total time: 28.38 minutes
total words: 1290
[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 being with me today. If you don't mind just introducing yourself with your name, pronouns and who you are.
[John Intoppa]: For sure. Happy to be here. So my name is John Intoppa. You see him pronouns. I am a current Medford School Committee candidate running for technically free election. And I am looking forward to continue doing all the work that we've been doing on the school committee. I am from North Medford, born and raised in the Heights. I was part of the, pretty much as many things I could get my hands on while in the Medford public schools. I, you know, was an art student, did the arts for as long as I could, athletics for as long as I could, and really had a blast sort of learning all of the community elements that popped up in both, you know, Student activism and the arts and athletics. And then after high school, I went to get my bachelor's of fine arts and industrial design at the Masters College of Art and Design, where I currently work for my quote unquote day job. I work in the student engagement office where I deal with student activities, family and friends, orientation, student organizations, and civic engagement and veterans, veteran affairs. So it's a, you know, dealing with people and working all the people to establish community and to really problem solve and figure things out. Um, has been a common, uh, goal amongst my time, both in higher ed, uh, working in higher ed, being educated in higher ed and on the school committee. Um, so yeah, that's me. Um, and I'm just, like I said, I'm happy to be here and happy to have a chat and conversation.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, it sounds like there's a there's some really helpful overlap in the day job and then also your responsibilities on school committee. So before we get into talking too much about your school committee stuff, probably the most entertaining, least important, most fun question of the podcast is what is your favorite place to eat in Medford? What do you like to eat there?
[John Intoppa]: So last time I was here, you know, I can't believe it's almost been two years already. I talked a lot about, you know, food allergies and finding places to eat. I can say that since we've last talked, I have found my favorite at the Ford. It has been the Cajun Chicken Alfredo. That has been my go-to there. And I'm also loving their new location, Mrs. Murphy's Pub. I've been loving that a lot. I did fail to recognize Goldilocks, because Goldilocks is my go-to Friday place. They're also phenomenal with allergies. really like the they're the only specifically bagel place that I can go to safely. And I love the staff. I love the folks over there. So that's kind of my Friday commute into work. I wake up, you know, a little bit earlier just to make sure I can get there. But otherwise, you know, the classics of I just love trying to get to as many of those. family-owned places as much as I can because, like I said, two years ago, they employ our students and also, like, they're amazing with allergies and it's just the greatest vibe. I'm a talker and I love having conversation and learning what they're up to and just seeing, you know, how things are going. Those are my favorite places. Also, Magnificent Muffins has the best, I think, local business coffee that I've ever had. They're really good. I don't get many of the muffins because of my allergy, but I always stop there for coffee to say hi to Joan and the gang and, you know, talk to them and see what's going on.
[Danielle Balocca]: I got to try that. I think there's still cash only, I think, and I've never have cash, but maybe I'll make it a point to do that. I have a funny story about Mrs. Murphy's, though, because I feel like, you know, last time we talked there, some of these places weren't open yet. Right. But I do frequent Mrs. Murphy's more than maybe I should be proud of. But I on Fridays, I have my like, I take care of my niece and she's like, since she was like, really small and she so I bring her in there. She used to be like, like a little baby in the car seat, whatever. And one Friday, I was there like, in the afternoon, and she was there with me. And one of the servers was like, Oh, she's getting so big. I gotta stop. They know me and the baby. That's awesome.
[John Intoppa]: Great place, though. It is my it's funny because you know, like I'm seeing it go from Medford electronics to then. So my dad actually was one of the painter. He was the painter. He painted the interior. And so seeing it go from Medford electronics to what it is, and then like, they have outside seating in the back, which is also crazy to be like, in sandwiched in between all these storefronts. Like it feels really weird and you don't realize it until you look up and you see the brick buildings and you're like, oh, I'm in the middle of the square where I didn't think I would ever set foot. Yeah, so that's awesome though.
[Danielle Balocca]: That's great. But well, we could just talk about I know, but we'll we'll move on. So you know what? I think in your comments in the beginning, you were referring to how you when you ran last time, you were like the runner up for school committee. But then when Melanie McLaughlin stepped down, you were the closest in vote. So that's how you are on the school committee now, which still counts. John does.
