Candidate Profile: Isaac 'Zac' Bears, Medford City Council

MEDFORD, MA — Zac Bears is one of five incumbent city councilors seeking re-election. There are 14 candidates vying for seven seats on the Medford City Council in the Nov. 2 municipal election, as well as contested races for mayor and school committee.

Medford Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles this week.

Bears is a first-term city councilor and communications professional. He previously served as the executive director of a non-profit.

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)

27

Position Sought

Medford City Councilor

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

Bruce (Dad), Laura (Mom), Isabelle (Sister)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Medford High School, UMass Amherst (BA, Economics and BA, Political Science)

Occupation

Non-Profit Executive Director (2016-2020)
Self-Employed Communications Professional (2020-Present)

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Current Medford City Councilor

Campaign website

zacbears.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I’m running for re-election to keep delivering results that are building a Medford that works for all of us.

We have already accomplished so much together during my first term. From creating Medford’s first Emergency Housing Assistance Program to support residents during the pandemic to passing a resolution declaring system racism a public health crisis, creating the city’s first ever translation services line-item, and so much more.

Over the next two years, I’m excited to work with you to create a comprehensive plan for housing and new development, invest in a city budget that fully funds our infrastructure, city services, and public schools, and continue our work to create a welcoming and inclusive city government that serves the needs of everyone who calls Medford home.

As a Fulton Heights resident and graduate of Medford Public Schools, it’s been my honor to serve my hometown as we came together to face the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis.

We have accomplished so much together already, and we can do even more if we take action on the great opportunities that lie ahead for Medford.

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

The most pressing issue facing Medford is our long-term planning for funding city services and for housing and new development. Medford has an incredible opportunity to build a stronger, more equitable, and more vibrant community if we use our collective power.

We need to use an "every tool in the toolbox" approach to ensure that Medford is addressing the housing crisis, getting significant community benefits from new development, ensuring that we are a welcoming and inclusive community for all residents, and fully funding our public schools, city services, and infrastructure.

We need to finally enact a community-driven comprehensive plan for housing, zoning, and development. We need to assess the needs of our schools, city services, and infrastructure and make a plan to raise the revenue to meet those needs. We must do the hard work of dismantling systemic racism and building a welcoming and inclusive city government that meets the needs of everyone who calls Medford home.

I will keep pushing on all fronts because I believe this is a vision shared by many in our community and that we must continue on the path towards building a better Medford together.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

As a Councilor, I’m focused on updating our city ordinances and addressing our two biggest challenges: the need for comprehensive community planning and the negative impact of our underfunded city budget.

If re-elected, I will continue to focus on taking substantive action and making sure city government provides the city services, infrastructure, and public schools that Medford residents deserve.

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

Local communities were largely abandoned by the state government and federal government and left to make the most difficult decisions with the fewest resources. I think we improved over time, and that our city health staff did the best they could with the often limited information and resources at their disposal. They went above and beyond the call for months, sometimes working 80 hours a week to keep people safe.

I would have preferred the city take a more aggressive stance about masking, capacity limits, and local housing stability protections. We also could have built a strong partnership with communities around us to make up for the failures of the state and push the state to do its job.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

My top three issues were stated above. (1) A community-led comprehensive plan for housing and development that addresses the housing crisis; (2) a budget needs assessment so we can make a plan to fully-fund our infrastructure, city services, and public schools; and (3) dismantling systemic racism and building a more welcoming and inclusive community.

However, we have so much more to do. We need a charter review that updates how our city government works and moves to ward representation.

Part of investing in our city budget is building a new Fire Headquarters, maintaining and improving our parks and playgrounds, investing in road and sidewalk repair and design upgrades, taking action to address the climate crisis and move to net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, passing a zoning recodification to serve as a foundation for our comprehensive plan, updating how the city government communicates with residents and investing more in constituent services, public engagement, and much-needed technology overhauls to bring city services and processes into the 21st Century.

We also need to advocate to make sure the state government is actually doing it’s job. State government takes nearly 4% of our city budget and gives it to charter schools in which we have no input or control. DCR and MassDOT drag their feet on even the most basic maintenance of the high numbers of state-controlled streets and sidewalks in Medford, and the MBTA is cutting services to Medford that are essential to our residents.

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

Over the past two years, I have done the job and I have done it well. Being a Medford City Councilor during our city’s greatest crisis in a century was no easy task. This City Council spent many days making very difficult decisions and working with the Mayor’s Office to keep our community healthy, safe, and intact during bleak moments. I am excited to continue this work and build a strong recovery for our community.

Additionally, as a public education advocate, executive director, and communications specialist from 2015 to 2020, I was an essential part of passing the largest K-12 education investment in Massachusetts in 30 years, the Student Opportunity Act in 2019.

I know how to bring people together, organize to get things done, and win big for Medford.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Stand up for what you believe in, and “when we fight, we win.” Meaning that when we come together and advocate for what we believe in, we can build a stronger community and better future together.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I've talked to thousands of residents in my first term as a Medford City Councilor, and I am deeply involved in our community. From the smallest request for help to the biggest changes we need to make as a Council, I will continue to work hard for the people of Medford every single day. I will strive to be a responsive, open, and passionate Councilor who advocates for any resident who needs help in any way I can.

I would be honored to receive your support and one of your seven votes on Tuesday, November 2nd.