Held at the Argenziano School on Washington Street, there was standing room only in the cafeteria, as residents gathered to talk about a passionate issue in the historic-yet traffic plagued-square. In general, residents liked what the city and consultants from Howard/Stein Hudson Associates mapped out.

Concerns for the most part addressed the finer elements, such as how the plan will alleviate the cut-through traffic and how the flow of traffic will loop around the square and out onto Webster and Prospect Streets.

The transportation plans and roadway improvements are just part of the entire package for Union Square, said Monica Lamboy, who heads the city's strategic planning and community development office. The Board of Alderman last April approved a rezoning package for Union Square that examines private uses for businesses and residents.

This plan is looking at the public land and how to preserve the history of Union Square plaza while cutting down on the congestion, promoting equity amongst bikers, motorists and pedestrians and improving the public space.

The transportation plan will ultimately address how to draw people from the new Green Line Extension T stop by Prospect Street and into the square, Lamboy said. Feedback given on Wednesday will help planners shape a more final draft by September, and hold more community meetings.

Planners want to implement the improvements by the time the Green Line Extension is built in 2014.

The project boils down to the following options:

o Make Webster Avenue and Prospect Street two way roads, which will alleviate traffic clogs in the center of Union Square. One option involves bike lanes on both sides of Webster Avenue, which will call for getting rid of 21 parking spaces along Webster Avenue. However, 37 parking spaces could be added along Prospect Street in the area of the new T station.

The other option entails having parking (five spaces) on both streets on the West side of the road. Instead of bike lanes on Webster Avenue, there will be "sharrows," which indicate bikes share a lane with a car (a picture of a bike is painted on the side of the road).

People need to decide whether it is more important to have bike lanes or parking, said Keri Pyke, the director of transportation planning for Hudson.

o Make Somerville Avenue a two-way road by Bow Street, heading west. More sidewalk space will be added in the area by the Reliable Market. The "passive" open space traffic island on Bow Street would be removed.

A bike lane would be added along the eastbound lane on Somerville Avenue.

The pro is gaining 26,000 square feet of usable open space in the form of sidewalks, which could host bike racks and art work. The plan would call for losing four parking spaces on Bow Street.

There are three options to reconfigure traffic in the heart of Union Square, which are as follows:

Option 1. Existing conditions modified-The significant change here entails taking the 15-space parking lot in front of the Independent and making it into open space. There would be enough width to add a bike lane in both directions on Somerville Avenue.

Traffic signals (which will also be true for the next two options) will feature a bike detection signal. Bike parking will also be added.

Option 2. A One-way pair-This option entails a more radical alignment, with a one-way road passing through the plaza in front of the Independent, parallel to the existing Somerville Avenue. The road will be curved to add a "traffic calming" affect. The new road would line up with Bonner Avenue, and there would be a traffic light at Bonner Avenue. Bike lanes would extend along the road and new pedestrian crossings would be added.

While this option would nearly double the open space (to total 10,300 square feet), it would reduce on-street parking from 60 to 25 spaces.

Option 3. Washington Street two-way with a Somerville Avenue Woonerf-This option calls for reconnecting Washington Street through its center, with a "woonerf" running down Somerville Avenue. A woonerf is a street where pedestrians and cyclists have legal priority over motorists, such as Winter Street in Downtown Crossing.

The advantage to building a woonerf is that the street can be closed off on weekends to use for festivals; and still allow partial access. The disadvantage is that traffic on the est side of the square would be heavier in the afternoons.

Adding the woonerf would result in losing half the parking spaces along Somerville Avenue.

A few concerned Somerville residents sat in on the meeting to continue the discussion on the house at 31 Wilton Street. The two family building located on Wilton St. has been classified by the owner as a sober house that accommodates recovering addicts for short and long terms stays. The issue at the forefront of the meeting concerned how many residents are legally allowed to stay at the building at one time, and whether or not all residents are officially recovering from substance abuse problems. Under state law, only 4 non-related adults are legally allowed to reside in a one family facility, making the maximum residents for 2 family homes to be limited to 8 people. The home at 31 Wilton Street is said to be exempt to this rule under the Fair Housing Act concerning people with disabilities, and commonly houses 10 people at a time. This issue was brought to the Board due to resident's concerns over the validity of 31 Wilton Street's claims that it is a true sober house and that there is no regulation on who comes and goes from the facility. Deputy Upton stated, "the fact that we don't know who's in there concerns us, but not as much as other properties." He also added that there have been no recent police reports coming from that area. One resident who attended the meeting said he had found a hypodermic needle in the area and had reported it to police.

