Frustrated over drug use, bad behavior and homelessness in Davis Square, business owners and residents crowded into the Somerville Community Baptist Church on Monday for a meeting with city officials – and more frustration.
Official answers didn’t satisfy, and in some cases didn’t match the experiences of residents and business owners. With no imposed limits set on how long attendees could speak, the meeting ended at 7:30 p.m. with many people still waiting their turn.
At several points, the atmosphere in the room grew tense as residents rebuked the seeming lack of results yielded by the city’s current approach. One resident called the proceedings “tone deaf and congratulatory” and said current policy meant “the rest of us have to be resigned to seeing our square continue to disintegrate into a disgusting mess.”
Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, who ran for reelection but got dropped from November’s official ballot by coming in last of three in a Sept. 16 preliminary election, also seemed out of patience.
In saying facts stated by residents about city policy were incorrect, Ballantyne abruptly called out to the frontrunner for her seat, Jake Wilson, and fellow mayoral candidate and city councilor Willie Burnley Jr. to comment.
“You will have a new mayor. You can ask them what their plans are for next year,” Ballantyne told residents.
Wilson did not respond immediately, caught off guard by the question, but mentioned that he was always happy to talk to residents about the issues personally. Burnley called on the city to use every possible financial tool at its disposal.
A week earlier, residents held their own meeting about Davis Square’s problems, with the mayor and some other officials pointedly not invited. At Monday’s meeting, Ballantyne brought staff from the departments of Health and Human Services and Emergency Management and the 311 Constituent Services office. Current and prospective council members attended, and Christine Barber, state representative for the 34th Middlesex District.
Police deputy chief James Donovan spoke for chief Shumeane Benford, who was unable to attend due to other obligations.
Ballantyne had a brief update about city efforts in Davis Square, gave answers to some prepared questions and turned the meeting over to the public for questions and comment.
Mayor’s Office: Housing first
“We are equally committed to residents who seek to safely and comfortably use our public spaces as we are to supporting residents who are experiencing homelessness,” Ballantyne said.
In opening remarks focused on housing, she brought up a legal battle facing the Somerville Homeless Coalition and delaying the move of its shelter into newly built and expanded facilities at First Church Somerville. “Moving would let them have 10 additional beds,” she said. “I’d note that’s close to the number [of unhoused] we tend to see sleeping overnight in Davis Square lately.”
Since last year’s community meeting on homelessness in Davis Square, the city has added three community health workers and a library social worker, Ballantyne said.
An overnight warming center opened last winter at the Cummings School would reopen, she said.
“Housing first is the absolute best practice for addressing homelessness,” Ballantyne said, and 800 units were “in the housing pipeline,” while the Somerville Homeless Coalition found placements for 65 unhoused individuals in the past year. Health and Human Services director Karin Carroll said the coalition had “rapidly rehoused” 150 to 200 people in the same time.
Carroll also pointed to the city’s efforts to connect the unhoused to supportive services, namely MassHealth, which was brought up by others throughout the evening as a useful support tool.
While residents have called for the removal of encampments of the unhoused, mayoral chief of staff Nikki Spencer reaffirmed a “balanced approach.” Police sweeps only prolonged homelessness, she said, though the city does clear encampments from playgrounds or that are near heavy machinery or raise fire concerns. The city tries to store individuals’ belongings for safekeeping if they were removed.
Director of constituent services Steve Craig said Department of Public Works employees are sent to “assess” the Davis Square area every morning and empty the trash at least three times a week. New agreements are in place with a private vendor to clean port-a-potties around the area every day.
The city takes every reports of loose needles and syringes seriously every time, and Somerville has placed in Seven Hills Park the nation’s first disposal kiosk that takes individual needles and as well as containers of them, Craig said.
Police: More present
Police were present more in the past year due to recommendations from the Davis Square Public Safety Working Group, established with the help of Benford, and in three and a half months there have been more than 2,500 officer visits around the Davis Square and Seven Hills Park area, from directed patrols to interactions with residents and at businesses – roughly 24 patrols a day, Donovan said.
Donovan said police had received fewer calls in the previous year. A manager from Mr. Crepe, while acknowledging an improvement in policing, had a counterpoint: “It is because we as a business don’t call anymore.”
Customers were being driven away, and restaurants had virtually lost their patio spaces, business representatives said. Repeatedly they reported being told by officers that “their hands were tied” by the current administration.
