The Somerville News Blog

Volunteers and non-profits work to help people who are at risk of losing their homes

David Fillingham of Belmont and Todd Kaplan, an attorney for Cambridge & Somerville Legal Services volunteered on Sunday to talk to residents at risk for foreclosure. ~Photo by Julia Fairclough By Julia Fairclough As Weimin Tchen set out last Sunday to talk to Somerville residents in danger of losing their homes he carried a folder loaded with pamphlets and lists of resources, wearing a green name tag showing he was a Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS) volunteer. "It's more practical for tenants if they negotiate, rather than foreclose, but many people don't know that," said Tchen, a Melrose resident. It's also a pretty complicated process that a lot of people don't understand, said CAAS intern Emma Dillon. CAAS and the Cambridge & Somerville Legal Services (CSLS) Sunday went door-to-door for a foreclosure outreach campaign to talk to tenants and owners on the foreclosure list about their rights and how it may be possible for them to stay in their homes. About a dozen volunteers appeared for the information and training session before heading out armed with the list of homeowners who CAAS and CSLS identified as being in one of the stages of foreclosure. The list came from public records that were printed in local newspapers. There are 161 properties in Somerville in the various stages of foreclosure, said April Kuehnhoff, an attorney-to-be (she just passed the bar exam) for CSLS. Of those, 17 are bank owned, 17 have been resold to private individuals, 37 have had foreclosure auctions scheduled and 90 have had orders sent of the intent to foreclose (with no further process) sent to them. CAAS has been tracking evictions for about 15 years, and typically they see about one or two this year, said Melissa McWhinney, the CAAS director of outreach. To see 161 homes pop up on the foreclosure schedule list was alarming, which led CAAS and CSLS to reach out to tenants. Somerville is faring better than many other communities, such as Chelsea, Dorchester, Lynn, Lowell, and other parts of Boston, McWhinney said. Somerville property values have been fairly stable during this past year's housing crisis. When homes are sold at inflated prices, but valued at less than what they are bought for, that is when communities get into trouble, she said. Somerville has not seen those fluctuations. The foreclosure process is complicated, and takes a long time. That is why volunteers were instructed to tell people that CAAS and CSLS will hold a meeting on Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the CAAS office at 66-70 Union Square to answer questions. Lawyers will also be present. It takes about a year from when a person first misses a mortgage payment to when they receive an eviction notice, though it really varies due to the numerous stages that occur (see sidebar below). Rachel Bedick, CAAS' outreach organizer, said it's nerve wracking when first knocking on doors. Some owners may not even know their homes are being foreclosed, even after it's published. Volunteers were armed with flyers in four languages-English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. They also had language booklets with key phrases and to help them identify what languages people might be speaking if they were unsure. The residents were told to relay how CAAS and CSLS can help people stay in their homes, find rental assistance, seek advice, or refer them to another source who could help them. The volunteers also stressed that the foreclosure process is lengthy, and that no one would be kicked out of their home in the near future. Ari Daniel Shapiro lives around the corner from the CAAS office. He showed up on Sunday to knock on doors to support his community and gain a better understanding of the diversity that exists outside his doorstep. "It's a big issue," he said. "I just wanted to be a part of it." You can reach CAAS at (617)-623-1392 or rbedick@caasomerville.org. A sample foreclosure timeline Note: Each states' foreclosure law differs so here is a general time line of the process. 1. Missed payment-Usually the mortgage payment is due the first of the month. A late fee is assessed after the 15th day of the month. 2. Demand letter- After the 60 days of missed payments a demand letter is sent to the homeowner in attempts to collect and giving them 30 days to resolve the delinquent amount. 3. Notice of default- After 90 days of missed payment, the loan is transferred to the foreclosure department. The notice of default is then recorded with the county the property is located in and mailed out to the homeowner within ten days the default is recorded. The homeowner is given 90 days from the recorded date to resolve the default. 4. Notice of Sale- If after 90 days from the recorded date, the default is not resolved then a notice of sale will be recorded. This notice states that the lender will sell the property in 21 days. The copy of the notice will be sent to the homeowner, posted in the county paper for three consecutive weeks and at the county courthouse. 5. Trustee Sale- After 21 to 25 days of the notice of sale, the property is sold at a foreclosure sale or auction. 6. Real Estate Owned- when a property is not sold at auction, then the lender lists the property with an REO broker. 7. Eviction- if the property is sold to the highest bidder, then the eviction process starts for the foreclosed owners. Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kayla_Hoang

