Ben Ewen-Campen
@BenForWard3
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City Council President @SomervilleCity . Progressive, Biologist @harvardmed , working for a city that works for all of us✊
Somerville, MA
Joined April 2017
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🎈Looking back on highlights from the City Council over the past year - a lot to celebrate. Thank you to every single one of you who took the time to be help us get these over the finish line.
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As someone who likes to materialize out of thin air, this is my personal favorite style of bike lane
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Stark facts in this email I just received regarding the full shut-down at my day job
@HarvardMed
: “The outbreak of COVID-19 is the single most threatening pandemic to arise in the last century.” We will get through this together, and we must take this advice seriously.
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We need to
#ShutdownMASS
today, including restaurants, bars, and non-essential businesses - optional, individualized social distancing is *not* working and the time to act is slipping away.
@MassGovernor
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It is a truly miraculous achievement of local government that you can now bike from Somerville to the Boston Aquarium almost entirely on separated, safe, fun bike lanes & the community path. It’s legit a different universe from when I was a kid.
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Growing up here, it legit didn’t register with me until my 20s that two of the most iconic and recognizable Boston-area landmarks are just giant fossil fuel ads
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😯WOW
@EdMarkey
just broke news to the 100+ people on tonight's phone bank that
@IceCreamGracies
in Somerville will be naming an ice cream flavor after him next week.
#scoop
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🏘️Very, very good news in Somerville.🌳 Last week, I got an email from a constituent, saying that the apartment building where she lives just went up for sale - she's been there 24 years, other tenants longer. She and others in the building are seniors on fixed incomes (1/n)
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Went out to run an errand and randomly saw the incredible
@JENCOOLIDGE
being paraded through Harvard Square :)
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🌹Huge congratulations to the 350 volunteers (!!) who worked so hard to elect Erika Uyterhoeven (
@erika4rep
) as our next Representative at the State House. A very fitting successor to Rep. Denise Provost's many years of fearless service 🌹
@SunriseBoston
@DemSocialists
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Tomorrow I go back to work, and I gotta say: while I really appreciate the new Massachusetts paid family leave law, I’m very disappointed that it isn’t literally permanent so that I’d never have to work another day in my life and could just hang out with this baby forever
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We are so happy to introduce Simon Hawk Ewen-Campen! Born last Friday, Simon is named after Alex's mom, Anna DeSimone, and his middle name is like the bird.
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🚨OUTRAGED that
@harvardmed
is planning to lay off dining workers & custodians, including in the building where I work. These are my friends and coworkers, left without income. During a pandemic. Utterly shameful that an institution of such monumental wealth would abandon them.
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Two things are true at once: the Green Line Extension is an extraordinary public good, decades of tireless work. AND: without
#RentStabilization
& tenant protections, the people who most deserve and need the train can’t afford to live anywhere near it.
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"You have the federal Department of Transportation, not a bunch of wild-eyed radicals, reviewing this data, and they’re saying ‘This increases safety, decreases injury and does not, in any way, put pedestrians at increased risk.’"
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Truly outrageous
@MBTA
👇
Tracks that opened for passenger service to Union Square in March 2022 and to Medford in December — and were shut down for repairs in recent months — are now so defective, the
@MBTA
says, that trains are moving slower than many people walk. via
@taydolven
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Checking in from the new protected bike lanes on Brattle St. in Cambridge - wow!
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Fun fact: years before she was elected to Congress,
@RashidaTlaib
visited Somerville, to advise and inspire Union United in their organizing efforts towards a
#CommunityBenefitsAgreement
in Union Square 🤩
#Solidarity
@UnionUnited2014
@MikeConnollyMA
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Somerville ceasefire demonstrators at this morning’s 248th anniversary of the first Flag Raising on Prospect Hill in 1776
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This is the sad mindset of someone who doesn’t live near
@MarketBasket
- grocery shopping is one of life’s greatest joys.
It’s crazy to me people still don’t do grocery delivery in 2024.
It’s like $5.
Minimum wage is a higher dollar per hour.
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The Land Use Committee just unanimously recommended approval of legalizing 3-unit buildings such as triple deckers by right, citywide, as our path to compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. Full Council vote next Tuesday.
Important Council meetings this week - calendar/links here:
🕖Tues: Legislative Matters will review proposed Rent Stabilization home rule petition
🕗Thurs: Land Use will review triple-decker/3-unit citywide, overturning four-unrelated, map changes
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This is now what pickup looks like at our daycare on Highland Ave 😮It is *beyond* time for protected bike lanes on this dangerous road - we’ve already lost three years to unnecessary delays.
