EACH OF THESE PROGRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENTS is the result of collaboration - with city council colleagues, The administration, and with many advocates and activists in our community.

HOUSING JUSTICE & DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT DISPLACEMENT

December 2023. Rent Stabilization Home Rule Petition (unanimous, in collaboration with Mayor’s office.) Working with the Anti-Displacement Task Force, Councilor Ewen-Campen helped draft Somerville’s first ever home rule petition to establish a modern rent stabilization policy in Somerville. The policy limits annual rent increases to annual inflation +2%, up to a maximum of 5% annually. The policy fully exempts owner-occupant buildings up to three units, as well as new construction for the first 15 years after building, in order to avoid discouraging new housing construction. Read an FAQ here.

December 2023. Legalizing triple deckers and other 3-unit buildings citywide (unanimous, in collaboration with Mayor’s office.) In order to meet new statewide zoning requirements under the “MBTA Communities Act”, Councilor Ewen-Campen helped pass an amendment that allows for three unit properties, including triple deckers, citywide. Triple deckers were first outlawed in many parts of Massachusetts as part of an anti-immigrant backlash in the early 1900s - Somerville is the first community to actively undo this ban. Read more in the Boston Globe.

December 2023. Reversing the ban on “more than four unrelated adults” living together (co-sponsored with Councilor Pineda-Neufeld, supported by full Council.) Councilor Ewen-Campen helped lead efforts to successfully overturn a long-standing ban on “more than four unrelated adults” living together. This ban was unevenly and unfairly enforced, and removing it was part of the city’s efforts to comply with statewide zoning requirements under the “MBTA Communities Act.”

March 2023. Rent Stabilization Home Rule Petition - launching the process. Councilor Ewen-Campen launched the process for Somerville to seek permission from the State House to establish rent control in Somerville. This Resolution was supported by the full City Council and the Mayor’s office, and will lead to a specific policy proposal in the coming months. Read more in the Boston Globe and WBUR.

December 2022. Closing the loophole that allows developers to get demolition permits without notifying current tenants. Inspired by an awful situation in Ward 3 where a developer initiated the demolition permit process without notifying the current tenants (who were mostly immigrants who did not speak English as a first language), Ben wrote a new law to require that tenants are notified, at the start of the demolition review process, in multiple languages.

August 2022. Somerville Community Land Trust acquires it's first property, a 5-unit condo building in Union Square. As a founding Board member of the SCLT, Ben worked with many volunteers, Board members, and city officials to successfully acquire the SCLT’s first property. See Ben’s remarks at the ribbon-cutting here: youtu.be/KeD0tsSA12Y.

June 2022. Affordable Housing “Early Action” Acquisition Fund. Councilor Ewen-Campen led the efforts to create a dedicated City fund to be used for “early action” on new affordable housing projects by acquiring property and redeveloping it. This effort was unanimously supported by the City Council as a top priority for this term, and was successfully taken up by the Mayor’s Office with an inaugural $8.3M deposit.

Winter 2021-2022. Supporting two Community Benefits Agreements in Boynton Yards. As Chair of Land Use Committee, Councilor Ewen-Campen supported residents and Union Square Neighborhood Council in their efforts to negotiate two new Community Benefits Agreement for large developers in Boynton Yards.

Dec 2020. Citywide Affordable Housing Overlay District. As Chair of Land Use, Councilor Ewen-Campen led the passage of this critical Zoning bill to help remove obstacles to building new affordable housing in Somerville. For background, read Ben’s Op-Ed here, and view full details here.

Dec 2019. Tenant Right to Purchase (Entire Council and Mayor’s Office). This Home Rule Petition, which will require approval from the State Legislature, would provide tenants an opportunity to purchase their building - or partner with a local non-profit to do so -  if their landlord chooses to sell. (This policy exempts owner-occupied 1-, 2-, and 3-family buildings.)

Dec 2019. Somerville Zoning Overhaul (Entire Council [except Councilor Hirsch] and Mayor’s Office). This overhaul represents the first comprehensive new zoning ordinance in over 30 years, and includes fundamental improvements to our policies on affordable housing, environmental sustainability, green and open space, parking and transportation, and more. For a detailed analysis, please see my comments, or this statement from the City of Somerville.  Press: Curbed Boston, Somerville Journal, StreetsBlog MASS.

