Waltham Candidates: An Interview With Consuelo Valdes

WALTHAM—This years municipal elections will be contentious, will all 15 seats in the Waltham City Council up for election on Nov. 7. Patch is taking a look at the Ward 9 race, between incumbent Robert Logan, and challenger Consuelo Valdes, former chair of the Waltham Cultural Council.

Valdes, 28, currently works as a user experience designer for biotech company Confer Health. At her day job, Valdes works to "democratize healthcare," in hopes to make diagnostic products accessible to consumers. She told Patch, "Imagine a world where you have the ability to test yourself for STDs or cancer without the stigma of going to the doctor." Valdes is passionate about her work in preventative care, and says she wants to bring that to the City Council.

During a conversation with Patch, Valdes outlined her platform on multiple issues, ranging from government transparency, to small business improvements, and housing affordability.

TRANSPARENCY

Valdes referenced her time as a user experience designer when talking about what Waltham's government could be doing online to improve transparency for constituents. "I think information needs to be more accessible," she said. Although Valdes said that the website has improved, she believes it needs "an overhaul."

"As a user experience designer, I can see the flaws that the website has for the needs our community has. Finding meeting minutes and projects that are happening— none of this is easily accessible on our government website." She thinks that Waltham could stand to utilize designers that other cities, like Boston, have used in their recent investments to government websites.

Additionally Valdes talked about transparency in project management. She referenced the creation of a local bike lane, and said that although there were public meetings for the project, community members took to Reddit and Facebook to complain about how the bike lane was introduced its first day, because a stop light caused traffic issues. She explained, "They just didn't feel involved."

SMALL BUSINESSES

When asked what changes she would want to bring to local businesses, Valdes cited the empty storefronts on Moody Street. "We have a lot of businesses, but we also have a lot of empty storefronts. When you speak to people in community, they don't know why there can't be something for their kids to do on Moody Street." Valdes thinks that local regulations are at fault for the stagnation on Moody Street.

She said, "According to some of the research I've done- regulations are tough for small business owners to get their businesses off ground. I would like to address that to help them. We just lost More than Words when the Moody Street shop relocated."

For experience, Valdes referenced her time with the Cultural Council, and working with the Waltham Downtown Partnership on events. "We have a steampunk festival, and it's one of the biggest in New England. We get people from New Hampshire and Maine. It helps the merchants and craftspeople."

Valdes believes that if Moody Street is revitalized, people would feel more safe than with the current empty storefronts where crimes occur.

HOUSING

Valdes mentioned housing as "one of the big concerns I've heard from constituents" She thinks that the way affordable housing is delegated is incorrect because it is relative to other units in the area. She said, "The City Council has demonstrated that they're not welcome to affordable housing projects." She's proposing making use of the empty and unused spaces around Waltham as a solution. "Let's make it more exciting for developers to build upon abandoned buildings that serve no use. If they can be used for veteran or senior citizen housing, that would revitalize area and put to use historical buildings while preserving them."

SAFETY

Although she doesn't have a specific crime platform, Valdes mentioned "safety for all" as an issue in Waltham. She explained a solution for local law enforcement's potential involvement with ICE could be, "Making it clear in our police policy that we are not going to function as ICE without a warrant or a criminal arrest warrant, so that all residents can feel they can go to police and report crimes." Valdes works with grassroots organization Progressive Waltham, which holds "Know Your Rights" trainings with local immigrant families. She said, " Over 50 percent of students in our schools are Latino. This is a concern something we need to officially take on so these children and families know what to do to stay safe and together."

Valdes also referred to fire safety as a recent problem in local arsons, explaining that in one instance, "There were only two access points for emergency personnel, and no contemporary sprinkler system."

EDUCATION

On education, Valdes is disappointed that Ward 9 does not have a lot that could accommodate a new high school, but believes that the council should not "plow forward with Veterans Field," as a site. On education policy, Valdes would "support the school board and committee to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) improvements. She said, "We could be telling kids that they could become a computer scientist right of high school. For some that can't imagine going to college, is a huge opportunity, with salaried positions." She mentioned nonprofits Girls Who Code and Girls Who Develop it as examples of organizations that help young women become involved in computer programming.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Valdes believes Waltham needs a dedicated city planner. She thinks green infrastructure is lacking. "We have a planning unit of some kind. There is a master plan for transportation and a master plan for open space. But there isn't a holistic plan. Some of the issues we have with traffic and overdevelopment are because we don't have a master plan for city that isn't taking into account our growth of population."