The number one issue impacting Medford is affordability. People simply cannot afford to live in our city. It’s driving longtime residents out and discouraging new residents from moving in. This has led to changes that are harming the middle-class character of Medford’s neighborhoods. Nick supports making Medford a more affordable place to live by:

• Opposing all efforts to raise taxes in Medford, like future Proposition 2.5 overrides, unless he is presented with compelling information justifying a need to do so. Compelling information means line-itemed breakdowns of what the money will be used to pay for as well as consideration of certified “free cash” and new growth alternatives. Raising taxes should be our last resort, not our first.
  
  
• Carefully scrutinizing budget proposals and appropriations requests, ensuring that spending is sensible and not reckless. The City Council’s job should not be to rubberstamp the mayor's budget but to carefully evaluate it item-by-item and retain its power of the purse.
  
  
• Promoting economic growth in Medford through the incentivization of community-approved business initiatives, thereby increasing the commercial tax base and taking the revenue burden off residential property owners.

Medford’s city leadership has developed a justified reputation for not being transparent. Most notably this has included efforts to limit the public’s ability to meaningfully participate at Council meetings. It has also included attempts to hide information from concerned citizens, such as information about city lawsuits. Nick will work toward making Medford a transparent city by:

• Proposing these changes to the Council rules, as permitted by ordinance and state law:
  
  
  • Increase public speaking time from three minutes to five minutes per person. This would include giving the Council President more discretion to allow a resident to exceed this cap.
    
    
  • Require that all regular meetings adjourn by no later than 11 PM (subject to suspension of the rules). Any items that are not addressed are automatically tabled to the next meeting, or by vote, to a special meeting. This is to ensure how late a meeting runs does not prevent residents from participating in public comment.
    
    
  • Cap the amount of time Councilors can speak during debate on papers to ten minutes per Councilor, and strictly enforce this rule, to facilitate movement to public comment.
    
    
  • Make it easier to table items that are not directly related to Council governance of the city and prioritize items that are directly related. 

• Encouraging his colleagues to respond directly to public comments and not simply ignore them and move on when in opposition to their beliefs. This includes exploration of legal ways to require them to do this.
  
  
• Ensuring the Council rules and applicable state law are followed and respected in the conduct of meetings. Nick will object strenuously to any efforts to ignore or supersede the law for political expediency.
  
  
• Demanding good faith compliance with the Massachusetts Public Records Law. Nick will work to ensure the Council respects its obligation to provide timely and complete answers to all lawful requests for public records. 

Nick believes the best way to bring revenue to Medford is through new economic growth. Expanding the commercial tax base will substitute the need to acquire revenue from residential property owners. It will ultimately lead to a lowering of taxes and more reasonable rents. Nick’s vision for bringing economic growth begins with Medford Square, the commercial hub of the city:

• Changing the traffic pattern in Medford Square to reduce traffic, make parking easier, and make pedestrian access better and safer.
  
  
• Exempting Medford residents from paying for metered parking to ensure they can access their city center without having to pay a tax to do so.
  
  
• Exploring options for businesses to utilize the Mystic River, such as waterfront dining and boat rides.
  
  
• Working with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Medford Chamber of Commerce, and the state to develop a plan to bring a rapid transit stop to, or closer to, Medford Square and improve the reliability of existing bus routes.

Residents have constitutional rights that protect their use and enjoyment of property they lawfully own. Nick will oppose all efforts to infringe on the rights of taxpaying property owners in Medford by:

• Opposing all measures that impose undue burdens on taxpaying residential property owners, such as rental registries, zoning changes that allow for dangerous commercial uses like methadone dispensaries, unrestricted multifamily development, and the complete elimination of single-family zoning.
  
  
• Ensuring zoning changes are not hasty but carefully considered and thought-out. This means achieving community consensus on changes. It takes into consideration factors such as traffic, parking, aesthetic uniformity, safety, housing needs, and property values. No significant changes should be made until adequate studies are conducted regarding the impact of zoning changes on essential city services such as fire, police, EMS, public works, and schools. 
  
  
• Deferring to the public consensus on zoning changes, as expressed by the recommendations of the Community Development Board upon adequate public input. Nick will oppose efforts by the Council to go "rogue" and totally ignore Community Development Board recommendations. 

