total time: 18.11 minutes
total words: 2104
[John Petrella]: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Method Happenings, a show for and about the city of Medford. I am John Petrella, and the purpose of this program is to give Medford citizens facts and information to help you make informed choices. Our guest for the show today is Nate Merritt, better known as the kid from Riverside. The reason Nate is joining us today is Nate is a candidate for our Medford City Council. And I would also like to mention that Nate is often, I mean often, in attendance at city council meetings. He speaks up on issues and concerns for the residents of Medford. So I want to thank you, Nate, for joining us today. Looking forward to you answering some questions. So welcome to the show.
[Nate Merritt]: Thanks for having me, John.
[John Petrella]: OK. So the first question, or what I always like to start off with is, who's Nate Merritt? Give us a little background. Tell us about yourself.
[Nate Merritt]: All right. Well, thank you. Thanks for the opportunity. So my name's Nate. I'm actually a systems engineer, bachelor's and master's out of UMass Amherst. I've been working as an engineer for 17 years. I was born and raised in Western Mass, so I am not from Medford. Oh, OK. Interesting. I moved out here in around 2009 and met my wife. And I actually knew her from college before, but we got together. And yeah, so my mom was a nurse. My dad was a fireman. And he was on the job for 30 years. And I grew up on a small tree farm. And it's something I still keep up today. So I myself went to the fire service, and it's funny, because my dad would say, son, don't go into the fire service. There's a lot of politics. Right. So, well, sorry, dad, because not once, now, but twice.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[Nate Merritt]: So I'm actually 25 years now as a MAS certified EMT. and I'm a private pilot, husband, I got two young boys, they're great, and I bought my home on Riverside Ave in 2014. About five months later, after first buying my home, my welcome to Medford was a car crashing through my front yard, taking out my whole front fence, and it hit the building next door.
[John Petrella]: Riverside Ave.
[Nate Merritt]: And that's what brought me to the City Council my first time. There was something happening at the building next door. They were going to open a business and I was worried about the traffic flow because it's probably one of the strangest intersections. You can see where the stoplight is before the driveway. And so I just raised a concern because of the traffic flow. I didn't want to see anyone else get hurt. So that brought me to City Council and since then I've tried to offer practical solutions whenever I can, not just be a complainer, but try to offer some solutions. So for example, and I don't even remember when it was, but there was talk of needing money for, I don't know if it was the fire station, the library, so on and so forth. Instead of raising taxes, I said, hey, what if you gave people the option in their property tax bill to make a donation? And if you look in the upper right corner of your property tax bill, you'll see a spot to make a donation for the library, the police station, or the fire department. And that was an idea I came up with during public comments at a city council meeting. So obviously, someone heard me. They took your advice, it was a good idea. And there we go. Yeah, that's a good thing. I'm a person I believe in limited government. We're five miles from a group of people 250 years ago that maybe thought the same thing. So that said, government should work for the people. and not necessarily the other way around. And we should always be careful if we're infringing on individual liberties. That's what this country was founded on. But I also understand the need for government.
[John Petrella]: It's a balance. Yes, it is. And your father, like I said, you're really getting into politics now. So, all right, so you gave us a good introduction there. You know, what reasons are making you run for a seat on the City Council? I mean, you know, why do you want the job?
[Nate Merritt]: I'll be honest with you, John, I don't want the job. I'd much rather be at home playing with my kids and spending time at city council meetings even now and I've said that before. But I think unfortunately we can either complain about it or we can do something about it. So I'm at the point where it's time to try to do something. I think we need to give a voice back to the people. I think, unfortunately, the way things have been running for the past two years, for example, you look at recent meetings that have happened zoning, especially in Salem Street. And I was there and I saw people for hours sitting there making comments and concerns. And there was, you know, the Community Development Board had incorporated suggestions from, you know, the residents, and I watched a city councilor just say, yeah, I don't like that. Change it and just go their own way. And to me, that's not sad. I think that I can also start giving some critical thought to some issues. I think that people are maybe good intentioned, but I think we need to start weighing pros and cons of things, and especially always asking the question, how does it benefit the residents of Medford today?
[John Petrella]: That's awesome. That should be number one. Always should be the residents of Medford.
[Nate Merritt]: Absolutely. So, honestly, I'm kind of tired of sitting back and watching the agenda removing the rights of our citizens. So we have rent control on the table. You've got a tree ordinance coming up. You've got zoning. I saw what happened with the charter. Right. And same thing where the voice of the people was lost. Correct. Unilaterally. Okay. I think our sense of community is deteriorating and there's an agenda and it's being plowed forward. They're plowing forward with it, John.
[John Petrella]: Okay. No, I agree. I agree. I hear you. So that's a good answer. Great answer, actually. So, you know, you've given us some good reasons. Those are good reasons why you're running for a seat on the city council. And I'm going to ask you this question. But I've been to City Hall. I've seen you offer solutions. As a matter of fact, you seem to offer a lot of solutions. But, you know, I'm going to go ahead and ask. I mean, what solutions do you have? You can just pick out one or two from the answers you just gave me. But what solutions? Are you going to, do you think you can come up with or you have for the concerns you just told us about?
[Nate Merritt]: Well, I think something that could be done even today is, you know, sometimes these city council meetings go long and there's a lot of people that want to be heard. And I've been there till 12, 1 in the morning. And I've seen people that want to talk, and they go home because they have jobs in the morning or, you know, right? They just can't stay up that late. And I've seen sometimes where the agendas have been rejiggered. And we're talking about national issues that The city of Medford can impact, but we're sucking the oxygen out of the room instead of dealing with the local ones. And people wanna speak about the local issues, but that gets tabled until after 11, 12 p.m. So I think something we could do is if the meeting runs past 11 o'clock, we're done, shut it down, table the rest of the agenda to the next week. Everyone should be heard. And when it's running that late, that's not fair to anybody. And we shouldn't be making decisions literally in the dark of the night.
[John Petrella]: No, and I think everyone, has seen that happen, I mean, on more than one occasion, where the meetings have gone incredibly late. And, you know, I'll just chime in with, I've been there where important issues get pushed back. And there'd be talk, you've, we're both in the same room, where national issues would come into play, they discuss those first, nothing to do with Medford. And then you had a key issue like the charter commission, you know, what's going on with the charter, and boy, we wouldn't get started until 10 o'clock at night on some of that stuff. And a lot of people do have to go to work and everything else. So, you know, good answers, good answers, Nate. I appreciate the honesty, too. And that's a big thing. You know, do you see any steps being taken you know, by the current administration, you know, to resolve some of these issues you just talked about. Is there anything going on that you think is going to resolve these issues? Do you think it's possible to resolve? Put it that way.
[Nate Merritt]: I think people are trying, but, John, if everything was hunky-dory, I wouldn't be running. Okay. I'll be honest with you. I think that the administration needs to really consider doing an audit of the city finances. We're talking $5 million that's missing from the school committee budget and then found and $34 million. We're making Enron and Arthur Anderson look good here.
[John Petrella]: That's nothing to laugh about. Good answer, yeah, I hear ya, I hear ya.
[Nate Merritt]: I think that in terms of the sense of community, there's a lot of red tape. I'm gonna tell you a story real quick. So, I told you I got little guys. One of my favorite parks I like to go to is Logan Park. There, there's a little fire truck, like playground thing for kids to go play, little kids to play on. Right. And I had my son with me and I noticed the wooden boards were, they were in rough shape and I didn't want my kid to get splinters or any other kid. Yeah. So I called the mayor's office, wrote an email, said, Hey, listen, this is a couple boards. I get it. I'm willing to go fix it. I don't want to just go start ripping up, you know, pressure treated wood and putting bolts in. I'll have the cops down.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[Nate Merritt]: So I said, Hey, can I get some top cover and just let them know what I'm willing to do? And this is on my own nickel, my own time. This is sawing a couple boards and installing a couple carriage bolts and nuts. This isn't rocket science. I'm an engineer.
