The race is on and the candidates are afoot. After weeks of delay, the board of aldermen have finally set the date for the special election to to fill the vacancy |left by the resignation of State Rep. Denise M. Provost, D, Somerville.  As of our deadline, the two candidates taking out nomination petitions, John M. ‚ÄúJack‚Äù Connolly and Martin Martinez, are knowable knowables.

Connolly was the Ward 6 Alderman for 22 years.  During his tenure, the heart of his ward, Davis Square, has become the economic engine of the city and a case study in prescient urban planning. Given the population turnover in Somerville, it might be worth noting that Connolly has a strong Progressive resume that includes fighting for Good Government in the days when it was not so popular and supporting the Living Wage.

His strong leadership in the effort to save the Somerville Theatre is, let us say, often imitated, never truly duplicated.

Martinez is no longer the new face on the city stage.  Most residents first learned his name when then-mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay fired him as her director of youth services. 

Kelley Gay put it out that Martinez was fired for coddling gangs. We would argue it was more nuanced than that. Rather, we think he was working to change the conditions driving gang membership—a program we wish had been in place for the last four years.

Since leaving the city payroll, Martinez has twice run for alderman. Once for the Ward 7 seat against the current board president, Robert C. Trane and last year when he finished fifth for the four at-large seats.

Nobody has doubted his passion for the city and the value of his ideas. The only real question is whether he can win against the warhorse Connolly.

Right now, the mayor has eight votes out of 11, which he keeps under his pillow at night. The difference may be how badly he craves a ninth.

by Pamela Rosenblatt

The arts editor of The Somerville News received a Certificate of Appreciation for his community access television program at the organization’s annual meeting Jan.25.

‚ÄúI think Doug Holder really provides an excellent service to the larger writer community in Somerville.  And it‚Äôs not just ‚ÄòPoet To Poet/Writer To Writer‚Äô that he does.  Besides ‚ÄòPoet To Poet/Writer To Writer‚Äô, he also writes his column in The Somerville News, and produces The Somerville News‚Äô Writer‚Äôs Festival.  He‚Äôs really a dynamo in support of Somerville‚Äôs writers and readers,‚Äù said Wendy Blom, executive director of Somerville Community Access Television.

As a major local poet, writer, journalist, and inter-viewer, Douglas Holder is highly regarded in the Somerville and surrounding areas, said Wendy Blom.

She met Holder the first week she started at SCAT in 2005, she said. “And I was immediately impressed by the commitment to the show that he does and the ease with which he draws out his guests,” she said.

Holder said he developed such an admirable reputation in the writing community through years of study and dedication to his craft. 

He said his story begins when his mother’s family first came to the United States at the turn of the 20th Century.

by David Taber

At its inaugural meeting Jan. 25, the Board of Aldermen’s Special Committee on the Environment participated in a Web cast with over 100 cities to share strategies for combating global climate change at the local level.

"I came to this basically because I am an outdoorsman.  I see the changes around me," said Robert C. Trane, President of The Board of Aldermen who oversaw the special committee.

Environmental concerns are no longer fringe issues, and it is time for the city to get serious about them, Trane said.

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah L. Gewirtz, who initiated the city’s involvement in the Web cast, said a number of ideas discussed, including rooftop gardening programs, incentives for green building, and phasing hybrid vehicles into the city’s fleet, sparked her interest.   

Gewirtz recommended the city include at least two hybrid vehicles the next time vehicle purchases are made, she said.   

The Web cast, which lasted 90 minutes and was sponsored by the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals, featured presentations by Brendan Daley, Chicago’s Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environment and Steven Nicholas, director of the Office of Sustainability and Environment in Seattle.

Local poet Molly Lynn Watt has a new collection of poetry out, entitled ‚ÄúShadow People‚Äù (Ibbetson Street, 2006) www.ibbetsonpress.com. Of this collection, Fred Marchant, director of the Poetry Center at Suffolk University wrote, ‚ÄúShadow People‚Äù begins far away and takes us on a journey home. We move from the Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska to the Red Line in Boston‚Ķ We begin as observers, but by the end of this book we have joined with Molly Watt in the dance of her life, and our own.‚Äù This poem, ‚ÄúAspiration‚Äù is excerpted from her new collection. –Doug Holder.

Aspiration

Confetti snow
danced into collapsing black holes
debris filled syringe after syringe
until the shadows
on the doctor’s face fell away
and the lab technician said
releasing my breast
from the plexiglass vise
for the fifth time that month
You’re ok, again—
don’t slip on black ice
I tossed the johnny into the bin of ghosts
stepped into pelting sleet—
exhaling.

— Molly Lynn Watt

by Doug Holder

I  have written more than a few poems for my friend Ed Galing, after getting the many letters he has sent me over the years. Galing‚Äôs letters are probably as good as his poems.

They are alive, spirited, like the scrappy street urchin Galing was in his early years. Galing can be needy, infuriating, hilariously funny, but most of all loveable. And that’s the way I characterize his poetry. Like Galing, it shoots from the hip, giving you it straight — with no chaser.

I find that, in contrast to a lot of the poetry I read today, Galing’s has a calculated ironic distance, almost as if the poet is afraid to display honest senti-ment or emotion.

Galing, at 89, is a poet who knows his allotted time is too short for posturing, cool detachment, and obtuse, in-accessible verse. After long years of writing and submitting his work, Galing has joined the ranks of major small press poets, such as A.D. Winans, Hugh Fox, and others. Like the poets just mentioned, Galing’s poetry, stories, and essays have appeared in the most obscure and the most well-known jour-nals across the country. When I pick up little magazines, I am never surprised to find Galing’s name.

by Nuria Chantre

A candidate for the position of Alderman at Large spoke at The Somerville News contributors meeting held Jan. 25 at the Mr. Crepe shop.

“I think I have the most credentials to be the person that’s needed to fill the seat that’s needed right now,” said John M. Connolly, former Ward 6 Alderman. “I think I can bring a lot of experience.”

Connolly said working for the city of Somerville is part of his family history; he has served as Ward Alderman since 1984.

‚ÄúA lot of my resume is right outside this room.  Saving the Somerville theatre was a very important part of our city‚Äôs history,‚Äù he said.

Focusing on public safety and education will maximize city dollars, and therefore his priorities lie in these areas, he said.

Connolly‚Äôs work with the city spans over twenty years and twenty-two city budgets, he said. Connolly said his community efforts include negotiating pilot efforts with Tufts University.  Under the pilot contract, the institution, in lieu of property taxes, pays one million dollars to the city, and, in addition, provides much needed community benefits, he said.