This is seventh in a series I will publish on Waltham Patch, so we can better know our candidates and what they stand for. These interviews and observations do not reflect my personal political views. This series is meant to introduce candidates to constituents in an easy-going, positive way. I will not ask questions comparing candidates, nor will I provide my personal political opinions. My series will include individual articles with a candidate's interview. Then, when each interview has been published, I will post an article containing all the interviews.If you are a Waltham political candidate and would like to request an interview, please feel welcome to contact me. The Patch reporter is also running a separate series.
Lizzie Gelles is running for Ward 1 City Council. Following is my interview with her.
JL: Where are you from? How long have you lived in Waltham?
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Gelles: After growing up in New York, I came to the Boston area to study at Boston College and I never left. For over 25 years, I have called Waltham home. I’m a proud homeowner and I’m grateful to be a part of this community.
JL: Please tell me a little about yourself.
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Gelles: I studied English at Boston College because, as someone with dyslexia, I wanted to put myself up to the challenge. I thought, if I could study English, I could do anything. After graduating, I went on to work in IT and eventually landed at my current job where I’ve been for over a decade. I live happily with my wife Nina, two adorable dogs, and one cat. Many people have come to know our two dogs since they both have disabilities. One dog, Ruth, has three legs, and the other dog, Harry, is paralyzed in his back two legs. They’re both well known around the neighborhood and I’m grateful to be able to provide them with a home.
JL: What is one of your favourite Waltham memories?
Gelles: One of my favorite Waltham memories happened just a couple of months ago when I had pulled papers to run for city council. It was raining, my birthday, and I was out knocking doors in my neighborhood to have them sign my nomination papers. One neighbor invited me to dinner they were so excited I was running. Several of my neighbors cheered me on when I came to their door. Another neighbor, when I came to their door, told me I should run for city council before I even got to mention why I was there. This outpouring of support has helped fuel me and reminded me of one of the many reasons I love this city: our community.
JL: Tell us your hobbies.
Gelles: I love to bake and I do my best at keeping up our veggie garden. But that can be difficult with the bunnies trying to eat everything! I’m also fortunate to live around the corner from Prospect Hill Park where I love to go walking. Being active is an important part of my life. I also wake up early every morning and go to the gym before work.
JL: What has been your previous involvement been in Waltham politics?
Gelles: I haven’t held political office but I have been actively involved in my community for many years.
JL: Do you consider yourself a politician?
Gelles: I consider myself a concerned resident working to improve their community. I think that too often people get caught up in being politicians and forget why they originally set out to get involved in local government. I am guided by a desire to help my community and I won’t compromise my values for political gain.
JL: What position are you running for? When and why did you consider running ?
Gelles: 25 years ago, I decided to move to Waltham because it was affordable, the downtown was trendy, and I liked being one block away from Prospect Hill Park. These very things that attracted me to this city and my experiences living in this community brought me to my decision to run. I am running to be Waltham’s Ward 1 city councilor to build on what makes our community strong and to continue moving Waltham towards being a regional leader.
I decided to run during the spring because I saw opportunities for us to work together to help improve our community. During this race, I have stayed true to the reason I decided to run by truly bringing everyone into this campaign. By going directly out to voters and hearing their concerns and sharing my ideas, I believe we can make a difference.
JL: How does Waltham inspire you?
Gelles: I am inspired by the richness in diversity and history which make Waltham a special place to live. For example, we have fantastic food from all over the world as well as several cultural celebrations throughout the year. This richness in diversity and history bring new ideas and opportunities to our city which inspire me to work collaboratively with our community to create a culture of success in our city.
JL: Do you have a particular leadership style?
Gelles: One of the taglines from my campaign has been “Working Together, Getting Results.” We chose this because I am someone who works collaboratively to find solutions. As a city councilor, I believe it is essential to understand how we can work together. Ordinances don’t get passed if only one person is supporting them. We make truly positive change when we work together.
