Somerville City Council Legislative Matters Committee Meeting - June 30, 2026
Somerville City Council Legislative Matters Committee Meeting - June 30, 2026
The Legislative Matters Committee met on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 9:50 PM via Zoom, with a recess from 7:55 PM to 8:00 PM. The meeting was called to order by Chair Scott and covered 14 agenda items, including a Home Rule Petition to regulate early leasing, a notice of building sale ordinance, an ethical procurement ordinance, multiple surveillance technology reports, and an ordinance prohibiting taxpayer-funded self-promotion. Several votes were taken, with roll call tallies recorded.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (ID #26-0940): The minutes of the May 19, 2026 Legislative Matters Committee meeting were approved by a unanimous roll call vote of 5-0-0 (Councilors Davis, Mbah, Ewen-Campen, Strezo, Scott).
Public Comments & Testimony
- David Van Riper, a recent Tufts graduate and Somerville resident, testified in support of the early leasing Home Rule Petition. He described the stressful practice of requiring students to sign leases 9–10 months in advance and highlighted the difficulty of predicting roommate situations and financial circumstances that far ahead. He noted that this is a universal practice around Tufts and urged the committee to set a clear standard.
Discussion Items
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Home Rule Petition on Early Leasing (ID #26-0797): Director Ellen Schachter (Office of Housing Stability) presented the petition, which would prohibit landlords from requiring lease renewal decisions more than 90 days before lease termination, require 90-day notice of renewal terms and rent increases, and ban showing units more than 90 days in advance. Enforcement includes a $300 civil fine and a private right of action under state consumer protection laws. A correction was made to substitute "premises" for "property" in Section 1. Councilor Ewen-Campen asked about prioritization among multiple HRPs; Director Schachter noted similar pending state legislation and the value of adding local support. Councilor Mbah clarified the petition applies to all residents, not just students. The item was recommended to be approved as amended.
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Notice of Building Sale Ordinance (ID #26-0882): Director Schachter explained the ordinance requires property owners to notify tenants before selling a building, including sale price, number of units, and OHS contact information. The goal is to give tenants time to plan and allow nonprofits to consider purchasing. Enforcement would be by OHS with a $300 fine. Chair Scott asked about a private right of action; City Attorney Amara stated the city lacks authority to create one without state permission. Councilor Scott requested a legal opinion on adding a private cause of action in the future. The item was recommended to be approved.
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Ethical Procurement Ordinance (ID #26-1023): Councilor Ewen-Campen introduced the ordinance, which would prohibit the city from procuring from or investing in companies that provide material support for activities including illegal occupation, apartheid, genocide, and violations of international humanitarian law. Councilor Strezo opposed, calling it discriminatory and illegal, and cited community concerns. City Attorney Amara noted prior opinions that similar petitions would likely be found unlawful. Councilor Mbah expressed support, emphasizing that every life has equal value. Councilor Davis raised questions about implementation, ambiguity in terms like "material support," and interaction with procurement law. Chair Scott asked for transparency when exceptions are granted. A motion by Councilor Strezo for an economic analysis of the ordinance's financial impacts initially passed 3-2 (Davis, Mbah, Strezo in favor; Ewen-Campen, Scott opposed). Councilor Mbah moved to reconsider; that passed 3-2 (Mbah, Ewen-Campen, Scott in favor; Davis, Strezo opposed). On reconsideration, the analysis motion failed 2-3 (Davis, Strezo in favor; Mbah, Ewen-Campen, Scott opposed). The ordinance was kept in committee for further work over the summer.
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Surveillance Technology Annual Reports (ID #26-0302 & #26-0936): Chair Scott expressed concern that training materials for GrayKey (digital forensic tool) were not provided by the vendor. Attorney Piques confirmed the vendor refused to share materials. Discussion ensued. The committee recommended approval of the updated report (26-0936) by a unanimous roll call of 5-0-0, and marked the original (26-0302) as work completed.
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Smart Tree Inventory STIR (ID #26-0878): Planner Boukili presented a one-time assessment of 16,000 public trees using LIDAR, GPS, and photography. Images may incidentally capture people, but the system is not designed for identification. Staff will have limited access; there are over 80,000 photos and no current ability to blur faces. Councilor Davis and others expressed support. The item was recommended to be approved unanimously.
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CrimeTracer STIR (ID #26-0830): Captain Perrone explained the system integrates police reports regionally and is used for investigations. Councilor Ewen-Campen asked if it is mandatory; Captain Perrone noted a requirement for background checks on new officers. Chair Scott had concerns about privacy and federal access. The item was kept in committee for further study.
