Community members in Davis Square elected the inaugural board of directors for the Davis Square Neighborhood Council (DSNC) last month. The nine-member body, according to its website, aims to give the community “a seat at the table” in shaping the neighborhood’s future, with its primary function being to “ensure developers’ projects benefit people in the neighborhood.”
Members were elected by eligible voters over the age of 16 who work, receive services, volunteer, own property or live in the Davis Square business district. The election was held over three days from Aug. 23 to Aug. 25, with results announced the evening of Aug. 25.
The elected members include Elaine Almquist as president, Zev Pogrebin as vice president, Peter (PJ) Kim-Santos as treasurer, Paul Christie as secretary and Louisa Bissett, Jason Zube, Jack Connolly, Carmen Phillips and Chris Beland as general members.
Pogrebin, a Davis Square resident and fourth-year master's student at Tufts, said his top priority on the board is to encourage better development in Davis Square. He sees the DSNC as a platform to encourage younger voices to get involved in local civic life.
“Most people who … get involved with local governments are generally older homeowners … I think there’s more perspectives that needs to be represented, so I wanted to be a part of that,” Pogrebin said.
Connolly (GA’81), a lifelong resident and former longtime Somerville city councilor, described his decades of experience and knowledge of Davis Square as a resource for the board.
“What I bring is the empirical knowledge of what happened when and that’s going to save people a lot of time,” Connolly said.
Connolly believes one of the council’s biggest challenges is attracting new developers to Davis Square, pointing to the 15 currently empty storefronts in the area. He argued that zoning changes, such as raising building height limits, will be essential to making the area more appealing.
“If we change the zoning to allow construction of buildings up to, say, 70 feet instead of 50 feet, those extra couple of stories may attract developers,” Connolly said.
Not all candidates share the same attitude toward development. Board Member Jason Zube, the owner of Boston Tattoo Company in Davis Square, said he ran for the board after major development decisions — including projects led by Asana Partners and Copper Mill Development — were made “without ever reaching out to any of [the business owners].”
Zube said the projects have threatened to displace local businesses and created uncertainty for new tenants. Blame for the closure of businesses, he said, should be placed on developers for “forcing everybody out.”
“Nobody wants to come here and rent these spaces, because it’s like building a house on faulty land. It could get sold, they could demolish it,” Zube said. “Why would anybody want to put a lot of money into a space that might get knocked down in three years?”
Homelessness, drug use and mental health concerns in Davis Square galvanized several board members to run, including Zube, who said the issues had created “a perfect storm” that has affected businesses and customers alike.
Other members echoed this concern, including Treasurer Peter Kim-Santos, a Davis Square resident and a senior materials scientist at Pascal Technologies.
“[Homeless people in Davis Square] definitely have the right to be there, but how do we make sure they have the resources so that they're staying safe?” Kim-Santos asked. “How do we make sure that there’s no conflict or anything that can spill over and affect other people?”
Kim-Santos hopes to work with the city and the police to explore solutions such as an alternative responder program, which involves having non-police teams respond to certain crises. Beyond safety, he identified housing affordability as another significant problem in Davis Square.
“One of my big motivations for trying to run for this [board position] is to try to encourage some more apartment buildings to get built near Davis Square,” he said, calling the area’s housing affordability issue “pretty atrocious.”
Connolly characterized Davis Square as having declined over time. As a newly elected board member, he hopes to restore the area’s reputation.
“Davis Square used to be the central attraction, but now with Assembly [Row] and Union Square we’ve slid backwards … We used to be at the top of the heat. Now we’re at the bottom,” he said. “We’ve got to rebuild that prestige again. We have to make Davis Square desirable.”
Board members also highlighted broader community issues they aim to address in the coming year, including plans for pedestrian-friendly streets, initiatives to promote local small businesses and long-term planning for the area.
The board election itself was a first for the DSNC. Pogrebin praised the outcome as largely a “success story,” while Kim-Santos said future elections could be improved.
“I just know a bunch of people who were either unable to or had to make difficult choices to vote,” Kim Santos said. “I thought we did a great job for our first pass through this, but we definitely need to make some updates.”
The council is now preparing to register as a nonprofit and secure approval of bylaws from the Somerville City Council.
