Man,
have times changed. My life has been so planned and regimented 'lo
these past 15 years. Were you as crazy as I was? I know some of you
were, but don't worry, I won't print your names. We always had fun, but
it was always on the edge. It couldn't be a normal, calm existence. It
was hectic, rushed and we lived as if it was our last days on earth. I
have been in the 'Ville for most of my life, except for a few jaunts to
some pretty far-out places. I always returned to Somerville, like a
baby bird to his nest. Or something like that.

Back in the early
80's, I was going out with a lovely lady from the 'Ville whose father
didn't like me (that's a shocker). He had a problem with long haired
rock musicians who partied too much. We were going hot and heavy, when
all of a sudden we broke up. So I did the logical thing – I left the
comfort of Somerville for the unknown San Fernando Valley of
California. I'll show her – I'll move 3,000 miles away, and become a
Hollywood star. After all, I had my theatre degree from Emerson
College! I got an apartment in the same apartment building where my
sister was living with her new baby girl – it was great! I lived
downstairs from my niece, sister and brother in law. We had a built-in
pool and she cooked for me. That's when I fell in love with avocados.
Life in Canoga Park was different, but I was getting used to it. I got
a job in a head shop (they sold bongs and stuff like that) – a place
that sold all sorts of drug paraphernalia. I met Jimi Hendrix's drummer
on the album band of Gypsies, Mr. Buddy Miles. I met an agent who lived
in Sammy Davis Jr's old house – Sammy had a room the size of my bedroom
just for shoes! I think Judy Garland lived there at one time also. I
also tracked down a couple of Somerville friends out there. You will
find Somerville people everywhere you go. I bumped into a guy from my
street in Disney World back in the 90's. Forget about Old Orchard
Beach, because as I have said before, it's Somerville with water. So
back to the California adventure. There I am, doing pretty well,
enjoying the sun, my sisters cooking, a crazy job and I get a phone
call from Somerville. It seems the gal I had broken up with had a
sudden change of heart – she wanted me back. So, I wanted to get back
to Somerville as fast as I could. I dumped the job, the apartment with
the pool, my sisters cooking, the weather and my dreams of becoming a
star in Hollywood – and headed home. But being the compulsive thick
headed guy that I am, I decided to take a Greyhound bus back to Boston.
Why would I wait another week and fly home? I really can't tell you
because I don't remember. Maybe it was a cash thing. I think I just
wanted to get back and wasn't in a clear mind. At any rate, I'm on a
bus for 5 days. I hooked up with some other passengers on the way home
who were quite the partiers. We all got tossed off of the bus in
Albuquerque New Mexico. We had to wait 6 hours for the next bus. The
really tough part about being on a bus for 5 days is personal hygiene.
I got real good at washing my feet in the restroom sinks. I was one of
the lucky ones who had plenty of clean socks. I wish I had some Febreze
and Lysol spray, because I would have sprayed a few passengers. When
you're on a long bus ride, you make friends with people, and then one
by one they get off at their destinations. I must say it was pretty
emotional saying goodbye to friends you spent 2, 3 and 4 days with in
such close conditions. We all took each other's phone numbers. I never
heard from any of them ever again.

So I finally make it home
to good old Somerville! I'll never forget the first time I went back
into my girlfriend's house since returning. Her dad gave me the usual
protective, smile-less, "I hate you" stern father's sneer. What her
uncle said made me feel very comfortable – he looks at me and says:
"Don't tell me you're back again." And he wasn't fooling. Yes it was
great to be home. What's so great about California? The heck with the
built-in pool, the freedom of my own pad, the cool job, the awesome
weather, the fun of being with my sister and her baby. I was finally
back with the love of my life. WRONG! The rekindled romance went down
in flames. But hey, I had gained a lot! I got to move back into my
little room on Hall Avenue with the psychedelic wallpaper and listen to
my dad snore while I was trying to watch TV. I was back to helping mom
with housework too. I had gone from Mr. Independent to Mr. Loser who
moves back in with his parents. I recovered, and was soon playing in
another band, and would soon start my radio career at Kiss 108 FM. I
was back in Somerville and back with my buds and the fam. You can
always go home when you live in Somerville. My friends were still on
the same bar stools they were on when I left, so I didn't miss a beat.
But I will never take a five day bus ride again. Oh, and there were a
few other women since then who had me jumping through hoops. Someday,
I'll tell you about the boy from Somerville who moved to Florida for a
year with a girl. So I will never again hop on a bus, Gus, unless it's
to visit my friend in Jersey, or if my truck breaks down.

