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Somerville mayor to receive hiring ordinance valentines

Print | Comments () Posted by Matt Byrne February 8, 2012 10:04 AM

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By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent

They're heart-shaped, brightly colored, and headed to the Somerville mayor's mailbox Feb. 14 by the dozens. But they're not love notes.

The Somerville Community Corporation is planning to deliver dozens of Valentine-esque missives, each requesting that Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone help pass a local hiring ordinance in the city, the group said. The effort follows months of discussion, lobbying, and deliberation by the Somerville Board of Aldermen on the bylaw.

If enacted as proposed, construction projects that receive city subsidies could be required to offer employment to local workers. But a court decision overturning a similar law in Fall River prompted new scrutiny by city lawyers.

Much of the local hiring focus has grown alongside plans for the Assembly Row and Maxwell's Green projects, which both received assistance from municipal planners.