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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

I will leave you with this image of a legendary rap battle in the city of Eisenbach, Germany.

G'night everybody, care for your neighbors, pay attention to your government, and never enter a music contest where the penalty is DEATH for the loser.

Especially with that red haired dude. Damn.

20/20

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

In just one example among many, I have a neighbor on Beacon Street. A friendly woman who greets passers-by from her window, across from Star Market.

If there are vulnerable people in your neighborhood, this is a good season to check in and offer a hand if they ask.

19/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

And, with that, I am at the end of the regular agenda. If there are late items, I will not know about them (until tomorrow).

Also, while I have you - please care for each other.

18/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

Followed immediately by "22 individuals, including 18 residents submitting comments re: ballot question challenge."

Those are both gonna get put on file.

17/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

Then there are "3,007 individuals submitting comments re: ballot question."

Usually that sort of item includes "including N residents." I'm sure it was just a lot to check before the agenda got published and the clerk didn't want to get it wrong.

16/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

I would note that this is the meeting where, by law and tradition, a representative of DPW comes out dressed in a spoooooky costume, hands out candy, and reads a scroll about Truck or Treat.

It's always fun, and I'm honestly kind of sad to miss it.

15/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

We've got permits requested for HONK, Truck O' Treat, the Pet Spooktacular, and the Pumpkin Smash.

What a great season, what a great town.

14/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

Item 8.4: "City Clerk conveying the selection of Emily Lopez Touchy and Mihika Gogate to the position of City Council Project Assistant."

Now that's something I haven't seen before. I'm interested to hear which projects they will assist.

13/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

Not tonight (but maybe tonight? It's always hard to tell from the agenda), we're getting updates on the Pollinator Action Plan and the Open Space and Recreation Plan.

12/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

I do always wonder about the withdrawn items. Never enough to really vigorously check the records ... but I do wonder.

Especially when they're in the section dedicated to the Mayor's requests.

11/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

Item 7.6: "Requesting approval to appropriate $147,724.07 from the COVID-19 Stabilization Fund for the 2026 Warming Center."

It's timely. Better than last year.

bsky.app/profile/some...

10/?

Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · Nov 27

Items 7.1 and 7.2 are a total of $388k for the warming center, of which $122k is from the property tax levy and the rest is from the "Emergency Stabilization Fund."

Weird how winter snuck up on us, right? Like, it's not the first year we've had winter.

5/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

The (lame duck) Mayor is requesting a bit over a million bucks to create stabilization funds for Brickbottom and Boynton Yards to "mitigate the impact of large-scale development" in those neighborhoods.

Late, but cool. Would have been nice -during- the large scale development.

9/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

90 Washington was going to be a new super-extra-deluxe headquarters for both the police and the fire department, complete with a four story above ground parking garage.

It was a ridiculous use of space just a short walk away from the East Somerville Station.

This is way better.

8/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

The committee reports aren't up yet, so it's on to Item 7.3: "[A request of the Mayor to ordain] an amendment to the Zoning Map to change the zoning district of 90 Washington Street from Civic (CIV) to High Rise (HR)."

HELL YES UNCONDITIONAL VICTORY.

voice.somervillema.gov/90washington...

7/?

90 Washington Street Redevelopment

90 Washington Street will be home to a state-of-the-art public safety building for the City of Somerville. The building will include facilities for Police and Fire Departments and the project presents...

voice.somervillema.gov

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

I can report the short term rental on my street has been contentedly operating this entire time and basically never causes any trouble to anybody.

I know, I know, that one is the lynchpin that would have lowered regional rents ... but there it is. If only.

6/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

Item 4.7: "... update this Council on compliance with the Short-Term Rental Ordinance, including any updated enforcement methods and whether the [fees have] had any impact on the number of short-term rental units in the city"

The Council often has to check whether the law is being enforced.

5/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

Items 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4 are various takes on "how do we clean up Davis Square?" ... all authored by councilors Davis and Strezo.

At a first read, I thought these were surely from different authors, but no.

4/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

4.1: "... provide an update on the condition of the High School building exterior tiles, and efforts to prevent and mitigate future tile failures."

It's a fair question, given that the Winter Hill School debacle cost us a full year of the city government's capacity (at least in some corners).

3/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

The grants of location are unremarkable, at least in terms of length and significance of intersection to be disrupted.

2/?

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 12h

Hey everybody, I'm on the road and having -way- too much fun photographing pedestrian, bike, and mass transit infrastructure in Europe to be troubled to attend tonight's meeting of the Somerville City Council.

For you, though, I'll skim the agenda.

somervillema.legistar.com/MeetingDetai...

1/?

City of Somerville, Massachusetts - Meeting of City Council on 10/9/2025 at 7:00 PM

somervillema.legistar.com

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Reposted by Chris Dwan (he/him)

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 16h

Masked agents snatching people at work, church, their child’s daycare. A return of family separations. States are lining up to run their own detention centers.

Anti-immigrant animus is now being paired with unprecedented funding, manpower, and technology.

We report from inside the American gulag.

American Gulag

The brutal rollout of Trump's police state.

www.motherjones.com

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 1d

We’ve turned an important corner when agents feel empowered to attack nonviolent protesters.

An important and terrible corner.

Keep resisting, and be smart and careful.

2/2

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 1d

Masked federal agents shot a man in the head (with caustic chemicals, but you’ve heard my rant on ‘less than lethal’ weapons) for protesting outside an ICE facility.

The feds shot him for speech.

I wish I believed that those officers would face investigation and discipline, but I don’t.

1/?

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 2d

Here’s video of the incident

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

My freaking out is not quiet.

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Chris Dwan (he/him) @somershade.bsky.social · 2d

Troops in the streets. Enforcers from Republican states sent to rough up and grind down the people they hate.

This. Was. Always. The. Plan.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Texas Troops Head to Chicago as Trump Weighs Use of Emergency Powers

www.nytimes.com

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