City Council Candidate Profile: Michael Marks

Name:Michael J Marks

Age:45

Occupation:Billing Manager Massachusetts General Hospital

Incumbent?:Yes

Previous Elected Experience: Medford City Council

If elected, what would your top priority be?:

There’s no worry that Medford, inspiration of “Jingle Bells,” and historical hub for shipbuilding, rum distilling, and brick manufacture, will ever be lost in the history of this country. It’s kept alive through entities like the  Brooks Estate,the Medford Historical Society as well as the Royall House. To keep this alive, I would absolutely support a bond initiative. The preservation of our historic properties and artifacts is important to the character of our city. However, we can’t ignore current history. We must look to our present buildings as “living history,” and preserve them. While all of our schools serving K through 8 are state of the art, Medford High School needs a complete face lift. Our eighth graders are going to enter a school that has had only minor improvement in years, like computer centers, labs, etc. Our Police and Fire Headquartes are crumbling while sections of our Department of Public Works building are on the verge of colapse. We must move forward on a long term approach to a Capitol Improvement Plan.