total time: 4.66 minutes
total words: 913
[Zac Bears]: The next candidate is Isaac B. Zach Beers. Thanks for using the long version of my name, Henry. So first I want to thank Henry and Julia, the Medford Democratic City Committee, the Ward 6 Committee, and of course everyone who's here tonight, the audience and the 13 other candidates from Medford City Council. My name is Zach Bares. I'm running to represent the people of Medford as a candidate for city council. I'm a lifelong resident of the Fulton Heights, where I live with my parents, Laura and Bruce. And a lot like Nat, I'd like to stay in the city, and I'm at home right now because I have a college degree, a full-time job, and Medford's not affordable for working people. I graduated from Medford High School in 2011 after attending the Davenport, Hervey, Brooks, and Andrews schools. I attended UMass Amherst, graduating in 2015. Currently, I'm the executive director of Phenom, a nonprofit that advocates for public education and fights alongside parents, teachers, and students to make sure that public schools and colleges are fully funded. I'm happy to say that just yesterday, after spending hours at the Statehouse, not as many as Paul Donato, who was just in the room, though, the House of Representatives just passed the Student Opportunity Act, which is going to invest millions of dollars in Medford schools and billions of dollars in public schools across the state. I know what this community means to so many residents, whether they've lived here for five years or 50 years, because it means so much to me. Medford has always been a city for everyone, where people of different backgrounds and traditions live together. But with all the luxury condos and the high-end development, that's starting to change. I believe in a Medford that works for all, not just for rich property developers. This year, we have an opportunity to elect city councilors who are ready to fight for more investment in our infrastructure and our city services, who are gonna reach out to residents and really include them in big decisions and make sure that Medford remains and becomes, in some cases, livable for working families. It's gonna take real work, planning, and commitment to welcome new residents while making sure that people wanna stay here aren't pushed out. That's why the most important thing we need to do is create a five-year master plan for housing, traffic, and new property development. That includes a zoning review. Right now, we're working with developers on a case-by-case or a project-by-project basis And that gives them a huge advantage in negotiations. If we want more commercial development, responsible residential development, community benefits agreements that provide millions of dollars in fees to help fund the important things that our city needs, and just affordable homes for working families and people who want to stay here, we need a plan. A big piece of this is improving the walkability and the livability of our squares. Right now, you look at Medford Square, three of the five or six ways to get in here, nobody wants to walk to the square, because they're afraid they're going to get injured, hit by a car, stuck at a light. We really need to take a look at making our public squares more walkable, because that's how we get people there, that's how we get commercial development there, and that's how we make them places that people want to go. At the end of the day, we have something the developers want, and we have the power to make them play by our rules. We also need to invest in our city infrastructure and services. Medford residents deserve roads, sidewalks, parks, and public buildings that aren't falling apart. As a graduate of Medford Public Schools and through my day job that I mentioned, I'm also committed to our public schools and working with the school committee to support them. We need to create a city council subcommittee on education so we can build a stronger partnership between the council and the school committee. The city and our elected officials also need to do a better job of communicating and engaging residents in big decisions that affect them. That's why I'll hold regular public office hours and invite residents to review city council meeting agendas and materials before the meeting so we can decide what we want to do. It's also why we need new city and school websites. Has anyone been on any of our websites recently? So residents and families can find the information they need. I also strongly support charter review and ward representation so that we can get more views and allow more people to serve on this council. We can't afford to have a council that doesn't represent everyone in our city. Finally, as your city councilor, I'll work with the mayor's office, the other councilors, and the school committee to make sure that your voice is heard. We can only make these big decisions together by including as many residents as possible in the process. That's how we build a Medford where working people can raise a family. My name is Zach Baers. You can read more about me at zachbaers.com. That's Z-A-C-B-E-A-R-S, like the animal. And I'm number six on the November ballot, and I would be honored to receive one of your seven votes for city council on November 5th. Thank you. Thank you, Candidate Zach.
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total time: 4.66 minutes total words: 913 |
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