By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

So much for a quiet holiday season.

By now you have probably already heard that we have had more snow this December than we had all last winter – and the Boston area is essentially in a tie for the all-time record for total December snowfall. We’ve blown through our snow removal budget and, while I am confident we’ll get through the fiscal year in balance, we’re going to have to tighten up accounts in other areas to make up for what is already a $40,000 plus deficit in the snow account.

It seems like only yesterday that some voices were raised in opposition to the purchase of additional snow removal equipment – especially some of the smaller, pickup-mounted plows – yet, even though the New Year’s Eve storm fizzled out, we’ve been using every piece of equipment we have.

Several residents have written in to ask why we haven‚Äôt done a better job of removing snow and ice from bus stops throughout the city. It‚Äôs a legitimate concern: when we plow the roads to the curbs, the snow piles up along bus stops creating significant obstacles to bus riders and pedestrians alike. Responsibility for snow clearing at bus stops with shelters falls to CEMUSA, the private contractor that builds, installs and maintains the shelters.  CEMUSA actually began snow clearing operations immediately after the storms on December 13 and 16 but the sheer amount of snow overwhelmed them and they had to redeploy with more and better equipment. In the meantime, bus riders were understandably frustrated.

At bus stops without shelters, the responsibility for snow removal rests with the MBTA, but their record just isn‚Äôt very good.  In neighboring Cambridge, the city government has decided to take on this job when and as it can. I have ordered that we now do the same ‚Äì but we have to balance this additional task with the need to clear snow from our roads, as well as from city and school parking lots, walkways, park paths and more.

But even if our year-ending storms have been noteworthy ‚Äì even historic ‚Äì they certainly don‚Äôt define or overshadow what has been a year of remarkable progress.   

There have been so many amazing and upbeat stories from Somerville this year: continued development of a shared vision for a Smart Growth community at Assembly Square (with IKEA set to break ground in 2008); the opening of the new Argenziano School at Lincoln Park; further progress police reorganization and a transparent, open  search for a new chief; a strong start and steady progress on the Somerville Avenue reconstruction project; the deployment of a citywide Environmental Strategic Plan; a series of landmark labor contracts for city workers; and much, much more.  Even our biggest disaster ‚Äì the year-end fire at the East Somerville Community School ‚Äì has shown us how strong we are as a community and how quickly we can rebound from a shared setback.

At the state level, we saw a new governor step forward with a courageous plan to help cities and towns find alternative revenues to ease the burden on their residential property taxpayers.  And Governor Patrick also took a tremendous step forward in providing funds to fulfill the state‚Äôs longstanding obligation to extend the Green Line into Somerville and Medford.

We had some strange moments, too, notably the invasion of the Boston area by Mooninites disguised as mysterious devices slung under key bridges and roadways.  What turned out to be an ill-advised guerrilla marketing campaign tied up millions of dollars worth of public safety resources throughout the region ‚Äì including here n Somerville ‚Äì largely because those responsible for purchasing and placing the ‚Äúads‚Äù waited hours to step forward and explain them. Ultimately, the Cartoon Network and parent corporation Turner Television ‚Äôfessed up and paid up, but I hope it will be a long time before someone tries a similar stunt.  We also had a recount in which ‚Äì even though the tight result suggested the legitimate need for a closer look ‚Äì challenger Tony Lafuente ended up losing ground to incumbent Bruce Desmond.

And, of course, that recount was just one aspect of a citywide election that confirmed that Somerville is a community moving forward with remarkable unity and shared purpose.
So, in the end, the closing events of 2007 are far less important than the many high points we reached over the last 12 months.  But you can‚Äôt say the year didn‚Äôt end with a bang.