Cambridge friends:

The election is coming up on Tuesday, Nov. 8, and I hope you’ll consider giving Matt Nelson your No. 1 vote.

Matt’s been a natural community organizer from the moment I met him as a ninth-grader at CRLS. Matt has continued this community leadership throughout his professional life, organizing door-to-door efforts for my first School Committee campaign in 2005, managing Henrietta Davis’ City Council campaign in 2007, organizing health care workers with SEIU in Virginia in 2008 to support the health reform elements of President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and currently doing statewide organizing for the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters.

Matt’s a lifelong Cantabrigian who is running for City Council because he wants to be involved in planning its future. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing Cambridge is supporting the ongoing development of our world-class innovation and higher education resources without letting their success come at the cost of long-term middle- and working-class families. Matt understands that diversity of all types is what makes Cambridge special, and he’s concerned that over his lifetime we’ve lost some of that unique character.

He’s got a bunch of great ideas, such as his plan for better connecting at-risk youth with internship opportunities in Kendall Square, but he also doesn’t pretend to have all the answers figured out prior to taking office.

Matt’s running out of a genuine commitment to preserving the unique fabric of Cambridge, and there’s no one I’d trust more in shepherding this work.

For a better sense of his campaign’s priorities, check out his website.

I trust his judgment and know that he’ll seek out yours if given the opportunity to represent you as a Cambridge city councillor.

Luc Schuster

Schuster was a member of the School Committee from 2005-09 after running as a Green-Rainbow Party candidate.