Housing A Focus Of Worcester Mayoral Candidate's Campaign Launch

WORCESTER, MA — The first declared Worcester mayoral challenger kicked off his campaign Tuesday in a video that puts the city's struggles with housing prices and development front and center.

In a video released Tuesday, Guillermo Creamer narrates a series of drone-shot images of Worcester, from triple-deckers in Main South to new development sites near Polar Park. Creamer, a member of the Worcester Human Rights Commission, notes that he grew up in Worcester living in apartments, but now those same apartments are becoming unaffordable for families.

"We've heard the city is going through a renaissance, but for who?" he asks in the video, referring to the "Worcester Renaissance" phrase used to describe recent growth in apartments, retail and restaurants in the downtown and Canal District areas.

Creamer's campaign launch comes one week after the Worcester City Council approved a new inclusionary zoning law seen as more lenient for property developers. A group of housing activists who were pushing for a stronger inclusionary zoning law have also said they plan to make affordable housing a key issue in 2023 elections.

Creamer's 2023 run for Worcester council will be his second after losing a bid for an at-large seat in 2021, when he came in 9th in a 10-way race. But through a quirk of Worcester's election system, running for mayor may help him pick up more votes in this year's crowded at-large field.

To become mayor, candidates must get the most votes in the mayoral election, but also get enough votes to win an at-large council seat. Running for mayor often leads to more votes for the same candidate running in the at-large race. Every at-large council candidate is automatically entered in the mayoral race, forcing candidates who don't want to run for mayor to formally withdraw from that race.

Creamer is the first to formally declare he'll run for mayor against incumbent Joseph Petty Jr., who is aiming for a seventh term in 2023 as the city's top elected official. At-Large Councilor Donna Colorio has also stayed in the mayoral race in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Bill Coleman, a local TV host and organizer, typically runs for mayor every year, and has pulled papers to run again in 2023.

With the addition of Creamer, at least 14 candidates have pulled papers to run for at-large seats in 2023, including incumbents Colorio, Petty, Khrystian King, Moe Bergman, Kate Toomey and Thu Nguyen.

Apart from the human rights commission, Creamer has also been the lead organizer of the city's Now | Next master planning process. He also co-founded the Washington, DC, nonprofit Pay Our Interns, which advocates for fair pay for Capitol Hill staffers.