Further cuts to the Somerville Police Department’s budgetary allocation for Fiscal Year 2021 were among the items discussed by the city’s Legislative Matters Committee at their latest meeting last week.

By Alberto Gilman

The Somerville City Council’s Finance Committee met virtually on Thursday, July 9 to continue discussions over the proposed budget for FY21.

This was a Committee of the Whole meeting with all 11 councilors present. After Finance Committee Chair and Ward 2 Councilor J.T. Scott called the roll he recognized Ward 5 Councilor Mark Niedergang, who again wanted to address some of the line items from the police budget.

Niedergang began with notes about discussing the reallocation of funds into the Racial and Social Justice and other offices that are helping combat COVID-19. “I believe that another $500,000 reinvested in the Office of Housing Stability and the Flexible Housing Stabilization Assistance Fund will do so much more good, make so much of a difference in people’s lives, a lifesaving difference for some than if that money is spent per salaries of police officers,” Niedergang said.

These cuts would come from the salary of the second deputy police chief of about $200,000. Niedergang noted that one of the two chiefs is about to retire. The other cuts would out of the four of six vacant patrol positions at about $300,000. These funds would support the Office of Housing Stability in hiring more case managers, who in turn would help residents who fear they may be displaced due to the pandemic.

Councilor At-Large Kristen Strezo asked some questions of Police Chief David Fallon about the vacancy of officers. Chief Fallon addressed the questions saying that the hiring process can be a long one to conduct.

Strezo then followed up with a question pertaining to Ward 1’s crime rate, asking Chief Fallon what these cuts could mean for police presence. Chief Fallon expressed his concerns on the cuts. “Somerville Police isn’t about intensity of policing, it’s about the style of policing. Right now with the current staffing that we have, we’re able to do that,” Fallon said. “If we go lower, we start forcing officers to work 16 hour shifts, or go below the staffing numbers we have on the street, we’re not going to be able to service the calls in the manner that we do.”

Over the course of the next several hours, questions and debate continued about the cuts. Concerns over response time, the amount of officers in certain wards, and the impact on officers’ careers that these cuts could have is how Chief Fallon addressed the questions asked by Councilors.

Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan, Councilors At-Large William A. White, Jr. and Mary Jo Rosetti, and Ward 7 Councilor Katjana Ballanytne were not in favor of the proposed cuts by Councilor Niedergang.

Through several more deliberations, the Council eventually put the motion up to a vote. Six councilors voted against the motion and four in favor of the motion. The motion did not pass.

The meeting continued, with further deliberation on additional budgeting proposals being discussed.