Good day to all.
I am William “Billy” Tauro Candidate for Mayor of Somerville.

I come from a family of Italian immigrants. My wife is a Brazilian American who immigrated from Belo Horizonte Brazil. My son is a newspaper publisher, my daughter a registered nurse, both are Italian Americans. My stepson is Brazilian American who studied law and works in the correctional field. And I have both a grandson and a granddaughter as well as a step grandson and my family is still growing as we speak.

At the age of 15 both of my parents made their way from Avalino a province of Naples Italy to the United States and both were processed at Ellis Island.

They both then went to find my dad’s father, who was already established in Boston as an ironworks laborer. My parents immediately took on any and all available jobs to pay the bills and to move them ahead. During this time they also found time to attend assimilation classes which eventually lead to citizenship.

After immigrating from Italy my mother and father married and immediately began to raise a family. My father enlisted in the United States Army and served throughout WWII as a Sargent in the tank corp division under General Patton where he found himself as one of the thousands of brave soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy. After the war my father found work in Somerville. Not too soon after that he opened up his own automobile autobody repair shop business which lasted over 50 years here in Somerville.

As a child I was born in Cambridge but raised in both Cambridge and Somerville at my father’s Business with my four brothers where we all learned the trade of repairing automobiles.
At a young age I became very involved in the community and many service organizations here in Somerville. I attended multiple community and service club meetings throughout the years in Somerville to help out the needy and less fortunate. I worked my way up the ladder in community service organizations and became an eight term past president of the Somerville Lions Club, a past master of the King Solomon Masonic Lodge on Highland Avenue, a past master of King Soloman Masonic Lodge of Instruction, a member of the Somerville Easton Star Chapter, and a fifteen year member of the Benevolent Jade Society of New England that proudly represents law enforcement agencies around the country.

During that time I also became a co-publisher of the Somerville News, than later down the road I became the publisher of Boston News Group, the publisher of Modern Cop Magazine and then finally the publisher of the Somerville/Medford News Weekly. I am also an author and have written a book called “STEALING SOMERVILLE Death of an Urban City” with a second book almost completed. Today I stand before you as a candidate for Mayor of the City of Somerville as a registered Independent.

As many of you that have met me know, I will always entertain an open door policy. I am very approachable to everyone. So feel free to call me on my private number 617 293 2016. I believe this to be the first step to open lines of communication.

For years I have witnessed the corruptive behavior within the city go unanswered.
Just last year, I approached members of the Council to ask if they had any intentions of running against the current administration and their responses were” you do it and we will not interfere”. So in essence, they prompted me to move forward with my decision to run. It was not until months later and after combatting the Administration with truthful statements that can be verified at any time. The list of corruptive activity was continuous to the point that the Mayor decided not to challenge me in the upcoming election but rather to step down after the end of this term.

Shortly after which two Councilors decided to challenge me. Not long after seeing their weak attempts to deter me, a third candidate was added. Two of my opponent’s husbands are still currently involved in dealings with development deals in Somerville for their own personal gain. All three of my opponents have displayed their true intentions. I want to let everyone know my intentions are sincere.

I love Somerville and want to further protect it from corruption as well as for the destructive changes that will remove the warmth of a neighborhood and replace it with box style buildings that strip a community as it has occurred through the Commonwealth. I believe in protecting our historical heritage from elimination as well.
I would like to address other problems that plague our community.

Let’s begin with freedoms.
The L G B T Q community has been a fixture in our community for decades. I feel concerned as these individuals only want to be free to express themselves but, their progressive associates want to defund the police and leave them vulnerable and unprotected. It happens to many people, of different beliefs, ethnics, and cultures which is discriminatory. I believe that funding the police, fire ,as well as other departments provide the safety that every community deserves. Why shouldn’t they get the same equal treatment.
Once elected, I will be implementing the HUB initiative program which will provide a solid introduction to a newly descriptive method for the Somerville Police Department to combat the every day issues that occur on our city streets.