Where it's Veteran's Day all year long

Jimmy Del Ponte On The Silly Side (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) We celebrate Veteran's Day on Nov. 11, but I found a place where it's Veterans Day, every day. I spent about an hour at Tony Matarazzo's Barber shop at 294 Broadway the other day, but I didn't get a haircut. What I did get was a refreshed feeling of patriotism and pride, and a renewed appreciation for the courageous veterans that fought to keep us free. On a table in Tony's Barber shop is what is known as the Armed Forces Honor Roll book. It is a neatly assembled collection of photographs, newspaper clippings, discharge papers, family shots, and even Western Union telegrams, all telling a the story of the brave veterans from the Winter Hill neighborhood. Phil Vozella, who is also a barber at Tony's explained why the book was started and why it is so important. "These are neighborhood guys, customers, and friends who answered the call of duty and served their nation. There are photos of veterans from World War I, World War ll, Korea, Viet Nam, Desert Storm, and even Afghanistan and Iraq. Bob Quinn, a Korean War Vet, just did the whole book over. The plastic sleeves and easy to read text make it an extremely interesting and easy to read collection. One of the most prestigious entries is that of retired four-star Gen. John Sheehan from Putnam Rd in the Ten Hills Area. He was one of 13 children and his dad drove a truck for First National foods. The General's father was known as "The Irish Whip" because of his softball pitching talent. The General used to cut the hedges at St Polycarp Church. You can hear many more stories at the barber shop. Tony Matarazzo himself volunteered for the Navy when he was just 16 years old. Tony tells stories of his fellow veterans like they just happened yesterday. There is a section showing the Wilson brothers, who all served in Korea and returned safely to Somerville. There was Fredrick, Woodrow, Walter and William who I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with at the barber shop. William turned out to be an old friend who I hadn't seen in about 30 years. "Willie" is a four- time commander of Post 299 in Cambridge. There is a wonderful picture the five Shea brothers -- John, Richard, Edward, Robert and Albert. Fred Solberg's story is pretty exciting, he escaped from a POW camp twice. He ran Fred's Hardware on Marshall Street and Broadway for years. As Phil says, "It is a book to tell the story of our local boys who served their country in time of need." The book is a testimonial that serves as a reminder of the bravery and unselfish dedication of the servicemen from the Winter Hill area. You can see a great photo of Vic Leone in the book. Yes, the same Vic Leone from Leones Sub and Pizza! Some of the names and photos in the book are: Tony and Nick Cortese, Emilio Caizzi, Joe Vigliotti, Arthur Harrington, Vito Capello, John S. Hayes, Bob Haley and Retired Full Colonel Joseph W. Mercuri of the Nation Guard. Phil tells this story , which is one of the most exciting I heard during my visit. On their landing craft heading to the invasion of Okinawa, John "Hard Rock" Burns, along with many other somber servicemen were quiet. Also on board was Corpsman George Doherty. "Hardrock" say, "Hey, I'm the only one who thought ahead and brought his own funeral director!" The funny line eased the tension of the moment. George Doherty of course went on to run the Funeral Home in Power House Square. It is Phil and Tony's wish that the people of the neighborhood, especially the younger generation, look at the book and understand the sacrifices that their fellow citizens made for their country. Phil Vozella is a human encyclopedia on Somerville Veterans history. It was a pleasure and an honor spending an hour with them. I walked out of Tony Matarazzo's barber shop with a feeling of deep appreciation for what our brave veterans did for our nation. Go to Tony's and check out the Armed Forces Honor Roll Book. If you get a haircut there you will look great on the outside and feel even better on the inside . Let's not forget to keep in our hearts and prayers, the many dedicated and brave servicemen and women, who are serving our country and preserving our freedom right now. There are three different Veteran's events for the month of November: Street dedication: Joseph Duffy, father of Patrolman Paul Duffy, Saturday Nov. 7th 11 a.m. corner of Powderhouse Blvd. and Dow St. Annual dinner honoring police and firefighters of the year: Tuesday, Nov. 10th 7 p.m. American Legion Post #19 124 Highland Ave. (names have been submitted for citations) Annual Veterans Day ceremony: Wednesday, Nov. 11 10 a.m. VFW George Dilboy Post #529 371 Summer St.

