Fred Berman, a former Board of Aldermen candidate who's been involved in Assembly Square development issues, sent the following letter to the Somerville Board of Aldermen. The letter asks the aldermen to reject a zoning amendment for the former IKEA site in Assembly Square. Berman argues the amendment could lead to a big-box supermarket that isn't in the best interest of the city. He provided the letter to Somerville Patch. Here it is: Dear Members of the Board of Aldermen, On Tuesday, April 2, the Land Use Committee will be voting on a zoning proposal to allow a ground floor supermarket to …

Editor's note: The author of this letter, Alex Epstein, is a Beacon Street resident and chair of the Somerville Bicycle Committee. He is writing in response to a boisterous public meeting, held Tuesday night, about a plans to reconstruct Beacon Street. Here's what Epstein wrote: I was surprised and extremely disappointed by a number of false and misleading statements, made at Tuesday night's Beacon Street reconstruction meeting, against improving bicycle facilities. I feel compelled to set the record straight with the vocal critics who've shown no bounds in their factual creativity opposing …

As the state looks at ways to fund its transportation infrastructure, Somerville State Sen. Patricia Jehlen and Kristina Egan, director of the Transportation for Massachusetts coalition, explain why they feel the effort is necessary. Here's their letter:  Investing in Transportation is Investing in Our Future Transportation is key to Massachusetts’ economic future – but it is currently at risk. Public transportation’s power to grow our economy and create great communities can be seen in the growth of places like Davis Square, which flourished with the extension of the Red Line in 1985.  Today…

  The following is a letter from Mark Alston-Follansbee, executive director of the Somerville Homeless Coalotion. He describes how the Somerville Homeless Coalition operates, and he invites Somerville landlords to learn more about the coalition's programs: The Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC) started our first housing program, Prevention and Stabilization (PASS), in 2001 with funding provided by the City of Somerville.   The program offers Somerville residents who are in crisis with a rental subsidy for a limited time period to help them stabilize their lives.   Since 2001 the Coalition …

  The following is a letter from Courtney O'Keefe, the woman behind Ward 5 Online, about her neighborhood's desire to have a sign that says "Magoun Square." It's the only major square in Somerville not to have one. Here's what she writes: Sign of the Times They direct us, inform us, and identify places we are looking for. They come in all shapes, sizes, colors and styles, but collectively, they are a significant part of our daily lives. One never really thinks of how important signs are, unless of course, we’re desperately looking for the one we need. There is a group of residents, business …

The following is a letter from Somerville resident Marty Martinez about National Mentoring Month. You can visit his organization, Mass Mentoring Partnership, at massmentors.org: Resolve to impact your community – and yourself– through mentoring The beginning of the year is a time when people make resolutions and think about things they want to improve in their lives. From exercising more to eating healthier to making a career change, people use the new year to make a personal goal or commitment they want to achieve. The new year is also when we celebrate National Mentoring Month and raise …

Daniel Hadley, director of SomerStat, the city's statistics department, took umbradge at an online study, posted by the real estate website Trulia, that determined Somerville was one of the "least attractive school districts" in the country. In fact, Hadley writes in a letter to the editor, Somerville school enrollment numbers are rising. Furthermore, he called the study "an example of sloppy data analysis." Here's his letter: Our District is Desirable Editor, When Trulia, the real estate website, recently published its list of “least attractive school districts,” many of us in Somerville …

Dear Editor: This being the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War there is much discussion on the role of minorities, especially African-American. However what has been sorely neglected and practically unknown is the role of Asian-Americans in this conflict. The Chinese was a very small population in the Eastern United States at the beginning of the war, probably no more than 300-400 perhaps. Yet researchers and scholars believe that there were at least 50 or so who served in the Union forces (army and navy). Some even served with the Confederacy, several with the Virginia or Tennessee …

Editor's note: Rep. Tim Toomey, who represents much of Somerville, writes in support of a constitutional amendment that would prevent corporations from making political contributions. The Somerville Board of Aldermen also supports such an amendment. ---------------------------------------------------------------- In the recent "Citizens United" ruling, the U.S Supreme Court gave corporations and unions the same political speech rights as individuals under the First Amendment. The Court ruled that there was no basis for prohibiting corporations and unions from using their general treasury …

Editor's note: In the following letter to the editor, Somerville State Sen. Patricia Jehlen talks about the pay gap between men and women. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Equal Pay for Equal Work? Can We Afford to Wait Another 46 Years? If you were frantically trying to submit your returns before the deadline, you may have missed that April 17th was significant for a reason other than taxes.  It was Equal Pay Day, a day designed to raise awareness about the fact that even after decades of progress, women still only earn about 80 cents for every dollar that …

The following is written by Matan BenYishay of the Somerville Community Corporation: "It's going to be tough to find a new place in Somerville. Not everyone can make a ton of dough and afford an expensive place. Working people are getting squeezed out,” a resident at 388 Somerville Ave. recently told me. This low-income resident and his neighbors in the buildings next to Market Basket are searching for new homes in Somerville after their landlord received a permit to knock down their buildings and replace them with luxury condos. With its restaurants and artists and the extension of the Green…

This announcement was sent by Progress Together for Somerville, a group that formed to oppose the proposed Somerville Progressive Charter School. Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone made reference to the group in his inaugural address this week, saying the group has broadened its agenda to address other aspects of public education in Somerville. This announcement expresses the opinion of Progress Together for Somerville, and Somerville Patch has not confirmed the statements made. Support for Proposed Somerville Charter School CrumblingJan. 4, 2012 Somerville, MA – Support for the proposed …

  The following letter to the editor is by Joanne K. Hilferty, president and CEO of Goodwill: Just as there are things you recycle, there are things you donate. That is the idea behind the Donate Movement, a public awareness campaign created by Goodwill to emphasize the positive impact that donating clothing and other household goods can have on communities and the planet. Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries thanks the residents of Somerville for their longstanding support through the donation of clothing and household goods. Your donations make a meaningful impact on the community in many …

  Rep. Michael Capuano spoke to the Somerville Board of Aldermen on Dec. 8 and said the city needs to get "realistic" about the state's financial situation and how that situation impacts the proposed Green Line extension. This week, Richard Davey, Massachusetts secretary of transportation, issued a response to some of Capuano's thoughts. In the following op-ed piece, the congressman explains his position and outlines a proposal that he says would bring rail service to 80,000 Somerville residents within three years: A Way Forward on the Green Line Extension Every thoughtful observer recognizes…

The following is from Somerville State Sen. Patricia Jehlen: Is Massachusetts Prepared to Care? Last year, I had the opportunity to spend part of the day visiting with an elder resident in my community and the home care worker who helps her to remain in her home. My constituent is 102 years old, and with the help of Philomena Ahern, she lives independently in an apartment below her daughter. We all hope to age with dignity, living in our homes with help from family and friends, and possibly paid caregivers as well. Unfortunately, for many residents of Massachusetts, this option is often not …

The following is a letter to the editor. The writer supports a local hiring ordinance, which would require that developers receiving subsidies from the city hire a certain percentage local workers. With several major development projects on the horizon in Somerville—in Assmbly Square, throughout Somerville as part of the Green Line extension project, and, further on the horizon, in the Inner Belt and Brickbottom areas—the issue of hiring local workers will likely continue as an important political issue in the city. Recently, according to the Boston Globe, the Somerville Board of Aldermen's …

The following is a letter from Somerville State Sen. Pat Jehlen, Somerville State Rep. Carl Sciortino, and State Rep. Sean Garballey of Arlington: On November 5, the MBTA started a maintenance project to address one of the most safety-critical areas: the floating concrete slabs in the Red Line tunnel between Alewife and Harvard stations. While this project is vital to prevent train derailments and reduce breakdowns, it unfortunately will have a major impact on everyone that relies on weekend Red Line service during the winter. The Red Line service between Alewife and Harvard will be shut down…

The author, Steven Nutter, a Winter Hill resident, is a member of the Grounding McGrath Working Group and Livable Streets, although the following commentary represents his personal opinion and not the opinions of those groups:  On Tuesday, September 20th, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation held their first public meeting on the current status of their planning study on the McGrath Highway. The study, now renamed "Grounding McGrath," comes out of several years of efforts by the city of Somerville and others to "fix" the McGrath Highway. For a long time, all the clamoring by those …

Somerville State Sen. Pat Jehlen and Sen. Thomas McGee, chair of the Massachusetts General Court's joint committee on transportation, have praised this summer's Fast14 highway project on Interstate 93. "Here is an excellent example of a state government agency being pro-active and addressing an obvious problem in a creative way that saves both time and money," they write in an op-ed piece. What's more, they write, "[T]he price tag is a little under $100 million dollars which is a relatively small amount of money for a project of this size." Read their entire op-ed piece here: "Last August, a …

Editor's note: The developers of MaxPac, also known as Maxwell's Green, announced Wednesday that a financing agreement for the $52.5 million residential development had been made final, that construction was under way and that one of the major subcontractors, J. Derenzo Company, had been hired. The writer of this letter, Rand Wilson, a union organizer and Somerville resident, responds. Dear Editor, MaxPac's developers—KSS Realty Partners and Gate Residential—are relying on state funding for the construction of an essential ramp connecting the new rental housing site to the bridge on Lowell …