Somerville’s new mayor is trimming City Hall staff as a stubborn $5.4 million hole in the operating budget forces some tough early decisions. The administration has wiped out 16 vacant positions, placed 13 filled jobs on paid administrative leave, and shifted five workers into new roles in other departments, moves officials say are meant to slow spending without gutting core city services.
Mayor outlines cuts and transitions
In a staffing update released May 22, Mayor Jake Wilson said the city cut 29 positions in total, including 16 vacant jobs and 13 filled roles, and transferred five staff members to other departments, placing the affected employees on paid administrative leave through the end of June, according to the City of Somerville. The notice cast the shake-up as a last resort, coming only after efforts to raise revenue, tap reserves, and squeeze non-personnel costs. “I cannot say strongly enough that we cut positions, not people,” the mayor wrote.
Budget math and reaction
A city spokesperson told The Boston Globe that the reductions are expected to save about $2.5 million next year and are part of a broader push since January to carve roughly $5.4 million out of the budget. Non-union staff organizers fired back quickly. Somerville Workers United said it was “severely disappointed” in an Instagram post, the Globe reported, and the group launched a fundraiser that had pulled in about $3,400 as of Wednesday. City councilors are set to take up a resolution backing the organizing effort even as the mayor prepares a new budget to send to the council next week, according to the Globe.
What comes next
Organizers say they plan to ask the mayor to voluntarily recognize their union so they can start bargaining without going through a formal election, pulling labor politics directly into an already tense budget season. With several contracts already expired or nearing expiration and multiple negotiations underway, the administration’s timing on these cuts could shape bargaining leverage in the short term. The upcoming budget submission and council deliberations will be the next test of how those choices ripple out into day-to-day services and staffing levels for residents.