Other safety issues that have become increasingly needed is the bicycle safety. Many of you may have noticed the descriptive dedication lanes, designed for bicyclists throughout the city streets. While most adhere to the rules that guide bicycle operation, many others do not. The issue of concern that has the biggest attention isn’t the lanes, but the insurance of guarantee that if an accident occurs such as a pedestrian struck or collision occurs then all injuries will be covered with an insurance umbrella.

What is fair for one should be fair for all, and it has been dictated that cyclists should obey the same rules as vehicle drivers. We should all share the road but in fairness if an individual operates without the proper coverage then it prevents protection for the rest of the community during travel on public ways. My proposal is yet unconfirmed on insurance coverage, but the allowance of space for our pedestrians is of paramount importance and is my priority.

Spaced provisions for vehicles will allow commerce to enter into our city, to provide small businesses their avenue, of drawing more interaction to all, and not limited to their neighborhoods only.
Out of city travelers will drive to shop before they use other forms. How else can they allow travel with purchased goods without the dependence of a third party specifically set up for that purpose. Many cannot afford that type of service on a regular shopping basis. The dedicated bus lane will become a shared carpooling/bus lane to ease serious traffic congestion problems along with a separate bicycle lane.

Sidewalks that have removed hundreds of parking spaces will need cut curbs to allow multiple use to occur. Special events already dictate the safety guidelines as to proximity and boundary while on off set timeframes, can be used for traveler parking utilized for all.
We are going to reopen up our parking that was taken away from us in recent years. Compromises can be met with little opposition for all to enjoy. I always said that if I can’t drive there, I won’t to business there and that mentality it’s also widely spread amongst many others who think the same. We must also remember those who are in need of handicapped accessibility/mobility throughout our Somerville community.

Back in the beginning when the traffic and parking department charter was formed, it was meant to be for the good of the people and only for the people. But unfortunately today current administrations are using it as a cash cow. There’s even a line item on the city‘s budget for projected revenue from parking meters and parking violations. This is wrong, terribly wrong if people can’t park there, people can’t do business there and all we are doing is damaging local businesses even further because small local businesses need our help. As mayor I will cut parking meter fees drastically and lower parking meter hours from 8:00PM down to 6:00PM.

I want to open up and share Somerville with the world to enjoy and not just through a few selected groups who selfishly try to keep others out of our city. Sadly it appears that my opponents are trying to do just that, keeping others out of our city by discouraging parking availability and increasing traffic congestion do to not utilizing common sense. Until we can acquire and build state of the art underground subway systems similar to Washington DC, Paris France and Montreal Canada, we will still have to depend on buses, bicycles and yes automobiles.

I will work tirelessly as I always have done so for the past 25-30 years to do anything possible to enrich the lives of our seniors and our veterans. Over the past few years they have been seriously neglected and simply tossed aside. Most recently during the pandemic they were stuffed into their apartments and left there cut off from the rest of the world and forgotten with no proper guidance. It’s time to let them out of their confined units, let them thrive once again and live their lives to the fullest. They will be one of my top priorities as mayor of Somerville.

As mayor my team and I will address the many issues that many families of special needs face on a daily basis and support programs that will assist them in any way possible to enrich their lives and help them thrive instead of struggling along their journeys.

I want to help the youth of Somerville and construct teen centers and create activities and educational programs for kids to keep them off the streets and get them more involved in sports activities and scholastic studies. Our youth is our future.

The property tax has become an out of control issue. Hard working Americans hoped for their piece of the American pie one day and worked hard spending all to gain their homes. The fixed incomes of older ownership has come into peril as the rapid increases in real estate value have soared making it tougher for fixed incomes to keep up with the rising taxation. I plan on assigning a special team to address all concerns and allow larger tax breaks to those individuals that have long term investments into their own homes and properties.