[John Petrella]: This is not rocket science.
[Nate Merritt]: I hear you. It became a whole production and I talked with, you know, she put me in touch with some of the parks folks and nothing. And then a couple months later it got fixed. And meanwhile, I've got to watch my kid like a hawk and I'm working like for everybody. And this was initially something that was donated to the city by a resident. So it's not like the city wound up purchasing it or something originally either. So there are people willing to do you know, help out the community and not necessarily for any money. I mean, that's volunteerism and that's a good thing. Yeah. Yeah. I think if we had a better sense of community and maybe we find a way to eliminate some of the red tape, you'll find people who are willing to pitch in.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, I agree with you. And that's, that's a good point. You know, that's what we would call a small issue. Important, nonetheless, but that's a good point because it's the little things. And, you know, there's a lot of people in this city that will do the little things. That's the bottom line. So, you know, I appreciate that. I really do. Small stuff matters. A lot of talk, you mentioned real quick the zoning in Medford, and there's so much going on right now with the zoning. And meetings and people, it's on Zoom, and a lot of people, I gotta be honest, they don't know too much about all the zoning, what's going on. What's your position on zoning? It's coming to Medford, I mean, they're doing things. What's your position on it? Do you have a position?
[Nate Merritt]: I think that zoning is a huge concern overall, and I know there's a lot of chatter about it. I think my personal view is it's something we should look at, but it's like everything else, right? Extremes are not necessarily good in general, in any system, in any government, in any operation. So that said, I think right now what we're seeing is essentially it could be mass gentrification. There's a lot of rezoning happening all at once. I'll give you an example again. There's a talk of we need more affordable housing. I ask the question, what is affordable to you? I have two kids in daycare. I have a mortgage. And all the other expenses that go along with that. And I still somehow afford it, but we've had to make choices along the way. So more supply in the city of Medford, I don't think is gonna move the needle at all in terms of the cost of rent, the cost of mortgage. So we're going to go increase the supply. And I heard from a city councilor that said, well, I'm not going to go explain the details of supply and demand. I got it. But this is like attacking a tank with a toothpick. Because there are greater economic forces at play than anything the city of Medford can influence. So why are we addressing the zoning to begin with? Is it for the needs of the residents? And what's the benefit for the current residents of the city? So, my concern with the zoning really is more about the commercial and the industrial side.
[John Petrella]: Okay.
[Nate Merritt]: A lot of people don't know this, but commercial and industrial pay twice the amount the residents do. And for every commercial business or industrial zone you lose, who picks up the tab? The other commercial businesses. Right.
[John Petrella]: Yep. And the residents. Yep. And you're talking taxes. That's what you're basically talking. Correct.
[Nate Merritt]: I'm talking taxes, but also wear and tear on your services. Your fire, your police, your EMS, your roads, your schools. That's correct. All that has to be taken into consideration. My house is a single family house. That's why I came to Medford. I wanted a single family home, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Some people are meant for condos, and I'm not one of them. Right. That's fine. That's part of what attracted us to Medford. We know how that right now my house under the new plan will be zoned for three family So they will tear my house down. They'll buy it from me for whatever. Let's say we're 750 today Yeah, someone else could buy it for 750 000 and have their family And and and use a starter house. Yeah instead Contractor's gonna come buy it, tear it down, turn it into a triplex, and sell each unit for a million dollars.
[John Petrella]: Who's that affordable for? I agree with you. It's always been about choice. I guess my opinion, it would be nice to see some affordable housing in the city, but there's a limit. It's how you go about it. I mean, I agree with most of what you're saying. You're making some good points here. So you're making some very good points. So okay, let's move from that. Let's get on to, it's no secret. You mentioned it, economic growth in Metfin, best described as stagnant. I mean, I think everyone's aware of that. It's no secret. So as far as spending and taxes go, do you have priorities? Do you have a plan? I mean, what would you, you get elected to the city council, what are you looking to do?
