One word being tossed around among Somerville City Council watchers to describe the first few meetings of 2026 is “chummy.” It’s a palpable change from the unsubtle barbs, simmering grudges and occasional outright bullying that have characterized the past few years up on Central Hill. The mood got bad enough that I described budget “cut night” in 2024 as being like going to dinner to meet a date’s parents, only to watch them fight over the dinner table.
By contrast, Ward 1 councilor and candidate for state representative Matt McLaughlin termed it the “cordial council” in a recent Instagram post. His post showed most of the council, the mayor and several staffers around a large table, presumably having a postmeeting drink. It defies belief to think that the group didn’t talk about any city business, but I am assured that no violations of Open Meeting Law occurred.
I’m glad of the change, and not just for my own blood pressure on alternate Thursday nights. I suspect that good communication and less negative emotions will make for more effective government. I do hope that the councilors continue to do a vigorous job exercising what limited oversight powers remain to them, even as they return to a more civil sort of discourse.
Speaking of oversight, budget season has already started in Somerville: The new public hearing required by the updated charter was held Feb. 10. Twenty-four people logged in to speak (or in one case, to sing) for up to two minutes apiece. As always, I found myself impressed by the breadth of engagement in the city and the depth of people’s knowledge. The video is worth a listen if you’re interested in hearing what’s on your neighbors’ minds. Councilor at-large Ben Wheeler, chair of this year’s Finance Committee, has also invited his colleagues to draft memos laying out their budget priorities for the year.
All this might give a person the mistaken impression that the City Council or the voting public have some sort of direct power over the budget. Our actual process is this: The mayor’s staff work, mostly out of the public eye, to develop a frustratingly constrained and incremental update to the prior year’s budget. This inevitably disappointing document is presented with great fanfare at the beginning of June. The council’s Finance Committee then takes about 40 hours over three weeks of meetings to speak with the city’s department heads. Then we hold another public hearing, and the council passes the proposed budget basically unchanged before the clock ticks over to July 1.
All that may sound a bit dark, but this year’s budget conversation looks to be even more disappointing than usual. Even in normal times, our hands are tied by the constraints of organized labor agreements, Proposition 2½ and debt service on the growing number of city bonds. This year, we also have the disastrous cuts in federal support, the implosion of the biotech bubble and the associated debacle of empty lab space, the hugely increased needs of our immigrant community, and on and on.
From my perspective, fiscal year 2027 seems unlikely to surprise or delight anybody. I hope my fellow activists can find it in their hearts to cut the city a bit of slack when we don’t get everything we had hoped and dreamed this year.
Put another way, I hope that, perhaps, we can all be part of this nascent turn toward cordiality.
Reach out via cdwan@csindie.com.
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