Dear Billy T and Somerville/Medford News Weekly Speakup Line,

I think that you’ll like these little ensembles of weekly true stories that I will be sending you. 

Back in the ‘80s and into 2000’s; when I used to hang in the bars, it was rumored a few things happened. A huge one was the 279 private properties eminant domained in Union Square Somerville. Major GRAND THEFT!!

Sometime in the late 1990s early 2000s, Joe baloney decided he could eminent domain 279 private parcels of property. He sent notices and went through proceedings to illegally eminent domain them. Eventually They manipulated courts to create legal loopholes.

By the early 2000s his family had been elected registrar of deeds; East Cambridge – Middlesex County. Since the parcels were in dispute, They allegedly had staff move them to a basement room known to regularly flood.

What do you think happened to the OLD DEEDS, late 1800’s to the early 1900s when they got wet on their old ink and paper? How do you think that worked out when a judge requires you to have an original deed in court? Cases dismissed. Except one. That’s a story for another time – and ALLEGED Profiteering.

Hence the property owners had no real standing as the steamroller kept moving forward, etching Their take for private gain. They got away with it and it only made Them bolder.

Eventually, the cases made it through multiple courts that destroyed ownership rights of these properties to be eminent domained, and then privately sold to Their friends.

The entities were not supposed to have any vested interest with the city officials, but who is following the dots and the dollars? Novaya.

….my first thought when I saw the white dust of Lahaina? “Wow, Joe Boloney is a great guy. He sent letters. He gave notice. They had at least a couple years to pack up their belongings, their loved ones, and their pets. Maui was not so lucky.” Neither are any of these smart cities.

-Robert L. Peters