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25 residents submitting comments re: #204438, the Union Sq DIF bond.
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To the Honorable Board:
We are writing to urge you NOT to approve a number of items on the agenda for Monday, December 11th’s Finance Committee of the Whole Meeting.
Of primary concern are the combined Agenda Items #17, 20, and 21: Requesting appropriation and authorization to borrow 63 Million Dollars under a District Improvement Financing scheme. We have grave concerns about the proposal itself and the financial risk it poses to the city and the neighborhood.
Union Square flooding is a problem, and it should be dealt with in a responsible way. However, taking on this bond at this moment shifts an unbearable amount of risk to the city and the Union Square Community.
The ability to pay off the bond is based on financial projections of a full build-out of the redevelopment area. We appear to be in the middle of a financial bubble fueled by cheap capital and real estate speculation, and have no reason to believe any projection made now will be valid when the ballooning part of the debt comes due. How many members of this council predicted the financial collapse of 2008? What lessons have you learned since then? What makes you confident we are not in the middle of another bubble?
This DIF bond backs the community into a corner holding a ticking time bomb. From the moment the debt is assumed, every building will be fast-tracked in order to rush to the moment when tax revenues can be applied to financing the ever-growing debt. This is not what the community wants. The community wants plenty of time to review proposals and negotiate with the developer.
This infrastructure is necessary for the buildings described by the Coordinated Development Special Permit to be constructed. However, US2 has yet to negotiate for Community Benefits directly with a Neighborhood Council, as described in Article 7 of the Development Covenant <http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/Covenant%206.7.17%20Draft.pdf>. On multiple occasions, representatives of US2 have indicated they have no intention of putting further material resources toward a CBA. These assertions appear to violate the notion of “good faith” negotiations, and puts the Covenant itself at risk. The city should not take on a ballooning debt to serve the interests of a corporation that has not proven its commitment to mitigating the displacement it will otherwise cause.
As aldermen, to whom are you responsible? The shareholders of US2 and future wealthy residents, or the community of Union Square? We all want Union Square to be dry. But when the upgrades are complete, and Union Square no longer floods, whose feet will be kept dry? Will they be the feet of Haitian, Brazilian, and Nepalese immigrants? Will they be the feet of longtime residents? Will they be the feet of students and families and artists? Probably not.
Without CBA funds to mitigate the displacement described by the Nexus study, <https://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/Somerville_Nexus_Final%20Report_9_8_17%20%282%29.pdf> we know the answer. Your current constituents will not enjoy living in the drier Union Square this infrastructure bond aims to create. By assuming this debt in the absence of a CBA, you are accelerating displacement and shredding the social fabric of our city.
Over 700 people voted this past week to create a Neighborhood Council that can negotiate with the developers for good community benefits. Do not undermine the neighborhood by hitching it to a bond that could be unpayable if the US2 is unwilling or unable to meet its obligations under the Covenant.
Sincerely,
1. Jacob Kramer, Ward 2
2. Pennie Taylor, Ward 2
3. Drew Flanagan, Ward 5
4. Matt Lavallee, Ward 7
5. Ben Baldwin, Ward 2
6. Kevin O’Kelly, Ward 3
7. Joanne Berry, Ward 2
8. David Gibbs, Ward 5
9. Richard Hughes, Ward 5
10. Donald Cronin, Ward 5
11. Lilia Kilburn and Cara Giaimo, Ward 2
12. Fenna Krienen, Ward 3
13. Ben Bradlow, Ward 3
14. Fallon Leigh O’Brien, Ward 3
15. Andrew Klatt, Ward 6
16. Nate Clauser, Ward 5
17. Alex Place, Ward 6
18. Nicole Dupré, Ward 2
19. Colleen Fitzpatrick,Ward 6
20. Nate Sabat, Ward 5
21. Sara Hamel, Ward 5
22. Daniel Schwartz, Ward 3
23. Frank Lee, Ward 6
24. Peter Insley, Ward 2
25. Talia Grossman, Ward 3