Medford Candidate Profile: Kit Collins For City Council

MEDFORD, MA — With the Medford Municipal Election scheduled for Nov. 7, Patch is profiling the candidates.

Here, we learn more about Kit Collins, who is among 12 candidates running for the seven seats on the Medford City Council. Collins joins three other incumbents in the race: Zac Bears, George Scarpelli, and Justin Tseng.

Collins, who will be 29 years old as of Election Day, is an illustrator, muralist and public artist.

Candidates were sent questionnaires and filled out the answers.

Name

Kit Collins

How old will you be as of Election Day?

29.

Campaign website

https://kit4medford.com

What city or town do you live in?

Medford

What office are you seeking?

Medford City Council

Education

I graduated from Tufts University in 2015 with a B.A. in Peace & Justice Studies.

Occupation?

I work as an illustrator, muralist and public artist. I began freelancing in 2015 and went full-time in 2019.

Family

My parents raised me and my two brothers in upstate New York. My fiance Travis recently began his residency as an emergency room doctor.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My younger brother is a lawyer for the IRS.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

I am currently serving my first term on Medford City Council.

Why are you seeking this office?

I am seeking a second term of office because there is so much urgent work that the council needs to attend to over the next two years: from housing affordability; to sustainability and climate resiliency; to commercial and residential development that better serves the needs of our community; to creating a budget that can sustain real improvements to public infrastructure and constituent services. I have specific goals for progress on all of these topics, and I am eager to continue working hard and collaborating with fellow elected and City staff to move the needle forward.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing constituents right now is an affordable housing crisis. I know from my conversations with residents across the city that everyone is affected — renters like me who are being priced out, as well as folks who own their homes, and those who would like to downsize within their community but have no options to do so. In my first term, I was proud to be a strong advocate for our new Affordable Housing Trust and Housing Production Plan. I also passed a Housing Stability Notification Ordinance to help the city provide better housing information to tenants as well as homeowners facing foreclosure, and I’ve begun work on a Condo Conversion Ordinance to ensure that when for-profit flippers take rental units off the market in Medford, displaced tenants are protected and the community is fairly compensated. I have also worked 1:1 with Medford tenants who have sadly been faced with displacement to get them the support and resources they need to land on their feet.

In my second term, I plan to focus on policies and structures that will help us begin to meet the twin challenges of housing unaffordability and housing scarcity systemically. I will support dedicated and robust funding streams for our Affordable Housing Trust, and transferring in underutilized city-owned properties for development. I will support zoning changes that will allow us to accelerate housing development in mixed-use and walkable neighborhoods, such as along the Mystic Valley corridor. I will continue to support the renovation and expansion of public housing in Medford. Finally, I will continue to advocate for sustainable and necessary improvements to Medford’s operating budget so that we can, one day soon, support an in-house Office of Housing Stability. This operational goal would allow the city to serve residents in their hour of need, instead of our current practice of referring residents out to overburdened regional nonprofits.

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

There are many candidates in this race. I know I share common goals with each of them, though some more than others. But we all share a deep connection to Medford and a commitment to improving life in this city.

When I was first elected, I was the only renter on a council representing a city with 44% of its households renting. I am hopeful that the council will become more representative (in all ways) but for the moment, with renters still historically under-represented, I will continue to see it as my responsibility to ensure that renters’ voices are included in housing-related discussions in the council chambers.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

I am an incumbent.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

In the council's upcoming zoning work, I will focus on energy-efficiency incentives for big developers; and I will support a net-zero requirement for all municipal buildings. I will continue to advocate for a better experience for transit users in Medford, as well as expanded bike infrastructure.

Budgetarily, Medford is far from where it needs to be, and that will remain true until we have fully-funded schools; well-maintained roads and sidewalks that are safe for all users; and supportive, reliable, competitively-paid City and School staff. In my second term, I will continue to bring daylight to our annual budgeting process, so that residents are better informed about what the city is funding — and what it’s not. I will continue to push for improvements to our long-term capital needs planning, and insist we do the hard work of charting a financial path towards a fully-functioning city.

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

In my first term, I’ve had several successful legislative projects. Together with vice president Bears and Medford People Power, I passed the Community Control over Public Surveillance ordinance to ensure that residents have a voice in vetting costly and nascent surveillance technologies before they are put to use in our city. I passed the Housing Stability Notification Ordinance to empower renters with better knowledge of their rights and resources. After my experience working with Medford’s Solid Waste Task Force in 2022, I worked with the Office of Planning, Development and Sustainability to spearhead a comprehensive update to Medford’s Solid Waste ordinance, to close loopholes and expand recycling to all types of buildings in Medford. I helped pass the Affordable Housing Trust Ordinance and Polystyrene Ban Ordinance, and helped secure funding for the council’s upcoming Zoning recodification work. I helped pass two budgets that reduced funding gaps for the Medford Public Library and Medford Public Schools. Policy work aside, it is very important to me to promote a more civil and respectful atmosphere in the council chambers, and I believe I have done that.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

“Don’t take yourself too seriously.”

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I get into the weeds about my platform, accomplishments, and goals at kit4medford.com. I encourage folks to read my website to learn more about me, and to reach out to me at any time to ask questions or get to know me better.