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Driving home today from funeral for a friend lost to cancer at 37, who spent last years battling insurance companies, I heard
@NPR
use the (new?) phrase “mandatory
#MedicareForAll
” and explain that it simply isn’t popular. So tired of this gaslighting - we will win.
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The first draft of the proposed Somerville Bike Network Master Plan is now available! 🤤🤤
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Thank you to our amazing Congresswoman
@RepPressley
for lifting up the work that Somerville and other communities are doing to stop the unregulated, undemocratic usage of
#FacialRecognition
surveillance technologies ✊️✊️
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Imagine the furious backlash that would come if Massachusetts passed a new law allowing banks to dramatically increase mortgage payments, for no reason, overnight - and evict homeowners if they couldn’t pay. Of course, this is the reality renters face every day
#LiftTheBanMA
Somerville Councilor
@BenForWard3
talks about how homeowners already have rent control. "I think about the furor that would exist if these payments were increased 20-30% like rents
#LiftTheBanMA
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Biking our 2-year-old to daycare on Highland Ave this morning, nearly run off the road by an obscenity-screaming, raving lunatic. Nearby cops got involved just to calm him down. Protected bike lanes on Highland can't come soon enough - it's beyond time to re-start the process.
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What percent of Somerville residents do you all think have taken an identical photo of a spectacular sunset above
@MarketBasket
? I’d guess it’s close to 100% (but I still take it every time)
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Beyond grateful to Somerville for re-electing me to represent you on the City Council. The people have spoken: we want local government that isn’t afraid to fight for housing affordability, development without displacement, bike lanes & safe streets, climate, and transparency 🙏
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It’s so crazy how great every single person working and shopping at the Somerville Ave Market Basket is, every single time
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WE’RE UNIONIZING! When I’m not City Counciling, I work as a postdoc at the Harvard Med School. So proud to be a part of this campaign launch to unionize the ~6,000 academic workers across Harvard. Follow
@HAWorkers
& get involved👇
We’re proud to announce the campaign to unionize non-tenure-track faculty and researchers within Harvard University—we are Harvard Academic Workers - UAW! We unite ~6000 workers across all 12 Harvard schools. 🧵
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This is a moment to thank and celebrate the Somerville activists who have pushed so hard to create (and *FUND!*) these groundbreaking affordable housing programs & policies - it has not always been easy. Your work just saved 10 of our neighbors from displacement.
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Exactly one year (and 2,564 miles) later, this e-bike has made our family’s life better in a truly unbelievable number of ways
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I was a Somerville renter when I was first elected to the City Council, and my landlord made me take down my own yard sign 😂
A tale of being a young elected & renter in two acts 🔽
The median age in Cambridge is 30,
and >60% of residents are renters.
So in a number of ways I’m one of the City Councillors most representative of demographics in our city.
Not everyone thinks that representation matters
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I heard some folks are still debating whether bus lanes work?
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Ah well, nevertheless
This time next year, the new Union Square Green Line train station will be in service.
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🤯it is legit mind-blowing how much the new
@MBTA
Green Line just utterly transforms where we can go. Honestly still doesn’t feel quite real
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My hope is that this disgrace helps make it clearer than ever that opposing affordable housing is something that racists do, and is central to American racism. Best revenge is to join the active fight on behalf of affordable housing anywhere and everywhere.
I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood...
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At long last, the final stretch of the Community Path is open! Looks great
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As a Jewish constituent, I am so profoundly grateful to our
@RepPressley
for these words of solidarity with the people of Palestine, who are facing unending state violence, funded & supported by our own government.
We can't stand idly by when the United States government sends $3.8 billion of military aid to Israel that is used to demolish Palestinian homes, imprison Palestinian children and displace Palestinian families.
Our government should not fund state violence in any form, anywhere.
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Honored to be voted as next year’s City Council President at tonight’s caucus, alongside Vice-President
@JudyForWard7
. Excited for the work ahead!
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How it started / how it’s going👇
I really believe that listening & respectfully engaging with neighbors who don’t agree 100% can be transformative. Always worth a conversation!
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This time next year, the new Union Square Green Line train station will be in service.
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🚨Enough is enough. This week,
the Somerville City Council is officially starting work on a home rule petition to establish Rent Stabilization:
1/
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After 10+ years of an abandoned Star Market, years of sustained community activism, an eminent domain vote to jumpstart the project, 299 Broadway was approved by the Zoning Board - nearly 50% affordable units. Huge congrats to
@JesseForWard4
& everyone who worked so hard for this
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🍦What better way to beat the heat than with ice cream with the climate warrior Senator
@EdMarkey
himself at
@IceCreamGracies
!
