North Cambridge was the social media platform Nextdoor’s first neighborhood in Massachusetts – now there are as many as 1,700 in Greater Boston – and the company said thanks by throwing a party.

Though he’s lived in Cambridge only two years, candidate Josh Burgin says a background in Florida state and county governments will allow him to serve capably on the City Council.

In this year’s field of 26 candidates running for City Council and 12 for School Committee, set as a monthlong filing period ended, the committee’s Richard Harding turned in signatures for a council run – and four-term council incumbent Leland Cheung did not.

Protecting small businesses in Harvard Square and elsewhere, biking and transportation improvements, and looking out for Cambridge’s trees – they’ve been priorities Jan Devereux plans to keep if reelected to the City Council in November.

With an expectation that Cambridge will grow to a population of around 140,000 within the next 30 years, City Councillor Dennis Carlone said that if reelected he hopes to spend the next two-year term focused on housing and the development master plan.

As Cambridge has become more expensive, people have moved away, replaced by residents who are not as involved with community, candidate Ronald Benjamin says. In addition, gentrification that makes minority and lower-income populations feel out of place.

Political radio talk-show host Jeffrey Santos says he has the connections and experience to collaborate with the state and neighboring city governments to improve public infrastructure and services – and will prove it as a city councillor.

Although she’s only 19, Nadya Okamoto said, she’s prepared and qualified to run for City Council, exemplifying “a new generation of rising millennials and Gen Z who are passionate about taking action and passionate about things at the grassroots level.”

Like many candidates for City Council, Gwen Volmar has affordable housing at the top of her platform. She learned firsthand how difficult it can be to live in Cambridge when moving here 10 years ago, and now helps others struggling with the cost and paperwork.

Olivia D’Ambrosio became interested in running for City Council when Donald Trump was elected president, but almost as electrifying was another experience more specific to Cambridge: exploring the housing market.