towers on Broadway to GLX stations.
* pedestrianize Davis Square (two-way Highland Ave/fully pedestrian Elm Street in Davis Square).
* Grow the tree canopy as beautification, air quality improvement, temperature cooling, and traffic calming.

Becca Miller

As a city councillor, I will plan on fighting for complete streets as part of my vision of a municipal Green New Deal. I will push for better pedestrian infrastructure and total ADA compliance, traffic calming, completing the bike lane network, dedicated bus lanes, making the T free and more reliable and desirable to residents, and improvements to bus stops.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

Somerville has taken the important step to invest in the development of the comprehensive Somerville 2040 plan for a more sustainable and equitable future for our City. As City Councilor I will work to hold the new mayoral administration accountable for implementing these vital steps to prepare for Somerville’s future. I will hold hearings and will publish regular updates on the progress of both the short and long term provisions of the Complete Streets ordinance, and will push for more aggressive accountability measures for sustainability and equity.

Alex Anderson

Somerville City Council + the Mayor/City should convene our neighboring city councils and governments, as well as the DCR, MassDOT, and community organizations to agree to big picture, long term goals - and start enacting plans to get there.

People power works! The City Council and the City should convene more regular public rallys to raise awareness and force change (as was seen in this summer's Highway Justice Rally at McGrath).

In Ward 7, a top priority is to improve and more fully connect the inconsistent pathway along Alewife Brook Parkway between Alewife Station and Assembly Row. If designed well, this pathway could serve as a commuter corridor into Somerville and Boston who may park at Alewife and ride into Assembly or to GLX stations.

Becca Miller

I fully support traffic calming on McGrath and Mystic, including road diets and improving pedestrian infrastructure at crossings. I know from walking in that area that the sidewalks are also badly in need of repair, and sound barriers are needed on the I-93 viaduct to protect locals from noise and fine particulate pollution. I will organize with the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets, Sunrise Somerville, Somerville bike safety to build power and force change at our state agencies.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

From my years of experience as a community organizer and public servant to the City of Somerville, I have worked to cultivate relationships with many of our City’s representatives in the State Legislature. This includes Ward 7’s Representative at the State House, Rep. Christine Barber, who has endorsed me in this race. I will continue to develop and leverage these relationships to help push state agencies and provide a platform for accountability on much needed safety improvements for our community, such as promised funding for pedestrian safety improvements at Mystic and McGrath, sound and pollution blocking barriers along 1-93, and studies on safety improvements for rotaries along Route 16 in Ward 7.

Alex Anderson

Broadway (from Route16/Alewife Brooke Parkway to Teele Square/Holland) and Holland - and similar roads (large streets with two sided parking and congestion during peak hours that delays the bus) should all have priority bus lanes in the peak direction during peak hours.

Somerville should also implement physical bus loading/unloading islands on streets that are too narrow to fit priority bus lanes but could fit protected bike lanes to make loading/unloading safer for bus riders.

Becca Miller

We need to prioritize bus lanes during rush hours, when there is increased traffic overall and increased service on bus lines, and to build more bus lanes across the city to better serve residents. I will work with our Somerville state house delegation to advocate for increasing bus frequency so they work better for residents. I will also work to pilot fare free buses at the minimum.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

Improving the quality and accessibility of bus service is an essential step in improving mobility, equity and environmental sustainability in Somerville. As City Councilor I will support the addition of dedicated bus lanes and other infrastructure that will improve service and incentivize ridership to further reduce congestion on our streets. As City Councilor I will also push to pilot a fare free bus program in Somerville, that will help remove important mobility barriers for our most vulnerable residents.

Alex Anderson

The City must conduct outreach through many different mediums (physical mail, flyering, phone calls/texts, face-to-face info sharing/canvassing including around bus stations, social media, and directly through neighborhood/communicating organizations) and translated in the most commonly spoken languages in our community.

We must have outreach that is more than just informative but actually invites people to participate in the process of problem identification, idea creation, and improvement plan creation. We must design our solutions together.

We should hold public meetings in locations and at times (meetings that exclusively happen after 6pm are not workable for many working people or those who care for family members). that work better for more people.

Becca Miller

As an organizer, I will work with the Council on Aging, Commission for Persons with Disabilities, and work to form a Youth Council to perform outreach to collect feedback on changes to the network, through flyering, collecting answers on buses, phone banking, community meetings with translation services, and other means that allow peoples’ voices to be heard without relying on computers. I support the continuation of virtual meetings, which are more accessible to many working people. I am open to hearing from constituents at any time about their transportation needs, or any other issue, and will work to connect my constituents to the MBTA’s Redesign process.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

As City Councilor I will maintain clear and open channels of communication with all of my constituents here in Ward 7. I will be sure to listen and relay their feedback using my platform to deliver the message to the MBTA during their redesign process. I will also be sure to conduct outreach and solicit feedback in multiple languages so that everyone in our community, regardless of their English proficiency, has the opportunity to be heard.

