total time: 26.88 minutes
total words: 1744
[Danielle Balocca]: Hey listeners, this is Danielle. And Shelly. Shelly 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 so much for making the time to meet with me tonight. If you don't mind just introducing yourself with your name, pronouns, and just a bit about who you are.
[Miranda Briseno]: Sure. I'm Miranda Breseno. She, her pronouns. I live in the Hillside neighborhood of Medford. I've lived there in the same apartment since I moved to Medford in 2019. I moved here originally from Los Angeles. I moved here for grad school at Tufts in urban planning. And I wasn't sure if I was gonna stay living in the area post-grad school, but I finished in 2020 and the world had other plans. And so six and a half, almost seven years later, I'm very much happy to call this home and haven't wanted to move. I have been looking or I was looking for new apartments, but I've always wanted to stay in Medford since I've made so many friends and really developed a community here. But I am a cat mom. My orange cat, Alto, is often with me, or not here because I'm in the library, but he would be a part of this interview otherwise. And I'm a planner by training. Obviously I went to planning school. I worked at City Hall for a couple of years in the planning office. I went to a nonprofit, used to be called Walk Boston, now Walk Massachusetts, doing pedestrian advocacy work. And I now work for MassDOT in the planning office as a regional planning coordinator and federal programs coordinator, working with municipalities to get them, mostly federal funds, but other funds, complete kind of a range of projects, Small projects like bike share and bike racks and some bigger projects like the feasibility studies for putting a bridge at grade and some other planning work regionally and around the state. Thank you.
[Danielle Balocca]: That was really interesting and it does actually set a good beginning for our interview to talk about your campaign for city council. I think those feel like really relevant skills. I think that's some of the things that you're naming that you work in and know a lot about are, I think, some of the biggest complaints people have about the city. But before we get to that, I just want to ask you the question we ask everybody. Sometimes it's the most challenging question that we'll have today. But what is your favorite place to eat in Medford? And what do you like to eat there?
[Miranda Briseno]: I did talk to a couple of folks who you've been to before and they were like, know what your favorite place to eat is. And I have plenty. I do like to joke that I kept Pinky's Pizza running during the pandemic because I was like, they are like down the street for me. And I was just like, you know, chicken tenders, calzone, pizza, whatever. So Pinky's is up there just because they're so close to me. I would say I have like a top three. El Tacuba, hands down the best Mexican food on the East Coast. I will never stop saying that. I feel like I have you know, the expertise to say so as someone from Los Angeles and someone who is Mexican, that is the absolute best Mexican food. I love it so much there. And I love all their cocktails, too. And then Colleen's. So, like I said, those are like my top three. Oh, Tom Yum Kung. I mean, I have so many places.
[Danielle Balocca]: I like the, you know, the sort of staying in the kind of Medford Square and Medford Square proximity. That's nice. Um, yeah, no, and the food seems definitely improved over the last couple of years. Definitely. I remember when we moved here, we moved here in like 2014 and not so not too long after they put the like coming soon sign up for to cook. Wow. Yes.
[Miranda Briseno]: I, I remember when I started at the city, it was like a whole thing. Like, yeah, we've been waiting for this thing to happen. And when it finally opened, you know, I don't even remember when it finally opened. I just remember being so excited. It was open. Yeah. I was like, wow, that was a long time. They were still working on that when I was at City Hall. But I actually got to meet and work with Alvaro, who's one of the owners, you know, when he was working on the Tenog stuff. Great guy. Awesome, awesome time to get to know him. I'm just so excited about the restaurants there. I tell literally anyone and everyone that will listen, I'm like, you need to come to Medford. Yeah.
[Danielle Balocca]: And if you're waiting for Altacuba, you can hit up Mrs. Murphy's. Yeah. I haven't been to Mrs. Murphy's yet, but I need to.
[Miranda Briseno]: Yeah.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. And I'm excited for the Tanosh guys for their coffee shop that's supposed to be opening.
[Miranda Briseno]: Oh, really? I didn't know.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, we used to have a coffee shop. Oh, Mr. Coffee Roaster. Yeah, yeah. So it's right in that space. Yeah.
