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Conveying a letter from several community groups to Tufts University President Monaco regarding its Pilot Agreement.
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Official Text
January 15, 2018
To: Anthony P. Monaco, President
Tufts University
Ballou Hall - 2nd Floor
Medford, MA 02155
cc: Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Somerville Board of Alderman
Subject: In support of a better PILOT and Tufts University/Community Partnership
Dear President Monaco,
As you sit down to negotiate a new PILOT and Partnership agreement with your host communities of Medford and Somerville, we wanted to remind you of what is at stake and ask you to bargain in good faith.
We value having Tufts University as a part of our community, but Tufts commitments in past agreements have come up short in acknowledging the value of our communities. Even when compared to Tufts’ agreement for its Boston campus, Somerville and Medford are short changed. Tufts pays approximately 25% (half in cash and half in-kind) of its potential real estate taxes in Boston but only 4% in Somerville. Tufts promotes our cities’ thriving and culturally diverse neighborhoods and squares, safe streets, accessible transit, and possibilities for research and civic engagement to incoming students, donors and grantors. But the wellbeing of our communities is not a given; it takes ongoing effort and investment in the face of challenging times. Increasing rents (exacerbated by the shortage of on-campus housing at Tufts), the growing threat of climate change and the withdrawal of state and federal funding from cities and schools threaten to displace our residents and undermine our communities.
The next agreement must bring Somerville and Medford to parity with Boston and take the University on a path toward housing all Tufts students, being a leader in our cities’ climate planning, setting high standards in employee relations, and providing a foundation for lifelong learning for all residents.
We, the undersigned organizations, call on Tufts to commit to an agreement that makes the University a partner in addressing the challenges our communities face instead of just being a benefactor of rapid gentrification.
Sincerely,
Boston Building Trades Council
Climate Coalition of Somerville
Community Action Agency of Somerville
Elizabeth Peabody House
Friends of the Urban Forest
Green and Open Somerville
Immigrant Service Providers Group/Health
Indivisible Somerville
Mass Senior Action Cambridge/Somerville
Mothers Out Front Somerville
New England Regional Council of Carpenters
Our Revolution Somerville Steering Committee
Our Revolution PILOT Working Group
Our Revolution Medford
SEIU Local 509
SEIU Local 888
Somerville Municipal Employees Association
Somerville Stands Together
Tufts Housing League
Tufts Labor Coalition
Tufts Student Action
UFCW 1445
The Welcome Project
West Somerville Neighborhood Association