😯WOW
@EdMarkey
just broke news to the 100+ people on tonight's phone bank that
@IceCreamGracies
in Somerville will be naming an ice cream flavor after him next week.
#scoop
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Cherishing every day of Paid Family Leave that activists won for us in Massachusetts - thank you
@RaiseUpMA
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Simon single-handedly redefining “Mr. Autumn Man” fashion
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Last night, our ceasefire Resolution was amended and passed overwhelmingly after what I believe was an extraordinary and meaningful City Council meeting. The final language is shown below. I am deeply thankful to all of my colleagues for their graceful & passionate collaboration.
This week, I am sponsoring a ceasefire Resolution, to support an end to the war in Gaza, massive aid to address the humanitarian catastrophe, and the return of all hostages.
You can read it below, or here:
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My hometown (Cambridge) had rent control until I was 11 and...it was great.
People advocating for rent control may not remember how dismal it looked for tenants and landlords. Read stories from those who lived it here.
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Well, that’s a first. The very same real estate developer who tried to start the demolition & development process without even informing current tenants (inspiring me to write a new law) just tried to send me a “sleek elegance personalized wine chiller.” Get a clue!
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Deeply honored to be endorsed by my Congresswoman,
@AyannaPressley
. Rep. Pressley's courageous leadership and her profound commitment to the multiracial working class inspires me every day, and I’m excited to continue working together to serve the people of Somerville.
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🤯I’m a union member!
Unbelievable achievement: after this week’s election, Harvard postdocs & other academic workers just voted 93% to unionize as
@HAWorkers
@UAW
WE'RE TWO FOR TWO!
After HLS clinicians won their union earlier this week, our second unit of non-tenure-track researchers and teachers won 1094-81 (93% Yes). Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen.
Up next: winning improvements to our work!
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Almost unbelievably, they were able to get this building under agreement within days - this means these longtime neighbors will be able to choose to stay in their homes, and this building will remain permanently affordable housing in our neighborhood. (3/n)
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Just learned that a constituent I’ve been working with as her family faces displacement is going to be able to move into one of the ~100 new affordable apartments in the high rise in Union Square. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard for 20% affordable zoning in Somerville.
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This week, I'm partnering with Councilor-at-Large Wilson
@jake4somerville
to call on the Somerville PD to de-prioritize their current policy of increasing enforcement against cyclists who travel through🚦red lights when it's safe to do so. Here's why: 1/
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It takes a really special degree of disingenuousness for
@MassGovernor
Baker to veto a climate bill over concerns about housing affordability at the *exact* same time that he vetoes TWO essential policies that would help working class people get housing (TOPA & HOMES)
#mapoli
NEW:
@CharlieBakerMA
has vetoed a far-reaching climate change bill lawmakers passed last week, arguing it could hike the cost of housing
#mapoli
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Today’s mystery: the building at 379 Somerville Ave was supposed to have an entrance at the bottom left (1st picture), but now in reality it’s just a large electrical box in a brick cave (2nd and 3rd pictures.) Working now to find out what’s happening here - will keep you posted.
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Genuinely surprised and really disappointed by tonight’s decision against a vaccine requirement for indoor dining, gyms, and entertainment. I believe this sends the wrong message to the public.
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Last week, I witnessed a constituent hit by a car while biking on Highland to pick up his kids from daycare (no one hurt, thankfully.)
Needless to say, I do NOT support “preserving” the dangerous status quo on Highland, and I do support making it safe & pleasant for all.
🚶HIGHLAND AVE REDESIGN🚴 Join us Wednesday, 11/17, 6:30pm for a community meeting on a redesign of Highland Ave. Help us build a Highland Ave that is a safe, easy place to walk, bike, roll, catch the bus, and support local businesses.
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How disconnected from reality do you have to be to think this is a bad thing? 😂
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🚶♂️GOOD NEWS🚴♀️:
@SomervilleCity
is announcing a phased roll-out of
#SharedStreets
! Will give pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists more safe ways to move around. Many of us have been working towards this - some details👇
@Ward5Mark
@KatjBallantyne
@somervillebike
@WalkBoston
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This week, I am sponsoring a ceasefire Resolution, to support an end to the war in Gaza, massive aid to address the humanitarian catastrophe, and the return of all hostages.
You can read it below, or here:
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Smile if grandpa saved some iconic t-shirts from the Union for Radical Political Economics in the 70s!