[Miranda Briseno]: They closed when I was still at City Hall, and that was rough because I would walk to work when the weather was nice from my apartment. It was always nice to be like, you know, I'm not above Duncan. I'll, I'll get Duncan any day, but it was always nice to be like, yeah, you know, I'm going to get like a nice, like a nicer bagel from the local shop. I was so sad when they closed. I still have a shirt. Cause I did get a shirt during 2020. Cause I was like, I love them. But I it's exciting to hear they're going to open a coffee shop.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, I mean, they've also, the signs have been up for a while, so hopefully it's happening soon, but it's exciting. Worth the wait, these places, so that's good. Yes, definitely. All right, Miranda, so we did allude to it before, but you're running for city council in Medford, and I'm curious to hear kind of what the path has been like for you to arrive at that decision, kind of what prompted you to run for city council?
[Miranda Briseno]: What really prompted me was other people asking if I considered it. When I realized I would be staying in Medford for a while, just because I wasn't sure if another job opportunity would take me somewhere, in 2020, I was like, well, let me develop roots here. And I got involved, like everybody, in the summer of 2020 after George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, so many other things. I was like, I need to feel like, besides working at City Hall, which is great and see a lot of what you work on happening in real time, I needed, I wanted to feel like more connected to people because I didn't know many people living in Medford. So I joined Our Revolution Medford, met someone who literally lived across the street from me. And then, you know, a couple other folks in my neighborhood. And since then have just been, you know, making friends. And in 2021 is when I first started getting door knocking and canvassing, trying to elect candidates endorsed by Our Revolution Medford. just really started rooting myself through that. Working at City Hall too, I did, when, you know, as we were trying to navigate COVID, one of the first projects, Alicia Hunt, director of planning, kind of assigned me and one of, now planner, used to be intern, was using HUD funds for COVID relief business grants. City of Cambridge had done one and they were like, we have a lot of CDBG, Community Development Block Grant money that we can use for this, you know, look into the details or requirements, what we would need from folks and who we can and can't offer this grant to. And so it was kind of like being thrown in the deep end, but very much with like the comfort of knowing that, you know, Alicia, the mayor and other folks were there to support us. But that really, I'd say that work in particular, That, plus I also worked on outdoor dining, really just like kind of spread my knowledge wide of the city, particularly like business owners, and like the kind of businesses that people were needing relief for. A lot of it was like our corner stores and convenience stores, like they just needed help making rent. And a lot of our restaurants as well. I mean, the biggest thing I would say we helped pay for was rent. Rent and for businesses that were like operating in the homes, it was like Zoom memberships, stuff to make them available online and sort of start to digitize and like dip into e-commerce if they weren't already. And so I think that and my involvement in the community with ORM and other stuff kind of just really organically got me knowing more about Medford. and just getting really involved. And even as I started, I changed jobs a couple of times since working at City Hall. It's still always been like, I love being in Medford. I love the people that I've met here. My apartment isn't like the most affordable, but it's not insane. You know, I can continue to keep affording it. And so, yeah, I've just been involved and then I, this last or this upcoming election was talking with a friend who had has been involved with the ORM, like coordinated campaigns previously, and had asked, is this something you'd consider, you're qualified for it? And I still do often have the imposter syndrome of like, am I qualified? then I list out the things that I've done and what I went to school for. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I am. And I think part of it is just like, I'm pretty, I'm an introverted, extroverted introvert, I'd say. So part of it is really just like exposure therapy and like getting to know people. I do really thrive much more in one-on-one situations. And so when I've canvassed before in 2021, 2023, like those conversations at the doors are like, they seem intimidating, but they're actually very fruitful and I really enjoy them. And plus I like walking around anyway. So that was part of it. I think part of it's like, I am lucky enough to have job security. I'm lucky enough to have, despite, you know, my own like struggles in my life, I did, you know, still kind of got a lucky card out of it all. And if I have this privilege and like some level of comfort in my life, I do kind of sort of view, I don't want to say like my calling or kind of view it as like, I want to make this world better for people. And if I can like offer myself and offer what I know, particularly when it comes to something like being a city Councilor or even just working at city hall, I think something that's always kind of come through in my work professionally, in particular, has been let me help you understand this really bureaucratic, nuanced thing that can help you. A lot of the times it doesn't need to be that nuanced or bureaucratic, it just kind of is because, well, historically, these processes and institutions were made to exclude people systematically, and so helping sort of kind of like that helping within the system as it exists to try and get people access to it who haven't been able to access it before. I feel like that's a lot of my work professionally. And so if I have the knowledge and the ability to try and do that in the role of city councilor, I'd be, you know, honored at the privilege to. And at the end of the day, it's really, I think just like putting yourself out there, people respond to it, cool. They don't. tried my best and I met some more neighbors. So yeah, I think there's, I'm really, I think inspired and like excited about all the work the Kern Council is doing. And I wanna see it keep going. I know that there has been a lot, not a lot of opposition, but some loud opposition to certain things going on. And I think given the federal landscape, and being targeted specifically here in Massachusetts by the federal administration, it would really just hurt everyone if we started to revert back to policies and programs and things that didn't put people first, didn't really consider protecting everyone, making sure everyone is welcome here and safe here.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, I think like during COVID is when this started for me, but also obviously like now, nothing's gotten really better since then, but you know, like when everything is sort of on fire in the world and in our country, it's like, if you can have an impact on where you live and that you can sort of try to make that a better place, I think that gives us a little bit of sense of control and a little bit of hope.
[Miranda Briseno]: Yeah, that was basically the biggest thing. And I feel like particularly now people are feeling that too. I mean, there's a primary for a reason, right? Like so many people did feel called to run for city council. And I think that plus, I also started getting involved in mutual aid Medford-Somerville mamas in 2020. And that has also been like huge for me as much as I like the political organizing. At the end of the day, the systems and institutions that rule us were created unequally and exclusively So I do sort of see like mutual aid and like other community-based efforts as kind of the filler of that because, you know electoral politics and organizing is only gonna get us so far. And so particularly like to your point of let me help someone here, like let me feel slightly in control. I do a grocery pair every two weeks. So I drop off a market basket card to a neighbor in Medford who needs it. And it's just like, you know, I know like Mamas in particular, they're helping so many people, but like I helped this family get their groceries and I can feel good about that. Despite like everything, like I know that like I did what I could.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, no, and I think this idea of like a couple years ago, we talked about this little bit of this, I think the conversation is like, how do we get more people to participate in local government, like to come to city council meetings? So basically, like, how do we get them to us? And I think that, and if you look at like, the city council, when our mayor was on city council, she, I think, was the only woman, everyone was like, an old white guy. And, and like I think sometimes they their meetings were like not attended at all by the public right and so it was this kind of like closed door sort of thing. And that's changed and I think that the current city council, the makeup is different and also I think they're doing a better job of going to the people versus waiting for them to come to them. And I think about how the makeup has changed, but also to have like some, like a woman who's Mexican. Like, I think that that would be a huge thing for Medford, especially for, I don't want to assume, but if you speak Spanish, like that, having that kind of- It's conversational.
[Miranda Briseno]: I wish it was better. I do have a strong duolingo streak. And I try my best to practice as much as I can. It's really, In particular, I've learned Mexican Spanish is so much slower than most other Spanish, um, you know, speakers. And so particularly living on the East coast for college and grad school, and now just being here, it's like, I'll start and say a few things and then someone will like just rattle off so quickly. And I'm like, Oh, let's try English. Um, but you know, usually I just try my best. Um, it was my first language, but, um, when I was growing up, actually the teacher told my mom that we might be slow if she talked to us in two languages. And at the time, you know, we were my mom's first kids and she and my father used to get like hit in school for speaking Spanish. So she was like, Oh, okay. Yeah. Seven years later, my sister's born and we're like, Oh, bilingualism. It's like great for kids in their development. So I do try my best. I do feel like slightly more confident. I think part of it is really just like, people want to see you give an effort and like communicating. with them and if you can meet someone on their level. In particular, yeah, I just don't think, even myself, as a native English speaker, you don't realize just how hard it is for someone who doesn't know English. And English is not easy and we use so many colloquialisms and terms of phrase that's like, what are you saying? And yeah, in particular, I've been trying to try understand more Spanish in regards to my work. Cause not only do you need to like learn a lot of language, but specific like industry language is hard to learn. And I don't even know everything there is to know about, you know, talking about transportation in Spanish in particular.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. I imagine there's a lot of those words I wouldn't know in English.