[John Intoppa]: Yeah, I know it counts. I know. But we've been joking and you know, in the family of like, Oh, should I put reelect stickers on the signs? And we're like, well, like, technically you were, but technically you weren't. So like, I think I think the papers say candidate for renomination. And I like that. That's the phrase I've been using. That works. That works.
[Danielle Balocca]: That makes sense. Well, so yeah, I'm so curious how it's gone. Like I think how is I, you know, when we talked two years ago, you, this was your second, that would have been your second time running. Um, and I think before you're actually doing the job, you probably have like an idea of how it'll go. And I'm sure that doesn't totally match how it actually is. So I'm curious, like, how has it gone? What are you proud of? What do you want to reflect on?
[John Intoppa]: Yeah, no. So I, you know, it was a whirlwind. I mean, that whole time of, um, I mean, in my personal life, it was also a kind of time I had just gotten a second contract at MassArt, so I was a contract employee actually seeking my full-time job, which I got, and at the same time was also a contract employee in the housing department as sort of an on-call support for their resident assistants. And so at that same time, you know, I just accepted that contract. And then my phone started blowing up. And, you know, that's when everything kind of went down. So I really didn't have time to think it was just kind of like, we're doing it like it's happening. And that was also the time period where we had thought there was like, a few million dollars missing from the budget. And it turns out that wasn't actually what's happening. It was a spreadsheet error. And we had the awful budget passing that happened that year where a lot of our folks were laid off. And so it was really kind of this what's happening and kind of somber time to be on the committee and especially as someone who you know, kind of actually just came to peace with the fact that that might have been it. And then to get thrown into it. And that whole process, you know, I'm happy to see that the Charter Review Committee has a whole section on what happens because it wasn't in our charter. And we went off of past precedent from another, from a different version of the charter. And so, you know, there was a lot. I think the thing that I love the most right off the bat were the community events, and I knew that's what I was going to love. You know, one of the things that reasons why I ran and always I knew I wanted to be as present as I could be. And I'm very thankful to MassArt for helping me be able to do that, because, you know, as a kid, I knew who was on the school committee because they were at events and I knew who Kathy Kreatz was and me and Miss Stone and and a bunch of others. but there was this thing, and maybe it was just me, but you know, there was this thing of like, this feels like I'm doing something important because these people are here. This feels like, no matter what it is, a recital, you know, a sporting event, like this feels like a big deal because there are folks here who I view as a big deal that are here to celebrate with us. And that feeling was something that I always wanted to give back, especially, you know, to the arts and my folks, you know, who, you know, while the arts are being attacked nationwide, maybe really want that, really want that support. And so, you know, above all, no matter what legislation I wanted to pass, no matter my opinions, like that was something that I always wanted to do was be the present person to show up. And I think that I've been pretty successful with that. I'd hope so. You know, trying as many invites as I get to work with, to work with my place of employment, to figure out a way to do that and to support those folks. And so that's been something that has been my favorite thing is the community building and seeing, you know, the city rally around community. You know, it's what I do for work too. And so seeing the laughs and smiles and also attending events that I attended. Part of as a student is also surreal, like going to the fifth grade junior Olympics, like that was wild to to, you know, walk with the flag bearers and walk with them down the track with member Branley and to be that person that I saw as a kid, you know, that's been the most surreal thing. Now like in terms of legislation, I think that I didn't realize how much fun I would have writing legislation and writing policy It's been this kind of like I'm playing lawyer. I feel like you know Councilor Tseng I'm sort of playing lawyer with things. I'm sure it's Councilor Tseng as he finishes his begins and is in the middle of his you know a law degree but You know, doing that, so writing the water wellness policy, which, um, came out of a lot of the schools testing positive for lead. Um, and you know, it wasn't just, you know, for those who may have missed that, it wasn't just the high school, which was built in the seventies. It was the Andrews and the McGlynn all very buildings that were built when I was like three, you know, past the point of lead pipes being banned and manufacturing. And so, you know, hungering down and trying to figure out how do we prevent this going forward. Also finding out that we're now only one of three cities that have an actual policy on how water is tested. And we're the only one I believe that actually has numbers and says this is what happens if this number comes up. This is when you have to do it. This is what happens if it if it tests positive. How do you reconcile that? clear guidance so that way no one can kind of go, I don't know what to do, because you don't want to put anyone in that situation. You don't want to write policy and then be like, well, figure it out. Do your job. Figure it out. That's the last thing you want to do. So having these sort of backup and safeguards built into it, it makes it lengthier, but you thank yourself in the long run for that. So I found this love for authoring policy and figuring out and dissecting policy, finding things like adding things to policy statements or looking over job descriptions and knowing from my time writing job descriptions for students, the legalities of that and going, oh, wait, we actually are not in compliance with mass state law because of this. We need to fix that. We need to do that. And so pulling in that knowledge, that's something I've really loved. And I knew I was going to love it because that's why I would have ran. I didn't want to run just because I wanted the power and whatever. And I wanted to be an advocate and to learn this position that I had admired so much as a kid and figure out what that was like and keep moving forward. And that's why I'm running, seeking renomination and seeking it again is because I've really loved doing it. I love the invites, I love showing up to everything that I can and just seeing the city grow in that way, especially the children of this city. Just seeing all the achievements they have and being able to parade around that and celebrate that has been my favorite thing, for sure.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you. Yeah, it sounds really... rewarding and overwhelming and like you've learned a lot in the last two years.
