Ward 5 Alderman Questionnaire - Sean O'Donovan

During the last twelve to eighteen months, I have worked hard to oversee the renovations made to Lexington Park. I am particularly proud of what I have accomplished there for numerous reasons. As a city, we were able to remodel the park to meet the needs of all who use and love the open space. More importantly, this produced something far more rewarding in the form of a “bridge” created between the various users of the park, who until recently did not mix. As a city and a ward, we were faced with a divisive attitude at Lexington Park – between newcomers who so desperately cherish their open space and many youth who are the survivors of the gentrification that has plagued our city. After the terrible death of Ryan Sullivan, matters at Lexington Park seemed to worsen. But because of a strong neighborhood, a committed city government, and dedicated police force, beautiful results have emerged. Today, the SOS (Save our Somerville) has been created. This mix of youth and adults has come together to address many issues. Not only is neighborhood co-existence a major focus of SOS, but they have also teamed up with Teen Empowerment to address options for our youth in today’s difficult society. Many of the youth around Lexington Park have joined the fight to create affordable housing. In short, Lexington Park is now a wonderful place that has brought the best of Somerville to the forefront – a process I am very, very proud to have helped facilitate – and that will only continue to thrive in the future.

Additionally, I am proud of the leadership I exhibited with neighbors around the developments of various sites including Maxpak, 35R Lexington Ave, and the corner of Trull and Medford Streets, to name a few. As their Alderman, I guided all abutters through the process to the best of my ability. Upon moving into the Maxpak neighborhood and recusing myself, not as a neighbor but as an Alderman, I realized that I led the most comprehensive and involved residential community process in the history of the city. This process has lasted over a three-year period, included hosts of experts at no cost to the taxpayers, and was driven by the citizenry abutting the site.

At 35R Lexington Avenue, I was able to successfully guide the abutters through a development process with a developer who many there had been involved with in the past; their prior experience being sour. At the corner of Trull and Medford Streets, I worked with the abutters to stop a developer who was fraudulent. That project is halted and will remain so until the developer complies with the abutters and ZBA.

The city must encourage commercial/mixed development where appropriate. Commercial development will increase our tax base while burdening our city services less than residential development. Development along the Green Line extension continues to be somewhat unquantifiable, as to date I have seen no proposals for business development along the Green Line extension. The loss of potential commercial development along the Green Line to residential developments may affect Somerville’s tax base – but today we remain in the dark as to what the future holds.

I am concerned over the lack of affordable housing in our city and will continue to encourage additional affordable housing, both in Union Square and Assembly Square. In fact, last year I fought against a measure to eradicate section 7.3 of our zoning code which would have seriously affected the affordable housing stock in Somerville.

I would support a statewide same-day voter registration drive. I believe it is manageable, cost-effective, and valuable, as the benefits of participation would outweigh the difficulties. However, I strongly believe that our current system works. It offers clarity and transparency to all candidates and voters. Furthermore, to alter the current system, the city charter would need to be amended by the Board of Alderman – a process that may waste time needed for other important municipal matters.

The Gang Ordinance requires a set of strict criteria that must be met before an arrest may be made pursuant to the ordinance. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to utilize it for the purpose of reducing gang activity in the city of Somerville. Certainly, gang activity in Somerville is an issue that must be addressed and rectified to ensure a prosperous future for the city. Rather than focus our attention on the Gang Ordinance, we must instead look to encouraging Somerville’s youth to participate as positive members of the community. As Alderman, I have worked hard to support programs tailored to keep youth off the streets and instead involved in constructive activities.

It is my firm belief that we can curtail gang activity in Somerville by offering adolescents enticing opportunities, such as work in summer jobs and participation in youth programs. I support the expansion of the city’s summer jobs program, which offers employment for many of Somerville’s youth. It is my opinion that we must stress anti-drug, anti-violence values in our youth, should we ever hope to reduce gang activity in the city.

What specific steps will you take to strengthen the community policing program?
Due to a cut and paste error, on the original questionnaire questions 5 (community policing) and question 6 (immigrants) ran together. This was not noticed by the endorsement committee until after the responses came back. Most candidates responded as though it was a two part question. Sean O'Donovan however answered them as one questions so see Question 6 for his response. This was an error on the part of the committee, not his.

