Challenger running for City Council for the second time

The candidate’s website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Background: Bartender and restaurant worker whose family has been Cantabrigians for generations | Focuses: Affordable housing, local business and climate justice

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Q&A

Compiled by Matt Rocha

McGuirk is a bartender who has worked in and around Cambridge for 30 years. He was born in Cambridge and returned to raise his children in the early 1990s. In March 2022, he ran the pop-up restaurant McGuirk’s Folly, which garnered widespread praise.

Housing: “We should have a land-acquisition fund so the city can lend money to our affordable-housing developers at below-market, since it’s so expensive to build here … It’s hard for our affordable, nonprofit housing builders to compete, so if we can have a fund that they can actually take loans from and either pay them back slowly or pay them back below-market, that’s one way.”

Climate policy: “When we do create more housing density, we are actually having a big impact on our carbon footprint … When we talk about environmental issues, we have to remember environmental justice. As bad as it is to see a tree go, it’s even worse to displace some of our lower- and middle-income residents.”

Road infrastructure: “Cambridge has an obligation and opportunity to augment the MBTA with its own services … Through inclusive and respectful conversations, along with comprehensive and unbiased data, we should work to ensure that major changes to our infrastructure increase the safety of all residents, workers and visitors.”

Pet project: McGuirk wants to nurture Cambridge’s arts scene by better supporting local artists.

Participatory budgeting: 

“I love the idea of more Portland Loos, but I think a shade structure by the Valente library is my favorite.”

Favorite place: “Our squares, as each of them offers unique and authentic experiences.”