Medford Election Profile: Steven Collicelli For City Council

MEDFORD, MA — Medford's municipal election Nov. 5 will send seven people to the City Council out of a pool of 14 candidates. Steven Collicelli, 34, is one of nine candidates not currently serving on the City Council.

Collicelli has been the director of marketing for the Chicken & Rice Guys for four years. He lives in Medford with his partner, Felicia, and their cat, Jean-Luc Picat.

Collicelli graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with degrees in history and anthropology. He has a master's degree in history and a graduate certificate degree in visual studies from the University of Southern California.

His past political experience includes serving as the director of communications for the Young Democrats of Utah and being a member of the Allston Village Main Streets Promotional Committee.

Are you running for office in Medford? Contact Alex Newman at alex.newman@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Medford Patch.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Medford is a great city and a fantastic community. Right now, however, we are held back by outdated codes and policies. We need a comprehensive, city-wide overhaul of our zoning ordinances so all of us in Medford can benefit from new development investments that highlight rather than demolish our historic buildings and neighborhoods. At the same time, Medford needs a charter review in order to make our city government more transparent, accountable, and responsive through updates like ward representation.

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

As the Marketing Director of a multi-faceted food truck, restaurant, and catering company with a staff family of nearly 100 amazing, wildly diverse individuals, I have experience not only building a company, but also bringing people together. I know first-hand how outdated policies that have not kept up with a changing economy hurt businesses, workers, and made Medford a less-than-welcoming environment for innovation. My experiences, not just at Chicken & Rice Guys but also from my past as an advocate for people with disabilities and the Director of Communications for the Young Democrats of Utah, have taught me how to lead folks with very different opinions to find common ground and achieve common goals.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

When neighbors feud with neighbors, when people who share so much in common find it hard just to get along, then there is, if not a failure of leadership, then certainly a lack of it. The City Council has both the power and the responsibility as the City’s legislative body to create clear channels for communication among various stakeholders and to organize community action based on those discussions. In my humble opinion, that hasn’t been happening of late.

I think the Medford Square Master Plan passed by the Council in 2017 is a great blueprint for real, smart, and long-lasting development. The Open Spaces Resource Plan likewise demonstrates responsible, inclusive forward planning. However, despite efforts at outreach, only 1% of Medford’s citizens came to the public hearings or filled out the accompanying questionnaires. I live here and help run a business in the Square; yet, I wasn’t aware of either plan until I started doing my own research. The City Council could use its megaphone to cut through the divisions that split us up as a community. Medford needs to do a better job talking–and listening–to one another. And, I think our City Council can do better facilitating this dialogue.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

As someone who walks and/or relies on the MBTA for my daily commute, I care deeply about repairing our aging, crumbling roads. As a renter who’d like to one day purchase a home here in Medford, I understand how affordability can become the enemy of livability, but also how desperately important it is that we strike a fair balance between the two. A city not growing is a city dying. Medford should continue to add to our housing stock to keep up with demand, but we need to do so responsibly, in ways that preserve and even enhance our historic neighborhoods. As someone helping grow a small business here, I care deeply about growing good jobs that work for workers, while attracting businesses that understand that investing in your people and the communities in which they live offers the kind of long-lasting returns that can’t be calculated in simple dollars and cents.

The power of democracy lies in the combined creativity of concerned citizens working together for a common cause. If elected, I will work hard to engage more of Medford’s citizens in the everyday life of our city. This means more outreach to often neglected groups such as: our communities of color, our growing immigrant communities, college students, renters, the working poor, the struggling middle-class and any other pocket of residents who don’t feel they have a stake or a say in city affairs. If I’m elected, I will do my utmost to make sure these folks do.

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

Before moving to Massachusetts, I served as an advocate for people with disabilities in Utah. I pestered and I prodded when funding cuts for a vital job training and support program came up for discussion. I helped pilot a new, customized approach to finding jobs for people with disabilities, leading an action group that pulled together members of the business, nonprofit, and government communities. I also knocked doors on five separate legislative campaigns, receiving a real crash course on the challenges inherent in local government as the Communication Director of the Young Democrats. I learned very quickly not to let the perfect get in the way of progress. Politics is the messy art of coalition building, of getting groups that don’t agree on everything, maybe most things, to find common purpose and work together.

Here in Medford, I applied these lessons to my work with The Chicken & Rice Guys. I started a Culture Committee to give all CNR staff an open forum to share input, voice concerns, and play a more active part in the life of the company. I helped raise funds for Medford’s first dog park, working with multiple stakeholders and community members to organize a charity dog wash. I’ve also helped organize events and raise funds for a Medford Art Center, the community garden at Tufts Park, the Mystic Valley Meals on Wheels, and the Medford Youth Center.

What unites all of the above is an unwavering commitment to grassroots community action. Even the best ideas can fall flat if the community doesn’t have a role in shaping them. If honored with a seat on the City Council, I plan on bringing this commitment to community action to City Hall.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

“Work hard; expect nothing.” I actually found this bit of life advice on a hand-painted sign hanging on a door in Brooklyn. I keep a photo of that sign in my home office and think about it often.

I’ve experienced my fair share of life’s ups and downs. I started working when I was 13 years old and have held many jobs since (often two and sometimes three at once). When Chicken & Rice Guys hired me a little over four years ago, they hired me as a dishwasher. Immediately prior to this job, I had served as Senior Vice President for an organic honey company. Hard-work does not guarantee success. Plenty of hardworking people struggle each and every day. But, as I learned in my years as a job coach helping create jobs for folks with disabilities, there’s truth in the old saying: hard work is it’s own reward. I apply this attitude to everything I do in both my professional and personal spheres, and I intend to carry this mentality forward with me should I be elected to City Council. I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and dive in-- it’s not about any glamorous benefits or getting recognized for me, it’s about the process and the work itself.

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

I’m running as part of a slate of candidates endorsed by Our Revolution Medford. Together, we are seven individuals running for city council and school committee on the first joint slate in Medford’s history. We are all trying to light a fire of positive change here in Medford because we deserve a transparent, responsive, and accountable city government.