Last night the Medford Public Library played host to a meet and greet with most of the folks running for city council. The residents of Medford have a lot of good candidates going forward.

Trish Schiapelli may have had the most notable 3 minutes of the night. She pulled no punches regarding the council’s handling of the zoning issue. Trish advocated for a change in the city audit saying we need a new group to review the city’s finances to account for where the citizen’s money is going. A good night for her.

Nick Giurleo had a strong night focusing on his legal background while also proposing changes to city council meetings to the better communications through better resident engagement. More importantly, he offers solutions. You don’t have to agree with him or any of the independent candidates but there is a lot of flexibility and room for discussion and we certainly need much more civil, level-headed discussions not only between the councilors but also including the residents.

Patrick Clerkin had the unenviable task of kicking off the event by being the first speaker. Clerkin was the only candidate to have literally walked every street in every ward of the city. He did what no other candidate has done. As people who couldn’t make it to last nights event or to even have time to watch it on cable access, this is an important distinction because Patrick went out to see and talk to every resident. He listens but most importanly, he is laser focused on city of Medford and the issues that directly affect its residents.

Melanie Tringali advocated for fiscal responsibility, choosing to focus on the pilot program and our relationship with Tufts as well as discuss the city’s poor handling of the zoning ordinance. She’s a homeowner and is concerned about the neighborhoods in Medford, the zoning changes need to be purposeful, every part of the city does not need or in some cases want development.