Dec 2019. Supporting statewide legislation to allow cities to protect tenants via rent stabilization and “Just Cause” eviction. This Resolution supports House Bill H.3924 (Rep. Connolly and Rep. Elugardo), a “local option” bill that would allow Somerville’s elected officials to consider enacting tenant protection measures including rent stabilization and Just Cause Eviction. Mayor Curtatone has also shown strong support. Press: Spare Change News, Boston Globe, Boston.com, WBUR.

Oct 2019. Tenant Notification Act (co-sponsored with Councilors McLaughlin & Davis) This Ordinance, modeled after Boston’s “Jim Brooks Act,” requires that tenants facing displacement be notified of their rights, and given the contact information for local organizations that can help. Crafted in collaboration with the Office of Housing Stability. 

Sept 2019. Standing up for the Union Square Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). Proudly led the City Council in supporting the Union Square Neighborhood Council’s years-long efforts to negotiate a CBA with the Union Square “Master Developer,” US2, which includes major commitments around affordable housing, good jobs, economic justice, sustainability, green and open space, and more. Read the full CBA here. Press: Boston Globe, Somerville Journal 

June 2019. Somerville Community Land Trust (CLT). Helped to co-found Somervile’s first Community Land Trust, a neighbor-run organization to create and preserve affordable housing in our community. Learn more here, and read the working group recommendations here. Press: Somerville Journal

March 2019 Condo Conversion Ordinance (Lead Sponsor: Councilor Niedergang.) These new regulations closed a number of enormous loopholes that have allowed developers to evict hundreds of tenants each year when they flip rental units into condominiums. The new ordinance requires a one-year notification period and $6,000 toward relocation expenses (or a 5-year notification period and $10,000 toward relocation expenses for tenants who are elderly, low-income or disabled.) 

Press: “If your business model requires displacing Somerville residents with no notification period or relocation expenses, then you shouldn’t be surprised when Somerville residents elect people who fight for them.” - Councilor Ewen-Campen, Somerville Journal. 

June 2019. Supporting statewide legislation to prevent discrimination against tenants by sealing eviction records (Co-sponsored with Councilor Niedergang) This Resolution supports a statewide bill, (S.526/H.3815) to protect tenants from discrimination by sealing eviction records. Learn more here. 

May 2019. Regulations for short-term rentals (aka AirBNB) (Entire Council). These regulations are the strongest in the region, and protect our housing stock from speculation by prohibiting the rental of entire units from short-term rentals (e.g. AirBNB.) Home-owners are still able to rent rooms within their homes. 

Jan 2019. Overhauling the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) (Lead Sponsor: Councilor White.) The SRA has the sole power of eminent domain (i.e. seizing private property), and oversees some of the biggest development projects in the City, including Union Square and Assembly Square. We successfully won state approval to add a City Councilor to the SRA, in order to bring a voice to this powerful Board that is directly accountable to the voters. Councilor Ewen-Campen was appointed by his colleagues to serve in this role - see below for some of the structural changes he has made. 

Nov 2018. Understanding how the “Opportunity Zone” tax giveaway affects Somerville. Led the Council’s work to understand how the “Opportunity Zone” tax cuts will affect development in Somerville. Currently serving as the City Council representative on a task force (led by the Somerville Community Corporation) to leverage this program. 

Oct 2018. Bringing accountability to the Planning Board, Zoning Board, and Somerville Redevelopment Authority (Editorial, co-written with Councilor Niedergang.) In this editorial, Councilors Niedergang and Ewen-Campen explain why they voted against a number of long-serving members of the powerful Mayor-appointed Boards and Commissions who make critical decisions about development and gentrification in Somerville. 

March 2018. Creation of the Office of Housing Stability (OHS) (entire Council & Mayor’s Office). This newly created department works directly with hundreds of Somerville families each year as they face displacement and other housing issues. OHS also researches and proposes new policies, and leads regional organizing to change policy across the State. 

