Reeling from the shock of a national election that will return Donald Trump to the White House, leaders in Somerville offered words of solace and resistance to residents Wednesday.
“For many of us, this morning was a difficult one to wake up to. Yesterday, we had hope for a future where the American promise of equality and justice could be just that much closer to becoming a reality. Today, we are confronting widespread feelings of confusion, fear and dread,” Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said in comments released by her office. “As the ground shifts beneath us, who we are as people and a community remains our solid ground.”
City Council president Ben Ewen-Campen, who said he was already “upside-down” as father of a 2-week-old when the news arrived, was also eloquent – if occasionally more profane – when reached by phone. “This is a horrific outcome and is just going to be devastating for our country,” he said of the election results.
Like Ballantyne, Ewen-Campen found reasons for optimism in his city, despite election data that showed – like in neighboring Cambridge – lower voter turnout and less Democratic enthusiasm, along with small, single-percentage-point gains on the Republican side of the ticket.
“Giving in to despair is not option. I don’t think it helps, and it’s actually demotivating,” Ewen-Campen said. “I was dropping off my son at day care this morning, going through Somerville, and just like always I ran into tons of friends and people I know, and it is just such an amazing community – such an amazing city. It was a good reminder that as dark as this feels, we’re not in this alone. We do have each other. I don’t think any of us knows what the work ahead is going to look like, but we are going to be doing it together. I have no question about that. This is a city that really gives a shit about each other, cares about each other, loves each other, and we’re going to figure out what the work is that needs to get done, and we’re going to do it together.”
Both leaders pointed to the same sign of Somerville’s values in the face of a country tilting to the right: A big win on Somerville’s ballot question No. 6, which proposed increasing a 1.5 percent surcharge on annual property taxes to 3 percent so there was more money to put into the Community Preservation Fund for affordable housing, open space and historic preservation.
There were 36,457 ballots cast on the question, with a majority of voters saying yes (25,282, or 69.4 percent), outweighing the no votes (11,175, or 30.7 percent).
“That is the local silver lining on a really bleak day. This is a vote where we’re just saying we want to help each other: We want more affordable housing, we want more public green space. And that vote was not close. It was a blowout on behalf of Somerville investing in our neighbors,” Ewen-Campen said.
Ballantyne’s message called the Community Preservation Act site a “bright spot” showing that in Somerville “our center holds.”
The vote shows “voters selflessly committed more of their own resources to help create affordable housing for the vulnerable, open space for all of us and progress for all,” Ballantyne said.
“I promise, as your mayor, to do everything within my power to protect Somerville’s core values of diversity, equality and inclusion. Today will pass. We will organize, advocate and protest. We will find ways to protect our vulnerable neighbors, ourselves. But today is hard. Check in on yourself, check in on your neighbors, find unity, get through this deeply troubling time together. That is our way forward,” Ballantyne said.
Messages were left Wednesday with the mayor and city manager of Cambridge, but there was no immediate response.
Organizations and even businesses responded to the moment too. In Cambridge, the The Black Response planned a Thursday postelection community space and potluck from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway, Kendall Square, Cambridge, to process current events, with stations to identify support systems and share ideas about what comes next.
Michael Russem opened his Katherine Small Gallery for unusual weekday hours. “We’ll be passing out free tissues (while supplies last) and you can get free tickets to our next two events (while supplies last) because you shouldn’t be alone and it would be nice to see you and it’ll give you something to look forward to,” Russem said. The gallery is at 108 Beacon St., Ward 2, Somerville.
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