Framingham Candidate Profile: Janet Leombruno For City Council

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Framingham City Council election is coming up fast, and all but three are competitive, including the at-large race. Framingham Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

At-large Framingham City Council candidate Janet Leombruno, 55, is running against two other candidates, George P. King, Jr. and Gloria Pascual. Two of the three will be the city's next two at-large City Councilors. Leombruno is a local realtor and graduate of Framingham North High School.

Leombruno served as a Town Meeting member between 2003 and 2017, and also served on the 2016 Charter Commission, and as a member of the Housing Authority, and the state Funeral Board.

Here's how she answered our candidate questionnaire:

1) The single most pressing issue facing Framingham is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Public Safety. We need to make hiring and retaining our Police force a top priority. We need to collaborate with all of our stakeholders, including the residents and business owners to make each of our neighborhoods safer. We need to fully implement and fund the Traffic Commission.

2) What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am excited to put my years of experience of community service and energy to work in the Council. We need to be a team and collaborate on the issues affecting everyone from seniors to families. We cannot get anything done if we aren’t open to working together. I am committed to being that bridge and ensuring all voices are heard in our city government.

3) Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

As At-Large Councilor, I pledge to work towards:

• Keeping Framingham Affordable: More and more seniors and young families are moving out of Framingham due to increased property tax rates, and water and sewer rates. We have to control these taxes, and grow the commercial tax base to keep Framingham a community where everyone is welcome.
• Strengthening Our Neighborhoods: There are former town meeting members filled with knowledge of Framingham and ideas on how to many it better. It is time to enlist them, listen to their ideas and work together to implement them. This is wasted knowledge that the city needs to embrace. The future of Framingham is based in collaboration.
• Embracing Our Diversity and Reflecting It in Our Government: Appointments by our government do not truly reflect who we are as a community. If we are serious about giving everyone a seat at the table, then we need an appointment process that is accessible, inclusive and proactive. Additionally, the Charter recommends funding a fulltime Americans With Disabilities Act Coordinator. As the sister of an individual with disabilities, I know all too well the struggles of this population and that our government needs to do more to make our facilities more welcoming. It is time to take action.

4) What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I proudly served as a Town Meeting Member for 14 years, where I was a strong advocate for the Precinct 5 neighborhood and served as Chair the Standing Committee for Public Safety.

When I saw our form of government was not working and hearing the voices of everyone, I knew we could do better. I was elected as a Charter Commissioner in 2016 and worked to craft a Charter that increased representation from every corner of Framingham. I believe our community is stronger because all voices, regardless of where they live or their gender, religion, race, sexual orientation or economic status, can be heard in their government with equal representation.
We still have much work to fulfill the promise of the Charter. I am ready to take my commitment to my neighbors, my enthusiasm and work ethic to infuse energy and collaboration into our Council.

I’ve coached baseball for 17 years in Framingham Baseball and served as a long time Baseball Commissioner. In 2003 I founded the Annual Framingham Baseball Toys for Tots drive with the Framingham Fire Dept and Timothy’s Toy Box, now approaching our 16th year. Currently, I serve on many local organizations, such as the Framingham Business Association, The 200 Foundation, the MetroWest Conference for Women, Resiliency for Life and the Framingham Housing Authority.

In each role, I am focused on ensuring women are empowered, businesses can grow here in Framingham, at-risk students are given the opportunities to thrive and affordable housing is possible for those who need it.

5) The best advice ever shared with me was:

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.

6) What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

There is too much noise and not enough action in our government. That is why I have pledged, and have asked all candidates for local office to pledge, to run a positive campaign. Our neighbors deserve a positive campaign. It is important they have the opportunity to hear about a candidate’s stance of the issues facing Framingham and their ideas of how to address it, instead of petty political gossip and character assassination. Negative campaigning is a distraction from the real issues.