1. Our Shared Values
  2. The City Budget We Deserve
  3. Safe, Well-Maintained & Climate Resilient Streets and Open Spaces
  4. Community Safety
  5. Public Education Our Community Deserves
  6. Equitable and Welcoming City Government
  7. Fighting for People’s Basic Needs
  8. Housing Affordability and Stability

Our Shared Values

Our Revolution Medford is a group of people who live in Medford who want our city government to make life better for everyone who lives here and make sure everyone feels welcomed here.

In the future we want Medford to:

  • Have housing for everyone
  • Have good schools
  • Fix streets and make sure people who don’t drive can still get around easily
  • Have enough money for city government to pay for what we need
  • Be safe for everyone
  • Have more trees and parks
  • Have more stores and restaurants

We know that the government serves some people better than others. We want to make sure underserved people get their fair share. Housing in Medford is getting so expensive! Renting or owning a home here should be possible, even if you are not rich.

Our Revolution Medford helps people who run for mayor, city council or school committee if they agree with our goals.

Sign onto the 2023 Medford People’s Platform today! [link]

The City Budget We Deserve

A budget is a statement of values.

Cities get money from many sources, but the main source is property tax (this is a tax on land and buildings like houses and stores). How a city spends money shows you what is important to that city. Right now, Medford does not have enough money to pay for what we need.

  1. Raising Money – We will show people exactly how much money the city has, how it is spent, and how much more we need. We support raising property tax to fix streets and sidewalks, repair public buildings and schools, and pay teachers and city workers. We need to raise money to build a new Medford High School and new headquarters for the Fire Department. We also support making Tufts University pay their fair share of property tax. Right now they do not.
  2. More Local Businesses – We commit to increasing support for locally owned businesses and commercial development in Medford to build a more vibrant city and expand the tax base. We will support mixed-use development in Medford Square; leasing city land in central locations for development projects rather than permanently selling it off; and reducing the permitting burden for opening new businesses and for existing businesses to stay open later at night.
  3. Fix Streets, Sidewalks, and Buildings – We need to fix our streets, sidewalks, and public buildings. We need to hire more people to work for the city to fix things. 
  4. Let Everyone Know – We want people who work for the city to talk to each other and tell people who live in Medford what is going on. We want everyone to know how our city makes and spends money.

Safe, Well-Maintained & Climate Resilient Streets and Open Spaces

We want Medford to have safer streets and more buses. People with strollers, walkers or wheelchairs should be able to use our sidewalks. We wants Medford to be more prepared for climate change now and in the future.

  1. Walking and Biking Safely – Cars hit too many people who are riding their bikes or walking. We want safer streets and sidewalks especially in bad weather. We want people who don’t have a car to still be able to get around safely.
  2. Climate Change – We will look for ways to reduce how much energy we use. We want to have more solar panels and more electric buses. We want to help people in Medford fix their drafty doors and windows.
  3. Buses and Trains – We want more buses, bus shelters, and trains. We want to make buses and trains cheaper, maybe even free.
  4. Parks and Trees – We want to plant more trees in every neighborhood to protect the Fells, Mystic River, city parks, and street trees

Community Safety

People are safer when the city responds to emergencies in a nonviolent way and when everyone has food, housing, and health care support. The city and police do not always treat everyone the same way and must make changes to rebuild trust with people who they have harmed.

  1. Better Emergency Response – We believe there are better ways to help people when they call 911. We want the city to send experts with the correct training to respond to emergencies, and people who are armed with a gun are not needed in most emergency situations. This is being done in other cities too, so it is not new. We want the city to spend money on people who are not police to inspect buildings for health and safety and enforce minor traffic and parking violations.
  2. Involve People in Safety Decisions – People who live in Medford should be involved in making decisions about how the city keeps people safe and be able to read reports about what the police department does.
  3. Supporting Immigrant Residents – We work with other groups such as Medford People Power and Safe Medford. Together, we will find ways to make immigrants feel safe here. We need Medford to translate all important written information and videos into the languages people use in Medford.
  4. Gun Violence Prevention – We will work with groups like Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America to keep people safe from gun violence.

