Surveillance
cameras reported to have been purchased with Department of Homeland
Security funds can be seen on top of the Somerville Community Access
Television building in Union Square and, according to Gewirtz, in Davis
Square.

"(The cameras) have now apparently been recording our actions and activities on public streets, and I

feel concerned very about this," Gewirtz said at last Thursday's Board of Aldermen meeting.

Eight
other Boston area communities were provided funds for surveillance
cameras in 2008, with the Brookline Selectmen allowing the cameras for
a trial period of 12 months after a contentious vote.

Citing
information from the American Civil Liberties Union, Gewirtz suggested
such cameras could be used for racial profiling. "I want to know what
(the cameras are) recording, I want to know who

has access to
that information, what they're going to be doing with that information
(and) if people are being targeted as a result," Gewirtz said.

While
the resolution has been voted into the Public Heath and Public Safety
Committee, suggestions for finding more information included a study on
the camera's effectiveness and a series of public meetings. The
aldermen are waiting to hear from the city solicitor on whether

they can see the tapes for themselves. "From a safety point of view, cameras can be very effective,"

In
October, the Commonwealth saw over $900 million in cuts in state
spending, resulting in the loss of over 1,000 state jobs. So what is
there to do now but work toward a recovery? Governor Patrick now has
the autonomous power, given by the State Legislature, to decide how
much state aid will be cut from town to town and city to city.

The
day after the initial announcement of the cuts, he announced that he
will establish an Emergency Recovery Plan, which will include a series
of initiatives which he hopes and expects will both minimize the impact
this enormous cut will have on the towns and cities of the Commonwealth
and lessen the size of the 2010 cuts.

In a statement released by
Governor Patrick and his associates on January 23rd, they explained how
"The national and global recession has led to a steep and rapid decline
in state tax revenues. Unfortunately, cuts to local aid for
municipalities are unavoidable."

The initiatives as listed in
this statement include his filing of a bill that will increase the
statewide meals and hotel taxes by one-cent, which will help to
generate an estimated $150 million of the anticipated $375 million. On
top of this, the state will give towns and cities the option of raising
the meals and hotels taxes an additional one-cent locally, which would
lower the cuts for 2010 down to an estimated $20 million.

Another
important piece of this initiative is the property taxing of
telecommunications companies for above-ground-poles. This could be seen
as a long overdue action, considering up until now they never were,
while communications companies with alternative mediums were taxed on
property.

In addition, Governor Patrick will re-file parts of
the Municipal Partnership Act which is a "series of cost-savings
reforms including making it easier for communities to enroll in the
state's affordable health care plan, encouraging regionalization of
municipal services and other reforms around procurement and advertising
to save time and money." This could, of course, lead to the
consolidation of branches and loss of more jobs across both the private
and public sectors.

What does this mean for the good people of
the Commonwealth? The State House, as well as local cities' and town's
governments, have been riddled by difficult problems – as normal as
putting the people who occupied the now deceased positions out of jobs,
to the crucial and sometimes overlooked causes that the state funded
committees and organizations (that were eliminated) fought for.

As
for Somerville, Mayor Joseph Curtatone made a statement explaining how
Somerville could experience up to around a 9.7%, or $3 million, cut
from the $33 million it expected from the state.

As Mayor
Curtatone put in an interview, "Even leading into this fiscal crisis
there were sixty-four cities and towns that were receiving much less
local aid than they were in the fiscal year 2002 before Governor Romney
made his cuts."

Leading up to this specific crisis, the City of
Somerville had already been establishing a plan of action to defend
against the problems a cut in state issued aid like this one could have
had on the city. Mayor Curtatone stressed the fact that none of these
budget cut issues are necessarily new, and that the Commonwealth, along
with the rest of the nation, has been facing these problems for years
now.

"We've been making preparations internally with our
finance team and staff to identify any options for cost savings,
efficiencies and new revenues," he stated, "we're still exploring that
and we'll be finalizing our recovery plan to carry us through not only
this fiscal year, but through fiscal year 2010 as well."

Mayor
Curtatone also explained how certain areas of the states revenues, like
its property taxes, which have consistently risen since Romney's cuts
in 2002, are making the other areas of the state's revenues struggle by
putting more stress on them. This particular Commonwealth-wide strife
can be clearly identified by the rapid decline of new homeowners and
the sharp rise in the number of homes being subjected to foreclosure.