Alex Anderson

The City of Somerville and the City Council must hold the state accountable to fulfill their obligations to mitigate the increased health burden of car-focused transportation. We must improve existing infrastructure (ie. toxin/sound barriers provided by the state) to buffer I-93.

Somerville must increase green space - especially side-walk trees throughout East Somerville and enhance park spaced.

Somerville should increase fee collection from parking meters to fund public health initiatives (increased screenings, access to chronic health support, etc.).

Somerville should adapt a more equitable excise tax system for private vehicles that takes in to consideration: vehicle age, vehicle efficiency, annual miles driven, size and weight, car value, and owner income. Additional revenues should be invested into public health initiatives.

The City of Somerville should more more closely with state programs like Mass Saves and community organizations, landlords, and local businesses to improve insultation and air filtration in buildings closest to I-93 and Alewife Brook Parkway.

Becca Miller

We need to discourage cars from using residential streets as cut throughs. This involves building traffic calming measures, complete streets designed for walkers, cyclists, and public transportation, and improving access to the MBTA. I will use my office to work with the Somerville delegation to fight for noise and pollution barriers on I-93, and increased trees and green space to filter the area. I will also fight for increasing the availability of municipal health services.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

Somerville’s state legislative delegation has done incredible work to secure funding for sound and pollution blocking barriers along I-93 to mitigate its effects on Somerville’s environmental justice communities along its route. As City Councilor I will be a voice in support of the timely construction of these barriers and will work to hold MASSDOT accountable for completing this project.

Alex Anderson

I think Ward specific councilors serve as the primary advocate and liaison to the other arms of government on behalf of the people who live in our neighborhood.

As a Councilor, I would have open lines of communication with the community and collect concerns and ideas from the people who live here. I believe presenting ideas that aren't just my own - but having the support of the people that live here and the community organizations that advocate on specific issues is an effective way to build will amongst new governance boards.

I also thinking building relationship with the board members and understanding what they can and cannot do is necessary. We need to identify the win-win scenarios and start there to build will, establish proof of concepts, and develop effective working relationships long term.

Becca Miller

I will organize with T riders and workers for increased MBTA funding for representation of both groups on the T board, and to protect the T from privatization. I would use these meetings to coordinate plans for regional networks of bus lanes that may be shared with Cambridge or Medford. I will also ally with Somerville’s state legislators to ensure that the MBTA engages in ambitious programs to increase frequency, lower costs to commuters, and improve accessibility to bus lines, subways, and the commuter rail.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

I will use my platform as City Councilor to speak out at the board meetings to advocate for the communities of Ward 7. This includes pushing for fare free bus services, increased routes, electrified buses, discounted subway fares, and more. I will also be sure to seek community input and pass on the concerns of my constituents.

Alex Anderson

I would prioritize these funds to roll our rapid improvements to make our streets more people-focused. These include:
* easy-to-implement paint improvements (upgrading cross walks, bike lanes w. buffers, etc)
* purchasing of more durable physical protection for bicyclists/pedestrians (jersey barriers, bollards, etc.)
* Fare free bus access
* painting priority bus lanes
* Rolling out a permanent Share Street network with traffic calming infrastructure that is more aesthetically pleasing than plain plastic bollards
* fund renovation/improvements to existing units under the supervision of the Somerville Housing Authority.

Becca Miller

I will prioritize spending funds to make serious investments in infrastructure including repaving roads, bringing sidewalks into ADA compliance, traffic calming measures including speed bumps, chicanes, and diverters, water and sewer system upgrades which the city needs, funding for the Somerville Community Land Trust, and to pay for residents’ homes to receive home energy retrofits to lower our emissions. Ultimately, we need to make this a participatory budgeting process to truly represent the residents of Somerville, and bring more people into the rare opportunity to use federal funds to invest in our future in a meaningful way.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

Somerville will be receiving $60 million in ARPA funding from the federal government and I believe that how we spend it is a direct reflection of our values. We must ensure that the funds contribute to an equitable recovery for all Somerville residents, including providing flexible relief funds for those behind on their rent, permanent permit and fee forgiveness for our struggling small businesses, and multilingual and multicultural mental health services for those who have suffered from isolation, depression and addiction during this pandemic. For transportation I would prioritize putting funds towards the pilot of a fare free bus program to ensure more equitable access to mobility in our City. I would also put funding towards the further construction of dedicated bike lanes to ensure cyclists and drivers can safely share our streets.

