Residents deeply split at hearing on Israel divestment ordinance

Items Discussed

Ethical Procurement Ordinance – Public hearing held, kept in committee

This hearing was required by a petition from 74 registered voters under Section 2-11 of the City Charter. The proposed ordinance, which grew out of November 2025's nonbinding ballot Question 3, would steer city purchasing and investment away from companies complicit in what the ordinance's supporters describe as Israel's genocide, apartheid and occupation of Palestine. The hearing itself ran roughly three hours, with about 50 residents speaking in two-minute slots; Chair JT Scott repeatedly noted more than two dozen hands in the queue and Councilor Kristen Strezo requested a five-minute recess partway through. No councilor deliberated or voted on the substance; the committee only took testimony.

Supporters' main arguments:

• Democratic mandate: several speakers cited roughly 11,599 "yes" votes on Question 3. Alex Mills (Ward 7) put the margin at 59–41 and said "The mandate is incredibly clear." Jojo Carvio and Molly Frost Wiley noted the question received more votes than any individual candidate.
• Tax dollars and complicity: Ed Childs (Ward 2), Ida Winick Likely (Ward 1), Caitlin Pfeifer (Ward 3) and others said they do not want city money going to companies profiting from the war; Franny Aloni named Caterpillar, and Camille Lokhandwala named CAT, Honeywell and HP as vendors the city pays.
• Jewish supporters, including members of Somerville for Palestine's Jewish Caucus (Annika Schaefer, Molly Frost Wiley, Franny Aloni), filmmaker Erin Axelman, and Holocaust survivors' descendants Daniel Vernick and Seth Stromwasser, rejected the idea that the ordinance is antisemitic. Alan Jehlen cited polling that a majority of American Jews believe Israel has committed war crimes.
• Legal risk: Dylan Callahan (12 Pembroke Ct) and law student Lucy Tumovicas argued the threat of lawsuits should not deter the council; Tumovicas said "the law is built to change."
• Former State Senator Pat Jehlen (Dane Street) said the ordinance would "amplify" residents' voices and that other municipalities are following Somerville's lead. Former Councilor Willie Burnley Jr. said he believed the council should have passed an ordinance months ago.
• Multiple supporters (Ida Winick Likely, Libby Mahaffy, Daniel Vernick, Michael Rocco, Amanda Bell, Jojo Carvio, Dan Wong) urged the committee to amend the ordinance to attach a named list of complicit companies, several citing the American Friends Service Committee list.
• Human Rights Commissioners Su Lin Chen and Christopher Spicer-Henkel spoke in favor as individuals; Spicer-Henkel said city complaint data showed roughly half of 83 complaints related to Jews, Muslims, Israel or Palestine, split evenly between antisemitic/anti-Israel and Islamophobic/anti-Palestinian incidents.

Opponents' main arguments:

• Rising antisemitism: numerous Jewish residents recounted specific incidents—Jody Nimser Abrahams (Ward 5) and Sarah Bloom described graffiti and stickers along the Community Path; Meredith Elbaum (Ward 3) and David Lichter (Ward 3) described incidents in Somerville schools; Richard Maidman (Ward 7) and Ilana Bloomfield said their children were frightened by masked protesters outside City Hall in March 2025; Daniel Engel (Ward 3) said he was kicked while holding a sign against Question 3 and has since applied for a license to carry a firearm; Michael Sanow (Ward 7) and Jonathan Dovev (Ward 3) said they no longer feel safe and are questioning whether to remain in Somerville.
• Former Council President Judy Pineda Neufeld (Ward 6) said she was targeted while on the council and that this "absolutely went into my decision to leave," and argued the time spent on the ordinance takes away from housing, rats and street safety.
• Legality and cost: Samantha Joseph (Ward 5, ADL New England regional director) said ADL and the Brandeis Center have warned the ordinance is unconstitutional and that the city's own law department previously concluded it is likely unenforceable; she noted Question 3 received support from about 22% of registered voters, saying "That is not a mandate." Brian Sokol (Ward 2, Human Rights Commission member speaking individually) argued implementation would require expensive legal expertise and vendor review, cited a five-year, $250,000 procurement disparity study, and estimated switching student laptops from HP to Apple could cost roughly $2 million. Evan Fontana (Ward 1) said he sent the Finance Committee a list of 221 affected companies in February without reply and criticized councilors for declining an impact study.
• Singling out Israel: David Chanoff, Margie Polster (Ward 5), Kasriel Linzer (Ward 3) and Michael Switkis (Ward 6) argued the ordinance treats a contested "genocide" accusation as fact, ignores conflicts elsewhere, and that foreign policy belongs to Congress, not the city. Kate Auspitz (Ward 6, former election commission chief) called it a "performative" gesture.
• Luis Morales Jr. (Ward 4) opposed the ordinance and, describing repeated theft of an Israeli flag from his property, said "you will see my second amendment"—a remark several later speakers (Anne Kawalerczyk, Dan Wong, Molly Frost Wiley) condemned as a threat.

