David Freni: Salem City Council Candidate Profile

SALEM, MA — David Freni is seeking his first term representing Ward 3 on the Salem City Council.

The 31-year-old earned a bachelor of science degree from Wesleyan University and has worked as a director of talent for a data science start-up.

He told Patch his focus on the city council would be traffic issues and creating a development strategy that is fair to seniors, existing residents and low-income residents.

The citywide general election is on Nov. 2.

Campaign website

David Freni, Candidate, Salem Ward 3 Councillor

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am seeking elected office because I believe the residents in Ward 3 need better representation. My background in Environmental Science and years of experience growing a successful data science start-up company in the private sector have equipped me with the knowledge, people skills and ability to make things happen that can serve Ward 3 very effectively. Most of all, I enjoy helping people and that is the key to the success of any councilor. Listen, learn, act and help. This is how I want to serve Ward 3.

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

Development & Traffic. I intend to listen to my constituents and work with both city and state officials on traffic calming measures that will work. We can start by thinking about development more sustainably. Salem has been in a state of "develop at will" and this needs to stop. We, as a city, need to take a step back and create a master plan instead of the ad-hoc development practices we are allowing to happen now. Let's come to an agreement on a development strategy that will be fair to existing residents, seniors and low-income residents. We can grow as a city, but again we need to do so sustainably and with a real plan.

I will make decisions based on what the residents in Ward 3 want. It is that simple. If I am elected, the residents of Ward 3 will be my boss. I work for them — period. I will share my ideas and engage in community meetings and Q&A sessions about how they feel we can solve development and traffic issues. I will use resident collaboration and engagement in conjunction with recommendations from subject matter experts as the main driver for solutions.

I also plan to have frequent and open dialogue with our state officials on the issues of Highland Ave. We can and will make Highland Ave much safer, easier and less stressful to travel on if we work with our state Officials more effectively.

I will be recommending smarter traffic signaling systems and real-time data collection capabilities which will give us valuable insights into traffic flows and rates. We can analyze this data and use it to optimize our traffic signals. I will be recommending that the city hire a dedicated data scientist focused on operations research, optimization and traffic control. I believe data is invaluable and we need to be collecting it and using it any way we can to make this city better.

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

As your Ward 3 Councilor, I will:
• Protect the quality of life of our existing residents.
• Protect our environment by practicing what we preach.
• Encourage smart development practices for a sustainable future.
• I will not vote to rezone anything in Ward 3 to residential until I have a clear and majority consensus from the ward that they support a rezoning to pass.
• I will never ignore any concerns about contamination on a proposed development. This is a public health issue and an environmental protection issue.
• I will not let Ward 3 be bought by developers at the expense of existing residents and our quality of life.
• I will not let the population density of Ward 3 increase without properly analyzing the science and data to ensure our quality of life is sustained and we are not negatively impacting our environment.

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

Councilor Morsillo voted in favor to rezone several connected plots of land on Highland Avenue and Cedar Road from commercial/industrial zone to a residential zone for a 170-unit apartment building. Because the rezone did not pass, a 30-plus year local Salem business, Tropical Products, is able to expand (in this location) in Salem, in Ward 3, adding good-paying jobs with low construction and traffic impact. This is smart development for Ward 3.

She also helped promote another 289-rental unit proposal on Highland Avenue called Overlook Acres (right next to the Tropical Products land).

The neighbors had to fight the city, our Councilor, and the developers for over a year on this project because we knew the land was contaminated, it encroached significantly on our wetland buffer zone, and it was going to bring approximately 500 more vehicles to the Highland Avenue. Councilor Morsillo worked with the developers and planning board to promote and push for this development to happen while ignoring our contamination, traffic, safety, and quality of life concerns which were brought up in nearly every public meeting.

Finally, and after a year of persistence, our voices were heard. The developers were forced to do soil testing and the results were shocking. This caused the developers to immediately back out of the project and file a lawsuit with the landowners. I quote the lawsuit below:

"elevated and hazardous levels of"...

PCBs - Polychlorinated biphenyls
VOCs - Volatile organic compounds
TPHs - Total Petroleum hydrocarbons
PAHs - Total metal & polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

"The elevated levels or contaminants found throughout the Premises represent a significant and imminent risk of harm to the public and the environment"

The voice of ward 3 was not heard or represented in either of the two enormous developments described above.

Keep in mind these 450-plus more units that Patti wanted on Highland Avenue in Ward 3 are in addition to the 200=plus apartments that were already being constructed at Trader's Row behind Shaw's. This would have been over 600 more units in Ward 3. There is no doubt that all these units would have brought well over 800 more vehicles and 1000-plus more residents to Ward 3 causing the population of Ward 3 to rise at an alarmingly rapid and unsustainable rate.

This is clearly not the direction Ward 3 needs to go. More people, more traffic, more pollution, higher rents, harm to our environment and diminished quality of life are at stake.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I think Salem needed to approach COVID quite differently than most other cities considering we are a tourist hot spot during the fall months. I think the approach the city took was the correct approach because of how densely populated we are and how many people visit during these months.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Environmental Protection. We are in the most vulnerable category related to the climate crisis since we are a coastal city. The implications for Salem if sea level continues to rise should be a top concern. It is our responsibility to preserve Salem for our kids and generations to come. There are plenty of areas in Salem that have already been filled in over time. Topographically, Salem's ledge outcrop on 107 slopes down towards the coast with many wetlands in between. These need to be preserved with the highest level of protection possible. There is a risk of continuing to build in flood zones and that risk heavily outweighs the reward. We need to stop thinking about 5, 10, 15 years from now and more like 30, 40, 50 years from now.

Please visit my Wetlands Protection Vision website for more information.

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

I currently hold the role of director at a data science startup firm focused on machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions for sustainable agriculture, precision farming, smart cities, smart grids and energy analytics. I was the third person to join this company over six years ago. I have helped build and develop a cutting-edge technology firm from the ground up, from negative revenue to tens of millions in revenue, from three employees to over 150 employees in one of the hottest and most competitive technical domains there is. The skills and experience I have learned in the private sector along with my education in environmental science will enable me to serve Ward 3 with an innovative, forward-thinking and technology-focused approach.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Treat others as you would like to be treated.

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

Lastly, I want voters to know that I will listen to them. My only agenda is to serve the residents of Ward 3. I will always be reachable. I will return calls and/or messages within 24 hours. My phone number and email will be accessible to all Ward 3 residents.