Breanna's Speech January 5, 2020
*Note - the Mayor's speech is now in the public domain. We are giving credit to WickedLocal for publishing her words - and a link to their newspaper.
I sit here today representing a new generation of leadership in Medford. When Mayor McGlynn was first elected, I was in third grade and the New Kids on the Block were what I cared about most. Now, over 30 years later, the time has come to bring a different approach from any of these accomplished leaders and start fresh. We need to come together to both acknowledge the achievements of the past and commit to move forward.
Over the past two months, people have asked me what kind of mayor will I be?
Above all, I am going to be a mayor who is connected to community. Our administration will listen, will share what we know, and will be honest and open. I will continue to spend time in our neighborhoods, listening to all. I will call on our department heads and mayor’s staff to communicate clearly and consistently. I want you to know what we’re up to and I want to hear what we get right and what we get wrong.
I know we will make mistakes. And I know you’ll let us know when we do. I want to be the type of mayor who uses that feedback positively. As the city is more transparent, I hope our community will speak honestly about the realities we face even when we don’t want to accept them in the future. With a shared understanding of our challenges and an invitation to engage, I hope more residents focus on how to resolve those challenges together.
But our success depends on more than just one person. We need to create clear structures and processes where the community is engaged and that engagement turns into action. Our well-known struggles with planning and zoning stem from this critical disconnect. Today, I call on the council to take two steps:
Number 1) Within the next 60 days, vote to send a Home Rule Petition to the Legislature to establish a charter review commission. We need to study ways our government is structured to meet the expectations of our residents. Let’s come together and drive this work.
Number 2) Rather than react to individual development proposals, let’s commit to create a comprehensive plan for Medford’s growth and development. In the coming months, I will submit a request to create Medford’s first comprehensive master plan in three decades. We need to be proactive and to have a clear vision for our future. This will take time, engagement and resources. Let’s take 2020 to plan, taking the actions to relieve us from 40B pressure and use the results of those plans to craft new zoning we would adopt in 2021. Let’s listen to each other; with councilors side-by-side with department heads, the mayor’s office, planning and building departments, and our neighborhoods.
I will be the type of mayor who shares a vision for the city. But that vision can’t just be mine, it needs to be ours – and it can’t be limited to longer term action where the results lie far into the future. We need a vision and a plan for the here-and-now.
First, Medford needs to grow our commercial tax base by making our city a great place to do business. This is something I’ve talked a lot about. People who live here should be able to find jobs here as well. That’s how we grow our economy, grow incomes for hardworking residents, reduce traffic, and increase revenue to support city services. My administration will explore how we support economic growth, including proposing a dedicated staff member assigned exclusively to economic development, mandatory permitting meetings for large commercial projects that I will personally oversee, and a new guide to support how businesses – big and small - navigate City Hall.
Second, the arts need to continue to be a central part of Medford’s vibrancy. When you look around this building today, think about what this cultural facility has added to Medford Square, to our community. Think of how many dollars flow to our area businesses. Performing arts are a great way to make our squares active and fun. Arts in our schools and community grow our kid’s creativity. While the city can’t afford growing budgetary resources right now, I support the creation of a privately funded Medford arts center. In the coming term, the mayor’s office will work with the arts community to help create a plan for Medford’s first arts center and to help advance arts and culture in Medford.
Third, our vision needs to embrace what makes Medford special. Our people, first, but also our green spaces, our history and culture and our diversity. The planning work we do needs to recognize the undeniable reality of climate change and our need to be resilient.
In addition, I support the clippership connector so people can walk or bike from Medford to Boston on a continuous path. I support protecting our tree canopy. I will call on the DPW to reduce tree stumps by 150 stumps each year for the next two years and plant new trees as much as possible. I will partner with community organizations to fundraise to create a tree inventory.