Planning officials envision the Mystic River as a major recreational area in the near future

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council says it will continue efforts to clean the Mystic River. ~Photo by Bobbie Toner By Julia Fairclough Planners last week outlined six strategies to create and develop open space and to connect trails along the lower Mystic River corridor, as part of an ongoing project to maximize this valuable recreational resource. During a forum to solicit feedback on the work of the Lower Mystic River Corridor Strategy project last Wednesday night, Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) planners unveiled Phase 2 of the project that began in 2007. The purpose of the project, planned for the cities of Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, and Somerville, is to bring the neglected waterway that encompasses 76 square miles of watershed (though the project is restricted to the six-city area) from the Lower Mystic Lake all the way up to East Boston. "This area has not realized its full potential," said Mayor Joseph Curtatone, before introducing MAPC planners. "We have a river that we can use as a regional asset. It's exciting to undergo this study." Thus far, the project's steering committee has met six times, and last unveiled it's progress during a public form in Everett last January. This meeting outlined the six strategies that the steering committee has come up with since then. A synopsis of some key points are as follows: 1. Acquire, protect, enhance, and link regionally significant open space parcels-While the Mystic River Reservation is fairly complete in Medford, there is much less open space in the lower reaches of the river. The steering committee identified ten parcels, including the Assembly Square area (1.5 acres of DCR-owned upland currently used only seasonally for boat storage) and the Sullivan Square connector trail (a new pedestrian link between Draw 7 Park and the Route 99 Bridge). 2. Enhance and encourage sustainable development and redevelopment along the corridor-Development along the Mystic River has historically been industrial. The six cities have identified important developments currently underway, such as the Assembly Square mixed-use plan and the Rivers Edge project in Everett, Medford and Malden. These projects should use green building, native landscaping, and trail construction. MAPC should also provide an analysis of Brownfield priorities. 3. Improve access to and along the river through the development of water transportation, public transit, roadway improvements, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations-Priority transportation projects include the Green Line Extension to Route 16, the I-93/Mystic Avenue Interchange, and the Orange Line station at Assembly Square. 4. Work with regional partners to influence policy and ensure that agencies and organizations have sufficient resources to effect change on the Mystic River-Elements of this strategy include asking the MAPC to work with the Environmental Protection Agency (as the EPA recently began a new Mystic River Initiative in April 2008), asking the MAPC and six cities to work with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to work on eliminating combined sewer overflows. 5. Develop and advocate for a strong legislative response to Mystic River needs-The state Legislature is a critical partner to revitalize the lower Mystic River. MAPC and the six cities can work to create a Mystic River Water Quality Commission that includes full city representation (originally House Bill 841 in the 2007-2008 Legislative session). The bill has been refiled for the 2009-2010 session and pending a final bill number. 6. Develop and maintain an information clearinghouse-Although many agencies involved in the Mystic River issues maintain Web sites, information must collaboratively reach the public. Visit www.mapc.org to access a PDF of this report, which describes the above in detail, and also contains various maps of the region. Look to the "Smart Growth" tab on the left of the home page, and scroll down to the Mystic River project, and the array of PDFs. Part of initiative number six has already been completed. MAPC recently developed a "dynamic" map of the lower Mystic, also located at www.mapc.org. In addition, MAPC recently updated its Web page to make it more user-friendly, and has been working on a more robust email list, said Joan Blaustein, MAPC's project manager. The MAPC is proud of its interactive map, which people can zoom into, move around, and zoom out to see how the Mystic River project relates to surrounding neighborhoods. Blaustein asked the audience to play around with the map, and contact her if there are any suggestions to improve it. The map also contains links to other ongoing projects, such as the Green Line Extension. Marc Draisen, the MAPC executive director, said that two lessons learned thus far come to mind. First, cities and towns must work together to figure out what will work for the major corridors, which includes the riverway. "The Charles River received a good amount of attention, but we haven't paid attention to this riverway," Draisen said. "I know that money is tight, and that we can't fund everything right away, but we can use this time to prioritize." Second, people need to focus on the future needs, he said, again, stressing prioritizing. "Planning is only as good as the implementation that follows it," he said, adding that this night was the kick off for the implementation phase. People in the audience mainly asked about land acquisition issues-including whether land could be taken to revert it back to its natural habitat-and toxic waste, pollution, and water run-off issues. Blaustein said that the MAPC is working with the Mystic River Watershed Association to assess water quality data and zeroing in on any "hot spots." The MAPC has looked at a host of land acquisition issues and prioritized where they can make the most progress. They are open to hearing from people about other acquisition possibilities, Blaustein aid. "It is easy for us to prioritize open space," Draisen said. "If our map can help us find critical Brownfields, if a site appears to be useful, then we prioritize it. We can clean it up and use it in a more recreational way. It is difficult to get listings of Brownfield sites, because such a list, unfortunately, does not exist."