[Miranda Briseno]: Right. I'm like, how do you say urban planning? Like, I mean, I know it's urban planning, but it's like, how do you really like, get at the core of what you're trying to say, not just like this word that might mean something to us in English, but doesn't really translate well over into another language.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, and I think that kind of along that idea of accessibility for as many people as possible in the city, what have you observed about Medfair? What sort of critiques do you have in terms of what we could do in terms of increasing accessibility and inclusivity?
[Miranda Briseno]: Yeah, that is actually a big part of, I think, what I want to focus on for this campaign. One thing I think that really came to light for me, particularly working at non-profit Walk Massachusetts, very pedestrian-focused. Pedestrian, technically, you know, sometimes cyclists, but really just non-car, like, cyclist movers, whether you're walking, you're playing, you have a mobility device. Like it's the really, it's the basics, sidewalks. I walk a lot in my neighborhood and sometimes I'll walk down like George Street all the way down to Main Street. And there are like so many curbs that have no curb ramps. And I mean, I'm not, again, I'm not even using a mobility device, but I have short legs and sometimes these curbs, I'm like, these are a little like, Rough around the edges, we have so many tree roots uprooting sidewalks. And I think as much as people are like, well, yeah, everyone wants better sidewalk. It is a hindrance to people who have just a little bit of struggle walking, have a cane or mobility device. Someone like me who's just uncoordinated at times. I like, I mean, actually I didn't trip on a sidewalk. I tripped on my own porch and sprained my ankle. So that was on me. But I think that's a big one for me in particular, not just like, okay, is the sidewalk flat? Do we have curb ramps at every corner? Curb ramps with, you know, the tactile landing that also points in the correct direction. There's so many times you see those and they're like not even going the right way. So if someone is vision impaired or has low vision, like they might be led into the wrong area. Um, so that plus no removal and like just debris in general, uh, big, big for me because I, you know, walk to the Greenline station when I go into work a couple of days a week. And this past winter in particular really made me mad. Um, and as someone who's kind of taken a peek behind the curtain in regards to like transportation, uh, a lot of what you might run into if you're walking around the city and there's not like snow removed. particularly like on a little bridge, like over the commuter rail, often it's jurisdiction like arguments. So MassDOT, my employer, owns that, you know, part of the sidewalk. And understandably, most municipalities are going to stop where they have to stop because they don't have the money or the funds to like keep paying for the removal. But in particular, this past winter, the sidewalk from like Nick's Pizza all the way up until like right when they have the nice repaved sidewalk by the T station, just fully like a sheet of ice. And I'm like, you know, penguin walking to make sure I don't slip and fall. I've done it so many, I think I've done it every winter. And so I actually just started taking the bus up to the station because I knew that I would get, you know, avoid most of that. But you know, if I, I saw plenty of people walking over it, but it's like, we shouldn't have to do that first of all. And if we want to encourage people to walk more or just support people who need to walk for whatever reason, we have to do that at all times of the year.
[Danielle Balocca]: And it's, I feel like that's a great example of how adults, um, how like your like working life is impeded by that. But even kids like stroll, there's a, we live close to Fulton street. It's like a big hill and we have the, like the, carrier thing on the back of our bikes for the kids, like the trailer thing, it doesn't fit between the telephone pole and the side of the street, like in some parts. So it's like, then what, you have to go into Fulton Street. And yeah, no, I've driven on Fulton Street, thanks. Yeah.
