After several years of negotiations, the City of Somerville and the Somerville Police Employees Association (SPEA) union, which represents Somerville patrol officers, have reached an agreement to implement body-worn cameras. The agreement represents a collaborative breakthrough for policing transparency in Somerville and establishes Somerville as an early regional adopter of this important technology. 

Fulfilling a critical step in the City of Somerville’s racial and social justice efforts, a new Director of Racial and Social Justice, who will build out a new Racial and Social Justice Office, has been hired. Denise Molina Capers, Esq. began as the City’s first Racial and Social Justice (RSJ) Director on Monday, March 22. Molina Capers’s career has focused on supporting civil rights and equity, diversity and inclusion, and empowering others to advocate on the issues that matter most to them.

Join the City of Somerville planning team and fellow community members to help shape the future of the Brickbottom area of Somerville through an interactive workshop. This will be the first of several events to help us create a Vision Plan that reflects the community's shared vision for the future of this area and can serve as a guide for future development. In this first session, we will discuss the existing conditions as well as several key improvement opportunities identified in our community outreach thus far.

Because COVID-19 is less likely to be transmitted in outdoor settings, the City of Somerville has updated its COVID-19 guidelines to allow some outdoor performances to resume, both in public and private spaces, such as parks, plazas, or restaurant outdoor dining areas. Performances must have no or very low aerosol projection, meaning activities that do not include speaking or other vocal projection. For example, dance performances or instrumental music using non-wind-instruments are allowed, but a performance involving singing, speaking, or playing a woodwind or brass instrument is not.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, Ward 2 Councilor J.T. Scott, and City staff invite you to attend a virtual community meeting to introduce the Poplar Street Pump Station preliminary design and its integration with the ArtFarm project. 

As more residents have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, including essential and service industry workers, the City of Somerville is moving forward with some additional modest business reopening steps starting Monday, April 5. Somerville is still reopening at a more cautious pace than the state, remaining in a modified Phase 3, Step 1 of the State’s reopening plan until further notice.

Regular street sweeping schedules resume Thursday, April 1, and continue through December 31, unless otherwise announced.

The new Metro North COVID-19 Vaccination Partnership -- a consortium of nine cities, Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), and Tufts University -- announced today that it will open three joint vaccination sites to expand COVID-19 vaccine access in the metro north area. The regional partnership was recently approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health as a part of its statewide network of vaccination locations.

The cities of Somerville and Methuen are working with state public health officials on a pilot of MassNotify, a new tool that helps fight COVID-19 with smartphones. The pilot begins Monday, April 5. MassNotify can send you an “exposure alert” if you were in close contact with someone who anonymously shared through MassNotify that they tested positive for COVID-19.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Ward 4 City Councilor Jesse Clingan invite residents to participate in a community meeting on the Healey Schoolyard renovation project on Thursday, April 15, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Landscape architects from Warner Larson Landscape Architects will review the construction schedule and plans, which include the Healey tot lot and schoolyard, a new U-12 recreation field, and a new ADA ramp and staircase that will connect the Healey School and Mystic Housing.