Aldermen O'Donovan's major concern is over the fact that there is no verification process currently in place for sober or half-way houses. The committee had asked the City Solicitor's Office in the previous meeting to look into possible solutions. Assistant City Solicitor David Shapiro reported back to the committee on Wednesday, stating Somerville has the right to request a 3rd party verification that the residents of a particular facility are entitled to protection under the Fair Housing Act.

The committee asked the City Solicitor's Office and the Superintendent of Inspectional Services to put together a form that will force owners of such facilities to verify the eligibility of its tenants in accordance with the law. Alderman O'Donovan feels that dealing with the issue is an important precedent. "This is way bigger than Wilton Street," said O'Donovan. "What scares me is that it is all incumbent on the housing provider to do the right thing." The City Solicitor's Office will come back to the committee with a form to be approved at their next meeting in August.

In other business, there have been complaints of trespassers in the old Max Pak factory site. Alderman O'Donovan quoted reports of children on the roof and felt it needed to be secured for safety reasons. Deputy Chief Upton stated that the area is now being patrolled and is on their watch list.

Superintendent Landers responded to complaints about health inspectors entering private property without permission. Landers stated that all inspectors denied such accusations, but were reminded of proper protocol.

Another issue brought forth by Committee Chairman White was the problem of dog breeding in residences. Currently there is a maximum number of dogs that one home can legally own, but that does not include puppies that are under six months old as they are not forced to be licenced. Aldermen White asked the City Solicitor's Office and the Superintendent of Inspectional Services to look into the zoning code to see if any changes should be made.

The next Public Health and Public Safety Meeting is tentatively scheduled for August 26th.

SOMERVILLE – Acting Director of Traffic and Parking James Kotzuba announced today that, starting on Monday, July 20th, the City of Somerville will begin reprogramming its parking meters to accommodate new rates and hours of operation. In keeping with the recently released Phase I recommendations of the City's 14-member Parking Solutions Task Force (PSTF), the new rate for parking will be one dollar per hour, and meters will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. In addition, Kotzuba announced that the City would extend the parking time limit to three hours for the curbside meters along Meacham Road and Dover Street in Davis Square, and in the metered lot in Magoun Square. (City-owned lots in Davis Square already offer a three-hour limit.)

"As is typical with these adjustments, we will start in the western end of the city and work our way east," said Kotzuba. "It's not a good idea to open up the electronic meters when it's raining but, weather permitting, the whole process should take about two weeks."

Other PSTF recommendations for Phase I are:

Extending the hours for current daytime business permits to 6 p.m.

Creating a new "second-shift" business permit that allows local business employees to park in designated areas from 6 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Publicizing the city's permitting system for non-profit performing arts groups that allows their patrons to park in permit areas for arts performances.

Continued negotiations with owners of private lots throughout the city to make additional parking available to patrons and businesses.

A citywide assessment and inventory of available parking spaces as well as an analysis of the impact of all new parking policies.

"We will be generating a scope of work for the parking assessment and inventory within the next week or two," said Kotzuba. "We want to get this study underway so that, based on the results from this first phase, we can continue to adjust and fine-tune our implementation plans in order to optimize the accessibility and convenience of our available parking supply."

July 20th will also mark the date of implementation for adjusted parking fees and fines (see list below) authorized by the Board of Aldermen and Traffic Commission.

OFFENSE

FINE

Unattached Trailer

$40.00

Traffic Island/Safety Zone

$30.00

Taxi Stand

$30.00

Restricted Zone

$30.00

Permit Parking

$50.00

Wrong Direction

$30.00

Overtime Parking

$25.00

Over 48 Hours

$30.00

Over 1 Ft. From Curb

$30.00

On Sidewalk

$30.00

Obstruct/2 ft. Driveway

$30.00

No Stop Zone

$30.00

Parking Meter

$30.00

Loading Zone

$30.00

Leave 10 Ft. Passage

$40.00

High School Concourse

$25.00

Double Parking

$50.00

Construction Zone

$30.00

Commercial Overnight

$40.00

Bus Stop

$100.00

20 Ft. Intersection

$40.00

RMV Surcharge

$40.00

A copy of the full Parking Solutions Task Force Report and Recommendations is available online at the Traffic and Parking Department web page at www.somervillema.gov

For more information, please call 311.