Newstalk for November 4

The West Somerville PTA Citiwide Spelling Bee is set to go again this year, This Friday night Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. Dante Club on Craigie Street.... Lots of fun and door prizes plus raffles. Mayor Joe and Rep. Mike have a team along with many others. Thanks to all the hard work that Sean Fitzgerald and Debra Duhamel have done these past several weeks getting it going. We can tell you that from previous experiences it's a lot of fun for both the contestants and the audience. *************** Halloween was here and the full moon wacko's were out in force in Wards 4, 5 and 6 trying to spread their lies again. The Farm Team is now officially in bed with the wackos. Does anyone read that rag anymore? Did anyone see the hit piece they did on Campano on something from 55 years ago, that they could've done the moment he announced but instead waited until a week before the election? Maybe the new Editor and new Asst. Editor think they can raise circulation by destroying someone over an incident that only he knows the truth about. We know something that the Farm Team won't tell you...their circulation is way down. Ask yourself this...have you seen any Farm Team papers in their boxes in the past several months anywhere in the city? Do you see what a lot of people see -- dozens of papers left unread on the floors of stores six days after the paper is out? The best is the 3,000 mailed for FREE in the city to the elderly. What a shame that paper has gone straight down hill and fallen off the cliffs with their alignment with the PDS and their henchmen. Their biggest supporter and advertiser is the Winter Hill Bank. No wonder no one reads the Farm Team anymore.... Here's a quiz for you...count how many local Somerville ads in the Farm Team.... then count the Winter Hill Bank's ads. ......Surprised? What number do you come up with? *************** Election's over and all the rumors and lies put to rest for another year. As usual the left wing nuts PDSers were out spreading lies and venom this past weekend, especially down in Ward 4. KB the so-called journalist was sending out e-mails and making phone calls berating individuals who were not voting for the endorsed PDS candidate. So not only do they hold quasi-secret meetings and spread negative rants, now they are going berserk and making stupid accusations. *************** Guess which alderman was playing solitaire when the Little Sisters of the Poor was being recognized at the last meeting? ... *************** The public hearing on the Green Line extension project is set for Nov. 18 at 6p.m. in the Somerville High School auditorium. One question we should be asking at the hearing is, if they are planning on being completed by 2014 how come many of the property owners that directly abut where the rail is going haven't been notified by anyone? *************** Best Hamburger / cheeseburger is definitely Boston Burger Company over in Davis Square....after they won the Best of 2009 in Somerville, some of us decided to try them out and the verdict is in.....awesome, just plain awesome -- the best ever....if you haven't been there...you might want to give it a try and see why they got the Best of Somerville 2009. *************** We hear that Mike Buckley who left city hall here to join the mayor over in Everett has left his position over there now. *************** LYNDELLS BAKERY famous for great bakery for so many years here in Ball Square (124 years) has opened a new store in the North End at 227 Hanover St. They look to be some stiff competition for all that great Italian pastry. *************** Recognized by Somerville Local First is Rob Gregory of Redbones BBQ on Chester Street in Davis Square (and the best catering around). The award is granted to local entrepreneurs who show a commitment to the "sustainability and success of Somerville." Gregory lives up fully to that ideal. *************** Our own Bob Publicover is home and feeling better now that he's gone through all that recent treatment, we hear he's doing great ....he has nine lives, he's the coolest cat around! *************** An intersection in Somerville will be named after a decorated WWII Navy veteran. Joseph R. Duffy was a great guy as well as a dedicated Somervillian. The dedication ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, 11/7 at the intersection of Powderhouse Blvd and Dow Street. *************** Little Sister of the Poor will hold their Annual Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 9am - 4pm. Join the hundreds of people who get together to celebrate and help raise much needed funds for the Jeanne Jugan Residence.