On May 27th at approximately 11:00 p.m., a lone
man entered the store at 96 Highland Avenue, displayed a gun and
demanded money. After tying the clerk's hands using a plastic wire tie,
the robber proceeded to take cash from the registers. He then fled on
foot. Although shaken up, the clerk was not injured; no one else was in
the store at the time.

The suspect is described as a young,
dark-skinned black male in his early to mid twenties, and about 5 feet
six inches tall. He has corn rows in his hair and some facial hair. He
was wearing a black jacket with a hood that covered most of his hair,
and white sneakers.

During an agenda-packed neighborhood meeting last
Wednesday night at the Cross St. Senior Center that attracted over 50
interested residents, Mayor Joseph Curtatone vowed that the substation
would remain open, said Ward I Alderman Bill Roche.

"Budget
cuts are tough this year," he said. "But the people expressed the
difference that the substation made in East Somerville. It's active.
The visibility of the substation has really affected the neighborhood."

The
police substation at 81 Broadway opened in October 2008 in efforts to
increase the reporting of neighborhood crime and make the area safer
for residents and businesses.

Also of interest on Wednesday
night was how to handle repeat code violations. It has come to the
attention of neighbors and city officials that the same people tend to
mishandle trash disposal and fail to shovel snow. Oftentimes, the
culprits are absentee landlords, Roche said.

It was decided
that neighbors can help monitor the offenses. Roche said that if
someone knows that it's an absentee landlord issue, they should call
the citywide hot line number, 311, to report the offense. Otherwise,
people can ask Roche to talk to landlords, in case they don't
understand the procedures for handling trash, keeping a property clean,
shoveling snow, and so on.

The Harris Park land swap with Stop
& Shop is also well underway, Roche said. He hopes to hold
neighborhood meetings in the fall to go over the park's design. The
plan involves moving Harris Park behind the Cross Street Senior Center,
away from the noise and pollution of I93. Also coming to East
Somerville will be a new dog run and tranquility park at 0 New
Washington Street.

In other news, in July, the air pollution
study (in partnership with Tufts Medical School) will be underway, said
Ellin Reisner, the president of the Somerville Transportation Equity
Partnership and Mt. Vernon Street resident who is helping with the
study. You may notice a van in the neighborhood that will measure the
volume of particulate air pollution, especially within 400 meters of
I93. Those conducting this study will also randomly interview residents
along the I93 corridor and ask for voluntary blood testing and blood
pressure samples, Reisner said.

"We have over 250,000 cars going through Somerville each day, so we want to look at the cardiac impact of pollution," she said.

"By helping to provide organizations with
the supplies they need to run every day operations, we can ensure that
mo re of their resources go toward addressing community needs," said
Michael Durkin, president and CEO of United Way of Massachusetts Bay
& Merrimack Valley.

Visit supportunitedway.org/dayofaction
to read about 60 Massachusetts organizations, including three in
Somerville, that could use your help and view a list of items they
need. You can donate your gift in person at one of the 60 drop-off
locations found on the website or choose to donate through the online
registry.

Somerville agencies in need of supplies:

Somerville
Homeless Coalition at One Davis Square is in need of non-perishable
food items, Toiletries including, toothpaste, toilet paper, tooth
brushes, deodorant, feminine products and home goods, including kitchen
utensils, pots & pans, dishes.

Boys & Girls Clubs of
Middlesex County at 181 Washington Street is in need of non perishable
food items, art supplies, school supplies, sports equipment, first aid
supplies, recreational items such as board games, rechargeable
batteries and electronics, and maintenance supplies like paper towels,
cleaners and soap. Art supplies- paint brushes, paints, crayons, paper.

Elizabeth Peabody House at 275 Broadway is in need of clothing
for children and adults, non perishable food items, toys, books and art
supplies, blankets and bedding, toiletries, home goods, school
supplies, a laptop computer, a TV for the game room, a copy machine or
printer and a new or used van for transporting children.