So, Boston is planning an iPhone application that lets some residents send pictures of municipal problems to the Mayor's Office of Constituent Services for follow-up. That's an interesting concept and I will look forward to seeing it in action.

But I have to say I'm concerned about the long-term prospects for the new application, because Boston has never built up the constituent service infrastructure to deliver the timely coordination, tracking, responsiveness and accountability needed to support this new technology. (And I'm also worried because it won't work unless you have an iPhone: Verizon, Sprint and Cingular customers need not apply.) It'll be cute, but will it be widely adopted and successful without a full-blown 311 and stat program to back it up? Boston has so far shied away from such programs.

Meanwhile, over in Newton, SomerStat has become an issue in the budget debate and the mayoral campaign. An independent Citizens Advisory Group has recommended that Newton start developing a "stat"-style performance management program on the Somerville model (which we adapted from the Baltimore CitiStat model), but some aldermen are resistant to adding analytical staff to the mayor's office. By contrast, all four candidates to replace outgoing Newton Mayor David Cohen have endorsed the performance management concept and are now arguing about who would be best qualified to make it work.

Given the great results for Somerville and other communities that have adopted 311 and stat programs, you might wonder why some local elected officials remain so resistant to these cost-effective innovations. In both Boston and Newton, one possible explanation is "Not Invented Here" (NIH) syndrome.

If you look up "Not Invented Here" on Wikipedia, here's what you'll find: "a term used to describe persistent social, corporate or institutional culture that avoids using or buying already existing products, research or knowledge because of its different origins. It is normally used in a pejorative sense." Harvard Business School professor Henry Chesbrough says that a crucial key to success in our technology-driven era is to take the opposite approach, which he calls "open innovation."

That's why Somerville is so willing to borrow best practices from other municipalities and adapt them to the needs of our community. A good idea is a good idea, wherever it comes from – and we shouldn't be shy about giving credit to others, and sharing ideas we know can work.

In fact, one of the reasons that Somerville was named a 2009 All-America City (like "President Barack Obama," "2009 All-America City" is a phrase I never get tired of repeating) is that we have taken good ideas from other communities and made them our own in ways that hold lessons for other small and mid-sized cities across the state and nation.

For example, prior to our adoption of the 311 concept in 2006, it was considered to be a service that only the biggest cities could deliver: it had a multi-million dollar price tag and required expensive proprietary software. Similarly, the "stat"-style performance management program, which collects and uses data to manage allocation of service resources in real time, was once considered too technically complex and analytically demanding to be deployed in communities that lacked sophisticated IT and number-crunching resources.

I was still an alderman back in 2003 when I saw Baltimore's CitiStat and 311 programs in action (Baltimore's Mayor at the time was Martin O'Malley, who is now Maryland's Governor). I immediately recognized their potential to make Somerville government more efficient, more accountable, and more transparent – and I made them part of my campaign platform. Six years later, I can say that the success of these programs has exceeded even my high expectations. SomerStat has transformed our budget process. It has helped us create a goal-based budget with measurable goals and outputs, giving our Board of Aldermen and our resident more ability to scrutinize and understand the way we spend money. In good times, SomerStat has helped us expand services while controlling costs. Today – even in the midst of a serious state and national fiscal crisis – it's helped us cut spending while reallocating resources to preserve core services.

At the same time, 311 has become the cornerstone of all our customer service programming. Back in January of 2006, it started out as a service that tracked resident inputs to only one department: Public Works. It only worked with landlines (no cell phones), had full operational capacity only in the daytime and had limited language capacity in Spanish and Portuguese.

Today, 311 works from any phone in Somerville, including mobile phones; it provides service in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole; it fully supports DPW and Traffic and Parking while handling most constituent queries for Inspectional Services, the City Clerk's Office and many other City Departments. 311 representatives staff the very popular Welcome Desk at the entrance to City Hall and they update the City's award-winning website.