It is the responsibility of the Medford City Council to govern Medford and only Medford. Symbolic resolutions and ordinances regarding state, federal, and international issues detract significantly from time that could and should be spent on local issues. Council meetings are long enough and often extend into the late hours of the evening. This significantly limits the ability of the public to participate. Nick will not propose or support symbolic resolutions or ordinances that substantially limit time that could be spent on local issues.

Nick believes Medford should take pride in its history, natural resources, and artistic accomplishments. Promoting these will make Medford a more desirable place to live and visit. Nick will enrich arts and culture in Medford by:

• Working with the Medford Historical Society and Medford Chamber of Commerce to promote historical tourism in Medford. This includes allocating city funds to preservation and restoration projects where available as well as education initiatives such as guided tours and museums.
  
  
• Working with the Medford Public Library to expand its collection and improve its hours, as well as explore the possibility of opening a second branch. 
  
  
• Working with Friends of the Middlesex Fells to maintain the Fells and make it more accessible to Medford residents and outside visitors.
  
  
• Allocating funding where available to promote the use and enjoyment of the Mystic River, Mystic Lakes, and other Medford natural resources.

Nick would not be the successful person he is today without his education through the Medford Public Schools. Nick believes the Council should work with the School Committee to help meet basic needs and make Medford's public education a model in the state and country at large. His strategy includes:

• Keeping the public schools safe by supporting the work the Medford Police Department, Medford Fire Department, the Building and Public Works Departments, and educators do to maintain an environment that supports learning.
  
  
• Ensuring funding needs are met by available city budget resources. This means making sure the Council is aware of more than just general wishes and aspirations but also specific needs. 
  
  
• Taking input on school needs from Medford educators and students directly. Nick will encourage them to not only attend and comment at School Committee meetings but also City Council meetings.  
  
  
• Exploring ways the Council can support or finance a new high school.
  
  
• Exploring ways the Council can support or finance technology and infrastructure upgrades across the public schools. 

Nick will do everything in his power to keep Medford residents safe. Supporting the good work first responders like firefighters, police, and paramedics and EMTs do for the community keeps Medford residents safe. Nick also believes we cannot undervalue what other city workers do to keep Medford running. Nick believes supporting first responders and other city employees means:

• Putting trust in their experience, expertise, and good will and allowing them to do their jobs with minimal interference from city leadership.
  
  
• Ensuring that fair collective bargaining agreements between them and the city are in place to protect their rights as workers. 
  
  
• Ensuring they have the budgets and resources to do their jobs effectively. 
  
  
• Protecting their constitutional rights, such as ensuring they are not subjected to illegal searches and seizures and their First Amendment rights are not infringed upon.  

Nick will use his unique position as a Tufts alumnus, attorney, and lifelong Medford resident to improve relations between the city and Tufts University. His plan includes:

• Ensuring Tufts is fully transparent on its development plans and takes into consideration community input before moving forward on its projects.
  
  
• Revisiting Tufts' payment-in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with the city. Nick believes it can be renegotiated to the greater benefit of both sides. 
  
  
• Negotiating a new agreement with Tufts to give Medford residents greater access to Tufts educational resources. 
  
  
• Promoting cross-community programs to improve relations between Medford neighbors and the Tufts population. 

Medford must have a zero tolerance policy on anti-semitism. Anti-semitism is a real community issue that should not be overlooked. It has left many in our community fearful. Those who are scared are deeply concerned by the current Council's reluctance to fully condemn it. Nick's plan to fight anti-semitism includes:

• Have the Council unequivocally, and wholeheartedly, declare that it is committed to fighting anti-semitism in all its manifestations. Nick supports adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism, which can be read here, as the official city definition of anti-semitism. 
  
  
• Oppose explicit, or "backdoored", city legislation to "Boycott, Divest, and Sanction" the entirety of Israel, such as through a "values-aligned" ordinance. 
  
  
• Establish new resources for residents to report instances of anti-semitism in the community, with an effective mechanism to investigate and take action on reports.

Nick is an independent candidate. He has not pledged allegiance to any faction or special interest operating in Medford. Nick will only work to promote the interests of the community collectively. He will listen to the voices of all residents, not just the residents who vote for him.