stakeholders, police, city councilors, people running for city council, and
state reps came together at Pollo Royal in Downtown Framingham. They were
brought together by an initiative launched by Downtown Framingham, Inc. on
behalf of the businesses in and around Burkis Square.
Burkis Square is the area of the southern āYā split south of Waverly Street
where Irving and Hollis Streets come together. This is the area of downtown
that is south of the railroad tracks. Burkis Square is stigmatized as a
dangerous area, with drug addicted loiterers spending their days outside,
fighting, panhandling, and being inebriated. Business owners here, claim that
during the time the loiterers are there, business drops 40%. Many of these are
woman owned businesses and these owners live in fear.
Downtown Framingham, Inc. a private charitable entity launched their Burkis
Square Betterment Project Fundraiser this evening, with a lofty goal of hiring
a two-person plain-clothed private security team who will provide 16 weeks of
community outreach on the streets of Burkis Square.
The security team would be greeting visitors to the area, handing out shopping
maps to the area, but most importantly providing security, security the
business stakeholders have been desperate for. At least 108 cities have engaged
in similar outreach programs, Courtney Thraen, Executive Director of Downtown
Framingham, Inc. hopes Framingham is on the map as number 109.
This outreach program will cost $25000 for the entirety of the summer with
nearly 10% of that goal already hit. Downtown Framingham, Inc. is still seeking
individuals small and large who can donate to this deserving cause.
The meeting focused on the business aspect of the business and social issues
downtown concerning loitering, public nuisances, homelessness, drug use and the
broader issues of a large contingent of social service organizations operating
here. The meeting did not have any representatives from any of the social
service organizations on hand.
Brian Li, owner of 11 Irving St and landlord to many of the tenants affected,
spoke of his challenges, āthe police are tapped out, I feel really back when I
have to call the police. I would like to have more support from the officers,
but we canāt obviously take them away for the other requirements of their
jobs.ā He had met earlier in the day with the Mayor, he continued, āI asked the
mayor if I asked city council to write an ordinance, would she support it, and
she replied, you donāt even need to do that, you could do a citizens ordinance
by getting 25 to 50 signatures to show support, I will look into it.ā
Mike Cannon, Councilor of District 4, suggested that they also look into
creating an ordinance stating, āthe citizen ordinance, the signatures are great
but we will file whatever we need to file to make this happenā, continuing by
asking Lt. Wareham if he knew any barriers to an ordinance being passed.
Lt. Harry Wareham responded, āI think itās a charged conversation, people want
to look to the police[ā¦] when you talk about ordinances like that, a lot of
them have turned out to be unconstitutional, with panhandling, and you canāt do
much unless they are aggressive or disturbing traffic. We have tools and we use
them, like today, I had two officers place two people in protective custody,
these [officers] are downtown every day, but it got to the point that we had to
get rid of themā¦ now I got a text that they are stuck watching them inside for
the remainder of their shift, so now I have no officers downtown.ā
Responding to a comment by a community member, Wareham continued, āBut the
tools we really need are you people because the government can only do so much.
Whenever we do something there is a cost, we can move them, we can arrest them,
you can pass ordinances, but Mass is a very liberal state, it can be good today
but ten years from now you can be sued. The city has in the past tried to put
controls on some of these social service agencies and the people they are
bringing in, guess who winds up paying, the city, and as a law enforcement
agency we have to keep that in mind.ā
Wareham then took it positive, āLet me tell you what we do... do rather than
what we canāt do. The Framingham police has two officers, Officer Demora and
Officer Duncan who walk down there every day and you should see them. Also on
the 4-12 shift the [Commanding Officer] will walk downtown, and if he has extra
guys he will send them out.ā
Thraen followed up with an idea that if there is a police car parked on the
street or in the Tedeschis parking lot, this symbolizes danger to potential
customers, and her plan to get plain clothes support as a liaison to the police
has support from the business owners. She mentioned visiting Baltimore and
seeing police everywhere but because of this, felt the city was unsafe.
Carmen Solares, the co-owner of Necas Bakery spoke and opened with an
experience of just walking from her store front to Pollo Royal for this
meeting, a saunter of 100 feet, she heard words uttered, people tried to get
her phone, and she was asked for money. She then asked those in the room to
imagine what it is like every day for her, sometimes working alone, sometimes
working late at night. Her own customers have stopped coming, or they will not
come with their kids because they are getting catcalled, yelled at, or harassed
for change. She mentions her 80 year old mother who arrives at the bakery at
5am, and the people are already outside, and when Carmen herself works late
often until 11pm, she notes that the same people are still outside. She
mentioned living in Waltham and knows there are similar issues there but she
doesnāt see it. āThere are times that they line up for food, but afterwards,
everyone disperses, they donāt hang out in front of businesses and they donāt
pass out in the street.ā She finished by stating that just two years ago, this
mess didnāt occur here. She partially blamed the city installing planters, what
she calls āBeds, Mattresses, Tanning Bedsā She shared a recent incident where a
woman outside her store started unbuttoning her pants, or another woman who
took off her shirt to sunbathe in the planter. āIām a mother, and if I was told
about a great restaurant in Boston, and if I saw things like this going on
outside, I would just leave.ā Carmen thinks by inaction we are chasing away
business daily.
Following Solares, Mario Alvarez, running for District 8 City Council, got up
and started speaking about trying to find the root cause for why this is
happening downtown, but was interrupted by a fight directly outside of
restaurant requiring Wareham to spring into action. The fight led to cars
pulled over, people yelling at each other in the middle of the street. Wareham
was able to break up the fight and get all parties to go their separate ways.
Upon his return Wareham stated, that he could have found a reason to make an
arrest if he looked hard enough, but that they would bail out that night, and
be fighting downtown later.
Phil Ottaviani, candidate for District 6 City Council, took this break in
speeches to talk about his daughter who has been getting her nails done at
California Nails since she was 4, and that last week, her now 13, he had taken
her, and outside laying in a planter was a man, unconscious, police trying to
revive him. The planters were a terrible idea when proposed, then and more so
now, the business community was against their instillation.
The rest of the meeting was dedicated to the future of Downtown Framingham,
Inc. and its hopes. Thraen talked about the open spaces for lease in the area,
30 Irving and 428 Waverly. 428 Waverly is the former 7 Eleven on the corner of
Hollis and Waverly, and has been boarded up for a year. However paying the
lease - to not be open is 7 Eleven at a rate of $12,000 per month. 7 Eleven
closed because of the issues downtown. Fortunately the property owner does not
wish to have a blighted property and is actively seeking a new tenant.
Before the final speaker, Mike Cannon stated, āThe city needs to step up, It
breaks my heart that a private entity, a nonprofit is having to raise money for
something that at the end of the day should be a municipal responsibility.ā
Speaking to Thraen he continued, āIt is an unforgivable sin that the city has
put you in this position.ā
Closing the meeting was State Rep Jack Lewis, who made a poignant statement
praising the work Thraen does, and commending her for her āout of the boxā
approach.
IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT THIS INITIATIVE, ANY AMOUNT IS APPRECIATED AND WILL HELP
GET THE BALL ROLLING. IF YOU HAVE $5 AND BELIEVE THAT BURKIS SQUARE BUSINESSES
DESERVE THIS HELP, PLEASE CONSIDER GIVING.
PLEASE VISIT THE GOFUND ME PAGE AT:
https://www.gofundme.com/burkis-square-better-project