[Unidentified]: th th th th th th th Okay.
[Bruce Kulik]: Before we get started, I'd like to remind the audience to please mute their cell phones. Good evening and welcome to the Medford Democratic City Committee City Council Forum. The general election will be held November the 4th, with early voting beginning this Saturday, October the 25th. Tonight's program is being broadcast, streamed, and recorded for later playback by the Medford Community Media. My name is Bruce Kulik, and along with Phyllis Morrison, we are the co-chairs of the committee. All candidates, regardless of political affiliation, were invited to attend. Tonight we will hear from 10 of the 14 City Council candidates. Nate Merritt is unable to attend due to a previous family engagement. Paul Donato Jr. had a previous work commitment and is unable to attend. Rick Caraviello is recovering from knee replacement surgery and is unable to attend. His wife Cara will be arriving later this evening to deliver his closing statement. And George Scarpelli declined to participate. The moderators for tonight's forum will be myself and Phyllis. and we're joined by volunteers from Jumbo Vote, a nonpartisan student-run organization from the Titch College of Civic Life at Tufts University. The co-president of Jumbo Vote is Tegan Mastone. Tonight's volunteers also include our timekeepers, Julia Kiko, Macy D. Giuseppe, and stage managers Amy Zhao and Ella Hochman. We also have a volunteer from Medford High School, Jacob Yee, who will be operating the lights and providing technical assistance. The format of tonight's forum will consist of two rounds of questions and responses, with each candidate receiving one question in each round. We will then have each candidate deliver a closing statement. The order of speaking was determined by a random selection conducted earlier this week by members of the organizing committee, with candidates allowed to swap positions if they wanted to by mutual agreement. Each candidate will be allowed two minutes response time for each question and two minutes for the closing statement. The timekeeper will display a yellow card when 15 seconds remain and a red card when time has expired. The moderator will then tell the candidates that time is up. We will now introduce each candidate. When your name is called, please stand if able, greet the audience, and then please be seated. Justin Tseng. Liz Mullane, Matt Leming, Nick Guerrillo, Anna Callahan, Zach Bares, Melanie Tringali, Emily Lazzaro, Miranda Prezzino, and Patrick Clerkin. We will now conduct the Q&A portion of tonight's forum. The questions will be asked in two rounds, with each candidate responding in the order previously determined. We have developed several questions for tonight's forum. The questions will be drawn from a glass bowl by one of the student volunteers and provided to the moderator, who will then ask the question to the candidate. The candidate will then have two minutes to respond as they wish.
[Phyllis Morrison]: At this time as you can see Bruce is taking the questions out of an envelope and placing them into the bowl so that each candidate's question can be drawn by our student volunteer here. So our first question will be for Justin Tseng. What will you do to address residents' concerns about desensification, gentrification, and teardowns of historic homes?
[Justin Tseng]: First of all, I want to thank the Medford Democratic City Committee, the Medford Community Media, and my fellow Councilors for all being here and organizing this event tonight. I want to thank all of you watching at home. I know there's a Bruins game on, so we're competing with something really fun too. With regards to your question. This is one of the most pivotal questions that our city is facing now. The cost of living crisis is a defining challenge of our time. I know it all too well. I'm someone who wants to stay in Medford, who's finding it tougher and tougher to stay in Medford, and so many of my classmates have been priced out and left behind. They're moving to New Hampshire, to Worcester, to places that they can't afford and commuting into work. With regards to gentrification, desensitization, historic buildings, we have to treat this moment as an opportunity, an opportunity to do more, to build the housing that our residents deserve and demand, to cut red tape for affordable housing, and to embrace important reforms like a historic conversion ordinance, which we can do via a comprehensive zoning process. Now, the concerns of residents are real, and they're valid. And we have to do more to communicate with the public about what we're doing as well. And that includes taking advantage of the resources that we've created, the listening sessions, newsletters, et cetera. But it also requires informing the public about best practices and about what we can be doing going forward. We can embrace zoning reform that is step up in many communities. We can bring mixed-use residential and commercial development to Medford and increase RSA over the process too by demanding accountability from big developers.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you, Justin. Our next question will be for Liz Mullane. Liz, how would you continue the work to update zoning in our squares and commercial areas to revitalize our business districts and build new housing?
[Liz Mullane]: Sure. Thank you, Phyllis. And again, I also want to thank everyone for being here this evening and for the opportunity to speak on some of these questions. I think the rezoning in our commercial districts and bringing more businesses down to downtown Medford and our squares and corridors is incredibly important. I think it's a great opportunity for us to be able to bring in mixed use space, for people to be able to have housing, be closer, more small businesses would be able to have more people come in and be able to utilize their services or the different the different restaurants and bars that are there and available. I think that this is an opportunity for Medford to really be able to grow, to be able to bring new people to our community. And I do think that it's something that's really important if we're going to continue to be able to provide housing affordability for more and more individuals. So, for me, knowing that we're trying to look at this very strategically, we're trying to look at the different areas and really trying to focus on places where we are able to build and grow and bring in more of those different small businesses. I think that's it.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you. Thanks, Liz. Thank you. Our next question is for Matt Leming. Matt, the city's infrastructure needs far exceed the amount of available funds. What do you see as the most effective way the city council can help the city generate more revenue to address infrastructure needs?
[Matt Leming]: Well, thank you, Villas, and I'd also like to repeat the thanks to the Democratic City Committee for hosting this forum. One of my biggest efforts this past term is updating our developer impact fee program, our linkage fee program. This is where when developers build any large developments, they have to give a certain amount to the city in order to, so that the city can update our parks, our sewers, our roads, put more money towards the police and fire department. And Medford hasn't updated that program since it was first instituted in 1990, even though they're required to update it every three years. And so what the city council has done is we have a bill that was engrossed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives. I just checked. It's on a going to a third reading in the Senate right now, which would allow us to actually update those fees proportional to with inflation. So because we haven't updated any of our linkage fees since 1990, the value of them is between one-half and one-third what they were then as they are today. And so this bill would enable us to actually increase that over time so that we're not just losing value and seriously undercharging developers. That leaves the city with less money. That leaves us with fewer resources to actually update our infrastructure and address the $67 million backlog we have in pavement repairs that we need to do a lot of this a lot of Medford's problems are money problems longer term of course we do need to update the commercial tax base that involves changing the zoning to the squares and main corridors so that we can encourage that sort of that sort of development we've already rezone Mystic Avenue. We've rezoned Salem Street. I would like to continue that process and I'm looking forward to seeing the Medford Square and West Medford Square rezoning from the Community Development Board as well. And thank you very much for the question.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you. Thank you. Our next question is for Nick Galeo. I hope I said it correctly tonight, Nick.
