total time: 16.21 minutes
total words: 1243
[Danielle Balocca]: Hey listeners, this is Danielle. And Shelley. Shelley is a radical Dravidian and racial equity activist.
[Chelli Keshavan]: And Danielle is a community mobilizer and changemaker. And this is the Medford Bites podcast. Every two weeks, we chew on the issues facing Medford and deliver bites of information about the city by lifting the expertise of our guests.
[Danielle Balocca]: Join us in discussion about what you hope for the future of Medford. And as always, tell us where you like to eat. All right, thanks for being here today. If you don't mind just introducing yourself with your name, pronouns, and a bit about who you are.
[Anna Callahan]: Oh, sure. Thanks so much for having me on. I'm excited. I am Anna Callahan. She, her, coming at you from Medford. I had to say that because that's how I introduce myself on the other podcasts that I do. And a little bit about me. So I've lived in the area since 2003. I was a software engineer for a bunch of years and then around 2016, you know, like many people, I realized that politics matters. And so I ended up getting really involved in training people. all across the country and kind of a different strategy for winning local elections, but not just winning, it's more like how you can have truly people-powered, people-centered coalitions that do in fact elect people who are going to represent the real needs of the people of that city, and I include marginalized voices and everything inside the coalition. So that's what I've spent the last, I don't know, a bunch of years doing. Then I've gotten interested in state politics as well, so I have a little podcast about that. But that's been most of my work for the last, wow, really, seven years.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. So before we get into talking about local politics, we'll just ask you the question that we ask everybody on the podcast, which is, what is your favorite place to eat in Medford and what do you like to eat there? Yes.
[Anna Callahan]: We really love Oasis and in part it's because it has all those things that never seem to come together. It's, you know, delicious, inexpensive, fast, you know, kind of everything that you want out of a place to eat. But the other reason is because my eight-year-old really likes to go to the buffet where he can pick anything he wants and, you know, just decide at the spur of the moment that he doesn't like something today that he liked yesterday and just get whatever he wants. So we love it there and we go there a lot.
[Chelli Keshavan]: Love it. Thank you. Do you want to talk a little bit about the sort of journey to this moment and what brought you, what kind of pathways have taken you into local politics?
[Anna Callahan]: Yes. It's for me. It's actually a fairly simple story and one that happened a long time ago. So I Again, I was a software engineer and then I I got really intrigued by the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016 it was the moment when he was on the debate stage and they asked a what is the greatest threat to our national security? And his answer was climate change. And it was like the first time that any national politician I felt like was actually seeing the world from my perspective. So I got interested and I got super involved. I ended up taking a hiatus from work to volunteer full time. And then after that, I really, and with the whole Trump getting elected and everything else, I came to this realization that politics was super important and that local politics was really the thing that mattered. So starting in 2017, I became really totally devoted. I decided to leave software engineering and I became really devoted to local politics and helping people in blue states, in red states, in purple states to sort of win their city councils. And so that's what I've done and really spent my time training people, not just candidates, but training people in the community to help them identify candidates, to help them work with those people after they got elected, which is really crucial. There's this strategy that works really well, and I've had the great fortune to meet with people in different parts of the country and help them to make the strategy happen, and also to learn from city councilors and mayors in different cities who have been parts of these movements. So that's been wonderful, and it's really, in the end, a lot of why I'm here in this situation. just loving Medford and feeling like there's a good group of people, that I'm not going to be alone as a progressive voice on the city council, that we can really make some change happen and truly represent the needs of the people who live here.
[Danielle Balocca]: That's a great segue to our next question, which is change. If elected, what would your priorities be for change in the city?
[Anna Callahan]: I'm going to start with policy because that's what everybody expects, and then I'm going to get to the thing that's actually the most important to me. So in terms of policy, housing is skyrocketing like crazy, so really doing what we can to make sure that people who grew up here can continue to live near their families and friends. We need more trees, we need more green space, we need to, environmentally, we need to retrofit buildings, we need to do all of those things for climate change. And I think we could do better paving our roads, which doesn't just it's not just a nice to have like it really affects people's pocketbooks It also affects I know quite a few people you'd be surprised how many people get injured because of potholes and the sidewalks And then we got to fund our schools better you know, I think I'm not gonna surprise any of your listeners with the suite of policies that are on my you know, agenda. And I think these are policies that, you know, the people of Medford as Medford sort of, you know, is a changing community that are becoming the important policies in the city of Medford. And now I'll say wait to the thing that is actually the most important to me, which is there's this special thing that I have seen the best elected officials at the local level do that I've learned from them and that I think is a little bit of a missing piece here in Medford that I love doing and I'm excited to sort of add to what we have going on, which is sort of constant more than one a week listening sessions where the elected official goes into the community, not like making people come to them, but like meeting with people with their permission at places they already are, especially starting with people who don't vote in municipal elections, right? So that's like many marginalized communities, but also just regular people, you know, a lot of folks, younger people. 65% of the people in Medford don't vote in municipal elections. It's a lot of people. And I feel like There's so much to be gained by not just going and listening, but a lot of times they know what they need, they know what they want, they already have ideas, and simply by connecting them with other people and resources around the city, so much can happen that doesn't require legislation. A lot of people who have ideas and they may seem hard to do by a small group of people, but when they're connected with other people and resources, we really can make those things happen and engage people in making our community better. Thank you.
