Housing and Business Development

From biotech labs to restaurants, businesses bring jobs and tax revenue—but it also drives the rising cost of living, which displaces our neighbors and friends, hurts the middle class, and creates cost burdens for all residents. Practical, tangible steps must be taken to ensure that the rapid development raises all boats.

With my support, the City Council approved an Affordable Housing Trust, which will allow the municipality to act quickly and efficiently in creating more designated affordable units. We are also investigating a linkage fee for new business developments that will fund housing for workers who fill new job openings in town. In addition, we now have legalized accessory dwelling units, so you’ll be able to rent the apartment over your garage or an addition to your house. This will allow people to create low-cost housing units quickly, add a new income opportunity, and make it possible to remain in their homes.

An Inclusive Watertown

Watertown is an increasingly diverse community, particularly in the past decade. It’s vital that we make sure that everyone feels welcome, heard, and empowered to advocate for their own well-being. This challenge manifests itself across our whole town, from the municipal government to the schools, from our neighborhoods to our businesses. I have represented the city council on the Anti-Bias Coalition. Our goal is to foster a welcoming environment for all residents as our close-knit community continues to grow and change.

Climate Issues

Smart climate policy begins on the local level. In order to ensure that Watertown remains a livable community, we must take efforts to both counteract the larger climate trends while also building resiliency for the foreseeable impacts. Moving toward sustainability at the local level is a crucial dimension of the larger effort to create a sustainable economy, a healthy society, and a livable future for our children and grandchildren.

With my leadership on the City Council, our community has the option to receive 100% renewable electricity in their homes and every single one of Watertown’s new schools are meeting net-zero emission standards and the new Watertown High School will be the first LEED Platinum 4.0 and Net Zero Energy school in the United States! I have advocated for improvements in our infrastructure that will benefit our local environment, such as more effective and comprehensive recycling, improving our stormwater infrastructure, and increasing our tree canopy coverage. In my next term, I plan to advocate for a strong and effective BERDO (Building Energy & Reduction Act) as well as continue monitoring and working on enacting the policies laid out in our city’s Climate Action Plan, which is the municipal plan to achieve net-neutral emissions across town within the next quarter century.

Public Health

Public health has taken a spotlight role since March 2020, and COVID-19 has made the importance of public health leadership clearer than ever—particularly in the absence of effective guidance from the Governor’s office. We have also been navigating a decades-long struggle with opioid addiction in our community as well as a coming crisis of elder care.

It is urgent that Watertown increase the level of funding and institutional support for our public health department and infrastructure. Additional resources will help us alleviate the worst impacts of the opioid crisis, ensure that our elderly neighbors are safe and healthy in their homes for as long as they are able to remain, and prepare our community to face unknown future public health challenges.

Arts Committee and Cultural District

As we saw at the Arts Festival this summer as well as the Yard Art initiative, Watertown has a thriving arts community! Art enriches our lives and creates a more vibrant community life. The Council established an arts committee that has successfully advanced numerous public arts projects. With my fellow councilors and many community members we also established a Watertown Cultural District, which will bring state funding as well as grant opportunities to support our local arts institutions and artists.

Public Early Child Care Program

The pandemic revealed the importance of childcare as a piece of vital infrastructure for our economy. Yet the cost of private daycare remains an incredible burden to working parents of young children, disproportionately hurting women and low-income families. With its strong growth and financial sure footing, Watertown is now providing universal pre-K for residents, relieving parents from some of the burden of childcare costs.  

This will help to create a more equitable and inclusive community, and ensure Watertown’s economic future.

The Municipal Charter Review

The city charter is our municipal constitution, setting the structure and powers of our local institutions and elected roles. The last review process leveraged the brilliance and imagination of our neighbors to advance fantastic ideas to improve transparency and accountability. I led the charge to enshrine the new human rights commission in our foundational document, ensuring that our community will equity and respect for all of our residents regardless of heritage or the color of one’s skin. In 2026 we will review the charter again to ensure the changes we made have been successful in meeting our current needs.

Next Steps…