An Open Letter to KSS about MaxPac

(The opinions and views expressed in this report belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of Courtney O'Keefe or Ward5Online.Com)

Mr. Ted Tobin

KSS Realty Partners, Inc.
20 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116

Dear Mr. Tobin,

I am writing on behalf of the many struggling working class families in Somerville who would be proud to help you develop the former MaxPac factory. You missed the last few Board of Aldermen hearings, but you may have read in the papers and seen at the site that our numbers continue to grow. Hundreds of Somerville residents are fighting for the union jobs and Somerville jobs that you agreed upon in the covenant with the city.

At every opportunity you say that you are “in negotiations” with the building trades. But you have yet to acknowledge our demand of jobs for Somerville residents. This perplexes us as Local Hiring is the easiest demand for you to fulfill that would turn you from a pariah in the community into a godsend. What would the slight inconvenience of proving that you made a good faith effort to hire Somerville residents cost you? What is but a hassle to you would mean the world to our working class community who struggle to remain in the city they love.

But rather than make even the mildest of concessions, you have continued to stonewall us in the hopes that this will die down. You should come to our next rally and see for yourself that we are not going away. If anything, your choice of ignoring us will force us to double our efforts. We are fighting for survival in the community that we love and it is unwise to fight someone whose existence is on the line.

Of course, we would all prefer the happy ending, where we reach an agreement and we can all benefit from a fine development in the community. I encourage you to sit down with the community leaders of this movement and come to a resolution that will benefit you as well as the working people of Somerville. Short of that, however, you give us no choice but to continue besmirching the Tobin legacy. If you have spent any time in Somerville, you know that we will fight until the end to protect our community. That is Somerville Pride!

Sincerely,
Matthew McLaughiln
President, Save Our Somerville
Chair, Somerville Community Corporation
617-999-0924