[Chelli Keshavan]: I'm remembering you talking about sort of a version of training in communities in your past sort of work. Would that be, are there elements of that that you might bring to a role in Medford, or is there a curriculum per se, or is there just sort of like a teaching around coalition building?
[Anna Callahan]: So there is a training, and wow, I guess I'll say that the, there were people here who took that training in 20, 19 early 2019 and they have been like building a coalition and running candidates and all those things and I And these are the folks that I'm friendly with on the city council and the people that I kind of work with on some of the policy issues that we've talked about. So this has already been happening. And so it's another thing that's exciting to me is I feel like in Medford, this strategy is happening. And so that's exciting. And it's exciting for me to take a little bit more of a day-to-day role in it, which I hope that I can do if I end up as a city councilor.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, you mentioned, so I think in some of the policy change that you were mentioning, it kind of stood out like, kind of like a focus on equity and inclusivity. I don't wonder if you have any observations about the city and like how you think we could be more equitable.
[Anna Callahan]: So I think all of the Boston region is a fairly, what's the word? It tends to be racially divided, compared even to other parts of America, let alone other parts of the world. You know, I am both in favor of, like, I love the work that the community liaisons are doing in Medford. I think that's incredibly important. And I don't know how much your listeners know, but basically there are community liaisons for a variety of different groups of people. Some of them are foreign language speakers. And to really help them to to bring them together, to give them the ability to sort of have events where they can gather, they can meet each other, they can celebrate their cultures. And I love that work. I think it's also important that we come together, right? So those are important so that those folks, you know, folks from different communities can really meet with each other to understand their needs and to get their needs met, but also having us work together with each other and integrating, you know, in ways that don't erase people's culture, that don't, you know, sort of, you know, make those potentially bad parts of integration happen, that bringing us all together and allowing us to work together, that's a thing that I think has been very hard. And there are so many groups I've talked to that have difficulty, they want to bring in marginalized voices, and yet it's difficult to get folks involved. And I think that's one of the things that I'll be working on and be really excited about is to sort of engage people in the political process, engage them in the less political process of just like, bringing change to their community in ways that excites them, but also then, you know, over time into things that do require a little bit of like politics to happen, require some legislation, require funding, those things to get those people to engage more in city politics.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. So I think we find all of what you're sharing very interesting. I think it's really important to hear some of the political ideas that you would have as a city councilor. We're also interested in you as a person. So you mentioned that you have your own podcast. Do you mind saying what it's called?
[Anna Callahan]: Oh, sure. So it's called Incorruptible Massachusetts, or Incorruptible Mass. And I do it with my ridiculously amazing co-hosts, who are two of my favorite people in the whole state. Jordan Burr Powers and Jonathan Cohn and you know we talk about state politics which is a really kind of undiscussed level of politics. I think a lot of people are really concerned about national and then city comes next. People kind of ignore state politics, so we just dive into what's happening there, what goes on, what it's like. If people are interested, that's something that I work on, continue to do.
[Danielle Balocca]: I wonder if you could share something that you appreciate about Medford, the community of Medford.
[Anna Callahan]: First of all, the Medford Family Network is amazing. So amazing. And I also love that there are a lot of things that Medford has for families. That is really great. The Medford Rec Center has an incredible summer program for kids. that is all outdoors, it's all play. They swim twice a day. They have a swim lesson and free swim. I mean, it's like everything that you could want. And it's, you know, inexpensive and it's just perfect. It's so good. So there are tons of family things that I think are so fantastic. And of course there is a lot of cultures and I really love going to different events. We went to the American event, went to the Italian event. I'm excited to go to these things and we did. the cardboard canoe race.
[SPEAKER_02]: We made a cardboard canoe. We, you know, sailed or whatever, rode in our cardboard canoe. And, you know, eventually it disintegrated in the water. That's the whole point of it. But, you know, what a goofball, fun, ridiculous, silly thing that is right up my alley.
[Danielle Balocca]: Love those. Love those kinds of things. Chris Hogan, I think, was the guy who taught the class here. He's married to one of my friends, too. I do appreciate, like you said, there's kind of a big community feel sometimes, but then all those little small things. I find myself feeling really connected to the community around those things, and then I think your point about, and who are we missing? Who maybe has these like liaisons to City Hall or ways to get information, but maybe aren't sort of feeling included in all those. Maybe more like community building spaces, which is great. And the Medford Family Network, the last two years ago when I did these interviews for the elections, they came up a lot. So yeah, they're great. We just went to the teddy bear picnic last weekend, which was awesome. So, one more sort of personal question. I wonder if you could share something with us about you that you think might surprise us.
