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By Will Mbah
Candidate for Somerville City Councilor at Large

Last week I met with members of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce to discuss their issues of concern on city policies and plans. As always, in these meetings I got insights about how the city’s economy is performing and how recent government actions are impacting business in positive and negative ways.

The Chamber group is especially helpful because it has representatives from the full range of business activity – small retailers and food services, start-ups, mid-size employers, and some of the largest companies in the Boston region. Their different perspectives tie in with the work of city officials, who deal at the immediate level of streets and neighborhoods but also must plan for the long-term growth of the city within the region and the state.

What were the questions and observations that arose in our discussion?

From the small business point of view, Chamber members cited the problem of growing numbers of vacant storefronts around the city, particularly in Davis Square and East Broadway. They attributed the causes to be a combination of factors: declining demand for many goods and services as e-commerce increases and consumers’ needs change; a slow response by the city in making improvements to infrastructure and streets, and solving traffic problems. As an example, these problems, they cited the announced closure of the BFresh store and other vacancies at Davis Square.

From the perspective of mid-size enterprises, the business leaders were concerned about the accumulation of new burdens of regulatory compliance, permitting and zoning, which impose costs and delays on business investment and planning. Innovative companies work in a competitive environment that requires flexibility – to expand or change quickly in response to market conditions and investment opportunities. If a bio-tech business gets the opportunity to grown and double its leased lab space, but then is required by zoning or code regulations to spend months of planning process and make costly changes to building systems, the opportunity can be lost.

From the perspective of large companies, the Chamber members questioned whether the city can continue growing in life sciences, clean energy and other technologies and services. The recent success of getting new labs and office projects built and attracting innovative companies has come at a time of strong regional growth and investment. Now, however, federal funding is winding down; the regional “pipeline” of new lab and office space is becoming over-saturated; and competition among cities and towns to attract businesses is becoming more competitive.

In this context, Chamber members fear that Somerville’s complicated zoning and planning rules, slow procedures to get approvals, community opposition and uncertain outcomes, will be obstacles to its continuing growth of jobs, investments and tax base gains.

Finally, all the business owners were dissatisfied with the ineffective methods of communication that the city agencies have used in their planning and policy-making. Despite all the supposed activities of community and “stakeholder” participation, business people feel they have little effective input and get little meaningful response form elected officers and agency staff.

In broad terms, Chamber members agree with the overall goals and policies now guiding the city – long-term sustainability and response to climate change; programs to protect and increase the stock of affordable housing units and to assist families facing displacement or homelessness; responding to emergency situation with mental health and social services alongside police and security responses. However, they said that the introduction of many new regulations and requirements in these areas have caught them by surprise. The city has piled on too many changes in too short a time.

For example, when the Stretch Code requirements of 100% electrification of all new buildings went into effect in July, it interrupted the design and planning of several lab and commercial development projects. The architects and engineers had to stop and start all over again. The delays and extra costs are likely to make these projects non-competitive and they may hinder the city’s goals of increasing the commercial tax base.

If the city agencies had done a better job of engaging the business community in the legislative drafting, they might have worked out a phase-in method or given earlier guidance of what was coming to the project architects and engineers.

Another example that the Chamber members cited was the dissolution of the business advocacy group DavisNOW. The group issued an open letter last week, explaining that it has been ignored over the years. In 2018 they offered the city agencies a “punch list” of repairs and improvements to the streets, sidewalks and public spaces the Davis Square. But none of these recommendations were ever incorporated into the city plans or projects.

At the end of our discussion, the members of the Chamber of Commerce asked me to commit to keeping open a regular dialogue with them, if I am re-elected to the City Council. I did this in my past terms on the council, as I did with other groups, representing labor, residents and neighborhoods. I, of course, said yes.

If you want to learn more or support my campaign, please visit my website at willmbah.com.