Medford Candidate Profile: Rick Caraviello For Mayor

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

Here, we learn more about Rick Caraviello, who is running for mayor. He is facing two-term incumbent Breanna Lungo-Koehn.

Caraviello has been a Medford City Council member for more than 12 years and president of the council for three years. He is a small business owner.

Candidates were sent questionnaires and filled out the answers.

Name

Rick Caraviello

How old will you be as of Election Day?

69

Campaign website

https://www.rickformedford.com...

What city or town do you live in?

Medford

What office are you seeking?

Mayor of Medford

Please give us your party affiliation

Democrat

Education

I attended Medford High School Class of 1972. I attended college for a year and a half. I left college to learn and work in the family business. At 23 years old, I started my own Union Manufacturing business employing 45 people, with the skills I learned from my father.

Occupation

Small business owner, city councilor

Family

I’ve been married to my wife Carol, who is also a Medford native and Medford High graduate, for 47 years. We have 3 children, Richard, Lauren, and Nicole, and 8 beautiful grandchildren.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

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

Yes, I have been a Medford City Council member for more than 12 years and president of the council for 3 years.

Why are you seeking this office?

I am running for mayor out of a genuine love for the city and to help keep Medford a great place to live, work, and raise a family. I will bring a consistent, transparent, and direct approach to city government focused on Medford. As too many of us know, our economic growth lags behind neighboring communities, our roads and sidewalks are in disrepair, too many critical positions are left unfilled at City Hall, our public employees are frustrated, and our Squares need to be reinvigorated. I want Medford to thrive and would ensure that happens by listening to and working with everyone.

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

Infrastructure. Infrastructure in Medford is crumbling. In the last few years, minimal city funds have gone toward repaving roads. The paving work done has come from utilities or contractors and has been substandard. We need to investigate different options for repaving, like Recycled Asphalt Paving, so we can better utilize our limited Chapter 90 funds. I have long advocated for a dedicated sidewalk crew, rather than spending millions of dollars year after year on subcontractors. We can’t keep putting band-aid after band-aid on our schools and municipal buildings, we need to fundamentally address the infrastructure crisis in our city.

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

In contrast to the other candidate and her time as mayor, I believe that true leadership starts with listening. As mayor, I will sit down and meet with community members and be the chief negotiator for Medford. It should worry residents that our firefighters have not had a contract for nearly 850 days now and that teachers and DPW went three years without one.

Communication between the mayor and the community — especially workers — has been subpar and the people of Medford deserve better. I will not make empty promises and instead get to action on Day 1 working with our community to reach agreements, get shovels in the ground, and rebuild trust between the people of Medford and the Mayor's Office.

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

In addition to failures surrounding negotiation, the lack of development in Medford in recent years has been an issue. Our city has developed a reputation that it is hard to work with and that permits are difficult to obtain. Medford has so much to offer the burgeoning life science and biotech industries that have been investing in communities around us. As mayor, I would capitalize on those opportunities and bring growth to our city.

Transparency has also been a shortcoming under Medford’s current leadership. The city’s budget information is still incomplete months after passage because the Mayor’s Office has still not provided the City Council with a comprehensive view of the city’s finances. We have asked multiple times. What happened to the mayor’s pledge to be transparent? We should have enough information to do financial planning for multiple years.

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

Responsible development is a major issue I’ve addressed throughout my campaign and will prioritize if elected mayor. It is the key to new growth and new tax revenue. The cities around Medford have prospered in the last 2 to 3 years in a development boom and I don’t want those opportunities to pass us by. A major first step to achieving that goal is to finally deliver a comprehensive master plan for the redevelopment and rezoning of all Medford Squares and Business Districts. On the council, I have focused on these goals, and will execute them as mayor.

Education has been another issue I’ve focused on because I believe that students and families in Medford deserve the best: they deserve to feel safe in school, have access to quality after-school programming, and receive an education with growing opportunities for all students. Throughout my campaign, I have had conversations with students and educators to understand their concerns. As mayor, I will deliver on these promises. That means making sure our schools are adequately funded, and I will work with the school administrators to add funding through grants and non-financial resources that can support effective curriculum and instruction.

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

One of my proudest accomplishments is bringing a new, state-of-the-art Public Library to the city of Medford. I worked as co-chair of the foundation that raised $6 million to offset costs to the city and have since advocated for the allocation of substantial funding to maintain it. Additionally, I worked relentlessly to plan and deliver a community center for Arts Collaborative Medford on Mystic Avenue. Bringing these groundbreaking projects to life demonstrates my commitment to investing in the community and my ability to work both within the council and with folks outside the government to achieve our goals. While the current mayor has done a lot of talk about developing our city, I have taken action and demonstrated my ability to successfully complete projects from start to finish.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Never forget where you came from and always treat everyone with dignity and respect.