Somerville councilor at large Jake Wilson announced Monday he will run for mayor, setting up a challenge for and election still more than 10 months away.
Mayor Katjana Ballantyne is running for a third term, according to a report in The Boston Globe. Though a message was left Monday with Ballantyne’s campaign about her plans, there was no reply to local media.
Wilson began discussing a potential mayoral run a few months ago but was still making his decision over the weekend, with “one more conversation to have,” he said Friday. He is the first city candidate to announce for the Nov. 4 elections in Somerville or its neighbor, Cambridge, though one East Somerville resident filed with the state Dec. 2 to organize a council campaign.
As mayor, Wilson hopes to provide “high-quality services that really improve the lives of the residents and small businesses,” he said, describing improving communication with constituents to be a “huge” priority. With a decade of experience in journalism and communications, he wants to take “a holistic approach to find out how people want to be communicated with.” The creation of a multilingual mobile app would allow the city to survey residents easily on their wants and needs for city departments, he said, and a map-based information portal could provide updates on public and private projects, particularly construction projects.
As a councilor, Wilson said he often had to explain to constituents that their “great ideas” for the city can’t be implemented because it’s against state law, the city doesn’t have the money or “it’s not a priority of the mayor,” who “basically sets the agenda.”
Before announcing for the November election, Wilson said he would call Ballantyne to inform her and promise he’s “going to run a positive campaign.” By announcing his campaign early, Wilson intends to “knock on every single door of every voter in the city and have conversations with them.”
“Any time you challenge an incumbent, the sensible read is that there’s something they’ve done that makes you want to challenge them,” Wilson said. But that’s not quite it: “I consider every election to be an open seat. I think I have a skill set and approach to leadership that would benefit the city right now, and so that’s why I’m pursuing this.”
He said was was “grateful to Katjana Ballantyne for stepping up and serving as mayor for the last three years,” and that she “has shown some willingness to collaborate with City Council, and she’s done some good things.”
A signature achievement of Ballantyne’s time in office is a Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot Program introduce in March to provide cash payments to vulnerable residents, joining 100 other mayors across the country in doing so. But Ballantyne has drawn criticism for implementing few other initiatives over her three years in office.
A process around the Armory arts building continues to draw complaints, with staff unable to dispel a narrative that city plans go against public wishes and are hostile to existing tenants. This month residents called out her office for apparent complacency about accusations of abuse and harassment at a library branch.
A mayoral campaign was always the plan, but “a few years down the road,” Wilson said Monday. “People I respect have been coming to me and asking me about running, especially the last year or so. That really pushed me to accelerate my timeline.”
Ballantyne, who immigrated to America from Greece, majored in business in college and moved to Somerville in 1993, is only the second woman to serve as mayor of Somerville. Before her election in 2021, she served seven years on the City Council and was twice elected its president; a record in affordable housing and workforce development helped her win 55 percent of ballots cast in a four-way mayoral primary that year. When she ran for reelection, it was with endorsements from U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and she faced no primary. In the general election she was challenged by William “Billy” Tauro, business owner and publisher of the Somerville/Medford News Weekly, and won with a solid 13,657 votes to his 3,029, or 81 percent to his 18 percent.
In Wilson’s first run for at-large office in 2021, he landed fourth in an eight-candidate field; during his reelection run, fellow incumbent Charlotte Kelly opted out late in the race. In what looked like a five-way race, Wilson came out fourth and Kelly, though no longer running, removed 9,032 votes that might have gone to other candidates.
Wilson has worked in communications for Trinity Church in Boston and Major League Baseball Advanced Media, but in 2000 started his own firm – Winter Hill Media – and a college basketball site called Basketball U. His community experience includes stints as president of Somerville Youth Soccer and with the Friends of Healey School, according to his LinkedIn.
This post was updated Dec. 18, 2024. to show that Mayor Katjana Ballantyne told The Boston Globe she is running for a third term.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
A reply from Mayor Balantyne of any value is unlikely on topics of substance.