[Miranda Briseno]: Yeah. And so just like little things like that. And so I think part of what that looks like for me is like having the city complete an ADA transition plan. which would sort of lay out like, okay, where are our deficiencies? And, you know, the city did do a kind of like a sidewalk inventory report in 2021, which did lay out everything. It's just a matter of like, you know, committing the money and the like manpower to doing that. And then also thinking about like, not just like for this transition plan, where do we need curb ramps, but like, what about our buildings, our recreation, like opportunities, like where are we failing to really be accessible And that's just thinking about sort of like the physical accessibility. That's not even thinking about like, you know, language. Do we have things that are like services that allow people to be involved? If they have like other commitments, child, you know, childcare. And then as well, you know, thinking about people who are neurodivergent or just learn in different ways. I've had I don't want to say the privilege, but my sister is on the spectrum. I've worked a lot with people who are neurodivergent. And so I've come to not understand, but I think really kind of get that picture of like what it's like when something really isn't clicking for whatever reason. And just, okay, how do we just rearrange how we explain this or offer this? And even some folks who I've met in Medford who are on the spectrum or have different intellectual or developmental disabilities or like just the slight change. And when we kind of become inclusive and accessible for what seems like a small population, but it's not, we actually are just making it easier for everyone involved and to understand what's going on. It's not just for this like specific group, but we're actually making it better for everyone. You know, when sidewalks are smooth, someone in a wheelchair can use them. but it also means like, as you get older, if you want to keep living in Medford, you don't have to worry about tripping and then like needing a full knee replacement as a result. So I think that's something I always keep in mind. And it's not just for people who need it now, but we're all going to need it at some point.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. And I think that's a good, uh, hopefully non-political issue for folks because I think it's those, not to generalize, but I think in a lot of cities, it's the older folks that maybe aren't, don't perceive themselves as benefiting as much from the city services that are more hesitant to like vote for an override or wanna put money into different things. But this is a good example of something that would help everyone.
[Miranda Briseno]: Yeah.
[Danielle Balocca]: Any other sort of hopes for like how your time on city council could positively impact our city?
[Miranda Briseno]: Yeah. I want, I think this kind of, for me, falls under accessibility too. I want more benches, more places for people to sit and rest. Ideally, I'd want like a bench at every bus stop. I don't care where that bus stop is. I want a bench there. And the hill I'll die on is I don't want a bench with an armrest in the middle. I, if listeners have not heard of the term hostile architecture, sort of the kind of approach to architecture and like seating that lends itself to not letting people lay down or we don't want people loitering for whatever reason in this area. And what might seem like, oh, well, we don't want certain people in and around here, which I don't care about. But even if that was your thing, all that kind of infrastructure or lack thereof, like in New York City, is it Moynihan station where they just took everything out? One of their train stations, super busy. just no seating. They're like, we're just not going to have anyone sit here. And it's like, okay, but if I went there and I have four kids and we each have bags, like that's hurting me. If I'm elderly and need somewhere to rest, that's hurting me. If I broke my leg and I'm on crutches right now, that's going to negatively affect me. So I want benches everywhere. And if people need to lay down on them, that's fine with me.
[Danielle Balocca]: I never thought about that design flaw. I work in Central Square in Cambridge and we have a big population of people who use drugs and they started to redo this area. I'm not exactly sure what the plan is but it's where everybody would hang out during the day and I think that was just not pleasing to people but what I noticed is since they've shut that down people just are going into the subway to use drugs, which I feel like is way more dangerous. Nobody will see them if they overdose. It'll be hard. They could fall into the train tracks, right? I think that, yeah, that idea of taking these options away from people because it's not what we want to see, it doesn't mean it's not there, right? It's not helping the public. Right, yeah. People aren't going to go anywhere.
