Issues and Policies

• Housing

  Housing is a human right. We are in a statewide housing crisis where limited supply means that landlords are pocketing enormous profits while tenants are squeezed, displaced, or worse. Rents are painfully high and home ownership is out of reach for nearly everyone. At the same time, all residents are being hit by increasing utility costs due to corporate greed by for-profit utilities and regional water/sewer challenges.

  • Create the conditions for increased housing. We must build more housing through intentional, thoughtful upzoning consistent with Somerville values. I absolutely love the character of Somerville, and that character is dynamic. I’m excited to see how we collectively shape the future of Somerville.
  • Strengthen tenants’ rights and curb landowner profits. I support increased investment in CAAS and the Office of Housing Stability to help residents stay in their homes. I support a real estate transfer fee on flippers and corporate landlords to fund housing justice programs. I support rent control, because no one should be forced out of their home for someone else’s profit.
  • Fight for regional solutions. Somerville cannot solve the housing crisis alone. I support statewide legislation which requires neighboring cities to pull their weight in enabling more housing development (for example, the MBTA Communities Act).
  • Control cost of living increases. While tenants and would-be home buyers are hit hardest, home owners are not immune to the rising cost of living. I will join those who are calling for state policy changes to lower utilities costs.
  • Directly fund permanently affordable housing. This challenge demands bold, creative solutions. I will work to pass laws and raise revenue that allow for low-interest loans for nonprofit affordable housing developments, new social housing, and directly purchasing homes to make them permanently affordable.

• Public Safety

  Communities such as Somerville are made safe by ensuring the welfare of all residents. We need to invest in city programs that address housing and food insecurity, mental illness, discrimination, and substance abuse. These are problems with deep, challenging roots requiring specialized care and compassion, not a one-size-fits-all solution. We must stop expecting policing to be the solution — it is ineffective, expensive, and dangerous. We must also fight federal overreach to combat hateful targeting of our immigrant neighbors.

  • Invest in unarmed public safety services including warming centers, social workers, conflict mediation, and public toilets. Establish alternative emergency responses so that help is available without the fear of violence or incarceration.
  • Keep ICE out and strengthen our surveillance oversight ordinance. Divest from those law enforcement systems that allow federal agencies to target community members, create databases of data on Somerville residents, or which disproportionately impact marginalized communities.
  • Establish civilian oversight of police with real authority and independence, as guided by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement and recommended by the city’s own Civilian Oversight Task Force. Somerville mayors have been promising civilian oversight since 2020. Let’s do it now and do it right.
  • Keep police out of our schools. I stand with Safe Schools Somerville and the Somerville School Committee’s unanimous decision to remove school resource officers (SROs) in 2023. As a city councilor I will add my voice to ensure that we do not go back to this old model. Instead, we must ensure schools are fully funded so that they can hire specialists like school-based social workers to address the needs of students and teachers.

• Schools

  Every dollar spent on our schools is the best spent dollar spent by the city. Sadly, our school funding is still falling short of what our students and educators need. The School Committee, Somerville Educators Union, and student caregivers need strong supporters in City Council to help fight.

  • Fully fund interventionists, social workers, and special educators. Every student deserves the same opportunity to succeed socially, emotionally, and academically — regardless of their life circumstances or learning challenges. I will fight against the segregation and othering of special education learners that results, in part, from underfunding these critical roles.
  • Maintain and improve school infrastructure. Crumbling municipal buildings reflect decades of neglect, and nowhere is that more obvious than with our schools. We are still experiencing the painful consequences of the Winter Hill school disaster, and it will be years before the replacement is operational. As your city councilor, I will ensure that the city’s capital improvement plan specifically addresses the public school buildings.
  • Stand with SEU. Somerville is incredibly fortunate to have an educator’s union that consistently puts student well-being first. Educators are asked to care for our children socially, emotionally, academically, and creatively – for so little in return. Our educators deserve pay that allows them to live in the community they serve and a work environment where they can excel.

• Safe Streets

  People of all ages and abilities deserve the ability to move about our neighborhoods freely and safely. Streets must be safe and well-connected for all modes of transportation, so that everyone can reach critical services, enjoy recreational opportunities, participate in civic life, and be with their neighbors. Local businesses thrive where people can gather. I am proud of the progress Somerville has made, but we must continue this work with tenacity, to prevent any further senseless tragedies.

