CBA suggestions

[Adaline Lining]

I send this foremost as

• A homeowner who will live in the shadow
• A former member of USNC

Negotiations are complicated exercises in cooperation, sacrifice, and stamina. I strongly believe that a CBA for the Rafi properties development can offer more benefits to more people. That is why I will be voting no.

3 key reasons I will be voting no

1. This CBA offers LESS open (civic) space than other developers have in neighboring cities and does not adequately address scale

The master plan for Volpere development in Cambridge

 provides over 30% open space, including a large new park that will be primarily green space, adjacent to a new community center. The proposed redevelopment of the Gillette site in South Boston is providing more than 25% open space, including a new 6.5 acre waterfront park occupying more than 20% of the site. The Somerville Planning Board recommended to the Land Use Committee to reduce the height and scale of the proposal due to this being a developer-led proposal in an area not scheduled for this kind of transformation in any of the Somervision plans.

2. This CBA offers extremely limited solutions to the disruptive construction. An example of what other projects have offered can be seen in the Construction Management Plan between Medford and Tufts (see agreement), where they agreed to put $500,000 in a neighborhood improvement fund to offset impacts from the Project, with another $510,000 to follow. This fund allows direct payments to go towards the neighbors impacted by the construction and the loss of sunlight from the new construction’s shadows. They also negotiated agreements around dust Control and monitoring, as well as a code of conduct for workers.

3. USNC has insufficient funds to take legal action to enforce this CBA . This could be added to the CBA. 

I see many people saying they are voting yes because of the hard work USNC members put in, but voting yes to applaud the work that people campaigned to do is a reason I disagree with.

Many people seem to be voting yes because of the ACE space, and while more resources for art and artists are a boon to our city, this aspect of the CBA does not impact all stakeholders and, in some ways, exacerbates some of the serious class tensions that this development adds pressure to.

As community members vote, I hope that people consider the people and environment that will be impacted beyond their own home, their own social circle, their own affinity groups, their own tenure in this city, and their own comfort level. What we say yes to today and what we build tomorrow will have impacts that outlast us all, and as we see happening around us, a flawed foundation leads to enormous harm that will always hurt the most oppressed. 

Adaline