[Nate Merritt]: I think the question isn't how do we get economic growth. The city is not a publicly traded Wall Street company. What's the metric? And I've asked that publicly before. It's not revenue dollars coming in and every year you want more revenue. There is no earnings ratio on the city. The metric in this case should be sustainment. That's what we should be looking at. And when you have industry leaving, that's a problem. We need to fix that. It's not growth, it's just keeping what we have at a minimum. Let's try to work that. Example, August Bush, down on Riverside Ave. Before the overrides came in, right, they probably read the tea leaves and they had a choice to make. Do they operate out of Quincy or do they operate out of Medford? They chose Quincy. OK. So now, the latest I heard, you tell me if you've heard any different. I know Market Basket was maybe considering it, but so was the MBTA. And the MBTA is the lead bidder. They're the highest bidder last I heard. Right. That's over 20 acres, and it's like 24 acres of property, commercial property. Yes, yeah. So if the MBTA winds up actually purchasing that property, that's 24 acres worth of commercial tax revenue gone. Because the MBTA, they'll pay the permits and fees to build their structures, but then they don't owe a dime for taxes afterwards. So that burden is going to shift to the remaining commercial industrial. And this just begins quicksand. It's a spiral. So I think, and there's plenty of vacant commercial buildings, it's not just in Medford, I've seen it actually in Malden too, near where the Aviva Trattoria is, near Exchange Street in Malden. Big sign, 300,000 square feet available. Across the street from my house, 400 Riverside Ave, 100,000 square feet available.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, I've seen those signs too, yep, yep.
[Nate Merritt]: I think we really should be focusing on and talking with them, how do we get these buildings filled? In terms of the local area, You've got Wooburn. Wooburn's got a lot of industry. When people want to go build buildings here, they go to Wooburn to go get their heavy equipment, to get their building materials. They buy steel there. These aren't things that necessarily negatively impact the surrounding community. In fact, they've done a really good job. Malden. Malden's got the Panadosi Bakery. They make bread. You've got the New England Coffee. They have a lot. You've got National Grid. What are we making, Medford?
[John Petrella]: No, I hear ya.
[Nate Merritt]: Sausage.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, no, I hear ya.
[Nate Merritt]: I love Bianco sausage, don't get me wrong.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, me too, me too. Great product.
[Nate Merritt]: But that's what we're making now, is sausage.
[John Petrella]: Good plugin for Bianco's.
[Nate Merritt]: Absolutely, if you've never been to Bianco's, go.
[John Petrella]: Good stuff. I love the chicken sausage. Good stuff.
[Nate Merritt]: We have vocational schools, we're one of the few in the area, we should be promoting that. Unit Man's the nearest one, that's up in Lexington, and a lot of people don't wanna drive that far. And we gotta use the river, We're unique. We've got a river, we've got interstate access, we've got major routes and highways, and we've got the T. We should be capitalizing on that and fostering it.
[John Petrella]: I think that river's going to, if it's even up the square, and I'm not, but if things get done right, and if people really look into it, that could be a big revenue driver.
[Nate Merritt]: Anything that brings people from out of the city into the city to spend money and support the local economy.
[John Petrella]: Okay. Yeah, no, I hear you. So it's more commercial, industrial. Spending and taxes. Spending and taxes. We can go on for weeks, but we're not going to, but we could. I know a lot of people talk, you know, there's all different sides to this story. The two basic sides are, you know, control your spending, you know, let's really take a look at what you have and, you know, Right now, it looks like they're just looking for more taxes, taxes. But, you know, the bottom line is, as far as spending and taxes, what do you think? I mean, do you have any priorities? How do you feel about that Barlow X?