Alex Anderson

I believe the City should place the full $30M into an endowment that is transparently managed with civilian oversight. This money should be used for the city to finance high density housing developments. Developments with increased proportion of permanently affordable housing units should receive cheaper financing.

Becca Miller

I propose making the T fare free. $30M could pay for a year of monthly T passes for roughly 28,000 Somerville residents. We could also use those funds to support the Somerville Community land trust in acquiring property that would be truly affordable for Somerville residents displaced by the GLX’s impacts on rising rents and recent impact study that shows the white wealthier people will benefit the most from GLX.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

I am a strong supporter of the further development of the GLX to include construction on the previously proposed Route 16 stop in West Somerville. This station would provide important transit access to a densely populated area of the City that includes a large number of public and affordable housing units. The $30 million the City had already allocated towards Green Line Expansion could be reinvested in the project contingent on the inclusion of this station. Some of this money could also be invested in the construction of more affordable housing units, and ensuring these units are built with a net zero carbon footprint. This would help address our City’s housing crisis and would contribute to long term sustainability.

Alex Anderson

The city must facilitate the development of affordable housing throughout all of Somerville - but especially closest to the new GLX stations. High density buildings should be built surround all the stations and have increased affordability requirements.

Increase the collection of fees (parking meters, registration fees, gas taxes, etc.) to continually fund the endowment mentioned in the previous answer to provide financing for on-going affordable housing development.

We must also protect people currently living in their homes and must increase protections for renters - including extended the eviction moratorium.

Becca Miller

I will work to build dense affordable and social housing near transit stops, provide subsidized T passes, and provide assistance to small businesses affected by rising rents. We need to build a movement to pass policies like rent control to prevent the impact on working people and small businesses.We can also support the CommunityLand Trust to purchase land around T to take it off the market and make it permanently affordable.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

As City Councilor I would push for increasing housing density around our new Green Line stops. This housing must include affordable units and I would implement a streamlined inclusionary housing process that ensures these units are accessible to everyone. As stated in the answer above, I would also be in support of using some of the $30 million in community contributions being given back to the City to build more affordable housing along the GLX.

Alex Anderson

I think we have a surplus of parking throughout Somerville and that new developments should not have parking minimums. And, we should explore parking maximums - or even prohibit additional parking entirely for new developments.

When thinking of new spaces, our priorities should be a balance of new housing, green spaces/community space, and easy people-focused infrastructure.

In terms of building consensus within the community on competing priorities - we must do a better job of engaging various stakeholders from the very beginning. Too often, people in neighborhoods only get engaged with new public projects once they are late in the design phase and ready to break ground.

The city must do a better job of proactively reaching out to community members and organizations to co-design improvements together from the beginning. Too often, people only become aware of improvement projects and latch on to elements of the solution (ie. parking removal) without focusing on the big picture goals/values (ie. making people-focused streets a reality).

I think we need to convene our stakeholders, identify our shared values and goals, and then work together towards workable solutions.

Becca Miller

We need to balance the importance of creating open green spaces (especially given Somerville’s lack of green space) with the importance of increasing the number of affordable units, by requiring developers to pay into a green space fund for new development, similar to the city’s tree replacement fund. Parking should take a back seat, as we’ve seen during the pandemic business districts like Davis Square will thrive with increased access for pedestrians. We still need to ensure that members of our community who do need to drive still have the ability to do so by equitably distributing parking in the city to those who need it to age in place and for mobility reasons, and for municipal workers who commute like teachers.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

Like I said above, one of the great things about Somerville is that it is a city rich with ideas. We must work together to ensure we are not pitting drivers against other needs, such as affordable housing and green space. As City Councilor I would prioritize more housing over parking to address our affordable housing crisis, and would work to lift the parking requirements that often come with big developments, especially near public transit. However I still believe we can work together to maximize both of these interests. This must involve creative solutions that work with our zoning code to build up using the space we have. I will advocate for their thoughtful implementation using community input, and work to compromise with the parking needs of car owners and small businesses. I am committed to implementing these plans and developing a timeline that gets it done. It’s not just an infrastructure or a development issue; it’s about safety, accessibility, and climate justice.

Alex Anderson

I recognize that the data of the long term impact of policy-based affordability requirements suggests that inclusionary housing, rent control, etc. may work against the intended goals of these programs. This is why I think we need to create a better incentive system to build affordable housing -- include a city managed endowment that provides preferential financing for building affordable units.