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Body-Worn Cameras (ID #26-0999, #26-1000, #26-1034, #26-1006): Attorney Sirigu presented the revised policy and impact report. Councilor Davis felt the policy needed more clarity and detail, noting discrepancies between the STIR and the collectively bargained contract. Councilor Ewen-Campen questioned costs: $105k for superior officers, $95k annual subscription, and potential $117k for a coordinator (not included in FY27 budget). He argued the city should prioritize rehiring laid-off staff. Councilor Strezo moved to discharge items 11 and 12 without recommendation, stating further deliberation was circular. That motion passed 3-2 (Mbah, Ewen-Campen, Strezo in favor; Davis, Scott opposed). Items 9 and 10 (public hearing petition and chief's memo) were kept in committee. Director Wisdom clarified that if the grant is accepted, the only FY27 cost would be $105k for superior officers.
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Welcoming Communities Amendment (ID #26-0522): This older submission was placed on file, as it had been superseded by newer language.
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Prohibition on Taxpayer-Funded Self-Promotion (ID #25-1762): Councilor Davis presented the ordinance, which prohibits using city funds to plaster the mayor's name on signs and materials. He noted practices have already improved. Councilor Strezo asked about First Amendment implications; City Attorney Amara agreed to provide an opinion before the full council vote. The item was recommended to be approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Home Rule Petition on Early Leasing: Recommended to be approved as amended (5-0-0).
- Notice of Building Sale Ordinance: Recommended to be approved (5-0-0).
- Ethical Procurement Ordinance: Kept in committee; motion for economic analysis failed on reconsideration (2-3).
- Surveillance Annual Report (Revised): Recommended to be approved (5-0-0).
- Smart Tree Inventory STIR: Recommended to be approved (5-0-0).
- CrimeTracer STIR: Kept in committee.
- Body-Worn Camera STIR & Policy: Recommended to be discharged without recommendation (3-2); will go to full council.
- Welcoming Communities Amendment: Placed on file.
- Self-Promotion Ordinance: Recommended to be approved (5-0-0).
- Committee Minutes (May 19, 2026): Approved unanimously.
- Meeting adjourned at 9:50 PM on a unanimous roll call vote.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. This is your chair, JT Scott, Summerville Ward II Counselor. And this is a meeting of the legislative matters committee of the City Council. This Tuesday, June 30th at 6 p.m. on the button. Pursuant chapter two of the acts of 2025, this meeting will be conducted via remote participation. And an audio video recording will be posted as soon as possible after this meeting to the city of Somerville website, local access channels. We will go ahead and start tonight with a roll call to establish a quorum. If you don't mind, Clerk will tell you. This is roll call, Counselor Davis. Here. Counselor Mbaugh. Counselor Ewan Campin. Here. Counselor Streso? Present. Counselor Scott. Present. Before counselors present, we have quorum. All right, wonderful. We have a very long agenda tonight, folks. Apologies for everything coming in, but uh our other legislative matters meeting during budget season was uh overtaken by public hearing that needed to be rescheduled. Uh please let the record reflect that councillor Mbaugh has joined us as well. Uh so I'm hoping to keep this crisp and move through our move through our items in order, gather any questions, concerns, or feedback, and uh anything can be voted on tonight. Okay, and anything that needs uh to have that work taken back and done over the summer so that we can get right on the fall. So be it. Uh with that said, our first item is approval of the minutes of the legislative matters committee meeting of May 19, 2026. Seeing no comment on that matter, we will go ahead and lay that item on the table for approval in a single vote at the conclusion of the meeting. Uh then let's go to our next item. This is 260797 requesting approval of a home rule petition to authorize the city of Somerville to regulate leases and tenancy at will agreements. This is something uh coming out of the Office of Housing Stability, and I know we are joined already by Director Schechter who would be willing to say a few words about this. There was also a memo that is attached to the agenda that hopefully we've all had a chance to review. So uh Director Shachter, uh, why don't you go ahead and give us a brief introduction? Thank you very much uh to the chair and members of the committee. Thank you for giving me the time to speak with you tonight. Um I am very excited to be here before you with a piece of legislation that is somewhat unusual because for the first time since I've been at the Office of Housing Stability, a number of residents came to me with an issue that was really um plaguing them and came to me seeking some kind of legislative um answer. So at the end of my testimony, if the chair sees fit, we have um one of the students who brought this issue to my attention here that would also love to say just a few words about this issue and this problem. And we can later, if you're open to doing that, um, chair, we would love to have that. I think pretty pretty quick comments. Um this ordinance, the what we call the early leasing ordinance. That's sort of the the parlance that people can understand. It has a more formal title. Um, but we are seeking obviously the recommendation of this committee to recommend for the full city council approval of this home rule petition. And if approved, as you know, it would go on to the state legislature to try to seek approval at that level. So, what is the issue that I'm here to talk about? Pretty simply. The issue is that now more and more we are seeing landlords requiring tenants to make decisions about releasing, renewing their leases six months, eight months, nine months, ten months prior to the end of lease termination. And this causes two different sets of complications that I wanted to discuss. First, um, as you know, I more and more roommate situations, co-housing situations are happening in the city of Somerville because rents are so high. So, what this does is create a problem where there are a number of different roommates in a housing situation that, frankly, 10 months in advance do not simply do not necessarily know if they want to re-sign a lease.
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