These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City of Somerville website.
City offices close on Juneteenth
City of Somerville, Thursday. The city observes Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were finally told of their freedom after the Civil War – and considered by many as the end of slavery in the United States. All city offices close, most officials are off and trash pickup is delayed by a day.
Ten Hills and Juneteenth
Department of Racial and Social Justice, 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday. As part of the city’s celebration of Juneteenth, the department organizes a song, dance and storytelling program recognizing three cultures with interwoven history in Ten Hills, dating back to precolonial days. The event, called “The Blessing of the Bay: Voices in the Wind,” shares the history of a ship commissioned by the state’s first governor, John Winthrop, and its relation to colonization and its impact on Indigenous peoples and Africans. This is one of four city events in June to lift up black voices and heritage. In-person at Blessing of the Bay Boathouse, 32 Shore Drive, Ten Hill.
Budget review wrapping up
Finance Committee, 6 p.m. Tuesday. The committee, in its seventh scheduled meeting this June, pushes to finalize its approval of next year’s budget before the final City Council meeting of the fiscal year on Thursday. Normally a five-person committee, this meeting features all 11 councilors to review the mayor’s $380.1 million budget proposal, which includes a 7.4 percent increase in school funding. Watchable via videoconferencing.
Connecting Somerville to Everett
Massachusetts Department of Transportation, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Officials from design and engineering firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin and the state’s transportation department show the design of a proposed bicycle and pedestrian bridge across the Mystic River near Assembly Row. The bridge would connect Draw Seven Park to the Gateway Park tr
ail and the Encore Resort’s public boardwalk in Everett – connecting people with the local casino. In the auditorium at the central library, 79 Highland Ave., Central Hill.
Closed captioning requirements
Licenses and Permits Committee, 6 p.m. Wednesday. The three-councilor committee asks how the city has enforced a closed captioning ordinance at small businesses that requires public-facing television to always have closed captioning on, increasing accessibility and equal access. Councilors also vote on a nonpublic garage permit at 599 Somerville Ave., Spring Hill between Porter and Union squares, for 33 vehicles; and storage of 1,000 gallons of flammable liquid at an affordable-housing building at 20 Stephenson Aman St., East Somerville. Watchable via videoconferencing.
Rights for LGBTQ+ immigrants
SomerViva, 6 p.m. Wednesday. The city’s office of immigrant affairs holds a “Know Your Rights” workshop to tell residents about what rights LGBTQ+ immigrants have and the current laws in the community, sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union and the city’s public health department. The event is in spoken English, with Spanish and Portuguese interpretation available. Watchable via videoconferencing.
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That bridge would be nice. There’s still tons of room for improvement at both ends in Somerville, Everett, and Cambridge, but it opens up some less-awful routes between Everett and south of the Mystic River. I’ve talked to people about “how would I commute” for Everett and north of Everett, and getting across the river is always a problem.
It’s not a “casino bridge.” It is a pedestrian and bicycle bridge near a casino. The casino did have plans to build its own bridge to a parking lot that have stalled out.