JL: Is there anything about local politics that you find particularly challenging?
Gelles: To quote one of Massachusetts’s former Congressman, “All politics are local.” Local politics are both the most important and often the most complex because there is so much happening. From clogged sewers to zoning laws to encouraging new business growth, local politics are always busy. By being transparent and engaged, I aim to ensure that I can work with our community to ensure their voices and concerns do not fall by the wayside.
JL: In your profession, do you have to travel? How much of your time do you spend away from home for work or vacation?
Gelles: My only commuting for work is getting to our office and coming home. However, when I first started at this job, I had the opportunity to travel to other communities, many of which had commonalities with Waltham, and learn about how they tackle different challenges such as traffic control. In many ways, Waltham is already a leader on several issues but we can also learn from our neighbors on how to address new challenges that other cities and towns have already faced.
JL: Is there a main message in your campaign that you would like voters to know?
Gelles: With nearly two decades of experience in strategic thinking, problem solving, and forming coalitions as an IT engineer, I have the skills and plans to be the effective city councilor that our community needs.
For over 25 years, I have called Waltham home, and I am dedicated to fighting for the issues important to our community by implementing thoughtful and impactful solutions.
As your city councilor, I will speak for the residents of our community with intelligence, conviction, and integrity.
JL: What would you do to create pride in our community?
Gelles: Much of what gives me pride are the aspects of our community that make it special or unique. We are both boastful about our history as well as the strong biotech community in Waltham. We point to Moody Street with its fantastic restaurants and interesting stores. We’re also grateful for spaces like the Commons and Prospect Hill Park.
I want to continue to create pride in our community by building on what makes Waltham a leader in the Greater Boston community. By working collaboratively with our many organizations like the Downtown Waltham Partnership and Waltham Local First, we can continue to make Moody Street a point of pride in our city. By revisiting and updating the masterplan for Prospect Hill Park, we can ensure that our public spaces are cherished by our community.
JL: What do you think is Waltham’s biggest challenge right now, and how would you address it?
Gelles: Bishops Forest residents are stuck with the burden of paying for their trash pickup. On Totten Pond Road, they don’t have a sidewalk. About ⅓ of our residents live on private roads and have to bear the cost when the road falls apart. There is no singular issue everyone is suffering from in our ward.
However, while I have been out talking with voters, there have been common themes: increasing costs are stressful, our roads and infrastructure need a clear plan for improvement, and we need a leader who is transparent and collaborative.
A voter I spoke with on Buxton Lane said that they were being footed with a huge bill to fix their road because it was a private road. We must work collaboratively and think critically at how we can help families like theirs to not be overburdened with these types of situations.
For years, our residents living off of Lexington and Bacon have been suffering through the steadily increasing traffic. As your city councilor, I will make sure your voices and concerns do not fall by the wayside by holding public town halls and sending a monthly newsletter to make sure you are updated.
As the Ward 1 City Councilor, I wouldn’t be a single issue councilor. I aim to ensure everyone’s voice is heard and that we work collaboratively towards coming up with solutions.
JL: What are some of the things you would focus on?
Gelles: We need environmentally sustainable smart growth to lower costs and to highlight our green spaces. I am committed to preserving our community by protecting our parks and community farm, developing a solar plan to decrease our energy bills, and reviewing and updating the masterplan for Prospect Hill Park. I’m also grateful for and fully supportive of the work of those organizations in the city that are focused on keeping our City's eco-systems functioning and our green spaces and environment strong.
Too many issues continue to fall by the wayside. We need a more transparent government. As your city councilor, I will hold at least four town halls a year and send a monthly newsletter so your concerns will be heard and you will know how your tax dollars are being spent.
Rather than waiting until problems get out of hand, we need to be proactive versus reactive. We know patching doesn’t work. We must be proactive by developing long-term plans to repair and repave our crumbling roads and deteriorating infrastructure.
