Candidate Profile: Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Medford Mayor

MEDFORD, MA — Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn is one of three candidates running for mayor in the Sept. 14 preliminary election, which will whittle down the field of candidates ahead of the municipal election in November. There will also be a preliminary election for School Committee.

Medford Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles over the coming weeks.

Lungo-Koehn was elected mayor in 2019 after serving on the City Council for 18 years. She worked as an attorney from 2006-2020.

Lungo-Koehn and her husband David have three children, Bayley, Kaliway and Kody.

Are you running for office in Medford? Contact Alex Newman at alex.newman@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate profile and submitting campaign announcements to Medford Patch.

Age (as of Election Day)

41

Position Sought

Re-election, Mayor of Medford

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

David Koehn - Husband
Bayley Koehn - Daughter
Kaliway Koehn - Daughter
Kody Koehn - Son

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My sister is a Medford Public School Teacher - Arianna Lungo

Education

BA - Endicott College
JD - Mass School of Law

Occupation

18 years on the Medford City Council
Mayor since January 2020
Attorney 2006 - 2020

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

City council - 18 years - 9 terms

Campaign website

breanna4mayor.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am seeking re-election to be Mayor of Medford to continue moving Medford forward. I want to continue working on all that we have been progress on despite a global pandemic.

I have been honored to serve as Mayor of Medford since January 2020. The residents of Medford put their trust in me to lead this city and I vowed to do so working alongside all members of the Medford community. Together, we have accomplished an incredible amount and have made significant progress toward many of our shared goals. After decades of inaction and kicking the can down the road, WE are leading the way on:

BUILDING a better Medford, working closely with small businesses to support them and help them thrive and grow, while also paving the way for the kinds of development that will grow our tax base, like life sciences and digital tech and manufacturing companies. Through it all, we strive to maintain Medford’s character and values and prioritize affordable housing.

PLANNING for a sustainable and successful future for Medford, by creating community-driven processes and plans like the city’s first-ever 10-year Comprehensive Strategic Plan, first-ever 6-year Capital Improvement Plan, and leading the charge for the first comprehensive review of our City’s Charter in more than 30 years.

COMMITTING TO OUR SCHOOLS. Medford was among the first communities in the state to safely return to in-person learning during COVID-19, the first community in the state to implement a novel pooled testing program and a model district for testing, health and safety protocols. Following an economic crisis, we increased school funding by 9.6% - the largest increase to schools in decades. My opponent voted against this substantial investment in our faculty, school administrators and students simply because I was pushing for its passage

RENOVATING parks and open spaces, making them safer and more accessible for all ages and abilities. As of summer 2021 we have more than 30 parks and open spaces in process or scheduled for upgrades.

FIXING our aging infrastructure. After decades of kicking the can down the road, we have a backlog of tens of millions of dollars needed to make repairs to our streets and sidewalks. In 2020 I commissioned a comprehensive review and analysis of all our roads, and now for the first time we are creating a path forward for much needed repairs and a preventative maintenance plan to prevent this from continuing for future generations.

PROTECTING public health and safety. In the midst of a global pandemic, we prioritized the health of our residents, the well-being of our students and teachers, and the livelihood of our local businesses in a number of ways, from providing more than $700,000 in grants to local businesses, to standing up testing sites and vaccine clinics, creating a direct support program for more than 11,000 seniors, launching a Multilingual Resource Line, to getting our kids back in schools safely, and so much more.

And, through it all, we are leading the way on OPEN, ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNMENT AND SERVICES that this community deserves. I want to continue on this path and continue the work that needs to be done to carry these plans (and many more) through.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue that we had to deal with over the last 18 months and are continuing to deal with is the global pandemic and the new strains of the virus. The Board of Health Director, Superintendent of schools, myself and our teams have worked tirelessly in the best interests of Medford and will continue to do so. Our goal is to keep our community safe and healthy, keep our staff and students learning in the classrooms, keep our economy strong and supported while working on the many issues that are important, such as food insecurity, affordable housing, climate change, infrastructure maintenance, etc.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

The Board of Health director, Superintendent, myself and our teams worked tirelessly to keep our community safe and always acted in the best interests of Medford. We made hundreds of difficult decisions, some of which were not always popular, but were made to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Some of the other priorities are listed on my website at breanna4mayor.com

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Doing all we could to keep people healthy and safe during a global pandemic while getting our students and teachers tested and back to school safely was a huge accomplishment that I am very proud of.

Within the last 18 months we have also:

Revamped and relaunched SeeClickFix reporting tool
Created a new, detailed & fully transparent City budget
FY 21
FY 22
Received the City’s first-ever Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the FY21 budget
Updated the City’s Reverse 911 system, saved $20K annually
Increased production & airing of government meetings on Medford Community Media by 300%
Created a (draft) 10 year Housing Production Plan
Created a New e-newsletter
Created a new Economic Development Director position
Launched a Comprehensive Planning process and diverse 22-member Steering Committee
Completed comprehensive street & sidewalk analysis, working on a pavement management/implementation plan
Created a Social Justice Roadmap
Undertaking upgrades & renovations at more than 30 parks and open spaces
Launched an Outdoor Dining, Business Grant program
Completed interim traffic upgrades at South + Main St. intersection, working with state on permanent plan to be implemented within 5 years
Bringing parking policy & enforcement in-house, ending contract with ParkMedford
Undertaking renovations at all fire facilities, issued RFP for Project Manager for Headquarters feasibility study
etc.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Family comes first. My family and young children are the reason I ran for office and the reason I want to continue leading this city. Also, the truth will prevail.