I also want to talk about the new library. Medford’s new library will be what we believe is the first zero net energy library in the state. It will have maker space for artists, multipurpose room for the community and an amazing children’s section. The building will be ready in 2021, and a great temporary location is now available at 200 Boston Ave. Please come check it out with me this Thursday, Jan. 9 at 4 p.m. Get a new card, take out a book or just come to listen to the stories we will read.
The construction - instead of reuse - of the library has been a contentious issue. I support the library, even though I don’t feel the financial plan was sufficiently transparent. Please know that I have learned a lot in seeing the library and police station processes unfold. I commit to approaching new construction projects, including the fire station, very differently. I am excited to set up a committee to advance the fire headquarters as well as the maintenance needs of our other fire stations.
___________________
We can do all of this while embracing Medford’s rich history. I will continue to support expansion of historic districts in Medford. I also want to partner with community organizations to expand tourism in our historic and cultural facilities.
We can do this while embracing our diversity. Our kids are fortunate to grow up in a community where they get to know people from a host of different backgrounds. The exposure to diverse people expands their understanding and offers the opportunity to enjoy lots of different types of experiences. I think its why our sense of community is so strong. Even though we may look or sound different or come from different places, or have different family structures, we all love this place and what it means to us.
For the Medford Public Schools, my vision is for our schools to be places where all kids, no matter where they come from or what their unique circumstances are, can achieve their best opportunity for success. We have great teachers and a skilled and caring superintendent. What we need is a strategic plan that defines what we think success looks like beyond a standardized test, and that clearly defines the steps to get there. We need to do that work together – families, teachers, and administrators side-by-side. Top down does not work. Thank you to Rep. Donato, Rep. Garbally, Rep. Barber and Sen. Jehlan, for passage of the Student Opportunities Act. This new state funding provides a powerful opportunity for Medford that we need to embrace together.
I also want to acknowledge the need to maintain focus on combating the opioid epidemic. This will continue to be a priority.
I promised in the campaign that I would be honest about the challenges we face. Throughout the city, there is a demand for better city services. We hear the needs for better AND safer sidewalks and streets, better plowing, improved parks and city buildings, more street sweeping, and yard waste pick ups and better code enforcement. I agree that all of these issues need to be addressed. But at the same time, we can’t afford to just spend our way out of it. Instead, we need to find ways to create efficiencies and to make targeted investments that we know are affordable as part of our annual budget process. But how do we get more efficient?
By creating objective assessments of conditions and using that data to create long-term planning and better resource allocation. We will be asking the council to fund the creation of a sidewalk and pavement asset management plan as part of our capital improvement plan so decisions about resources are strategic, transparent and as efficient as possible.
We will also roll out an electronic permitting software that allows contractors and homeowners to file plans and permits electronically and gives the public the ability to track the approval process for these plans. That same tool will allow the public to file code enforcement complaints. We will begin the process of bringing parking enforcement in-house, including requesting the creation of a parking director in the [fiscal 2021] budget.
_____________________________________
Many of the tools city employees need to manage their work are relics of the ’90s. There is funding in the recently approved state supplemental budget for consulting to cities and towns to professionalize government. As a top priority in January, we’ll apply for those resources to bring local government efficiency professionals into City Hall and start the work to modernize the tools that make us more efficient.
My strengths as a mayor and leader are my connection to the community and knowing where I can improve. I know that integrity is the foundation for trust in government and I want my department heads to know that I will NOT tolerate anything less.
While I understand the need to be a disciplined financial steward, I know that I will need to surround myself with great people as well. I look forward to working with my wonderful team of City Hall employees and with the City Council in the coming months. I value the knowledge and commitment of the existing team of city employees and will need to rely on you to work together with the small group of new team members that will join me in 2020 to do everything we can to make Medford proud of its government.
I want to close by saying thank you:
Thank you for embracing change,
Thank you for being ready to get involved and for engaging to help us make Medford all it can be,
Thank you for working together to get it done,
Thank you for staying positive,
Thank you for your trust!
I am so excited to see all that we can accomplish together as a unified Medford!
God bless you, and God bless the city of Medford.