To
make an in-kind donation to any of these agencies visit:
http://supportunitedway.org/dayofaction or call 617-624-8000 to learn
about items needed and drop off times or to access the online registry.

The Middlesex County Sheriff's office receives a line-item budget from the Commonwealth, which can be changed at the Governor's discretion. And with the state government running a 2 billion dollar deficit, even these most important of funds risk being cut.

Sheriff James DiPaola explained the problem is largely a result of the unpredictable nature of the excise tax, and not wasteful spending.

"I've never overspent my budget," he said.

The Attorney General will probably be taking over the Sheriff's offices, which the Sheriff believes will ultimately be a good thing.

But the drastic drop in revenue due to the financial crisis has left law enforcement having to do more with less. Governor Patrick proposed an 8% cut in funding to the Sheriff's offices of the Commonwealth, and there have been rumors of a cut as much as 10%, a figure which Sheriff DiPaola has called "draconian."

In contrast to these numbers, the Department of Corrections has received about a 2% cut.

These cuts are especially hurtful because law enforcement budgets are personnel-driven. And, as the Sheriff points out, "it's especially tough on us because jails never close," DiPaola said.

Prison overcrowding has already been a problem throughout Massachusetts for years, even in times of prosperity. The Cambridge jail above the courthouse was designed in the 1970's for 160 spaces; it currently holds 440 prisoners. In a controversial decision, the Sheriff even had to close its chapel to make room for more cells.

The Billerica jail was built for 300, but may have to house as many as 1200 inmates. There are security concerns over adding 400 inmates to an older section of the jail built in 1929 that may be too old to be safe.

Sheriff DiPaola has already self-imposed cost-saving measures, including restricting take-home vehicles, cell-phone usage and limiting the use of the 4-1-1 phone number directory service.

But, unfortunately, DiPaola also has had to hold back on hiring forty new officers. He is currently lobbying the legislature to reduce the spending cuts.

But until any legislative changes are made, the Sheriff has to get creative to find ways to save money. Energy costs have been one of the biggest drains on the budget; the Sheriff is now considering installing solar panels on the prison roofs. Transportation is also expensive; the Sheriff's Department vans transfer over 35,000 people a year, driving more than 1 million miles. DiPaola is trying to come up with ways of lowering these numbers.

As with any financial crisis, there are worries that good, successful programs will be cut. Among DiPaola's many concerns is the survival of the Youth Public Safety Academy, a program for children between 10 and 12 to meet policemen, firemen, and EMS workers in a positive environment and get to know what they do for the community. DiPaola says it is a great way of giving kids good role models and building characters.

But only time will tell if it will survive.

DiPaola hopes that the recent decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana will free up law enforcement time, effort and money, in order to focus on more important matters.

But during this difficult time, DiPaola will be meeting with the Governor and other political leaders to discuss short and long term plans for the Cambridge jail and other financial matters.

It is clear that these meetings are deeply important for all of Middlesex County, and we will have to live with their results. Either way, we will pay a heavy cost, financial or otherwise.

Thursday night (May 28th) the Aldermen face the first in a series of very tough choices on the FY2010 budget.

It's not the Aldermen's fault that this vote is necessary. They didn't create this fiscal crisis – in fact, their work in recent years has greatly strengthened Somerville's financial future. But neither they nor I can ignore the position we're in as a community.

Simply put – and due largely to deep cuts in state aid and rapidly escalating health care costs – this city faces a budget gap (based on the latest information from the state) of roughly $13 million.

If we do everything we can to manage costs and raise revenues – and if the state closes the telecommunications property tax loophole and green-lights local option meals and hotel taxes – it's possible for us to reduce our budget shortfall to between $5 and $6 million: We'd still be facing some difficult choices – including some layoffs and service reductions – but their magnitude would be significantly reduced.

In order, however, to get to that "best-case" scenario of a budget shortfall that's only $6 million, we still need to take a number of strong actions, and we need to take them quickly.

Several of those actions mirror recommendations made by the Financial Advisory Committee I convened last January. The FAC was charged with examining our existing policies and procedures and recommending ways to reduce costs and improve revenue. After a comprehensive review of the City's finances and municipal operations, the FAC concluded that the structure of our health insurance system was one of the areas in which Somerville could achieve significant savings with no loss of access or coverage.