JL: How would you preserve the integrity of Waltham’s history while leading the city forward?
Gelles: I believe that Waltham’s history as an industrial city and immigrant-rich destination can play a key role in leading Waltham forward. We already see this in so many of the community events in Waltham from the various cultural celebrations to the historical big hits like the Steam Punk Festival. Several organizations like the Downtown Waltham Partnership have already done a lot of important work in considering how we can preserve our history in leading Waltham forward. As city councilor, I envision working with important organizations like DWP, the Historical Commission, and community leaders in ensuring our history is not long in our growth.
JL: How important are local museums such as The Telephone Museum on Moody Street to our culture?
Gelles: One of the things that drew me to Waltham was the deep connection to our community’s history which is reflected in The Telephone Museum and Steam Punk Festival, for example. Even as the Greater Boston area rapidly is changing, I believe it is important for us to understand the history behind Waltham.
As a friend and supporter of WATCH CDC, I have attended their annual event at the Charles River Museum and I am reminded of the leaders who came before us in building this city. Without their work, we wouldn’t have the preservation of spaces like Prospect Hill Park.
JL: What would you do to encourage Science Technology Engineering Art and Math (STEAM) in Waltham’s youth?
Gelles: As a female IT engineer with dyslexia, I have lived through the experiences of having people tell me that science isn’t for me or that engineering is too difficult and I should be pursuing other careers. By being a city councilor, I hope to be a role model for the youth in our community by showing them that they, too, can be engineers. I think there is also often a misconception that science and civics do not relate to one another. I hope to shift this narrative by showing all of the ways in which people like me can contribute to civic engagement. During this race and throughout my career, I have also learned various skills and tricks on how to deal with sexism in the workplace as well as understanding how to succeed with dyslexia. By sharing these lessons with our youth, they may also be able to fall in love with these subjects just like I did.
JL: Do you see politics as a career?
Gelles: Before I decided to run for office, I was dedicated to helping my community. For me, helping my community is simply a part of who I am. I do not seeing politics as a career; I’m an IT engineer. However, I do always want to find ways to support my neighbors and help our city moving forwards as a leader in Massachusetts.
JL: Do any former or current Waltham residents inspire you? Why?
Gelles: With neighboring cities and towns like Newton, Lexington, and Weston, people sometimes forget that Waltham also has so many fantastic residents who have made important impacts on history and in our community. For example, Anita Hill lives in my ward and she has constantly been on the forefront of fighting for equity and inclusion. We’ve also had multiple distinguished faculty who have taught at both Brandeis and Bentley such as Jonathan White, also in Ward 1, who is a professor at Bentley and Chair of WE Charities.
JL: Have you learned anything about Waltham during your campaign?
Gelles: Our team has knocked on over 4,000 doors and in that time I have realized both how diverse many of our problems are and also how many commonalities there are between different parts of our community. Whether I’m talking with voters in Lincoln Woods, Marion Lane, or Warwick Ave, they all have run into issues with our roads whether its traffic or potholes. With ⅓ of our roads being private roads, residents all over our ward face the burden of the costs associated with not being a public road.
JL: Imagine a future after you have served. How would Waltham be changed?
Gelles: Waltham would pride itself on its implementation of a solar plan which brought solar to city buildings and unused public spaces. Other cities would look to Waltham as an example of how cities can save money while also investing in smart sustainable environmental growth.
Through a collaboration between city councilors and city departments, Waltham would have a long-term plan for fixing roads before they completely deteriorate. This plan would address traffic, crumbling roads, and general city infrastructure. Through community input, including a series of community conversations, this plan would truly be a collaborative process.
Rather than just putting up signs, doing lit drops, and running on name recognition, candidates would start going straight to the voters and talking with them at the doors to learn about their concerns. Town halls would become common and candidates would be more transparent in how they are voting.
Links and websites so readers can visit for updates, and additional campaign information: