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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you Ethan! My bad - the ballot Q, not the complaint, has >10k signatures collected and will appear on the ballot

Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 1d

An objection was recently filed to the Palestine Solidarity Ballot Question which has gathered >10k signatures, seeking to block it from the ballot. This morning the Elections Commission decided against that objection. I shared this statement to clarify inaccurate claims about the City Council:

October 5, 2025
Dear Honorable Members of the Somerville Elections Commission,
Thank you for the opportunity to share this public comment on the objection that has been raised against the validity of certain signatures collected for the 2025 ballot question from the Somerville Boycott Question for Palestine Committee. I serve as the Ward 3 City Councilor in Somerville, and I am writing to provide a public factual record of my understanding of the City Council’s actions regarding this ballot question.
When I became aware that this question was to appear on the City Council Agenda for March 27, 2025, it was the first time during my service as a Councilor that a group of voters sought to have a question placed on the ballot, and I was therefore unfamiliar with the legal process for doing so.
I contacted the City Solicitor to understand what actions were available to the City Council regarding this ballot question. I was informed that the City Council could either vote affirmatively to place the question on the ballot (in which case no signatures need be gathered), or, we could take any final action other than to approve it (for example, to either vote “no” or to “place the item on file”), which would then allow the applicants to immediately begin collecting signatures.
I clearly understood this to mean that if the Council voted either “no” or to “place the item on file," it would allow the proponents to begin signature collecting immediately. I shared this information with the applicants at their request.
Given that State law requires the applicants to obtain an enormous number of signatures (10% of
registered voters), it was my intention to give the applicants and the public sufficient time to
decide whether to advance the question to the ballot.
At our City Council Meeting on March 27, 2025, I shared with the public and my colleagues this
understanding of the options that were available to the City Council, as they had been explained
to me by the City Solicitor. Whil…

Council, and that (2) signature gathering could commence immediately so that the voters could
decide whether or not to place this question on the ballot.
Importantly, at that time I also und4erstood that if the City Council did intend to postpone the
ability of the applicants to gather signatures to the minimum allowable amount of time (90 days
I received these progressive organizational endorsements because these organizations believe
btheaft omryevatlhues ewlilel cbetipount t)o, wthorek. CNoityonlCy aomunI ocuitlkcnocukilndg droeofresrevtehrey diatey mfor mtoy caommpamigni,ttee or “lay it on the table”
my volunteers and I are also collecting signatures for paid family medical leave and a $15
and thereby not take any final action. The City Council did not vote to lay the item on the table
or refer it to committee – we instead took the final action of placing the item on file, which is the
state ballot in 2018.
action we regularly take to complete an item so that it cannot be considered again.
minimum wage (as part of the Raise Up Massachusetts effort) to get these issues onto the MA
The long and short of it: my opponent and I differ on our approaches and priorities. I am the only candidate in this race that will advocate for the following:
20%), establishing an Office of Housing Stability, and strengthening our Condo
eighbors have an
equal voice in our local government.
your employer legally must give you time off to vote!).
Thank you for reading, thank you for your consideration, and please feel free to reach out anytime.
It is my understanding that the applicants were given similar information from the Elections
● Taking bold action to address our housing affordability crisis, including increasing the
Department, and indeed were given signature sheets to begin collecting signatures.
inclusionary affordable housing rate to 25% for every new development (from the current
I am concerned that if the signatures gathered by the proponents were now to be disqualified
Co…

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 2d

😎VISION TO REALITY! Four years ago, I helped launch a new program based on the idea that Somerville should fix up and donate abandoned bicycles instead of just auctioning them off.

Now, in partnership with the YMCA, it’s a reality - learn more here: somervilleymca.org

Somerville Times Article from 2021 where I started advocating for bike donations

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 2d

😎VISION TO REALITY! Four years ago, I helped launch a new program based on the idea that Somerville should fix up and donate abandoned bicycles instead of just auctioning them off.

Now, in partnership with the YMCA, it’s a reality - learn more here: somervilleymca.org

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 3d

Such a beautiful and joy filled party with Padres Latinos to celebrate La Herencia Hispanica - thank you all ♥️

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 4d

A high point was watching this chameleon tongue in action in Jennifer Fish’s lab :)

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you to the Waghmere lab at UMASS Lowell for inviting me to share my recent fruit fly research - so inspiring to meet with such great students and scientists :)

Me and Indryani Waghmere in front of a poster of my departmental seminar

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 5d

Absolutely horrific

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/w...

Deadly Attack Outside U.K. Synagogue on Yom Kippur Is Declared Terrorism

www.nytimes.com

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 5d

👇👇👇

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 6d

We believe healthcare is a right for every American.

But starting today, millions of people will be notified that they are being priced out of their insurance thanks to Republican policies.

Enough is enough. The GOP may shut down the government, but we will stand tall for YOU.

Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks Petru! For a number of reasons I don’t understand, this light is in fact Red most of the time (seems to be synched to the next light, which controls traffic across Washington), often leading to enormous backups on Somerville Ave. We will keep an eye to see if this creates issues

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 6d

Small victory in Ward 3! Thank you Mobility for this beautiful new sign that should greatly help ease congestion on Somerville Ave :) #SmallVictoriesWard3

By Councilor Ewen-Campen
-1349)
That the Director of Mobility install a left turn signal for

vehicles turning left from Somerville Avenue onto Bow

Street.

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · 9d

This is the original story that i wrote about the topic for The Transmitter.
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...

Fear and loathing on study section: Reviewing grant proposals while the system is burning

As grants are canceled, delayed and subject to general uncertainty, participating in study sections can feel futile. But it’s more important than ever.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 7d

woah…Michette bakery opening a second location, just over the Cambridge line on Webster…wow

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 7d

Flower-shaped mosaic of #Drosophila #proventriculus samples (the structure where the esophagus meets the midgut), showing the expression patterns of several Gal4 lines. The center image is a Z projection showing GFP+ expression around the esophagus. (Scale bar = 50 microns.)

Confocal images of drosophila Proventriculus samples arranged in a flower shape

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

Charlotte Garden @charlottegarden.bsky.social · 8d

I'm skimming, but this paragraph stood out:

And there’s the issue of masks. This Court has listened carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk’s captors for masking- up and has heard the same reasons advanced by the defendant Todd Lyons, Acting Director of ICE. It rejects this testimony as disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence.

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 9d

I think the Trump admin assumed no one would try to find out who the people on the boats they blew up really were

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

Lena Webb @finitealright.bsky.social · 10d

There is a GoFundMe for legal fees here: gofund.me/6eefe8da4

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 10d

Chilling interview with the great @tuthill.bsky.social, an inside peek into the abject chaos in the NIH grant review process, as Trump and the Republicans relentless attack the foundation of scientific research in America.

On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 11d

📻👂On this week’s show: scientist @tuthill.bsky.social on what is being lost at the NIH, @joshuakeating.bsky.social on Trump’s ever expanding use of the word “terrorist.” And the always essential @matthewdtaylor.bsky.social on the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk. 👂📻 www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

Trump v. Tylenol. Plus, How Charlie Kirk Became a Martyr for the Christian Right. | On the Media | WNYC Studios

President Trump has declared that Tylenol should not be used during pregnancy. On this week’s On the Media, how funding cuts and disputed claims linking the drug to autism have sent s...

www.wnycstudios.org

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

Brad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 12d

I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 12d

A lawsuit laying out, step by step, just how cluelessly, dangerously wrong Justice Brett Kavanaugh's opinion and the majority's vote from earlier this month were. www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-tru...

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 13d

WOW. The lead plaintiff is a Latino man who's been here legally for 24 years. He was grabbed off the street by plainclothes federal agents who didn't even ASK about his status.

He was detained overnight and only released once a supervisor realized he had been illegally arrested.

PARTIES3. Plaintiff José Escobar Molina is a 47-year-old man who has lived in D.C. for 25 years. He has maintained valid Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for El Salvador since 2001. On August 21, 2025, Mr. Escobar Molina was walking from his apartment building in Northwest D.C.to his work truck, about to start his workday, when two cars pulled up next to him. As he was about to get into his truck, plain-clothed and unidentified federal agents exited the cars and—without conducting any inquiry—seized Mr. Escobar Molina, grabbing him by the arms and legs and immediately handcuffing him. The agents arrested him without a warrant and without asking for his name, his identification, or anything about his immigration status. The agents also did not ask him where he lives, whom he lives with, how long he has lived here, or anything else about his ties to the community prior to arresting him. After ICE detained Mr. Escobar Molina overnight at its processing center in Chantilly, Virginia, the next day an ICE supervisor finally realized that he had valid TPS, which statutorily prohibits ICE from detaining him, and released him. Due tohis Latino ethnicity, Mr. Escobar Molina fears being arrested and detained again while going about his daily life in D.C.

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 14d

🦺INTERSECTION SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS: several Ward 3 intersections are now (or soon will be) under construction to slow vehicles, improve walk & bike safety, and better bus stops. Learn more here: www.somervillema.gov/intersection...

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

somerbikesafety.bsky.social @somerbikesafety.bsky.social · 14d

The City of Somerville is conducting an online Community Path Safety Concerns Survey to identify possible safety improvements along the Path, including at intersections and Green Line station entrances. Take the survey here: voice.somervillema.gov/communitypat...

Community Path Safety Concerns Survey | SomerVoice

Thank you for taking the time to take our survey for the Community Path Safety Improvements project. Over the last couple of years, we have received inquiries from community member...

voice.somervillema.gov

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 14d

no it’s actually good

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Ben Ewen-Campen @benforward3.bsky.social · 14d

Well, it’s official - the version of this post that included my (multiple) typos got many more likes than the corrected one. The people have spoken and they like my typos.

Jake Wilson @jake4somerville.bsky.social · 14d

Beyond thrilled to have the support of my friend and colleague, Ward 3 City Councilor @benforward3.bsky.social. I've long admired Ben's approach to public service and his leadership on the City Council, and I can't wait to work with him as Mayor!

"Jake is great. We've worked together very closely on the City Council for four years, and I know first hand that he has what it takes to be a great Mayor.

“While he's certainly earned a reputation for problem-solving and finding common ground, what has impressed me most is how rock solid he has been in making the tough decisions. He doesn't waver on his values. And, he works incredibly hard to get things done – I'm very happy to support him for Mayor."

-Ben Ewen-Campen
Ward 3 City Councilor

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Reposted by Ben Ewen-Campen

Jake Wilson @jake4somerville.bsky.social · 14d

Beyond thrilled to have the support of my friend and colleague, Ward 3 City Councilor @benforward3.bsky.social. I've long admired Ben's approach to public service and his leadership on the City Council, and I can't wait to work with him as Mayor!

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