[John Intoppa]: I had to learn a lot really quick. And I'm very thankful that my background as a trustee at MassArt got rid of all the Roberts rules worry. Like there's still some very niche things that I still have to ask about. And you'll see me ask about it, honestly, on the floor. Like, how do we approach this? What do we do? But that sort of open meeting law of Roberts rules thing being knowing that I was, I was really able to just learn or what are the rules of this specific committee. and how do we do this so that way I don't get anyone else in trouble? Because I would hate to get my colleagues in trouble for my rookie mistake. That's that. Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.
[Danielle Balocca]: No, you didn't. No, I was wondering, you kind of referenced this, you are kind of, I think, leading into this, but two years is, it probably went by really quickly, right? Because you're very busy and there's a lot to get done. And one of the things we did talk about in the reviewing the charter was extending terms. I think that it's also a big ask because, you know, even though they did increase your salaries, it does feel like mostly you're volunteering here. But I guess with two more years or, you know, kind of if you're if you approach this is like you're kind of learning, getting comfortable, starting to make some changes. What do you hope to continue? Should you be reelected for another two years?
[John Intoppa]: For sure. I think one of the things is. You know, looking through our so there was actually an instance where this came up. I think it was the last meeting we had, not like the last, like the last meeting of the school committee for this. Now we're in recess, but it was around the MCAS policy. And I was looking for another policy in our policy bank, and I noticed we had a whole policy around MCAS being its own graduation requirement. And so even though we struck it from, another policy, like our graduation policy, there was a whole policy around MCAS. And so, you know, I don't know enough about law to know if that would cause a conflict, but being able to look through and understand like, oh, this may conflict, let's bring it to the floor. Let's sort of clean up that policy bank has been something sort of fun. But on a serious note, you know, looking at, I think the number one thing or one of the number one things on my platform for reelection is voter engagement. and voter education. And that is something that I think we don't have really an in-house system on how to train our students on how to be responsible, educated voters. And my time at MassArt, I was chair of the MassArt Votes effort, which basically picks up the pace where, you know, K through 12 didn't with voter engagement. So we take the students and we get them registered to vote. We tell them what to do in terms of, you know, can you technically register to vote here? Can you not? What does Mass State Law says? What does Mass State Law say? And so that's really one of the efforts that I think we need student input on. I said that a lot. two years ago was I'm running on we need student input. And what do they need, you know, I ran into issues. And I don't want to air them, you know, over the radio waves but of some but they were startling, you know, of what students didn't understand it ranged from students knowing who their you know, city clerk was, a register of voters was, but they couldn't get the registration to them because they didn't know how to mail a letter. Or, you know, they thought, oh, I can early vote in Boston because I live in Boston, I'm dorming in Boston, but I'm registered to vote in Quincy. But that says I can early vote here, so why can't I? And so sort of clearing that up and sort of trying to educate our students, because the way we're doing it, you know, we have a civics program in our middle schools. But what we're doing at the high school level is really some just really cool and responsible faculty members that are grabbing nomination, that are grabbing registration papers from City Hall and bringing them to class. And I don't think it's fair to rely on our faculty to do that. I think that we owe it to our students to have, you know, if we complain about low voter turnout, And we want to go down that road. We really need to make sure that we have systems in place to educate them. Because once they go to college, if they go to an out-of-state college, what do they do? Do they register to vote there? Do they do late voting here? You know, these are things really hard. I was on my I was on the phone on election day with parents, like trying to come up with solutions. It wants to vote, but like this is this and this is that and just trying to figure that out. And I don't want anyone that lives in any student that lives in Medford that goes to college having to have those worries and concerns, you know, on election day. I want them to be able to know what to do and how to vote. And so that's sort of one of the efforts that I really want to work. Cause yeah, two years flies by and you know, once you have community meetings and all that, Oh, it's time for reelection.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. What I really want to see, which would be, well, this is something I actually thought about doing when I was in high school was. changing the voter age for the city to 16 so that students that were currently in high school could vote in municipal elections, which I think would be really cool. And did you, I think this maybe I made this up, but was there, is there like a student liaison to the school committee?