  • Commit to street design that prioritizes safety for all users. To achieve the goals of Vision Zero, we must continue to invest in improvements like separated bike lanes, raised crosswalks, and traffic calming measures. Infrastructure should prioritize buses and provide bus stops that everyone can use safely, in all weather. I’m frustrated with the lack of decisiveness that has led to the current state of Highland Ave. As a ward councilor, I am excited to be closely involved in redesigns impacting Ward 3.
  • Provide for universal mobility. As we move away from car-centric urban design, we must simultaneously acknowledge and provide for neighbors with mobility challenges who may rely on cars. I will work with the city’s Mobility Department to ensure we are building streetscapes that provide safe places for accessible parking, ride share stops, and deliveries.
  • Maintain street and sidewalk surfaces which become hazards to all travelers when they fall into disrepair. As your ward councilor, I’ll make sure that the city is properly tracking and repairing problem areas in our neighborhoods, like raised sidewalk panels and potholes. I’ll advocate for competitive pay to reduce city staffing shortages that cause maintenance delays.
  • Limit any significant new parking infrastructure. We must be willing to push back on developers’ demands for significant new parking. New parking entrenches our dependency on cars and competes with other uses such as parks, local business, housing, or community & arts spaces. It’s critical that we create the environment and the incentives necessary for car-free living and commerce.

• Ethical Procurement (2025 Question 3)

  I support an ordinance that prevents Somerville taxpayer dollars from going to entities which profit from the apartheid, genocide, and illegal occupation of Palestine by the state of Israel. I refuse to sit silently on the sidelines as human suffering unfolds with American money. I also take seriously the responsibility to implement the will of the voters when they approved local ballot question 3 in 2025.

  Somerville has a proud history of implementing its values in legislation, including similar ordinances prohibiting the use of prison labor and boycotting entities involved in the former apartheid regime in South Africa. I am committed to finding a comprehensive legislative solution and ensuring the City of Somerville follows through.

• Democratic Community Power

  Democracy is more than a form of government. It’s an approach to collective decision-making that extends respect to all of our neighbors, and helps us make more thoughtful decisions by considering many points of view. We have an opportunity to strengthen democracy in Somerville so that more people are engaged, more voices are heard, and hard problems are tackled together rather than treated like battlegrounds.

  • Share my seat at the table with community organizations. Somerville has an incredible tapestry of nonprofit and grassroots organizations filled by passionate people who are experts in their fields. Labor unions. Tenant associations. Activist groups. Service organizations. Advocates. Their work is the result of community labor. I will commit myself to working for them, because they work for us.
  • Support and strengthen neighborhood councils. Neighborhood councils ensure that developments have a positive impact on the neighborhood, not merely extract profit. They do hard and important work where everyone can participate, which would otherwise be negotiated by the city administration behind closed doors. While empowering these groups is crucial, the city must not neglect its responsibility to be an active participant. I will work to proactively define land use goals with neighborhood councils and ensure they are equipped to hold their own against developer money and power.
  • Redefine multi-member bodies for more autonomy. I have long been advocating for stronger investments in the city’s “Multi Member Bodies”: task forces, commissions, and committees filled by volunteer members of the community to help direct the city’s business. Some of these bodies are thriving, while others are chronically underfunded, unsupported, and sidelined. These bodies deserve to be empowered and supported, so that they can meaningfully complement the city staff’s work. I will explore how we can legislatively redefine these bodies to ensure they fulfill their potential.

• Constituent Services

  Ward councilors have additional responsibilities for their constituents, both formal and informal. I am especially excited for this role and looking forward to directly supporting Ward 3 residents through challenges big and small. Whether it is hosting community meetings or helping individual constituents with their questions or concerns, I will be there to help you. I understand the importance of listening to constituents outside of public comments - a very limited form of feedback which is not accessible or safe for everyone.

  I commit to devoting myself to answering your emails and taking your calls. I will host standing weekly drop-in office hours and will make the time to meet with you. And if you’re eager to get your hands dirty, I look forward to working together or welcoming you onto the team.

• My Politics

  I consider myself a democratic socialist, but people have a lot of different ideas about what that means. Here’s what it means to me:

  Everyone in Somerville deserves to thrive, not merely survive. I am driven by values that are shared throughout Somerville: loving all of my neighbors, putting people over profit, and doing everything we can to combat the staggering inequality in society.

  I believe the best way to pursue those ideals is collectively. By empowering each and every member of the community to have a voice, to prioritize those voices who are most in need, and to deliver on the promises we make. In short: democracy.

  “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.” - Tim Walz