[Nate Merritt]: I think the fact that we passed two overrides, and don't take my word for it, look at the video. You had the city council president and you had the mayor dancing. at the thought, not the thought, but at the fact that people now are only paying only $400 more a year in their taxes. How's that working out? That's my thought. I mean, spending is necessary. Sometimes tax increases are necessary, but nobody should ever be happy about it, and certainly nobody should ever be excited. I think that was the wrong attitude to have on that, and that was a little unprofessional. So that said, also, we've got a lot of lawsuits happening in the city. That needs to stop. That's not doing anybody any favors. And that's a waste of taxpayer money. And then there's other little gems, which I get it. You want to pay people. You want to have nice things. But when you go back to the well, now you've got to start really taking a hard look and understanding what are my needs versus my wants. I deal with this with my kids. We all do. And when I see that we're paying two grand a year for a poet laureate. Yep. But you asked for 500,000 for roads and streets. Right. I got to wonder what else is going on. And again, when you start seeing millions that are going missing and people refuse to do an audit, again, this is making Enron look good folks.
[John Petrella]: Yep. Okay. Yep. I hear you. I hear you. All right. So, you know, let's get on to something else now. You did not attend school here. I think, I guess you've lived here for around 10 years, you said. So, you know, Medford has rich history. I love history. That's me personally. Always a big history fan. But, so you've only been here for 10 years. What do you think about the history in Medford I mean, what do you know about the history of method? Put it that way.
[Nate Merritt]: There's a few things in Medford, right? And you're correct. Normally, the things you would learn in school, I didn't have that opportunity, because I know about the things instead in Western Mass.
[John Petrella]: Right.
[Nate Merritt]: In my school, we learned about General Knox, and he went and captured a whole bunch of cannons from Fort Ticonderoga and brought a little caravan through the state of Massachusetts, including my hometown, what's now Route 20, and parked them on Dorchester Heights and liberated Boston. So that's one of the things that brought my hometown to fame. Medford built clipper ships. Medford had brickyards. Paul Revere rode through on the way to go warn about the British trying to interfere with some patriots over in Lexington and Concord. Apparently there's some rum. that Medford is known for.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, Medford made some good rum, yeah. I've never had it. I heard the recipe's still around, but I've never had it. Yeah, I heard someone's bringing it back, so that'll be interesting, yeah.
[Nate Merritt]: So one of the ways I learned some of the history is from the Mystic River Bend Park. It's down behind the McGlynn schools and around the corner from where I live. And so I went and I took some pictures yesterday. I went out in the rain because I wanted to make sure my information was accurate. The signs look about the same rough shape that they did when I first saw them. Right. And it's sad because, I mean, we have community preservation funding. To me, this is literally preserving your community. It's in the name, Community Preservation Act. That's it. Some of those signs are unfortunately in such disrepair. There's graffiti on them. Right. And there's a lot of great info that talk about the river, how it used to be salt marshes and where throughout the years where it changed the ecology. Right. Now there's graffiti on them and they're barely readable. One of them looks like it was melted in the sun or something.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[Nate Merritt]: It's a shame. Right. I think we really should be taking care of our city better.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[Nate Merritt]: And little things like that go a long way. But it's probably been like that for almost 10 years.
[John Petrella]: Yeah. Well, like I said, you're looking at some, I like looking at the little things, a lot of big things, but you know, it's nice that you're looking at some of the little things too that matter. They're little, but they matter.
[Nate Merritt]: But if you show that you care about your city, maybe you won't get trashed as easily.
[John Petrella]: Right. Now, yeah, I hear you. I hear you. I really do. Um, some great answers. Uh, all right. So I'm just gonna basically, you know, these are more like personal questions, silly questions. I don't know what you want to call them, but, um, you know, we're going to have some other candidates on. I like to just find out little things. So, uh, What would you say are the least and your most favorite things for you to do in Method? So, I mean, you know, there's got to be things you love to do and maybe some things you don't like to do. I don't know. Give it a shot. What do you think? Sure.
[Nate Merritt]: I'm a father with young kids, so I don't get to go out as much as I want, as much as I used to. Usually, my fun things now involve them. I'll say, fresh donuts over at Donuts with a Difference. Because that's unique. Good choice. Remember, I grew up when Dunkin' Donuts used to make all the donuts in every store, and the old man was there, time to make the donuts. So it's a unique thing that we have, and I love their donuts. They're awesome. I bring them to work with me when I can. People love them. The various parks in the city, I'm involved using those. They're great. But that's what I spend a lot of my time doing. As far as things I don't like, Well, I'd be remiss if I said, you know, going to city council meetings, but I'll be honest with you, staying up until 12 o'clock at night, going to city council meetings.