Rafal defeats Norton for School Committee seat

Christine Rafal speaks at an electoral forum held by Centro Presente. ~Photo by Tom Nash By Tom Nash Christine Rafal defeated incumbent Jamie Norton for the Ward 4 School Committee seat on Tuesday, while Ward 5 challenger Anna Lavanga lost to incumbent Mark Niedergang. Norton, editor of The Somerville News and co-owner of real estate company ERA The Norton Group, had served in the position since 2007 after winning a sticker race against incumbent Charlene Harris. Harris was also forced to run a write-in campaign after failing to turn in election paperwork. He previously served in the position from 1994-95 after an unsuccessful run in 1989. Rafal, a curriculum writer active in the Somerville Public Schools community, defeated Norton by 135 votes out of the 1,115 votes cast for the position. Lavanga, former vice president of the John F. Kennedy School Parent-Teacher Association, garnered 383 votes against Niedergang's 1,029.

Cartoon of the week for November 4

CCP narrows priorities at Green Line meeting

Participants at the Community Corridor Planning meeting held at the Alfred F. Argenziano School Oct. 28.~Photo by Halani Moss Halani Moss Residents gathered at the Alfred F. Argenziano School last Wednesday for an evening of interactive discussion about the Green Line extension project hosted by the Community Corridor Planning (CCP) coalition. The five-mile extension, scheduled to be in place by 2014, will begin with the relocation of Lechmere Station to the east side of Monsignor O'Brien Highway, continuing on to the final stop at Mystic Valley Parkway. Along this new stretch of railway, at least five new stations will appear in Somerville. Coordinators of the CCP, a partnership of four local non-profit organizations including Groundwork Somerville, the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP), the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC), and the Somerville Community Health Agenda, arranged the open hall for smaller groups to sit together; represented by the T stop expected to affect them most. The evening began with an hour long open house where attendees took part in informal discussions, creative activities including "Timeline Tracks" - a record of personal, historical, and 'T' related experiences from 1950 to the present day, a short film about the Green Line, and even an opportunity to catch a live performance by Ramblin' Dan, singing his campaign song, "Charlie on the MBTA." The objective of the meeting, which was translated into Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese by the Lips Program, was to examine a list of pre-determined principles and decide on their order of importance. Calling the meeting to order, Groundwork Somerville Executive Director Jennifer Lawrence exclaimed, "Green Line is coming! What is Somerville going to do?" In a second round of discussion attendees voted to narrow down their choices from a list of thirteen. Among the top priorities eventually included were increased social and economic development, the creation of community gathering spaces and keeping the city affordable. SCC member Mary Regan pointed out the importance of community involvement in transit related development, using Fruitvale Village in Oakland, Calif. as an example. Regan said Oakland's diverse community came together to make a positive impact in the development of the area surrounding BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) stations. "They've created a transit village," Regan said while displaying colorful and thriving images Fruitvale Village. Regan added she hopes Somerville will soon also share the label.

