After 100 days in office, affordability is the top priority for Somerville’s new mayor

Earlier this month, several new mayors in the commonwealth passed the 100-day mark, including Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, who took office in January. GBH Morning Edition host Paris Alston visited Ballantyne at Somerville City Hall as part of a series spotlighting new mayors in Massachusetts. This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Ballantyne has been tackling issues like affordable housing and equity and told Alston that she prides herself on inclusive government that brings all voices to the table.

Katjana Ballantyne: It can take a little bit longer because you’ve got all these divergent opinions at the table, but you get better results and you get buy in and you get shared purpose.

Paris Alston: You were born and orphaned in Greece, as I understand, adopted by a Scottish father, a Czech mother. You're also a first-generation college student.

Ballantyne: Yeah — is that what they call it? So the only one.

Alston: Having all of those different backgrounds yourself, but then also being aware of all the different demographics that you're representing here in Somerville — not only are they going to disagree with you, but they're going to disagree with each other. When you talk about doing something like putting, say, a supervised safe consumption site in a community, there are going to be a lot of varying opinions about that. So how do you balance it all out?

Ballantyne: You have to listen. You have to use data. You have to engage people in conversation. And sometimes there's a moral decision that has to be made. But at the end of the day, you have to make a decision. What I would like to hope is that people come along. They might not necessarily agree with everything, but they come along and they feel respected because someone's listened to them.

Alston: And I mention supervised safe consumption sites because Somerville is actively trying to open one here. I know you all recently partnered with Fenway Health. Given that Boston is currently trying to find a solution to the issue at Mass and Cass because people from all over the greater Boston area have come there looking essentially for community but also for help. How do you see this operating and working in Somerville?

Ballantyne: I don't think we're right there yet. So we're still doing the outreach, we're having the community process. And I would say some of this is a little new to me. I do know that there are people hurting in our community. And it's also making sure that how do you reach people who normally have not been involved in that conversation?

Alston: What are some things that have solidified the vision you've always had for Somerville and what it can be? And what are some things that you've learned maybe are challenging that?

Ballantyne: The affordability issue — I would say that that's still so much a thread. You know, in the early 2000s, we were saying, well, if the Green Line comes in and all these jobs are being established in Boston and Cambridge and the housing supply is not meeting, that the pressure pushes out. If we continue to be the dormitory to Boston and Cambridge, then it becomes a very affluent and a very expensive place to live. So you want to make sure that there's commercial coming in so it can bring the revenues in, that we can start a municipal voucher program, that we can put money into our affordable housing trust fund for the creation of more affordable housing that we have job linkage fees. And Somerville is changing. We certainly want to make sure that the people who live here have opportunity and connection too.

Alston: I also understand that you have a passion for focusing on those smaller city issues, making this what you've called a “15 minute neighborhood” where everything you need is within a 15 minute walk — or getting rid of the rats in Somerville, which is something that we've talked about on our show. When there are so many big issues on the table, how do you make sure that you address those more minutia issues?

Ballantyne: So I would say that 80% or maybe more of my interactions with people are about the livability issues. You know, rats are a long-term issue and they have no boundary. But it's rats. It's flooding. And for people to be able to move around safely too, you know, whether you're walking, whether you're biking, whether you can get on public transit or, is there a handicapped parking spot?

Alston: How do you get around your community? Are you a walker or biker?

Ballantyne: I use the bus. I ride my bike. I walk. That's how I get around.

Alston: So lastly, Mayor Ballantyne, Mayor Wu over in Boston has received a lot of pushback to things like her vaccine mandates. And a lot of that has been questions about, were she not a woman, were she not a woman of color, would she be experiencing that? Have you, as a woman mayor here in Somerville, faced any sort of pushback that, frankly, you feel like you maybe wouldn't have if you were male?

Ballantyne: Hmm. Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to answer that question because you're not always sure what somebody else is thinking inside. And even if I say to myself, I knew that, you know, they'd react differently if the circumstances were different — I just want to stay focused. So I think what I will be measured on is really the work that comes out of this.