Water and sewer bills have skyrocketed under progressive leadership and it’s time to bring the bills down to reality to help home and property owners meet their budgets. The water and sewer issues have now reached a new increase in tax base. 7% of water and 10 % for sewer seems backwards for a start. Water consumption, and usage for vegetation does not dispose of through sewage systems. What reasoning would anyone have to assess such a wrongful tax base. Reflecting to the past, probably thirty years or better, it was designated that the water and sewer tax was to be raised to address and reinstall new underground pipes to upgrade and replace as each street was worked on. However, with another increase why do we not in this day and age have a new city street to travel on in any given neighborhood. How many of our pipelines still require replacement? I plan on researching and launching an independent investigation to the proper assessment of water and sewer taxation to the homeowners.

Protection of their rights is important to all. In reflection, it dictates the rental requirements that are needed to maintain the apartments for tenants. Tenants rights are valid and protected. I have no intention on agreement of rent control as it will only cause a chain reaction into negative status. If a homeowner cannot respectively earn their money to continue paying their tax then they will be forced to sell off their property causing their tenants to forcefully relocate. People adopt their neighborhood once they settle in. They enjoy the friendship of their neighbors and the benefits of their locations. It becomes very fragile when a neighborhood is disrupted and rent control will cause that effect to become a reality. Also once the decision to sell a homeowners property becomes reality, they should not be subjected to restrictions of the current nature. Forcefully making a homeowner seek out old tenants for their right to refuse to purchase not only hinders their right to free action but invades the past tenants privacy rights. A transfer tax is also invasion of their rights to earn from the sweat of their lifelong labor and dream. It should be every homeowners right to freely transfer title to another at their own terms and discretions.

As mayor there will be a complete revamping and I will unclog the blockages at the Inspectional Services Department (ISD) making it more people and user-friendly. In unclogging the blockages at ISD developers will feel more interested in returning to Somerville to help build new seriously needed affordable housing units and get it done without all the unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape in record time.

Health concerns in regards to rodent infestation have not been addressed to the satisfaction of our neighborhoods.
Rats as big as a small cat run ramped throughout the city streets. Fear has embraced in the enjoyment of peoples very own back yards. The children are in danger of possible attack. We need a more aggressive plan in place to combat and remove this infestation and keep it safe and clean.

As mayor I will refer to the statue of limitations statue and go six years back to anyone and everyone who has broken the law in Somerville and thought that they got away with it. I am referring to corruption including illegal eminent domain takings, illegal political interference of the municipal police and fire department hiring list, misappropriation of public funds and scandalous overtime schemes that were allowed to run rampant for years in the city. The guilty will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

I’m going to do a major focus on getting drugs and gangs off the street, desperately helping the homeless and seeking treatment for people who need it.

As mayor, these snuck-in public meetings at Somerville City Hall in the City Council chambers that allows certain special interests groups in that only lets people/residents/citizens/taxpayers speak only a total of 60 seconds will be a thing of the past! I will create meetings and make sure that everybody knows about it and not just a certain few. I will make absolutely certain that constituents, residents, property owners, everybody gets to speak the amount of time that they require to voice their opinions on anything and not be silenced by your Somerville City Council ever again! We as Citizens of somerville have that right and we will absolutely demand and enforce it!

These are only a few of my goals as mayor that are listed. As mayor, together we will accomplish many more goals to make Somerville a better place. It’s time for change!

I believe my 40 plus years of business experience and community leadership will be a great foundation in running the City of Somerville. I will bring a wealth of knowledge to our businesses and create new partnerships within our Somerville Community, when I am elected in November for the Mayor’s seat.

You can learn more about my campaign and my outline for a greater Somerville at Williamtauro.com

My name is William “Billy” Tauro and I’m running for Mayor of Somerville.

To contribute to William “Billy” Tauro’s campaign please click on link below:
https://politics.raisethemoney.com/committee-to-elect-william-tauro