Ball Square's Global Reach

William C. Shelton (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) A modest two-room office in Ball Square is home to a media company with a global reach. Working in 20 countries around the world, Spectrum Media has designed successful campaigns to promote democracy in Mali, nonviolent conflict resolution in Jordan, environmental conservation in Madagascar, family planning in Tunisia, and sustainable agriculture in Senegal and Malawi. The Tunisian government hired Spectrum to encourage water conservation. Its territories bordering the Sahara are sparsely dotted with troughs, fed by wells. Often the nomadic peoples who used them carelessly left the spigot open when they moved on, wasting precious water. Spectrum designed inexpensive and durable ceramic tiles, embedded in the troughs, with quotes from the Quran admonishing Muslims to conserve water. The impact was dramatic. Investors in the Jakarta stock exchange were putting only 15 percent of their funds into local companies that would build the Indonesian economy. Five years after Spectrum's media campaign, the proportion was 85 percent. Spectrum's principal, Jamil Simon, lives on Willow Street, a half block from his office. His parents were Iraqi Jews who fled Baghdad in the 1930s, first to Lebanon and then to Egypt. When Rommel's Afrika Corps was bearing down on Cairo in 1941, they took seaplanes, flying from lake, to river, to lake, to Capetown, South Africa. From there they sailed across the South Atlantic, which was free of the Nazi wolf pack, to Recife, Brazil, took a boat to Miami and a train to New York City, where Jamil was born and his father opened a branch of his bank. Jamil fell in love with film in college and began making documentaries upon graduation. In 1969, after working in Baltimore with only three days off over eleven months of filming, he came to Cambridge to visit his girl friend. A hitchhiker asked him if he was interested in a Boston-area job, and at the age of 24, he became director of Apt Associates' film department in Cambridge. He's been here ever since. Whenever possible, Spectrum works with indigenous people to develop their capacity to continue media work. In Malawi, Spectrum set up a media center that produces radio and TV programs to promote sustainable agriculture. The Malawi project offers insight into how multimedia campaigns can be effective. The company produced a package to train poor farmers in new income-generating practices such as beekeeping and fish farming Each medium has its particular strengths. Print is best for conveying factual information, but many farmers are illiterate. Video is better suited for communicating motivational themes. Radio can reach a broad audience inexpensively, but many farmers do not have radios. Face-to-face communication delivers information most effectively, but is costly. Spectrum produced booklets that, through pictures, taught farmers how to undertake beekeeping and aquaculture. Trainers' manuals explained more technical details and the reasons for conducting specific practices. Videos demonstrated them and included successful beekeepers talking about how beekeeping had improved their impoverished circumstances. Flyers, calendars, and posters promoted training and reminded farmers of important practices. The newly created media center produced 150 radio programs containing motivational and educational information. Jamil says that taking on a new assignment is like being parachuted into a completely unfamiliar world, with its own rules, culture, language, and issues. You have to decode it all to get information out to the people who need and can use it. You can't arrive with solutions. You have to constantly listen. Too often, development organizations do not provide the information needed for indigenous people to become self-sufficient. In so doing, they encourage dependency. Spectrum's current project tackles a complex and fascinating challenge. Warlords in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, the Congo, and the Ivory Coast enslave the locals to mine diamonds, which they use to finance mass murder, rape, and child armies. Legitimate diamond traders throughout the world have joined in a compact called the Kimberly Process. They hope to ensure a secure chain of custody from diamond miners to markets so they may exclude "blood diamonds." In the Central African Republic, miners excavate legitimate diamonds from riverbeds. They think of themselves as agriculturalists, but have had to give up farming in order to make a living. In turn, the mining process destroys the land's capacity to sustain agriculture. Miners hold their individual plots by traditional rights, agreed upon by their communities. The state has it own statutory ownership definitions. Claim jumpers take advantage of this difference by registering plots as their own. A Vermont-based organization is working with mining communities to map out and attach GPS coordinates to individual plots and register them with the government. The more miners that become legitimate, the more their diamonds can be traded internationally, increasing the government's tax revenue. Spectrum is developing a campaign to encourage diamond miners to register and government officials to make this easier, teach miners diamond evaluation so that predatory traders do not take advantage of them, and ultimately train them in environmental restoration and more lucrative agricultural practices. Once developed, the campaign can serve as a template in other diamond-producing countries. Spectrum is but one of many Somerville-based concerns that are quietly producing innovations with global impacts.

