City Council Candidate Questionnaires
Cecilia Barron, Managing Editor
The Register Forum reached out to all 26 candidates for Cambridge City Council via email to fill out a short questionnaire. We are publishing all responses that we received from candidates. No word limit was given, so candidates could use as few or as many words as they wanted.
For candidates who did not submit responses before but would like to respond now, please email [email protected]
Josh Burgin, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I’m running because I want Cambridge to be the best city it can be—a model for other cities and communities to look to as an example of how to do things right. Unfortunately, Cambridge falls short in many areas. Over the past months, as I’ve knocked on doors in all eleven wards, I’ve asked one question consistently, “If there were one or two things in ...
Jan Devereux, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I’m running for re-election for the same reasons I ran (and won) my first election in 2015: To represent, lead, and serve my fellow residents. I’m interested in public service, not politics. My overarching goal is to help inform residents about local issues and help them make their voices heard. As the only new councillor and one of only two women this ...
Samuel Gebru, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I’m running for City Council because I believe that economic inequality and affordable housing are the biggest issues in our city. I’m committed to ensuring that all of our residents have the access, resources, and opportunities they need to be successful. We need to prioritize social mobility on the City Council. What do you believe the primary...
Craig Kelley, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? To help bring my life experiences and skills, from being a Marine to working for Greenpeace to being a dad to doing disaster response work, to Cambridge in the most effective way possible and to use those skills and experiences to make the city a better place for everyone. What do you believe the primary role of the Council should be? The Council is the ...
Alanna Mallon, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I grew up in Brockton, MA, a working class city that suffered during times of economic downturn. Although my family experienced poverty and food insecurity when I was a child, I benefited from an activist municipal government and the social safety net programs it promoted. That’s why I’m running for City Council today, to continue to pay that forward here i...
Marc McGovern, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I'm running for three main reasons. First, I love this city. I was born and raised here, I graduated from CRLS, and have two children, one who graduated two years ago and one who is a junior from Rindge. Having a seat at the table to shape the future of the city that has given me and my family so much is a true honor. Second, despite being surrounded by bi...
Gregg Moree, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? My family's heritage and a concern for Cambridge. What do you believe the primary role of the Council should be? Jobs and affordable housing. How do you plan to balance development and affordability in Cambridge? We must have programs like cohousing to make living in Cambridge more affordable and respectable. We have to add 5,000 to 10,000 more housi...
Adriane Musgrave, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I'm running for City Council so that everyone in Cambridge has access to economic opportunity. I love this city. I've made Cambridge my home these past ten years and will raise my family here. We are so lucky to live in Cambridge, and I want to make sure we continue to work hard to create the world we want. Wealth inequality is one of the critical, defining issue...
Nadya Okamoto, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I am running for young people to have direct representation and trust in their government, for families struggling to secure affordable and stable housing, for equitable opportunities in education and employment, and [for] progress towards more sustainable living. I am running for City Council in a city where over 35% of the demographic is under the age of...
Sumbul Siddiqui, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I am a public interest attorney at a nonprofit. I am running for City Council because we need dedicated public servants like myself who can help tackle the issues our city is facing. I have the lived life experience and professional experience that we need in our elected public officials. My family immigrated to the United States from Karachi, Pakistan when I...
Denise Simmons, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I am running for re-election to the City Council because I truly love my city. I have been working hard over the past three decades to increase access to (and our stock of) affordable housing, to create a more accessible, responsive, and inclusive government, and to leave this amazing community in even better shape for my children and grandchildren. Cambrid...
Bryan Sutton, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I grew up in upstate New York and went to college in Colorado to earn a degree in Aerospace Engineering and Astrophysics. When I moved to this area, I immediately felt this was home. Cambridge is an amazing city with great amenities and a community of supportive neighbors. I am running for City Council to serve my neighbors and to make sure government is working...
Sean Tierney, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I believe that an effective City Council must bring together people with the knowledge and skills to tackle the issues facing our city. I stand out from other current candidates for the Council because of my experience as a lawyer working on tax and housing policy for the state of Massachusetts. I believe that Cambridge will benefit from policies that create...
Paul Toner, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? My name is Paul Toner, and I am running for Cambridge City Council. I am a lifelong resident of Cambridge, a former Cambridge Public Schools teacher, lawyer, union leader, and public school parent. I have 25 years of experience in public education, board governance, public policy, and labor and government relations. My work has involved engaging people from...
Tim Toomey, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I’m running for City Council because I love this city. I grew up in East Cambridge and live there to this day. As Cambridge’s economic growth continues, it’s very important to me that the city does not become one of the “haves and have nots.” The city must remain welcoming to all, and I want to fight for policies that maintain Cambridge’s spirit of ...
Gwen Volmar, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? I love Cambridge, but it can be hard to live here. Like so many Cantabrigians, I have made significant sacrifices in order to stay (space, meals out, vacations, family), because I don’t want to live anywhere else. I think that’s a voice we need on the City Council, one that knows what it’s like to sacrifice for Cambridge, one that will be directly af...
Quinton Zondervan, City Council Candidate
Why are you running for City Council? As an activist and community organizer, I have already created several groundbreaking policies including the 2015 Net Zero Action plan to reduce climate change emissions from buildings in Cambridge to zero. I’m running to make sure we actually implement these policies and to ensure that Cambridge remains affordable and safe for everyone. We are faced with a...
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