Dear Jean Mayer

DAVID WARSH Dear Jean Mayer: It's tough sledding on your veterinary school in Worcester, I know. But it is something else that is on my mind. I think you should consider changing Tufts University's address to Somerville. As you know, half the campus is in Somerville, half in Medford; the town line runs right through your house. The time was when Medford was a better address. Times change. Now let me quickly state that I've lived in Somerville for a dozen years. My knowledge is the local knowledge of an outsider, not deep, concentrated mostly around Davis Square: Sessa's Grocery, St. Clement's Parish, Rev. Ken Turner's remarkable evangelical, multicultural Church of the Nazarene. I know my neighbors. I know where to vote. What I don't know about Ward 1 would fill books. What I do know is something about is economic development. Something happened in the middle of the 1970s. Somerville began to be considered in the same breath as Cambridge as a place to put a restaurant, a studio, an apartment. This was the era in which Steve's Ice Cream and Bertucci's were founded in Somerville, side by side. About the same time, the long decline that had afflicted the once-proud city in the years after World War II slowed, then stopped. Mayor Lester Ralph's career as a reformer petered out; Tom August took over for a couple years and rent control was repealed, a crucial moment. The Davis Square Task Force insisted on a stop on the the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Red Line extension. And then in 1979 Somerville elected Gene Brune. Brune was a hell of a leader, the only five-term mayor the city ever had. He rebuilt the high school and police station, re-did all the city parks, eliminated the crooked Board of Assessment, went out of his way to attract artists to the city's lofts. The decision to ban biotech was a bad one; the Woodbridge Hotel burned down; he didn't do either one. More to the point, he restored a certain confidence to the city, and the reform spirit born of the Massachusetts Miracle did the rest. Characters like police captain Gerald Clemente and former Mayor Larry Bretta went to jail; state Sen. Dennis McKenna and Rep. Marie Howe went down to defeat. (CORRECTION: Because of a reporting error, the status of former state Sen. Denis McKenna of Somerville was incorrectly described in David Warsh's column in yesterday's Business Extra. He did not run for re-election.) On the day Vinnie Piro was defeated by Sal Albano -- with the margin coming from Somerville -- a neighbors exclaimed, "I feel as though I live in Wellesley!" This was the period during which Herald columnist Howie Carr moved into town, then out again, after his house was rhetorically burgled -- a poignant reminder that Somerville still can play by some very tough rules. You can't get Howie to say a good word about Somerville even now. Indeed, for many people, time somehow froze in 1971: Somerville is the Winter Hill Mob and The Boston Globe Spotlight Team poring over sweetheart contracts. The Sunsetters glee club would go about town on summer evenings singing "Who do you think you ah, Howie Cah?" It was touching, but not much of a defense. The beauty of this evolution is that it was decidely not gentrification. Somerville simply reclaimed its own destiny. Brune worked well with outsiders. After five terms he departed for the more secure position of Middlesex Register of Deeds. Then Michael Capuano beat John Buonomo by a hair. Capuano is a bright guy, like Brune only more so: younger, something more of an edge, the perfect postmodern Somervillian. A Dartmouth graduate who went to Boston College Law School, Capuano made a living as a lobbyist and sends his kids to a private school. But his roots go deep in Somerville. So the real test of the Somerville reform tradition comes next week when he faces reelection. His opponent is a 28-year-old lawyer named Mary Curtatone, with little experience beyond her family business. There is a lot of anger around -- not the least of it from Gene Brune, who has never forgiven Capuano for his curt personal style. But Capuano is good on finance, on women, on the environment. Most important, he's good on meaning fairness -- not a trivial consideration now that Somerville's minority population -- Haitians, Brazilians, Central Americans -- is approaching 15,000 people, or something like 20 percent. To sum up, Somerville could have been Chelsea; instead it's a discount Cambridge, with all the Byzantine politics that this implies. Medford is a lovely city, but it's been a long time since that over-the-river-and-through-the-woods stuff. I know the post office is in Medford. But now Somerville is a better address. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) More to the point, he restored a certain confidence to the city, and the reform spirit born of the Massachusetts Miracle did the rest. Characters like police captain Gerald Clemente and former Mayor Larry Bretta went to jail; state Sen. Dennis McKenna and Rep. Marie Howe went down to defeat. (CORRECTION: Because of a reporting error, the status of former state Sen. Denis McKenna of Somerville was incorrectly described in [DAVID WARSH]'s column in yesterday's Business Extra. He did not run for re-election.) On the day Vinnie Piro was defeated by Sal Albano -- with the margin coming from Somerville -- a neighbors exclaimed, "I feel as though I live in Wellesley!" This was the period during which Herald columnist Howie Carr moved into town, then out again, after his house was rhetorically burgled -- a poignant reminder that Somerville still can play by some very tough rules. You can't get Howie to say a good word about Somerville even now. Indeed, for many people, time somehow froze in 1971: Somerville is the Winter Hill Mob and The Boston Globe Spotlight Team poring over sweetheart contracts. The Sunsetters glee club would go about town on summer evenings singing "Who do you think you ah, Howie Cah?" It was touching, but not much of a defense. To sum up, Somerville could have been Chelsea; instead it's a discount Cambridge, with all the Byzantine politics that this implies. Medford is a lovely city, but it's been a long time since that over-the-river-and-through-the-woods stuff. I know the post office is in Medford. But now Somerville is a better address.