Row Row Row Your Boat to Somerville Surplus Property

Despite a busy last few weeks with the death of State Senator Charlie Shannon and the political jockeying to replace him, a major drug bust on the Tufts campus and the long-anticipated beginning of reconstruction on the Lowell Street bridge, the major news in Somerville this week really doesn't hold water...in fact, it floats on water.

The Somerville Journal reported last Thursday that a mysterious boat has been found in the Homan's Building, an empty property on Medford Street owned by the City of Somerville, and slated to be "disposed of" in coming months. The mystery has to do with the question of who owns the boat and what is it doing being stored in public property.

Despite being told by the Mayor's office that there was no boat, the Journal took a trip to Medford Street and found through good old fashioned investigative journalism (ie, peering through a window) that there was indeed a boat. The Journal article details the violation of state ethics codes for public employees if this boat is being stored for public uses.

Now the debate has turned into a Globe v. Herald-esque turf war. While the Journal claims they were unable to figure out who owns the boat, a new issue of The Somerville News claims that the Journal was told by a "good friend" that the boat is owned by Frank Santangelo -- Somerville superintendent of buildings and grounds, but failed for some reason to mention his name in the article. This prompted the News to ask accusingly of the Journal: "Where is the loyalty in this city?"

Since the Journal is published on Thursday, we must wait two more days for their response to this challenge by the News. Since the Journal is owned by the Boston Herald, we expect exciting things.

In Somerville's never-ending quest to distinguish itself from its neighbor to the south, Bostonist wonders if Santangelo was getting the fleet ready for the recently Cambridge-rejected Somerville Duck Tours.

Photo courtesy of The Somerville News.