[Miranda Briseno]: They're just going to go somewhere else, and anyone deserves help. strong believer in the tenets of harm reduction and the ways that that looks in terms of municipal policy. But yeah, no, being on benches, I was actually able to get, we got a grant when I was still at the city for bus infrastructure improvement. So the bus shelter that's across the street from Dempsey's and sort of near Elta Cuba, like across the corner from, or across from the cemetery, by City Hall, we got those. And then I believe on Salem Street, if you see like, there's like four or five like benches that are kind of like brownish in color, bought those. And I was very adamant that I was going to get these and not have them have an armrest in the middle. I even actually was able to get the bus shelters when we talked with the TEAS team about getting them because they have the contract we could hop on. I had said, I want that bar removed. and we got it removed. They were very surprised and I think I was the first person who ever requested it, but I was happy to do it. So I want more of those. Yeah.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. I think it's not like rare, but I think that it sounds like as a social worker myself, that the approach of a city official, it seems more in line with, I mean, I think philosophically like somebody who's here to help people and really thinking thoughtfully about those, what those actual needs are versus like somebody who's running for city council as a politician, right? Like, so I appreciate that. I appreciate this, the really thoughtful and like specific ideas around how to help as many people as you can. Yeah.
[Miranda Briseno]: I don't know when I finally, like, I think it's one of those things where you're like, Oh, I think I've always believed this. I just didn't always have the words. But I mean, in particular, growing up in LA and being in school on the East Coast, you know, last eight years, I've gone back and forth so many times. One, I just see the increasing amount of people who are unhoused when I visit LA. And it's not that it's not a thing here, it's just LA is insanely populated. And they're not going anywhere. You know, encampments are happening because there's so many, even if there is like mobile homes offered To people who need it, there's so many qualifiers to getting that housing. And if we're going to put so many qualifiers on someone else's housing, but we're not putting those on ourselves, I think that's a huge disconnect. And if we're putting all these qualifiers on someone who just needs a place to stay, I mean, it's the basic hierarchy of needs. If you don't have shelter, food, safe shelter, consistent food, and food that you want. I'm not here to tell you what you can and can't spend your SNAP benefits on. It's just the basics, right? If we get people this, what they need, and if everyone has what they need, we're all safe.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, I do think that a lot of our policies as a country, as a state, are based around this moral judgment of people. If you fit the mold of who we think should be housed, then we'll house you. But if not, then you deserve to be on the street, which is awful. Yeah, it's really cool. I never thought about the way you could affect change as a city planner in that way. That's really cool.
[Miranda Briseno]: Yeah, I mean, sometimes, you know, it's really, especially at the state level, even it's not even the federal level, but I feel like we're such a globalized world now that it's like, what am I doing? Even, you know, like as a one person in this ether, am I even doing anything? Every now and then I walk or drive by, see the benches or the bus shelter. Actually, one time I did drive by one of the shelters and someone was laying down and it was like towards the evening. I was just like, yes, lay down, please. You know, cause I mean, I'm lucky enough to have never experienced homelessness myself, but I've, you know, faced housing insecurity. My father was homeless. And I mean, at the end of the day, we're all just humans trying to live. Like I, anyone I see on the street, who's like struggling to find a like comfortable place to sleep. Like, why am I going to make their life so much harder when they're clearly already at a pretty rough point, and if they wanna lay down, who am I to sit here and police that?
[Danielle Balocca]: Right, wow. Well, I really enjoyed hearing about this. Is there anything that you wanna plug, any campaign events or things that we should know about, website, anything like that?
[Miranda Briseno]: My website will be done this week, I think, but I am having a Meet the Candidate event this Sunday. at, I don't even know how to say the street name, 7 Ronaleigh, Ronaleigh. You can go to bit.ly slash meet dash Miranda. And there's, it looks like a form that you have to donate on. You don't, there's like a little free RSVP that has the address. It's, I want it Northwest-ish Medford. So, I'll be there, but yeah, I'll be on the doors this summer. And my website is just gonna be MirandaPersona.com. And so you can find me there and I'm on the socials though. I don't know how plugged in I'll be on the social medias, but can't find me there. I might be at Altacuba or hanging out with my cat.
[Danielle Balocca]: Nice. Well, thank you so much. And I hope you have a lot of luck in the primary Thank you. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. The Medford Bites podcast is produced and moderated by Danielle Balacca and Shelly Keshaman. Music is made by Hendrick Guidonis. 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? Medford Bites. Medford Bites. Go Dodge.
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