Medford voters rally around zoning, better help in schools

Gotta Know Medford intern Daisy Levine spoke with voters at the polls tonight to find out what was important to them and their families. Here is her report.

The local election can be generally split into two groups — one calling themselves Our Revolution Medford, boasting membership of five incumbents, and the other going independent and with one incumbent, Councilor George Scarpelli.

There are 14 candidates racing for the seven available seats on the City Council and nine school committee candidates gunning for the six spots. Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn ran unopposed for her second term.

As the commuting hours wrapped up on election day, many parents and young homeowners raced to the polls just before 8 p.m. to get their vote in.

“Hopefully, the new people get in,” said Medford resident Bob McGinley.

One mother, Kaur Rajwinder, a 45-year-old Medford resident of 10 years who works at CVS, said she is voting for her children’s safety.

“No bullying in schools,” she said, standing outside Andrews Middle School, where she just voted.

Her child, who goes to Andrews, comes home from school every day with stories of bullying and fighting, she said.

“It’s disgusting,” she said. “I need to [see] improvement.”

Even in a city where the system is “good” and teachers are nice, she said, it’s still important to make sure schools remain non-violent places.

Audrey Chialdelli, a 31-year-old attorney, said she felt good to see all the engagement online surrounding today’s election.

“People get out and get involved in local issues,” she said. “It’s not a big area, so it definitely feels like your vote matters more.”

The big thing Chialdelli hopes city councilors will focus on — and she’s not the only one, she said — is definitely zoning. She said people around her have gotten pretty passionate about the rezoning initiative, and she said it’s what she hears the most about with regard to today’s local elections.

“I think it’s kind of hit a point in a lot of areas around here where rent really is really the driving issue for people’s living expenses,” she said.

Her husband, Matthew Chialdelli, also 31, said he agrees with a lot of what his wife said, but he also said he was surprised by some of the issues he’s looked up for today’s election.

“It feels like some of the issues are maybe more divisive than normal,” Matthew said. “But Medford is a smaller town than [the rest of] the Boston area, it’s just important that people show up to vote.”

For Jamie Rice, he agrees with public opinion that zoning should be the top priority for the city councilors. He also hopes the new School Committee focuses on a more holistic approach to education and said he found the points on after-school care most interesting.

“I think [elections] are all equally important,” Rice said, rushing into the polling station just before it closed.

Daisy Levine is a journalism student. This story is part of a partnership between Gotta Know Medford and the Boston University Department of Journalism.