[Nick Giurleo]: Jaleo.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Jaleo. I apologize.
[Nick Giurleo]: No problem.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Nick, how should Medford approach the issue of minimum off-street parking requirements for residential development?
[Nick Giurleo]: Thank you for the question. And I'd reiterate what my fellow panelists up here have said. Thank you all for being here tonight. Parking is a key issue in Medford. Many residents are concerned about it and its availability. There's a special concern about it given the zoning proposal on the table at the moment. How will it impact parking? have any studies been done indicating that. Unfortunately the answer appears to be no. So we don't really know if this massive residential rezoning plan how that's going to impact parking. And parking is very important I'd say economically and commercially for our city because it encourages people to go to our businesses and spend money at our businesses when it's available. Medford Square for example is significantly problematic because of the lack of parking. You go there where you put your car. How do you go to the businesses. So we really do have to take another look at parking and do much better with it. We need to make sure parking is available throughout the city in the event we pass any zoning changes. So that's a priority for me. I want studies done. I want input from residents and I want to make sure that we just accept the reality too that you know people have cars and not everybody drives a car but people have cars and they need a place to put the car. And we want to make sure we have places for that. That's my answer. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you. Our next question will be for Anna Callahan. The Commonwealth recently enacted policies to require auxiliary dwelling units and multifamily and designated transit zones to help address the housing shortage and cost of housing. What additional options would you support to reduce housing costs.
[Anna Callahan]: Thank you so much. I really want to thank you for putting on this event and also everyone who is here, everyone who is watching. And thanks for the question. I know the state really has taken these steps to allow ADUs, those are accessory dwelling units, so that means If you want for your parents to move back in with you as they're aging, if you want to just have a little part of your home that you can have available to rent out to a family member or to someone, that you are able to do that. And that is something that the state has mandated. And so we will be doing that as a city. Also, multifamily near these high transit the areas, so that'll be near the Green Line stations, the commuter rail station, and In Medford, one of our issues is that the vast majority of the people who live here, I think it's around 68, 69%, are one- or two-person households. But we have only about less than 20% of our homes are studio or one-bedroom homes. We have a lot of four- and five-bedroom homes. And a lot of those are occupied by a bunch of young professionals living together because it's the only way that they can afford to live here. So one of the things that we're hoping to do with some of the mixed use development in Mystic Ave and in some of the areas near transit is to allow people to take like a five bedroom home or, you know, I live in South Medford right now, some of these two families, and convert them into homes that have, you know, a house that might have a single family to a two family or a two family to a three family. So I think that will help us with affordability and also just with the housing crisis.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you. Thank you. Our next question will be for Zach Beres.
[Zac Bears]: Hope it's zoning.
[Phyllis Morrison]: We put all of the questions into the bowl. We cannot help how they come out. We did not touch them, so it is yes. I hear you, Zach. Zach, what is your position regarding greater civilian oversight or an independent review board for policing issues?
[Zac Bears]: Not zoning. Yeah, I think we've seen civilian review or community review board for police in several communities here in Massachusetts and in other communities. Really having residents directly involved in reviewing police policies and practices is an important thing. We have been, I think, really lucky here in Medford to have had some leadership in our police department that has done some good work on updating policies and building a culture and addressing some past problems in policing. I don't have to talk about the Memorial Day bank heist or anything like that back in the 80s. We're a long, long way from that culturally. But I think that connection is really important, having residents directly involved. so that they understand what our police policies and practices are and that they have a role in making them. So I definitely support creating a civilian review board for that purpose.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you. Our next question will be for Melanie Tringali. Melanie, what is your position regarding the creation of historic districts to protect the fabric of some residential neighborhoods from developers who might replace this current single family home with a maximally large structure that revised zoning might allow? Can you repeat that question one last time? It's a pretty long one. Yes, I will. I'm happy to repeat it. Yes. What is your position regarding the creation of historic districts to protect the fabric of some residential neighborhood from developers who might replace a current single family home with a maximally large structure that revised zoning might allow.
[Melanie Tringali]: Okay. So thank you for having this again, having this forum. So I was on the Historic District Commission for two years. I am a huge believer in preserving our history in the city of Medford. I actually own a home that's built in 1850 and worked tirelessly to reconstruct it and redevelop it as a single family home. I believe that we should preserve our history. We have a beautiful history here in the city of Medford, and we should be preserving our homes. That being said, I do believe that there should be some incentives to make those homes into multifamily homes as long as they stay within the structure of the historic nature of the neighborhood.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you, Melanie. Thank you. And our next question will be for Emily Lazzaro. Emily, should there be a role that the city council can play in creating a self and welcoming environment for LGBTQ plus members of our community?
[Emily Lazzaro]: Thank you so much, Phyllis. Thanks for having us. I do believe that there's a role that the city council can play to make marginalized people of all types in Medford feel welcome. As an example, this past term, Councilor Tseng and I wrote an ordinance to help shore up the rights of some folks whose who were under threat by the federal presidential administration of having some of their health care being removed. It was the Gender Affirming Care and Reproductive Health Care Ordinance, which stated that anybody who was receiving health care, trans people and women who were receiving health care that may be deemed inappropriate by the federal administration. Those people receiving the health care and people dispensing it would not be prosecuted in Medford. To whatever extent we can protect those rights, we wanted to make sure that we could. And it's because people in the community were asking for that, for those protections. There are a lot of ways that people in a community can make other people feel safe. And one of the things that we can do as a city council is we can say we can respond to people who ask us to do things for them in an official capacity. But it is it's a statement about. what we believe in and what we care about and how we can show up for the people who live here when they ask us to. So in that way, I believe that the city council has a role to play. And I also believe that any time that a resident comes to the city council and says, I feel afraid or I feel that I am in danger in some way and I would like you to help me feel safer, I think it's important that we do that. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you, Emily. We will next hear from Miranda Riseno. Did I say it correctly?
