Ten
years ago, as America stood at the threshold of a new millennium, we
were worried about Y2K and hanging chads. Here in Somerville, the big
local debate was about how best to take advantage of the tremendous
economic development opportunity represented by the 145 acres of the
Assembly Square development district.

This year, as we enter
the teens of the 21st Century, our problems at the national level seem
even more challenging than they were a decade ago. With a badly shaken
economy, two wars, a deepening environmental crisis, an ongoing threat
of violence fueled by religious extremism – and a political system that
is deeply divided by region, culture and ideology – what American
wouldn't want a chance at a do-over for the past decade? (Okay, Dick
Cheney. But who else?) Time Magazine's November 24th cover story went
so far as to label the 2000s as "the Decade from Hell, or the
Reckoning, or the Decade of Broken Dreams, or the Lost Decade." Just
this week, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman suggested the past
decade be called "the Big Zero."

But in Somerville's municipal
history, the past ten years will be remembered very differently. Our
city is finishing this decade with fewer divisions, a more vibrant
local economy, stronger municipal finances, better schools and – best
of all – a clear vision of where we're going and how to get there.

Of
course, we've had plenty of bumps and bottlenecks along the way – and
some of the most jarring came in 2009. A brutal state fiscal crisis cut
our local aid budget by over 20 percent, leading directly to cuts in
staffing, payroll and operating budgets (not to mention increases in
fees and fines).

Two years after it was so badly damaged by
fire, we struggled in 2009 to come to an agreement with the
Massachusetts Building Authority on a budget for the rebuilding of the
East Somerville Community School. We had to put on hold the plans we
had to refurbish and expand Central Hill Park and we fought,
unfortunately with little success, to reduce the surging levels of jet
noise from Logan Airport's Runway 33L.

On the other hand, 2009
was the year we learned that we would be receiving $65 million in
Governor's Development Initiative (GDI) and federal stimulus (ARRA)
money to jumpstart the public infrastructure needed to keep Assembly
Square moving ahead. It was a year in which we continued to see
progress on the Green Line Extension – including the welcome news that
the MBTA was willing to consider multiple locations and configurations
for a Green Line maintenance facility. This was also the year in which
we saw approvals of stimulus funding for the Magoun Square intersection
redesign project ($2.5 million), the Minuteman Bike Path Connector from
Davis Square to Alewife ($3.6 million); and the long-promised – and
long-delayed – repaving of Washington Street in East Somerville ($1.75
million).

Best of all, 2009 was the year that Somerville took home an All America City Award for the first time since 1972.

Overall,
Somerville as emerged over the past ten years as a city that knows how
to flourish even in tough times – and I think it's clear that one of
the reasons we have been able to win awards, grants, and economic
investment is that we have worked to develop a shared version of what
our city can and should be.

The credit for developing and
refining that shared vision of a thriving, sustainable, accessible,
sophisticated, arts-friendly, densely urban and richly diverse
community belongs to multiple generations, multiple sectors, and
multiple administrations. It belongs to enlightened leaders at the
state and federal level – including Congressman and former Mayor
Michael Capuano, Senator John Kerry, the late great Senator Ted
Kennedy, and Governor Deval Patrick, who has repeatedly responded to
and rewarded Somerville's willingness to take charge of its own future.
Credit also belongs to our state delegation, our courageous and
far-sighted Board of Aldermen and our dedicated School Committee. But
by far the greatest share of the credit belongs to the people of this
city, who have worked (and sometimes fought) steadily and successfully
to map out a way forward.

We have come to the end of a decade in
which many American communities and institutions seemed to have lost
their way – but Somerville has, at least so far, moved toward consensus
and cooperation in imagining and building a future that can work for
all of us.

As we enter a new decade, the challenge for many
communities in Massachusetts will be to make up the ground they lost in
the past ten years. For Somerville, the challenge will be to keep our
current momentum. With just a little participation and input from every
resident and business owner, and with the continued support of our
state and federal officials, I have no doubt that we will be able to do
just that.