Local business owners are at a tremendous disadvantage when competing with malls and online businesses. The parking situation in Somerville always presented an additional hurdle.

When the Downtown Somerville Alliance (DSA) and BOOM, a group of local merchants organized to have the parking rate increases in town repealed, Mayor Brain reacted swiftly, peeling back the hikes to  benefit Somerville and the surrounding areas.

The efforts of the DSA and BOOM are without question, deserving of accolades. A recent article in Tapinto Somerville, “Somerville Merchants Endorse Plan to Reduce Parking Lot Fees.” outlined their hard fought victory.

However, there is a  backstory regarding the Somerville Business and Professional Association (SBPA) that has been ignored. The story deserves to be mentioned, not only because this generous nonprofit was the first to valiantly try to prevent the hike, but also because it serves as a reminder to us all that we cannot meekly allow elected officials to decide our fate. We cannot always mop up a mess.

For those in the community who do not know who the SBPA is, it’s a small nonprofit operating in town whose mission is to support local merchants and the community. The SBPA is responsible for many events in town that contribute to the unique experience that is Somerville. Events include the horse drawn Carriage rides during Christmas, photos with Santa, Strolling Carolers& Musicians, the Arts and Crafts fair and both the Spring and Fall street fairs. In addition, the SBPA sponsors other town events such as the Tour of Somerville, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and others. Many students in town have enjoyed SBPA scholarships while organizations such as the Somerville Rescue Squad, the Women’s Shelter and others have received generous donations.

Surprising, isn’t it? This little known nonprofit operates quietly while doing so much for Somerville and the surrounding area.

Well, it’s time that the SBPA and the merchants who comprise this organization got some credit. It could be argued that the SBPA loosened the jar for this big win for residents and merchants in Somerville.

The humble nonprofit was all over this issue from day one. The SBPA sounded the alarm and rounded up the community to fight the parking rate hike.

When the SBPA first caught wind of the proposed rate hike they quickly reached out to local merchants and the community. They were able to put together a  good sized crowd to show up at the boro meeting. Sadly, the council did not budge for IMO, two reasons:

1. Denial and complacency. Had local merchants and residents fully understood the impact of the rate hike, more people would have been involved. Instead, they swallowed the hike as inevitable and didn’t bother to fight it.
2. Arrogance. It’s entirely possible that the town’s leadership figured that once the rate hike was approved people would grumble, but go back to business as usual, accepting the bitter pill with the quiet desperation that government greed feeds on.

Had the DSA and members of BOOM reacted with the same passion and sense of urgency that they showed once the damage was done, it would never have reached this point. This is not meant to be derogatory, but more a statement about human nature. To their credit they didn’t cave to human nature and simply accept the results, but fought to correct them.

So while the efforts of the DSA and the merchants are praiseworthy, this backstory regarding the efforts of the SBPA and its members has been ignored. The story serves as a wakeup call.

And it just seemed that it was time to give some credit where credit is due.