Public Education Our Community Deserves

Medford students and families deserve a fully-funded, anti-racist, anti-ableist, vibrant, student-centered public school system. Our public schools must be hopeful, open, and safe spaces for students to learn and thrive. We can only achieve that by providing long-overdue resources, supporting students, and addressing racism and bigotry that negatively impacts many young people in our community.

  1. Pro-Public Schools – We commit to fighting for full and equitable local funding for Medford Public Schools and advocating for increases in the state budget for public education. We will push State House leaders to fix the state’s charter school policies that negatively impact Medford’s budget and reduce funding for Medford Public Schools.
  2. Safe and Supportive Learning Environment – Kids are safer in schools when their families are less stressed out. We want to have more school counselors. We want to help students have healthy minds and bodies.
  3. Education for All – We think all kids should get arts, sports, and other activities for free. Kids who have trouble learning should get the help they need. We want to hire more staff who look like our Black and Brown students. We want to hire more staff who share the same cultures as our students. We want families to be connected to city programs that can help them. We want to get rid of hunger in Medford.
  4. Support Teachers and Staff – We think our teachers and other school staff should be paid more.

Equitable and Welcoming City Government

We want to make sure every resident feels that they are welcome in our city.  We will translate important information into our city’s most used spoken and written languages.

  1. Representative Leadership – We hope to elect candidates and hire city staff from a variety of backgrounds to represent who lives here.
  2. City Charter Reform – We want to update the city’s rules and structure to give the City Council more voice and power, elect some city officials based on the neighborhood they live in, and show people how and why the Mayor selects members of city boards. 
  3. Welcoming City Meetings – We want everyone in Medford to feel welcome in city meetings. People should be able to attend meetings over the computer. We support voting by mail.
  4. Let Everyone Know – We want to provide American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and child care so people can participate in city meetings in person. We want the website to be easy to use. We want the website translated into our city’s popular spoken and written languages.

Fighting for People’s Basic Needs

We want to make sure that everyone in Medford has a place to live and food to eat. We want to make sure residents without a lot of money are not forced to move out of Medford.

  1. Economic Justice for All – We will work with local groups to make sure the homeless have shelter and the hungry have food. We want more kids to be able to go to afterschool programs.
  2. Supporting Unions and Workers – We support workers and workers’ unions. We support people who work for the city getting paid even when they are sick or have a sick family member.
  3. COVID-19 Help – People and businesses are still hurting from the ongoing pandemic. We want to provide help for tenants and landlords. We want COVID vaccines and treatments to be free and easy to get

Housing Affordability and Stability

Housing is getting so expensive here! We want to build more housing. We also want to make sure people can stay in Medford. House prices and rent should not go up so much each year.

  1. Build Less Expensive Housing – The city must build more housing that is not too expensive for most people. We will make it so more people can apply to live in new, less expensive housing. We support a small tax on people and companies who buy houses just to sell them quickly to make money. We want renters to have the chance to buy the house they are living in if it is for sale.
  2. Make Sure People Can Stay in Medford – We want Medford to hire people to protect renters from unsafe and dirty conditions. We will work to pass laws to prevent rent from going up too fast.
  3. Include Everyone in the City’s Future Plans – We don’t need more housing that most people don’t have the money to pay for. Everybody should be able to walk to places like a grocery store. We think buildings can be taller than they are right now in many parts of the city. Tufts needs to build more dorms for their students. We need more housing near our trains and buses.
  4. Make New Buildings Even Better for Neighborhoods – We want people to be able to see information about construction. We will pass a law so builders of large new buildings pay for things that make our city better for everyone. Medford must create goals for what neighborhoods should look like.

If you would like to know more about this document or need help with reading or understanding it, please let us know. We will be happy to meet with you and explain more about Our Revolution Medford and our goals. 

Ourrevolutionmedford.com https://linktr.ee/ormedford