Donovan refuted this. “I’ve never been told by any administration in my 25 years on the police force to not enforce any criminal laws,” he said, pointing to an arrest he made that day – one of 14 arrests in Davis Square since June 1.
He and Ballantyne reaffirmed throughout the proceedings that they did not intend to “criminalize homelessness,” but that they would arrest individuals for trespassing or other unlawful behavior. The city had narcotics officers in Davis Square during the week, he said, though Donovan seemed to agree with complaining residents that arrests were not made “right away” or “consistently.”
Donovan recalled a phrase floating around last week’s Seven Hills meeting: “We can’t arrest our way out of this” – and that point was driven home by a comment from one of his suspects: “You’ll see me in a few hours.” It is true that many of those arrested are released in a matter of hours and back in the area by the next day, Donovan said, and he and Benford plan to meet with Somerville District Court officials on related topics.
Residents: Looking for more
A pair of residents inquired about the litigation surrounding the Somerville Homeless Coalition’s planned move, and if residents could somehow work to help unblock the expansion. One resident proposed that the city seek mediation, as a win by either side might draw an appeal and drag the battle on further.
Ballantyne responded abruptly both times that her office was unable to comment. Ward 6 city councilor Lance Davis confirmed that the case was now “in the judge’s hands” for deliberation.
Some residents called for the removal of benches throughout the square, and specifically around the MBTA station, which they said were being used for drug injections. “Could you please do something for us and open up the area and stop them from shooting up in front of the daycare,” one resident said.
A few told stories about times they were frightened by unhoused people.
A common question on the lips of most of those who spoke was some form of: “What will you do for residents?”
After the abrupt ending of the meeting, city staff stayed to talk with residents who felt unheard.
Nonprofit: Work behind the scenes
Brought up frequently at the meeting was the Somerville Homeless Coalition, a key nongovernmental partner of the city. The Mayor’s Office run a weekly meeting with an assortment of staff to address homelessness, and coalition executive director Michael Libby attends.
He also served on the Davis Square Public Task Force from November to April and helped to produce guidelines for residents on dealing with people in distress or finding drug paraphernalia.
“There’s a lot of solid work behind the scenes that people don’t see,” Libby said before Monday’s meeting.
Meanwhile, “Davis Square is so tight and dense, everything is so condensed, that when you have an uptick in the number of people who are unsheltered, it becomes a lot more visible,” he said.
“The literal answer to homelessness is a place to live,” Libby said, but “there isn’t a quick or easy solution. It requires sustained conversations, open minds, a balanced approach and policies that set shared expectations.”
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
Though, of course, not very satisfactory, this is exactly the sort of community conversation we should have been having in Cambridge since, at least, the beginning of Covid. The fact that we never do is just one more indication of the disgraceful failure of our AWOL city (mis-)government to effectively and meaningfully address our most glaring problems. Just as we “can’t arrest our way out” of the problems associated with homelessness and those people who are homeless, we can’t “build our way out of it” either! Housing alone will not stop people from shitting on the sidewalks, harassing people in public spaces, or shooting up illegal drugs in public. Phony jargon about a supposedly “balanced” approach (whatever THAT means…) should not be allowed to be an excuse to continue doing nothing. At least Somerville seem to be having public discussions about these severe problems, which is a step in the right direction which Cambridge officials would evidently rather continue to avoid.
I see drug deals happening all the time in the middle of the day right on the path or in front of the T station. They don’t even bother going slightly out of sight.
The mayor is lying out of her teeth. There’s no enforcement of laws in Davis Sq.
“Davis Square is so tight and dense, everything is so condensed, that when you have an uptick in the number of people who are unsheltered, it becomes a lot more visible,”
So, the plan is even more density?
There is no political will to fix this issue. Without a complete change in the law, homeless will continue to plague these areas. Habitual drug users should be taken away for as long as it takes to treat or cure them. The law needs to be changed to make loitering illegal as well (it may already be so). The problem is simply too complex given the general “defund” attitude toward police, who are also needed to monitor the absolute lawlessness on the roads (bikes, scooters, and such nearly running over pedestrians, cars not understanding the new Davis light setup, etc). Housing is not going to fix this issue; mentally ill people can’t just be housed and the problem goes away. We may have to bring back institutions.