What Should I Ask at Monday's Mayoral Debate?
I'm moderating a debate between Wilson and Burnley and would like to include your questions.
Next week, on Monday, October 20th, I’ll be moderating the Mayoral portion of a debate between Jake Wilson and Willie Burnley.
The Somerville Media Center and this publication are co-producing this event, which will also feature At-Large City Council candidates.
As a Somerville resident, I have plenty of topics in mind, but I want to hear from you: what should I ask the future Mayor of Somerville? Please comment below!
Please ask about alternative, NON-POLICE emergency response.
For several consecutive years, the City Council has heard countless hours of public testimony demanding the creation and sustainment of an alternative, non-police emergency response program. The City Council has expressed strong support for non-police emergency response but ultimately, due to budget, was forced to defer to the previous mayor. As a result, we've instead gotten a "reimagining policing" effort co-led by the police, pilot studies about co-response (which includes police presence), and an increase in the police budget with no budgetary allocation for non-police response.
Against a backdrop of continued police violence—and especially in an era of police collaboration with ICE—some of our most vulnerable community members will continue to be unable to access the help they need in their moments of crisis if doing so requires calling the cops.
One of these two candidates will now be the next mayor. Will they both commit to making non-police emergency response an administration priority and allocating funding for such a program, now that they have the power to do so? If not, why not—when the community has spoken loudly and consistently in favor of this approach, and when both of them previously supported it?
As mayor, what will you do to address Somerville’s rodent issues?