[Miranda Briseno]: Riseno. Riseno. Like yo. Okay, Riseno.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you. Here is your question. Miranda, we have a significant road and sidewalk repair backlog. The new road repair crew hired with the override funding of 5,000K per year will help do repairs more efficiently, but it's not sufficient. How do you propose to tackle the backlog? Can you repeat that one more time?
[Miranda Briseno]: Sorry.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Yes, of course I can. We have a significant road and sidewalk repair backlog. The new road repair crew hired with the override funding of 500K per year will help us do repairs more efficiently but is not sufficient. How do you propose we tackle the backlog?
[Miranda Briseno]: Thank you for the question. Thank you for having us. Like you said, the new hard roadway repair crew is really just going to make a small dent in the large issue. We all know to be true that our sidewalks and our roads are in a state of disrepair. And this is something I handle at work professionally at MassDOT. I think there's something to be said for more strategically using grant funding from the state. The governor did just increase our chapter 90 funds, which is for surface transportation improvements. And so really coming up with a plan. making that plan really visible and clear to residents at the doors. I've heard a lot of folks who are seeing infrastructure repair happen but aren't clear as to when or why it's happening. And so really making that more clear to residents. Our D.P.W. staff is absolutely trying their best and right now while they're waiting to get those new hires on board are really just patching band-aids as much as they can. So really strategically using grant funding, going after more grant funding, making sure that we are both addressing the emergencies and the urgent need of our infrastructure that's really bad, and also making a plan to maintain that infrastructure in a state of good repair. When we make that clear, when we've set that forth in a plan and say, when this sidewalk gets to 80% of its useful life, i.e. it's starting to deteriorate already, let's make a plan to address it now rather than when it gets to 50% because then we're paying more. And so really investing in that and then also looking to not just patch the band-aids but also how do we make things better? You know, so many sidewalks I know around me and Hillside don't have curb ramps. And I'm lucky enough to be able to get around that as a young person, someone who's able-bodied, but that's not true for everyone. And we're, you know, all going to get older and have different abilities. And so really thinking about that as we're also investing in repairs.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you. Our next question will be for Patrick Lurken. Patrick, recently the city released a proposal for new residential zoning. It has been met with mixed reactions. How would you modify the current proposal to address this? And would you like me to repeat the question?
[Patrick Clerkin]: No, thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: All right. Okay.
[Patrick Clerkin]: Without getting into the deep details of wording, I think that overall one of the big issues is of balance. I think that there are people in various neighborhoods who feel like their sections of the city are the local equivalent of flyover states, and I've seen that myself walking around the city. There's areas of the city that people don't go to harvest votes. They've never seen a candidate there. There's places that are basically, we've heard the term food deserts, we've heard the term banking deserts, basically information deserts in the city. And so I think that one of the big steps towards engaging the neighborhoods and actually balancing the needs of the neighborhoods with the needs of the city overall is having some physical gathering points like bulletin boards, not just the bulletin boards that you see in the laundromats or kind of randomly scattered about, but some known locations. I also think that it would help to bring forward some of the projects that are happening in the city onto the main page of the website so that there are quick links and guideposts for people. And that would allow more leadership to emerge in the various parts of the city. And that would also be a step forward for the charter, which is on the ballot in November. Whether it happens, whether it doesn't, we need local leadership in the wards and in the neighborhoods. All of those things combined, I think if we get that right, we get the money in the coffers. If we get the money in the coffers, we fix the streets, we get the high school we want, we get all this other stuff. I'm an engineer by background, so I like getting into the root causes. And I see all these things as comprehensive and intertwined. So that would be how I would approach it comprehensively.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you, Patrick. Could you bring the mic back now? While the mic's being brought back, I want to inform or remind the audience that these questions were all submitted to us. The committee asked for input from city residents, and that's where the questions came from, and we put them into categories. So I want everyone to know that these are from the residents. And well, good job, residents. Thank you.
[Bruce Kulik]: That concludes the first round of questions. We will now proceed to round two. We have replaced the questions in the jar with a separate set for round two that will include different topics. The first question goes to Justin Tsang. The new charter would give the city ward representation on city council a four-year term for mayor with four-term limit and the ability of the school committee to elect its own chair, among other things. What is your position regarding passage of the new charter?
[Justin Tseng]: I support the new charter. I voted for it to pass through city council. Of course, there was a lively debate that got quite substantive into the details, but I think when we're talking about the foundational document for our city, it's really important to consider every detail. I'm going to leave it to residents at home to make their own decision on this. But what I think this new charter does is give neighborhoods more representation, which I think we need from my own perspective. It'll be a lot easier to sort through constituent cases when we know which Councilor is in charge of which part of the city. And I think it's a model that will boost representation with minorities with people who have traditionally been overlooked in the process and neighborhoods that have been traditionally overlooked in the process. Going forward, we'll have to keep an eye on whether this new charter works if it passes. And that's why there's also a five-year review built into the charter so that we can keep an eye on those details and work through deeper conversations about what works and what doesn't work.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you, Justin. Next question is for Liz Mullane. How would you approach your role in oversight, funding, and collaboration with the Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee to ensure a transparent and fiscally sound process?
[Liz Mullane]: Sure. Thank you, Bruce. So I think that the work that the school committee has been doing right now, as they've been working to try to pull together information about pulling a new Medford High School, is incredibly important. And I think it's something that is absolutely needed and something that we need to, as a community, really understand what's available for us and to be able to work with the district and be able to work with our colleagues to figure out how best to be able to provide funding. I think as we're sitting here in the building now, when I've gone to doors and I've spoken to parents, I think it's a huge concern. People want to make sure that we have the money and the availability to be able to provide for our schools and for our students. As someone who works in higher ed and serves as an adjunct faculty member, I know firsthand just how important that is. And I really do believe that being able to invest in our students and making sure that they have everything that they need to be successful is incredibly important. And I know that the school committee is going through all the due diligence to ensure that they put together the right plan and the right things needed. And if that's a new high school, then that's something I'm completely behind.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you, Liz. The next question is for Matt Leming. What specific steps should the city take to support small businesses and local entrepreneurs while ensuring Medford's growth remains responsible, sustainable, and aligned with the needs of residents and the community?