[John Petrella]: Yeah.
[Nate Merritt]: I don't, I don't love that. I don't think anyone loves it. Yeah. Right. And, uh, driving down my street, I don't know what am I driving down roads in the city of Medford or am I in a, you know, looking at Germany, occupied France and world war II. Not sure.
[John Petrella]: A few potholes, huh?
[Nate Merritt]: A couple potholes. Not sure what happened here.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, yeah, I hear ya.
[Nate Merritt]: Maybe I like a little bit of history.
[John Petrella]: Yeah, yeah. No, that's, you know, good answer, good answer. And, you know, I remember, you know, I had two children, and I remember back when they were young, he did a lot of, you know, everything is for the kids. I mean, that's the way it should be. And CB Scoops. Oh, yeah, CB Scoops. That's one of the things we love. The kids love it. We go there. Yeah. Right, it's great. So, yeah. You're dealing with the kids. You're at that level. I know. I feel you.
[Nate Merritt]: We eat the ice cream. We watch the train go by. My kid loves trains. We literally get to see the train. And we'll sit there and just watch the bell.
[John Petrella]: I miss those days. You're bringing back good memories for me. We're getting down on time here. So I do want to ask you. I always ask this. You know, growing up in Method my whole life, if I wanted to go find someone, I always, you know, depending on who it was, I knew where I could go find them, put it that way. If I wanted to find you, if I wanted to get in touch with you, Mr. Merritt, where in Metford would someone look for you? Someone wanted to meet you, introduce you, whatever, where would they meet you? Where would be a good place to look? And I know you're busy, you've got kids, but...
[Nate Merritt]: If there's a hot topic going on, you might find me at the podium at a city council meeting on a Wednesday night.
[John Petrella]: I've seen you here plenty of times. Like I said, I've attended quite a few of those. You are. You're always there. One of the things, one of the many things I do like about you is solutions. You're always given solutions. And that, to me, that's nice. It's a nice thing to hear someone, you know, no screaming, no stomping your feet, but Serious subjects, a lot of serious stuff going on, but I like it. You're offering solutions and that's, you know, that's really important. So, that's about it. Unfortunately, the show's come to an end. It was a pleasure having you, it really was. Thank you.
[Nate Merritt]: And I do have an email address that people can reach me at.
[John Petrella]: Okay, yep, give us the email.
[Nate Merritt]: It's meritformedford at gmail.com. Okay. So, two R's, two T's. And it's F-O-R, not the number four, but that's all right. And I got a website that I'm working on, but it's not up yet. So I don't have an apparatus working my campaign. This is a grassroots, you know, thing, so.
[John Petrella]: I know what it is, yeah, yeah. Takes some time, takes a lot of work, and you're a very busy guy. But we'll get that up and running.
[Nate Merritt]: So in the meantime, the email's good, or come for me at a city council meeting. Thanks, John.
[John Petrella]: Appreciate it. No, thank you, too. And we'll have you back again. So when you're all set with your other accounts, we'll announce them. So we're going to have you back, I can tell. So that's it. It's that time again. So I want to thank Nate. First, for joining us on Method Happenings. And I want to thank them for being a candidate for our Method City Council. It's nice to have some new faces, very qualified people running for the city council. I also want to take a minute, I have to thank everyone who has been watching the show. We're getting out in a lot more places. You know, we're getting some more feedback. Um, and we're getting good and we're getting negative, uh, and I don't care. We'll take whatever, but it's nice to get the feedback. Um, if you'd like to share any comments or have any suggestions for a show, or if you want to appear on a future show, please, you can contact us at johnpatroller55 at gmail.com. Uh, you know, we'd be glad to have you, uh, join us on a show and Our show has come to an end. So once again, thank you all for watching and stay informed
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