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Literally what is happening in the replies here
A Somerville independent, community-based non-profit organization has acquired 12 Pleasant Ave in Somerville, a six-unit multi-family property, for $2,421,000, with the goal of making the units permanently affordable.
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The stories I hear from Somerville renters make my blood boil. Today a group of tenants told us their landlord is insisting on individual *non-disclosure agreements* for each tenant regarding their leases, in what appears to me as a retaliatory attempt to break their tenant org.
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"After a council vote, Somerville will no longer be able to use prison labor services to perform city projects..." Thanks to
@JTforWard2
for bringing this forward, and to the City Council for moving quickly to get it done.
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🔔Spread the word! There are 90(!) new Affordable apartments in the new skyscraper in Union Square & the lottery just opened:
The single largest delivery of our 20% inclusionary housing law in Somerville history - thank you to everyone who fought for it
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Blissed out, surreal grand opening of the Green Line Extension across Somerville. Wow!
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RENT STABILIZATION ADVANCES. Beyond happy to say that Somerville's home rule petition to protect tenants against rent gouging just passed unanimously out of Committee - final vote next Thursday. PDF:
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.
@SomervilleCity
has just posted long-awaited design recommendations for Union Square streets, sidewalks, plazas and more. Includes: 1) total redesign of Prospect & Webster nightmare 2) pedestrianized Bow St 3) 2-way Somerville Ave 4) bigger plaza:
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👍Goodbye gas-burning furnace, hello electric heat pump :)
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PASSED! Following a unanimous Planning Board recommendation, the City Council just voted unanimously in support of Somerville’s Affordable Housing Overlay - it is now law, and will pay benefits for years to come.
📣Thanks to Councilor Davis (
@lancedavis
) expert pinch-hitting as Chair of Land Use (while I’m on planet baby for time being!), the Somerville Affordable Housing Overlay was just voted out of committee! Full Council vote to follow ASAP ✊️
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🦆Perfect day to take the Green Line to the greatest toddler spot in the world: the place where Boston Duck Boats drive into the water 💦 (…which is also right next to train tracks, a skate park, Boston Sand & Gravel, a highway, and a foot-bridge - multimodal overload.)
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Unimaginable, horrific - have we lost our minds? As a Jew, as an American, a person: not in our name - this killing must end
JUST IN: Israel confirms an IDF attack caused the massive blast at Gaza's largest refugee camp that has reportedly left many people dead and injured
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To all my fellow fogged-glasses people: this band-aid trick seems to actually work
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Heads up
#Somerville
: as of today,
@MarketBasket
will close at 6:00p (instead of 9:00p), to allow their workers to rest, and for the store to increase cleanings. THANK YOU to all of these amazing essential workers ❤️
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Since the day I got involved in local politics (literally!), Big Mike has been an absolute champion for the 99% - a leader on tenants rights, rent control, housing justice, a non-stop partner in local government. As a proud
@Boston_DSA
member I’ll be voting “hell no” on expulsion
Recently
@Boston_DSA
members elected new leadership, and one of their first orders of business is to schedule a vote to expel me from the organization. A resolution with seven charges has been drawn up and presented to DSA's membership. Charges include: support for Governor Maura
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My Coolio memory: When I was like 11 or 12, me and my friend (also named Ben) waited hours in line to get his autograph at Strawberries. When he signed our CDs, Coolio said “Ben and Ben? Ha ha - y’all should start a law firm or some shit.” 😂 Rest In Peace Coolio.
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The beginning of an era! Joyful beyond words that the Somerville Community Land Trust (
@SomervilleCLT
) now owns its first building ✊️
Stay tuned for the official ribbon cutting w/
@SomervilleCity
and everyone who made this momentous achievement possible.
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“There are vanishingly few experiments that take precedence over life and death in our community.”
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Community Path opening tomorrow!
Party at Central & CPX tomorrow at 10am :)
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Incredibly thrilled to have
@NaimaforWard5
join the City Council! Great news for Somerville ✊️
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👁👁Amazing to see the new Gilman Square Green Line train station coming to life behind the new High School
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Update! My Republican challenger failed to obtain the necessary signatures to appear on the ballot. THANK YOU to everyone for the incredible support, I am thrilled to continue our work the City Council.
🛎️It's official - I have a challenger in this year's election! I need YOUR support to keep up the work for housing affordability, development without displacement, street safety, and a transparent local government that works for all. Every dollar helps 👇
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Me, thinking about the sidewalk snow-shoveling pilot we got included in the FY2022 budget ❄️
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