CIVIL RIGHTS, IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, AND COMMUNITY OVERSIGHT OF POLICING

Aug. 2022. Calling for a new “Use Policy” to oversee the implementation of body-worn cameras. Councilor Ewen-Campen worked with the ACLU of Massachusetts to outline what an effective and transparent policy for police body-worn cameras would be - you can down his memo here. Councilor Ewen-Campen led the Council to preventing the funding and implementation of a police body-worn camera program in Somerville until an effective “use policy” is in place.

June 2022. Calling for the civilianization of “Traffic Detail” officers. Councilor Ewen-Campen introduced this Resolution, explained in detail here, calling for an end to the monopolization of Traffic Detail work by sworn police officers. Councilor Ewen-Campen has called on the Administration to prioritize this change in the contract negotiations with the Somerville Police Department.

Oct 2021. Non-citizen voting rights in local election - Home Rule Petition. (Entire Council & Mayor’s Office) WIth the support of The Welcome Project and other immigrants’ rights organizations, this Home Rule Petition would give all residents, including non-citizens the right to vote in local elections in Somerville. It will require approval from the State House in order to take effect. Did you know that from the time of the our founding until an anti-immigrant backlash in the 1920s, non-citizens voting was widespread across the country?

April 2021. Banning tear gas and restricting the use of chemical crowd control weapons. Councilor Ewen-Campen led the passage of an Ordinance to ban tear gas and heavily restrict the use of other “non-lethal” crowd control techniques. Read Councilor Ewen-Campen’s Op-Ed in the Boston Globe on the threats that tear gas to public health and civil rights. The National Lawyers Guild of Massachusetts wrote that “this is an important and historic piece of legislation that…will place Somerville at the forefront of the movement to de-militarize America’s urban police forces.” Press: Somerville Journal.

June 2020. Launching civilian oversight of police. (with entire Council, lead sponsors Councilor Davis & Scott.) For the first time in Somerville history, the City Council secured two staff hires during FY2021 budget negotiations. These staff are specifically dedicated to working towards City Council legislation regarding an empowered civilian oversight process. Learn more: www.SomervilleMA.gov/CivilianOversight

Oct 2019. Surveillance Oversight Ordinance. Councilor Ewen-Campen led the passage of this Ordinance, which establishes an explicit policy for transparency and to require City Council approval for all surveillance technologies used by the Somerville Police Department and other city departments. This work was done in collaboration with the ACLU of Massachusetts.

June 2019.  Facial Recognition Surveillance Ban. Councilor Ewen-Campen led the efforts for Somerville to become the second city in the USA to prohibit the usage of facial recognition technology by the local government. Press: Boston Globe, New York Times, CNN, NBC, Daily Beast, Somerville Journal, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

June 2019. Welcoming City Ordinance (new and improved “Sanctuary City” Ordinance) (Lead Sponsor: Councilor Davis.) Somerville has been a sanctuary city since 1987, yet the legal framework for this policy sorely needed an update for 2019. This new Ordinance clearly and transparently enumerates procedures to ensure that "the City of Somerville will equally enforce the law and serve the public without consideration of immigration status, citizenship, national origin, race, or ethnicity."

CLIMATE JUSTICE AND GREEN, OPEN SPACE

Dec 2023. Green Roof Zoning Amendment (co-sponsored with Councilor Wilson) This amendment requires that large new construction projects have green (“vegetated” roofs.) This amendment, supported by Green & Open Somerville, Mothers Out Front Somerville, and the Urban Forestry Commission, is intended to increase the amount of plants in Somerville, even in those developments without significant amount of ground-level plantings.

Jan 2023. Adopting the new “Stretch Energy Code” at the earliest possible date. (with Mayor’s Office and unanimous Council support.) This wonky-sounding policy is actually one the single most impactful action the City Council can take to reduce fossil fuel combustion in new buildings. Working with local leaders from the green building community and Fossil Free Massachusetts, Ben shepherded the Stretch Code through the earliest possible adoption date, to ensure that we are on a path to Net Zero by 2050 (at the latest.) Details of the policy are here.

Aug 2022. Fossil fuel ban in new construction (Home Rule Petition co-sponsored Councilor Davis with support from Mayor Ballantyne, and full Council as co-sponsors.) Following the State Legislature’s 2022 creation of a pilot program allowing 10 municipalities to ban fossil fuels in new construction, Councilor Ewen-Campen successfully passed a home rule petition to put Somerville on that list. This is a critical step in Somerville’s plan to get to carbon neutral, and was supported by many communities groups including Mothers and Out Front, Climate Coalition of Somerville, and CarbonFreeSomerville.