But best of all, 311 tracks the nature and the outcome of thousands of requests for information and service each month, providing a vital stream of data to SomerStat, and helping senior managers throughout City government (and taxpayers and their elected leaders) hold government more accountable to the residents they serve.

And 311 does all these things for less than $600,000 per year – less than four tenths of one percent of the City's budget. That's a great achievement and a terrific bargain – even if it wasn't invented here.

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

Interesting
to look at the nomination papers for Alderman at Large – the only
candidate not an incumbent that is running one of the four seats is
Luis A. Morales of 61 Shore Drive. Rumor around the city is that he
doesn't live here – but in Malden, or depending who is telling you –
maybe Stoneham or Wakefield. He is a business owner down in East
Somerville and we hear the Pastor of the Church at Central Street and
Broadway. Outside of the rumor of him not living here, it was
interesting to read his nomination papers to see who signed them – his
nomination papers looked like a who's who of the Somerville Community
Corporation as well as the PDS crowd. Wonder which of the four
incumbents they want to defeat – who has made them unhappy? Some
Notable signatures are Ward 6's Rebekah, State Rep. Denise Provost,
School Committee members Sweeting of Ward 3 and Paul Bockelman of Ward
6., former Alderman At Large and present SCC employee Helen Corrigan.

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

Happy
Birthday to Former Mayor and Register of Deeds Eugene Brune – who is
celebrating the occasion this coming Sunday July 12th! Also our own
Billy Tauro (great photographer) is celebrating his birthday that falls
on the same date! Lots of birthday candles being lit and parties going
on in the 'Ville both here in the City and up North.

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

Many
residents and shop keepers located on the lower Broadway are a bit
upset about the word on the streets that the recently opened Somerville
Police Substation in their area may be closing due to the budget cuts!
Many of the them agree that since the substation has opened, the crime
rate in that area has fallen to a minimum level!

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

The
small but enthusiastic crowd at the SHS Auditorium to hear the Navy
Band and the USO singers was treated to an entertaining evening of
music and patriotic sing along. Thanks again this year to Mayor Joe and
his able and ready Veterans Service Director Frank Senesi for doing a
great job.

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

Somerville High class of
1959 will be celebrating its 50th Class Reunion on November 7th 2009,
at the Holiday Inn, Somerville. Please contact Mary (Capobianco)
Oliveira at 617 623-8881 or 781-475-0938.

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

Well-known
and life-long resident Bobby McGowan has been in and out of the
hospital recently, he's a great guy always has a smile and something
nice to say about everyone. We hope he is feeling better and will be
back in the Square soon.

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

Speaking about
who has been ill lately, our own Bob Publicover has been undergoing a
lot of tests lately, but he's doing fine and since he gained all that
weight he's very pleased with himself. Bob is a great guy; you can see
him up at the Café Lola on Highland Avenue near Cedar Street, which is
his favorite hangout, especially since the new owners took over.

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

Soon
to arrive from England are Corey and Kaitlin Norton, school is out over
there on base and although Corey will be going back after a few weeks,
there is talk that Kaitlin might attend Somerville High School. Corey
& Kaitlin are the children of our own Jamie Norton, they're coming
here to celebrate their birthdays and to visit.

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

Current
King Lion, Billy Tauro, is busy out there trying to get more
people/businesses to join the Lion's Club, if you're interested they
can always use some more good members.

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

On
Wednesday, July 8th at 6:30pm at the Argenziano School (290 Washington
St.), elected officials and the Office of Strategic Planning and
Community Development (OSPCD) will be holding a community meeting to
discuss different approaches to improving Union Square's transportation
infrastructure and traffic flow in preparation for long-term
redevelopment under the square's new zoning regulations. All interested
individuals are encouraged to attend the meeting.

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

On
July 9th and 23rd from 6 pm to 7:30 pm, ArtsUnion Ethnic Market Tours
will be visiting three markets on each day. Whether you're looking for
exotic, hard-to-find items or simply want to learn more about the
cultural and culinary diversity of Union Square, this tour is for you.
Tours are free but participants are encouraged to buy items at the
stores. To sign up, email: stephanie.scherpf@gmail.com or call
617-625-6600, x2985.

Some smaller, more
fractional people in various groups will always sit in the corner and
bang on their gong to a negative beat, no matter how many times you
have proven them wrong, no matter how many times they make themselves
look like unintelligent buffoons. And that's a shame, because even
though the economy isn't so great, there is plenty to be thankful for
here in Somerville.

