Residents push Somerville to fund unarmed emergency response, automated traffic enforcement and repairs for youth center

Somerville — At a Jan. 30 public hearing before the City Council’s Finance Committee, residents urged the city to include funding in its fiscal 2026 budget for a range of priorities including a fully separate, unarmed emergency response team, automated traffic enforcement, anti‑displacement measures and repairs and ADA upgrades at the Teen Empowerment facility at 165 Broadway.

The hearing, held as part of an annual request from the council to gather community budget priorities, gave each speaker two minutes to address councilors. “Co response will see more funding for the police and will continue to traumatize residents by responding to their calls for help with armed officers instead of care and empathy,” said Derek DuPont of Ward 3, urging the council to reject a co‑response model recommended this week by the mayoral Public Safety for All Task Force and instead fund a non‑police alternative.

Supporters of a separate unarmed team repeated that plea. “The recommendation for co response is not an alternative,” said Lauren, a licensed mental health counselor and Ward 2 resident. “Including police in response in any way makes this not an alternative, even when licensed mental health professionals accompany police.” Several speakers, including Kevin Foster and Dana Grotenstein, described the need for responders who are unarmed and not housed inside the Somerville Police Department.

Nut graf: The hearing collected repeated requests on three recurring themes — public‑safety alternatives to police, traffic safety through automated enforcement, and capital repairs/ADA upgrades for youth services. Councilors said the input will inform the mayor’s FY26 budget proposal and the city’s budget deliberations, but no funding decisions were made at the hearing.

Automated enforcement and street safety drew separate backing. Derek DuPont and others pointed to the governor’s FY26 proposal legalizing automated speed cameras and urged the city to budget for study and installations. “These cameras have significantly cut speeding and dangerous crashes in places where they are legal,” DuPont said, and several speakers urged expanding the city’s “safety sticks” program to deter illegal parking in bike lanes and bus stops.

Teen Empowerment, the youth program based at 165 Broadway, and its staff and youth organizers pressed the council for capital repairs and ADA accessibility funding. “Our space isn’t ADA accessible, which prevents Teen Empowerment from hosting public events,” said Kiera Tipton, a youth organizer. Speakers described a deteriorating fire escape, falling bricks, ceiling damage and broken electrical covers. “It is a serious fire hazard,” said Charlie, a youth organizer with Seed Environment. Teen Empowerment staff and supporters asked the council to fund either an elevator or chairlift and other immediate safety repairs. Separately, Wilbert Pineda (Clarendon Hall Housing) asked the council to allocate about $18,000 to the Come to the Table meal program.

Other recurring requests included anti‑displacement and renter protections from speakers including Jen Harrington and Kevin Foster, proposals to enable more housing (Daniel Wong urged permitting buildings up to six stories near transit corridors), and calls for increased school funding and capital maintenance tied to the Winter Hill School vacancy (Joe Lynch and Alex Frieden raised school funding and maintenance as priorities). Parking and red‑light enforcement also came up repeatedly; one speaker urged a dedicated parking enforcement position in Davis Square.

No formal votes were taken at the hearing. The Finance Committee closed the public hearing after roughly two hours of testimony and recessed for a scheduled 7 p.m. presentation on a separate agenda item. Committee chair Councilor Jake Wilson reminded speakers that written comments can be submitted at publiccomments@somervillema.gov and that the June budget hearing on the mayor’s proposed budget remains a separate, legally required opportunity for public input.

Ending: The testimony on Jan. 30 will be entered into the public record for the Finance Committee and considered as part of the FY26 budget process; councilors and staff said some requests could require ordinance changes, state authorization (for automated enforcement) or capital planning and will be evaluated during the mayor’s formal proposal and later council budget deliberations.