Candidate Profile: Will Mbah, Somerville Mayor

SOMERVILLE, MA — Will Mbah is one of four 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 preliminary elections for City Council in Wards 5 and 7.

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

Mbah has been an at-large city councilor since 2018. He works for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection as an environmental analyst.

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

Age (as of Election Day)

40

Position Sought

Mayor

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

-

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science (University of Buea, 2005)
Master’s of Science in Soil Science (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2011)

Occupation

Environmental Analyst, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (2020 - Current)

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Somerville City Councilor At-Large (2018 - Present)

Campaign website

WillMbah.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

Mayor of Somerville

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

The biggest issue facing Somerville right now is the housing crisis. Working class families and seniors that have lived here for generations are being displaced and forced to leave the city due to the rising cost of housing. We need to take bold actions to address this and ensure that Somerville does not lose its middle class. We can use several tools to address the housing crisis, such as expanding the Office of Housing Stability so that it can help more people at risk of displacement, increasing tenant protections and rights and increasing the inclusionary housing percentage for large developments, but the boldest action we can take is rent control. If we want to enact rent control we will need a mayor that will be a tireless advocate for rent control and will push the state to allow municipalities to enact it. I will be that mayor. Rent control will put a cap on the impact speculation is having on rising rents and protect Somerville's middle and working class that is quickly being displaced. If we don't act soon, families that have lived in Somerville for generations will be gone, forced to move because of the high cost of rent in our community.

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

I believe there are three areas that distinguish me from my opponents. The first area is my lived experiences. I am an immigrant from Cameroon and was raised in a foster home and by my extended family after my parents died. When I came to Somerville, I learned what it was like to work hard, but barely get by. Despite holding an advanced degree, I worked as a janitor and dishwasher when I arrived here. I also have experienced Somerville’s housing crisis first hand. At one point I was forced to move five times over a six year period due to rising rents. I also understand what it is like to be a person of color in this city. I have been racially profiled and discriminated against and personally understand how this impacts our neighbors who are people of color. The best way to address issues like housing affordability and racial justice is by electing people who have been directly impacted by these issues.

Next, I am the only candidate in this race that has a background in the environmental sciences. I have an undergraduate degree in environmental science and a master’s degree in soil science. Currently, I work as an environmental analyst at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. My background in environmental science makes me uniquely qualified to make our city a national model for sustainability and prepare Somerville for the impact of climate change. These qualifications are why I was endorsed by 314 Action, a national organization that endorses candidates with a background in STEM, and Sunrise Somerville Youth, a local organization dedicated to fighting climate change.

Finally, I am the only candidate in this race that can say they have NEVER accepted contributions from developers. This was a commitment I made when I first ran for office and one that I have kept in every subsequent campaign, including my campaign for mayor. No other candidate in this race can say that. Residents can know for certain that I will prioritize their needs over the needs of developers. I am always going to put people before profits.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

I believe that the current administration has at times put the needs of developers before the needs of the residents of this city. We saw this in Union Square, where residents and small businesses had to fight for the creation of a Neighborhood Association that was allowed to negotiate with the developers who are developing the neighborhood. Residents in Somerville should not have to fight for the right to negotiate a community benefits agreement with the real estate developers who are going to profit off of their neighborhood. If I’m elected mayor, I’ll empower our small businesses and residents and facilitate this process by making community benefits agreements the law of the land in Somerville.

Another example of our city putting the needs of developers ahead of the needs of residents was the affordable housing waiver real estate developer FRIT received in 2017, which allowed it to include only 6.25 percent affordable housing units at its Assembly Row site. Real estate developers should not be able to circumvent the affordable housing requirement and if I am elected mayor I will ensure that all developers construct the required amount of affordable housing, which should be more than the current 20 percent.

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

I believe local officials responded well to the coronavirus, especially given the unprecedented circumstances that they faced. The pandemic did shed light on the lack of equity, not just in our community, but across the country, as we saw people of color and members of marginalized communities suffer the consequences of the pandemic at a disproportionate level. If I am elected mayor, I pledge to help bridge the equity gap in our community by ensuring that our neighbors who were hit the hardest by this pandemic receive the resources they need to recover. This includes extending the eviction moratorium past its current November deadline and into June 2022. The state’s emergency order only ended this past June. The residents who have been impacted economically deserve a full year to recover from this pandemic.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

One issue that I believe is overlooked in this race is the impact that extreme weather events caused by climate change are having on Somerville. The heat waves this summer have shown that we need to take swift action to mitigate urban heat island effects across the city and prepare our infrastructure for the reality of increasingly hot summers. This means retrofitting houses so they have proper air filtration systems and can be comfortably inhabited during hot summer days. When it has not been hot, it has often been rainy this summer and we have seen streets and our neighbors’ basements flood. We need to enhance water permeability in Somerville and develop a city-wide storm water runoff system so we are prepared for rainy summer days, and potentially a hurricane that will bring high levels of precipitation.

I also believe that we need to look out for our community’s seniors, ensure that they can afford to remain in our community, and that Somerville is accessible for them. I support improved tax and utility cost rebates and exemptions for seniors, which can make Somerville more affordable for this community. I also believe we need to make Somerville more accessible for this community’s seniors. Several parts of the city are still not pedestrian friendly and difficult to navigate for older residents, some of which have mobility issues. I support curb cuts and other measures to make Somerville easier to navigate for seniors.

Finally, universal pre-k and child care are long overdue for Somerville. Studies have shown that universal pre-k improves grades, cognitive skills, and opens doors to higher education later in life for children. It also can be a tool used to shrink the widening racial achievement gap. If we want Somerville residents to be able to raise their children and start a family in Somerville, implementing universal pre-k is a must.

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

I have been fortunate to be a part of many progressive accomplishments on the City Council, but the three that I am proudest of are leading the effort to create the Office of Housing Stability, banning racial profiling, and leading the effort to creat the Civilian Oversight Board. The Office of Housing Stability helps people who are at risk of being displaced by providing them with the assistance they need to find stable housing or stay in their current residence. It’s one tool we can use to ensure that working families and residents who have lived in Somerville are not forced to move due to rising rents. As Mayor, I’ll fully fund and expand this office so that it can help even more people at risk of being displaced.

Having been discriminated against and racially profiled in Somerville, leading the effort to ban racial profiling was personal to me. We cannot profess to be a community that is welcoming to all if we do not treat residents of our community the same. If I am elected mayor, I’ll continue this work to ensure that our city is one that is just and equitable for all residents.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Be Yourself

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

I want voters to know that I will always put their needs before the needs of special interests and developers. Since I first ran for office in 2017, I have refused all contributions from for-profit real estate developers. This is the only way we can be assured that our elected officials are putting people before profits and are not beholden to special interests from outside of our city. The Green Line extension is going to bring unprecedented levels of interest from developers to our community and it will be the job of the mayor to ensure that the needs of residents are prioritized over the needs of developers. I will prioritize the needs of residents by requiring a community benefits agreement for large developments. The residents and small businesses who are impacted the most by developments should be the ones who benefit the most from large developments, not out of state developers. On the City Council, I have centered everything I have done around the people, and that is what I will do as mayor.