Somerville City Councilor Mark Niedergang Not Seeking Re-Election

SOMERVILLE, MA — Somerville City Councilor Mark Niedergang will not run for re-election in the 2021 election. Niedergang has represented Ward 5 for 15 years, first on the School Committee for eight years and then on the Council for seven.

"I am grateful to have had this opportunity and grateful to have met and worked with so many caring, committed, smart and wonderful people," Niedergang said in a release. "I will serve out my full current term through the end of 2021. I look forward to continuing in my current role and working with you for the next year."

Niedergang said his work is far from over. Over the next year, he plans to focus on traffic-calming measures that enhance pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Niedergang is the chair of the Council's Traffic and Parking Committee and has been an urban cyclist for more than 50 years.

"Leah Zallman was the fourth pedestrian to be killed on our streets in the last two years," Niedergang said. "I want to work with the mayor, city staff in the Mobility and Parking Departments, my colleagues, members of the Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee, the Bicycle Committee, and the many committed activists in the community so that her death is the last."

Niedergang made his announcement early to "give potential candidates time to talk with family and friends and prepare to run a campaign," he said. Tessa Bridge, who served on the Steering Committee of Our Revolution Somerville, recently pulled papers for the Ward 5 race.

"I want us to have a hardworking, capable and progressive representative on the City Council," Niedergang said. "I hope there will be a bunch of candidates and that they will engage in constructive discussion and debate about the issues and the challenges we face to maintain Somerville as a mixed-income and diverse community."