Additionally, Somerville needs a massive increase in housing supply for low income earners and middle income earners. I would support a 60 unit building where 20% (and ideally more) over a 12 unit building if the choice is a zero-sum choice. This is the obvious choice because 12 affordable units is more than 6 affordable units. And, because the additional units will increase supply for medium incomes and market rate housing.

That being said, I think location matters a lot - putting a 12 unit location in Powder House Circle (a current development plan) makes more sense than putting a 60-unit location because of the nature of housing on Broadway/College. However, putting a 12 unit building adjacent to a GLX station when a 60 unit option is available would be a missed opportunity.

Becca Miller

How is affordable defined? We need more deeply (eg <30% and 30-50% AMI) affordable units. We also need to consider the number of affordable units being replaced and ensure that developments claiming to increase the supply of affordable units. We need to reject the trickle down logic of housing supply increases absent rent stabilization and acknowledge the segmentation of the housing market.

I support policies that maximize the number of affordable housing units built, but I also want to minimize displacement. Large building projects tend to lead to displacement and gentrification, and I oppose developments that lead to the people who built the Somerville community being pushed out of the place they call home.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

I support the requirements that create the most affordable units, therefore I would prefer a 60 unit building with 12 affordable units over a 12 unit building with only 6 affordable units. As City Councilor I would also push to raise the affordable housing requirement for a building that large to 30%, and ensure that there are family units included (not just 1-2 bedrooms). We also need housing at multiple income levels including deeply affordable low income housing and workforce development housing.

Alex Anderson

Somerville currently holds about 85,000 residents. At it's peak in the 1950s, the Somerville population was closer to 105,000. This was presumably because of larger families or housemates living within the same property. Somerville needs to increase housing across the entire city. The majority of our housing stock are 100+ year old homes - that are not prepared to withstand the demands of the next 100 years. We need to upgrade our existing housing supply while increasing the available housing supply for new properties.

I think everything should be on the table to build new housing in Somerville while ensuring - through incentive programs and through explicit policy - the affordability of the housing supply.

I think two-and-three family houses should be permitted to build up to create 4-6 unit buildings. I think Tufts University should build more high rise/high density student housing building on their existing properties - and require students to live on-campus for longer periods of time - to alleviate the demand of short term occupants/students in our neighborhood to allow longer term residents access to these houses.

Becca Miller

Density is part of Somerville’s culture and helps to create our vibrant neighborhoods. We need to focus on increasing density where the housing stock is still primarily single family homes across the city, which includes parts of my Ward, and we need to couple that density increase with a focus on deeply affordable housing, ADA accessible housing and compliant streets, improved transit access, and the creation of green space and tree cover.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

Increasing density in our City is an important part of the solution to our affordable housing crisis. I believe this should begin around our new Green Line stations, where residents will have easy access to public transportation. This must also be done with a simplified inclusionary housing process that ensures these new units are available to all. As City Councilor I would also propose for Somerville to allow accessory dwelling units (also known as in-law apartments), like has been done in Boston, to increase available rental options. In addition, I believe in seeking out community input and working with Somerville’s neighborhoods to address the concerns of residents around increased density, and will push the City to address concerns with policies that will grow the capacity of our public transportation, roads and bike lanes, and schools to handle a growing population. Somerville has always been a place that is open and welcoming to all, and as City Councilor I am committed to making that possible for both new and existing Somerville residents.

Alex Anderson

Until the the effects of the pandemic are fully under control and everyone can get back to stability in their lives, I believe the eviction moratorium needs to be extended.

Additionally, city-provided relief for family-owned properties/landlords (ie. not corporate landlords, or landlords with many properties) to ensure that working families that also rent part of their property are support and less likely to sell their property to a corporate entity/developer.

Additionally, as a councilor, I would rely on the guidance and expertise of dedicated community organizations that make proposals in given areas - like actions within existing municipal powers - and use my values and judgement to advance those that make the most sense. I'm not an expert in everything and don't pretend to be! And, I believe we can advance affordability and sustainability while keeping people in their homes.

Becca Miller

I support extending our local eviction moratorium for the next twelve months, passing just cause eviction, funding tenants’ right to counsel, passing a fair housing ordinance, and investing in the city’s Office of Housing Stability, including the hundred homes program. I will also organize to pass rent control at the state level.

Judy Pineda Neufeld

I believe housing stability and keeping folks in their homes needs to be a part of our strategy to prevent the displacement of Somerville residents. I support increasing the capacity of the Office of Housing Stability and its access to flexible rental relief funds so they can meet the urgent needs of our neighbors who are struggling to pay rent as a result of the pandemic. I will also work to reduce unnecessary evictions through a permanent tenant’s right to counsel program, and an extension to the eviction moratorium. Long term community recovery from this crisis needs to include a housing plan for everyone.