My name is Matt Leming — I'm an affordable housing advocate, a renter, a scientist, and a proud resident of Medford. This November, I hope to earn your vote as a Medford City Councillor.

I grew up in a military family and, after earning a PhD, continued onto a postdoc at Massachusetts General Hospital, where I study A.I. for dementia diagnosis in brain MRI. In Medford, I became active in community groups for both affordable housing and charter review efforts. I previously served on the Mayor’s Charter Study Committee and, today, I serve on Medford’s Community Preservation Committee. I also volunteer as a mentor for Partners for Youth with Disabilities and am an active member of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization as a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church. These experiences have given me a front-row seat to many of the challenges facing Medford today.

Like many cities in America, Medford's housing prices and high rent are pushing young people, service workers, and blue-collar residents from the city. Medford has been stagnating while costs of living have been rising. Businesses in the Square suffer from lack of foot traffic, our roads need to be repaved, and too few residents are involved in local politics. City Hall has been operating at skeleton capacity, held together by a small number of highly skilled administrators who are nonetheless overworked and under-supported.

These problems have been decades in the making, and we need a long-term vision to solve them. I hope to earn your vote as one of Medford's next City Councilors so that I can be part of the team that will tackle these challenges.