[Anna Callahan]: Sure. So, I lived in Italy for a year.
[SPEAKER_03]: I love speaking in Italian. So, if there's someone who speaks Italian who wants to speak with me, I'd love it. Every dinner I ate in Italy for a year was the best food I've ever eaten in my life.
[Anna Callahan]: People see my face and they don't expect me to speak Italian, but I lived there for like a year or so. Can I jump in before you do? I would just want to bring up because policy-wise there are some bigger policies that I'm excited about that I think don't often come up. So first I'm working with City Councilors from other cities and a small legal team and we are putting together a resource for City Councilors across Massachusetts to be able to pass progressive policy more easily. And so, bigger picture things. occur to me and I tend to think about them. So for example, one thing that people may not know is that almost every city spends millions of dollars servicing their debt. So when they do some big project, they have to borrow the money and they go into debt. And so there are lots of ways that that debt, it's not just fees and interest, there are all these other ways that it costs a lot of money. And that's taxpayer money from Medford that goes straight to Wall Street, goes out of state, goes to these big banks. And I'm hoping to look into, there's a lot going on with this, but if we can get a number of cities in Massachusetts to go in on a regional public bank, then there is some possibility that we might be able to save that amount of money and use that money for our city instead of using that money for fees and interest that goes straight to Wall Street. What's a regional public bank? Like a credit union? It's similar. A public bank is basically what you think it might be. It is a bank whose mission is not to have profits. Its mission is to serve the public. And so the rates tend to be much lower, like the fees tend to be much lower. Its purpose would be, in this case, to serve the cities of Massachusetts that have signed on board.
[Chelli Keshavan]: And, you know, that's something that That almost sounds cooperative-esque.
[Anna Callahan]: Almost sounds cooperative-esque.
[Unidentified]: Un-American.
[Chelli Keshavan]: To piggyback on that, while I'm listening, I'm wondering if, I have like a visioning question, if you were projecting forward, what might you hope for the city of Medford, or what might you hope that you kind of left when you move on? Or what will your work have done for the city?
[Anna Callahan]: Oh my gosh, genuinely that way more people are engaged and are working together with other people that maybe they would never have met to improve the community, right? I mean, imagine, there's people, there are entire depaving parties, right? where 20-30 people get together and just sledgehammer somebody's backyard who has asked them to do that because they buy a house and it's paved. The entire backyard is paved over with cement. So they have these parties and they smash it up, which is super fun, and then they have a big lunch, and then they plant stuff. And there are ways to get free trees. You can get saplings for free. Like, you can get dozens or hundreds of them. And this is something that people think is like something that has to be done by the city. Sure, the city should be paying to do this stuff, but it's also a really fun community project to like, you know, dig up spaces, plant saplings, water them. Like there are lots of people who would volunteer to do this work. And while we're waiting for the city to sort of figure out the resources, the funding resources, There are a lot of things like that. It could be anything. It could be block parties. It could be renovating a certain square that could have chairs and tables and a lemonade stand. These are things that don't have to require funding, but they do require organizing. It's getting people to meet each other and combining resources and stuff like that. And that's the work I'm most excited to do.
[Danielle Balocca]: It's sort of that idea, I spent some time in South America where they did these things called mangos, I think, where it would be like the community would help one farm harvest their crop and like everybody would work and then they'd have a party. And so, and which was a really fun part of being there. And it also, I think, like, that kind of cooperation implies a little bit of a shift in values, right? It means that I'm going to help my neighbor and then we're going to increase the tree coverage in our neighborhood and that there's a way of doing that as a community, right? And that sounds wonderful. And also the therapeutic value of busting up some time.
[Chelli Keshavan]: So speaking of community, I hear that you have a kickoff.
[Anna Callahan]: Oh yeah, I have a kickoff coming up. It's on Thursday the 22nd. It is at, I don't know, should I give out the address? 22nd of July? 22nd of June, coming right up next Thursday at a friend's house, so let me know if you want to go. We'd love to have you. A bunch of my friends, they're going to bring amazing home-cooked dishes. I have a band that I play in that's going to come and play some music. We're going to have childcare, so please bring your kids. Don't stay home because your kids need watching. Don't leave your husband or your wife at home because your kid needs watching. Bring them. We're going to have stuff for them to do, activities. And some folks there are ready to sort of be engaged with the kids as well. And it would be great to see people there.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, so it sounds really fun. The episode might not be out before then, but we can also, we can always share that on our Instagram and let people know how they can volunteer, help to support your campaign after that kickoff. That sounds fun.
[Chelli Keshavan]: Well, thank you so much.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Wonderful to be here. Thanks so much. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. The Medford Bites podcast is produced and moderated by Danielle Balacca and Shelly Casherman. Music is made by Hendrik Idonis. We'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. You can reach out to us by email at medfordpod at gmail.com, or you can rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Guys, what's the name of the podcast? Never Bites. Never Bites. Good job.
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total time: 16.21 minutes total words: 1243 |
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