We have great schools, plenty of police and
fire protection, vibrant squares and thoroughfares – we even still
continue to have one of the most ethnically diverse cities in New
England, if not the country. Rock groups come to play and hang out in
our squares, the movie industry has premieres and shoots films and
commercials here – we have more artists per capita than anywhere else
in the country, New York city excepted.

What we also have close
by is unbelievably easy access to the best higher learning institutions
and medical facilities in the world. Let's not forget the history of
our city too – it is all around us – so much so, that we sometimes
overlook the importance our little city played in the formation of our
country.

Which brings us around to sense of community. We have
said it dozens of times – as residents of this great city, we are very
proud of the overwhelming sense of pride Somerville exudes. It has
erased the stigma of old and replaced it with a beaming reputation for
leading-class civic engagement, well-oiled government operation,
extraordinary transparency across the board and recognition as a leader
amongst communities nationwide.

We owe a lot of this to a whole
range of people – especially Mayor Joe Curtatone, his administration
and staff and everyone from the private and business sectors that have
stepped up and literally put their money where their mouths are. The
Memorial Day Parade and the Independence Day Fireworks and Celebration
are just two shining examples of how we can utilize local resources and
display our sense of community pride without using city money.

Some
say that celebrating when times are tough is in poor taste – well to us
that's rubbish – it is this bringing together of people that makes us
stronger, that ensures our future and that gives us hope and the
courage to pull through difficult economic conditions. We have a rich
and vibrant and diverse community we can be say we are proud to live
and work in – and that's a lot better than many other places in this
country, so why shouldn't we embrace it? Now if the rain could go away
for a few days…

"The Somerville Tenancy Preservation Collaborative
developed a strong proposal because it is cooperative in nature and
consistent with the mission of the Network to coordinate efforts," said
MBHP Executive Director Chris Norris. "It is a joint initiative among
Somerville Community Corporation, which is the lead agency, and
Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services, Community Action Agency of
Somerville, Somerville Homeless Coalition, and Somerville Mental Health
Association." The group's main focus is to provide assistance to people
before they reach the point of eviction. "It is our hope that this
initiative will create a uniformed system where landlords could make
direct referrals to our organizations and we could work with these
families to get services and resources in place at a very early stage
before they are in crisis that would assist them in not only
maintaining their housing but addressing the areas that are preventing
them from becoming self-sufficient", said SCC staff member, Stacey
Pires.

The SCC provides assistance in several areas including
financial assistance for delinquent rent and utility payments,
mediation and negotiation with landlords, housing search and
placements, and personal budgeting and credit management. The
collaborative applied for the MBHP's funding to enhance its already
extensive offerings. "A lot of these residents had very large arrears
when they finally walked through our doors that caused us to have to
leverage additional funds and services through other agencies just to
stabilize. After many conversations we decided that we could provide
direct service at these sites so that residents could access our
services and receive help before getting to the stage of eviction of to
a point where they could not help themselves", said Pires. The funds
awarded will be directly used to aid residents of Somerville. It is the
aim of the collaborative to impact recipients prior to shelters
becoming their only option.

The Metro Boston Network gave out
awards to 12 organizations totaling $470,000. In addition, the Network
also has $465,729 in emergency flexible funds available to the agencies
and partners to leverage staff services and help residents obtain and
retain housing. Once the contracts are finalize and accepted they will
last 18 months beginning on July 1, 2009.

I
am very pleased to feature a guest contributor to this week's column.
Many folks have commented that I don't write enough about other parts
of the city and seem to concentrate mostly on the Davis Square area.
That's only because that's where my memories are! But now, feel free to
open your own memory floodgates and send me your valuable opinions and
memories. And now, I would like to introduce Susan Fontano for your
reading enjoyment…

The City is celebrating it's recent victory
of being "crowned" All-America City 2009! Many of us have been living
that wonderful sense of Somerville Pride all our life.

I'm a lifelong Somervillian, working on 60+ years. Third generation; preceded by my grandmother and mother.

I
have several friends whom we've been together since kindergarten days
at the Prescott School. We went on to Northeastern Junior High (first
time we were allowed to cross McGrath Highway) and then off to
Somerville High School.

I must mention that back then we didn't
have the special school buses – we just jumped onto the regular T
buses. Crowding in the bus, with the morning commuters, was something
else. They didn't know what hit them. We really took over = it was a
blast. Hooking up with your friends and talking all the way up Highland
Avenue, without skipping a beat. They have all physically moved away.
The construction of Route 93 unfortunately pushed some of them out, and
for others, life challenges and opportunities required moving.

We were all teenagers – school during the day and Eddie's Coke Shop after school – with weekends at the Broadway Show.

For the most part our parents worked, so we were pretty independent, and looking back, street smart.

Broadway
was our playground. We'd patronize all the stores – I guess in
retrospect it was our version of the "mall." Everything we needed we
could get on Broadway. School supplies, Rainbow Spa or the 5 & 10.
Clothes for a "special" event, Tucks.

Then there was Tony's
Foodland, where our family did their food shopping, complimented by
Kennedy's & Lil' Tony's for specialty items. The Broadway fish
market had the best seafood, but especially the french fries. We would
leave the show during intermission and go get big bags of fries piping
hot for less than 20 cents – what am I saying – the ticket for a double
feature was 25 cents! The memories keep coming, some happy, some
bittersweet.

Throughout the year, we really try to get together.
Be it a SHS class reunion (we never miss), weddings, birthdays, and yes
– funerals. We always make time for one another. I usually like to host
a Saturday night in August. We start off at the Mt. Vernon Restaurant
for twin lobsters then back to my house. We settle in onto the back
porch, put on some music with some coffee and pastries from Patsy's –
and reminisce all night long. Those nights, out in the back yard of
Somerville under the stars are probably some of the most cherished for
me. I'm speaking for myself, but I'm sure my friends would agree, we
are the luckiest. Growing up in Somerville gave us the foundation we
needed for life.

These people are like no other – their
appreciation for friends and family, their values, scruples, character,
self pride, and yes, Somerville Pride – shine through as much today as
it did 45+ years ago.

Today, Broadway has changed, but it's
still the same. A "place" for kids, mothers and fathers to go for
supplies, food and fun. We still have at the corner of our streets, a
cobbler (shoe repair), a specialty variety store, Amigo's delicious
award winning eateries for when we don't feel like cooking, ice cream
parlor, library, banks, clothing stores. I guess it's still the "mall"
on Broadway as when I grew up. Sure the surnames are different and the
names of the businesses have changed, but not that Somerville spirit.
Especially East Somerville – although we appreciate and cherish all we
have, we are continually working for an even better Somerville. Through
every day citizens, civic groups, East Somerville Main Streets, Mayor
Curtatone, Alderman Roche, School Committeewoman Bastardi, Police
Captain Devereaux, Police Officer Styles – we all work together to
improve the "quality of life" for all businesses and residents. Come
share our world in East Somerville!

Orsola Susan Fontano

City
officials last Wednesday gathered in the Aldermanic Chamber to
celebrate the successes and goals of Shape Up Somerville, a city-wide
campaign to increase daily physical exercise and healthy eating through
programming, infrastructure improvements and policy work.

Representatives
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation were at hand to talk about its
Healthy Kids Healthy Communities program that offers grants of up to
$400,000 to nine communities state-wide-of which Somerville was
selected. The program is a major part of the foundation's five-year,
$500 million commitment to reverse the obesity epidemic in the United
States by 2015.

"Everyone knows how important childhood
obesity is in international health conversations," said Rich Bell, a
foundation representative. Obesity prevention is one of the country's
most pressing health challenge. Nationally, over 30 percent of adults
are considered obese and over 30 percent of children are obese. Health
problems due to obesity account for nine percent of medical
expenditures annually.

Somerville is at the forefront of the
movement to address good community health through environmental
changes, Bell said. There are over 100 communities doing the same
thing, but mainly through piece meal attempts; a farmer's market or a
school program, Bell said. But few are doing what Somerville has taken
on by involving stakeholders across-the-board.