[Matt Leming]: Sure. A lot of that really It does come down to, in terms of the levers that the City Council has to pull, zoning our commercial districts and corridors. It's been kind of an issue that a lot of parts of our current zoning code are not clear. We also need to bolster staffing, particularly within the planning department. We did get, in this past term, we got an economic development director as well as an assistant economic development director who had been working. who's been working in the planning department for eight months. And that's a really important role to sort of help small businesses that may have no experience with Medford and tell them these are what permits you need. These are the steps you need to take to actually open up a small business. So really approaching that from City Hall as a sort of customer facing role when new businesses want to come into the city. And improving, I mean, improving relations with a lot of the, I would say, the folks who own many of the vacant storefronts and incentivizing them strongly to not let storefronts sit there and not be used for months, years at a time. Me and Councilor Lazzaro and myself are working on an ordinance that would be able to disincentivize that moving forward, but we're still hammering out the specific details. Overall, Medford just needs to do a million different things to become a more friendly business environment, and I could sort of keep going down the list of things I think we could do better, but I do only have two minutes on this stage. But overall, I'd just like to say thank you very much for the question, and I'll pass it on.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you, Matt. The next question goes to Nick Girelio. Closer, Girelio. Girelio, thank you. I apologize.
[Matt Leming]: You can call me Nick G, too.
[Bruce Kulik]: That's insulting. Please explain your position on whether using free cash to cover operating expenses is a fiscally sound policy and why.
[Nick Giurleo]: This is a very good question. So for those who don't know, free cash might sound like something wonderful and magical, but essentially it's over-budgeted money that the city over-budgets in a given year. And with the debate over whether or not we should pass our Proposition 2.5 overrides that we had just about a year ago, there was a lot of discussion about free cash and its viability. So the important thing to know about free cash is it's a limited amount of money and If we spend too much of it too quickly, it affects our city's bond rating. So we want to be intelligent about it, and typically it's only used for one-time expenditures. That said, though, my position with the overrides was that free cash could have been used smarter to meet our spending needs and avoid having to essentially hike taxes and put a significant burden on residents to meet our spending needs. So I think we can use free cash much more intelligently. That's going to be my position going forward. We can use it to meet our spending needs while also not raising concerns about our city's credit. So, free cash is out there. It is an option. And really, you know, my position with any sort of, you know, need for tax hikes in the future has been, you know, we should really, really look at every other alternative before we put that burden on residents. And they're struggling. There's a huge cost of living crisis out there and taxes are going up and rents are going up and people are really having a hard time. So, let's look at every other option before we put that burden on residents. Thank you.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you, Nick. The next question goes to Anna Callahan. Medford has many heat islands, a diminished tree canopy, and areas vulnerable to flooding. What is one specific action you would like to take to address climate change risk for Medford, and how would you pay for it?
[Anna Callahan]: Thank you so much. This is actually an area that is of particular importance to me. I am shepherding three tree ordinances through the city council. I've also been pushing for us to have to add green score incentives to our zoning. But the thing I want to talk about most is my volunteer tree Planting initiative where I have a team of volunteers. I have five teams of volunteers So if you want to work with me on something I always try to engage the community in making our city better and one of my teams of volunteers is working to create events And we're working with the city. So we'll be having events where neighbors get together in a sort of party to retree our most barren blocks which happens to the heat islands. It happens to mostly that residentially happens to be in South Medford. And, you know, I'm currently living in a block that has only one tree. The one next to me has zero trees on the entire block, no sidewalk trees. So we will be creating these wonderful community events that are going to retree our blocks. And the wonderful thing is that it's going to cost the city very little because it's mostly the cost of planting trees is mostly labor. So having our residents perform that joyfully in fun events and be able to make that happen is going to save our city a lot of money. The mayor has agreed to take the funds for the actual trees out of our free cash, our savings account. And so it will cost the city very little. And I'm hoping that that will be something that we just continue to do year after year. Imagine getting together with your neighbors and planting trees and then being able to watch those trees on your own block grow for decades. Thank you very much.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you, Anna. The next question is for Zach Baird. What is your position on the current divestment policy recently vetoed by the mayor? How would you monitor and enforce it without undermining the city's fiscal flexibility or return on investments? Or, if you don't agree with it, what alternative ethical investment criteria, if any, would you propose?
[Zac Bears]: Thank you. Well, I am the sponsor and I've led the effort on this ordinance. It is been crafted over the last 10 months or so. I've met with the city treasurer. I've met with the chair of the board of trust fund commissioners, met with the chief of staff, met with many people on this ordinance to craft a policy that really fits our city's values, that makes sure that we're investing our public funds intelligently and not into Industries of destruction and violence. I don't think that's something anyone wants here in our city When we've looked at it, you know We have gotten legal review from KP Law. We've gotten legal opinions from a number of sources. We've had a lot of meetings that have incorporated the legal comments from city legal advisors. And it's pretty clear that this is an eminently enforceable and clear policy. There are not many city funds that are actually right now invested in oil companies, weapons manufacturers, people who are making profits from private prisons, companies that are committing human rights violations across the world. We've actually, in the ordinance, included a condition, a set of conditions from Morgan Stanley. So if we think this is some radical thing, Morgan Stanley's conditions are the ones that we're using. That's a Wall Street investment firm. Because even on Wall Street, they know that our money should not be put into these companies that are committing violence. And that it's actually not a good return for residents. The ordinance includes a fiduciary responsibility following all of the relevant state laws. And in my conversations with the city treasurer, this is easy to enforce. I don't appreciate the veto and I think we'll work through it collaboratively as I've worked through collaboratively with the mayor on many issues. Thank you.
[Bruce Kulik]: I'd like to note that at this time Carol Caraviello has joined us on stage. She will be delivering Rick Caraviello's closing statements shortly. The next question goes to Melanie Tringale. What city department do you feel is most in need of significant increase in its budget for the next fiscal year and why?
[Melanie Tringali]: Well, that's a tough one. Well, I've always been talking about our streets and sidewalks, our infrastructure, and our fire and police. I would definitely think that we need more money in those. We need to be focusing on our streets and our sidewalks. They are in serious disrepair. From the sidewalk perspective, we have senior citizens, disabled people that find it very difficult to walk. I've known several people that have fallen and fell and have hurt themselves pretty seriously. So I would say that is one. I also think that the fire department needs some serious funding. We need to really need to look at what we're going to do to help them in their fire, in their fire department area. So I would say those two areas. We have a lot of needs and we need to figure out how we're going to support all those needs. Thank you.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you. The next question goes to Emily Lazzaro. What specific tools, meetings, or outreach methods will you use to strengthen communication and engagement with the community?
[Emily Lazzaro]: Thank you, Bruce. Something we do as part of the Resident Services and Public Engagement Committee on City Council right now is something that we call listening sessions that was an initiative of the committee this term. The one thing that we do consistently every month is the fourth Thursday of the month one member of the committee will be at the senior center offering a listening session. We're there for an hour and it's open to the public and people can come and tell a city councilor Items of concern, we hear consistently about the roads, about parking, about cost of living issues, about taxes, about a lot of things that are, even things about people's own property, things they need help with, connecting at City Hall. Listening sessions have been a big success and I would love to expand that to reach other aspects of the community. That just happens to be the senior center is a great consistent place that people are always present. And it's easy to get into their newsletter. So that committee also has a monthly newsletter that we've released. We started doing that this term. Members of the committee are also here. Councilor Tseng, Councilor Leming is the chair. Councilor Callahan is also on the committee. And we've been pushing to try to have a lot more transparency. We don't have staff to communicate these things out. So we just do it ourselves. Nobody works for us except for the city clerk's office and they also have to do all the marriage licenses and everything. So there's more to do and we're excited to keep doing it. I'm excited to keep doing it. I'm very eager to do more outreach in another term. Thank you.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you, Emily. I'd also like to remind the candidates at this time to refrain from invoking the names of other candidates in their responses. Thank you. The next question goes to Miranda Roseña. Did I say that right?
[Miranda Briseno]: Close enough. Thank you. Oh no, it's really fine. You won't be, you're not the first, you're not the last. I promise.
[Bruce Kulik]: Looking ahead five to ten years, what is your vision for Medford's future? What role do you see the city council playing in helping us get there?
[Miranda Briseno]: Five to ten years, I would say a big, so many things really. actual, if it doesn't exist now, making sure it exists and it's obvious to residents. Sidewalk and road maintenance, annual plans and status updates, flatter sidewalks, maintain sidewalks, sidewalks with curb ramps, with bus benches and places to rest. I take the bus and the T every day to work and if anyone takes the Green Line, you know just how hot it gets on Boston Ave. when the sun is beating down and you're walking down that way. And so really investing in the trees and all the things that kind of make it, make the foundation of the things that connect us to each other a lot more inviting and a lot easier. And especially too around our squares. So many folks I've talked to on the campaign trail have mentioned, we all know how much we love Medford Square, West Medford Square, and all of our squares. But for folks who might just be coming in for one visit at a night, for the show at the Chevalier or whatnot might not always see that and so really investing in better trash cans and upkeep and simple things like planters and really making the built environment more inviting around our squares, around the centers of our community like the library, the senior center. and making those a lot more places to be, even though we know that they already are. And just those little improvements, I would really want to see really improved roadway safety initiatives. We've had two pedestrian deaths in Medford this year, both elderly gentlemen. And so really investing in the infrastructure that we know that helps keep pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users safe, like speed bumps, But crosswalk bump outs and better visibility for all vulnerable road users so that both drivers and pedestrians are safe.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you Miranda. And the final question tonight goes to Patrick Clurkin. If elected to Medford City Council, what is your top priority for the city? How do you plan to turn this into action? And what specific steps will you take to make measurable progress about that within your term?
[Patrick Clerkin]: Well, I've been a broken record on the issue of communication, so I'll stick with that. The main things that I would like addressed, or how I would address it, are some of the ones that I mentioned previously. Neighborhood bulletin boards are a big thing, some physical infrastructure, because there's people in the community who aren't as aware of the technological updates that are put out there. And I'll just say that in general. I think that just because something is put on the website, and we do have a great new website, it doesn't mean it's beamed into everybody's head immediately. And so if you have to go, searching for it, you don't know what you don't know. So you really have to stumble upon it. So the physical infrastructure and then the digital infrastructure on the main page of the website, I think we have to be clear with our processes. In some cases, we don't even have processes. So some process diagrams so people can follow along as to where we are in a given process. I also think that just in general, people have talked about how having body cams on police officers. I'm not advocating having body cams on politicians or government officials, but I do think that the equivalent of that would be having open databases, like tracking databases, so people could follow along with projects that are happening and really see where things are and to see how the priorities are shifting. If that doesn't exist right now and if some of the government officials feel like they would be squeamish about that because it would kind of put them front and center, It might actually hold them accountable in ways that's good for both the public and them. With the body cam example for the police, originally the police were concerned and then a lot of officers said that it actually sort of makes their job easier in a lot of ways because it puts the footage out there for other people. So something like that. It's a work in progress of an idea.
[Bruce Kulik]: Thank you, Patrick.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you. This concludes the question and answer portion of tonight's forum. At this time, each one of the candidates will have two minutes to make some comments to the residents here in the hall and people listening to the live stream or watching on television. The candidates will come to the podium. The one thing I ask each candidate to do is if you're tall, raise the mic. If you're short, lower the mic so that it can be picked up, the sound can be picked up. I do want to thank the candidates. I think they've done a wonderful job of answering the residents' questions. I want to thank the citizens for their questions, and I want to thank you for your full attention. And at this time, we're going to reverse the order that we had for questions. We're going to start closing remarks with Patrick Clerkin, When Mr. Caraviello's spot will be, I think, fourth, we'll have his wife come to the podium and she will speak on his behalf. So Patrick, whenever you're ready, if you could come to the podium. Thank you.
[Patrick Clerkin]: Long time no see. So I guess that I'll start off by saying that like water seeks level, I seek common ground. It's in my nature. And that's what I would bring to city council, first and foremost. I have the character, I have the work ethic, and I have the competence. And if you need proof of that, I recommend looking at my campaign website. 44 character references from people throughout my life, neighbors, friends, co-workers, and I also have posted ideas across my social media profiles to demonstrate that basically to demonstrate my approach, how I look at things. And the areas that I want to focus on are areas that I've mentioned before, communications primarily, the city budget, and the zoning and development, because I see those three as the core issues. And I think if we get those right, it pays dividends into the other issues. And so I suppose I'll leave it at that. This is the temperament I bring. I'm calm. I'm collected. I'm respectful. And I'm nonpartisan. I'm nonideological. So I truly go across the aisle in all ways, generationally, demographically, geographically, whatever. And I really want to bring Medford together, build bridges, and just get past the kind of general nastiness out there and get neighbours talking to neighbours again. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thank you, Patrick. I'd like to call Miranda Bresnio to the podium, please.
[Miranda Briseno]: cool. I'm running for Medford City Council because I believe the city we live in should reflect all of us, all of who we are, and serve all of us. I'm proud to call Medford home, and like many of you, I felt the pressure of rising housing costs and the stress of trying to build a future in a changing world. I know what it's like not just to live here, but to want to stay here. That's why I want to build a Medford where everyone belongs. We deserve a city that invests in the public places that connect us, our schools, parks, and library, places where everyone can gather, learn, and feel at home. As a renter, I've experienced firsthand how hard it is to stay here. We must strengthen and fund the Affordable Housing Trust, hold developers accountable for building truly affordable homes, and require better community benefits when they do build here. And we need to protect residents from displacement so elders can age in place and everyone can put down roots. A truly safe Medford is one where no one is left behind, and it starts with care and prevention. That means investing in an unarmed mental health crisis response team, in harm reduction and social services, and protecting our immigrant neighbors from ICE. Safety also means making our roads and sidewalks safe for everyone, for those who walk, bike, roll, or ride. In the past five years, Medford has seen dozens of serious crashes, and we must treat traffic violence like the emergency it is. I bring more than ideas, I bring experience. I helped design Medford's COVID-19 Business Relief Grant Program, and at MassDOT, I connect communities to funding for the major projects that make our streets safer and more accessible across the state. But most of all, I bring my heart and my commitment to this work and to our city. I love Medford, and I love the people who make it vibrant, diverse, and resilient. Together, we can build a Medford that works for everyone, a city where every person feels safe, seen, and supported. And I look forward to meeting you, hearing from you, and hopefully earning your vote in November. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: I'd like to call Emily Lazzaro to the podium.
[Emily Lazzaro]: Thank you all for being here tonight and for your civic engagement. I am running for reelection to Medford City Council because my work has just begun. I'm looking forward to continuing to protect Medford because the work of government, in my opinion, is to take care of those of us who need the most help right now. We've all been in a position where we could have used a little extra help and we will be again. As a city councilor, that looks like protecting residents from federal overreach by shoring up their rights to bodily autonomy at a time when federal policies are changing. It looks like keeping our pedestrians and cyclists safe on our streets, funding our schools, and using creative strategies to increase revenue so we can help as many people thrive as possible. Everybody deserves to love where they live, and someone who works tirelessly for their community. You can count on me to continue to put in the work to keep residents safe and healthy, bring businesses to Medford, and ensure all those who call Medford home can afford to stay here. It is my duty and my honor as an elected representative to do that work, and I would relish the opportunity to do it together in partnership with all of you, no matter who you are, for another two years. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: At this time, I'll call Carol Caraviello, who is speaking for candidate Rick Caraviello.
[Carol Caraviello]: I want to thank the committee and everybody here that's in attendance. Rick Caraviello has dedicated more than three decades of service to Medford. Over the years, Rick has been a consistent advocate for strong neighborhoods, responsible development, and transparent government. He has stood firmly against radical zoning schemes that threaten the character of Medford communities while supporting thoughtful commercial growth that strengthens, not overwhelms, our city. He has pushed for investments in infrastructure because he knows that strong foundations make for a stronger city. His proudest accomplishments were being the leader in delivering Medford's state-of-the-art public library, art center, projects that have already become a cornerstone for learning, culture, and community life. This achievement reflects his belief that a thriving city must invest not only in roads and schools, but also in the culture and educational space that brings people together. He has been an advocate for education, fighting to deliver a new high school with facilities and resources our students deserve. He has prioritized services for seniors, veterans and residents in need, ensuring that Medford remains a city where every generation is supported. Looking ahead, his vision is clear, a method that thrives through balanced growth, safe streets, and efficient city services. He believes in restoring accountability by bringing back weekly council meetings, fully staffing public safety departments so that everyday services are reliable. Above all, he is committed to listening to residents, protecting Medford's character in building a city government that is open, responsive, and focused on the people it serves. With a proven record and unwavering dedication, he offers Medford not only just experience, but a vision rooted in community, accountability, and progress. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Next, we'd like to call Melanie Tringali.
[Melanie Tringali]: Hi. Thank you to the Medford Democratic City Committee for hosting tonight's forum. Thank you all for being here and those that are watching on TV tonight. And thank you for the candidates for being here. You know, running for city council is not an easy job. It's a lot of work. And we have to, it's a lot of work, so I appreciate all of you, too, in trying to serve our city. I'm running for city council because I love this city. I've been living here for 30 years. It's my home. And I feel that it needs a leadership that truly focuses on what makes Medford special. My campaign has really been focused on a couple of things, mostly the rezoning and protecting our neighborhoods. I've been living here for 30 years. I love my neighborhoods. I love the community that we have. I want to keep it that way. People move here for a reason. They move here to the neighborhoods and we need to keep them. The other thing I've been focused on is our streets and sidewalks. We know that our streets and sidewalks need to be fixed. The sidewalks, I had to help a senior citizen the other day cross one side of Medford Square to the other side of Medford Square because she couldn't maneuver it on her own. We need to do that for our senior citizens and for those that are not as well physically challenged. We need to support our first responders. Our fire and police are important for keeping us safe. Our fire department is living in quarters that are not livable and need to be updated. And they're not fully staffed either. As our city grows, which it has been doing, we need to make sure that our first responders are fully staffed and supported. We need to focus on our budget, too, as well. We have to have budget transparency. For the past four years, we've had over $25 million in free cash. Now, free cash is really the taxpayer's money. It's money that you guys put in to that budget. And so we need to be able to understand where our money is going and making sure that we're spending money reasonably in the way it should be spent. Unless, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even see you. Thank you, sorry.
