The daughter of a police officer and a school teacher, House has a Masters of Urban Planning degree from the University of Utah. Her first job after graduating from college was working for Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City on economic development and small-business planning, including the multibillion-dollar downtown Salt Lake City redevelopment plan and the $350 million light-rail expansion to the airport. In Cambridge, she served as the first executive director of Cambridge Local First and is now director of member and community relations for the Kendall Square Association.

She serves on the board of Emerge Massachusetts, an organization that trains and recruits women to run for office, and is an active member of the Ward 8 Committee and Cambridge Democratic City Committee.

Compiled from the candidate’s words in publicly available sources

House’s top three priorities:

From the Cambridge Residents Alliance

Welcome people who want to invest in Cambridge, with the understanding the city needs to be in the position to shape development, not to be controlled by it. We need a comprehensive citywide strategy to make sure Cambridge grows in a positive way that doesn’t affect open space, price out local businesses or destroy a neighborhood. Development should improve our quality of life, not risk what we love about Cambridge.

Develop a 311 number system so residents can call a human operator and report problems, then have that concern addressed in a timely manner and be able to track the progress of their concern. Residents deserve openness, innovation and accountability in the delivery of high-quality services, no matter where they live in Cambridge.

Work in a collaborative, respectful and positive manner with other elected officials to get things accomplished. Residents deserve this, and they deserve hard-working, full-time councillors.

On local business:

Condensed and edited from responses given to Cambridge Local First

Growing the local economy benefits everyone in Cambridge. The city does a nice job of providing information to residents and visitors about local business groups and their contribution to the city, but there is a lot the city more can do. Examples include: the city procuring goods and services from local businesses for city events; investing in infrastructure, making sure street and sidewalk improvements and repairs that disrupt businesses are conducted quickly; and keeping and moving taxpayer money into local banks.

Two initiatives to support and encourage growth would be to propose an easier permitting process and zoning that encourages a mix of uses, unique to cities, where you can live, work and play.

House on the issues

From Cambridge Community Television

City Council dysfunction:

Middle-income housing: