Framingham Candidate Profile: Mario Alvarez For City Council

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham voters in District 8 will have a new City Councilor after Election Day. Councilor Judith Grove, who was first elected in 2017, is not seeking another term.

Voters will choose between former state lawmaker John Stefanini, 55, and first-time candidate Mario Alvarez, 46, in the open race. Alvarez is attending Framingham State University and a longtime city resident. He was recently endorsed by Mass Alliance as a rising star candidate.

As with all candidates running in 2019, we sent Alvarez a set of questions about why he's running. Here's how he responded:

The single most pressing issue facing our city is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

District 8 has been disproportionately over-developed without consideration to current day impact, future needs, adoption of best practices in commercial sustainable design/build and adequate community engagement.

We will address these areas most effectively by implementing the following measures:

1. Ensuring diverse and fresh representation on boards and commissions; this includes evaluating term limits and other recommended policies to ensure meaningful improvement

2. Integration of currently available technology tools to improve and enhance community engagement to simplify participation in decisions impacting them without requiring evening meeting attendance.

3. Commit to full transparency and accountability of elected and appointed officials through a City Ordinance to require financial disclosures, formal restrictions on business activities while serving to enhance existing state-level conflict of interest requirements. These should then be comprehensively addressed next charter revision in 2023.

4. Incorporate recommendations in sustainability commission development.

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

I am a fully independent voice committed to representing my neighbors and am not a legacy politician. I believe serving my community with a fresh voice and perspective will help increase engagement. I bring an honest, direct, respectful appreciation of the differences that make our neighborhood unique and will build diverse coalitions to address the issues we all care about.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

BE SMART WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS
I will be very thorough evaluating the budget, looking for efficient ways to keep delivering the services we value. I will always work to minimize tax increases while balancing that with smart investment to keep our city fiscally sound. I am committed to leverage technology in our City to improve operations and combat fraud, waste and abuse.

CHAMPION ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Contaminated sites have damaged our neighborhoods and made open spaces health hazards. I will fight to hold the polluters responsible for clean-up and restoration.

ADVOCATE FOR EDUCATION AND OUR CHILDREN
I will advocate for quality, equitable education opportunities for all children, including transportation, meals, after school programs, and greater access to extracurricular activities.

ADDRESS NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY
We want safe, attractive neighborhoods. I am committed to bringing all stakeholders together to deal with the tough issues and to get the resources we need.

ENFORCE ZONING TO PROTECT NEIGHBORHOODS
Zoning has a big impact on the look and feel of our neighborhoods and our quality of life. I will only support zoning that has a positive impact on District 8.

KEEP OPEN COMMUNICATIONS
One of the best ways to make good things happen for District 8 is to get more people in the district involved. I want to bring you into the conversation because more voices coming together make a bigger difference. I will always reach out and be accessible. Increase diverse community engagement through proactive communication in easy to access ways.

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

I manage a large, successful local multi-million dollar staffing firm and have been active in the Framingham employment community for over five years contributing to recruiting, training and placing over 1,000 individuals with local employment. This complex role requires a commitment to collaborating with diverse populations, employer needs, regulatory environment (OSHA, State/Federal employment guidelines), auditing and responsibilities for P&L. The diverse responsibilities position me to quickly apply these skills to benefit my community.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. -Bruce Lee

This proverb was given by the famous Hollywood actor Bruce Lee. It means that if you have knowledge, you can do many things. Knowledge makes you powerful. But if you have character, people will respect you. Knowledge will not make you look into your reflection in the mirror, the strength of your character will. Character gives you the courage to keep your head up with pride and honor, something that knowledge will not always give.

If you have knowledge and you know how to put it into use, you have the key to many things in this world. With knowledge comes power. But if you don’t have character, no amount of knowledge will get you your true respect. Respect is something that you have to deserve, to earn with your actions. You have to be worthy to have someone’s respect. Knowledge can’t make anyone think well of you or to respect you. It can’t make you control what others think of you. It is only the character that will make you worthy of true respect. Character gives you a life of honor and integrity. It makes you respected by everyone, even by those who don’t like you.

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

I believe in bringing my natural strengths of applying mindfulness, openness and belief in people’s best nature to building community. We have diverse and different experiences that we bring to each conversation about how we improve our district. Respect for everyone’s values and perspectives allows us to build community together and my good nature and calm perspective allow me to facilitate our ability to hear each other. These are shared and common values and a guiding philosophy I apply to how I evaluate and develop a position on the challenges both current and future.