[Phyllis Morrison]: At this time, we'll welcome Zach Beers.
[Zac Bears]: I know I'm a city councilor who invites strong opinions. Lots of people love me. Lots of people don't. Tonight, I want to speak to everyone else. People who've never supported me, but are thinking about it. People who used to support me, but aren't sure if they do anymore. Or people who are just getting to know me for the first time. I love Medford. I grew up here, and I can't imagine living anywhere else. I first ran for office because I'm committed to making our city, my hometown, a better place. A Medford where people, whether they're 22 or 82, aren't worried they'll get pushed out of their homes because Medford's not affordable anymore. A city of yes, where we come together and get big things done. A Medford that is not for sale, where we have a head seat at the negotiating table and we make sure that developers, Tufts, or the MBTA pay their fair share. A Medford for all of us, where we stand up for our inclusive values and protect our neighbors. The Facebook bullies have tried to paint a pretty nasty picture of me, but I ask you to ignore the noise and talk to people who actually know me. I've sat down with hundreds of people who don't agree with me, whether that's about the city budget, or zoning, or street safety. We've had good conversations, we've learned from each other, and I've made better decisions because of it. I don't pretend that I have all the answers, and I admit when I'm wrong. That's who I am, and it's the kind of leadership I want to see in my own representatives. Whether you vote for me or not, I will continue to listen, learn, and lead with compassion. I work hard every single day for our city, and win or lose, I'll keep working to help make the best choices we can for Medford's future, because I love living here. I'm Zach Baers, I'm running for re-election to the Medford City Council, and I hope I can earn your support and your vote on November 4th. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Next we'll hear from Anna Callahan.
[Anna Callahan]: Thank you so much. Thanks everyone for being here. My name is Anna Callahan. I'm a first term incumbent and I am running for re-election. So you can count on me to represent the values that I believe we share here in Medford and that means having really vibrant community where you can walk to a local shop and run into friends and neighbors along the way and we support each other, an inclusive city where everyone feels welcome, a green and sustainable city, as well as a really vibrant democracy where people are actually engaged in the political process. A few of my policy positions, I do think that we need to spend more on our roads. We have some savings that we could be spending on our roads. And the thing to understand about roads is that the more dilapidated they are, the more expensive they are to repair. So it's actually financially responsible for us to bring those back up into better shape quickly, because then it'll be easier and cheaper for us to repair going forward. I know we really have to tackle our housing crisis, and I want us to be creative and think about ways that we can create more affordable housing, keep tenants in their home, keep older folks aging in place. And, you know, I really want us to have local businesses and to support our small local shops and have vibrant squares. The thing that makes me truly unique as an elected official is how I engage the community in making our city a better place. It's how much I care about democracy and engaging people in the political process. So I have a whole team of volunteers dedicated to helping me set up listening sessions throughout the community. And out of those listening sessions come policy ideas that people want to work on. I have five volunteer teams working on different ideas that came up from the community, and I invite you to reach out to me. I would love to hear your ideas and help you work on them together. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Next, Nick Giuleo.
[Nick Giurleo]: Perfect pronunciation. A great teacher I had at the school we're in tonight once told me that you should always end a speech with a thank you for listening. I'll take his advice but flip the timing and begin by thanking all of you for being here and listening. Our city might be more divided than ever. Rather than brood on the reasons why in these two minutes I have with you, I'd like to instead reflect on the path forward. I have no doubt that everyone on this stage wants what is best for Medford. We may disagree on what is best and how we get there, but I think the most important thing to remember is that the system of government our city operates under was designed to handle these differences. Medford is an enormous city, nearly 60,000 people. There's no doubt that among the 60,000, we have residents with a very wide range of perspectives, ideas, and points of view. I've always been a strong believer that diversity in this respect makes government better. It avoids the many pitfalls of groupthink and leads to legislating that, while might not leave no one fully happy, represents workable compromise. Compromise is good and is something I believe we should all be striving for. I've said much in these many months of campaigning, but of all the themes I've touched on, the one that has given me the most passion to keep going is the value of the ordinary person's opinion. My first glimpse of this was in my professional life when I tried my first few cases before a jury, but I really learned it observing the many intelligent people in our community come up to the podium at our meetings and express their thoughts on the issues that matter to them. We need to preserve that voice. We need to be wary of a government that discounts it. The voice of the ordinary person matters, and their collective voice makes a difference. The greatest case I can make to you for electing me is I have a passion to preserve this voice, and it goes far beyond the voices of people I already agree with. I want to hear from people who don't. I want to hear from people whose perspectives differ from my own. I want to hear from all voices in Medford, because every voice matters, and the city we call home. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: I'd like to ask Matt Leming to come forward.