In particular,
the city will-through the Shape up Somerville program-implement the
following, according to Mayor Joseph Curtatone:

o Offer healthy
eating incentives at local restaurants. Any restaurant that agrees to
offer healthy dinners expressly for children will be recognized at the
end of the year. Curtatone hopes to see five restaurants participate.

o
Add farmers markets throughout the city. Currently there are markets in
Davis and Union Squares. A farmers market will soon come to lower
Broadway in East Somerville.

o Survey food retailers to see how they can add fruit and vegetables to their product lines.

o
Coordinate an agenda on how to safely use the city's open spaces. The
city is currently holding a youth-led inventory of playground and park
equipment.

o Expand walking and biking opportunities.

A
Shape Up Somerville task force will work with all stakeholders in the
city to develop a "neighborhood champions program," Curtatone said.

"Think
of the consequences if you take any community and you cut off access to
healthy food choices," Curtatone said. "What do you think the result
will be? We would see a health epidemic, health challenges and social
consequences."

Past Shape up Somerville initiatives include
offering a Fitness Buddies program, walk/ride days, healthy
alternatives to school lunches, a bike/walk path for the Green Line
extension plans, adding eight miles of bike lanes in the city,
installing bike racks and improving the city's parks, according to
Curtatone.

Most of the time it's the affluent or homogeneous
cities that make such strides to improve the health of its residents,
Bell said.

"Somerville is working to change its culture and
normal way of life, which is a great opportunity," Bell said. "We see
how Somerville is reaching out to the schools, the parks, the streets,
retail, city government-it sure is hitting this effort across many
levels. This is truly ambitious."

The leading sites for the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program are urban and rural, large and
small. They include Chicago; Columbia, Mo.; Louisville, Ky.; Seattle;
Washington; and Baldwin Park, Central Valley and Oakland in California.

The
program will grow to approximately 70 communities when another round of
funding comes through late next year. Many are expected to be from a
swath of southern states where childhood obesity rates are particularly
high. The leading sites will then work with the new communities to
share the lessons they've learned and the most effective approaches.
Read the full story at http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/product.jsp?id=36348

It
takes a lot of work to change the culture and attitudes surrounding
obesity, said Paulette Renault-Caragines, RN, MPA, Somerville's health
department director.

"You need to change the DNA in the
community," she said. "We need to stress to parents that the $5 Happy
Meal is not the only default meal," she said.

It also boils
down to using the correct terminology for parents so the issue isn't
too socially charged and to get the point across in a matter-of-fact
manner, Renault-Caragaines said. For example, the correct term is
"obese" rather than "overweight."

The schools are also urging
that kids walk to school, which entails working on parents' perceptions
about safety and to assure them that Somerville is a safe city, she
said. Shape Up Somerville currently offers safe route to school maps at
www.somervillema.gov, for example.

The Shape Up Somerville
program was launched in 2002 via a $1.5 million grant from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. The program started with the
schools and over the years has covered programs across the city.

As for the
impact of the program on young students, the results speak for
themselves. The program has its own system of gauging its
effectiveness. The teachers at the participating schools survey the
children at both the beginning and at the end of the program to compare
results. These surveys have shown a 90% increase in children's attitude
towards reading, their reading skills, and their articulation and
self-esteem regarding reading.

Barefoot Books is one of the
local businesses that has employees that are volunteers for the
program. Sarah Spencer, International Rights and Sales Manager for
Barefoot Books said, "It's empowering for the children and so important
to their future and those of the communities in which they live."

The
success of the program can be credited to the fact that it has a
personal element to it. "The one-on-one factor is what makes the
program so unique. Some volunteers have worked with the same student
for as long as 6 years and they build very strong relationships," says
Darcy Madden, the Executive Director of the Somerville program. Some of
these dedicated companies who have employees that volunteer their time
are Gentle Giant Moving Company, TJX Companies, Caldwell Bank, and CDC.

Reading
to a child not only enriches a child's life, it is also good for morale
in the work place and is a fulfilling way to spend time as a volunteer.
Donna Callahan, Recreation Supervisor from the City of Somerville
Recreation Commission, described her experience as, "Knowing that I can
in some small way impact the life of this student. Her classroom
teachers have been so complimentary of me, our relationship, and the
importance of having this type of program for all the students that are
involved. I am humbled to be part of the Program's success at the
Kennedy School."

If you or anyone you know may want to become an
Everybody Wins! Power Lunch Program volunteer please contact the
Executive Director Darcy Madden at darcy.madden@ewmb.org. To get more
information regarding the program at both the local and national level
visit www.ewmb.org.