VoteMedford.org

About Vote Medford

Vote Medford is an independent, citizen-led initiative whose goal is to help voters learn how the candidates for municipal office in Medford, Massachusetts, view the city and issues important to it. We see our role as helping to encourage public discourse on local issues.  Our membership is collaborative, composed of Medford citizens outside of political party machinery.

2005

In 2005, we put together citizen-driven candidate questionnaire and access TV show that was well-received. The website had thousands of unique visitors and the accompanying TV show aired repeatedly on TV3, seen by thousands of Medfordites in October and November 2005.

2005 was good:  19 of 21 candidates for Medford City Council, School Committee, and Mayor responded to our citizen's questionnaire about their candidacies.  Interestingly, neither of the two non-responding candidates were elected. Our project filled a real vacuum in local politics.

2007

We're doing it again for the 2007 Medford municipal election.  This time we'll have more planning and involvement from local organizations here in Medford.  We'll have the website and public access television -- additionally this year aim to produce two debates.

Meet the Vote Medford Team

Dave Adams has been a homeowner in Medford for nine years with his wife and has two children in the Medford Public Schools.  He has been a math teacher at Saint Clement Junior/Senior High for 3 years.  He is also a software engineer, an active bicyclist, and former moderator of the Medfordmass Yahoo Group.  (contact: dave -at- votemedford -dot- org)

Matt Gasbarro has resided in Medford all his life and graduated from Tufts University in 2004 and 2006.  While there he participated in a scholarship program that developed and supported community-based initiatives in Medford, including the Mystic Riverbend Community Garden and the Brooks Estate.  Currently, Matt is a software engineer for Cisco Systems Inc.  (contact: matt -at- votemedford -dot- org)

Allison Goldsberry is a lifelong Medford resident and local journalist.  She is the founder of InsideMedford.com, a local news website dedicated exclusively to Medford news.  Allison, a 2003 Tufts grad, has freelanced for the Medford Daily Mercury and spent two years as an Assignment Editor at WBZ-TV.  (contact: allison -at- votemedford -dot- org)

Jared Ingersoll moved to Medford from Somerville in 2001 with his wife Lori in order to raise their family in an active community that offered exposure to economic, racial, and cultural diversity.  Despite graduating from SUNY Buffalo College with a B.S. in Sociology, he was caught up in the dot com technology bubble of the late '90's and made a career out of it.  Jared continues to work in technology today, designing, managing, and supporting infrastructure for application service providers.  (contact: jared -at- votemedford -dot- org)

Jim Kiely is a long-time community organizer who lives in Medford with his partner, Marc, the owner of 13FOREST Gallery in Medford Square.  Now working as an information manager at a biotech company, Jim is studying at Harvard to become a landscape architect.  Last year he established a landscape design company that focuses on ecological health and sustainability.  (contact: jimk -at- votemedford -dot- org)

Jim Ospenson moved to Medford in 2001 after spells in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.  He has two kids in the elementary schools, one of them in special education.  A website designer and lapsed documentary filmmaker and video artist, he now manages an information system for elder services.  (contact: jimo -at- votemedford -dot- org)