Medford Preliminary Election 2015

Hey Medford,

2015 is an off-year for most major elections, but there will be local elections in Medford for City Council, School Committee, and Mayor. Given that Medford has had the same Mayor for 28 years (what?!), this is actually pretty exciting.

The Preliminary is this Tuesday, Sept 1st. 

Only City Council has sufficient candidates to require a preliminary election, so only that office will be on the prelim ballot. The field of 16 candidates will be narrowed to the top 14. You will be asked to indicate up to 7 candidates you'd like to vote for. 

Below are the candidates (in ballot order), with links to their web presences, where I could find them. I'll be voting for the folks with * next to their names. I had trouble selecting candidates to support, given that I'm not terribly familiar with or passionate about most of the local issues. 

My selection processes:

1. Website required (Facebook acceptable) - if a candidate can't wrangle at least a Facebook or blogspot page to say a few words about their candidacy, I suspect they're too far behind the times for me. 

2. Not a more than 10 year incumbent on the Council - Yes this is a little arbitrary, but remember that the mayor has been in office for 28 years. Medford could use some new blood. 

3. The issues, etc: support for data/study based development of Medford's resources, support for investment in local library and school programs, support for reviewing Medford's charter and reforming system of representation and distribution of power between mayor and council, history of involvement in local organizations, general coherency of written statements (a couple failed this point).

I'll be voting for Breanna Lungo-Koehn despite failing both criteria 1 and 2, as she is the only female candidate out of the 16 :( She also seems really awesome. She was elected to the Council 14 years ago when she was only 21 and sounds like she has done some good things since. Read More

If you're not registered to vote, or if you need to update your registration, good new! Massachusetts now lets you register online if you have an MA ID:

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ovr/

Do it now, and you'd be ready for the full election in November, as well as all the excitement of 2016.

Leonore J. Eforo
No website found

Mark C. Crowley *
http://www.crowleyformedford.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CrowleyForMedford

Christopher D’Aveta
http://www.daveta.com/about-chris-daveta/
Comments: neutral - little issue substance on website

William J. O’Keefe Jr.
https://www.facebook.com/okeefecitycouncil
http://www.billokeefe.com/
Former member of the Medford School Committee
Comments: No - incoherent on website

Michael C. Ruggiero *
https://www.facebook.com/takegovernment
http://takegovernment.com/

Comments: seems slightly quirky, but passionate. Has obviously put time into understanding Medford's affairs

Michael J. Marks
http://marksformedford.com/
Comments: No - 14 years incumbent

Frederick N. Dello Russo Jr.
No website found.
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor, Council President
Comments: No - 10 year incumbent

Neal E. McSweeney
No website found

Mario Martin *
https://www.facebook.com/MarioMartinMA
http://www.mariomartin.org/
Comments: young, out of town, supports charter review

Brian Chamberlain
No website found

Neil Osborne *
https://neilosborneformedford.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NeilOsborneforMedford
Present member of the Community Development Board

Comments: passionate, involved, formerly NAACP

George A. Scarpelli *
http://www.votescarpelli.com/
https://www.facebook.com/GeorgeScarpelli1?fref=nf
Present member of the Medford School Committee
Comments: Statistical models!

Adam Knight *
http://www.knight4council.com/
https://www.facebook.com/knight4council?fref=nf
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor

Richard F. Caraviello
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Caraviello-Medford-City-Council/149545795113929
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor, 4 years
Comments: No? virtually no info

John C. Falco Jr.
No website found
Current Vice Chair of the Medford School Committee

Breanna Lungo-Koehn *
No website found
Candidate for Re-nomination, Present City Councillor