Some of those savings depend on the willingness of the state to give cities and towns more control over the design of local health care plans – but one of the specific recommendations within our control is to bring retiree health care costs more in line with what other Massachusetts cities and towns pay – not to mention bringing these costs more in line with what Somerville pays to insure its active employees.

When I took office in 2004, every City employee and retiree paid for, at most, only 10 percent of their total health care costs. With health insurance costs rising fast, that system was simply unsustainable. As of July 1, Somerville's non-union workforce (including city side, school side and elected officials) pays 25% of the cost of its health insurance premiums – the City pays the other 75%. In our unionized workforce, the split currently varies from 85/15 to 80/20 – and we're working through the collective bargaining process to get everyone to move to the 75/25 share.

So far, however, our retirees have not been asked to play any part in addressing this problem. They still pay only ten percent of the cost for their health care plans; for the so-called "indemnity plan" (the least efficient and most expensive plan for the city, but one that doesn't provide much preventive care) 203 of our 1255 retirees pay only one percent of the cost of their premiums. In fact, it takes the entire property tax contribution of six average residential taxpayers to cover the cost to the city of one indemnity plan. It's a system that can't continue in the face of the current fiscal crisis. the Board of Aldermen votes to require retirees to pay for 25% of the cost of their premiums (which is the norm for municipal retirees in Massachusetts), and if they also raise that share to 40% for the outmoded indemnity plan (thereby providing an incentive for retirees to move to a more efficient HMO or PPO – Preferred Provider

Organization – plan), they can save the City $2.8 million per year without reducing access or coverage.

I understand that this is a hard vote. We can all agree that dealing with this crisis will require everyone to make some sacrifices: wage freezes, furloughs, and higher health care costs for active employees (including elected officials); higher fines and fees for residents; and if necessary, cuts in services and staff layoffs. But when that spirit of shared sacrifice is extended to our retirees, it's not surprising that some aldermen are reluctant to make the call.

So I will make the choice as clear and simple as I can: Since the budget situation at the state level won't be clear for some weeks to come, and since contractual requirements mandate a minimum of 30 days notice prior to layoffs – and since the new fiscal year starts on July 1st – I must begin sending out layoff notices on Friday, May 29th. The School Department will be doing the same.

If the Board approves the retirees' insurance proposal, they will reduce the potential need for city-side layoffs, substantial service reductions and cuts by $1.4 million. The Board will also reduce the cuts needed on the school side by an equal amount.

There is no "splitting the difference" on this – or any future – FY2010 budget vote. We need the full $2.8 million in savings from this proposal – and we need to press ahead with other measures as well, including the raising of fines and fees. Even then, we will still face a harsher fiscal environment in which some layoffs will be necessary.

But with this change to retiree health benefits – and a number of others changes, including increases to fines and fees – we will be able to preserve core services at their current level.

This isn't fun, folks. But it is the math. We are all going to have to do our part to get through this. Our Police and E911 unions have already agreed to contracts with zero percent wage adjustments and a one-week furlough – the same terms as non-union employees. They have increased the share they pay for their healthcare costs.

Taxpayers have had to step up, too: they'll be paying more in fees and fines. Everyone has to do his or her part in order to maintain city services. Even, at long last, our retirees.

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

The
Winter Hill PTA & the Student Council are having a yard sale on
Sunday, May 31st, from 9:00am until 2:00pm in the Winter Hill Community
School Cafeteria. Items will be selling from .25 cents and up. There
will be furniture, clothing, toys, books, pocketbooks, kitchen items
and much more. There will also be face painting, music, slush and
snacks for sale. All money made from this event will go directly
towards our school for field trips and school supplies. A portion of
the profits will go towards the 8th grade banquet & award ceremony.

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

Another
heroic story coming out of our Police Department – apparently early am
Tuesday morning, Police Officer Cliffy Mansir was the first to respond
to fire call at a house on Powderhouse Blvd. When Officer Mansir
arrived he found that all the occupants were still in the house, he
immediately evacuated the entire house and then proceeded to put out
the fire on the porch. We heard that on Monday during the day they were
varnishing the porch and left the cans lying around when somehow they
ignited.

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

Somerville Public School's
Music Dept Presents: the annual SPRING STRING FLING, a wonderful
concert full of student string players. The event will be on Thursday,
June 4th at 7pm – in the Somerville High School Auditorium, 81 Highland
Avenue. Admission is free – and this will be the orchestra director's
last concert – the amazing Rita Ranucci is retiring.

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

Funny
how some PDSers look at things – take for instance the PDSer from Ward
5 SC member Mark Neidergang – he was the only elected official in the
parade that had his clip board and nomination papers with him so he
could have them signed while marching in the parade. He probably thinks
that was what Memorial Day was all about – getting his signatures – and
not to remember those that fought for our country! Then just prior to
the ceremony at the Veterans Cemetery he got up and left, maybe he had
an emergency? Well, at least he was there for the parade. You might
remember he said at a school committee meeting that Good Friday should
be done away with and that Bunker Hill Day was an "annoying" – we're
trying to keep record of his holiday opinions.

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

The
online desperate antics of the Farm Team last week accusing us here at
The News of plagiarism, a charge that was posted by their Assistant
Editor Auditi Guha, might have backfired in her face. We were thinking
of getting her a Dictionary, but then we thought about it, and changed
our minds. But Apparently she or someone realized that the heading on
the blog page was too strong and they changed it…from accusing us of
Plagiarism to Copycatting – but alas, not in time to be saved by one of
our readers in PDF form. We have a feeling that it's not the last she's
heard of this!

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

The Somerville Police
Department is sadly loosing two great guys! Sargent John Christensen
and Detective David Lyons are retiring after many years of devoted
service to the department and the city. The two are being honored with
a farewell dinner on June 5th at the Mount Vernon Restaurant. We wish
them both the best in their travels and thank them for their service.

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

The
Welcome Project Graduation and Celebration will be Sunday, June 7th
from 4pm to 7pm at the Mystic Activity Center, 530 Mystic Avenue. This
will be a special celebration for the first class of high school
students to complete their training in LIPS — the Liaison Interpreters
Program of Somerville – and the progress our adult learners have made
in their English for Students of Other Languages classes this year.
LIPS trains bilingual high school students to assist with language
interpretation at community meetings in Somerville. In addition to
learning formal interpretation techniques to connect people

who
do not speak the same language, LIPS also builds the leadership of
young people from immigrant families to be knowledgeable and engaged in
issues that affect themselves and their community. Fourteen youth
participated this year, learning to assist with interpretation between
English and three target languages – Haitian Creole, Spanish, and
Portuguese.

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

We hear that West Somerville
resident Bob McNary recently suffered a heart attack and we hear he's
home recovering. Bob is a popular guy around the city, and lots of
Newstalk readers wish him well and back to his old self very soon.

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

Somerville
youth earns Boston College High School Honors – Spencer W.
Camara-Harrison ('12), of Somerville, achieved Honors for the Third
Quarter at Boston College High School. For Honors, a student must have
at least a 3.2 quality point average and all grades "C-" or higher.
Boston College High School is a Jesuit, Catholic, college-preparatory
school for young men founded in 1863. The school enrolls approximately
1,300 students from some 100 communities in eastern Massachusetts.

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

Traffic
and Parking recently approved a measure to increase meter rates across
the city as well as to go citywide on Permit Parking. The hearing was
this past Thursday night, just a matter of when it will take effect.

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

The
"Taste of Somerville" is back, sponsored by the Somerville Chamber,
will be coming on June 9th at the Holiday Inn. More then 20 Somerville
restaurants will present samples from their menus and wine and beer
tasting. Tickets for the event $35.00 and it runs from 5:30 to 8:30 pm.

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

Brazil
@ SCAT is a new initiative to serve Somerville's vibrant Brazilian
community. SCAT now offers production classes in Portuguese, and
beginning on June 24th, a Brazilian film monthly screening series. The
first film of the Brazil@SCAT screening series will be "Hour of the
Star" (1985). After the death of her aunt, Macabéa (Marcelia Cartaxo)
moves from the Brazilian countryside to the big city of S√£o Paulo,
where she lives in an all-female boardinghouse, takes a job as a typist
and meets a man (José Dumont) who has dreams of becoming a congressman.
Director Suzana Amaral also penned the screenplay for this
coming-of-age drama based on Clarice Lispector's best-selling novel by
the same name. Portuguese with English sub-titles. Time: 7:30pm at the
SCAT studio at 90 Union Square. It is free; however, donations are
appreciated. Only 30 seats – so get there early!