Somerville library screens green building film

By Jeremy F. van der Heiden On Monday, October 26th, over thirty people gathered at the Somerville Public Library to watch a screening of a new documentary about the "green building" of The Macellan Condominium Complex in South Boston. The film provided an overview into this eco-friendly means of developing real estate, as well as the effects it has on all those involved. The Macellan Building is the first completely green building to grace the state of Massachusetts, and many hope that it inspires many more to follow in their footsteps. The film documented the process of the actual planning and execution of this new development in South Boston. The owner of the estate, Tim Pappas, is a relatively new face in the real estate world, but made the decision himself to make this project a green one. The term green is derived from the amenities and actual materials of the building. A group called The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), whom follows a strict point system while assessing buildings, gives out the green certification. The goal of this project was to get a Gold by LEED's standards. To do so, The Macellan buildings amenities included no fiberglass installations, close to the T, local vendors, double flush toilets, and used local vendors. The building ultimately did receive the Gold. In the film Pappas discussed how when it was time to get developers in on the action, it was hard at first to find ones that were willing to participate in the green process, probably because of the foreign nature of the procedure, being far from the traditional means. For example, almost the entire frame of the building was made from recycled materials from the old structure, the wheat board cabinets from Minnesota, and the bamboo floors from China. All of these materials proved to be tricky because of how new to the market they were. Pappas found that all the leaders who wanted to get involved were around his age (late 20's). Of them, Jason Burrell was the Project Manager. In the film he described the mixed reaction from the community, it being a traditional, working class, Irish-Catholic neighborhood, and the project itself being very out of the ordinary. Still, all those who cared enough to see how the building was made seemed to agree that it was great for the community, and a good step in the right direction. The film also discussed how an estimated 43% of all green house emissions come from the development and sustaining of buildings. On top of this, according to the film, buildings consume around 70% of energy in America. The Macellan building aims to be a pioneer in righting these wrongs that developments cause to the planet, while still building a structure that serves its purpose. The only drawbacks to the system that some found were the LEED's negligence in assessing the energy used to ship all of the materials to the site itself, from places like China, Bolivia and Minnesota. The project itself proved as a success, the ending of the film stated how the Mayor announced in 2007, after a visit to the Macellan Building, that all new buildings must be green. For anymore information on this project visit their website at www.themacellanbuilding.com, or on the green certification process visit LEED's website at www.usgbc.com.

Aldermen fend off newcomers

~Photos by Tom Nash By Tom Nash Current aldermen and Mayor Joe Curtatone gathered with supporters at the Dante Club last night shortly after election ballots showed decisive victories against two challengers. Alderman-at-Large candidate Luis Morales and Ward 6 candidate Jim Campano both lost by wide margins, with Ward 6 incumbent Rebekah Gewirtz winning 1,081 out of 1,476 votes cast for the seat and Morales trailing fourth place Bruce Desmond by 1,446 votes. In total, 7,682 ballots were cast in the election, which included aldermen from every other ward running unopposed and two contested seats on the School Committee. Alderman-at-Large Dennis Sullivan took the top place, earning 4,861 votes. "The voters think we're doing a good job, and they showed it today," Sullivan said at the Dante Club. Morales, who spent much of the day with supporters in Davis Square, said before the vote count he hoped his first political campaign would show that much of Somerville's population is without a voice on the Board. "I'm glad to be new at this," Morales said. "I think when you've been in power so long, you kind of miss the point." Curtatone, who ran unopposed, received 6,156 votes - with 1,251 ballots cast blank.