[Matt Leming]: Everybody, my name is Matt. I'm a first term city councilor in Medford running for a second term. When I first moved here, I was a postdoc at Mass General and back then I was barely able to afford a room in a small apartment. Now that's not because of the fact that my, that's not because my research wasn't important enough to earn larger housing space. That's because the housing system we have right now is broken. In the past four decades, rents have risen over 300 percent, home prices more than 400 percent, and incomes have grown only 37 percent. That's why I got involved locally, first by lobbying council to create Medford's Affordable Housing Trust, and then running myself in 2023. Medford faces two big challenges, a strained budget and housing that is far too expensive. And the city was for too long penny smart and dollar stupid. And I've been working with my colleagues to bring Medford out of this stagnancy this past term. This past term, backed by parents and families, we passed a ballot initiative that saved 40 teaching jobs and funded a full-time road repair crew. And I look forward next term to supporting the building of a new high school, even if it requires a debt exclusion to fund. We approved new senior housing, and I've been working to fund our new affordable housing trust that I lobbied for. I worked with the State House on a bill that will update our developer impact fees for the first time in 34 years so that we can upgrade our infrastructure. We're modernizing our rules around development, making our city's growth greener, more sustainable, and aligned with Medford's long-term vision. I've pushed for a more transparent city council, starting a newsletter, live-streaming meetings, holding office hours, and writing all of it on my website nonstop. I launched a program to house low-income veterans and create an emergency fund for in-need veterans, and I proudly championed our Welcoming City Ordinance, which offers protections to vulnerable non-citizen residents. Local government has stopped kicking the can down the road. I'm fighting for a more affordable, vibrant Medford. I'll keep doing that work. Thank you very much for your time. I realize that Phyllis is standing right here. Very last sentence, thank you for your time, and don't forget to vote on November 4th.
[Phyllis Morrison]: Thanks. I'd like to call Liz Mullay to the podium.
[Liz Mullane]: Hi, my name is Liz Mullane and I'm a new candidate running for Medford City Council. I want to start by thanking the Medford Democratic City Committee for organizing tonight and to my fellow candidates and everyone in attendance here or watching at home for their participation in this process. I believe that my 20 years of experience working within nonprofits, building programs, raising funds, managing budgets, and leading teams at complex, multilayered organizations would be an asset on the City Council. As a fundraiser, being able to identify new sources of revenue to fund our community services that benefit everyone, like our libraries, senior centers, and mental health providers. with my MBA taking a close eye to our budgets for more transparency, addressing a array of shortfalls, and helping to prioritize key areas, like repairing our streets and sidewalks to make them more accessible for all of our residents. Additionally, this background will allow me to provide guidance in bringing in and keeping more small business in Medford through streamlining our process, providing incentives, and eliminating the barriers of entry into our city, all the while helping to grow our commercial tax base. As an adjunct faculty member in higher ed, I've seen firsthand just how important it is to fund our schools and advocate for our students to set them up for lifelong success. I will stand up and continue to stand up for my neighbors against ICE, protect the individual rights of our residents, invest in affordable housing, and champion for sustainability and more green space. I am a listener, a collaborator, and a person who simply wants to use their knowledge to continue moving Medford forward. Because I believe when we invest in our community, in our children, our families, and our seniors, we all win. I hope you'll consider me as one of your seven votes on Tuesday, November 4th. Thank you.
[Phyllis Morrison]: And I'd like to call Justin to come to the podium. Justin Tang.
[Justin Tseng]: Thank you all for being here tonight. Folks, Medford is a special place. My parents moved here over 20 years ago because it was where they could afford to find a home. Little did they know they were joining a community that would mean so much to them. As they worked paycheck to paycheck, they could always count on their neighbors to lend a hand, to look after me after school, and to make sure we got by. And our public schools gave me opportunities I never imagined, including the chance to attend Harvard Law School. There's something special about Medford that a shy little boy in the back of a classroom who started kindergarten not knowing many words of English could one day find his voice and give back to the city he's always called home. I ran because I wanted the next generation to have even more opportunities than I did, because too often City Hall felt like a place where you needed to know someone to get something done, because diversity too often felt like just a slogan, and because too many of my friends were being priced out while our schools struggled to get by. The status quo just wasn't working. Over my last two terms, we've begun to change that, making historic investments in streets, schools, taking on the housing crisis through once-in-generations reforms that create hundreds of new affordable housing units, and standing up for our neighbors' rights, safety, and financial security. But in a time like this, Medford can't afford to turn back. This is our opportunity to dream big and act bravely. An opportunity to keep building a city that welcomes and listens to everyone, whether you've lived here your whole life or whether you just moved in yesterday. Our opportunity to rebuild Medford High, invest in our students, and repave our roads. With steady hands and bold leadership, we can keep building a future for us all. Two rounds of two-minute answers aren't enough to answer everything and to lay out a comprehensive vision for the city, but I hope you'll visit my website at www.justin4medford.com, the number four, and it's been an honor to speak to you all tonight to serve the city, and I ask for one of your votes on November 4th. Thank you so much.
[Phyllis Morrison]: I'm just going to take a few minutes. Of course, we finished ahead of time because we did not have all the candidates for a variety of reasons. But I do want to take a moment to thank the candidates for being here tonight, for sharing your responses to the questions from the citizens of Medford, for sharing why you want to serve in our great city. Because I do believe we have a great city, and I'm very happy that we are given opportunities to have events like this to inform the public and where the public can also have input into what they'd like to find out about people running for positions in our city. So I'd like to thank, if anyone doesn't mind to indulge me for a moment, I'd like to thank the members of the Democratic Committee, Bruce, Mark, Anne, and Max, because a lot of time and effort went into preparing this night and they were happy to do so. So I'd like to thank them for doing that. I want to thank the Tufts volunteers. I want you to stand up. It's so nice to see the young people with us. I think that's a step in the right direction for MedFed. I want to thank Kevin who came to some of our meetings via Zoom so we could help with the audio. And I want to thank the audio and visual people, the media, and Medford High School for allowing us to use this facility. The most important thing I'd like to say this evening is this. We have a vote coming, and we have that wonderful opportunity. We have the gift of voting for the people we think will best bring our city forward. So our voting day is November 4th. Early voting starts October 25th. So vote. if you want to have great representation moving our city forward. Thank you all for coming tonight. Thank you to the candidates. Good luck to all of you.
|
total time: 5.0 minutes total words: 329  |
total time: 4.35 minutes total words: 465  |
total time: 6.27 minutes total words: 447  |
total time: 4.89 minutes total words: 379  |
|
total time: 5.89 minutes total words: 598  |
total time: 4.62 minutes total words: 505  |
total time: 4.48 minutes total words: 218  |
total time: 5.24 minutes total words: 519  |
|
total time: 6.28 minutes total words: 473  |
total time: 5.66 minutes total words: 545  |
||