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

Events
that instill a greater sense of community pride are always a big hit
with us, most of us being life-long residents. Taking time out of our
busy and stressful lives to pay homage to those who have served our
country – and have died for it – is a very important duty and when it
doesn't seem like a "chore" then it is that much more enjoyable – and
pure.

These are difficult times, as we will all find out in the
weeks to come. The budget crisis that has a strange-hold on the state
and our city in particular is a very stressful situation for everyone
involved.

We have said it before and we will say it again – it
is important for us all to come together to not point the finger at any
one person, body or administration – but to come up with equitable
solutions that make sense and might sting at first, but make the most
sense.

The ultimate goal is to be free from the total reliance
on state aid – which we will always have a part of – but not to the
point where we could lose our vital services and the core elements of
what we strive for as a community. So keep that sense of community
pride in mind and let's all come together to make Somerville a
stronger, more sustainable place to live, work and educate our children
– we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our city.

The book identifies and
debunks a number of economic and ideological misunderstandings about
immigration, and Dr. Chomsky, who is a professor of history at Salem
State College, focused most of her hour-long lecture on the economic
arguments due to their timeliness.

So are immigrants really a
drain on the economy? Dr. Chomsky delivered a well-supported argument
that the answer is no. She explained it this way: more consumers create
more jobs, and an influx of people to a city will create more jobs
overall, not less. And yet "some people act as if it's a zero sum
game," she said, deconstructing that viewpoint by identifying ways in
which immigration actually changes and expands existing local economies.

Dr.
Chomsky also addressed the misconception that immigrants who are
working in the U.S. illegally don't pay taxes, and drain public funds.
Everyone contributes through sales tax, she pointed out, and many
immigrants working illegally in the "formal economy" with fake social
security number pay income taxes since it is deducted from their
paychecks. Since immigrants working and residing in the U.S. illegally
are essentially paying for services that they are unable to receive,
such as social security, unemployment and other benefits that come with
being a tax-paying citizen, and Dr. Chomsky cited recent reports
calculating that undocumented immigrant workers actually pay more in
taxes than they cost the government. She also pointed out that
immigrants tend to come in prime working age, after their education has
been paid for, and usually plan on returning to their country of origin
before they retire, thereby imposing less of a tax burden than lifelong
citizens.

Dr. Chomsky also spoke compellingly about how the
creation of separate groups of people – "legal" and illegal" – creates
room for exploitation. This second-class status benefits no one, she
said, except for businesses that have less incentive to provide fair
working conditions and a greater ability to intimidate its workers.

Ingrid
Nava from Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS), a non-profit
organization that provides free civil representation to low-income
people, pointed out that sub-standard working conditions are not legal
regardless of the legal status of the employees, and that immigrants
have legal options in such cases, although they are often unaware of
this and are reluctant to take action.

During the question and
answer period, one audience member pointed out the grammatical
incorrectness of calling a person illegal. By definition "only an
object or an action can be illegal," she said, and wondered whether
this is an attempt to dehumanize undocumented immigrants.

State
Representative Denise Provost also spoke briefly at the event,
addressing the role of immigration in society from both a personal and
historical viewpoint. Asked for her thoughts on the contributions of
immigrants to the United States, she said "I came to the conclusion
that that would be basically all the contributions in this country,"
noting that she did not mean to disparage those made by Native
Americans, but rather to point out that we are a country of immigrants.

Observing
the way in which some people brag that their ancestors came to the U.S.
"legally" unlike some of today's immigrants, Rep. Provost asked the
audience rhetorically, "you think anyone on the Mayflower had papers?"
Dr. Chomsky also addressed claims like this, identifying how this sort
of argument does not take into account the inequities in U.S.
immigration policy, which allowed unrestricted access to white
Europeans for most of our country's history.

The event was
sponsored by Centro Presente, a statewide Latin American immigrant
organization that works for immigrant rights and for social and
economic justice.