One
of the ways to lessen the blow this fiscal crisis will have on
Somerville and cities like it is to disseminate the strains that, for
the most part, are falling in very specific places. Mayor Curtatone
stated that "we need to spread the burden of who pays…right now it
goes too heavily on the property tax payer, both residential and
commercial."

As Obama stated in his Inaugural address, "it is
a time for a change in what we see as 'business as usual,'" Mayor
Curtatone voiced a similar opinion: "The present system, the overall
system of the state, needs to be reformed."

"The Commonwealth's
economy is linked by a chain of cities and towns and their economies,
and the deeper the cuts to the governments of the cities and towns, the
longer this recession could last. We, the cities and towns of this
state, fuel the economic engine of the Commonwealth…this is not a
problem that we can simply cut our way out of, we need creative
solutions for the long term."

While these past few days of
extreme and very publicized cuts seem to be dismal in respect to the
people of the Commonwealth, especially those who are (or were) employed
by the agencies and committees who are at risk of termination, Governor
Patrick came out with a slightly brighter announcement, stating how he
will protect the state's funding of schools. In the fiscal year of
2009, educational funding will not experience any cuts, and in 2010 it
will maintain level funding at $3.984 billion, which the statement
explains to be a "record high."

In a year that saw a State
Income Tax Repeal Initiative bill that made it onto the state election
ballots, one can but sit and wonder what would have happened if said
bill had passed. For now, although it seems that the people of the
Commonwealth can only hope that our elected officials are up to take on
the task at hand, and that the erratic nature of the nation's economy
will balance out, in reality, the people need to stand up and the face
these hardships.

Among
the changes proposed by Capuano is the addition of language to restrict
the distribution of "golden parachutes" by institutions participating
in TARP, as well as language to allow the government to recover bonuses
paid on the basis of false or exaggerated earnings.

The term
"golden parachute" refers to the generous compensation packages given
to high-ranking executives at many troubled financial institutions upon
the executives' departure.

"If entities receiving these funds
are using them in ways that do not directly provide economic relief,
they should not be able to continue using the funds," a press release
from his office quotes Capuano as saying.

"Now that the Senate
has voted to allow the use of the second $350 billion, it is more
important than ever to place conditions on its use."

Other
changes proposed by Capuano include the addition of a measure to
prevent banks from evicting tenants from foreclosed properties for a
period of 90 days, as well as modifications to the board that oversees
the Treasury Department's administration of TARP. These modifications
will grant the board greater autonomy, as well as the ability to
override decisions made by the Treasury Department, according to a
press release.

Further debate on the issues surrounding TARP
occurred at a roundtable discussion Capuano held last Thursday. The
participants, from both academia and the private sector, spent much of
the two-hour session debating whether TARP has been effective.

"Many
felt that it was too early to gauge the true impact of TARP, and some
felt that additional money may indeed be needed to stabilize our
financial system," explained Capuano in an email.

But "broad
agreement" was reached concerning both the need for an economic
stimulus package focused on "job creation and retention" rather than on
tax cuts, and the need for enhancements to the present system of
regulations on the financial industry.

"Far too many Americans
continue to live on the verge of foreclosure and not nearly enough has
been done to address that ongoing problem," Capuano asserted, adding
that "the debate over the use of TARP will continue in the months
ahead, as work continues to stabilize the economy."

The TARP Reform and Accountability Act is now before the Senate.

***************

Here's
a good one, seems that the residents of Brickbottom are possibly going
to try and throw a monkey wrench into Somerville getting the Green Line
here in the 'Ville. We heard from sources down there that a lot of the
residents are not happy over the T's proposal to build their
Maintenance Facility right there in their back yard. Some were heard to
say that they should picket Governor Patrick's home in Milton, after
all they want him to be reminded that they helped him get elected. We
hear they already tried to corner the Mayor and Alderman Heuston and
give them the same line. We're not sure, it's all but definitely a
vocal group down at Brickbottom that is making noise. First of all, the
tracks have always been there next to the Brickbottom buildings – the
buildings used to be known as the A&P warehouse back 30-40 years
ago.

***************

The Somerville Police were busy last
week ticketing and towing the many cars still left on the streets
buried under the most recent snowstorms. Just so you know, if you are
parked on a city street and you don't remove the snow, you risk
receiving a ticket for "Snow Birding" – so if you don't go out and
remove the snow from your car right away you will get a ticket and
possibility several tickets and then a tow…could be a costly mistake,
but definitely a great revenue stream for the city isn't it?

***************

Special
thanks from us to our friend and guest contributor Will Pierce – he
attended the Presidential Inauguration and brought back great stories
and amazing pictures. We are lucky to have such talent pitching in here.

***************

Shootings,
stabbings, drug dealer arrests – there's been a lot of activity by the
Somerville Police Department these days. We hope that with upcoming
budget issues, we will continue to enjoy the level of security our
local police officers are giving us on a daily basis without cutbacks
and layoffs.

***************

Our hearts and prayers are
with Alderman Tom Taylor, who is currently in the hospital recovering
from surgery this past Friday. The popular Ward 3 Alderman is probably
taking it all in stride, we wish him nothing but the best – to him and
his lovely family.

***************

Some more celebrities
sightings here in the Ville, we have it on reliable sources that Ben
Affleck has been seen having breakfast at the Neighborhood Restaurant
in Union Square not once, but a few times, the Neighborhood was one of
the "Best of Somerville 2008" readers choices.

***************

You
know that new "Condo Conversion Ordinance" that the Alderwoman from
Ward 6 has been trying to get on track here? We can't wait until it
finally gets before the Board of Aldermen and hear the reasoning behind
pushing this through – especially now in this economy – again, how many
permits for conversion have there been? We bet the votes on the Board
of Alderman might not be there right now.

***************

The
first live "Somerville News Talk Show" will be this Thursday the 29th
at 8pm with host Joe Lynch – the number to call in is 617-628-9876.

***************

Condolences
go out to the family of Bridget Pacheco who passed away this past week
– many of us here in the 'Ville are pretty familiar with her brother
George Landers – Bridget was a very nice person and will be missed.

***************

Welcome
to a new business that is opening its doors here – Broadway Babies:
"Childcare for your Little Star" is opening next week at 88 Broadway in
East Somerville. It's a new bilingual childcare facility determined to
bring out the star in your child through creative curriculum and
interactive play. Breakfast and afternoon snacks will be provided.
They're now accepting enrollment of children between the ages of
6-weeks up to 2.9 years old. Opening on February 5th with a
registration fee of $50.00 being waived if you register your child at
the open house, vouchers are accepted, call 617-440-7374 for more
information.

***************

A total of 81 votes out of the 160 representatives in the House are needed to be elected speaker.

Rep.
John Rogers (D-Norwood), the other contender to lead the House, has
called for up to a one-month delay of the vote for a new speaker. The
vote is currently scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday of this week. In
an interview with the State House News Service, Rogers said, "It's an
important office in Massachusetts and it's not a coronation. It's a
public office and the citizens of Massachusetts should have a greater
say … and should have a greater opportunity to weigh in with their
respective representatives."

Seth Gitell, a spokesman for DeLeo,
released a statement by the Committee for Bob DeLeo in response to
Rogers' idea. The e-mail said, "We need to elect a Speaker who can work
with others to deal with our challenges as soon as possible, not play
political games."

Rogers also accused DiMasi of violating a
2004 agreement under which DiMasi would succeed former Speaker Tom
Finneran and eventually Rogers would succeed DiMasi. At the time, both
Rogers and DiMasi were attempting to succeed Finneran and Rogers said
that the agreement was struck as a compromise.

The list from DeLeo is as follows:

1.Aguiar, Kevin, (D) Fall River

2.Alicea, Geraldo, (D) Charlton

3.Allen, Willie Mae, (D) Boston

4.Arciero, James , (D) Westford

5.Atkins, Cory, (D) Concord

6.Balser, Ruth B., (D) Newton

7.Basile, Carlo P., (D) Boston

8.Benson, Jennifer, (D) Lunenburg

9.Binienda, John J., (D) Worcester

10.Bosley, Daniel E., (D) North Adams

11.Bowles, Bill, (D) Attleboro

12.Bradley, Garrett J., (D) Hingham

13.Brady, Michael, (D) Brockton

14.Brownsberger, William, (D) Belmont

15.Cabral, Antonio F. D., (D) New Bedford

16.Campbell, Linda Dean, (D) Methuen

17.Cantwell, James, (D) Marshfield

18.Clark, Katherine, (D) Melrose

19.Coakley-Rivera, Cheryl A., (D) Springfield

20.Conroy, Thomas, (D) Wayland

21.Costello, Michael A., (D) Newburyport

22.DeLeo, Robert A., (D) Winthrop

23.Dempsey, Brian S., (D) Haverhill

24.DiNatale, Stephen, (D) Fitchburg

25.Donato, Paul J., (D) Medford

26.Donelan, Christopher J., (D) Orange

27.Dwyer, James, (D) Woburn

28.Ehrlich, Lori, (D) Marblehead

29.Fernandes, John, (D) Milford

30.Ferrante, Ann-Margaret, (D) Gloucester

31.Finegold, Barry R., (D) Andover

32.Forry, Linda Dorcena, (D) Dorchester

33.Galvin, William C., (D) Canton

34.Gobi, Anne M., (D) Spencer

35.Grant, Mary E., (D) Beverly

36.Gregoire, Danielle, (D) Marlborough

37.Guyer, Denis E., (D) Dalton

38.Haddad, Patricia A., (D) Somerset

39.Hecht, Johnathan, (D) Watertown

40.Hogan, Kate, (D) Stow

41.Honan, Kevin G., (D) Brighton

42.Kafka, Louis L., (D) Stoughton

43.Kane, Michael F., (D) Holyoke

44.Kaufman, Jay R., (D) Lexington

45.Keenan, John, D., (D) Salem

46.Khan, Kay, (D) Newton

47.Kocot, Peter V., (D) Florence

48.Koutoujian, Peter J., (D) Waltham

49.Kulik, Stephen, (D) Worthington

50.Lantigua, William, (D) Lawrence

51.Lewis, Jason, (D) Winchester

52.Linsky, David P., (D) Natick

53.L'Italien, Barbara A., (D) Andover

54.Madden, Timothy, (D) Nantucket

55.Malia, Elizabeth A., (D) Jamaica Plain

56.Mariano, Ronald, (D) Quincy

57.McCarthy, Allen, (D) East Bridgewater

58.Moran, Michael, (D) Brighton

59.Murphy, Charles A., (D) Burlington

60.Murphy, James M., (D) Weymouth

61.Naughton, Harold P., Jr., (D) Clinton

62.O'Day, James J., (D) West Boylston

63.O'Flaherty, Eugene L., (D) Chelsea

64.Peake, Sarah K., (D) Provincetown

65.Pedone, Vincent A. (D) Worcester

66.Peisch, Alice H., (D) Wellesley

67.Petrolati, Thomas M., (D) Ludlow

68.Provost, Denise, (D) Somerville

69.Reinstein, Kathi-Anne, (D) Revere

70.Rice, Robert L, Jr., (D) Gardner

71.Rosa, Dennis, (D) Leominster

72.Rushing, Byron, (D) Boston

73.S√°nchez, Jeffrey, (D) Jamaica Plain

74.Sandlin, Rosemary, (D) Feeding Hills

75.Sannicandro, Tom, (D) Ashland

76.Scibak, John W., (D) South Hadley

77.Sciortino, Carl, (D) Medford

78.Smizik, Frank Israel, (D) Brookline

79.Speliotis, Theodore C., (D) Danvers

80.Spellane, Robert P., (D) Worcester

81.Speranzo, Christopher, (D) Pittsfield

82.Stanley, Harriett L., (D) West Newbury

83.Story, Ellen, (D) Amherst

84.Straus, William M., (D) Mattapoisett

85.Swan, Benjamin, (D) Springfield

86.Torrisi, David M., (D) North Andover

87.Vallee, James E. (D) Franklin

88.Wagner, Joseph F., (D) Chicopee

89.Walsh, Steven M., (D) Lynn

90.Walz, Martha M., (D) Boston

91.Welch, James T., (D) West Springfield