Dear Cambridge and Somerville Constituents and Supporters —
I was planning to write to you this evening about the incredible day we had celebrating the start of in-person early voting on Saturday. Thank you to Senators Sal DiDomenico and Lydia Edwards, Rep. Steve Owens, Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, and all of the friends and supporters who showed up throughout the day to stand with us.
However, this afternoon, the challenger in my race sent out a campaign mailer loaded with dishonest claims about my work on housing. This is especially concerning because thousands of Cambridge and Somerville voters are now being hit with this misinformation just five days before the Democratic primary on Tuesday, September 1.
First, I want to walk you through the claims Neil Miller is making and explain why they are dishonest. Then, I am going to ask for your help so we can finish the race strong.
MBTA Communities Act
Mr. Miller says I "criticized a 2020 law that enabled exclusionary suburbs to zone for more multifamily housing" — that's a distortion of what I was actually doing.
The fact is, I sponsored and co-sponsored versions of the MBTA Communities Act and voted to pass the final version into law. My main criticism was that I thought the legislature should pass other key housing policies along with it, such as a local option for rent stabilization and more options for affordable housing.
He uses the headline from this 2020 WGBH article to try to prove a point — but as the article itself makes clear, I agreed with the premise of the MBTA Communities Act and was pushing the legislature to be even more ambitious with tenant protections and investments in affordability. That is the kind of comprehensive response to the housing emergency that I believe Cambridge and Somerville residents want, so it's disappointing that Mr. Miller would dishonestly portray my actual stance.
Market Central
Mr. Miller then says I "opposed" the building where he and his wife currently live — Market Central, the 19-story housing tower in Central Square, where a two-bedroom apartment currently rents for $5,572 a month.
Eleven years ago, when the Cambridge City Council considered spot-zoning for this building, I was an aide inside City Hall, working with city councilors on a proposal for a public-private partnership at this site. Our proposal would have resulted in significantly more housing and more affordable housing than what we ultimately got in the Market Central deal, because it would have allowed the developer to build housing on top of city-owned Parking Lot #6 in exchange for even more affordable units.
So it's disingenuous to claim, all these years later, that I opposed housing at the site. I was deeply involved in fighting for more housing and more affordable housing where this building now stands.
Sullivan Courthouse redevelopment
Next, Mr. Miller says I "opposed" the redevelopment of Sullivan Courthouse in East Cambridge that delivered 48 new affordable units. This might be the most dishonest claim of all — because the record shows it was my original idea, and the grassroots efforts I led, that gave the city council the leverage to secure those affordable units.
In October 2018, I stood up in an obscure public meeting and offered my theory — that the city council could use the developer's need to obtain a parking approval to win affordable housing. Then I organized a grassroots campaign and hundreds of residents joined the fight. Ultimately, Cambridge Day declared that I "led the housing fight" that resulted in these 48 affordable homes.
Social Housing
Finally, Mr. Miller says I "spent a decade in office advocating for social housing with no progress to show for it." Again, this is false on multiple levels.
I introduced the first-ever social housing bill on Beacon Hill in the summer of 2023. That's three years ago. I worked with Secretary Augustus and legislative colleagues to include a funding authorization for a social housing pilot in the Affordable Homes Act. Then, in August 2024, Governor Healey invited me to the signing of the Affordable Homes Act, which passed this social housing concept into law. Last year, the Healey-Driscoll Administration released its housing plan, which incorporates social housing as part of our official state policy.
Also last year, I worked with the Healey-Driscoll Administration to create a state-level social housing working group. We decided social housing can't just be a top-down model — it has to be informed by local communities. Now, I'm part of Cambridge's Social Housing Task Force, where we are bringing city leaders, staff from the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, local advocates, housing professionals, and residents together to determine how Cambridge can take advantage of the state's new social housing opportunities and develop a program of our own. Meanwhile, Mayor Wilson has committed the City of Somerville to pursuing this opportunity as well.
As housing advocate Jesse Kanson-Benanav said in this recent letter endorsing my campaign, "Going from a new policy concept to an official part of the commonwealth’s housing strategy in a single legislative term is almost unheard of." That's part of the reason why he called me a "housing champion" for Cambridge and Somerville.
Your Help Needed
In closing, I need to ask for your help. Mr. Miller's dishonest claims are disrespectful to the voters, and our community deserves better. But we all know that misinformation can lead to unpredictable results at the ballot box.
So if you care as much about good housing policy as I do, and if you appreciate my work for our community, then I ask you to make a contribution to my re-election campaign. Click here to donate.
My field team and I will be canvassing and phone banking over the next five days, and we need your help holding signs on Election Day, too.
To get involved, sign up on my volunteer page, or simply reply to this email to let us know when we can plug you in.
I am so grateful to everyone who has gone out of their way to support my re-election campaign this year. But I have to respectfully ask for more help right now. My campaign is doing everything we can to get the truth about my record out there, but we need additional resources and all hands on deck.
Thank you, as always, for being a friend and a supporter.
Yours in service,
Mike
