On a recent trip to Japan, I was struck by the contrast with our society back home and the struggles we've seen particularly since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. We've always been an individualistic culture here in the States, but since the pandemic our self-absorption seems to have reached unprecedented levels. Combine that with our recognition the regressive nature of fines and how they impact low-income households disproportionately and our well-intentioned permissiveness is coming up against a rising tide of indifference to ordinances and laws. We're trying to have a civilization here, but it feels increasingly like that's breaking down. I believe the answer is increased enforcement on a number of fronts, and I sense a real appetite for this from the public.

I wrote previously about the need for increased traffic enforcement, noting the dramatic shift to educational official warnings by our Police Department for motor vehicle violations versus monetary fines. I won't retread what I already wrote about that, but I want to highlight a discussion we had at the December 2 meeting of the Traffic and Parking Committee. In response to an item by Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen urging the Somerville Police Department to shift back toward issuing monetary fines for traffic citations, we heard the Police Department administration intend to pursue that change. Deputy Chief Jim Donovan did caveat this with the fact police leadership isn't legally allowed to officially direct officers to issue monetary fines, but there was an acknowledgement that there can be encouragement and a departmental policy supporting this. You can watch the video of my exchange with the Deputy Chief here, with the relevant portion of the meeting starting at the 1:41:45 mark.

I also hear a lot of pleas from constituents for more enforcement of parking regulations. Social media is full of photos of cars parked in bike lanes, in crosswalks, on sidewalks, in front of driveways, and in travel lanes. The good news is that the City is trying an innovative approach to parking enforcement with a pilot in Davis Square of SafetySticks, an automated parking enforcement solution. I'm hopeful this pilot proves a success and to see this pilot expanded. We also need to increase our staffing levels in our Parking Department. I believe this will prove easier when compensation for our Parking Clerks and Parking Control Officers -- currently the lowest-paid full-time jobs in the city -- gets increased in a new contract with the Somerville Municipal Employees Association Unit B.

The lack of snow the previous two winters has resulted in less talk of icy, unshoveled sidewalks, but these remain a real issue in our city. Despite clear rules on shoveling, it's sad how frequently you encounter a dangerously impassable sidewalk after a snow event, including around schools and senior housing. I'm sympathetic to property owners who aren't physically able to shovel snow themselves, and it can be tricky finding someone to clear your sidewalk for you, so the City does offer a Teen Snow Shoveling Program to assist seniors and those with disabilities. Businesses are another story. We've had a municipal sidewalk snow clearing pilot on Broadway and School Street in Winter Hill, but it hasn't really had much of a rigorous test since the 2021/22 winter. I'd love to see us adopt a system where after the grace period for shoveling has expired, the Teen Snow Shoveling Program would expand their work to shovel any unshoveled sidewalks and report the infraction to Inspectional Services, who then would mail the property owner a ticket with the resulting fine covering the cost of the labor.

Rodents have been one of my major areas of focus in my time on the City Council, and it's frustrating to still find ourselves struggling to turn the tide in The War on Rats. I appreciate the updates from City staff that we get on the Rodent Issues Special Committee, and I'm very curious to see how a second pilot of rodent hormonal birth control performs. But we badly need to change behaviors by residents and businesses that are giving rodents the food, water, and shelter they need to thrive and reproduce. How do we change behavior? We need an all-out public education campaign, and then give educational warnings the first time a resident or business creates a rat buffet with overflowing or open trash cans or dumpsters, leaves standing water for rats to drink, or creates conditions that shelter rats. And if that education fails, then it's time for enforcement with fines until the behavior stops. If we're dealing with a rodent infestation, it's already too late. We need to prevent these infestations from happening in the first place with everyone doing their part.

Additionally, I hear from constituents regularly who want to see ordinances enforced regarding noise, leaf blowers, water draining onto sidewalks, construction hours, construction debris, vacant commercial properties, and other quality of life concerns. I personally want to see us figure out how to to put some teeth into the Wage Theft Ordinance to protect workers by strongly discouraging wage theft, and tweak the Condo Conversion Ordinance after hearing from members of the Condominium Review Board that loopholes are being exploited to thwart the ordinance. All of this adds up to a real need to increase our enforcement efforts in order to make this a safer, healthier, and more livable city.