It's easy to change your name, but hard to change your life

[sovay]

So I spent most of today feeling like a damp rag, which in combination with the chill and the pouring rain and the early dark meant I did not make it to the protest at the Kennedy School, but after making dinner with derspatchel (chowder and biscuits) I actually got out of the house for the Somerville Democratic City Committee's meeting with Mayor Curtatone, which was great. The turnout was impressive for a cold rainy weeknight, with a visible range of ages and ethnicities in the audience; I took over five pages of notes and got to talk to the mayor himself twice, once while I was signing in beforehand (I hadn't realized I was expected to RSVP, but did not mind leaving my name and ward on a clipboard), once afterward with rushthatspeaks. I think I was running a fever the entire time, but I don't think I hallucinated that we have an ethical and responsive mayor who said firmly things like "Now is the time to double down on who we are, on humanity, civility, compassion" and "I promise you, we will take no part in breaking up families, rousting people from their homes" and encouraged everyone in the audience to become involved in their community, in local politics, and in the active aid and protection of their neighbors. He talked about the "broken system" of immigration and the myths that surround the ongoing refugee crisis: "Don't let the lie become the truth about why people come to this country, what they're escaping and our role in it." He thought it was perfectly possible for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and/or the City of Boston to futz around with the Green Line Extension to the point of delaying its completion indefinitely, but not for Trump to kill it. I really appreciated his readiness to admit when he didn't have a handy answer or when one of his constituents was asking for something the city was still working on or hadn't yet figured out how to implement. I'm also fine with his philosophy of planning for the worst and then working overtime to make sure things don't slip that far. Rush-That-Speaks asked afterward how the City of Somerville was handling Trump's threat to pull federal funding from sanctuary cities and he responded without hesitation that even if Trump managed to yank the $6 million in question out of the city's annual budget, it would find ways to fund the necessary programs itself; Somerville would not abandon its people or let itself be blackmailed. He talked about his parents, who were themselves immigrants from Italy; he mentioned that his own first language was not English. He slightly has the politician's tendency of hitting on a resonant phrase and using it repeatedly, but he didn't talk in ruts. The thing where he's been mayor of Somerville for six and a half consecutive terms now makes sense to me. I would definitely vote for him over even an ethical artichoke if he ran for governor, but if he just stayed mayor, I would be okay with that, too.

Comments

[kore]

YAY SANE MAYORS

[genarti]

Oh, god bless Mayor Curtatone. That sounds like a wonderfully heartening meeting.

I did make it to the protest at the Kennedy school, along with skygiants, which was very wet and chilly but well attended all the same. Cars honked approval at us all along the route of the march. Enough signs were plastic-wrapped or under umbrellas or otherwise protected that I don't think there were too many casualties to the rain, even, although Becca's sign was alas one of them. I hope we were heard and heeded, but it was a heartening display of collective anger and determination, anyway.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent mayor! And excellent citizens: you, Rush, and all who came. You give me hope.

Nine

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

This is all reassuring to hear. Thank you for reporting back.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I envy you your mayor. How wonderful to feel that, at this level at least, you are represented by your representative.

[gwynnega]

That is all very heartening to hear.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

His kids are in my daughter's school, so I run into him at pickup regularly and enjoy talking to him. I am consistently impressed by his sticking with priorities other cities decided were luxuries and using those to make Somerville stand out as an excellent place.