Somerville Candidate Profile: Wilfred Mbah For City Councilor At Large

SOMERVILLE, MA — The municipal election is fast approaching in Somerville, and the city council race is highly contested.

Somerville Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles leading up to November.

Wilfred Mbah is running for reelection as City Councilor At Large in Somerville.

Age

44

Position sought

City Councilor At Large

Party

Democrat

Family

I live with my beautiful wife Christelle and two lovely kids Joel, 4th grader and Grace, 1st grader.

Education

MPA, Harvard

Occupation

Environmental Professional/Job Transition

Previous/Current Elected position

City Councilor at Large/Vice President, City Council

Campaign website

willmbah.com

Why are you seeking office?

I’m proud of what we’ve built together over the last three terms, from pushing forward
meaningful tenant protections, to working toward more transparent, community-centered
government, to investing in schools, infrastructure, and equity initiatives. But there’s still work
left to do. Somerville is changing fast: housing pressures, climate threats, and infrastructure
demands are real. The new charter offers an opportunity, but only if it’s implemented with
vision. I’m seeking re-election because I believe together, we can finish what’s begun: ensure
affordable homes, safe accessible streets, responsive government, and a Somerville where
everyone, whatever their background, feels like they belong. Let’s keep moving forward,
together.

What is the single most pressing issue facing our city?

The steady increase in the costs of housing for both renters and home owners, which is
forcing increasing numbers of Somerville residents to face displacement and is changing our
demographic toward a less diverse and less welcoming community.
An escalation of costs is impacting every factor of housing production, maintenance,
transactions and occupancy, as well as the costs of essential public services. More and more city
residents, including many long-time residents, can no longer afford rents or the costs of
ownership in the city.
At the same time many factors related to the structure of ownership, control and
financing of housing are also undergoing change. Conversions of rental units to condos,
corporate capital replacing bank loans as the method of financing housing, and the decline of
local lending institutions in favor of networks and platforms that are unable to respond to local
needs.
These trends have been underway since before the COVID disruption and the city has
been working to respond with regulations and programs of assistance for families and individuals
that are impacted. We have built the administrative agencies and directed both tax-funded and grant-funded revenues into multiple programs in the three areas of housing development and stabilization:

We use zoning and planning mechanisms to encourage and support new housing

development with a robust percentage of affordable units. We apply and are willing to
adjust our code and permitting regulations to best achieve the renewal and upgrading of
existing units and to maintain a healthy market turnover of units at variety of prices and
rents.
We provide emergency financial and social and legal protective services for families and
individuals facing displacement or other family difficulties that cause temporary rent or
mortgage arrears.
We impose regulatory actions to insure fair-dealing in all aspects of development, real-
estate, including compensation or assistance to tenants who need to find replacement
housing in the city.
Today we are being pressed to find more resources and expand the outreach of our
existing programs. This work includes efforts to gain new municipal authority from the state
legislature to find a workable system of rent stabilization and a reasonable real estate transfer fee.
It also includes the careful work of oversight and persistent testing to find the areas where our
existing operations and regulations fall short.
We routinely review our zoning and permitting processes, to identify and fix any
unnecessary obstacles to the development process or to housing finance. We constantly monitor
our Housing Stabilization programs to insure that all residents in need are able to make
applications easily, without barriers of language, technical skills or an overburden of
documentation.
The next stages of work to support housing development and housing stabilization will be
the continuation of this job of practical oversight. It is work that is less able to fit into catchy
slogans and broad policy pronouncements, but it is work of great importance with need for
experienced political leaders, as well as people with fresh enthusiasm.
Critical differences with other candidates seeking council seats
This is the critical difference that I bring, as an experienced Council member -- my
understanding of the routine functioning of our agencies, programs and systems. Like my
colleagues in the campaign, I am always looking around for the latest ideas, coming from
advocates and from reports on other cities. But I have learned the necessity of keeping close
attention to what is already underway and how our structures and programs are performing.
I pledge to keep the momentum of steady, incremental improvement within the
framework of our solid, progressive housing policies and plans.

Other issues that define my campaign

As a professional environmental scientist and as Chair of the City Council’s Committee
on Clean Energy, Open Space and the Environment, much of my work of program development
and regulatory/policy formulation has involved the initiatives defined in our Climate Forward
Plan. Most recently, we have updated the Plan in order to set more ambitious goals to eliminate
fossil-fuel use in all buildings by 2050. The effort has started with the adoption of new Code
provisions that require all newly-constructed buildings to have all-electric heating and cooling.
Next, is an emerging new regulatory structure that will require retrofitting of all existing
residential and non-residential buildings as they gradually require reconstruction and up-grading
in future years. Third, we have begun to plan, schedule and commit the funding to make the
changeover to clean energy in our schools and public buildings.
Another initiative that I have helped to lead is the pilot program of curb-side collection of
composted household waste, which is getting underway before the end of the year.

Best advice ever shared with me

Listen to understand, not to reply.

What else would you like us to know?

I want people to know that I always approach life like a student who is curious, humble, and
hungry to understand. Whether I am listening to a professor, a policymaker, or resident, I never
assume I have all the answers.

See Also:

Somerville Candidate Profile: Emily Hardt For Ward 7 City Council