Above all else, I believe that we must foster a dialogue between the residents of Somerville and the local patrolmen/women. In order to create a safer city, it is crucial that authorities, such as the police, develop close relationships with residents. Such relationships would ensure a consistent dialogue, in which residents and police discuss safety issues facing the city and, additionally, methods to rectify such problems.

In order to achieve this, we must expand the number of police responsible for patrolling the streets, for there is greater safety in numbers. By having more patrolmen/women, we can successfully limit the size of the area which each must cover. Not only does this mean improved public safety, but the increased police presence also allows for far more interaction between police and residents. In addition to police patrols in cruisers, it would be wise to have police patrol the streets on bicycles. Once again, this measure would more readily allow for communication between the police and citizens of Somerville. As an added benefit, it would allow the city to dispatch officers in highly trafficked areas, in which travel by cruiser may not be advantageous.

I believe that there is much still to be done in the way of increasing the civic involvement of immigrants in the city of Somerville. After all, a large portion of Somerville’s population is comprised of immigrants, who contribute to the diversity of the city. To improve communication with immigrants, I am a strong supporter of the hiring of bilingual police officers to foster a better relationship and open lines of communication between the city and its immigrant population. I have also encouraged the city to relay information to immigrants in some of the most commonly spoken native languages, whether through cable television or public notice. I firmly believe that it is important that we provide multilingual services to our citizens.

In order to expand upon such services, I believe that we must engage in a dialogue with immigrants, through their respective advocacy groups. This will allow the city to explore the issues facing various social groups, as well as encourage immigrants to occupy a greater role in local government.

I wholly support both the Massachusetts Coalition for Women’s Wage Equality and Senator Jehlen’s legislation targeted toward ensuring pay equity. Since I recognize the need to close the gender wage gap, I look forward to exploring the possibility of pursuing similar legislation at the local level. In addition to supporting pay equity on a statewide level, I believe that we can also work toward addressing the issue locally; for example, the city can add pay equity as one of its criteria when making contracts for city-related business, as well as remain watchful of any discrimination in the current job classification system.

In order to best approach Somerville’s budget, I believe that we must carefully assess our expenditures and weigh them against our incoming revenues. In my opinion, the city of Somerville adequately allocates its available money. As such, we must work toward increasing the city’s revenues in order to compromise for the tight budget crunch. I am a supporter of the Governor’s Municipal Partnership Act, which would increase our city’s revenues. Among many things, this act would close a telecommunications tax loophole by which many telecommunications companies are not required to pay tax on poles and wires. Closing this loophole alone would bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the city. I believe that the city of Somerville should strive for improved economic growth and development; not only would this bring revenue into the city, but it would also result in the creation of more jobs for our residents.

I am a strong supporter of the town-gown agreement that Mayor Curtatone created with Tufts University. As stated in the agreement, Tufts is to pay the city 1.25 million dollars in payments over a ten-year period. The agreement also includes many community benefits, including allowing Somerville residents to audit classes at the university and offering Somerville High School students advantages in undergraduate admissions. I believe that Tufts must continue to give to the city, and that the city must work to further develop its partnership with the university.

Ward Five has many continuing needs like those of other Wards. However, two distinct, special needs are 1.) maximizing and renovating our open space and 2.) continuing to work with neighbors on complex and difficult developments that have taken place within the Ward. The Ward Five Alderman’s position is very demanding. I have enjoyed my position immensely. I have constant contact with varying constituents throughout the year on a large host of issues. I will continue to cater to all of the needs of constituents and not just the dominant issues stated above.

I am passionate about my job as Alderman of Ward Five because I love the city I grew up in and the Ward I am so honored to represent. I am encouraged by the response I am receiving as I go door-to-door throughout the Ward. I feel as though my job as Alderman is to be a facilitator. I see myself as one who can help to make our city government work for the people of Ward Five.

I have lead many positive changes in the Ward as Alderman. I hope and expect to continue the positive movement of the Ward over the next two years. It is my intention to see that all of the open space, and potential open space, of Ward Five is developed or renovated as quickly as possible.