[John Intoppa]: Yeah, so there's two. There's usually two. So the way, there's a student liaison who usually sits in on the meetings and gives input. There's also a student advisory council that is made up of students of all grade levels, and they meet internally at the high school. We really haven't, to be honest, we really didn't meet with them that much this academic year. Last academic year, we were meeting with them on some specific things that are escaping me at the moment. But I remember going, because I was in the dorm, so it was definitely last academic year. in calls with students about engagement. We're talking about extending the school day by 15 minutes. And we've been getting emails from students concerned about mental health concerns or other things about what will be offered for that. And so we are receiving input, but we're not meeting with them as much as I remember us doing. And I'm not sure why that is. I don't mean, I'm not trying to air out a grievance here, you know, that component was missing this past academic year. But I definitely loved meeting with them and, you know, seeing them in that spot, because I was in that spot as a student president in high school. But yeah, trying to figure out, you know, working with our civics department, working with our director of marketing, working with students to figure out how can we best, you know, talk specifically about voting. How do we push that? And how do we get them ready for that? So that way, I think we owe it to our students to get them as ready as we can for college or trades or the military, wherever they may go. So that way, once they leave us, they feel prepared and set up. And I don't know if we're there yet. I know I hear from. What I remember, I mean, I didn't learn how to write a check until I opened the business account to run for this office. I didn't know how to open a bank account because we did it a few years ago. But I didn't learn that in school. And I didn't learn how to write a check and do this and do that. And so, you know, looking at programs like the career fair, revamping that, looking at how we can, I mean, that was great. That was a huge reality check for renting. Are you kidding me? You go around, you have a set, you get like a random job and you go around to tables and they go, Oh, you want a car or a bus pass? Because now you can't pay rent if you get a car, but you can't do that. And you're like, wow, this is intense. This is scary. And now, you know, you get to be my age 24 and you're like, Oh no, that was, that was actually, it was better than now.
[Danielle Balocca]: The game of life, yeah.
[John Intoppa]: It is the game of life. It was a big game of life in the gym. And that's what it was. And local businesses came and volunteered. It was awesome. I remember it very vividly. And coming up with more opportunities for our students to do that, I hate to say it like this, but at MassArt, working with student government funds for the MassArt Activities Council, which are the eight students that I directly oversee, we do a lot with nothing. Because the funds get spread around, and we try to fund as many organizations they can and so that's what I find myself feeling like every time I have to problem-solve in Medford is we have to do a lot with like not a lot because we have to figure out how can we make the best out of what we have and so for that it's like voter engagement like what are we doing are we are we doing pamphlets are we doing online QR codes what do we have to do to make sure it's budget-friendly but also having the impact of That will change students, you know, the career fair, how can we work with local businesses to make it happen to maybe donate part of their time or donate efforts. You know, looking for loopholes like that, because I mean for those. For those folks who, I didn't realize this until school committee training, 80% of the budget in most school districts is personnel, and rightfully so. But that's when people go, well, where's all this money? It's paying the people who are educating our students. 80% of that goes to personnel. And so you're dealt with 20% to do everything else. And so figuring out how we can do things amazing, but also set our faculty up for success, our students up for success, our administrators up for success, can be tricky and can be hard and you know that that's sort of what I've been trying to do is sit back and kind of look at all right where where can we do these small fixes that maybe have big impact.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, it's it seemed to me like the for the past couple decades at Medford it was like. you're working with like a pie and instead of like, and you're figuring out like who gets less every time and who gets more instead of like making another pie, but you know, hopefully the override helps with a little bit of that, but yeah, but so yeah, yeah. I'm sorry, I think I interrupted you, but are any other sort of hopes for you for the next term?
[John Intoppa]: I think, you know, just keep on moving. We're in a really cool direction with, you know, looking at hopefully getting a new high school building, um, looking at new programs to bring into, you know, um, the schools themselves. But I think, you know, those are my main big things. I'd also love, you know, um, to see a larger emphasis and we're getting there with, I mean, we just had, we as a district just had our AP art exhibition at arts collaborative Medford. I'm loving the emphasis on local artists and the local arts. As a former, you know, board member of the West Medford Open Studios, as a practicing artist for both performing and in sculptural work, you know, empowering artists to make change is huge. It's a completely different, you know, mindset in terms of how they approach things and really pushing our students to, you know, show those off and to work when we've been making a lot of efforts to, you know, local murals. And, you know, I think the like the pop up the pop up space over by the senior center in Medford and Medford Square, you know, that was that was helped in part design murals were designed by the National Art Society at Medford High. And so, you know, really empowering artists, I think, is also a huge priority, I'd say that a lot of my priorities from two years ago are still going because I think that I know that this past year has been, you know, all right, learning all the realities and learning all the technical things and you know, when I was forming this slate, I'm like, all right, I'd love to be like, I want to create this and I want to do that. But the reality is we can't afford that. We can't do that right now, at least not in a two year span. And so trying to think of very specific, tangible things that we can work on has been my priority. And so bringing the arts into a lot of different areas and bringing them into different spaces, you know, maybe we do pop up galleries across which we have been doing with. Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry that the organization is escaping me at the moment, with Arts Medford. And I believe it's Arts Medford, and I'm sorry if I'm misquoting, but we had like a pop-up art walk all across the city. And doing that, you know, there were some, I believe some student artists, or maybe I'm thinking of last year, but that's a huge priority of mine. Advocating for our nurses has been a huge also priority of mine. There's some, They have had some pushback in terms of some of the policy or hiring, not hiring personnel numbers we've been giving them because of outdated practices and, you know, so continue to advocate for them to make sure that that doesn't happen again. And that doesn't continue to happen in, you know. as many budget cycles as I can say that I can be a part of.
[Danielle Balocca]: Does that mean like hiring more nurses, like a better ratio of nurses?
[John Intoppa]: So there's there's a there when we were looking at the numbers, you know, there were certain, you know, full time positions that were designated for each school and designated there. And there was talk about how that wasn't enough, because if one one nurse is getting an epi pen for a student or getting an inhaler for a student then they're out there you know they're off the floor there's nothing i can happen so you know god forbid something two people get hurt, three people get hurt. There's not enough nurses there. So we have a floater that goes between buildings and stuff like that. But during public sessions, there were complaints that those were based off of outdated numbers. So we, as a district, thought, oh, we're doing what the standard is. But the position of the union and the staff was, that's not what those are the numbers. That's outdated. We need more. We need better. We need better staffing. And so, I mean, as a student who got attention deficit meds from them, you know, I saw that like, oh, I'll help you in a second. There's five kids in the waiting room, but they got to go help me in the back because even though I'm 18. I can't give myself my own meds, and I don't think people realize that. Or they have to get the EpiPen, or they have to go get Tylenol. So things like that, I think, is also a huge priority of mine. But still continuing to hopefully be, no, not hopefully, still continuing to be the present school community member who can show up to as many shows, or as many sport outings, or as many volunteer opportunities and give back, whether it's missing the opportunity to help donate for a 50-50 raffle, but giving an art basket for a student, or helping sponsor a t-shirt, things like that, where it's like, all right, I can't make the event, but how can I give you money to help make sure it happens well? That has been something that I've also loved to do and will continue to do in my hopeful next two years on the committee.
[Danielle Balocca]: Great. Well, thank you. I'm curious just to, if you kind of can reflect on the, your time so far, if there are any like major takeaways or like a major thing that you've learned in your time so far on the school committee.