Dec 2019. Somerville Zoning Overhaul (Described in detail above). Among many other provisions, the Zoning Overhaul dramatically improves sustainability requirements, including net zero/”Passive House” building incentives (and requiring these for all large-scale developments), and “New England's first environmental sustainability performance standard for urban landscapes: the Somerville Green Score.” Details here and here.

Oct 2019. Working towards Banning Fossil Fuel in New Buildings. To achieve carbon neutrality, we will need to eliminate fossil fuel usage in new buildings - today, nearly 65% of Somerville’s fossil fuel emissions come from energy usage in buildings. This Resolution announces a dedicated task force, including the Somerville Climate Coalition and the Somerville Office of Sustainability and the Environment, that will work urgently to make specific recommendations towards eliminating the use of fossil fuels in new buildings. 

June 2019. Tree Preservation Ordinance (Lead Sponsors: Councilors Niedergang & Scott, and resident Chris Dwan.) This Ordinance protects our urban forest by requiring replacement, or payment-in-kind, for trees removed from private property. Owner-occupants are exempted upon request.

May 2019. First “Passive Housing” apartment building in Somerville. Facilitated a community process that led to the approval of Somerville’s first “passive house” apartment building, located at 71 Bow St.. Passive House is a rigorous set of standards for extreme low-energy building design. 

April 2018. Advocating for Environmental Justice at the State Level. Sponsored a Resolution, alongside Mothers Out Front, in support of the Environmental Justice Act (H.2913/S.426) that would facilitate coordination across State Agencies to address interconnected issues underlying environmental justice. 

GOOD JOBS AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE

October 2022. Support small businesses by allowing pre-existing commercial buildings in residential areas to re-open with new commercial uses (with Mayor’s Office.) As the Chair of Land Use, Ben supported and moved this reform through the City Council, which allows small businesses to operate in pre-existing commercial buildings in otherwise residential areas. This reform will help support vibrant, walkable neighborhoods.

Nov 2021. Closing the Living Wage loopholes for workers in the recycling industry. In July of 2019, Councilor Ewen-Campen filed a Resolution calling for Somerville’s “Living Wage Ordinance” (which sets a $15/hr minimum wage for all City contractors) to be applied to our Recycling contracts, who have wrongly been excluded from these labor protections. These efforts were ultimately successful in 2021, when the City’s new Recycling Contract was updated to include Living Wage provisions. Press: Dig Boston, Update here

Dec 2019. Somerville’s Wage Theft Ordinance (Lead sponsors: Councilors Scott & Rossetti.) In collaboration with with local leaders from the labor rights movement and volunteer lawyers from the Greater Boston Legal Services, the City Council overhauled our previous Wage Theft Ordinance, to protect Somerville workers from . This update “makes Somerville’s ordinance one of the strongest in the country - and by far the most comprehensive in the state,” according to a press release from the coalition. Press: Somerville Times.  

Sept 2019. Working towards equity in City spending (co-sponsored with Councilor Mbah.) A recent report from Boston found that less than one percent of $664 million in City contracts went to minority- and women-owned businesses in FY2018. In this Resolution, we call for a formal “disparity study” in Somerville to understand any current inequities in Somerville, and policies to address these issues.

Feb 2019. Standing with Royal Hospitality workers facing displacement in Union Square. Over 150 Somerville residents work at Royal Hospitality, a laundry facility in Union Square facing displacement under the redevelopment plans. Councilor Ewen-Campen brought these workers and their union representatives to City Hall to call for relocation assistance, and is committed to fighting for their jobs.  Press: Somerville Journal. 

Oct 2018. Recreational Cannabis “Equity Ordinance.” (Entire Council, heavy lifting by Councilor Scott) Established Somerville’s new regulations for the adult-use cannabis industry, which require that all licenses for the first two years (and at least 50% of all licenses going forward) must go to “priority applicants,” such as businesses owned by people of color, locally-owned businesses, and worker-owned co-ops. 

