CITY TO PROVIDE CONTRACT MEDIATION SERVICES FOR PROPOSED HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN UNION SQUARE

SOMERVILLE – Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced today that the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) and representatives of the neighborhood organization Union Square Rising had accepted his invitation to participate in a mediation process to address issues arising from SCC’s proposal to construct a new mixed-use housing project at the site of the former Boys and Girls Club on Washington Street in Union Square. To begin an initial assessment of mediation readiness that includes all stakeholders in the discussion – including the SCC, Union Square Rising, other neighbors and local business groups – Mayor Curtatone said he would seek a contract with the Consensus Building Institute (CBI). CBI is a Cambridge-based not-for-profit consulting organization that provides negotiation and conflict resolution services, strategic advice and management training to a wide range of public sector clients at the local, state, national and international levels.

“Over the past two weeks, I have discussed this idea at length with representatives of the SCC and Union Square Rising, and offered to have the city underwrite the costs of assessment and mediation services in the public interest,” said Mayor Curtatone. “Since both parties are willing to proceed, I will be asking the folks at CBI to start their assessment process, which will reach out to the larger community of stakeholders.”

“CBI has worked in Somerville before, and played a valuable role in a number of local discussions here in the past,” said Curtatone. “Most recently, I asked them to work in 2010 with parties in a dispute over development plans at 343 Summer Street, but I’ve been familiar with their work since my days as an alderman when they did an analysis of the potential for successful dispute resolution at Assembly Square. CBI has an international reputation for insight, skill and even-handedness in mediation and conflict resolution. They have special expertise in land-use and development disputes and I thought all parties to the Union Square housing discussion could benefit from their involvement.”

The cost for the Union Square engagement will depend on whether CBI finds sufficient potential for resolution to justify direct discussions between opponents and proponents of the new facility. Based on past work, Curtatone estimated that the initial assessment process would cost less than five thousand dollars.