Chair Scott kept the written record open through Friday, September 11 and closed the evening by thanking speakers: "This is what democracy looks like."

Davis Square Neighborhood Council recognition – Public hearing held, kept in committee (vote expected September 15)

This is the public hearing required under Chapter 7, Article IX of the Code of Ordinances before the council votes to formally recognize a neighborhood council, which would give the group standing to negotiate community benefits agreements (CBAs) with developers. The committee also took up two related items—the council's presentation materials and comments from six residents—and kept both in committee.

DSNC Vice President Chris Beeland gave a verbal recap: 642 members as of July 2026, 567 of them Somerville residents; the group eliminated its vague "genuine local interest" membership category; the Copper Mill project has been canceled, but 882 Broadway and 199 Elm Street remain active; and committees are working on Elm Street safety, vacant storefronts, greening, and community events, with representation on the Davis Square neighborhood plan technical advisory committee.

Supporters:

• Hala Jadala (Ward 6), a former Davis Square task force member, urged approval on September 15.
• Emily Balio (Ward 2), co-chair of the Union Square Neighborhood Council, said the DSNC has done "a tremendous amount of work" and that concerns are valid but recognition is needed now.
• Chris Dwan (Ward 2) said neighborhood councils are "experiments" that evolve and warned against letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.
• Board members Peter Kim Santos (treasurer), Alex Dehnert and Louisa Bissett said the bylaws are a set of compromises but structurally stable, and highlighted community-building events.

Those urging delay:

• Meredith Porter (104 Josephine Ave) argued that allowing residents of Cambridge, Arlington and Medford within a half mile of the square to be voting members violates the neighborhood council ordinance, noting Union Square and Gilman Square councils do not extend residence-based voting outside Somerville; he also said the bylaws submitted do not reflect pending amendments on quorum and CBA approval thresholds.
• Edward Wall (80 Winslow Ave, DSNC bylaws committee) said the current quorum of 20 is "patently inadequate" for a 642-member body and asked the council to wait until pending quorum and CBA-vote amendments are settled, noting time pressure has eased with Copper Mill's withdrawal.
• Lee Auspitz said the boundaries reach too far into Cambridge and Porter Square, and said he understood Councilor Davis had sought a legal ruling on out-of-city voting; he urged waiting for that opinion.
• Board member Frank Mallsbenden said the CBA provision has been a "recipe for acrimony," with recent meetings consumed by bylaw fights, and questioned whether volunteers should bear that burden.
• Lumina Gershfield (Ward 2) cited the Union Square SomerNova vote as a cautionary example of expanded voting eligibility.

Chair Scott said he anticipates the recognition item will be before the committee for deliberation and a recommendation vote on September 15. Written comment remains open through September 11.

Police body-worn cameras – Public hearing held, kept in committee

This hearing was triggered by a petition from 89 registered voters under Section 2-11 of the Charter. Petition organizer Derrick Rice (49 Craigie St) acknowledged the council largely decided the matter at a July special meeting but pointed to a fatal police shooting in Cambridge where body-camera footage has not been released, and asked councilors to publicly explore the legal obstacles with the law department and Cambridge counterparts.

Other testimony:

• Julie Bernstein, co-chair of Digital Fourth (not a Somerville resident), listed recommended policy provisions: limited purposes, annual reporting on footage access, mandatory activation with a 90-second buffer, working-order logs, and default release of unedited footage within ten days in cases of injury or death.
• Alexandra Thorne (Ward 5) said the council moved too fast and that civilian oversight "should have come first."
• Marissa Derry (22 Highland Rd), a certified forensic analyst, urged that any exported footage include hash values to prove authenticity and offered her expertise.
• Chris Dwan (Ward 2) said 71% of speakers at the July hearing opposed the cameras yet the council accepted funding that night; he is filing weekly public records requests for footage and urged the committee to establish independent oversight without narrowing it under pressure from collective bargaining.
• Dan Wong (Ward 2) urged that footage be controlled by an independent non-police entity, citing ACLU and ABA recommendations, and asked how the council will measure success at budget time.

Chair Scott noted comment was being restricted to Somerville residents and kept the record open through September 11.

What's Next

• Davis Square Neighborhood Council recognition (26-1165) stays in committee; Chair Scott expects the committee to deliberate and vote on a recommendation at its September 15 meeting.
• Ethical procurement ordinance petition (26-1185) and body-worn camera petition (26-1006) remain in committee with the written record open through Friday, September 11; the chair said they can be marked complete once written testimony is collected.
• The DSNC presentation and resident comment items were kept in committee alongside the recognition item.
• Residents may submit written comment on any of the three hearings to publiccomments@somervillema.gov through September 11.
• Minutes of the June 30 meeting were approved without corrections on a 5-0 roll call combined with adjournment (Davis, Mbah, Ewen-Campen, Strezo, Scott).