SAFE STREETS & BETTER PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Oct 2023. Bicycle Network Plan (with entire Council & Mayor Office). Councilor Ewen-Campen helped lead the City Council’s unanimous endorsement of the Bicycle Network Plan, which came together after years of advocacy, community organizing, and immense staff effort in the City’s Mobility Department. You can watch a video of the Council’s deliberation on the endorsement vote here, and read the Bicycle Network Plan here.

Dec 2021. Sidewalk Snow Shoveling: Pilot Program. Councilor Ewen-Campen successfully advocated for a fully-funded pilot program to provide municipal snow-shoveling on sidewalks, to improve non-vehicular mobility for residents during snow-storms. This funding was included in the FY2022 budget. A pilot program including the entirety of Broadway and of School St is set to be included in winter 2022, described in the link above.

Dec 2021. Creating safe and accessible public restrooms. In March of 2021, Councilor Ewen-Campen and Councilor McLaughlin requested funding to create permanent, safe, and sanitary public restrooms in locations throughout the City. These efforts led directly to the Administration requesting funding in December, 2021 to create three “Portland Loo” facilities in the near future. Read the funding request here.

Dec 2021. Donating abandoned or unclaimed bicycles to local non-profit organizations. Councilor Ewen-Campen and Councilor Clingan have led the efforts to allow the City to donate abandoned/unclaimed bicycles to local non-profits rather than selling them at auction. Going forward, this new policy will allow the City to partner with organizations such as the Somerville Bike Kitchen, Bikes Not Bombs, and Cambridge Bike Give Back to provide free or affordable bicycles to young people in our community. Press: Somerville Times, BINJ.

Mar 2021. Advocating for bicycle, pedestrian & MBTA improvements on Highland Ave. After the Administration proposed a Highland Ave redesign without bicycle infrastructure, Councilor Ewen-Campen worked with residents and advocates to successfully secure a commitment from the Mayor’s Office to redesign this major route with safe, protected bicycle infrastructure as well as major improvements for pedestrian safety and MBTA bus riders.

Aug 2019. Working towards Vision Zero. This questionnaire outlines Councilor Ewen-Campen’s answers to wide range of questions about the work he has done to fight for safer streets and increased public transportation, from individual neighborhood issues to city-wide policy changes.

June 2019. Bicycling Master Plan. Successfully advocated for funding a citywide comprehensive planning effort for bicycling safety.

Mar 2019. Accessibility improvements to the Union Square Green-Line Station. Successfully advocated for necessary ADA accessibility improvements at the new GLX station in Union Square, specifically an elevator that will allow residents with mobility issues to avoid an extra ~850 ft of travel to reach the station. 

Dec 2018. Testing new traffic calming solutions. Led the first data-driven experiment on lowering driving speeds using road-narrowing with flex-posts. While this solution isn’t right for everywhere, this experiment showed it can dramatically improve pedestrian safety when properly used. 

INCREASING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY 

May 2019. Home Rule Petition that would provide legal voting rights in municipal elections for residents aged 16 and 17 years old. (Entire Council & Mayor’s Office.) This Home Rule Petition, which still requires passage at the State House, would expand voting rights to 16- and 17- year olds in local elections, a key recommendation of Somerville’s Clean and Open Elections Task Force. 

Feb 2019. Bringing transparency to the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA). As the first City Councilor appointed to the SRA, Councilor Ewen-Campen ensured a number of basic transparency principles: that these important meetings must be audio-recorded for posterity, that a Public Comment period occurs at each meeting, and that meeting times and locations are posted well in advance. 

Sept 2018. Expanding access to voter registration. This ordinance requires that voter registration materials be prominently displayed at public offices across the City.

May 2018. Overhauling the “Confirmation of Appointments” procedure (with Councilor Scott.) Co-wrote the first ever official procedure for reviewing the confirmation of all appointed positions in Somerville, including Police, Fire, and all of the powerful appointed Boards and Commissions in Somerville. 

Feb 2018. Changing the name “Board of Aldermen” to “City Council” (Lead Sponsor: Councilor White).

Dec 2017. Established Ward 3’s first email letter. Councilor Ewen-Campen maintains a regular email newsletter outlining his thoughts on the many issues faced by the local government. Read past newsletters here, and sign up here.