On Tuesday, November 7, 2017, Somerville voters will cast their ballots in a City Election for the offices of Mayor of Somerville, various Board of Aldermen members, and School Committee Members in Wards 1 and 2. This week, the Somerville Times asked each of the qualified candidates for Mayor of the City of Somerville to describe why they would be the best choice for the office they are running for and what specific policies they would advocate or implement in that position, along with a bio if they choose to include one. Their responses are presented here in alphabetical order based on their last names.

For the Office of Mayor:
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Payton Corbett

Payton Corbett is running for Mayor because city government should work for all of Somerville’s residents – not just the select few insiders. He knows that our city is facing tough challenges, and he’s ready to act boldly to ensure that Somerville’s working families aren’t left behind.

The son of a truck driver and a nurse, service to others runs through Payton’s family. His mother worked as a hospice nurse for nearly 30 years, caring for patients in their final days. His father, a truck driver, was active in little league baseball and other youth sports, helping kids stay out of trouble and teaching teamwork. His sister Erin works as a social worker for a youth services department, and his sister Tara is a youth worker on Nantucket. Payton’s wife, Jenny, works at Harvard University as a collection curator.

Payton is a 34-year old Teamster who has spent his entire adult life living in Somerville. He has lived out his commitment to the community through his extensive service to his local union. As an elected officer and steward in his union, Payton has gained valuable experience negotiating contracts, helping resolve grievances, and leading his sisters and brothers through a complex and evolving economy. These are all skills that have helped prepare Payton to serve all people of Somerville with professionalism and principle.

Payton knows that Somerville has become a more livable cities in many ways, but in recent years disturbing trends have taken hold. The mutually-reinforcing problems of runaway development and soaring costs of living have started to make Somerville a city where SOME, but not ALL, can afford to live, work, and raise a family. Unfortunately, while Mayor Curtatone has sought headlines for his resistance to the Trump agenda (for which he deserves credit), he has worked to put in place policies that make Somerville prohibitively expensive to many who call it home. Payton knows the pressure of development and pricing firsthand- the apartment he and his wife share in East Somerville is being developed into nine condos, and Payton wants to bring new leadership and policies to City Hall to help his neighbors who are in the same situation as he is.

Somerville needs to make a concrete plan to ensure that working families can afford to live here. Payton will work to create a pathway to home ownership for middle and low income residents. Payton knows this is a reasonable and attainable goal – but it won’t be realized by encouraging connected Big Developers to build luxury housing on every street corner. Communities all over this country have found innovative and progressive ways to deal with the housing crisis. New leaders can find developers, investors, and non-profits, who want to be good partners with this community.

As Mayor, Payton will work to protect our most vulnerable: seniors on fixed incomes who are struggling to keep up with their ever-increasing tax burden, and immigrants unfairly targeted by the federal administration.

A Payton Corbett administration will treat our hardest working city employees with the respect they deserve. Morale among city employees is at an all-time low. A majority of our municipal unions are without contracts, and many workers are paid 12 – 16% below workers in other comparable cities.

With Somerville families facing some of the most serious challenges they have seen in decades, it’s time for a mayor who stands up for the very people who contribute to making our city such a desirable place to live, work and raise a family.

Joseph A. Curtatone

This city has always been my calling. By accident of birth, I got to be from the greatest city on the planet. I grew up exposed to the widest mix of people you can imagine, who worked incredibly hard to provide a good life for their families. It was a place where it never dawned on us to look down on each other because we were all in the same spot together.

Even though those were lean times for Somerville, I still got exceptional opportunities as a kid from an immigrant family. I got to be in the marching band and play on the football team, and that really put the zeal to represent this city in my blood.

I became an alderman in my 20s. I’ve been mayor for 14 years. When my wife and I got married, she knew Somerville was part of the package. I’m proud to be raising my children here and even prouder to say they have better opportunities than the ones I had.

I’ve now been here long enough to see the arc of history, from the days when we were bent but unbroken, to today when we’re tackling the challenges of prosperity. Along the way I’ve seen Somerville achieve remarkable things that other cities don’t even dare to dream.

In 2018, the major construction phase of the Green Line Extension starts because of our constant vigilance in making sure the state delivers on its promises. When GLX is finished, 85% of city residents will be able to walk to the train versus 15% today. This will provide better access to jobs, and improve our environment, taking 25,000 daily car trips off the road.

Last year Somerville voters overwhelmingly supported the City’s plan to rebuild the high school, because it was the right thing to do. Since I became mayor, we’ve increased school spending 47% and our high school is now ranked Level 1 by the state. The percentage of Somerville students moving on to higher and further education has increased from 59% to 80%. We’re the greatest educational success story in Massachusetts, an urban school system committed to unlocking the potential of every student. When other cities ask how students still pay no fees for music or athletics, the answer is because our values come first.

We have some of the most aggressive affordable housing development in the state with 225 new units in the past six years and 330 in the pipeline. We have the largest owner-occupied tax exemption in Massachusetts to help seniors and families stay in our community. We need to go further, by passing a 1% transfer fee on real estate speculation in our city – carefully written with exemptions for lower-income households, long-term owners, and owners who sell at a loss – to generate the resources our community needs to address affordability in our existing neighborhoods.

As Chair of the Metro Mayors’ Coalition I brought our region together around combating global warming, and now we’re undertaking a program to reduce our carbon footprint to zero by the year 2050. Global Warming isn’t the only issue where Somerville can’t stand alone. I’m working to bring neighboring communities together to address the regional housing crisis, and build 435,000 new housing units in Greater Boston by 2040.

We’ve been named the healthiest city, the best-run city, the greenest city, the most walkable, the most bikeable and we’re just getting started. It has been the honor of my lifetime to part of all of that and I can’t wait for what comes next. I’m asking for your vote on November 7th.