[John Intoppa]: I think, you know, I have had an amazing time being on it. It's also been a time where, you know, we talk about, you know, darker times with budget cycles and learning the reality of that. You know, you want to give – I'm trying to think of a way to say this. You know, making those tough decisions and having to be the one to say that and with a simple yes, saying yes, the impact that that truly has on families. a year ago when our budget that we passed because we were underfunded had to, you know, laid people off. And I was like, I need people to realize that we are saying numbers, but these are people, these are bills, these are homes that could be impacted by one of us simply saying yes or no. And, you know, you've realized that, but when you're sitting in that chair and going to push the button, it really, really hurts. And it really is something that, you know, I didn't, voting, there's a lot of hesitation because you've realized the gravity of what you're about to say. And I've also learned like really how much showing up matters. I mean, I've always known showing up matters and, you know, as from the perspective of witnessing it and feeling that, you know, love from folks, whether it's my parents or my siblings or members of the school committee, but really how much people appreciate their elected officials being there for them and showing that by taking time out of their day to do things that aren't, you know, their biweekly meetings. I never realized how much that would impact me seeing it on the other side and how much that also did a lot for me as a person. But I think the last two years, you know, I've always tried to lead with love and courage and just wanting to make sure that everyone has a seat at the table. and try to approach it from a problem-solving mindset that I, as an artist, have that unique perspective of. And it's one thing to employ artists because of what they do, but also the way they think. And when you put artists in charge, it's like, oh, that's cool representation, but it's also a different viewpoint and a different way of thinking at the table that is really special to those folks. I think I'm talking in circles, I feel like I'm blabbing, but there's just so much, you know, it's been such a privilege and an honor to be on the committee and to see that childhood dream come to life of doing the work that I've wanted to do since I was in the second grade. And I wanted to abolish the MCAS, which we did. We got rid of it as a graduation requirement because the Massachusetts voters said we could. There's a literal Facebook quote, I think, from my mom back when I was in the second grade of like, John wants to get on the school committee because he wants to get rid of the MCAS. Or it was either that or summer reading. It might have been both. I really didn't like both. I learned to love summer reading but still continued to hate the MCAS. And so, you know, being able to live out this childhood dream has been such a pleasure. And I mean, I can't do it without the voters of Medford. And I thank them greatly for putting that trust into me and allowing me to do that and realize just how much I love this work and just how much I love being there for our students and our faculty and staff.
[Danielle Balocca]: Well, then thank you, John, for your work. Thank you. Is there anything that you want to like plug, like any events you have coming up or anywhere we can read more about your campaign?
[John Intoppa]: Yeah. So we the kickoff is currently being planned. It's in the works. I'm hoping to aim for the first or second, you know, middle of September, so keep your eye out for that. You can find me on pretty much every social platform besides Axe. I'm on Instagram and Facebook as Intoppa4Medford. I think it's either Instagram or Facebook. I'm Intoppa4Medford because they said I was trying to impersonate myself. So yeah, Instagram, Intapa4Medford, F-O-R, and then Facebook should be Intapa4, the number four, Medford. And then if you go to Intapa4Medford, which is Intapa, the number four, Medford.com, you can find my website and platform and all the stuff that I'm doing. And that's still under construction. So please have some patience. Hopefully it'll be done by the time this airs. that's where you can find everything that I'm up to. If you have campaign asks, you can email me at intapa4medford at gmail.com. If you have school committee asks and want to talk to me as an elected official, you can reach me at jintapa at medford.k12.ma.us. Thank you.
[Danielle Balocca]: Anything else that you want to mention before we wrap up?
[John Intoppa]: No, just thank you so much, honestly, for the work that y'all do for the community by doing these podcasts and by interviewing all of us. It's really well appreciated, especially as we lack a local newspaper, which we have some new ones starting up, which is really awesome. But this is really helpful, not only to us, I can say that, but also helpful to the voters to hear that. And it's nice to have a casual conversation and just talk about what we love about the city and what we want to do for it and stuff like that. And also plugging local food businesses. So I'm sure they appreciate it. I'm sure the restaurants really love you all for doing that.
[Danielle Balocca]: Or whoever listens. I don't know.
[John Intoppa]: Exactly. Exactly. Of course.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. I'm happy to do it. And yeah, thank you so much for being here.
[John Intoppa]: Awesome. Thank you.
[Danielle Balocca]: 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. Good job.
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total time: 28.38 minutes total words: 1290 |
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