Who we want to see in office!

Our voting recommendations

We normally stick with policy ideas and meeting updates, but this Tuesday’s election is a big one for Somerville City Council and we want to reach out and encourage you to vote for our favorite candidates.

City Council

We feel the incumbent at-large councilors would continue to do a great job:

• Stephanie Hirsch

• Will Mbah

• Bill White

• Mary Jo Rossetti

All four of them have proven themselves to be capable, dedicated, and thoughtful leaders. They’re deeply involved in key issues in city governance, including the critical zoning ordinance, which we really hope will get passed this year. For detail, check out city councilor Mark Niedergang’s recent newsletter, which lists several great reasons to re-elect these councilors.

While we’re troubled by recent statements made in regards to Davis Square, our conversations with these councilors on that topic demonstrate that they are interested in finding the balance between growth and community benefit, and that’s something we want to see them continue to do as our councilors.

The ward councilors — Matt McLaughlin, J.T. Scott, Ben Ewen-Campen, Jesse Clingan, Mark Niedergang, Lance Davis, and Katjana Ballantyne, have also all done a good job and deserve to be re-elected as well. They're running unopposed, so they don't need as much of a boost, but please vote for them and tell them we said hi.

Mayor

We endorse Joe Curtatone for mayor because he’s demonstrated capable leadership for many years. His opponent seems like a very nice person but doesn't have the municipal leadership experience or detailed policy proposals we'd like to see. In addition, some of her rather vague statements have amounted to generalized opposition to construction of new homes or development of any kind.